9 Warning

"Where have you been?" Cal kissed Skimmer's brow and stroked his head gratefully. She didn't expect a response. Unlike other creatures, who communicated with sound or scent, Skimmer never gave any signals. But Cal know he felt her touch and understood her voice because he reacted to her directions. Pelin said Skimmer lost her ability to communicate after Sylla died, almost as if the ray was mourning. He expected him to recover, yet he never did.

Skimmer had always roamed far and appeared unexpectedly and Cal had grown up looking forward to his visits. Over time they'd built an almost telepathic understanding of each other. Skimmer would sometimes accompany Cal and Pelin to the Overbreath, where he loved to thrill them with his acrobatics, leaping high out of the water and revolving in a slow, heart-stopping cartwheel before falling, with a flourish of his tail, back into the sea. Cal learn to shoot out of the water and arch over his back, then to spin in the bubbles below until she was dizzy. As Cal grew older Skimmer took her on breathtaking rides; sometimes soaring like a switchback through canyons and sand chutes, sometimes drifting slowly; meandering above the seabed to search for shy fish and rare anemones. It was the only time Pelin allowed Cal beyond his sight.

She had never been so pleased to see him. Skimmer felt her relief as she lay on his back, her dumping heartbeat quickly calmed by the steady rise and fall of of his wings. "At least you arrived in time to save me from being captured... or worse." Cal shivered at the taught of what might have happened if the Bloodfin had caught up with her. "Take us home now, Skimmer, fast as you can."

"Turn back Skimmer," she said at last. "Back to Strapklelp.

I can't leave Jake."

Skimmer slowed briefly, but almost at once picked up the same course, gaining speed and swimming even faster. "Strapkelp, Skimmer! Take me to the Creeper." Still the ray wouldn't turn. Cal was shocked. He'd never been willful like this before. She smacked her tail firmly his back, but Skimmer wouldn't be persuaded to redirect his flight.

Cal scowled.

"I can't go home yet, I can't go home!" And with a final slap of infuriation she let go of Skimmer's wing and set off for Orcara's den alone.