Two weeks of intense training later, she’s improved monumentally. Anyone who’s ever been to the mainland can’t believe it – who’s ever heard of an Anacogi being so dedicated? But when they hear that her last name is actually Melika and she’s really my cousin, they completely understand.

Everyone here respects her for the amount of determination she’s put into her studying and training. ‘Course, it doesn’t hurt that her cousin is the Kli Sumna, but it doesn’t really help either – people give her hereditary respect, but she also has some big shoes to fill. Her mother was a great warrior and her father garnered respect for his people skills.

It suddenly starts to rain and Sareena begins to dive for cover, but I raise an eyebrow at her. She grins mischievously and parts the rain over her head to create an umbrella. I give her an approving nod.

She walks over, being careful not to lose her umbrella. “Will we keep training in the rain? I would really like to go see the storm.”

I consider her. “We usually keep training, but I’ll make an exception. You’re used to seeing more sky than that little circle we get.”

She smiles and we climb our way up the wall. “Why can’t we just fly up?” She asks, sounding genuinely curious and not griping.

I chuckle, enjoying the exertion. “We climb because of the possibility of someone ending up stranded up top and potentially seeing us if we aren’t careful.” I poke her gently. “Like you, Pixie.” She has various names now – Pixie, Mermaid, Flutterby – because of her size, her prowess at swimming, and the joy she takes in training, respectively.

She nods. “Okay. Wow, that’s a big storm,” she remarks as we poke our heads out.

“Stay here.” I climb over the edge and my body flickers in and out of view. It’s another of our abilities – we can go invisible. Animals can still smell and sense us, though, unless we make a concerted effort to hide. Maila swims up to me and informs me that this storm is natural, for once, not because of a ship. I nod and stick my head back in. “It’s safe,” I tell Sareena. “Maila told me this storm is natural.”

She swings herself out and I admire the way the training has helped her physique. She looks much better now, and happy, too. She looks around and just starts dancing in the rain. She catches my expression of shock and quickly composes herself. “Ah come on, let a girl dance for once,” she says with a happy, contented smile. I just shake my head and dive into the ocean, beckoning her to join me.

She looks worried. “What about sharks?”

“Haven’t you noticed? We can commune with animals, so they respect and protect us, as well as helping us whenever they can. They won’t hurt us.”

She nods and swims out to me. “Okay. What are we doing?”

“You wanted to know if we would keep training, so I’m going to do something with you that you might actually enjoy, but still counts as studying. We’re going to dive.” We go under. “Don’t panic; remember, you can breathe underwater. We’re going to swim around and meet the animals.”

She has to force herself to breathe – it’s still hard for her to get over the Anacogi instinct that she’s going to drown – but she follows me with ease. I can almost sense her manipulating the water around her to swim faster and with more surety, but I’m not entirely sure she knows she’s doing it. I have to resist the urge to jump in her head to check, since when she found out about our abilities she asked us to give her some privacy for the moment until she works out all the stuff in her head. We acquiesced, but it’s a strange feeling for us not to know someone’s thoughts.

I swim directly to Maila, who nudges me gently. I turn to Sareena. Speaking underwater is hard, so I put a bubble of air around my mouth to keep the water out, since she doesn’t want me to speak in her head. “This is Maila. She is a whale shark and is completely harmless. She often warns us if there are ships nearby.”

“Hmmm… I can’t exactly shake her hand,” Sareena says. I can tell she likes Maila already, but then, most people do.

Maila swims up to Sareena and turns sideways to proffer her right fin. Hello, sweetheart. Are you doing okay? You didn’t look so good a couple weeks ago.

The look of shock on Sareena’s face is nearly comical as she shakes Maila’s fin. “Uhhh, yeah. I’m fine. How… do you know me?”

I laugh. “Pixie, Maila was the one who nudged your backpack to you.”

Maila wiggles her dorsal fin in her version of a nod. I also tried to send you fruits, but I’m not sure they made it. How do you like your training?

Sareena smiles, relaxing for the first time since diving under. “Thank you for the fruits. Some of them were very good, but coconuts are a little hard to break without tools. Training is fun, and I think I’m doing pretty well. How about you?”

I mentally inform Maila, She’s doing better than most Grashiens would at training, but then again she has an advantage on them in years and size. She’s impressed most of the island with her abilities and determination.

Maila responds to both of us. I’m glad, dear. I’m sure you’re doing wonderfully. As for me, I’m doing excellent – my next brood should be ready in a week or two.

Sareena squeals. “You’re pregnant?! I’ve never seen a pregnant shark before.”

“Pixie, sharks don’t get pregnant the way humans do. They lay eggs, remember?” I remind her.

She nods. “But where do they lay them? There’s no place for them to rest.”

“That’s why Maila stays close to our island,” I say. “She lays her eggs in the shallower parts of our shores and acts as a warning system for us – in part, to protect her eggs.”

Maila nudges me gently. Also, I’ve become quite fond of many of your people. Cat here is one of my favorites – she has always cared for me if I am ill or wounded.

Sareena smiles again, but says nothing. She seems to be enjoying the moment, sitting weightless in the water. Then she jerks upright, looking terrified. “Is that… a school of sharks?!”

I spin and laugh quietly. A dozen hammerheads, eight great whites, half a dozen blacktip reef sharks, three megamouths, and a variety of other sharks are swimming at us from the north. I swim toward them and, to Sareena’s horror, start gently stroking the biggest great white’s snout. Some of the others brush up against me like cats asking for attention. Soon, I’ve practically disappeared into a whirling mass of large fish. Eventually, I stick my head out and wave to Sareena. “Are you coming?”

She gapes. “You expect me to willingly swim into a mass of sharks? Are you crazy?”

“Probably,” I admit. “But not for the reasons you think. They look dangerous, but they won’t hurt you,” I reassure her. “They are harmless, at least to Grashiens. Part of your training is getting to know the animals that leave on and around Gras. They are an extension of our family and should not be feared or ignored.”

Sareena hesitantly swims closer. One of the megamouths detaches from the group and slowly swims toward her. She squeaks in fear. I chuckle under my breath. “Come on. Megamouth sharks have three-foot-wide mouths, yes, but they only eat plankton. You’re safe. Sharks are a lot like cats – they love to be stroked and will rub up against you if you’re not giving them enough attention.”

She hesitantly reaches out and, true to my words, he pushes his snout into her hand. She smiles and strokes him. “What’s your name?” She asks him.

He rubs the side of her head with a fin. My name is Melvin. I’m the only shark here who is willing to eat jellyfish for breakfast.

She snickers at the way he introduces himself. “I’m Sareena. I’m the only Grashien born outside the tribes” she glances at me for confirmation “and happen to think jellyfish are useless. They don’t even have brains!”

I hear Melvin laugh in our heads, but I’m busy asking Maila if the storm has abated yet to catch his answer. She swims up and says, The storm has finished and the tribe is wondering where you are. I informed your brother you were meeting us, but they’re still worried. There have been a lot of jellyfish and Portuguese Men-of-War around here lately and we don’t want you to get stung. I’m not sure, even with your armor, that you could survive their poison.

I nod. I understand, but there are others we need to meet as well. I’ll call the dolphins once she’s finished meeting all of you; I’m sure you all can guard us against brainless jellies. She wiggles her dorsal fin again in understanding. I turn to Sareena. “Hey Flutterby, have you finished meeting all of the sharks yet?”

She shakes her head. “There are two more to meet,” she informs me. “I’ll try to do this quickly; I heard what Maila said.” She turns to the two remaining hammerheads and smiles as she talks to them. “Hello, what’re your names?”

I shake my head and turn around before letting out a high-pitched squeal to call the cetaceans. It only takes a couple minutes for them to appear and surround me in a whirlwind of dolphins and whales. I laugh out loud as I join in their fast, excited, watery dance. They always manage to elicit a laugh from me, no matter how bad of a day I’ve had.

Sareena, wondering what could possibly make me laugh, swims over and grins. “Ooh, something made Cat laugh,” she smirks at me but can’t help laughing herself.

The dolphins are swirling around me with the kind of enthusiasm you would expect if they were meeting a long-lost relation or something. I’m spinning with them and laughing my head off. I reach out and snatch her hand, pulling her into the dance as we tumble through the water. When the dolphins finally calm down – it always takes a while – Coral, the leader of this pod of dolphins, swims up and introduces herself. Hello! Cat, it’s been a while. Who’ve you brought this time? Without waiting for the answer, she continues. We saw the wreckage. Did anything exciting happen? We thought we saw someone get stranded on the island, but we were too busy taking advantage of the waves caused by the storm to look too hard.

Sareena looks a bit overwhelmed, so I do the talking. “Hi Coral, it’s nice to see you again. Yes, it has been a while since I was down here; this little one I brought is named Sareena. She was stranded on our island after the storm and happens to actually be a Grashien. I’m glad you enjoyed the waves.”

Pixie asks me under her breath, “Do they always talk that fast?”

I chuckle again. “Actually, only the younger ones do that. Coral is the youngest pod leader they’ve ever had. Go meet the others; I need to ask her something.” I swim up to Coral. Hi Coral, I have a question. You seem to be a few members short. What happened?

Coral seems sad when she responds. A recent shark attack claimed some of our eldest while we protected the young. Also, our strongest males are currently stranded on Fiji.

I sadden. I could help with that, I say. She brightens immediately. Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!!! She shouts in my head, spinning around to show her excitement.

I can’t help but laugh. Alright, alright, calm down a little. You’ll give poor Sareena a heart attack. She settles almost immediately and I swim to my cousin. “Come on,” I say. “Did you finish meeting them?”

She’s grinning more than I’ve ever seen her grin before. “Yep! They’re very enthusiastic.”

I smile at that understatement. “Okay then, let’s go meet the whales.”

Her face is priceless as the dolphins back off and join the perimeter of sharks surrounding us to make room for the whales. The first one to swim in is the largest, a gray whale named Amazila, who ducks down so that she can see Sareena. Just then, an orca named Orilon streaks in. Cat, Cat! There’s a problem. Orilon sounds panicked. Sareena is on a missing persons list. She needs to get back RIGHT NOW if you don’t want investigations into this area of the globe to commence!

I spin around to look at Sareena, who looks shocked. “Who would have thought to put me on that list?” She asks, sounding confused. “I don’t have any family on the mainland, and I lost touch with my only friends a couple years ago, when I escaped my last foster home.”

I shrug. “I don’t know. What I do know is, we’re in trouble.”