Spoken Through Silence (Open)

[Dahlia Tailrunner]

Dahlia nodded at him constantly, he didn't seem like much of a chatter than she was appearing to be. Truth was, Dahlia was never the person to talk so much or ask so many questions in her life. But, she was never used to speaking to those out of her pod really. It was very strenuous to not know anything about a complete stranger, and yet you're still helping him. Suddenly, a movement caught her attention in the water. She closed her eyes for a second and stood very still. She heard the flap of their wings, and the whispers of many conversations. "Shh... It's a manta ray, and her name is Delphi. She's the first manta ray.. The second was Antonio... They were my first encounter with manta rays where I knew they were my tavan." he smiled, and continued to keep her eyes closed. It was like music to her ears, as Delphi sang a lullaby that stormed through her entire body. "Do you mind if I? ..." She stopped for a second and realized that he trembled extremely at the sight of the manta ray. "Nevermind.. I'll just go by myself." She muttered to herself. Dahlia stripped down all her clothes accept for her undergarments. She dove into the water, seeing the Delphi was trying to lead her towards an area. She understood clearly was she was saying, but remembered that this moment was only temporary. She had to return to the surface, where she had to meet the annoying calls of a disrespectful man named Daske. Although she didn't get along with him very well, she felt sympathy for him. In some cases, she would have refused to help him. But for once, she just let everything go with the flow. As Dahlia surfaced, she called out to him to lug a rope long enough for her to climb. When he heard her cries, he lugged the rope over. Grabbing a hold of it, she began to climb up very easily until she reached inside the boat. She smiled softly, putting back on her clothes and then drying her hair quickly. "Woo! That was refreshing, now listen to me carefully. Delphi is going to lead us to 'your ship' but I must warn you. It will get very cold, so prepare blankets and such. I will maintain the ship, when your done you can help. Do I make myself clear?" Dahlia felt like a mother for a moment, who told her child what to do. She knew that this did not please him very much but she didn't care. She made her rounds around the ship, making sure they were always in the right direction. At times, she would stray off of the wheel and stop the boat for a while for a rest. A woman couldn't always maintain a skimpy old man in desperate need of help and venture out to find an unknown ship. Although, Dahlia didn't know what was going to happen after this, was he just going to leave her? Where would she go. Now she was starting to think that this was a bad idea and that she should have never come here. Although, there were some perks out of it. But, all good things will come to an end sooner or later.

[Daske Baggywrinkle]

Daske scowled. Now she was ordering him around like he was her servant. Or slave! He had risked everything to escape being a slave. There was no way he was going to let someone control his life like that again. But he still needed her help. “Damn,” he said under his breath. “It's a lot harder to be 'free' than I thought it would be.” He rubbed the scar on his face with the back of his hand while he thought. This was a side of Dahlia he hadn't see before. Up to this point she had seemed unsure of herself, almost timid. She was obviously intimidated by him. But now she seemed totally confident and ready to take charge. Did she have two personalities? A good side and an evil side? No, that was the Akalak. He wasn't entirely sure he liked this new Dahlia. On the other hand, there was something appealing about it. She didn't seem nearly so fragile, so breakable. In fact, she exuded a kind of a natural inner strength that he actually envied a little bit. “Ah ha!” he said out loud, turning to look at Dahlia. “It's those manta rays, isn't it!” Then he started laughing. “Lexi was like that. She had a tavan, too. Some kind of seal. Real cute fellow. It was like her other half. It followed her everywhere. She drew strength from it. She said they were 'bonded'. “You're bonded with one of these creatures, aren't you? Or maybe both of them. Hell, I don't know how this bonding stuff works. But they're your tavans. And they followed you all the way from the pod. And they're probably going to keep on following you wherever you go. Damn, that's absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever seen!” With a big grin, he scrambled up to the bow of the boat where he could see the two manta rays swimming back and forth. They almost seemed to be playing some kind of game with each other. One of them came to the surface right under the bow and looked up at him. Then it dove under the boat and came back around from the other side. Suddenly it leaped clear out of the water, seeming to sail through the air – big, beautiful, powerful – and then belly flopped back into the water with a huge splash that threw cold water all over Daske. “Hey!” He shouted. “You did that on purpose!" He was still laughing when he turned back to Dahlia and said, “So, Dahlia, where did they say we we're going?”