Dauphin

I watched the white sail in the distance. Sails weren't uncommon, tacking across the far horizon. They never came close, the island had a deadly reputation.

It didn't veer away, it traversed the seas on a heading directly towards me.

That was new.

I was infuriated with new. Ever since Father had brought her to our island, things had changed.

She was the only human he’d ever brought here, violating my sanctuary. It was an invasion that I could not tolerate. He was my world, my creator. His attention should have been mine alone.

I was curious and interested the day she first arrived. She was frightened, which was intoxicating. Father ordered me to stay away. Not like I could reach her, she kept her distance from the small pools in our home. Probably a smart decision. I wanted to see how long she could hold her breath underwater.

I dove off the rock to investigate the interloper in the sailboat further. The orcats chirped inquiringly, I asked them to stay behind. I would decide what to do next.

This was wrong, I was disobeying him. Again. I was supposed to inform him when things aren’t as they should be.

He yelled at me, chastised me like I was one of the orcats who had broken into the fish stores.

When I was much younger, he’d shown me Disney stories. He told me that I was just like the Little Mermaid.

“She is fish. I am mammal. She is magic. I am science. She is weak. I am strong. She is lesser, why do you want me to be like her?” I punctuated each sentence by slamming my tail. I could not fathom why he felt I would appreciate that comparison.

Today Father yelled at me and I did feel like the little mermaid weakling. All I did was bring an orcat to the woman.

A few weeks after she'd arrived, she left an offering by the pool, a sweet pastry. She had full access to the house, escape attempts were futile unless you could swim. She gave me something sweet and sticky. I had never had anything like it, and she made it just for me. I knew that talking to her was forbidden, but no one had ever made something for me before.

“Hello,” she said softly, “Can you understand me?” she moved slowly, her gestures careful and deliberate.

I nodded, my mouth full of deliciousness. At that I swam away, I had disobeyed enough.

I couldn’t resist returning. She left more food, treats as she called them, sweet cookies or savoury hot meat. The raw fish I was used to paled in comparison.

“What’s your name?” She continued to make cautious movements staying just out of reach.

This time I hesitated instead of rushing away, I’d be punished for disobeying his commands, did it matter if I shared more?

“Dauphin,” I told her.

“Dauphin? Isn’t that French for -” she stopped herself.

“Dolphin, yes,” I finished for her. “I know what I am. He might be brilliant, but his names are very literal.”

She seemed surprised. She is only the second human I’ve met, so I can’t be too certain. “I’m here because I was intelligently designed, DNA carefully chosen to result in intentional perfection. You are a random result of genetics mixed without care or thought. Why are you here?” I needed to know, there was no point in being subtle, why would Father bring her here, she was not special. He’d ignored me for weeks, refusing to even tell me what he was working on.

She told me that she was a zoologist who specialized in large carnivores, predominantly cats. She shared stories of dry grasslands and wet jungles, home to those majestic beasts. She confessed that she missed her own home. The only time I saw her smile was when she spoke about the big cats.

My mistake, and his as it turned out, followed. I believed that Father didn’t know I was visiting her. I was wrong.

I offered to show her one of the kittens. The orcats have infrequent litters, the kittens are treasured. She looked at me in stunned silence. How did she not know about the orcats? I told her that she was very lucky to be alive, if she had strayed into their territory she would have been the tasty treat.

Father believed that the orcats obeyed him. They didn’t. They obeyed me, I reinforced his commands.

I visited The Matriarch and asked to bring a kitten to the woman. I could have forced compliance, but that would only result in her planning to kill me later. The orcats were tall and lithe, jet black except for white below their eyes, like the killer whales they were named for. With webbed paws, rubber-like skin and a thick tail to act as a rudder, they were equally dangerous on land and water. I loved them fiercely.

The woman was enchanted with the kitten. She asked question after question while she played with the little black bundle of fury.

I was engrossed watching her, she deftly handled the little orcat without getting bit or scratched. I answered as best I could. The distraction covered his entrance. Father stomped over to the woman, wrested the kitten from her grasp and threw the creature against the wall.

I retrieved the kitten and fled. She was dazed but, luckily, otherwise unhurt. I knew Father would punish the woman. I was terrified, and angry, too. The emotions that warred within me were distressing.

I warned The Matriarch to keep the pride away until things calmed. He showed little regard for their lives, if peace on the island was to be maintained, an incident would need to be avoided.

Why would he bring the woman here, to disrupt what we have? I approached Father, hoping to understand everything he’d subjected us to. He screamed at me until he was hoarse. I was not to question, I was not to be concerned with his affairs, I was to obey him and protect the island. He wanted the woman to see me, but not to know me. He wanted her to know only what he was capable of. He was ashamed of the orcats! He was livid that I’d exposed his failures to her.

He banished me to patrol and told me to return only when he called for me.

A paradox then? I'm ordered to report anomalies, but I can return only when called.

I had already decided to disobey, now at least my banishment justified it.

The local pod came to see what I was after. They only approached when the orcats weren’t by my side, for obvious reasons. They enjoyed teasing me, calling me little sister and laughing when I couldn’t jump as high or swim as quickly.

Normally I would relish the chance to play with the dolphins, but I had no joy to spare. They sensed my pain and warned me that the island felt different. That didn’t make any sense, how could it feel different? They couldn't elaborate. Possibly it was me who couldn't understand.

The sailboat had dropped anchor far enough away from the island that only a determined eye would spot it. I slipped beside it, my grey skin acting as camouflage in the dimming light. I listened.

Purposeful steps, sounds of trunks opening, most likely only one person. I pulled myself up to see. A man, younger than Father, was checking a harness with a large metal canister. I was painfully aware that I seemed to be living that ridiculous story, first with being unfairly yelled at for deliberately disobeying and now while watching a strange man on a boat in the cover of darkness. I did not feel foolish attraction, only fury that more humans were encroaching on my home.

I recognized it now, the canisters would allow the man to breathe underwater and swim long distances. He was going to the island! The orcats would make short work of him unless he has weapons that I can’t see.

The man was here for the woman.

If this man had followed a trail here then more would come. Father had not been so clever as he’d believed, taking a woman and leading this man here.

Why has everything changed so drastically in such a short time! Before Father would never have treated me as an afterthought, as beneath him. Now to be so careless as to encourage intruders! I gripped the side of the boat so tightly my arms shook and I left divots in the exterior. This must be dealt with.

“I know why you’re here,” I called out. The man whipped around, brandishing a small harpoon gun. Ah, so he was armed after all. He moved as if he were dangerous.

“Show yourself!” he demanded.

“No,” I said as I continued moving alongside the boat. “You’re here for her. You don’t need to see me. The less you see, the more likely you are to survive.”

He continued stalking me, weapon raised. As things changed, so to would I adapt, and protect my own. There could be only one outcome.

He reluctantly complied and I returned to the island. I relayed my plan first to The Matriarch, she was quite pleased.

I hid in the small pool until Father brought the woman back to her space. She was shaking and wounded. Weak, but she did not deserve death.

She was broken, her spirit had held up over these last weeks, but something had changed. She looked empty. I did not have much time, he would be watching.

As quietly as I could, I called her over to the pool. She was frightened, this time the fear did not feel right. This woman is making me soft, I sighed in exasperation. “Put this on,” I passed her the harness and the breathing cylinder. “There is a man in a boat who has come for you. I will get you out but you must move with purpose.”

She was stunned but finally got her arms moving and into the gear. I kept my eyes on the door, I wouldn’t be caught off guard again.

I heard him before I saw him, yelling incoherently as he burst through the door. Carrying a gun? If Father was so far gone that he would kill me, he deserved what was coming.

She managed to clip the harness together as I pulled her down into the pool. I swam out to the sea, pulling her behind me, to the boat. I pulled myself up out of the water and tossed the woman on the deck.

“A bargain made, a bargain kept. Don’t tell anyone about the island. He won’t bother anyone ever again.” The orcats would make sure of that. Father should not have threatened the kitten.

I pushed myself off of the boat before they could answer. She knew what the orcats and I were capable of, they wouldn’t risk sending anyone here to certain death.

The years passed, the orcats flourished and we hunted together. I thought I would miss the comforts of the house, but I didn’t. Every year the sailboat would come to the edge of the territory and leave a waterproof box with cookies and treats for the orcats. The tribute was appreciated.

Epilogue

While I was never given full access to the Doctor’s work during my capture, I believed that he was trying (and failing) to replicate the success he had with Dauphin, but with felines instead of dolphins. The Doctor's work was beyond unethical, but Dauhpin's creation was ingenious. She was incredible, a dolphin-girl hybrid, grey skin and intense green eyes, almost mythical. I hoped that one day she would speak to me again. For now, my thoughts often stray to Dauphin the mermaid and her pride of stately orcats.