Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(41) Ande: Three-Way Trade

Taiki scoots over on his ledge to make space for me as I join him. I glance back towards Sar, then shift myself half a turn so my lights won't be flashing in their eyes. To Taiki's credit, he realizes my motivation and does the same. I lay my dagger between us.

Taiki flinches. "You might be right," he signs, with visible difficulty. "I still don't like it. But I can't think of anything else it could be, either."

That's a welcome change of attitude. There are times like this when Taiki's inclination towards logic works to our advantage. He might still believe in Andalua's goodness, but he's not so convinced that he'll ignore the hard fact that nothing else in the ocean can own this tooth. I pick up the dagger and sheathe it again. "Glad we agree."

Taiki looks away. I catch his attention again.

"Did you see the last thing the Seers told me?"

He nods.

"What do you think?"

"I..." He trails off, hand slipping down from his chest before he finishes, "I don't know."

I know that's not true. Taiki almost always puts words to his feelings faster than I do, and this is one area he's almost certainly picked to death ever since we left the Seers. If he "doesn't know," it's because he hasn't come to any firm conclusions.

"What kinds of things are you thinking about?" I ask.

"We don't have enough power to fight. Not the Shalda on their own, at least. Maybe if we made an alliance with the Ashianti"—I hide my shock—"but it's too late for that unless Sar takes back power, and I don't..."

He trails off, so I finish for him. "Yeah, they're in no state for that right now."

His shoulders slump as he nods. I gesture for him to continue. He's taken a completely different interpretation of the Seer's last words to me, and I want to know how far he's thought through his side of things.

"We have to find a way to save the island people," he signs shakily. "We're on our own. But I don't know what the Seers... what those words mean. What Andalua wants us to do. She's the ocean, so she's responding to whatever the ocean does, but I don't know why it's changing, or how to fix it other than bringing down the island people. I don't know how to bring down the island people without the Singer when almost none of my people know how to fight. Because they know we'd lose, and because they've always believed in the Singer."

He makes finger-claws through his hair. When he looks up again, there's an all-too-familiar helplessness in his eyes. "There aren't even enough of us left, even if people do learn to fight. It'll take too long, and we'll never catch up to the surface fighters. We're just not fighters. Except maybe Ruka's people, but..."

I raise an eyebrow. Ruka herself can fight dangerously well, but she's also a Sandsinger. The things she's told me about her people, meanwhile, haven't given me the impression they're very aggressive. They're not territorial, for one. They just follow the currents—migrating long distances for no reason other than finding food—and make friends with Kels like the Ashianti along the way. Taiki is making an assumption about sharks.

"They mostly just defend themselves," finishes Taiki. He drops his head again. "I don't want a war. But if we have to fight..."

I tip my head and cross my arms, giving him a quizzical frown. When he looks up and sees it, he signs warily, "What?"

"Am I talking to a copy? You're not a witchling, are you?"

"A what?"

"You don't want a war? Seriously? Did you kill Taiki and replace him?"