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

(1) Ande: Signs and Words

We find Taiki outside again, hovered over a ledge on the side of the pinnacle we're sheltered in like he's though about resting against it, then decided to stay mobile. He sees our shadows or silhouettes coming from an impressive ways off, and braces to bolt before recognizing us. He backs surreptitiously up against the wall as we join him.

"Everything okay out here?" I sign.

He nods. Neither of us have detected anything out of the ordinary in the three days we've been here, and today's been no exception, apparently. Taiki, though, keeps eyeing me like he knows we've come to find him for a reason.

"We need to find the Sandsingers," I sign.

"Are they missing?"

"No. We just need to visit them again."

His eyes flick to Sar. "We can't confront the Sandsingers. They're stronger than we are."

"We're not going to confront them. We only need—" I break off and throw Sar a glance for confirmation. They shrug. I turn back to Taiki. "We only need Ruka."

"Do we trust her? If she's friendly with the Ashianti, but there's someone sending information back and forth between Arcas and the islands..."

That's actually a valid concern for someone who didn't just confirm that Sar has a personal connection to Ruka. Taiki looks so genuinely uneasy that my urge to snap at him over automatically suspecting Ruka dissipates like smoke on the sea-breeze.

"She's safe," I sign.

He looks about to sign something else, then drops his hands and gives a single nod.

"And I'm not going to come back to the conversation on Roshaska until we have allies," I add. "So you've got plenty of time to think about that, too."

I turn away before he has a chance to reply to that, and promptly have to look to Sar for directions. They point with the ghost of a smile.

"How far are we?" I ask, then catch myself. They haven't even been outside in three days. "I mean, if you—"

"About half a moon."

"Okay, how."

For a moment, their shadow-smile turns real. "Currents. But also, this type of coral-rock only darkens like this past a certain point out from the islands, and there's a local barnacle species here, too. It only survives farther north, where it's warmer, so I cross that with the current to figure out where we are."

"Can you show me?"

They acquiesce, and so we set out together with Taiki trailing silently behind, trying not to look like he's eavesdropping. He drifts closer every time Sar brings up a new detail and begins to elaborate on it. The farther we travel, the more there are. A lot of Sami directional indicators are sporadic, I soon learn, so paying attention constantly is part of the process. I guess that gives people something else to keep them awake and occupied during long, monotonous trips through this open surface water. That, and finding food.

And so we assess fish trails, the sun, the current, the shape of the waves, the wind above the waves, a drifting tuft of seaweed, one tiny jellyfish, the movements of near-invisibly tiny shrimp, and a single fish scale in the water to keep finding our way. The fish scale sets me looking for others in sudden and acute paranoia, but it truly is alone. Nothing passed by this way and decimated a shoal while it was at it. I still can't stop looking for the rest of the day.

Evening is bearing down when something permeates the water and makes me double-take. The current is changing, and it's got a taste that's familiar to me. Oh Rashi help me. I know this. This is one of the currents that merged to sweep over the seamount where I first woke up as a Kel.