Mermaid tale: New home
This is a story from a cartoon show that I had found on you-tube a few weeks ago that use to play in Australia in 2001. I do not own the characters from Flipper and Lopaka, only the characters that I had created from my own mind.
This is a story that starts out with a girl who was an orphan that was a slave to two horrible adopted parents; until she was suddenly thrown overboard from their boat when a storm suddenly appeared over the ocean. She soon becomes friends with Flipper's son and starts to have adventures with him as she discovers who she really is, along with new friends that she will meet along the way; a surfer girl and a street wise boy.
The start of the beginning
Person's profile
My name is Melody Anderson, a girl who has no family to love. If you are wondering why I have no family, well let me tell you. It all started when I was only 5 years old so I don't really remember much about my past. My mom and I were walking home one night when this strange man came out of nowhere and stood in front of us with a gun in his hand. All I remember is my mother screaming my name, a gun fire, and after that…nothing. I must have knocked my head on the side walk and fell unconscious because the next thing I knew I've woken up within the orphanage.
I was saddened when I heard that my mother had died when she was protecting me from the man by taking the bullet that was meant for me and me alone. If you are wondering about my dad then here's the thing, I never really knew my father because I was too young to remember him, but my mother told me that he had drowned when sailing across the artic sea.
The people who worked at the orphanage were very kind to me and the other kids there became my friends even the new arrivals. I've always loved the orphanage that I had been raised in; it was like a second home to me and I wished that I could live there with the other children forever. Unfortunately that wish never came true for me, because a couple came into the orphanage one day and adopted me when I was 9 years old. I was a little sad that I had to leave the orphanage and my friends behind, but I kept thinking that the people who adopted me would be good parents to me. Boy was I ever wrong. The two of them were actually cruel and cold hearted; they were also dunkers who will always go out every night while leaving me alone to do their chores for them.
My life was miserable and I barely have any clothes that I can fit in any more as I grew older. The only clothes that do fit me are a high collar sleeveless shirt and baggy jeans that barely fit around my waist so I had to use an old rope for a belt; the jeans also had holes within the kneecap areas. As for shoes and socks; I have none to wear because my "family" didn't want to waste their precious money on my needs. I always believed that my life would get better if I worked hard for them, but everything I do for my "Parents" is not good enough for them. I started to lose hope as I began to turn into a lifeless shell that only listened to what my "Parents" told me to do, but my life will soon change when I go over seas on my summer vacation.
End of profile
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean
On the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean a large, fancy, ship is seen sailing as it crashed against the waves of the sea that crashed underneath it. On deck were two people who are sun bathing near their bath tub and pool.
The first of the people was a man who was large, and fat with a hairy chest that rose up and down as he breathed. He was wearing dark blue swim trunks that were to tight around his waist, and dark sunglasses that were covering his eyes from view. The man had no hair on his bold head as it was covered by a sunhat to protected him from the sun's rays.
Beside the man was a woman who was thin and slender; almost like a modal. The woman was wearing a bright red bathing suite, yellow sunglasses, and a sunhat like her husband. The woman had long black hair that flowed down to the middle of her back. Every man who saw her on first glance would say she's angel, but she was actually a demon that hides under the innocent smile that she would form on her face.
The two of them were reading a few magazines when they suddenly heard the pitter-patter of bare feet walking towards them. The two adults turned their heads to the right and saw a twelve year old girl walking towards them with a tray in her hands.
The girl was thin and pale. She looked like she would collapse any second just by a breath of a breeze, but despite her unhealthy state she looked beautiful. She had long reddish-brown hair that flowed down to the middle of her back and ocean blue eyes that wavered with a dull light in them.
The girl was wearing a high collar sleeveless purple shirt with the collar being a dark violet color. Below the collar was a wide strip that came down over her chest; then got smaller when it came down to the middle of her stomach. The strip was the same color as the collar on the girl's shirt. The girl was also wearing dark blue baggy jeans that had holes near the girl's kneecaps as it was held up by a rope belt that was tied around her waist.
The girl's name was Melody Anderson and she was the slave to the Connell's who had adopted her when she was a little girl. Melody was carrying two glass cock-tails on the tray as she carefully made her way towards the two adults.
"Finally!" exclaimed Mrs. Connell in anger as she glared at Melody through her sunglasses. "What was taking you so long with our drinks?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am," Melody apologized in a quiet voice. "I had to wait for the ice to be made within the ice machine."
"Well you should have started the ice machine first before you started making our cocktails!" growled Mr. Connell as he took the two glasses off of the tray before giving his wife her cocktail. "Now go clean up the decks of the ship!"
"Yes sir," replied Melody as she held the tray close to her chest before walking away from the couple.
Below the second deck
Melody had found a mop and a bucket within the kitchen after she had placed the tray back on the shelf where it belonged. Melody had filled the bucket up with soapy water and was now cleaning the floor boards of the deck with the mop. She looked down at the wooden floor of the ship while thinking about what her next chore will be. Melody was brought out of her thoughts when she suddenly heard a splash beside the bow of the boat. She leaned her mop up against the outside walls of the ship before walking towards the front railings of the ship and looked over the edge to the water below. What she saw was something that she had only seen within books. Racing along side the boat was a pod of bottlenose dolphins, which were diving in and out of the water.
A large smile spread out across Melody's face as she watched the sea creatures swimming along side the boat. That was when she saw one of the dolphins jump out of the water. The male, green eyed, dolphin was the most unique out of all the other six dolphins in the group for its skin color was a dark grayish/blue with a white underbelly beneath it. Separating the two colors was a dark blue stripe that traveled down the length of its body before appearing on the other side of the dolphin's body.
"Oh…wow!" cried out Melody in excitement as she leaned further out on the railing to get a better look at the dolphin. "I've never seen a dolphin like that one before in the books!"
"Melody!" shouted Mrs. Connell from the third floor of the ship.
Melody winched at the sound of the woman's angry voice as she quickly pushed her self away from the railing.
"Get back to work, now!"
"Yes Mrs. Connell!" answered Melody as she looked up at the woman that stood above her.
Melody took one last look at the dolphins before going back to her work. The hybrid dolphin jumped out of the water one last time before diving back into the waves of the ocean.
Under the waves of the ocean
The male hybrid dolphin swam through the ocean waters as it traveled past patches of seaweed and rock formations until it suddenly slowed down before coming to a stop. The reason the dolphin stopped was that he had spotted a female sea lion up ahead of him. The male quickly hid behind a large boulder and waited for the seal to swim by.
The sea lion had golden brown eyes and ginger brown fur; she was almost the size of a dolphin if not a head shorter. The sea lion swam by the large boulder while humming a tune to her self until she was suddenly startled out of her mind when someone sneaked up on her.
"Boo!" shouted a male voice behind her.
The sea lion gasped and quickly turned around to see the male hybrid dolphin laughing as he popped his head out from behind the rock.
"Oh, wiggling sea worms; don't scare me like that Torpedo!" exclaimed the female sea lion as she glared at the dolphin in front of her.
"I'm sorry Pearl, but I just couldn't help it," said Torpedo apologetically with a chuckle.
Torpedo was the type of dolphin that would always go looking for adventure and new places to explore; he also liked to play games with his friends or jokes on his friends.
"Oh, I will never understand why you like to scare me," groaned Pearl in exasperation as she raised an eyebrow at Torpedo. "Where were you any way?"
"Just hanging out and surfing with some of the other dolphins up on the surface," answered Torpedo.
"I see," muttered Pearl before she finally got down to business. "Any way, have you've forgotten what you need to be doing today?"
"Oh-no!" exclaimed Torpedo as he slapped the side of his head. "I was supposed to meet Echo and the others at the lagoon for our jumping lesson today!"
"Then you better get a move on or else you'll be late," warned Pearl in a sing-song voice while smirking at her friend.
"Don't you mean, we?" corrected Torpedo as he smirked back at his friend. "After all, you're also in my class, remember?"
"Smart aleck," grumbled Pearl as she crossed her flippers over her chest.
Torpedo only laughed before he turned his back towards his friend with his dorsal fin facing the female sea lion.
"Grab a fin," said Torpedo.
Pearl did what she was told as she quickly grabbed on to Torpedo's dorsal fin with her front flippers.
"Let's jet!" shouted Torpedo before he took of like a lightning bolt.
Torpedo had gotten his name after he had out swam the other sea creatures within the sea. His original name was Junior when he was just a new born calf, but his parents soon renamed him after they saw their son racing against his friends. Torpedo was proud of his new name and would always show off his speed in front of people who think that he was slow.
Back on the ship
Melody had finished mopping the whole ship from top to bottom and was now leaning up against the side railings exhausted from the work that she had done.
"I'm finally done," voiced Melody with a sigh of relief.
"Melody!" shouted Mr. Connell as he walked up to the twelve year old girl. "Did you finish swabbing the decks?"
"Yes Mr. Connell," answered Melody in a tired voice. "I've cleaned every inch of the ship."
"Good," huffed Mr. Connell. "Now you can clean the sides of the ship."
"What?" squeaked Melody as she looked at Mr. Connell in shock. "But that will take forever; can't you ask one of your men to do it?"
"No complaining!" shouted Mr. Connell in anger. "Now get to work before I throw you overboard!"
Melody shrunk back in fear from Mr. Connell's loud voice before she ran down the deck of the ship to get the cleaning supplies from the storage closet.
Unknown Island: Lagoon
Torpedo and Pearl finally came to their destination on time as they swam towards their friends that were floating in the water in front of them.
One of their friends was a young female bottlenose dolphin that was smaller than Torpedo and had a lighter color on her body. While Torpedo had green eyes the she-dolphin had dark blue eyes. The dolphin's name was Echo and she was Torpedo's little sister.
The second sea creature was a male manta ray that was the same size of the female dolphin. He had black skin along with white markings on his winged fins and white underbelly. The manta ray's name was Matt.
The last of Torpedo and Pearl's friends was a puffer fish that had bright yellow scales, orange fins and tail. The puffer fish's name was Puffer.
"Echo, Matt, Puffer!" called Torpedo as he and Pearl swam up to the group.
"Torpedo, you made it!" shouted Echo in joy when she saw her brother.
"Where were you T?" asked Matt curiously.
"Sorry guys, I was just hanging out with some of the other dolphins while chasing after a boat that I saw floating out on the ocean," answered Torpedo as he stopped in front of the group.
"And that's what you always do these days," said Pearl as she lets go of Torpedo's dorsal fin. "You always swim with another group of dolphins while chasing after boats in the process."
"Not all of the time," argued Torpedo as he looked at his seal friend with a frown.
"Anyways, you guys made it on time," said Puffer as he interrupted the argument.
"Yeah," added Echo in agreement. "And lets just be glade that dad wasn't here before you brother."
"You're right about that sis," said Torpedo. "Other wise I would have gotten an ear full of his lectures on being late."
"Are my lectures really that bad to hear?" questioned a male voice from behind Torpedo.
The hybrid dolphin when ridged for a moment before he quickly turned around to face the one that had spoken to him. Floating in front of Torpedo was a much taller male dolphin that had a dark blue/gray skin color, but was still lighter than Torpedo's skin color. The older dolphin had his fins crossed over his chest while smirking at Torpedo as he raised one eyebrow up in amusement.
Torpedo gave the older dolphin a lopsided grin as he waved his right fin shyly.
"Hi dad," he greeted with a nervous chuckle.
"Good afternoon Mr. Flipper/dad!" greeted Pearl and the gang politely.
"Good afternoon class," greeted the older dolphin, Flipper, back before he turned his eyes back on to Torpedo. "I'm glade that you finally came on time for class today."
A blush formed on Torpedo's cheeks as he turned his eyes downwards to the ground in embarrassment. Torpedo was always known to be late for his class lessons, but he would always make up for it by spending time together with his dad.
"Now class, let us begin our lesson today," continued Flipper as he looked at his students. "The first thing that we should do is warm up before we start our jumping lessons."
"Okay!" echoed Torpedo and his friends.
The students started to move their tails and fins slowly at first before they started moving them faster. Torpedo clenched his jaws as he flapped his tail as fast and as hard as he could before he accidentally kicked off. That made him swim into a patch of seaweed while he got himself tangled in the process. Pearl and the other kids started to laugh at Torpedo's misfortune as the young dolphin struggled against the seaweed that wrapped around him.
"I don't see what's so funny about this!" exclaimed Torpedo angrily as he glared at his sister and friends.
"Alright kids, that's enough," said Flipper as he calmed his class down before he quickly swam to his son's aid.
Torpedo struggled harder as he tried to break free from the seaweed that tangled around him until his father came up to him.
"Easy my son," soothed Flipper gently. "Remember what I've told you?"
Torpedo soon stopped his struggling and began to relax as the seaweed slowly started to untangle around him. Torpedo slowly floated up from the seaweed and once he was clear of the patch he quickly took his place within the group.
"Man Torpedo, you may be fast on speed, but you aren't very clever on brains." Pearl joked as she gave her friend a smirk.
Torpedo went beet red as he became really embarrassed about what he did in front of everyone in the group. This would always happen to him whenever he was showing off in front of people or not, and the results were of him banging into rocks or getting tangled up in seaweed. Torpedo always felt like he was always getting in peoples way or he was invisible in front of them, but his father would always remind him that he was not in the way and Torpedo was grateful that his father was always there for him.
"Okay, now that we've gotten that out of our systems lets start our lesson." Flipper continued as he looked at all of his students in front of him. "Now, I'll be showing all of you how to jump through the hoop today, so watch carefully."
Torpedo and the others nodded their heads before Flipper suddenly took off towards the surface of the upper world. The kids quickly followed after the older dolphin to the surface of the ocean. Once the sea children surface they watched in awe as their teacher jump through a bamboo hoop, which was held up by a sea otter that was standing on a small cliff, which hung over the lagoon.
The sea otter had violet fur with white at the tip of the it's tail. The otter's name was Otty and he was a friend of Flipper's.
Flipper soon landed back into the water with a splash before he resurfaced to face his students again.
"Whoa!" "Cool," "Awesome!" cheered Torpedo and the group in amazement.
"Fantastic!" praised Otty.
"And that's all you have to do," said Flipper to his students. "All you need to do is to gather speed with your tails and fins so that you can jump out of the water, got it?"
Torpedo and his friends nodded their heads before they all dive back underwater again with Flipper following after them.
Torpedo got in line with the other kids as they waited for their teacher to give them the signal to go. Flipper swam over to his students with a smile.
"All right now, all of you will be put into a group of 2 or 3 and will be jumping through the hoop when I call out your names. So; Torpedo, Matt, and Puffer go!"
Torpedo, Matt, and Puffer swam away from the group as they gathered some distance to jump with Torpedo in the lead. Torpedo soon made a 'U' turn to go back the way he came with Matt and Puffer following behind him as they swam past Flipper and the group. Puffer was trailing behind Matt and Torpedo which Flipper noticed.
"Swim a little faster Puffer," advised Flipper to the puffer fish as the younger fish swam past him.
Torpedo jumped out of the water with Matt and Puffer coming after him as he passed through the hoop with a 'yahoo'. Matt followed through the hoop with a cheer of his own, but Puffer missed his mark and quickly fell back into the water with a plop.
Torpedo and Matt chuckled as they watched their friend float down in front of them, but they soon blinked in surprise when the saw Puffer blow him self up like a balloon. They soon watched in amazement as their little friend shot backwards out of the water again. He sent him self air born as he past through the hoop before plopping back into the water once again. Torpedo chuckled again as his friend came floating back down between him and Matt.
"Nice trick," he complemented to the puffer fish.
"Show off," joked Matt with a smirk.
"Very good you three," praised Flipper before he turned to look at his two other students. "Now Pearl, Echo; it's your turn, go!"
"Yes sir!" barked Pearl as she and Echo swam away from their teacher.
Once the two of them gathered enough distance they did a 'U' turn and start to gain speed as they swam towards the surface. Pearl shot out of the water before passing through the hoop with Echo following after her. Torpedo had surfaced from the beneath the water to watch his sister jump, but his eyes quickly caught something on the horizon. Torpedo saw dark clouds forming over the ocean with the sound of thunder in the distance. Flipper surface beside his son to see what was wrong and he quickly noticed the storm clouds.
"Looks like a storm is forming out there," said Flipper in concern.
"And it's coming in fast," pointed out Torpedo as he looked at his father. "We should probably get out of here."
Flipper nodded his head in agreement before looking up at his otter friend who was standing on the rock/cliff above him. Otty also noticed the storm clouds and didn't need to be told what to do. He quickly jumped from his post and dove into the water.
Flipper turned to his son: "Lets gather up everyone else and take them back to Quetzo."
Torpedo nodded his head in agreement before he and his father dived back down into the water again.
On the Connell's ship
Melody was sitting in one of the lifeboats, which was hanging off the side of the ship as she scrubbed the side with a sponge. Melody could barely keep her eyes open as she scrubbed the wall of the ship, but she was quickly brought out of her daze when she felt something wet land on the tip of her nose. Melody turned her eyes upwards and gasped when she saw black storm clouds forming over head.
"Oh-no," she voiced in fear.
Melody dropped what she was doing as she threw the sponge back into the water bucket and started to pull on the rope to go up. She was almost half way up when the rope jerked to a stop.
"W-what?" questioned Melody in confusion.
"And what do you think you're doing?" growled a voice from above Melody's head.
The 12 year old looked up and saw Mr. Connell glaring down at her.
"Please let me up Mr. Connell!" pleaded Melody. "There's a storm coming in!"
"Not until you finished cleaning the sides of the ship!" shouted Mr. Connell. "Now get back to work!"
"But Mr. Connell," started Melody, but the man had already disappeared from the side railings.
Melody began to get scared as the wind started to pick up and the calm waters of the ocean turned into the rough waves of rage.
Under the ocean
Flipper and Otty were leading the kids back to Quetzo as the underwater currents of the ocean started to pick up.
"Not much further kids!" shouted Flipper over the current as he looked at Torpedo and the group behind him that were struggling to keep up.
Torpedo swam beside his sister as he helped her through the underwater currents that were blowing around them until they came to the underwater city that was their home. Pearl, Matt, and Puffer quickly met up with their parents before they took refuge in one of the sea caves. Flipper and Otty lead Torpedo, and Echo to one of the sea caves where their mother and Flipper's two other friends were hiding in.
"Mama!" cried Echo as she swam over to a female striped dolphin.
The striped dolphin had pink skin and a dark purple stripe that came around both sides of her body and two purple triangle markings at the corner of her eyes. Her name was Ultra, Flipper's mate.
The two creatures that were with Ultra were a green and orange sting ray with pale blue spots on its back, and an orange puffer fish. Their names were Ray and Puffy; they were two of Flipper's friends.
Ultra hugged her daughter as relief washed over her body when she saw that her children and mate were safe.
"Did everyone evacuate from Quetzo?" asked Flipper to his mate and friends.
"Don't worry, everyone managed to find a safe place to hide before the storm came," answered Ultra in reassurance.
Torpedo looked outside the cave entrance with a frown forming on his face.
"Man, I don't get why a storm has to hit now of all days!" he growled in annoyance.
"Just be lucky that you aren't out there right now," pointed out Puffy. "Other wise you would be crashing into things."
"Wouldn't matter, because he always crashes into things when he's showing off in front of everyone," joked Ray with a chuckle.
Torpedo snapped his body around as he glared at the sting ray before he stuck out his tongue to do a raspberry at him. Ultra saw what her son was doing and started shaking her head at him.
"Now Torpedo, don't be rude," scolded Ultra as she shook her fin at her son in disappointment.
"Sorry mother," Torpedo apologized as he hung his head in shame.
"Torpedo, I know you don't like being teased, but I think that you should swallow you pride for today and just relax. The storm will pass over soon." Flipper advised as he swam over to his son and reassured him with a confident smile.
"Okay dad," said Torpedo with a small smile as he look up at his father.
Back on the surface of the ocean
Melody held on to the sides of the boat as it was knocked upwards by a large wave that crashed against the side of the ship. Melody looked up at the side railings and began to shout for the Connell's, but her cries were drowned out by the thunder and waves of the ocean. She'd tried to shout again, but she was suddenly knocked out of the life boat by a much larger wave that crashed up against the ship. Melody found her self flying through the air for a moment until she suddenly fell into the cold waters of the ocean and was quickly stunned by the coldness that surrounded her body.
Melody quickly snapped out of her shock as she started to franticly swim up to the surface before breaking out of the water gasping for air while chocking on salt water. The 12 year old tried to keep her head above water, but the waves were just too big and too strong for her to handle.
Melody coughed as water entered her throat before she made one last attempt to call for help.
"Mr. Connell, Mrs. Connell, anyone…Help!" shouted Melody desperately before she was dragged under the waves of the ocean again.
Back in Quetzo
Torpedo and the group sat in their shelter as they watched the underwater currents rushed through the ocean. Torpedo gave a sigh out of boredom as he slumped against the walls of the underwater sea cave.
"How much longer with this stupid storm last," he grumbled as he crossed his fins over his chest."
"You must be patient Torpedo," said Otty when he swam over to the young dolphin. "The storm will pass soon."
Torpedo only frowned at the sea otter before he turned his head away from his dad's friend to ignore him. Torpedo thought that he was going to go insane from boredom when he suddenly heard something, a voice. It was faint, but the young dolphin was able to understand the word that the voice was trying to say.
"Help!" shouted the voice within his head.
Torpedo quickly shot up from the cave wall and swam towards the entrance of the cave before stopping as he stared out at the water's dangerous currents. Flipper noticed his son staring out at the ocean waters from the cave entrance and quickly swam over to Torpedo's side.
"Torpedo, what's wrong?" asked Flipper.
"I-I don't know dad," answered Torpedo as he looked at his father. "But…I thought I heard a voice calling out for help."
"I didn't hear anything," said Flipper with a frown.
"I guess it was just my imagination," muttered Torpedo with a shrug.
Flipper gave his son a smile, but he soon frowned again before he turned his eyes towards the entrance of the cave. He watched the violent currents swirl and turn within the ocean waters. Flipper felt that something was happening out there within the sea, but he wasn't the only one for his son was feeling that something or someone out there was calling out to him and it was pulling at his heart. Torpedo wanted to go out there so that he can find the source of the pulling, but he didn't want to make his family worry about him so he ignored the strange feeling for the time being until the storm has past.
Miles away from Quetzo
Hours had past, but the storm had finally disappeared and the waters were calm once again as a large patch of seaweed moved and bend within the ocean's gentle current. All was quiet until the seaweed was disturbed by a figured that slowly rose up from the sea plants with a groan. The person was none other then Melody herself as she sat within the patch of seaweed all by herself.
"Oh, my head," groaned Melody as she raised her right hand to touch the side of her head before she started to look around at her surroundings.
"Where am I?" she voiced as she saw the field of seaweed around her.
Melody looked left to right before looking up and gasp in shock when she saw the 'sky' above her head.
"I-it can't be," stammered Melody in fear. "I-I'm underwater!"
When that realization sunk in, she started to panic. She quickly leapt up from the seaweed patch and started to swim up towards the surface as fast as she could, but she quickly stopped swimming when she realized that something was wrong with her legs. Weren't her legs supposed to be moving back and forth instead of up and down? She turned around to see what was wrong with her legs and gasped again at what she saw before her.
What Melody saw wasn't her legs. In their place was a tail that swished up and down as she moved it. Her new tail was shaped like a dolphin's tail for the end was flipped down wards instead of horizontally. Melody's tail was a light blue color that radiated within the rays of light that seeped down through the waters of the ocean. A small violet strip was found where it began at the end of her tail between the two flat parts of her fins and went a short ways up her tail.
"This…can't be," voiced Melody as she looked down at the tail that was attached to her waist.
She started to get really scared now and she did the only thing that anyone would do in this kind of situation…she screamed.
In Quetzo
Torpedo suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned his head up from his work as he looked out at the wide open sea beyond the sunken city of Quetzo.
"What was that?" voice Torpedo quietly.
"Hey, Torpedo!" shouted Pearl to the Dolphin. "Can you give us a helping fin here?"
"Coming!" called Torpedo as he swam over to Pearl, Matt, and Puffer to help them lift a pillar that had fallen over from storm.
Everything was a wreck in the underwater city of Quetzo. Roofs had caved in on houses; buildings were toppled over; and pillars had been knocked off from their posts.
"What a mess," groaned Otty in annoyance as he swept the streets of the bits and pieces of debris from the disasters of the storm.
"You can say that again," spoke Flipper as he picked up a rock and threw it to the side before he turned to look at his friend. "That storm was probably one of the worse that we have ever had this year, but the most important thing is that everyone is safe."
Torpedo and Matt were pressing their backs against the pillar that they were lifting while Pearl and Puffer pulled from the other side.
"Man, I don't get why these storms have to come rolling by and start reckoning the whole place," complained Torpedo with a final grunt as he and his friends finally got the pillar up and standing again.
"It's just the way it is man," said Matt as he looked over at his dolphin friend beside him.
"He's right," added Pearl as she back up Matt within the conversation. "Storms are part of nature and we all know that Mother Nature is to not be tampered with."
Torpedo was about to make a smart remark about what Pearl had said when he was suddenly interrupted by a female voice.
"Cleo! Cleo, where are you?"
Everyone turned their attention away from what they were doing as they spotted a female sea otter swimming around the streets of Quetzo.
The female sea otter had brown fur with a few black markings streaking her body. Flipper and everyone else quickly dropped what they were doing as they swam over to the female sea otter to see what was wrong.
"Excuse me Ma'am," spoke Flipper politely as he came up to the sea otter. "Are you looking for someone?"
"Yes, I am," replied the sea otter. "I'm looking for my daughter, Cleo. She has the same colored fur as me and blue eyes. Have any of you see her by any chance?"
"I'm afraid we haven't seen her ma'am," answered Ultra sadly.
"Oh, she must have still been outside of Quetzo looking for seashells before the storm hit," whimpered the female sea otter in worry.
"Don't worry," reassured Flipper as he tried to calm the female otter. "We'll help you find your daughter."
"Oh, thank you," breathed the female otter in gratitude.
After that, everyone split up in search for the lost otter pup.
Melody
Melody was swimming through the ocean in a panic as she tried to find the Connell's boat while shouting through her head to wake up from this dream. She was swimming so fast that everything around her was nothing but a blur, yet she wasn't looking at her surroundings at all.
"Where is it, where's the boat!" shouted Melody in distress as she stared up at the waters surface.
The problem in keeping your eyes fixated on one spot for too long you tend to forget where you were going, and Melody was one of those people who didn't watch where she was going. Melody had been so busy looking for the boat that she didn't notice that she was swimming towards a rock wall before it was too late. Melody suddenly slammed into the wall before she began to fall down towards the sea floor, but she quickly snapped out of her daze as she shook her head to clear it before catching herself.
Melody slowly floated down to the ocean floor and sat down on the ground while panting for breath as she tried to clam down.
"How could this have happened?" voiced Melody as she was getting close to tears. "Why did I have to lose my mother? Why did I get adopted by cruel people who want me as their slave?"
Melody started to cry as she began to believe that this whole breathing under the ocean and having a tail thing wasn't a dream after all. Just then, Melody was brought out of her sobbing when she began to hear crying above her head. She slowly turned her eyes upwards to see where the sound was coming from, but she only saw a rock wall in front of her. Melody scrunched her eyes a little as she took a second glance at the wall and saw that it had many holes on its surface.
"Where's that sound coming from?" mused Melody curiously.
Melody swam up from the sea floor as she started look in every hole on the rock wall for the source of the sound. Melody kept swimming around the rock wall to find out where the crying was coming from when she suddenly came to a hole that was big enough for her to fit in.
"It's coming from here," voice Melody before she swam into the hole.
The hole was actually a cave and Melody was amazed by how big the cave was, but she quickly grimaced when she saw the fish bones that were scattered on the floor in front of her.
"Where did these bones come from?" she questioned as she looked down at the ground before her.
"Help me, please?" a small female voice begged from in front of Melody.
Melody looked up from the floor towards the back of the cave and saw a small female otter pup trapped behind a coral cage door. The otter pup had brown fur with a few dark streaks in it and blue eyes that wavered in fear.
"A sea otter pup!" gasped Melody in surprisement.
The otter pup held a finger up to her mouth in a signal to be quiet.
"Shh…not so loud, or you'll wake them up," whispered the other pup in warning.
Melody was shocked when she heard the otter pup speak, but quickly shook it off as a hallucination from hitting her head too hard on the rock wall before speaking to the otter pup in response.
"Who are 'they'?" she asked in a soft voice.
The pup's only reply was pointing a finger up towards the cave's ceiling. Melody was confused for a moment until she turned her eyes upwards before she gasped in shock and fear. Floating above Melody's head were fish that had long fangs sticking out and down from the top of their jaws. They were as big as Melody's hands and their fish scale colors were a dark purple violet with a lighter tone of purple under their bellies. Melody instantly knew exactly what these fishes were for she had read all about them in the books at the library when she would get the chance to escape the Connell's house when they were out to get a drink.
"Vampire fish," she voiced in fear before she turned her eyes back on the otter pup.
Common sense told her to run away while she still can, but she was never the one to leave a person behind in the face of danger, no matter how scary the situation is. Melody sucked up her courage before she started to slowly swim towards the otter pup while being careful as to not wake up any of the vampire fish. She nearly had a close call with one of the vampire fish floating above her head when a few strands of her hair tickled one of the fish's whiskers, but that tickle wasn't enough to wake the vampire fish. Melody finally made it to the coral cage door and quietly opened it by lifting it up with the opening being big enough for the otter pup to swim out. The otter pup swam out of the cage before it floated beside Melody with a smile on its face.
Melody smiled back at the female otter pup before she motioned for it to follow as they quietly swam under the sleeping vampire fish that hung above their heads. Melody's heart pounded inside her chest as fear started to flow through her blood, but she kept calm while she swam beside the otter pup. Melody and the otter pup were almost at the entrance to the cave when they suddenly heard a loud bang from the coral cage door slamming shut and that was when things got really bad for them. The sound from the cage door had awoken one of the vampire fish.
"What is this?" exclaimed the vampire fish when it saw Melody and the otter pup near the cave entrance.
"Go, go, go!" shouted Melody to the female otter pup as she quickly grabbed it with her arms and swam out of the cave as fast as her tail could carry her.
"Wake up everyone!" shouted the vampire fish to his clan. "Our meal is escaping!"
The chase was on as Melody swam through the open waters of the ocean with the otter pup in her arms as the swarm of Vampire fish chased after her.
Torpedo and his group
Torpedo was with his friends as they searched for the young otter pup, Cleo. The groups had been divided up with Ultra, Echo, and Mrs. Otter searching on the east side of the ocean while Flipper and his group were searching in the south section of the ocean. Torpedo and his group were searching in the north section of the ocean and so far they had no luck in finding the pup.
"Cleo!" shouted Torpedo as he swam around looking for the young otter pup. "Where are you?"
"Cleo!" shouted Pearl as she was looking down a small narrow tunnel where she thought the young otter pup might be hiding in.
"Cleo, are you here?" called Matt as he glided over a patch of seaweed.
Puffer swam into a small hole to see if the otter pup was in there, but he quickly got chased out by an eel that was living in there.
"And stay out!" shouted the eel in anger before it slithered back into its hole.
"Sorry," whimpered Puffer from behind Torpedo.
The dolphin hybrid shook his head at his friend as a smirk spread out across his face. Puffer would always stick his nose into places where it didn't belong when he was looking for a place to hide in their hide-and-seek game. Torpedo turned to look at Pearl and Matt who swam up to him with depressed frowns on their faces.
"Any luck?" asked Torpedo.
"No," answered Pearl with a shake of her head.
"We've searched the whole area and we still couldn't find the kid." Matt said in a disheartened voice.
"It's hopeless," groaned Puffer beside Torpedo. "We'll never find her."
"Come on guys, we can't give up now," encouraged Torpedo to his group. "We just have to keep-"
That was when Torpedo stopped in mid-sentence as he started to sense something through his body. Torpedo turned his head to the right to see where the feeling was coming from before he quickly took off like lightning again towards the sea rock cliffs while leaving his friend behind him confused.
"Torpedo!" shouted Pearl as she and the others cased after their friend.
Melody
Melody found herself swimming through a canyon of sea rocks while she swam like lightning as if the devil was flying at her heels, which was entirely true on her part. Melody risked a look over her shoulders as she saw the vampire fish still chasing after her.
"They're gaining on us!" cried the female otter pup within Melody's arms.
Melody turned her head forward again before she kicked her new tail to go faster as she tried to escape the vampire fish.
'I have to keep moving!" shouted Melody within her head. 'Or else we're done for!"
Just then, Melody saw a rock wall in front of her and started to slow down for she knew that this was a dead end for her. Fear started to sink in to her heart as she began to lose hope in escaping the fish that wanted to suck her blood and the pup's blood.
'Is this the end of us?' though Melody in fear.
"Are we going to be okay?" asked the female otter pup as it looked up at Melody in fear.
Before Melody could reply a male voice spoke from behind them.
"You're never going to escape if you're that slow!"
Melody looked behind her and gasped when she saw who the speaker was behind her. Swimming fast underneath the vampire fish was the hybrid dolphin that she had seen when she was on the Connell's boat. The dolphin came under Melody and the otter pup with his dorsal fin facing them.
"Grab hold!" shouted the dolphin as he swam underneath the two of them.
With her right hand, Melody grabbed on to the dolphin's dorsal fin as she held on tight before the hybrid started to pick up speed.
"Don't let them get away!" shouted one of the vampire fish as it and the others started to pick up speed themselves.
Melody looked back behind her and saw that the vampire fish were closing in on them. She turned her head forward again and gasped when she saw that they were coming closer to the rock wall. Melody wanted to let go, but was too scared to do it; so she hanged onto the dolphin's dorsal fin and shut her eyes tight. The dolphin kept swimming towards the rock wall as he kicked his tail faster as he came within range of the wall.
They were only a few feet away from the rock wall when the hybrid dolphin made a steep climb upwards to the surface of the ocean. Melody was taken off guard when she felt the dolphin move upwards, but she managed to hang on to the dorsal fin as they swam up towards the surface.
The vampire fish were surprised by the dolphin's quick actions that they didn't have time to stop themselves as they saw the rock wall coming up to meet them.
"Uh-oh!" chorused the fishes as their eyes went wide on their faces.
Melody had reopened her eyes and was now staring up at the surface of the water as she, the otter pup, and the dolphin came closer to their destination, but they were quickly distracted by a sound behind them. A loud crash rang out through the ocean and the trio stopped with Melody letting go of the dolphin's dorsal fin and the otter pup as they all turned around to see where the noise had come from. They saw that the vampire fish had collided with the rock wall and were now lying on the sea floor as they moaned out in pain.
Melody, the dolphin, and the otter pup looked at one another for a moment before they all went into a fit of laughter. They continued their way up to the surface as they still laughed at the fish that had been chasing them a few moments ago.
The dolphin was the first one to pop his head out from the water with Melody coming in second and the otter pup coming in third.
"Oh man, that was so rich!" exclaimed the dolphin in excitement. "Who knew that the vampire fish would fall for a trick like that?"
"Those poor vampire fish!" laughed the female otter pup as she lay on her back on the surface of the water. "They're going to have one huge headache when they wake up!"
Melody laughed as she nodded her head in agreement before calming down and looking over at the dolphin hybrid in front of her.
"Thank you for saving us back their," spoke Melody in gratitude.
"Ah…no big," replied the dolphin with a wink of his right eye. "The names Torpedo by the way."
"Nice to meet you Torpedo, I'm Melody Anderson," she introduced herself as with a smile.
"And I'm Cleo," piped the female otter pup after she sat up right again.
"So you're Cleo huh?" said Torpedo with a smile as he looked at the otter pup in front of him.
"Yes," answer Cleo with a confused look on her face.
"Well your mother is looking for you, along with the rest of my family and friends."
"Really?" barked the female otter pup joyfully.
Torpedo nodded his head at the young otter pup with a smile gracing his face. Melody also smiled; for she was glad that Cleo, the otter pup, had a mother looking for her. The thought of a mother caring for her child soon made Melody frown in sadness as she remembered what had happened to her mother and knew that she will never see her again.
"Melody?" at the call of her name, Melody snapped out of her thoughts as she looked over at Torpedo confused.
"Are you alright?" asked Torpedo in concern.
"Yeah," answered Melody quietly. "I'm fine Torpedo."
Just then, a seal, a manta ray, and a puffer fish suddenly surfaced in front of Melody, Torpedo, and Cleo.
"there you are!" shouted the female seal in anger. "Did you know how long it took us to find-?"
The seal suddenly stopped in her sentence when she spotted Melody and gasped in alarm. The puffer fish and manta ray also gasped in alarm when they saw Melody as well.
"HUMAN!" shouted the three sea creatures before they all dived back down into the water again.
Melody blinked her eyes before she looked at Torpedo confused.
"Who were those guys?" she asked the dolphin hybrid.
"Those three were my friends," answered Torpedo with a chuckle. "The sea lion was pearl, the manta ray was Matt, and the puffer fish was Puffer."
"But why did they suddenly leave?" asked Melody again. "Did I do something to make them run-err-swim away from us?"
"I wouldn't blame you personally Melody," reassured Torpedo with a smile. "But those guys aren't really use to humans is all. They've always hear rumors from other fish that humans are monsters that eat fish for their blood."
"But I'm not a monster, at lest…I don't think I am."
"What do you mean by that Ms. Melody?" asked Cleo.
"Well…" started Melody as she lifted her fluke/tail half way up out of the water. "Humans don't have tails; they have legs that help them walk on land."
"Wait a minute," halted Torpedo as he raised his right fin out of the water in front of him. "Could it be that you're that girl who was on that boat with those people who were shouting at you?"
Melody nodded her head slowly as she submerged her tail into the water again before she turned her head away from both Torpedo and Cleo.
"Hmm…"hummed Torpedo in thought before smiling. "Well, we'll figure out what happened to you later, right now we better go find my friends."
Melody turned her head and blinked in surprise as she looked at Torpedo confused, but soon smiled at the dolphin before nodding her head in agreement. Torpedo nodded back at Melody before he motioned for her and Cleo to follow him as he dove back down under the water with the two of them following after him.
Melody and Cleo followed Torpedo as they swam through the waters of the ocean until they came to a sea cave. Torpedo smiled as he looked down into the dark tunnel before he turned to Melody and Cleo.
"Whenever they see a human's boat or a diver who is swimming in the water, they would always hide in a cave like this one and wait until the boat or human goes away." Torpedo explained to Melody and Cleo.
"But how do you know that they're in there?" asked Melody out of curiosity.
"Like this," replied Torpedo with a smirk before he turned to look down the entrance of the tunnel again and started shout down it. "The sea is our home that is hidden under the waves from the air-breathers who live above!"
Melody and Cleo looked at each other before turning to look back at Torpedo again confused. After few minutes a familiar female voice replied to Torpedo's shout.
"The sea is our world that nobody, but us can live in!"
Torpedo smiled before he turned around to face Melody and Cleo again.
"What was that all about?" echoed both Melody and Cleo in question.
"It's a secret code that my friends and I use to tell who we are if we were looking for each other in caves," explained Torpedo to the two girls. "We made up this code so that we can have close ties with each other."
"Wow," breathed Melody in amazement.
Just then, Melody, Cleo, and Torpedo heard a gasp behind them and they turned around to see that Pearl, Matt, and Puffer had emerged from the cave. They were all huddled together as they stared wide eyed at Melody in fear.
"A-a-a human!" stammered Pearl as she pointed her front left flipper at Melody.
"Down here!" added Matt as his body trembled in fear.
But the tension quickly subsided when everyone turned their attention on Puffer as he started to blow himself up to make him look bigger than the others. Melody gapped as she blinked her eyes in surprisement while she stared at the puffer fish before turning to look at Torpedo again.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Melody in worry.
"It's alright Mel," reassured Torpedo with a smile. "Puffer only does that when he's scared."
"He's scared of me?" said Melody confused.
"Well of course he's scared!" exclaimed Pearl as she swam up to face Melody. "You're a human, and humans eat us fish!"
"Not me," said Melody as she raised her hands up in defense. "The only thing that I had ever eaten was stale bread."
"Yeah right," muttered Pearl indifferently.
Torpedo rolled his eyes at his distrusting friend before he looked over at Puffer: "Cut it out Puffer, Melody's a friend."
When he said those words, Puffer instantly let out the air that he was holding as he sent himself flying into Matt. The two of them crashed into a rock pillar and stuck there for a few minutes until Puffer unstuck himself from Matt. Melody held a hand over her mouth as she muffled her giggles while she tried hard not to laughed at the funny scene that had been displayed in front of her.
"W-well…My dad always said that you can't trust air breathers." Puffer stated logically.
"And you believe everything that your folks tell you?" asked Torpedo as he looked at his fish friend. "If you have already forgotten, my family and I are air breathers too you know?"
"Yeah, I know that," answered Puffer.
"So is Pearl," added Torpedo.
"He does have a point," muttered Pearl as she scratched the back of her head.
"And so is Melody," continued Torpedo. "And let's not forget that my father's friend, Lopaka, is an air breather as well."
"But he's different," argued Pearl. "Lopaka has always been a friend to us sea creatures because he had proved himself over and over again by saving Quetzo from its many dangers. You're also different because you have fins and a tail like us while this girl has arms and a tail-"
That was when Pearl stopped in mid-sentence for the sea lion soon noticed Melody's tail and was completely dumbfounded by the discovery. Puffer and Matt (Who had unstuck himself from the rock a few minutes ago) were also surprised to see a tail attached to Melody's body.
"I don't believe it," gapped Matt as he started at Melody dumbfounded.
Melody started to become uneasy as she saw how Torpedo's friends were staring at her. She quickly dove behind Torpedo to hide from the stares of the Pearl and the others. Torpedo looked at Melody as he gave her a gentle smile before turning to his friends again.
"Hey, cool it guys," said Torpedo calmly to his friends. "We can worry about what Melody is later. Right now we've got a lost child here to return to Mrs. Otter."
That news quickly got Pearl and the two boys to stop looking at Melody as they turned to look back at Torpedo in surprise.
"You mean that you've already found Cleo?" asked Matt in disbelief.
"Yep," answered Torpedo with a smirk before he turned his eyes to look at the young twelve year old girl behind him, "Along with Melody here."
"Yeah, and Ms. Melody is also the one who saved my life," added Cleo as she swam up beside Torpedo.
"She did!" echoed Torpedo and the group in surprise as they stared at the otter pup with open mouths.
"Is that true?" asked Pearl to Melody who was hiding behind Torpedo's back.
Melody slowly poked her head out from behind Torpedo as a blush formed on both sides of her cheeks.
"W-well…I wouldn't take all of t-t-the credit," stammered Melody shyly. "Torpedo was the one who actually saved Cleo and me from being vampire fish bate."
It was now Torpedo's turn to blush as he smiled with embarrassment at Melody.
"Yeah well…"began Torpedo as he scratched the back of his head with his right fin.
Pearl smirked at he friend while Puffer and Matt chuckled between each other as Melody came out of her hiding place from behind Torpedo's back while smiling at him. Cleo was laughing along with Torpedo's two friends while Torpedo puffed his cheeks out in annoyance to his friend's mockery. Just then, Torpedo and the others suddenly heard voices calling out their names.
"What was that?" asked Melody curiously.
"'Who' is the proper word for it, my parents and sister, along with Mrs. Otter, Puffy, Otty, and Ray." replied Torpedo to Melody's question.
"We'd better head back," pointed out Pearl as she began to swim to where the voices are calling from.
"I can't wait to see my mommy again!" cheered Cleo as she, Matt, and Puffer swam after Pearl.
Melody watched Pearl and the group swimming away as she began to feel the same cold loneliness entering her chest once again, but that feeling suddenly changed though when she felt her left hand touching something. Melody looked down to see what it was and saw that it was Torpedo's right fin that had slipped underneath her left palm hand. Melody looked up at Torpedo and saw him giving her a gentle smile of reassurance as she returned it with her own before she gently wrapped her fingers around his fin. The two of them quickly swam after Pearl and the others while Melody held onto Torpedo's fin as she felt her confidence rise up within her chest.
They were swimming for a few minutes until they hung back from the others as they hid behind the sea rocks while they watched Pearl talking to a group of adult sea creatures.
"Those are my parents that I told you about," whispered Torpedo to Melody. "The adult male bottlenose dolphin is my father, Flipper; while the female stripe dolphin beside him is my mother, Ultra. And do you see that little female bottlenose dolphin that is beside my mother? That's my sister, Echo."
"Your sister sure looks a lot like your father," pointed out Melody to Torpedo.
"Yeah, she does," agreed Torpedo with a smile. "She takes after my father's side of the family, but she also has a lot of spunk that comes from our mother's side."
Melody smiled at the hybrid dolphin before looking back at the group again as she noticed Cleo being held by a female otter that had the same fur color as her.
"Is that Cleo's mother?" asked Melody curiously.
"Sure is," answered Torpedo. "Mrs. Otter has been looking for her daughter all day."
"So…what about those other three that are with your family and friends?"
"Well, the puffer fish that is beside the sting ray is Puffy; the sting ray is Ray; and the male otter is Otty. They're my father's friends."
"Wow," breathed Melody in amazement. "I would never have thought that Dolphins could interact with other sea creatures in the ocean."
"Then you probably didn't know that my father is the king of a lost city."
"Your father's a king?" whispered Melody in shock before looking at Torpedo in realization. "Then you're a…"
"A prince," finished Torpedo with a chuckle. "But you don't have to worry about royal protocols, because I'm not really interested in being treated like a prince."
"That's good, because I don't know the first thing on how to act around royalty." Melody sighed in relief.
Torpedo chuckled at what Melody had said before taking her hand into his fin again.
"So, are you ready to meet my family?" he asked gently.
Melody was hesitant for a moment as she thought over whether she should meet Torpedo's family or not, but after seeing Torpedo's smile she quickly made up her mind.
Melody gently gripped Torpedo's fin before giving him a nod: "Yes, I think I am."
The two of them shared a smile before coming out from their hiding spot and swam towards Pearl and the group. Flipper was the first one to notice Torpedo and Melody swimming towards them before he swam up to his son. Melody and Torpedo stopped in their tracks and floated quietly together as Flipper swam up to them before he stopped in front of the two. Melody felt a little scared when she saw the adult dolphin in front of her, but became calm again as Torpedo gently squeezed her hand with his fin.
"I was wondering what had happened to you Torpedo," spoke Flipper to his son before he turned his eyes on Melody.
Melody shyly looked up at Flipper as she gave him a timid wave of her right hand. Flipper gave Melody a curious look before he turned to look at his son again.
"And who is this young lady?" he asked.
"This is Melody," answered Torpedo. "She was the one who found Cleo and rescued her from the vampire fish that had captured her."
"I wouldn't take all of the credit," spoke Melody shyly. "Torpedo was the one who did half of the saving by arriving just in time when Cleo and I were being chased by those vampire fish."
Torpedo blushed as he looked away from Melody while he scratched the side of his head with his left fin. Flipper smiled at his son for he knew that Torpedo was always bashful when it came to being thanked by someone else. Flipper soon looked back at Melody with a smile.
"Thank-you for finding Cleo for us," thanked Flipper to the twelve year old human.
"Y-y-you're w-welcome," stammered Melody as a blush formed on her face.
Ultra and the others soon came over to Flipper, Melody, and Torpedo as they were curious to know who the new girl was. Torpedo introduced Melody to everyone; minus Pearl, Matt, Cleo, and Puffer who already knew of her. Echo and the adults were surprised to hear that Melody was the one who had found Cleo and rescued her from the vampire fish.
"Thank you Melody," thanked Mrs. Otter as she held Cleo in her arms. "I wouldn't known what I would've done if you hadn't saved my daughter."
"You're welcome," replied Melody as she wagged her new tail slowly in the water as a deep red blush formed on her cheeks.
"Okay," spoke Pearl among the group. "Now that we've found Cleo, why don't we all head back to Quetzo?"
Everyone agreed to that and they soon started to swim back to Quetzo, but Melody and Torpedo hung back from the group. The two of them looked at one another as they slowly loosened their grips on each others hand and fin.
"So…I guess I'll see you around, huh?" mumbled Torpedo sadly to Melody.
"Yeah," answered Melody as she tucked her hands behind her back while she dipped her head sadly downwards.
The two of them shared a silent moment between each other when they were suddenly interrupted by someone.
"What are you two doing?"
Melody and Torpedo turned their heads to the person that had spoken to them, and were surprised to see Flipper floating in front of them.
"Oh, dad!" exclaimed Torpedo in surprise. "Sorry, but I was just saying goodbye to Melody."
"And why are you doing that?" asked Flipper with a gentle smile. "After all, she's coming back with us."
Melody and Torpedo were surprised to hear what Flipper had said before looking at each other with large smiles spreading out across their faces before they looked back at Flipper.
"You really mean it?" asked Melody excitedly.
"Of course," answered Flipper with a nod. "Now come on you two, last one back to Quetzo is an octopus!"
"You're on!" challenged Torpedo as he and Melody swam after Flipper.
Melody couldn't help but smile as she raced along side Torpedo while her heart started to pound against her chest in excitement. As she swam through the ocean a thought came through her head, maybe things are going to be better for her down here within the sea. Little did Melody know was that she was going to have an adventure of a life time. She will meet some new friends that she will meet along the way that are both above and below the sea.
To be continued