Well this is just great, Hae thought as the dolphins led her and her friends away from the crevice.

"Move it!", a spinner shouted, striking Hae across her tail with a whalebone stick.

Hae growled as she flexed her bound wrists and ankles.

"I said move!", the spinner shouted again, as Hae flicked her tail and swam behind another spinner.

This can't be happening, Nai'a thought as a dolphin kicked him forwards.

"Should we not kill this one?", a harbor porpoise asked, gesturing towards Nai'a with his patu. "He'll get big enough to eat us."

"We'll ask Kahu when we reach the prison.", the leader replied.

Nai'a's heart began beating faster.

Got to get away, he thought frantically. But how?

He began to strike the bindings around his feet with his tail, only for the harbor porpoise to cuff him on the head.

"Stop that.", the porpoise warned, poking him in the chest with his patu.

"Mmmffh.", Nai'a protested as the porpoise grabbed him by his tail and dragged him along.

The mako thrashed about, trying to free himself.

"Stop thrashing or I'll beat you into unconsciousness.", the porpoise threatened.

Nai'a stilled himself as he saw the porpoise raise his club.

"Or perhaps I should kill you now?", the porpoise said. "What say you, Kapena?"

"Hmmm.", the old bull spinner replied, looking down at Nai'a in a thoughtful manner. "I suppose you're right Mahi, but make it quick."

Nai'a's eyes widened in terror as the elder sharks made muffled grunts of outrage.

"Yes sir.", Mahi said, grinning wickedly as he rose his patu over his head.

Snap!

"Huh?", Mahi said in surprise as Nai'a snapped the cords around his feet and propelled himself towards the top of the canyon.

"You seem to have let him escape.", Kapena said dryly.

"A-apologize sir.", Mahi stammered as he saw the mako fleeing towards the canyon.

"Take Ahi and deal with this.", Kapena ordered.

"Yes sir!", Mahi and Ahi said, saluting before chasing after the escapee.

"Now…", Kapena said, turning to the rest of his warriors. "Let's get these three to the fort."

"I tell ya old buddy, we should try for birds more often.", Ho'oh said, stuffing another chunk of gull flesh into his mouth.

"I don't know Ho'oh.", Kamipulu replied as he swallowed the remainder of the carcass. "It's quite risky for us to be swimming around at the surface."

"Come back here you spineless sea scum!", a voice shouted from over the canyon.

Ho'oh and Kamipulu dove into the sand, burying themselves.

"What's going on?", Ho'oh asked as he hid under the larger shark.

"There's two harbor porpoises chasing a shark down towards us.", the sand devil answered.

"Hmm…", Ho'oh said as he peered out from under friend. "Looks like a mako pup, around our age."

"Down.", Kamipulu said, flattening himself as the mako skimmed over him.

The pursuing porpoise landed on top of sand devil and throw his pikoi at the fleeing mako.

You've got to be joking, Kamipulu thought as the blubbery creature stood atop him. I am not having this!

"Got him!", Ahi said as his weapon wrapped around Nai'a's tail. "Argh!", he screamed as something burst from the sand under him and swallowed his tail.

"Ahi!", Mahi shouted as his brother was knocked to the sea bed, blood and sand clouding the water.

Ho'oh chuckled at the carnage above him as he concentrated his magic into the silt-filled waters around him.

"Agh!", Mahi barked as his face was pummeled by a concentrated blast of water and sand.

"Time to go.", Ho'oh said.

Kamipulu let go of Ahi's tail and darted down a side crevice.

I'm free, Nai'a thought happily as Ahi let go of his pikoi.

"Cursed sharks!", Mahi swore as he cleaned the sand from his eyes.

"There they go!", Ahi shouted as he drew his dagger, pointing towards a narrow crack in the wall.

This going to be a tight fit, Nai'a thought as he dove into the narrow crevice branching of from the canyon, his stout body just barely fitting through the opening.

"Curses!", Mahi shouted as the mako disappeared.

"I'm safe.", Nai'a gasped as he collapsed onto the seabed.

"Urge.", a voice below him groaned.

Nai'a gulped. "H-hello?", he asked shakily.

"Get off!", another voice shouted from underneath him.

Nai'a darted backwards into the crevice wall as something rose from the sand in front of him.

"Ahh!", the creature shouted in alarm.

Nai'a shrieked in fear as he saw the strange being's cavernous maw open, the cacophony of the cries of alarm echoing throughout the crevice.

"Ahh it's a mako!", a little shark shouted as it emerged from the sand next to the sand devil. "Swim Kamipulu!"

"There you are vermin!", a voice shouted from above.

Nai'a looked up to see Ahi darting down into the crevice.

"Help!", the mako shouted as swam back into another, narrower side crevice.

"Curses!", Ahi shouted as he got stuck between the rocks above Nai'a, his arm still thrusting towards his target.

Kamipulu ducked down and snatched a large rock from the sea bed.

Crack!

"Arrgghh!", Ahi screamed as Kamipulu slammed the rock into his elbow, bending it inwards with a sickening crunch.

Kamipulu dropped the rock in favor of the porpoise's dagger and thrust it into the mammal's neck.

Ahi's body went slack as the blade pierced his spinal cord, breaking in the process.

Turning from the porpoise's corpse, Kamipulu stared at the mako, mouth agape in a threat display.

Shaking in fear, Nai'a huddled against the wall.

"Who are you?", the sand devil demanded, brandishing his weapons.

"I'm..", Nai'a began, his voice quivering, before he noted the size difference between him and the smaller sand devil. "… Raiona.", he lied, giving the name of some mythical monster said inhabit the inhospitable world beyond the waves.

"Well Raiona, my name is Ho'ohanohano.", the little viper dogfish replied. "Ho'oh for short."

"And I'm Kamipulu.", the sand devil said.

"Say what's a mako doing in such shallow waters.", Ho'oh asked, looking the stout-bodied fish over.

"I…can't go back home.", the former dolphin said, his thoughts going back to his parents and Makana.

"Ah you're an outcast.", Ho'oh said. "That's great, so are we!"

"Have you seen a starry smoothhound, a leopard shark, and a winghead?", Raiona asked, thinking about the sharks that had saved him.

"Hmm…that sounds like Hae, Kolope'e, and Helena.", Ho'oh mused.

"Yeah those were their names.", Raiona said. "They…we were captured by the king's guards."

"Where'd they take them?", Ho'oh asked.

"Out of the canyon.", Raiona answered. "What should we do?"

"Well first we should cut you free.", Kamipulu said, slashing the cords that bound the mako.

"Thanks.", Raiona said, rubbing his wrists.

"Now what were you saying about our illustrious leadership?", Ho'oh asked as Kamipulu handed the fallen porpoise's pekoi to the mako.

"You mean Hae, Hehena, and…", Raiona said, struggling to remember the winghead's name.

"Kolope'e?", Ho'oh suggested.

"Yes them.", Raiona replied. "They were taking us away from the canyon."

"I've an idea where they would have been taken if they weren't escorted back to the canyon.", the viper dogfish replied.