Over the following months, many creatures both singers and water-breathers spoke of a most unlikely pairing which was making its path through the seas. A large female transient orca and a male bottlenose dolphin not even a third of her size, feeding and sheltering one another from the dangers of the deep. The dolphin was easily distinguished not only by his strange choice in companions, but also by the five star markings he carried upon his melon. At night, these shone as brightly as any stars which were in the sky. None knew where these travellers were going together, but the creatures of the deep kept a wary distance from what was unusual and strange in their view. One morning, as the sun rose into the sky to cast its light over the sea, Ecco and Cariu were to be found sheltering in a secluded cove. This particular cove only had one passage in; hence it was a suitable place to rest during the night when sharks would come out to hunt. While the transient had almost nothing to fear from sharks, her bottlenose travelling companion would easily make a meal for one of the ruthless hunters. It had fascinated Cariu when Ecco had told her of how he had received the scars which marred his slate grey body. This was truly a singer with as much power and courage as an orca, but with loyalty thrown in which orcas rarely shown to one another. Cariu's experience of other orcas had not been a good one; hence she had been with Okura exclusively as opposed to a pod. He was a creature who had shown love and loyalty to her in the time they had been together and it was killing her inside to be apart from her mate. However, Ecco was oblivious to these feelings as Cariu wasn't disposed to sharing her thoughts and feelings with him. On his side, the bottlenose couldn't understand why this creature was so keen on helping him. Her kind was infamous for slaughtering other singers within a heartbeat of seeing them, yet she was escorting Ecco on his dangerous quest. He still had no idea what the Big Blue had meant; demon dolphin, blind guardian, deep wanderer? What singers could these terms be applied to, if they were even referring to singers in the first place?
"Come, Ecco, we must set off again before the sun is at its highest," Cariu's song brought him out of his thoughts. In the short time they had been together, it was the orca who had chosen the path they were swimming. Perhaps she knew more about what the Big Blue had said than she was letting on? Having to keep pace with an orca had seen Ecco's muscles become even firmer and more powerful, driving him with immense speed and agility through the water. As they travelled onwards, he left his friend's side and began zipping in and out of a shoal of cod which was just ahead. He only returned once he was satisfied that he had eaten his fill, bringing a beak full of silvery bodies with him. In return for her protection, Ecco had taken to feeding Cariu a good share of whatever it was he was hunting. It had not escaped his attention that the orca never fed her own bulk during the daylight hours. She only ever left his side at night to hunt for herself, though, by day staying close to the smaller singer as they made their way on an unknown journey. Knowing how large the prey items which an orca hunted, Ecco had surmised she was protecting him from seeing unnecessary carnage by hunting in the twilight. Out of respect for the bottlenose, Cariu took his offering gratefully. Such a small morsel was barely a snack for the mighty hunter and her stomach was full with sharkflesh which she had hunted the previous night, so she wasn't hungry. But, she knew how the bottlenose wanted to thank her for being by his side.
"As you've been leading the way, I guess you know more about the Big Blue's references than me," Ecco sang questioningly, "Can you tell me what you know of the demon dolphin, the deep wanderer and the blind guardian?" Cariu said nothing in response but merely started to dive down. Ecco followed, his flukes pumping furiously to keep pace with the speed she was setting. All around him, the water was getting darker the deeper he was going. His sides started to feel as though they were being crushed, a tight feeling which was getting more and more intense the deeper he swam. Soon, to his relief, Cariu stopped and instructed Ecco to use his sonar to scan the area. This place was in complete darkness, hiding untold dangers within its cloak. As the sonar waves bounced back to him, Ecco picked up several life forms hidden from sight. Various kinds of fish with body shapes he had never been aware of before in his life, lurking and killing each other where eyes could not see them. There was one shape in particular which stood out to him, as it was vaguely singer in shape. It was unlike any singer Ecco had encountered before, but his sonar definitely told him it was a singer's body. Cariu called out with her song into the gloom, towards where this alien creature was swimming. By the tone of her song, Ecco knew it was aggressive and designed to draw the unknown singer's attention towards them. He could sense its rapid approach; hear its battle song ring out from the dark, aimed directly at them. Not waiting to be told, the bottlenose turned around and sped towards the surface. Heart pounding, he didn't bother to check if Cariu was beside him as he continued his frantic dash. Blind panic had descended, completely consuming the singer as he tried desperately to out swim whatever was pursuing him with such ferocity. This creature's sonar was bouncing off him, almost hurting Ecco with its intensity. Perhaps it was his lungs burning with stale air, or the effects of his deep dive taking hold, but he could feel his body almost slipping away. Just a little further… his body shot clear of the water, blowhole forcing painfully the bad air from his body. Feeling dazed from his exertions, his body all but spent, Ecco turned to see what had been chasing him so enthusiastically. Cariu was swimming alongside the strange singer, her body language not showing aggression or fear towards the newcomer.
"You, marked-one, have brought demon dolphin with you!" the singer sang in a strange tone, "You come to my depth with demon dolphin! This means we must fight if you want me to come with you!" Ecco could barely get his head around all that had happened. This bizarre looking singer wanted to fight him, if he wanted to gain its companionship. What could it all mean?
"What do you mean 'demon dolphin'?" Ecco challenged, "I only swam down there because my orca friend led me there, then she drew your attention to us!" Cariu surfaced for air, apparently not too bothered by what was happening around her. This singer from the deep was unusual in shape, having a prominent beak like a dolphin's but its sheer size was more akin to that of the orcas. A tiny dorsal fin about two thirds of the way along its body, the top half of its body was an unusual shade of yellow while the lower was a dark brown with what appeared to be stars dotted along there.
"Our kind is called 'demon dolphins' among other singers, Ecco," Cariu sang gently by way of explanation, "for our savage appetites and ruthless behaviour with other singers. Likewise, the 'deep wanderers' are different kinds of whale who live very deep in the ocean. I was confirmed on this when I went down with you to where this singer was swimming." His mind absorbing this new information, Ecco cast a wary eye over the new singer. This creature had obviously been waiting for him to contact it with an orca present.
"You say that you've been expecting us?" He asked the strange whale. The whale surfaced for a deep breath before approaching Ecco in a slightly manic manner. Its entire posture was poised for aggression and the eyes were shining with an insanity the bottlenose had never seen before.
"Surface swimmer with Delphineus' mark come with demon dolphin," the strange voice of the whale was female, but distorted heavily, "this be sung from mother to calf, through beaked whales, for many moons. In our deep dark, we sing of time when surface swimmer come to call one of us. We fight surface swimmer to see if he is worth us leaving home. Now, marked singer, let's fight!" Not waiting for Ecco to respond, the whale charged into his side, knocking him to one side. The male was stunned by the force thrown into the attack, his body still not fully recovered from the strain of diving so deep. His heart began to pound furiously once again, as he rounded and attacked his challenger. Darting in and out, trying desperately to hit the other singer with his beak as hard as he could, Ecco was becoming angrier with each failed attempt. For every missed attack, he was rewarded with a hard smack into his own body. His movements became less organised and more frenzied, thinking only of taking down the other creature. Memories began circling of failed attempts in the recent past to fight off attackers. The onslaught of great white sharks as he travelled to the frozen seas of the North, the ferocious advance of the monster known as Ligalotean. In both of these instances, he had been powerless to stop them, but now he was determined not to let it happen again. His beak was hitting into the whale heavily, showering the female with a barrage of blows which she could not escape. It was a short time before Ecco was aware of the damage he had inflicted, before he halted his attack. The whale swam slowly to the surface to draw breath, her movements laboured as they betrayed the heavy damage she had sustained.
"I can see now, you are indeed the one the prophecy sings of," she sang slowly once she had returned from breathing, "certainly worth me leaving deep home for. I am Pilot, what is your name, marked singer?" Ecco introduced himself and Cariu to the beaked whale. He then explained part of their quest to her, saying how he had to find another singer before going to as yet an unknown location.
"You seek blind guardian, Ecco?" she pondered once he had told her everything, "Beaked whales sing of singers who can't see. Eyes so small none can penetrate their minds through sight. Their songs have more power than even the mighty blue whales. I go with you, take you and demon dolphin to waters where blind singers swim." Without another word, Pilot began to swim slowly off into the blue gloom. Taking this as their cue to follow, Ecco and Cariu swam a short distance behind.
Near the Arctic seas, the beluga pod was making steady progress in their migration to the breeding grounds. They weren't making good enough time as their leader, Okapi, would've liked, but they were slowly getting to their destination. There were different factors affecting how fast the belugas could travel and none of these could really be avoided. The strange sharks which were now in the polar waters kept attempting to pick off one of the belugas, the only thing preventing them from success was the reluctant orca escorting the pod. Okura was seething inside, hating every second he was spending as caretaker of creatures he would've previously taken great pleasure in slaughtering at random. All that mattered to him now was that the mutant among them had promised to help him find his mate once he had helped her. It was taking all of his self restraint not to make a meal out of one of the belugas he was protecting, as several of them were injured and weak from the shark attacks which had happened before they had found safety in their integrated pod and Ligalotean's antics. Sarastro was also pondering over a lot of things during the long migration. So much had happened to her in a very short period of time. It had also not escaped her notice that whenever the pod stopped to rest for the night, Okapi disappeared and could not be found until the rise of the morning sun. The pale-eyed singer was also notoriously silent during the long legs of the swim. Her eyes carried a somewhat haunted look while she refused to engage in any of the games or playful banter which the pod members did. There was obviously something that Okapi was hiding, keeping to herself. In spite of the detached and cold aura the mutated beluga was giving off, Sarastro only left her side when the belugas were settling for the night. This particular evening, however, she instead followed Okapi when she swam off away from the others.
"Why do you follow me, Sarastro?" her cold song alarmed the Irrawady dolphin slightly, "you have not done so in evenings past." Her whole body remained forward facing as she sang, never turning to look the smaller swimmer in the eye.
"Yes, well, you always go off alone and then don't return until morning," she sang back with a slight hint of stubbornness, "it's not safe in these uncertain times and strange waters for any of us to be alone. Also, I can perhaps relate to your feelings of being alone in this world more than you give me credit for. With my elongated fins and unusual songs, I have known nothing other than victimisation for much of my life until recently. Let me at least swim with you for a time if you will not share some of your torment." Okapi turned and looked the female directly in the eye. Then, as swift as a great white shark going in for the kill, Sarastro found herself being lifted high from the water at an incredible speed from below. Her body was lifted clear from the water and she initially closed her eyes tight. She had never once in her life leapt from the sea into the air, although she knew it was a favoured hobby of some of the other dolphin species. Ecco often loved to do it while they had swam together, but she had maintained a dignified stance just below the waves. But now, she could feel the breeze from above gently caress her drying skin; blow softly almost as if enveloping her in a soothing embrace. Opening her eyes, she looked to see why she had not yet fallen back into the water. Beneath her body, fins spread so they looked more like wings, Okapi was riding on the updrafts coming from the waves.
"This is one thing I love to do when alone at night," she sang gently, her song taking a hint of warmth, "a habit from long ago, when I swam the seas and walked the land. You do not know yet of the true Atlantean history, the proud past and painful memories which I carry with me now." As they returned to the waves, Sarastro couldn't explain the feeling of loss which passed through her soul. It was as if she had truly experienced freedom for the first time in her life, just by leaving her watery home behind. She found herself looking at Okapi with new eyes, following the other singer to a shallow inlet not far from the pod and Okura.
"You've got links with Ligalotean," Sarastro sang softly, "you know where she came from and why she swims now, don't you?" The steely eyes betrayed nothing to the inquisitive singer, but did show a hint of warmth aimed directly towards her.
"In time you shall learn the answers which you seek now," Okapi replied calmly, "but our priority at present is to get the belugas to their breeding area. Lest we encounter Ligalotean en route, I fear it shall come down to me and perhaps you to draw her from the pod. Okura will be useless in a confrontation with that behemoth, for she has the ability to control his thoughts. Also, I know that I could not defeat Ligalotean in a duel and indeed neither could yourself. Such a fight will surely end in death for whoever faces her. Perhaps you would do best to distance yourself from me, as you're still young and you belong in this world. I am here because Ligalotean is awoken." The tormented beluga was startled to feel Sarastro's body pressed against her own from the side, their enlarged fins melding together as the much smaller singer's rested upon her own.
"Don't feel you're alone in this," these were the last words spoken from either singer for a long time as they both entered the half sleep of their kind beneath the bright moon overhead.