| Tsunami slid out the door and along the sandy Mystery Island
path to the river while Wen and Flo headed in the direction of the dock that would
take them to Neopia Central and their own schools, Shell's "Have a good day at
school," and Dasher's cheery bark sounding from behind her. She reached the crystal
flowing water and dived into the depths. She followed the current towards the
sea, feeling the cool liquid rush through her mane and coat as her fishtail propelled
her at a greater speed through the water.
She could tell by the increasing briny feel
and smell of the water that she was nearing the ocean, and when she finally
reached it she headed off to a large reef slightly off the coast.
This was the Turquoise Sea School to which Tsunami
and her friends went. Part of the reef that was made out of rocks as well as
the ground below had been hollowed out and formed several water-filled tunnels
and crevasses under the water. The entrance was a large hole in the rock beside
which the portrait of a large Peo had been painted, the Peo being the school's
mascot.
Flotsams, Jetsams, Koi, Kiko and other kinds
of aquatic pets were scattered around the reef. They were exploring the various
mulitcoloured corals and anemones growing all over it, as well as the bright
shapes of Primellas as they darted on and out and around them, or chasing each
other through the gently waving seaweed, scattering shoals of Pepitos and Blumpys
and annoying the bad-tempered Phnards, or simply lying on the warm white sand
of the sea bed and enjoying the current's gentle pull and push and the sight
of the bright, filtered rays of the sun above as they danced and flickered with
the movement of the waves.
Tsunami found her friends talking in a small
corner of the reef just as the sound of a conch shell being blown sounded from
the rocks below.
"Drat," said Streak as the other pets stopped
what they were doing and swam for the entrance. "Now we've got to go in."
"Never mind," Mirow said affably. "There'll
be plenty of time to talk during recess."
They glided through the water and into the entrance
where they made their way to class. On the way, Streak suddenly tugged Tsunami's
mane. Tsunami stopped up and turned to look at her friend.
"What's the matter?"
Wordlessly Streak pointed to a new painting
on the walls of the rock. Bulletins were given like this, since paper wouldn't
have worked underwater, and ink from Unioctos was used that could be cleaned
off later on. This particular one depicted a line drawing of a Peophin with
a horn sprouting from her forehead, and below the drawing were the words: 'The
Legend of Harquin: A Musical. Auditions Now Open.'
Tsunami didn't have to look at the grin on Streak's
face to know what she meant.
"Streak, surely you don't-"
"Of course you could, Su! It's perfect for you.
I can just see you now, on the stage as Harquin."
"Harquin's blue. I'm green."
"That's a lame excuse, S_Tsunami. And you know
it," her friend persisted.
"I think you'd be perfect," said Kainitsa, suddenly
appearing beside them.
Tsunami groaned. "No Kaina, not you too…"
"They're not the only ones," came Raiiek's voice
from behind her. Tsunami turned to see him and Mirow looking at her. She was
about to refuse again, when she remembered that strange feeling that had come
over her the night before, when she had seen that her family all had someone
they wanted to be.
Except me, she thought dolefully, and then made
up her mind.
"Alright," she said, mock-wearily. "Only if
you go with me after school today."
"Done," cried the other four with one voice.
The auditorium was Turquoise Sea's pride and
joy. It was a cave in the side of one of the cliffs further along the coast.
The reef was a very long structure, and a tunnel had been built from it to the
cave. The cave could be reached by humans when the tide went out fully, but
when it was high tide the only way to reach it was through an underwater tunnel
cut through the bottom of the cave. The rock in the cave had been sculpted into
seats for everyone, and a stage right in front where school performances took
place.
Tsunami felt as though she had swallowed a nest
of Beekadoodles, who were chirping and flapping about madly in her insides.
She nervously watched the young golden Flotsam on the stage, singing loudly
and lustily. She had a rich, mellifluous voice, and she was so confident! Tsunami's
nerve started to drain away and her old fear of being in the spotlight came
back in full force.
"Streak, Kaina," she hissed to her friends.
"I don't think I can do this…"
"We'll be right there with you, you'll be fine,"
Streak whispered comfortingly.
"You'll impress the judges, I guarantee it,"
said Kainitsa. "By the time you're done, they'll be begging you to play Harquin.
You'll see."
"And your name is..?" A friendly voice asked.
Tsunami looked up to see a teacher she knew by sight, Ms. Silkfinn, a large
yellow Koi, looking pleasantly at her. She felt a little better.
"S_Tsunami," she whispered shyly.
"Ah, yes." The Koi nodded, satisfied. "Right,
now you just go up on that stage once Flairea up there is finished, and sing
whatever you like."
Tsunami nodded, smiling as convincingly as she
could. She turned desperately to her friends. Somehow this had eluded her, and
she could not think.
"What am I going to sing?"
"How about 'Quiet Waters?" asked Kainitsa.
" 'Faeries in the Sky'," suggested Mirow.
"Honestly, Su, you could sing 'The Kaus in the
Meadow Go Moo' and still win them over," Streak insisted. "But I'd prefer 'I
Rule the Waves' myself…"
"I guess I'll sing that," Tsunami replied hesitantly.
'I Rule the Waves' was an old Neopian ditty of the sea-pets taught to the group
by Kainitsa. It wasn't what most Neopians would call an impressive song, but
she and her friends had sung it together so often, and she needed something
that was instinct to sing in case she forgot the words in her nervousness. At
that moment the Flotsam cut off her last note and her friends by the side of
the stage applauded and cheered wildly. The judges nodded at her with approving
smiles and she left, beaming, with her group.
"She's good," Tsunami said.
"You're next, Su."
"S_Tsunami. Would you go up on the stage please?"
Ms. Silkfinn smiled gently at her.
Tsunami swallowed hard, trying her best to drown
the Beekadoodles in her belly which all seemed to have panicked at the sound
of her name being called. Slowly and reluctantly, she mounted the side-steps
and strode out into the very centre.
"All right, Tsunami," said Ms. Silkfinn briskly,
"you may start singing whenever you choose."
Tsunami nodded again, without saying anything.
The Beekadoodles seemed to be flapping around more wildly than ever now. Ignoring
them, she recalled the lyrics to 'I Rule the Waves'.
"Over my head the seabirds cry, joyous in
my element am I," she began, softly and awkwardly. Inwardly she gave herself
a sharp nip. This wasn't the way to go. She tried again.
"Rolling, tossing over the wave crests, content
to be in the place I love best…"
But she couldn't get the music in her head to
play as it did when she was singing for her friends, or under the rain tree
with Wavy to the accompaniment of the river, soothing her nerves and washing
the tension away as easily as a white-crested roller over the beach, making
her forget everything but the song and the thrilling delight of singing it,
and singing it well.
The sight of the judges watching and listening
intently to her, added to the thought of being in the spotlight alone, by herself,
created a mixture that was terrifying her. Panic was rising in her throat like
a cold cloudy fist, choking her and numbing her back teeth so that she could
barely get the words out. She couldn't go on like this, but she kept on, doggedly,
till the end of the last verse.
"There is nowhere else I'd rather be, than diving
and leaping out in the sea. For there I am free; Jetsams and storms I can brave,
I feel as if I rule the waves."
Tsunami finished and trotted off the stage as
tall and straight as she could, though she felt like collapsing. She couldn't
have assessed her performance herself but the expressions on her friends' faces
told her all.
They surrounded her comfortingly as she sank
limply to the cold, damp rock floor, but she could tell -as she feared-that
she hadn't done as well as she should.
"Don't bother telling me," she mumbled before
they could say anything. "I was awful. I was just so nervous…" "Maybe you'll
get a part anyway," Kainitsa whispered reassuringly.
"Yeah, Su," Streak put in, "you didn't go off-key
or anything; they might let you do some chorus singing."
Raiiek smiled gently. "You'll be alright. It's
not the end of the world."
"You did try," Mirow pointed out, nudging her
shoulder gently to help her to her feet. "Come on, let's get you home."
To be continued...
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