Go With the Flow

~~~

It had felt like forever since Star Point’s hooves had touched on solid land.

It was funny, relatively speaking it hadn’t really been any longer than usual--he’d spent days and sometimes even a week out at sea with nobody but the gulls as company, and somehow hadn’t travelled as far and seen as much as he had from the little sailboat that had taken him across much of the Celestial Sea.

They had first spotted signs of land in the late morning after an uneventful night of sailing. Star was struggling to stay awake as the sun reached the apex of the sky, and it was with a mighty relief that he took in the expansive shoreline slowly fading into view from the hazy fog of the horizon.

There were other ships along the way, too, all leaving Griffonstone ports or returning to them from other destinations across the great Celestial Sea. A few cargo freighters, which Starry and Flowing had waved to as they passed (when they were close enough), and a few fishing trawlers that Star looked at with a sort of melancholy.

He was going to miss his trawler, that was for certain. He knew it would be sometime before he was able to afford another, which meant that even after things returned to normal, his days as a fisherpony were temporarily on hold. The knowledge that he’d have to leave the sea behind for some time... It ate into him, just a little bit. He’d considered himself fortunate that his career as a fisherpony had meant he’d have plenty of opportunities to see Flowing, and he couldn’t help but wonder how that might change, now.

Buildings began to fade into view in blurry shapes as they got closer to land. They were sailing towards a small little hamlet who’s name Star could only guess at. Still, it was somewhere, and with a bit of luck, it would be somewhere with a train station. It was only now occuring to him that he was about to step onto Griffon soil for the first time in his life... He’d heard both good things and bad things about the lands on the far side of the sea, and he was as eager as he was wary about what awaited them.

Their arrival to land was slowed for a moment as Flowing crept out of the sailboat and into the water. Not knowing exactly what they might find in the town ahead of them, they’d decided it best if she stayed below the waves while Star docked the sailboat alone.

As they approached, Star Point spotted a light-house that had been emblazoned with faded, block stencilled lettering proclaiming the hamlet to be Broken Beak Cove. The harbour itself was occupied by a few fishing trawlers and nothing much bigger, though Star still felt a little strange steering a tiny little sailboat towards them and tying it off on a dock post. A few griffons were looking down at him with a bit of amusement from the surrounding docks, though none of them seemed to be regarding him with much ill-will.

After tying off the sailboat, he knelt down at the end of the dock. Flowing surfaced momentarily, her angler light poking out from the murky water. He hoped the nearby griffons wouldn’t think him crazy for talking to what was, from their perspective anyways, the water.

“Blech. Water tastes gross here. All gumming up my gills,” she grumbled out.

Starry gave her a sympathetic nod. “Yeah... Well. Hopefully you won’t be in there long.”

“Whatcha thinkin’, Starry?”

“I’m gonna... Go look around. I don’t see any sign of Tempest and her goons, but... Better to be safe than sorry before we go parading ya through town, y’know?”

Flowing nodded. “Right. Oke. Want me to stay here then?”

Starry bit his lip. He really didn’t, but he didn’t really see another option for them, either. “Yeah. But stay low ‘till I get back, alright?”

“Aye aye, Starry.”

It took some effort on Star Point’s part to leave his marefriend behind. The last time he’d done so had been to let her go swim waywardly between the greedy tendrils of an aquatic beast. Besides that, he’d felt like they’d been together every second of their journey, and to part ways for even a moment...

He would be swift. Get into town. Look around. Find the station, and get them both the Tartarus out of here once and for all.

It was a little surprising how much the griffon fishing town reminded him of home. There were more butchers, more fishmongers, and fewer ponies (obviously), but nonetheless he instantly felt at home as he wandered the town rife with the smell of freshly caught fish and the salt of the sea being carried in on the breeze.

Star Point knew he was... An oddity, to most of these folks. He could feel their eyes on him. He wasn’t the only pony around, but he was certainly in the minority, and it seemed something about him immediately identified him as not having come from the Griffonlands in the first place.

With a shrug, he decided he might as well own up to it. If he looked that much like a foreigner, then surely it wouldn’t hurt to ask like one, too. He hailed down a griffon at random, and after a brief exchange, he was proceeding deeper into the town along a set of vague directions that would (hopefully) bring him to the tiny little train station located on the outskirts of the town.

It was built away from the rest of the fishing town, at the end of a short dirt road that looked like it was rarely used. Star hoped that such wasn’t a sign that he was heading towards the abandoned ruins of a train station. Depending on how often the train passed by, he knew he’d have to figure out a place for him and Flowing to lie low while they waited for it. He also was silently praying that they wouldn’t find him too insane when he told them that one of the tickets he was buying was for a creature who’d prefer to make the trip in a bath-tub if the train had one.

Such thoughts were floating about in Star’s head as he left behind the fishing town and his hooves took him outside of the grasps of civilization and into the silent separation towards the station.

“Hold up there, earth pony.”

Star Point froze as the familiar voice cut through the silence.

Every muscle in him wanted to flee. It was... Cowardly of him, sure. But it was also his best option, all things considered. She’d waited until he was far enough from town to confront him, which meant they were all alone on the path connecting the train station into town.

Shakily, he turned to confront her. “Tempest.”

“You know I can’t just let you leave.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why are you doing this? Me and Flowing... We didn’t do anything to you, y’know.”

“Mm. I assure you that it brings me no joy,” Tempest Shadow replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “But I have a job. Catching fish brings you no joy, right? How’s it any different?”

“You can’t be serious,” Star growled out. He took a single step to the side, aiming to try and weave his way around Tempest, slowly and gradually over the course of their conversation. Give himself a free sprint back into town. He just had to make it to Flowing, and they could get the blazes out of here. “What do you want from her, anyways? What’s in it for you?”

“I could ask you that question,” Tempest returned. “If that seapony simply tells me where I must go to find her Queen, then I have no reason to continue hunting either of you. She’s already rejected her Queen’s will before, why would it matter if she did it once more?”

“Maybe we don’t like your attitude,” Star said. “Maybe she worries what you’d do to her kind.”

“I just need the Pearl.”

“Why?”

Tempest laughed. “Now that is information I have no reason to share with you, earth pony.”

“Is it the horn?”’

Tempest narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“Listen... If it is, then... Maybe we can help you. Maybe the seaponies would be willing to help with your horn if you didn’t try and capture them. Did you ever even think of that?”

Tempest stared for several seconds. Her frown deepened, and her left hoof dug into the dirt.

Then, she hung her head back and laughed. A raucous, mocking sort of sound. “Oh that is priceless. You’re actually serious. Is this one of those ‘friendship’ offers I’ve been hearing so much of as of late?”

“Yes,” Star didn’t miss a beat. “I’m serious, Tempest. Flowing was the one who suggested it. She has every reason to hate you, and she doesn’t. She wants to help. But... But not like this.”

“Mmm. And that’s... Quite sweet of her.” Tempest’s laugh had tapered into a condescending smirk. “For what it’s worth... I have no plans of hurting her. If she co-operates, I might even let her go. When I’m finished.”

Star blinked. “W-what?”

Tempest had no further reply. She shrugged her shoulders, and turned away from Star Point without another word in his direction.

“That... Should be enough time,” she said to herself, as she started to walk away from him. Moving slowly, carelessly, and away from town. She had turned her back to Star Point... If she had any intentions of capturing him, it seemed she had abruptly abandoned them in favour of... Something else.

Star felt a tugging in his chest. A sudden blooming terror, and a irrepressible desire to be with Flowing again.

He didn’t bother saying anything else to Tempest. He didn’t care where she was going... All he cared about was sprinting as fast as he could back towards the docks where he’d left his marefriend...

~~~

The docks of the fishing town were quieter than the ones in Herring Harbour, and the water felt... Dirtier, to Flowing. Like, whatever the griffons were using for fuel for their boats wasn’t as clean as what ponies relied on instead. Or perhaps there were more natural pollutants in the water itself.

Regardless, Flowing didn’t venture far from the sailboat after Star had headed into town. She swam underneath the dock, hoping it would keep her somewhat hidden, and she lay back on the rocks of the harbour shore with the waves lapping at her and the dock spiders skittering around above her. Traces of burning torch light cut through the gaps in the old, half-rotten wooden dock above her, but there did not seem to be a lot of activity in the harbour that evening.

As such, it was a bit of a surprise when she saw taloned feet crossing the dock above her.

She squinted, and sat up a little as they travelled further down the dock. Her angler light accidentally prodded one of the dock spiders, which skittered away in annoyance, while Flowing herself took to floating across the water and keeping pace with the taloned feet travelling further down the dock.

At first, she’d assumed they belonged to a gryphon. It only made sense, considering her local. But a gryphons talons were wider, broader, as close to a paw as they were a talon, which she supposed was owing to their strange cat-bird chimericism. This creature by comparison had were thin, narrow, and seemed more attuned to precision. They reminded Flowing of what she’d seen of...

...but that was impossible. If there were hippogriffs roaming around here so brazenly, then what was Tempest doing so adamantly chasing her?

With such questions swirling in her head, it nearly shocked her out of her scales when the talons stopped and a masculine sounding voice rung out.

“Y’know. It’s a little bit creepy to stare at a creature’s claws. No offence.”

Flowing gasped. “S-sorry! You didn’t see me!”

A chuckle. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m kidding. Whatcha hidin’ down there for?”

Coyly, Flowing swam out from under the dock. There was no sense staying hidden when she’d been spotted, and she’d probably rouse more suspicion by raising a fuss.

As she did, another gasp left her when she saw that the creature was a hippogriff! A dark-coated, blue-feathered hippogriff with a face that was dot-marked in cuts and scars. Some fresh, some looking as though he’d had them for the greater part of his life.

He was wearing what looked like a harpoon gun slung over his shoulder, although instead of a harpoon at the tip it had a three pronged device. Whatever it’s use, Flowing could only extrapolate... She’d never really been quite acquainted with the various tools that dock-workers and ship repairers used, even when she’d made herself known in Herring Harbour.

“Are you a hippogriff?” Flowing breathed out, incredulous. “Or, uh. A changeling? I’ve heard about those, too...”

The hippogriff laughed again. “No, I assure you I’m not a changeling. Though, I could ask the same of you... I thought seaponies were supposed to be banished or something. Not every day you see ‘em poking around.”

“Yeah...” Flowing found a protruding rock to sit upon while she talked to the hippogriff.

“How’s the ol’ Queen doin’, anyways? Still swimmin’ around with a stick up her fish hole?”

Flowing couldn’t hold back a snicker. “You’re from Seaquestria, I guess?”

He nodded. “Name’s Cirrus Bolt. You are?”

“Flowing Sands.”

“Pleasure, Flowing.” Cirrus leaned the harpoon-gun-looking-thing on a dock post.

“I haven’t seen ya around Seaquestria,” Flowing said. “Did you... Forgive me if it’s a sore subject, but did you leave?”

He smirked. “In a manner of sorts. Let’s just say Queen Novo isn’t really open to hippogriffs who aren’t interested in staying cooped up at the bottom of the sea. Sure you catch my drift.”

Flowing shook her head. “I actually don’t. I’m not actually a hippogriff, I’m a pure blooded seapony. I guess I kinda see ya as more... A cousin.”

He laughed. “Hey, that’s alright! Well then, shoot, Novo’s paranoia is even less your problem, eh? Is that why you headed out? Maybe ya do catch my drift, after all!”

Flowing bit her lip. It was swiftly catching up to her that she’d let her excitement at seeing a hippogriff run ahead of her caution, and she’d instinctively assumed because they were (kind of) the same endangered species that he’d automatically be a hippogriff she could trust.

And nothing about his demeanour told her otherwise, he seemed quite friendly. But she wasn’t exactly travelling around with the intent of making friends. A rather disheartening thing to consider, but simply the truth.

Cirrus seemed to note the tentativeness in her silence. "Hey, if you don't want to share, I won't pry. Dangerous world out here, y'know?"

Flowing nodded. "That's what folk tell me."

"'What folks tell ya,'" he repeated, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "You make it sound like you've got other ideas."

"No, no. Not exactly. I just, er. Don't consider myself that cynical," Flowing replied. "Dangerous world, sure. But even in the past few days, I've met a good few folks who've been, er. Inspiring. So maybe it's both."

"Hey, no arguments there," Cirrus said. "Can't imagine how dull it must be, stayin' cooped up in Seaquestria. Not really meetin' folks except in passin'."

"You have no idea," Flowing said with an exhale.

He laughed. "Hey, if I didn't, I never would've left, would I?"

That gave Flowing pause for a few moments, and she chuckled, too. "Touché! I mean, I wanna go back eventually, of course."

"But you wanted to see the world a bit. Beyond what Queen No-fun says you can see."

"Yeah. She means well, but... ocean was made for swimming."

“Gotcha,” Cirrus’s beak twisted in a smile. “Hey, you ever been to the West? Over in the Southern Lunar Sea?”

Flowing blinked at that. A rather silly question, all things considered. A hippogriff of all folks should have known that. “No. That’s where the Storm King’s armies patrol. I’d be a bit of a fool to go there.”

“Mm. Perhaps.” Cirrus’s grin didn’t vanish. He rose again as he next spoke. “Still. I might be able to offer you a lift there. All inclusive. No charge.”

The hippogriffs talons were on the harpoon-gun just as Flowing’s eyes went wide with realization. She didn’t stick around much to hear out the rest of his ‘offer’, though. She was turning tail and swimming away as swiftly as she could, making her previous encounter with the lusca look like a brisk little drift by comparison.

A glance back, and she saw the hippogriff lazily taking flight with the gun held in his talons.

Flowing had just enough time to scream before a load pressurized bang! split through the harbour. From the gun, a fluorescent orange net was shot, weighed down on all sides by the protruding bars that she’d spotted at the end of the barrel.

She turned, and she dove down as swiftly as she could...

And she wasn’t fast enough. Flowing screamed again as she felt the net collide with her, the bars glowing with magical energy for a brief moment, and then they all combined with each other. The open end of the net was swiftly closed as they did, the bars locking into place and sealing Flowing within the net.

She thrashed about violently, feeling betrayed and terrified and hating herself for allowing herself to be tricked by one of her own. Some sort of enchantment in the net bars seemed to be drawing her back to the surface, as though they were buoyant. The net itself was far too small for her to comfortably swim in, and try as she might she was unable to stop herself from rising up to the surface again, towards the waiting talons of her hippogriff captor.

With a gasp, she breached the water, the hippogriff hooking his hind-talons around the bars and starting to flap into the air.

“Sorry about this, Flowing!” he chirped out. “But a bounty’s a bounty! Tempest says hi, by the way!”

Flowing felt her heart sink in her chest, as the waves below her grew further away. So close, and so impossibly far away--they looked like she could simply dive down into them, but her every attempt to free herself only further tangled her helplessly against the netting encasing her.

The ocean grew wider as she grew further away, and the hippogriff hauled her off deeper in-land.