Blackwater Islands birds and stars

For a while, Whip stared blankly at the fish. He had worked so hard to produce it, but Indie regarded it with an indifference that struck Whip as strange. Had she never wanted it in the first place? He waited, and waited -- and waited some more, but Indie didn't care. Whip's brow furrowed quizzically. Strangely enough, she seemed more interested in Whip's ongoing situation. He felt as if he were under a high powered microscope. Exposed.

He looked down. His gaze would not meet her face. "Meteora," he answerd. She had been the first. After saving his miserable life down in the sulfer beds, Meteora had made quick work in filling in all the gaps in Whip's understanding of the world. But, she was not the only one to fill Whip's head. "Akantha." She did too. Being the voice of Mother Sea herself, every word of the new matriarch was irrefutable law. Whip believed every word.