Banished

=3=

The sun's bright light on my face woke me up. I put my hand up to block the sun and sat up. My fire had gone out. I was cold. Checkers had moved a few feet away, his blowhole sticking out of the water. When I looked around, I couldn't see my sister anywhere.

Suddenly, she popped up in the water next to me. "Follow me," Hydro dove under the water and pulled me with her. She put a bubble of air around my nose so I could breathe, and I saw what lay under the surface of the orcas' tank.

Coral sat at the bottom of the small shallower part, the sandy floor dipping to about a hundred-something feet down. A rock outcropping stuck out of the water on the far side. I could barely see the other side of the pool. It was very nice.

We surfaced and Hydro turned to me. "I was worried this tank was too small. But it's nice, probably the best captive orcas would get."

"Yeah, aren't you mad they're in captivity?" I asked.

"I was, but look," she gestured to Chess, whose side was against her leg like a dog. "Chess has scratches on her back. Checkers," she pointed at his tail. "Has notches there and on his dorsal fin. They were probably rescued from boat mishaps and placed here."

"Hm. I didn't know people cared about animals."

"I guess they do. At least as long as they can get a trainer to do shows with them. I went to the dolphin tank yesterday and saw them performing a show."

"At least they have you. You're literally the best person for them. Besides maybe dad. Miss goddess of water."

Hydro smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

"If I'm expected to train one of these, I might die. But I guess I can try."

"I'll help you. But first we should find a place to live."

"Okay. How?"

"That's a great question," she looked around. "Are those apartments over there?"

I followed her gaze and saw a building with lots of windows. "Couldn't hurt to ask someone."

"Okay. Let's go."

We got out of the water and walked out of the enclosure.

"Hey!" someone called from our right. We looked and saw Judd walking towards us.

"Hi," I said.

"Are those apartments?" Hydro asked.

Judd looked behind him. "Uh... yeah. Some of the workers aren't from around here, so they rent them."

"Perfect."

"So you guys aren't from around here?"

I looked at Hydro. "Umm... no... we're not."

"Where are you from?"

Hydro hesitated. "Chicago." It was where mortals could access Mount Olympus from earth.

"Oh, cool. All the way to South Carolina?"

"Yeah, we... the job was too good to pass up."

"How do we rent an apartment?" I interrupted their conversation.

He looked at me. "You can set it up so that the payment comes out of your paycheck. You'll have to talk to the manager."

"Right. The manager."

"Doug."

"Yeah. Thank you."

He grinned. "Yeah, no problem. Hope it works out for you guys."

"Let's find Doug," Hydro said as Judd walked away.

"He's probably got an office somewhere," I said.

We walked aimlessly for a while before coming to a white building. There was a sign that said 'Management'.

"This should be the place," I said.

We walked in and knocked on the door behind it. A buzz sounded and the door opened. A greasy man with a thin beard and balding black hair looked up. "Hello."

We stepped forward and Hydro took the lead. "Hi. We're your new orca trainers."

"I didn't hire orca trainers. Those orcas are useless, anyway."

My sisters hands curled into fists, but her voice stayed calm. "We arrived yesterday."

"Doesn't matter. I still didn't hire you."

"Shiva did," I stepped forward. There was another name on the desk, which I hoped was another manager.

Doug sat back and tapped his pen. "Hm. She didn't say anything. Usually she tells me everything..." he let the silence stretch, then stood. "Very well. I will hire you, as long as you can get a decent crowd at those killer whale shows. They have to earn their keep somehow. So do you."

"Can we rent one of the apartments? We don't have any place to live here," Hydro explained.

"You could. It'll come out of your paycheck, though."

"Deal."

"You can take 219. Second floor, second door on the left after you leave the elevator," he handed us two sets of keys.

We shook hands and I followed Hydro out.

"I don't like him," I said.

"I don't either. But at least we have somewhere to live now. And we don't need money for it. That's good."

"Yeah."

"Let's go try to work with the orcas."

We left the building. I had a bad feeling in my stomach.