AGAINST THE CURRENT

And if the wind don't catch you, I will, I will         
If the wind's not there, I'm here  

STATS

Name: Delphi Age: 17 Gender: Female Species: Dolphin Shifter Description: Delphi is a tall, slender girl with long platinum blond hair and deep blue eyes. She is a dolphin-shifter, a mythical creature that is bound to the ocean for survival, but drawn to the world of humans and all the dangers it presents. Personality: Delphi is a young woman, having just experienced her first true love, she is perturbed. She is at a crossroads in her life and will have to chose between the cold certainty of life in the ocean or risk it all for a new life on land. Will she burn her bridges? Cut her bounds? Or will she retreat into the deep? She's struggling to find out who she is and what actually matters. Signs of a stubborn yet compassionate and level-headed woman are waiting to emerge from inside the gullible, innocent girl that she is at present Abilities:      - Shapeshifting: full or partial      - Great Lung Capacity: can stay underwater for prolongued periods of time

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STORY

1. The Morning After 
Bryan woke up and found the bed sheets cold. Delphi was gone. Bryan cursed when he let this information seep into his mind. He got up and looked around his room. Light streamed in through the open window, the off-white curtains slapping gently in the breeze. Last night that window hadn't been open.
Last night... Bryan sighed, the first night they had made love. Months he had taken to court Delphi. He had loved her from the moment he saw her walking across the beach, the light seeming to engulf her in a blaze of glory.
He had stopped breathing, following her with his eyes and she had looked back. If he was any kind of regular Californian beach boy he would have followed her right away and spend one night of flaming passion. But not Bryan. 
And last night it had finally happened. He had known that she was the girl for him. Funny maybe since he knew nothing about her. That wasn't true, he knew what kind of food she liked, that she loved anything blue and that she couldn't drink much alcohol before going giggly. But the truly important things, her secrets and philosophies he knew nothing about.
And he knew Delphi had a secret. Sometimes she looked so sad, as if she remembered another life, a better life maybe. Bryan knew little of Delphi's past before he had met her. Sometimes he fantasized that she was in the witness protection program and that someone was out to kill her. Which was of course why she could not tell him what had happened to her before.
In reality Bryan couldn't care less about the history of Delphi as long as she would consider spending the future with him. But having her leave so sudden, not knowing where she lived - one of those other small things that had made him wonder briefly - scared him.
And then he saw the note. 

Bryan, I'm so sorry.
You'll never see me again because I can't risk putting you in danger. I can't risk anyone anymore. It's probably best if I leave forever. Don't come looking for me, you won't find me anyway.

Goodbye, 
Delphi.

An icy cold feeling crept into Bryan's chest. The way the words were written down, the wet circular patterns at the top. Delphi had been crying. He had felt a change in her last night, more of the sadness that seemed to hang around her. 
Leave forever... not anyone. It was all so final. Maybe he had not read enough in her sadness. Running out, he hoped it was not too late to find her.

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2. Burning Bridges 
Delphi walked on the bridge, feeling the wind in her back. Once again she was here. She always ended up here. On the bridge, ready to jump off. This time however, she had wanted it to end up differently.
Delphi was a dolphin-shifter. That not only meant that she could not ever swim in a public swimming pool without causing some commotion, but also that she could not live long outside the water. Staying out an entire evening had been risky and she felt the heat of the day tear at her flesh. Staying out much longer would mean her dead.
And yet she hesitated. Bryan had been different than all the other men she had been with. With most she had gotten bored in a day, a week at most. But not he. For the first time love had touched her heart and it hurt now to tear it away.
"Cold is the sea." she sneered at the waves below her. She had lived long, years, in the cold water, only coming up every now and again when she felt like playing, when she wanted a quick adventure. Always had her heart yearned for the sea after a few days, but now the sea was colder than it had ever been.
"What I did was right." she told herself and her head believed her, but her heart fought back the thoughts. She could not stay, her mind argued, she would die and that would cause more troubles. 
Taking a deep breath, she prepared to jump. It was the only way.

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3. The Fall 
Bryan saw her on the bridge, legs slightly apart, arms extended, her platinum blond hair flowing in the wind. She stood there silently, as if she was enjoying herself. For a moment Bryan relaxed, maybe he was reading too much in the note.
Then she arched backward and dove. Running, he saw her fall, an endless descent into the waves several stories below. She did not come back up. Bryan searched his memory, had he ever seen her swim? No he hadn't, not once.
"She can't swim!" he called out, hoping someone would call 911 before he too jumped into the water. The fall seemed to take forever, the water growing more bright as he came nearer. And then he breeched the surface, diving under.
Frantically, Bryan searched. He came back up for air, dove back down and repeated the whole series of actions again. And again, and again. He did not find her, so again he dove deeper, searched the seaweed for Delphi. Time was running out he knew, if she still hadn't surfaced her body would be getting low on oxygen. At the thought of air, his lungs started burning. He needed to go up.
Pulling himself upwarth his feet got caught into the seaweed. Pulling, Bryan started panicking. His vision clouded and he knew he would probably not hold on much longer.
A dark shape appeared at the edge of his vision, but Bryan could not hold on to his conscious. Giving in, he felt his legs coming loose and the upward drift of the current get a hold on him. 
Delphi pushed Bryan to the surface, trying to get him onto land as fast as she could. She knew a beach not far away that was not loved with the tourists because of it's rocks and large population of crabs. She wasn't fond of it either, but it would have to do.
She pushed him on the beach and then shoved herself out, feeling the change of her body take place. Soon she was a human again, laying on the beach, trying to get up, to get her body, hardly used to her dolphin form again, back to knowing how to walk, breathe and talk.
"Bryan!" she called, crawling toward him.
He was breathing, but shallowy, not responding to her hands when she tried to wake him up. "You should not have followed me. I did not want you to get hurt, that was why I left."
Crying she laid her head on his chest, trying to hear his heart beat, "If only we could live together, but where could we? We would never be safe."
"Delphi?" Bryan asked, finally coming to.
"Are you alirght?"
"I feel as if I've swallowed down half the ocean." he said, coughing up some more sea water, "But I think I'll live."
"That's good." she said, taking a bit more distance again.
"Were you the one that saved me?" he asked.
"In a way." she said, hesitating if she should say more. If he did not remember anything, maybe she could leave again without him being anything the wiser.
"It was you, but not you. I felt you in my back. I saw you. A dolphin..."
He knew. With wide eyes Delphi waited for the screaming to start, for him to push her away in disgust. People never reacted positive to the stranger creatures that lived on the Earth. Mostly they just killed them and called them legend to forget about the murders.
But to her surprise, Bryan just hugged her. "I thought I had lost you."
"You're not going to make a problem out of this?"
"This slightly complicates matters..." he answered, "But it doesn't change who you are, right?"
"And who am I?"
"The woman I love."
"Living here won't be easy." she said.
"Then maybe we should look to other options." Bryan answered, "I must admit that I have not been honest either." he blushed, "But I thought I had let that part of my live behind. You see I was not born on this planet. My parents came from another planet, I left the place because I wanted to taste this life too. But weirdness seems to find me wherever I go." he smiled, "Maybe it's time to go back."
"How do you suppose we get there? Do you have a space ship tucked away in your pants?"
"Better, I can contact my parents. They'll come get me."
"With a spaceship?"
"Why does everyone here see aliens coming with spaceships? Really, there are other means of transport, like dragons."
"Dragons?"
"Yeah, that is one part of the weirdness I hoped to get away from, but really, a life without them is kind of dull."

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4. The Healing Den 
Delphi marveled at the new world she was experiencing. Being a dolphin shifter wasn't the strangest thing around anymore. There were dragons swimming in the water, prancing on the land and flying in the skies. And not just dragons but also wyverns, gryphons and a host of other creatures. People also came in a lot of variety, not just humans and shifters but everything in between as well as the truly alien.
"I got us a home!" Bryan told her.
"Just like that?" Delphi asked.
"Well you made my parents very happy by returning me to my home. They offered to help in any way they could. It's a home by the water since I know you need access to the sea. I've been told it's quite comfortable."
"You haven't seen it?"
"Well, I've been told it's there and that we should come see it."
"I can't wait." Delphi replied.
"My parents are already planning for the future. They're talking grandkids."
"Would that even be possible?"
"I don't know. Would you be willing to try?" Bryan asked, not exactly hiding his uncertainty.
"Maybe not right away.... but in the future. Probably."
"Let's first think about getting a pet as practice." Bryan suggested.
"Well while we're here.... how about a dragon?"

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HATCHING

Delphi could have shifted and swam among the dragons in her dolphin form. She'd seen some of the other candidates do just that. But that would not be kind to Bryan. He'd stood beside her despite her unusual abilities and she would now stick with him. Lessons on dragons and draconic care had assured her that the right dragon would find her. She'd have faith in that.
Bryan seemed to understand her thoughts and gave her hand a squeeze.
"I would understand you rushing toward your dragon." he said.
"Any dragon of mine would understand me staying close to you."
"Indeed I do." a faint voice echoed through Delphi's mind, "I'm quite close now. Just a bit longer."
Delphi looked up in wonder and only a few seconds later a creamy yellow dragon head popped out of the surf. Delphi laughed with pure delight and then turned excitedly to Bryan: "It's your turn now!"

STATS
Name: Gravik Prysmpond
Gender: Female
Species: Hybrid Pernese Aquatic
Parents: Green Lily Prismpond x Copper Hitasuk
Origin: The Healing Den Swim
Description: Long, slinky noodle. Four legs with webbing on feet Two single-fingered wings that are short and incapable of actual flight Durable rubbery skin with blubbery layer for protection under water Pupiled or faceted eyes. Large face tentacles, small jaw webs. Sharp fin shape on neck. No visible claws on any feet, forelimbs added arm webs. Short wings - no gliding possible on this version as they're just too heavy. Back and tail no ridge, Tail spade leaf-shaped.
     *Colours: Cream-Gold
     *Ratio: clutch siblings ranged from 35-55' long, centered at 10' shoulder-heighth
     *Adult Size: 38' long
Personality: A silent (not quiet), Kind disposition
Abilities:
     *Land Walk (6)
     *Water Manipulation (6)
     *Speed Swimming (5)
     *Breath Weapon: Ice (5)
     *Extraordinarily Strong (5)
     *Telepathy (4)
     *Echolocation (4)
     *Bioelectric Sense (4)
     *Water Adapted (4)
     *Deep Swim (4)
     *Water Requirement (3)
     *Teleport (2)
     *Genrehop (2)
     *Stealth Swimming (2)
     *Camouflage Coloration (1) -> inactive

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SWIM

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Lantessama Isle
This is a Candidacy Page for The Healing Den Swim
Lyrics from 'Parachute' by Something Happens