Fishes and Humans

It was a strange relationship, between the Southern Resident, and the Argentinean Transit. Their languages and dialects were so different, communication felt impossible on most days. But then, there was the occasional day where sometimes, it seemed like they were speaking the same tongue, and everything made sense.
This day, was not one of those days.
Kapono didn't know exactly what to do. Even with the lack of conversational ability, she was sure the bull, Gadzooks, understood her obvious fear of humans. After all, he found her in that netted prison half starved and alone. And thus far, they'd traveled in the open ocean, far away from the shore and humans. The only thing Kapono didn't care for about that, was the lack of sealion, her favorite food. But there were plenty of young cousins that would've made a good meal for the transit.
Gadzooks didn't seem to get that. He preferred the schools of fish they ran across. this usually pushed the two of them to feed separately, but they still traveled together all the same. Gadzooks seemed pretty pushy about Kapono trying to eat the fish. Sometimes Kapono accepted his offering. Their strange taste reminded her so much of the dead fish the humans fed her during her time in the netted pen though. Sometimes it just gave her chills. But, then again, trying to hunt cousin calves all alone was difficult too. So sometimes, Kapono felt she had no choice, though, that was like being with the humans too she felt.
At least Gadzooks was doing it out of kindness though. She could see that in his eyes when he tried. He was a good companion to have.
Except for that day.
They were close to shore for the first time in several days. Kapono could see human dwellings, hear their cries even from this far, and see the drifting boats that made the cow stop and whine anxiously at her companion.
Gadzook's massive form turned in the water, his dark skin dancing with the reflections of the surface. Kapono glanced nervously around and sank her body lower in the water, chirping again, trying to voice her clear anxiety to her companion. Gadzooks stared at her, his large eyes studying her, before he released a sharp sounding call. It wasn't aggressive. Curiosity colored the tone, even if its' words were foreign.
Kapono chirped again, the sound turning more into a squeal of fright. Even from this far she could hear the revving sound of boats. It was taking her everything she had not to flee.
Gadzooks exhailed in a very soft sigh, a small flurry of bubbles rising from his blowhole as he stroked his flukes and glided over to her. The bull quietly circled over her, his form shadowing Kapono from the faint sunlight above as it peaked through the clouds. She could feel Gadzook's massive pectorals softly touch her body as he moved back towards the shore, letting another soft, sing song sounding whistle echo around them.
The gesture was simple. He wanted her to follow. He wanted to show her something. But Kapono couldn't. Her fear was too great. She could remember clearly the boats surrounding her and her mother. The shouts, the loud sounds, the pain of the rope getting tangled in her flukes. It was absolutely terrifying. Gadzooks may have shown a clear ability to be able to open and tear nets down, but it was of little comfort to Kapono. She couldn't bear the thought of being enclosed and alone again. Her short, barking whistle made that very clear to Gadzooks.
The bull stared at her, looking almost hurt that she wouldn't come. But he gave a defiant whistle and clapped his jaws together in determination. With a stroke of his powerful flukes, he whirled completely around, back towards the humans. He put enough power into the movement that his upper body breached the surface, landing hard with a short crash. In a flurry of bubbles, the male's dark form faded into the distant water, towards the sound of the boats and the humans. Towards shore.
Kapono whined loudly as she watched her friend disappear. her flukes struck the surface of the water as she lifted her head above it with a distressed, squalling sound. If Gadzooks heard, he didn't heed.
That left the distressed cow anxiously turning in the water, heading a bit farther out into the ocean before circling to watch and wait. Even after a short while, Kapono dared to spyhop above the waves, searching for Gadzook or even a sign. There was no success the first time. But the second spyhop gave her a glimpse of his tall dorsal fin breaking the waves, too close to a human boat. though it was one that was a bit of a distance from shore, and the others. But it hardly made Kapono feel better about it. Anxiously, the cow called again, sinking deep under the waves, her eyes peeled for Gadzook, hoping he'd come back. She worried he'd get himself hurt though. Humans were so dangerous.

After several more, long and agonizing moments, Kapono's head snapped up as she heard the short, exciting sounding call from Gadzooks.
Kapono's jaws parted just a little as she gave a short, loud whistle back, stroking her flukes to great the surface of the water, watching as Gadzook's dark shape came through the water. The white patches on the large male practically glowed in the dim as he finally came up to her, his large eyes wide and sparkling with a funny look Kapono had never really seen. Upon seeing her, the bull let out a series of short whistled and clicks. He sounded excited from what Kapono could tell.
The cow blew a few relived whistles when Gadzooks reached her, his rostom almost bumping her's with as close as he got. He gave a happy little whistle and blew a few bubbles at her.
After a moment, Kapono realized he had a fish. The pair hadn't eaten in days, so it was a welcoming sight, but also a confusing one. Gadzooks held it very proudly, whistling again as he gazed at her. His jaws parted enough to let the already deceased body drift in front of Kapono. A silent offering.
Kapono stared at the fish, then glanced at Gadzooks again.His eyes sparkled with pride and excitement.
Kapono wouldn't turn down the gift, but she carefully bumped it, her eyes catching the glimmer of something hanging from it's lips. Something small, and human made. She shifted her gaze back to the bull, giving a tiny chirp.
Gadzooks let his gaze wander to the shiny thing and he just gave a whistle. His body rolled in the water so he was upside down, his pectoral's lifting a bit above the surface. He whistled again and carefully took the fish's head in his mouth, whistling at her again. Hesitently, Kapono took the other end of the fish in her own mouth, eyeing Gadzooks before he gave his head a hard yank, more or less ripping the fish's head off. With the rest of the fish in her mouth, Kapono tilted her head a bit and swallowed it as Gadzooks released the head. Kapono's eyes once again fixed on the strange thing hanging from it's mouth. There was a bit of thin string drifting from the object. She couldn't imagine where Gadzooks had gotten it. From the humans she supposed. Not a comforting though. But Gadzooks seemed to think otherwise. When she'd swallowed her fish, he whistled and with a stroke of his flukes, was drifting back to the humans. Maybe for more.
Kapono just stared after him, sighing and letting a small flurry of bubbles from her blowhole while she waited. This was not an ideal way of getting food. But, she had come to trust Gadzooks. So she would wait.

****

Kapono and Gadzooks sharing a sweet moment. ^^ They're very much polar opposites, since Gadzooks loves people, and Kapono is terrified of them. So, Gadzooks is trying to show her they're not that bad.
Though, the fisherman Gadzooks stole his fish from is not happy about his line being snapped. x3
So, yup, just a fun little picture I wanted to do of the pair of them ^^

<sub>Also my second entry for One captivity and one wild. ^^

I adopted Zooks and Kapono from And Respectively ^^</sub>