A Whale of the Wild

The narrative moves back to Vega’s point of view. She’s relieved to be surrounded by other wayfinders even though she doesn’t quite understand the language her long-lost relatives speak. Seeing the large number of babies and younglings in the pod reminds Vega of Capella and Blood Cove, and she’s filled with anger that “the pain and loss of those long-ago captures are not over” (133). One night, the pod is filled with excitement when they detect a group of sharks feeding on a swarm of fish. To Vega’s astonishment, the whales hunt the sharks. One of the sharks tries to attack her, and Deneb and the other whales protect her.

Vega has never eaten shark before, but she decides to try it since she and her brother are starving and in the uncharted waters of the Blue Wilderness. After Deneb eats some shark meat, his consciousness drifts, and Vega sees “a long curving gash below his flipper” (139). The Vanished Ones leave the siblings behind. Vega spends two days tending to her brother. During this time, she senses something watching them from the shadows, but the dark presence is gone when Deneb heals. Exhausted, Vega falls asleep. She communes with her kinship’s wayfinders in her dreams and awakens with a new sense of clarity.

Vega tells Deneb that it’s time for them to return home. She realizes that they cannot find food for themselves in the ocean, and she secretly fears that “there might not be food for [them] at home either” (141). Still, she’s determined that, if they must perish, they should die in the home of their ancestors. She sets their course using the sun and the moon. Vega finds a flat fish to share with Deneb, but she worries that they will succumb to hunger sickness, an illness that leads to confusion, memory loss, and even death.

One day, they near Land’s End and see tiny fish making new homes in a sunken cargo ship. This is “the first hopeful sign” Vega has seen because salmon eat the little fish (143). Vega hopes that the absence of boats on the water means that there will be enough food for her family this year. The siblings return to the Gathering Place and announce their names as loudly as they can. Off in the distance, they hear Aquila and Altair respond.

Although the reunion is joyful, both Vega and Aquila are grieved that the rest of their family remains apart from them. Aquila explains that she became separated from the others because of the great waves that followed the sea shake. She is “terribly lean” because she nursed Altair to keep him healthy (147). Vega realizes that she must lead the four of them and that Aquila will succumb to hunger sickness unless she finds salmon for her cousin quickly. Aquila also understands that her and her baby’s lives hang in the balance. Filled with fierce love and pride for her family, Vega inwardly swears, “I will go as far as it takes and kill whatever I must to keep you alive” (149). She decides that the salmon will most likely be near the largest mountain, which is called the Mother of Rivers. She doesn’t know if she will be able to chart a course through the reshaped landscape, but she subdues her doubts. Taking the wayfinder’s position, she leads what’s left of her family away from the Gathering Place.

The narrative shifts to Deneb’s perspective. The youngling tries to keep himself and Altair hopeful by singing and telling stories. When Aquila becomes too frail to produce milk and despairs of reaching their destination, Deneb offers an encouraging and steady presence. One night, he keeps watch so that Vega can rest. All of the familiar sea marks are changed, but Vega manages to find the path. At last, they see the Mother of Rivers and “a swirling moon” of Chinook salmon (158). The four orcas eat their fill, and Deneb exults, “[Vega] is the queen of all wayfinders! We will never be hungry again!” (159).

The narrative moves to Vega’s point of view. She is filled with gratitude to her relatives for following her despite their pain and with pride in her wayfinding skills. Suddenly, Vega realizes that the salmon should be much more difficult to hunt. She sees that the mouth of the river is blocked, preventing the salmon from going upstream to lay their eggs. Understanding that “everything [she] love[s] will be lost without” the salmon (161), she tries to open the path to the river. A group of longboat riders removes some of the rubble, and Vega uses her echolocation to find a weak point in the obstruction. She determines that a woman with “pearl-colored hair” is a “human wayfinder” and guides her to the weak point (164). Together, Vega, Deneb, and the humans clear away the tree trunks and boulders holding back the water. Vega guides her family to cover as the river bursts free.

Vega tries to warn Aquila that they will “make a wasteland of the sea” if they eat all of the salmon (168), but the starving whale pursues the fish up the river, further demolishing the barrier. The water sweeps away Altair. Deneb hurries after his little cousin while Vega goes after Aquila. As the lake behind the barrier rapidly drains away, the two whales are at risk of being stranded on dry land. Aquila is terrified that they may never find salmon again, but Vega convinces Aquila to return to the sea with her by reminding her of her baby.

Vega and Aquila find Altair and Deneb helping humans who fell into the water when the barrier broke. While the younglings play, Aquila apologizes to Vega for doubting her abilities as a leader. Vega declares to her cousin, “You will be my hunter and I will be your wayfinder, and we will scour the sea to find our mothers and greatmother, our whole kinship” (175). She can’t be sure where the rest of their relatives are, but her adventures have proven that she is capable of more than she ever knew. Gathering her family around her, Vega leads the way forward.