She drifted slowly past the kelp, as the current swept her carcass over the ocean bed. Her calf cried hysterically as he brushed against her warm fins tirelessly. He gave his tears to the sea, hoping they would bring his world back to him...they did not. As her back made peace with the corals below, a cloud of misery showered over the sea. It was a death the ocean felt deeply, one that meant nothing to the world but everything to her kin. She had only nurtured her calf for 4 months before nature called her to part with the Earth. It was the most dreadful journey for her, feeding and caring for her calf as her body weighed her down daily.

  As he followed her floating carcass, he was reminded of a special memory. A week ago she had taken him beyond the reef to feast on his very first krill. He watched her as she glided gracefully through swarms of Krill, lunging at them as swift as a Marlin. Her years of voyaging made her an expert at finding the best spots for krill and anchovies. She was no ordinary blue whale, she had hunted the coasts of many continents before she had given life to her calf. He felt far too scared to even approach a school of fish, with a soft gre he alerted her. She paced closer to him, urging him to attempt his first catch. He was but the size of a sturgeon, hovering along the weak current that blew over the reefs behind him. Blue whales were basking in every direction around him, making him feel as small as a cm. His mother nudged him, and sang softly as to not disturb the other whales. Her song calmed him, it id so gently on his chest like a hug that wouldn't let go. He paced silently towards the swarm, still feeling the song of his mother following him from behind. With one swift lung, he caught his first mouthful of krill. He beamed with joy and swam circles around the fins of his mother, exuding nothing but pride and happiness. She beamed gleefully, knowing her kin had taken his first taste of the sea. The krill tasted far different from the breastmilk of his mother, it tasted like the sea had kissed his tongue and tickled his belly. His eyes widened as the fvours danced all the way to his stomach. That day was spent gliding through krills and anchovies till his little belly perched far beyond his chest. His mother tailed him quietly as he learned to lunge and filter hundreds of fish. They soared through the ocean, creating memories that he would forever cherish.

  They all repyed as he id on her belly, mourning to the cms in hopes they would share his cries. For a calf so young, death was an unfathomable concept. All he knew was that the heart he always felt when he was near her, was no longer beating. Fish began brushing against her body that id above the corals like a blue cloud bringing forth a soft carcass for many to feast on. Neighboring blue whales surrounded the dead mother and her wailing calf, showering him with pity in sight of his despair. They all echoed their cries, telling the seas that they had lost a soul. As they cried, Tchera approached the calf with her fins moving subtly above the carcass. She nudged him with her snout, telling him that he needed to move before the sharks found his mother's scent. She moved over him as he slowly started to brush over his mother's face, taking his time so he would remember how she felt. Her deep blue eyes gazed at him with nothing but emptiness, he would forever remember her eyes. Not for their beauty, but for the void they left in him.

  His body weighed heavy as his fins tried to carry him away from his mother. Tchera brushed her fins against him, hoping the current she made will carry him alongside her. She was a huge whale that often basked with the older males in the pod. After tragedy struck , no whale swam with her ever since. Her name was given by fisherman that killed her only calf and dragged it's body to the burning shore. They sighted her smming her fins against the surface of the sea in an attempt to row their boats underwater, but her calf had already been pierced by their harpoons. Her name transtes to 'blue tears', as they heard her wail in the distance calling for her murdered calf to return. As she glided with the calf she was reminded much of her own kin, he was around the same age. She took him with the hope that he would fill a void within her, that he would climb into her heart and remain there. He quietly swam under her fins, feeling her warmth as they moved to her kelp forest. She would call him fawn as he reminded her of a stray baby who had lost everything with nowhere else to go.

  Tchera stopped abruptly, indicating to fawn that they would rest just beyond the kelp fields where other whales were peacefully floating. She nudged him away from her fin, hoping he would find a pce to get comfortable. He had not a thought in his head, he swayed a few feet away from Tchera feeling like an empty shell. She watched as he calmed down and found a spot to rest his eyes. Knowing he was still young, she imagined he had not learned how to get proper rest. She waved her dorsal fin vigorously, trying to align herself in a vertical position. Her belly faced Fawn, she echoed to him that he should swim closer to her and tch onto her fin. She would carry him to the surface with her if she needed to breathe so he would not get blown away by the strong currents. He felt her heartbeat, it was like a drum that tapped his little body with every beat it made. She made sure he felt it, so he would know that he was not alone.

  The sea was vast and winters were ciming the waters. Tchera knew that she could not stay here with Fawn, he would not survive a week of winter. She had to leave earlier than the rest of the pod to avoid Fawn slowing down the pod.

  They would have to voyage thousands of miles through the pacific, it was no pce for a single mother and a calf.