[ORP] The Beach

[Cody Archer]

Even sick as he felt, there was no way Cody could ignore the sudden bombardment of wet sand and water. It wasn't nearly enough to help him cool down, but it got him up and defensive, as he tried to cover his face with his arms to prevent any sand to get to his eyes
Unknowing he used his tail to try and send a wave back to the dog, while he cried out a screeched whistle in self-defense  

[Gaius Harper]

Gaius's ears flattened back at the shrill sound that pierced them. It startled Vixen too, but she continued to splash them both. About to lose his temper, Gaius got one foot beneath himself to stand up, intending to wrestle the dog down, but his attention was caught by Cody's flailing. It was obvious the boy was having trouble on the sand. He was distressed, trying to protect himself, and hardly able to do so, especially with no legs. That long body had to be unmanageable on land...

It finally clicked in the horse-man's head, understanding what Vixen already knew needed to be done. "Hang on there, kid," he said, getting up and standing over Cody's back. "We'll get you situated again..." Bending down, he caught Cody under the armpits, trying to get a grip on the slippery skin with his hooves, and had to end up wrapping his arms around. The kid was heavier than a normal 10 year-old should be, with all that length of tail and blubber, but with a grunt and strain of back muscles, Gaius managed to left Cody's torso up off the sand enough to get him turned around with a little waddling on the horse-man's part. It was mostly a bunch of dragging, but he got Cody into the slightly deeper waters, at least enough for him to be able to drag himself out with a little arm-and-tail work.  

[Cody Archer]

For a moment Cody struggled against the person who was holding him. mostly out of surprise and still blinded by the sand attack. But then he went limp and stopped resisting as he managed to calm himself down
Once in deeper waters he immediatly swam away, letting the water relieve him of the heat and stress. That helped him feel a lot better, though he still was nauseous

When he felt cool enough, he returned to where Gaius was standing. He smilled back and strggled to remember how to pronounciate the words
The "Kcaaaank Hooooou" still sounded distorced, since he no longer could use his lips and tongue to form the sounds. He still moved the mouth around, but it was out of habit  

[Gaius Harper]

Gaius stepped back, taking a second to shake himself off as Cody splashed away, seeming to get some life back in him. The horse-man was completely drenched by then, his hair hanging limply and clumps of sand sliding down his front.

When the kid turned around and smiled, Gaius returned it with his own wide grin, but it faded as Cody spoke, his eyes growing worried. He tilted his head to the side, his ears standing forward, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard it right.

Vixen bounded out towards the dolphin-boy, dog-paddling. She wanted to make sure this new friend they'd just saved was alright and safe!

"You doing okay, Cody?" Gaius asked, wading out a little after Vixen. "How'd you get stuck up on the sand?"  

[Cody Archer]

Cody got distracted as he saw Vixen approaching him. He always loved dogs and being stuck in water drastically reduced his chances to be around one. Besides his dolphin side liked it too, having a new companion to play with

While he kept petting Vixen, and keeping her afloat, he looked at Gaius and struggled to make himself understood. His vocabulary was still very poor and quite dolphin like

"Eeeellh ieeezsyyieh. Huuonyieeckeck. Yieenk ikc wuuosh kk yaahn huoockrrr ock kiee wiiieeckksshh"
(Felt dizzy. Vomited. Think it was the bad water of the pipes)  

[Gaius Harper]

Gaius's expression likely did little to reassure the boy. His brows furrowed and mouth opened, looking utterly confused and, to a degree, horrified.

He'd not understood a word of that. Dear lord, they'd taken the poor boy's voice with the changes...

"Hold on, Cody," he said before Cody could speak up again, holding up a staying hand. "I can't understand you. Can you repeat that? Slooowly."

As he spoke, he sat down in the water, to get on a closer level with the kid, and hopefully to try to lip-read to get what he was saying. Vixen, in the meantime, was having a grand time with the attention.  

[Cody Archer]

Cody sighed and let out a low dolphin bark by accident. He wasn't surprised at Gaius reaction, he already knew from his encounter with Sophie, Oz and Richard that his voice was completely lost

He tried to say it again, slower, but because the sound was now formed by his new "vocal cords" behind his nose, it did little good to the horse-man to try lip read. The boy's mouth still moved, but it didn't really match what he saying

"Iyeei sshaeiih yii yhieenck ekc wshh kck yaahg wouakehr ock keh khiickeeshh kak myiieak yiee yieeelllh shhieeek"
(I said I think it was the bad water of the pipes that made me feel sick)  

[Gaius Harper]

Gaius rubbed his forehead. This was going to be harder than he thought... "Alright... I think I got a couple words in there... You think... something about water? And sick? Are those connected? Some kind of water made you sick?" He looked at Cody, hoping for some kind of confirmation.  

[Cody Archer]

Cody nodded and smilled a toothy grin, happy part of the message made through

But it soon faded as a new wave of nausea invaded him. It was clear by his face and the sounds he was producing (the only ones that were actually coming from his mouth) he was trying contain a new wave of vomit
But sadly he didn't manage. His body purged itself from whatever nasty stuff he had accidentally consumed, sending forth the few remains of food that were still inside

He tried to grab Gaius to keep himself steady, feeling sick because of the taste and the smell of the stomach acids. He felt like he was going to die right there  

[Gaius Harper]

The horse-man grimaced, his nose wrinkling up as the overly-fishy smell assaulted his sensitive equine nose. Putting a hand on Cody's grip to keep him steady, he backed them away a bit from the mess. At least it was there in the ocean, the water'd wash Cody off easily enough. Vixen seemed to dislike the regurgitated mess just as much as the other two, barely giving it a sniff before she flattened her ears back and paddled away along with them.

Gaius looked back down at Cody, obviously worried about the boy's well-being after that display. "Hey, you okay? Is it some kind of poison? Do you need medical attention?" he asked, glancing over the kid for any other signs of injury. "What did this to you, anyway?"  

[Cody Archer]

It took a while before Cody even attempted to say anything. Not that he needed his mouth to do it, but when one feels nauseous there's little room for anything else. That's why he ended up disoriented in the first place

"Knoook Knoohu. Wuuukeeirr yiesk kheiask yeerrhyi waahg. Yiieevwan yiieagh yiiie yeiiiyshh kkiieeeng"
(Don't know. Water just taste really bad. Even made my eyes sting)  

[Gaius Harper]

Trying to understand the dolphin-boy was definitely an exercise in patience. He frowned, concentrating hard on the sounds of Cody's speech.

"So wait, this water that made you sick... what was wrong with it? Was it out here, in the ocean?" he asked, waving a hoof at the beach around them. If there was some kind of oil spill or other problem, he'd need to alert the others...  

[Cody Archer]

Feeling a bit more recovered Cody shook his head negatively. He pointed towards the location of the pipes, about 100m away from the mountain side of the island, where the labs were firmly built. There was nothing there to see from the surface, but he remembered well where it was built
Besides the horrible water there were sounds that kind of reminded him of a factory. Dolphin hearing was exceptionally strong underwater, where sound travelled a lot easier than through air, but the noise he had heard was vague and muffled, coming from the pipes like they were a great distance away

Cody made his way towards the shore and started building a sand pile. It had worked before, writting things on the mud to make himself understood. But here the surf would destroy his writting before he had a chance to write down everything
When it was high enough he wrote down the word he had been trying to say "Pipes"  

[Gaius Harper]

Gaius followed Cody's pointing, looking down the beach and aways past towards the mountains. He could catch a glimpse of the labs up on the mountainside, behind the trees. "The... labs? Is that what you're pointing out? Or something in the water...?"

He followed Cody into shore, taking the chance to step out of the water, and watched the boy work. He wasn't sure what the point of playing in the sand was, not until he read the word.

"Pipes?" he read, eyebrows rising. "The sick water... came from pipes?" He looked at Cody, hoping his guess was accurate.  

[Cody Archer]

Cody nodded, happy the message had gotten through
He then pointed to the sea again, where the pipes were located. That's where he found the sick water and that's what likely got him sick. He didn't made the connection the pipes came from the labs though