The goal of communication in computer networks is the delivery of information to endpoints that have certain properties. In wired networks, identities such as IP addresses are used to guide information through a network and the properties of network nodes are mapped to these identities by service discovery mechanisms. In mobile ad hoc networks(MANETs), identities lose their guiding ability because of the mobility of nodes. Instead of identities, we introduce a concept called characteristics, describing properties of nodes. Characteristics are disseminated throughout a network, simulating the flow of water streams. Messages are forwarded to their destinations -nodes with given properties -following these characteristics like following a water stream to its source. Messages may leave characteristics along their forwarding path which may be used to communicate with their sender and thus to establish two-way communication.In the following, we describe the details of our proposed protocol and compare it against traditional identity-based alternatives.