Deep Waters: The Princess and the Fishboy
Six year old Orihime Inoue stared at the creature entangled in her fishing line in surprise. It was a fish? Or maybe it was a human? She didn't know. She had never seen anything like it before. As a princess of the Karakura Country, her brother had chosen only the finest tutors for her and she had learned many things under them, but she had never heard of anything that was part fish and part human. At some point, she would have to ask her brother, Sora, about it.
Orihime's thoughts were jolted when her catch tugged harshly on the line. The jolt caused her caramel colored, sun kissed hair to whip harshly into her face. The thing thrashed and twisted only to complicate the fishing line that imprisoned it. It's tale had pretty scales ranging from black, to dark green all the way to blue; but that was where it's similarities to a fish ended. From the waste up, pale luminescent skin encased a tiny body with ribs and boney arms just like hers. She saw a flash of glowing green and it took her a moment to realize that it was it's eyes. It had a face! It was a - a boy? Maybe a fish boy?
“Calmed done. It's okay.” Orihime crooned. The boy paused in his struggles when he heard her voice, only to double his flailing when she started to pull in the line. For such a small thing, he was surprisingly strong. Grunting, Orihime nearly lost her footing. She stood on a shallow, grassy cliff, less than a meter overlooking a sandy bank near the ocean. Her dress was white and instead of going into the water and soiling it, she did her best to stay dry.
“I'm not going - grrr- ugh - to - hurt - you.” Orihime grunted as the boy fought her. Her hands were getting sweaty and the fishing line was growing slippery in her grip. If she let it go, not only would the fish boy try to escape but he would take her best fishing rod with it. Unfortunately for her, the fish boy was perhaps a little too strong. He gave poor Orihime quite the exertion as he yanked her side to side before finally giving one final desperate pull.
“Oof!” Orihime cried as she fell face first over the cliff and into the sand. Her landing was soft and aside from her pride, she was not hurt. The fish boy on the other hand had 'leaped' at his chance for freedom and in his haste to escape swam head first into one of the sea boulders banking off the shoreline. When Orihime found her bearings, the site of red water immediately drew her attention to the poor creature that was wafting pitifully in the shallows.
“Oh no,” She gasped. Picking up her dress, she waded into the shallows. The fishboy looked to be about her age. Now that she was closer to him, she could see tiny white shells beaded into the hair on the side of his head. Steeling herself, she wrapped her arms around his pail shoulders and carried him to shore. His skin was slimy.
“I promise, I won't hurt you,” she soothed. The fishboy hardly seemed to be listening though. His mind fluttered in and out of unconsciousness and his eyes were half closed. The wound to his head would have killed a mortal and even though he was already healing, he still had taken some damage.
Panting heavily, Orihime dragged the creature onto the beach and watched as he rolled onto his back. His chest did not rise or fall and the little princess feared for a moment that he was dead. Then to her amazement, he reached out a hand to her as if to beg for his life. His skin was paler than hers and his finger nails were black. A flash of light reflected off of a gold ring piercing in his right ear. His ears were much longer and pointier than hers. Licking her lips, Orihime nimbly went about freeing the creature from her fishing line. At first, he had not responded to her proximity but as the moments passed, she felt him tense underneath him and watch her warily with guarded eyes.
“My name is Orihime Inoue. What's your's?” Her voice was kind and innocent, but the boy only frowned at her in silence. She couldn't know that his clan of Merfolk could not speak without water - and on land could only sing to enchant.
“That's alright. You don't have to tell me.” Orihime wilted in disappointment. A moment later, she had completely disentangled her fishing rod. Before she could look over the injury on his head the fishboy hurled himself back into the the ocean's wave. The shock of it sent Orihime onto her backside. Her heart constrict when she realized that he had left her. Dark clouds settled in above her head, reflecting her mood. Being a princess made it hard for her to make friends. She was set apart and different from everyone else. Her strange hair color only added to her burden. The fishboy had been different too and for a little while, Orihime had hoped that maybe he would have been her friend.
Orihime's musing were interrupted when a splash and a spot of black sprung up from the water to reveal a small, pale frowning face and green, hooded eyes. The fishboy hadn't left yet.
“Please wait,” the princess cried but her voice lost itself on the wind as it grew vicious. No longer caring about the state of her dress, Orihime started to run out back into the water, only to pause when the fishboy signaled for her to stop. The water was growing restless. Swimming out in it would only tempt her fate. Orihime whined. The fishboy's eyes were still guarded, but there was an air of confusion around him, as if he wasn't sure what to think of her.
“Why don't you stay and play with me for a while?” she asked tentatively. The boy only frowned harder at her.
“I don't mind getting wet. My brother -” Orihime paused when the fishboy suddenly brought a single finger to his mouth, ushering for her to be quiet. It took Orihime a moment to realize that he wanted her silence not in words but of their encounter. Humans were not suppose to know about Merpeople.
“Okay. I can do that. I can keep this a secret” she whispered and felt another pang in her heart when the fishboy nodded in satisfaction before slowly wading out into the choppy sea. So, he wasn't going to stay...
“I don't even know your name.” she cried out suddenly. Her voice was desperate and it's pleading echo carried surprisingly far, but the boy only looked at her solemnly. His green eyes flashed once more before he disappeared under the watery blue depths. Orihime tried to follow him out but in the blink of an eye, a harsh wave rose up before her and pushed her back, far onto the beach. The salt water stung her eyes and made the tears she shed all the more bitter.
Later the tears in her eyes dried and instead of sadness, her eyes sparkled in wonder when she learned what mermaid were.
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