Chapter 1: The End of the Beginning: The Story Starts
She stood over him. The glittering knife in her hand matchingthe tears that fell on his sleeping face. Him with that other, that golden wench (all too golden, all too beautiful.) But this is where the story ends, with this contradiction. It would be unfair to not explain how this scene was reached. But then, you've heard the story before.
Perhaps you are thinking that you doubt it (how cynical are youth, a tear for you) that this is a story you would not be interested in. Or worse, you are thinking of all the stories you have heard that ended just this way and are trying to discern which one it is. No matter, I shall relate it, and you shall hear, be it for the first time or the hundredth. But if you'll listen—that is up to you. (I shed no tears over this. Not now.)
The story begins with a fire on a ship. Not (yes, I hear you scoffing) the type of ship you have now, all steel and paint and no emotion, no lust for the sea and adventure. No, it was the ship of another world. A world you no longer believe existed. A wooden ship, yes, with oil lamps. (I know it is, in essence, just putting fire with kindling. Do notlaugh at the mistakes of my world and I will notlaugh at the mistakes of yours—however tempting.) The wind blew hard, the lamp tipped over, and that ship began to burn, far from any coast that could have saved its passengers. For there were many men aboard this vessel, and many lives would be lost that night. But for the girl of water there was only one man, for all her life there was but one beautiful man. But I digress.
She was a girl of an order that you do not believe in (how easy your expressions are to read) with a tail instead of legs and gills like the sea creatures as well as lungs as it is on land. You see, from her birth she was in conflict, just from how she was made—but again, I digress.
She saw the man, the beautiful man, already sinking down into her world, already the will to fight having drained from his body, already with the expression of serenity that only those who have accepted their fate can attain. It was with that peaceful expression on his face that she rescued him from death, She didn't know, then, that she would never see that expression again. Not until—well, that comes later. At the time, she thought that look of perfect contentment was for her, and she spent all her strength trying to preserve it, dragging him over her shoulder to a distant shore. (Your expression, so easy to read, suggests you don't believe it. Someday though, you too will be in love.)
She left him on the sandy beach and stole away to the water, waiting till a girl, golden and innocent, wandered along the beach, singing, and found him lying there. Then she flitted back to her home vowing to see him again, whatever the cost. (She didn't know how high such costs can rise.)
A/N: How was that for a beginning? Let me know.
OP