The Strife filled merman
Chapter 1: A tale of the bottomless blue
The wind flapped noisily at the crisp white sails of the boat as it tussled along the foaming waves. Standing hazardously at the bow, a beautiful girl of about 18 threw her head back, and allowed the wind to catch her long dark tresses in its midst. The girl let out an excited giggle, and opened her ruby red eyes to gaze upon the pictures in the clouds above. "Tifa! Tifa darling, don't stand so close to the edge! What would I tell your father if you were to take a fall!?" a gentle, but panicked voice floated past Tifa's ears. It was Aerith, Tifa's nanny, who called so frantically to her. Tifa only smiled childishly, and waved her arms to her sides to feel the wind through the gapes in her fingers. Aerith scoffed in disapproval, "Such behavior from a girl your age, and a princess at that!" Yes, Tifa was the heir to her kingdom's throne. Her father, the king, was ruler of the Dauphine kingdom located by the sea. Tifa was not originally intended to be the heir to the kingdom. She once had an older brother, but he was sadly lost to the sea when he was only a baby. But Tifa was a wonderful princess, and a friend to everyone. Her father had been pressuring her for the past few months to find a suitable husband, but Tifa 'preferred her freedom' as she had put it. When Tifa finally decided to indulge her nanny and stepped down from the bow, her earring fell out. Tifa dove for it, but it fell with a plink into the waters below…
The tiny silver earring sank deeper and deeper into the dark depths, until it was grabbed by a passing merman. But this was no run-of-the-mill merman, this happened to be the only son of King Sephiroth, and future sovereign of all the ocean. His name was Prince Cloud, but hardly anyone called him such. His hair was a beautiful golden color, which stood up in spikes. He had beautiful eyes of the clearest blue that shone like the sun on the water. His tail was that of a shark's, which was rugged and nicked at the edges from tussles with different creatures of the deep. Let's just say Cloud didn't get along with EVERY shark in the sea.
Cloud turned the shiny object over in his fingers, admiring the way the light made it glisten. While he was busy debating what the object was, another merman flapped his way over. "Hey there Cloudy-boy!" the man called. This merman, was completely different in looks then Cloud, but not necessarily in the attraction department. He had jet black hair, that also was held up in messy spikes. His blue eyes were darker in color, but still shone with enthusiasm. He had a muscular physique, much like Cloud, but his pectorals were just a tad more impressive than Cloud's. His tail was that of a lion fish, with intensely spotted fins. His name was Zack Fair, best friend of Cloud Strife, our hero. He wasn't born in the same ocean Cloud was, and many still debated just how he got there in the first place. Zack didn't remember where he came from, but that didn't bother him so much at any rate.
"Hey Cloudy, whatcha got there?" Zack asked, gesturing to the earring. Cloud held it up to Zack so he could see it better. "I'm not quite sure, actually. It fell from the surface," Cloud informed him. Zack scratched his spikes, "Hey! Why don't we ask Cait Sith what it is? I'll bet he could tell us!" Cloud turned to the dark haired man, "Yeah, good idea." The two men promptly swam to the surface, to seek out the cat named Cait Sith.
When Cloud took his first few gulps of air, he spotted the tiny feline sunning himself on a small island. He had a megaphone clenched in his paw, held upside down. "Hey Cait! Over here!" Zack called energetically. Cait Sith perked up his ears, and beckoned the mermen over. "Oi lads! And what sort of tom-foolery are you two up to today?" Cloud smiled, and held up the tiny piece of jewelry, "I saw this shiny thing fall from the surface. What do you suppose it is?" Cait lifted the earring in his paw. "Aha! I know exactly what this is!" He piped boastfully. "This lads, is a piece of lady's jewelry!" Cloud and Zack looked at each other perplexed.
"Lasses wear these in their ears, see?" The feline held it up to his own ear to demonstrate. Zack gazed at it amazed, "Wow, these humans think of everything, huh Cloud?" The young prince grinned cheekily, and nodded.
After Cloud had retrieved the earring from Cait Sith, he carefully stored it in a small pouch wrapped around his dorsal fin. "Aye, it certainly is quite lovely! I'm sure the lady that lost it is grieving for it!" the cat said off-handedly, examining a claw. Cloud did feel rather sorry for the human, but then realized they should've been more careful with such a beautiful earring. As the sun began to dip beyond the skyline, the mermen decided that Cloud's father would become suspicious as to what was keeping them. The waved a quick goodbye to Cait Sith and dove back down beneath the waves.
Cloud swam slowly along the drifting currents, his tail making powerful turbines in his wake. Unknown to him, two glinting pairs of sea green eyes were following his shark-like movements. Two mermen with eel tails snaked their way through the course sea weed, struggling to keep up with the young prince. One had wild fiery red hair, while the other's head was as bare as a baby's. Their eyes were glowing, and emitting a strange aura; as if another was gazing through their own eyes.
Many leagues away, in a dark ship grave yard, a red haired man was swimming in maddening circles. He had dark navy eyes, lit with insanity. In front of him, a large bubble was floating stationary. Through it, he could see Prince Cloud swimming in solitude. "Hmph, there's nothing special about this kid," The man grumbled, "Just another punk rebel who thinks he's hot shit." He turned away from his portal, but turned back when he heard a nasally voice resonate through it. "I dunno boss, there may be a little more to this brat then meets the eye." Pinching the bridge of his nose, the man spoke into the bubble, "Well, keep an eye on him, then. But don't spend any extra time on him, you got that Reno?" He popped the portal bubble, "The Goddess bids us follow the path to victory. Know thy enemy and find the quickest route to victory." He quoted to himself, as he did quite frequently. "Sephiroth won't hold his title for much longer, this I swear!"
Author notes: Can anyone guess who the villain is? Haha. Anyway, a new take on the little mermaid. I thought it would be interesting to have Cloud be our aquatic hero in this version. Of course, it wouldn't be much fun if I stuck by the story, so I've added some fun plot twists along the way for your reading pleasure. Chapter 2 will be up soon, so be on the lookout!