There are so few stories in this fandom! We must fix this. Let's get writing! :D
Pairing: onesided Kurokiba Ryou/Tadokoro Megumi, Yoshino Yuki/Tadokoro Megumi.
Warnings: major character death, profanities, etc.
The Cypress and the Clover
She is born from the Cypress tree, the trunk splitting from the middle, and branches twisting to hold up a fully formed maiden from the break within the trunk. The beasts find her first, the deer, the boars, and the bears. They stand guard by her until the nymphs arrive, and take her to the Mount to present to the King of the Gods.
He bestows upon her the title of Huntress. Her name to the humans is to be Neitan, goddess of wild beasts and the hunt. He presents her with a golden bow and arrows, and a tunic to hide her body. It does not make sense to her, but she dresses nonetheless.
Once all the blessing is completed, she goes back down to the forest where she is the most comfortable, back to her domain. On the way back, she hears a name she likes and decides to use it as her common name.
She calls herself Yuuki-Yoshino Yuki.
He is born an abomination. A child of Titans, fallen deities. The nereids scorn him and the potamois mock him. But when he is presented to the King, he is named the God of Northern Sea storms, famed for its intensity and destructive power. They name him Thaumas, the dangerous wonder of the sea.
When he returns to the ocean, the nymphs bow-they fear him but do not respect him.
The daughter of the North Sea Goddess is the only one who speaks to him-though she too talks down to him.
She is the one that gives him his common name. She calls him Kurokiba Ryou.
Her favourite time to hunt is at night, when the moon is above her. Isami is much easier to get along with than his hot-headed brother, Takumi.
She hunts with only her hounds. The nymphs annoy her. The gods on the mountain mock her for not having a realm of her own.
Not that all of them are bad. The younger gods are usually friendly. Isshiki, the messenger god, is the one that taught her how to accept offerings from her worshippers and Takumi is the one that trained her on her bow and arrow.
But her forest is hers alone, she doesn't need anyone else in it.
She is the first one that does not look down on him or avoid meeting his eyes due to fear. She gives the same polite respect to both the gods and the lesser beings, like the mermaids. She meets his eyes and does not scorn him when told that he is the child of a titan.
She is the daughter of the Southern Ocean Goddess and a mortal man, and she guides fisherman to good bounty and protects them in ship wrecks.
Her name is Leuthiena; kindness permeates her entire being. She is shy and soft-spoken, but when attacked, she defends without fail. She is steel wrapped in silk. She protects her query without fail, no matter how exhausted she is.
He wants to be near her always.
He begins creating stronger storms, causing more ship wrecks, so that she will arrive to save the fishermen that pray to her. He manages to hold on to her for a few hours every time, showing her what the North has to offer.
Alice knows what he is doing and laughs at him once. "It's not very cute to look so desperate," she advises, red eyes twinkling with mirth. "But I guess someone like you wouldn't know that."
The first time Yuki sees the ocean, it is because she got too focused on tracking the boar. Usually, she makes sure to stay in the perimeter of her forest, choosing not to venture further, but that boar had killed one of her precious hounds, which had been a gift from Soma, and she needed to get revenge. Her arrow downs the beast at the edge of the forest, and it tumbles down the cliff to the beach below.
"Yes!" she says to herself before scaling down the cliff to her catch.
A strange smell prompts her to look away from the boar, and Yuki widens her eyes at what she sees.
She sees the ocean, hears the crashing roars and smells the salty air. It's loud, but it is a different sort of loudness than her forest. There, it is the beasts and the birds and the insects that create the noise, but here it is the waves, and the wind.
Yuki is mesmerized by the sight, everything is so different here, but it the maiden that mesmerizes her even more so.
Her dark hair is braided into two simple plaits, and she wears a long, pale blue dress. Yuki feels instant connection with her; of all the goddesses she had met until now, she had been the only on to bind up her hair. The stranger's eyes also remind Yuki of herself. She sees those eyes daily when she goes to the lake to wash her face. Someone that is lonely, that does not quite fit into the traits the deities on the mount possess.
And, sure the Nymphs are nice, but they find her barbaric and odd. And the Satyrs are welcoming but they are too lustful and too rambunctious, even for her standards.
So Yuki says the first friendly thing she can think of. "Do you want to eat some boar with me?!" she shouts out, startling the other girl into dropping the seashells she had been collecting.
She presses her hands to her chest, and her golden eyes widen in shock at Yuki's call, but she nods slowly, smiling shyly.
"Wait here! I'll be right back!" Yuki says as she grins back. "I need to go get some firewood!"
When the hunter returns with dried wood piled on her arms, the ocean spirit is sitting by the boar, fidgeting.
"What are you doing?" Yuki asks as she jumps.
"Ahh, Sorry! I didn't do anything to help!" she says, her hands moving in random motions. "I wanted to… but the boar, I've never prepared the meat before."
"It's alright, I didn't expect you to. You are an Ocean goddess after all," Yuki replies with a smile. "Just sit! I'll take care of the rest!"
"My deified name is Neitan…But my name is Yuki! Yoshino Yuki!" she says as she prepares the boar for roasting. She chooses the boar's belly, where the fat is evenly marbled through; she wants to impress this new goddess, wants to show her what the land has to offer.
"My mother named me Tadokoro Megumi," Megumi replies with a smile, petting one of Yuki's hounds. "Your creatures are very friendly…And soft too." She giggles. "There are few sea creatures like this…"
Her hounds barks at the compliment and begin to overwhelm the other goddess with their affectionate head butting. Yuki intervenes by directing them to their portion of the boar.
They talk while waiting for the boar to roast. Megumi protects fishermen and sailors in storms and directs them to good fishing locations. She is amazing-Yuki feels insignificant compared to her. Her blessings are usually a luxury, not a necessity; usually one only the wealthy take time in.
"So what were you doing?" Yuki asks, tilting her head to meet Megumi's eyes.
"Ahh-Well, I was collecting seashells," the goddess explains, fiddling with her dark hair. "To make a necklace…"
"That's cool! I'd like to try making that!"
"Eh?! Really?" Megumi asks with wide eyes, as though it's a surprise. Which is a bit odd, in Yuki's opinion, because why wouldn't that be interesting?
"Yeah! After eating we can do it! I got time to spare," Yuki adds on with a laugh.
The conversation trails off after that as Yuki focuses on finishing the meat perfectly. Yuki attempts to present the boar in an aesthetically pleasing fashion but after several failed attempts, she growls and simply slices the boar's meat and gives it to Megumi to taste.
The Ocean goddess takes the meat apprehensively, but smiles after a taste. "I usually avoid the boar during feasts because it has an odd aftertaste, but I can't taste it at all here!" she says, taking another bite of the boar. "How did you remove it?"
Yuki grins before presenting the branch of berries. "I used Juniper berries."
"Juniper? I know you could use them for medicine but this is the first time I heard it used for food," Megumi comments with a tilt of her head.
"Oh no, everyone in the forest does it!" Yuki answers with another grin. It's difficult not to smile around the shy goddess. "There are other herbs too, in my forest! You should come up one day, I'll show you around!"
Megumi blushes darkly, Yuki notes, the flush giving her pale skin some colour. "I don't want to trouble you!"
"Haha, it's no problem!"
"You are looking happy," Alice comments to Leuthiena after the monthly meeting of the oceanic deities. Ryou stands silently beside Alice but looks on with interest. It is true; she had been smiling the entire meeting, a big change from her usual fretting. She worries about the humans too much.
"Re-Really?" She asks with a jump. "It's nothing. Just a good mood."
Alice raises a brow before quirking her lips. Once that woman finds something interesting, she'll badger it until she gets what she wants. "Oh, come now! I know it's not nothing."
"Really, it's nothing," She says, rubbing one of the shells on her bracelet.
"Come on, Megumi!" Alice says, poking Leuthiena's arm. Ryou freezes, because it is the first time he has heard her common name. Megumi… It suits her.
Leuthiena-No, it is Megumi- Megumi stutters for a few moments before smiling, looking down at her bracelet. "I-I made a friend a few weeks ago. A forest goddess."
"Oh," Alice replies. Ryou can see the answer was not what she wanted, and can see the white-haired goddess losing interest. But he is interested. Is this goddess a competition? Should he be worried? What's the bitch's name?
"What's the big deal? You already have friends," Alice adds with a shrug. "I'm your friend, Ryou's your friend. What's one more?"
"I guess. But it's the first time I made a friend on my own!" Megumi says with a smile. "Usually, you introduce them to me. We made this together!" She adds, pointing to her bracelet.
Alice smiles as well, before clapping her hands together. "Well, then to celebrate your newfound friendship, we'll have a feast! Come on!" she says with a cheer, always eager for a party.
"No-Now?" Megumi stutters, before getting her wrist grabbed by Alice.
"Sure, why not?" She replies, tugging the other girl with her. Alice turns back when she notices that Ryou is not following. "Come on Ryou! Do I have to drag you too?"
He grunts but strides over to where the other two are waiting before glancing down at Megumi. "The woman… What's her name?" he asks with a frown.
"Oh, um… Her name is Neitan."
"Hn," Ryou mumbles before walking ahead. "Well, let's go eat something."
Whoever this Neitan was, she'll soon learn to leave Leuthiena alone.
One night Yuki sees a field of white clovers, the flowers in full bloom. She brings Megumi there the next time they meet, a week later, and she teaches Megumi how to make flower chains with the white blooms.
She wishes they can meet more often, but they both have their respective duties to attend to first.
"The flowers are really pretty," Megumi comments, her fingers deftly stringing the white flowers together. Though it is Yuki that is the teacher, her chain looks amateur compared to the Ocean goddess'. "But, I like the shape of the leaves. This four-leafed one, see? It's very nice."
"Yeah, it's nice," Yuki replies in agreement, though more than the clovers, she is looking at the goddess bathed in moonlight.
"Ibusaki!" Yuki bellows as she kicks down the door to the blacksmith's workshop. The auburn haired god sighs when he sees her.
"You know you don't have to yell, right?" he says, looking back at the sword he is making.
"Ibusakiiiii! I need you to make this!" Yuki says, presenting a small four leafed clover with a flourish.
Shun Ibusaki, god of metalwork, volcanoes, and fire, was supposed to create a plant?
Ibusaki blinks, though it goes unnoticed due to the fringe of his hair covering his eyes. "You…Want me to make a clover?" he asks blankly. "Shouldn't you go to Shinomiya for something like that?"
"No! I didn't mean the actual plant," she explains with a shake of her head. "And also, you know Shinomiya is more of a vegetable-fruit guy! Anyways, I meant I want you to make me something in this design! Something that can go on someone's head!"
"…Like a crown?" Ibusaki asks, completing his blade. It still needs some finishing touches but he knows Yoshino will not leave if she thinks he is not giving her his full attention. He gestures for her to sit and joins her at his work table.
"No… It's got to be able to stay on her head even when she's in the water," Yuki says with a shake of her head. "It's stormy, you know?"
"Well, is her hair long? I can make a chain that can thread through her hair," Ibusaki replies, not letting his interest in the topic show through. As far as he knew, Yoshino didn't have any friends that were oceanic…. Perhaps a river nymph? But then a storm wouldn't really affect a river spirit, could it?
"Well yeah, but she braids it up… And she's not really someone that likes big, showy things…" Yuki says, putting her elbows on the table and supporting her head on her hands. She groans. "Ahh… This is hard!"
"Maybe you should have thought of what you wanted before coming here," Ibusaki retorts.
"Hey, stop being so negative and help me!"
Ibusaki sighs, muttering about how much work he has, but pulls a papyrus and draws a general shape of a head. "Is this what her hair looks like?" he asks, drawing a braided hairstyle favoured by many mortal queens.
Yuki shakes her head. "No, no, it's just two braids… like this," she replies, putting her hands on either side of her shoulders as though she was grabbing a set of braids.
"Alright," Ibusaki says with a nod, crossing out his first picture and drawing the style she indicated. It's like this being is a country bumpkin or something, with a hairstyle like that. "Well, how about something like this?"
"No…It's too big. I just said she didn't like flashy things!"
"How about this?"
"Ehh…."
Ibusaki grumbles, running his hand through his hair. "Ok, what about-"
"Wait! I got it!" Yuki cuts him off with a slam of her hand on the table. She snatches the reed from the smith and haphazardly draws her design. Thankfully, as Ibusaki is an expert, he is able to decipher her horrible picture.
He is silent for a few moments before frowning. "You want me to make a hair pin…"
"Yup! With a white clover on it!" Yuki replies with a nod. "See, she always puts her hair behind her ear on that side, so the pin can keep it out of her way!"
"All this…. For a hair pin?" Ibusaki mutters to himself before standing. "Alright, I can make this in a day or two, come by then."
"Make the clover part really big!"
"Alright," Ibusaki calls out. "I will. Now, get out so I can work."
Yuki stares down at the pin before staring at the blacksmith. "The clover's white."
"Yes, I put moonstones on the petal portion of-"
Yuki cut him off with a glare. "A clover is green!"
"You told me to make a white clover."
"The clover's name is WHITE CLOVER!" Yuki shouts in despair. "Oh…. I can't give this to her!"
"Why not? It's still beautiful," Ibusaki says with a frown. "She'll like it."
"How do you know?! You don't know her!" Yuki replies, falling to her knees dramatically.
Ibusaki rolls his eyes at her theatrics. "Everything I make is perfect. Just take it-I'm didn't waste two days on this just for you to cry over it."
Ryou follows her tonight. He thought the friendship would be short-lived as most friendships between Oceanics and Gaians tend to be, but Megumi disappears at least once every two weeks, for days. Even when he creates violent storms and the humans cry for her, there are times when she does not appear.
He stays in the shadows, watching her hum to herself. Ryou cannot rid himself of this dark feeling. Something bad is about to happen. Megumi walks far past her domain, to the east. She continues this trail until she arrives at an empty beach, isolated save for one lone being, Neitan no doubt. She looks foolish, in a tunic instead of a dress, her pink hair in two buns on the side of her head. Ryou hides behind a large outcrop of rocks, rage burning him from within, as he watches Megumi run towards the woman with an expression of joy he's never seen on her before.
"Megumi!" Neitan says, wrapping her arms around Megumi. Ryou wants to tear her arms off, for even thinking she could be near the ocean goddess.
Neitan runs her hand through Megumi's hair, like Ryou has been dreaming of doing, pulling a hairpin from her pouch and pinning it to her dark hair. Megumi blushes, before leaning against the other goddess, putting her face on her shoulder.
He is trespassing; he is seeing something he should not be.
And for the first time in his long life, Ryou does something he never thought he would do.
He flees.
The Northern Sea storms like never before, and while her mother is usually tolerating of Ryou's little tantrums, this one is too much. Alice barges over to his palace. She expects to find him brooding, like usual, but instead finds him destroying everything in his sight.
Alice saunters over and hits the younger god on the head. "What are you even doing?!" she scolds as she crosses her arms. "The seas are way too wild for this time of the year!"
Ryou growls, his berserker state in full gear. "Just fuck off, you bitch!" he snarls, revealing his canines.
"Geez, what is wrong with you?" she snaps back before forcing Ryou to sit next to her.
It takes a few hours, because he is such a stubborn idiot, but Alice eventually pries the story out of him. Once completed, Ryou loses his energy, slumping against the back of the chair.
"So, what you are telling me is that you saw her meet her friend and then ran away like a coward," Alice paraphrases with a raise of her brows.
Ryou growls but doesn't reply, and Alice rolls her eyes before elbowing him.
"You got all this power, so fight for her," Alice says. "Besides, I looked into Neitan-She doesn't even have a realm of her own, you know? Some minor hunting goddess."
"What are you suggesting I do?" Ryou asks with a glare.
Alice's smile is glacial as she answers. "Simple, get rid of her."
Yuki brings Megumi up to the forest and introduces her to the beasts there. She starts small, with the hares, and grins as Megumi giggles at the small creatures. Then she presents her to the regal deer, the wise owl, and even to the bear. She begins to teach Megumi how to hunt, but stops after realizing that the bow and arrow wouldn't really be effective in the ocean.
Megumi in turn shows her the ocean. The ocean is vast, much bigger than her forest, so it is always a new adventure when they enter the sea. Her kiss allows Yuki to wander underwater with her goddess, seeing the exotic creatures below. She meets the mermaids and the oceanids, and while they smile at their introduction, when Megumi turns away from her, Yuki can feel their fierce glares. Yuki doesn't care though, the ocean nymphs don't mean anything to her.
As long as Megumi smiles at her as she does, nothing matters. Yuki's gift shines bright against the dark backdrop of the sea.
It has to be done. For Megumi's sake. This can only lead to heartache-the Gaians are a fickle lot, prone to changing attractions.
Ryou retraces his steps back to the eastern land in which Megumi went to meet that woman. Once on the beach, he climbs up the cliff to enter the huntress' domain. The woman was born of a Cypress tree and he uses his long denied Titan bloodline to track down the tree.
Once reaching his destination, Ryou knows he must work quickly. He stabs the tree with a thin blade before emitting a curse at the wound. That completed, he makes his way back to the sea, satisfied that the woman will disappear by the morrow.
Yuki fades while on another hunt, excited to cook for Megumi again. She feels a sudden pain on her side and collapses as the pain burns up her body. The hounds whine and tap their wet noses on her skin. The fire turns to ice and she feels her body freezing, her lungs filling with water. She cries for help, but no one appears.
Not the nymphs.
Not the satyrs.
For a delirious moment, she wonders if Megumi will appear, but she knows that is not possible. The goddess is in the sea right now, completing her duty as a fisherman's protector.
She fades back into a cypress tree, with her dogs howling to the heavens.
Her only wish is that Megumi never learns of her faith.
Megumi goes to the beach daily, staring up at the forest where Yuki should be. She attempts to make her way into the forest once, but is barred from entry by the very beasts that welcomed her before. She had run back into the sea, bleeding from a bite the bear made on her shoulder.
She wonders what she did wrong to chase Yuki away. She wonders if it was her lack of abilities or if it was that she was not as beautiful as the other goddesses.
Her tears produce pearls and she leaves them at the bottom of the cliff, hopeful that Yuki will see this as a gift and forgive her for whatever she's done.
She does not want to live in a world without Yuki again.
Megumi's fading is so sudden that Ryou doesn't see it until it is too late. It had been many a months; she had been improving, forgetting about that woman. And while his courting attempts were not accepted by her, he had thought she was slowly learning to appreciate him.
But one day, she disappears, and when they finally track her down, it is at the bottom of that damned cliff, above which the wretched forest lies.
Her physical body is gone, and in her place lays a small clump of clovers with white flowers in full bloom.
The Southern Ocean goddess cries for the first time since Ryou has met her, gripping the plant to her chest. The Tritons that follow her howl in frustration, hiding their pain with anger.
Ryou does not cry. He cannot cry. For this is his own doing.
He has killed her.
When I started this… It was supposed to be funnier with more romance. Well… Maybe next time….
Thank you for reading!