Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
I love Mononoke Island and think it's my best work but there were A LOT of ideas that I wanted to use that I never got to since it didn't fit into the story. There were characters pasts I wanted to go into and also some little cute stories taking place after the events of Mononoke Island that I wanted to write. So I'm making this SIDE project to put all my ideas down. I've got five started XD but this first one focuses on Ruby and Sapphire's past.
"What are you doing Amethysts?" Ruby asked his daughter when he entered her room and found her trying to wrap bandages over her head. Her back was to him and she made wide gestures to tell him to leave. At first he thought she might've hurt himself so used third eye to see her face. He was relived to see that she wasn't hurt but that only made him wonder why she was bandaging herself.
"Don't come in until I'm ready!" Amethysts demanded and her usually sweet voice sounded slightly irritated which confused him further. He kept his third eye open and was slightly irritated that she was trying to cover her beautiful blue eyes with the gauze. They were so much like her mother's, as was every feature she had. Why was she hiding those beautiful features?
"Don't play with those bandages," he knew he shouldn't raise his voice at the four year old but nothing angered him more than when someone hid or destroy beauty. He gently eased the bandages from her head but couldn't pulled them away from her fingers. He didn't know why she liked them so much but she stubbornly held onto them.
Usually he would dote on her and give her everything she wanted but this time he found himself ordering her, "Give them to me Amethysts!"
"No!" She yelled back and in her anger, she let out a breathe of embers. Her embers were all that was needed to burn the bandages they were tugging at and sending her flying backwards. She crashed into the tea set behind her and began wailing at the pain.
"Amethysts!" Ruby quickly knelt beside her and helped her sit up. One of the broken clay had cut her brow and he was quick to wipe the blood before it could reach her eyes. It wasn't a deep but and her demon blood would allow her to heal quickly so it wouldn't leave a scar. "Are you okay?"
"Bandage!" She held out the slightly burned gauze to him with one hand and with the other she pointed to her head. "I want a bandage just like father!"
"Like me?" Ruby repeated her words since they confused him so much. He unconsciously touched the bandages covering his right eye. It didn't hurt anymore but the scar ran deeper emotionally than it did physically. Amethysts looked so determined and he didn't know how he could say no to her. "Why do you want me to wrap a bandage over your eye?"
"Because I want to be like you. I look exactly like Mother and I'm a basan like her. The other demons said that you can't be my father since there's nothing similar between us. I love Mommy but I want to be like you too because you're my Poppa." Amethysts told him. "Don't you not want me to be like you?"
Ruby thought over the words he would use for a moment before lifting her onto his lap. With a gentle hand over her head, he said softly. "While I can create beauty, I am not beautiful. Your mother is the most beautiful demon in the world and I was so happy you took after her. I didn't have to worry about you thinking of yourself as ugly..."
"Father?" Amethysts never heard her father talk about himself such and it confused her. What could be beneath his bandage that he hated so much that he called it ugly?
"I'm going to tell you a story about how I met your mother..."
Ruby swung his legs over the balcony and sighed to himself. He wanted to go play in the forest but his father said that he needed to stay to greet his friend and his young daughter. He couldn't think of a worst way to spend the day than entertain a girl since all he wanted was to feel the rush of running through the forest.
The water beside him rippled and he looked through it to see a carriage approach his father's fortress. Even at his young age, Ruby was powerful and could use every one of his thousand eyes. But what he saw through it didn't give him hope. A little basan peered out of the carriage and from the many ornaments adorning her, he doubted she would enjoy going outside to play.
"Ruby," his father called and the boy rolled his eyes since he could predict what his father would say with his foresight ability. His father and him had always been able to communicate with their shared ability so Ruby already knew that his father would tell him to wait below to greet the carriage. He still wanted to go out and play in the forest but there was nothing he could do.
"I'm coming," Ruby sighed and jumped down dangerously from the balcony. He landed easily since he was a demon and had enhanced endurance. He didn't bother to clean the dust that collected on his kimono and turned just as the gates were opening. He laughed daringly at the demons pulling the carriage and merely side stepped them as the carriage came to a stop. He recognize the elderly demon that came but not the little girl he carried with him.
"It's great to see you again Norman," The man addressed his father but Ruby's curious eyes were still on the ground. She spotted Ruby and gestured to her father to let her down and he didn't argue. His breath stopped when her namesake eyes met his and he stood straighter in reaction to his racing heart. It was impossible for one to be so graceful while crossing the distance between them and keeping their kimono from dragging across the ground but her movements were perfect.
She stopped just a step away from him and held out her handkerchief to him. He didn't take it immediately and when she saw his hesitation, she closed that step between them and wiped the dirt from his cheek. His father had told him that she was a basan and the fiery feathers on her kimono tickled him. When she was finished, she placed the clothe in his hand and smiled. "Pretty eyes."
He blushed at her compliment but she continued to smile up at him innocently. He didn't need a thousand eyes to know that her heart was pure and that drew him to her. She held a hand out for him to shake and he saw how clean it was. He tried his best to clean his own hand on his already dirty kimono before he took her hand but she took it before he could finish, as if she didn't mind the dirt either. Maybe playing with her would be fun...
"Do you want to play in the forest with me?" He asked excitedly and she nodded with equal enthusiasm. She ran to tell her father first and took his hand like her parents taught her. Ruby was native to the forest so it was safer to let him lead than for her to run into the unknown. He noted that even when he pulled her along, she kept the hem of her kimono from collecting dirt.
"I can can teach you how to fish!" He didn't know why but he wanted to impress her and being around his element would give him an advantage. She nodded and matched her steps to his easily. "I'll show you my favourite place by the river! I never show anybody it but I'll show you since we're friends now, aren't we?"
"We are!" She smiled back to him and couldn't believe that she would meet such a kindhearted boy. A new warmth spread through her chest and she found herself eager to play in the river with him. Luckily the river wasn't far from Ruby's home and she didn't have to wait long before she got to experience its short lived wonder.
"The water's great!" Ruby assured her as he barely took the time to pull up his kimono before jumping into the shallow water. Fish fled when he did so but he knew a special trick to catching them. But Sapphire still waited on the shore, struggling with her kimono. Ruby laughed at how determined she looked as she pulled the fabric over her leg. She sighed when it merely fell back into place. "Don't worry about your kimono. We'll just dry it later."
"But my mother made me this kimono and I don't want to ruin it by getting it wet," she admitted and he sighed with understanding. To be honest at that time he didn't have any knowledge of fashion or fabric but he did want to play with her. He left the water and tried to help her the best he could.
"I have an idea!" Ruby clapped his hands at his brilliance. "Can you make some ember? I'll just my water to cool it and we can make a pin to keep your kimono from falling."
She nodded and touched the ground while using her fire element to bring forth lava. Since fire and ice didn't effect her, she was able to hold the lava and help Ruby mold it into a pin. It took a couple of tries but she jumped cheerfully at the result. It wasn't the most beautiful thing he would create but it made her smile as she pinned her kimono in place.
"Now we can go catch fish!" He cheered and pulled her into the river with him. She laughed as water splashed around her and the water felt cool around her knees. She was excited to play with the mulitcoloued fish but they swam too fast for her to catch and she found herself becoming frustrated instead of enjoying the sport.
"I'll catch one for you!" Ruby offered. He wanted to show of his power and pointed to the water some distance from them. Even with her enhanced sight, she couldn't see so far and stared at Ruby in confusion. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were glowing faintly. She gasped when a thousand more eyes opened around her and she could see various things reflected in their irises. "I caught one!"
His cheer brought her out of her wonder and saw that he controlled the water around a fish so that it lifted the fish out of the water. He told her to hold out her hands and he placed the fish in them. She seemed to be more fascinated with the colourful scales of the fish than actually eating it but he had to admit her awe was inspiring. He had to mimic her earlier words, "pretty."
"Yes," she agreed and sat down on the river's bend. Ruby did the same and ate the fish he caught with little care for its scales.
"My dad told about this demon on Mononoke Island! Father said that he's very young but defeated four elite demons! We've gotta train to become stronger so everyone will know about us! Let's promise to both become stronger."
"It's a promise," she said excitedly and they wrapped their pinky together. They began to discus various things but Sapphire stopped when she spotted something strange in the water. "Is this a dragon egg?"
Ruby eyes widened at the fact that he accidentally disturbed a water dragon's nest and quickly went to return it but it was too late. The water violently shook and Ruby pulled Sapphire out of the water before the water would force them under. Her father studied such demons and she heard of their power but she never encountered a menacing one.
The blue serpent shaped dragon burst from the water and her knees began to lock. It was so much larger than the demons she knew, even in their yokai form. She had never fought before and didn't know how her fire would take down such a powerful demon. How could she stop it when its fangs were almost as large as she was? In that moment, she could consider herself as nothing but weak and that would cause hers and Ruby's death.
"Get back!" Ruby pushed her aside and tried to raise a powerful torrent to hold the demon back. Water rushed around them and he had to hold onto Sapphire to keep her from being swept it away by its power. Even with how powerful his attack was, it dragon raged through it as if his attack was nothing more than sand. His father had taught him how to fight and for once he was glad for the ghoulish training. He was acutely aware of Sapphire behind him and didn't want to see her hurt.
"Go hide Sapphire!" He pushed her towards the bushes and didn't turn to see if she hid properly. If he gave the dragon the slightest opening, he would be dead and Sapphire would soon follow. He just away from the dragon's continual attack and landed ungratefully into the the river. He knew his best chance of winning was to use his yokai form even if he couldn't maintain it for long.
He placed his hand over his right eye and tried to tap into the finite pool of energy within him. Every one of his thousand eyes opened and he could see the dragons every move. A shadow crept over his skin to cover the eyes appearing on his body and the water around him became more violent. The eyes showed him every outcome a choice would make he winced each time one failed, seeing his own death. That was the curse of a hyakume, they could see anything but they had to face seeing things no one wishes to.
He continued to dodge the dragon as he searched for the best tactic to take down the dragon. His body became lighter with relief when he saw an opening and skidded to a stop, ready to face the dragon. It was large and powerful but slow and he was sure his smaller body would allow him to dodge its claws. He was able to mold the water around him into weapons and he forced a sword from the river. Strengthening his resolve, he raised his sword to the dragon, challenging it to attack him.
The dragon was rather dimwitted and rushed forward to attack him physically. Ruby already knew that it would use any of its elemental attacks so he focused on timing his attack. Right as the dragon was upon him, Ruby controlled the water beneath the dragon to turn into geyser to push its head high enough for him to stab him.
Blood dripped from the dragon's wound onto Ruby's body and he winced when blood dripped into his eyes. He closed his eyes and couldn't see the dragon's fore claws come down on him until its claw bit into his right eye. He stumbled back and quickly placed a hand over his eye.
"I did it," he almost laughed in disbelief. He was able to take down a dragon, one of the four sacred beast. The thing that astonished him most was the fact that he was able to protect Sapphire and how proud he was. It was short lived as he turned and went to Sapphire on the shore. Holding out a hand to her, "It's okay! I chased away the dragon."
"Scary... So scary..." She whimpered and turned her face down. The words echoed in his mind and in his heart he knew the word wasn't mean to describe the dragon but him. He was brutal while fighting the dragon and she must've feared him more. He didn't know what to do so continued to stand before her, waiting for a hint of what he should do. He knew then that he tainted her crystal heart.
"I'm so sorry," she whimpered and raised her cloth to wipe the blood running down his face. Feeling her shaking fingers he made a vow.
"I vowed never to battle or show my true strengths ever again. The first time I battled, I pushed your mother away but the first time I created beauty, I had admiration. I wanted to show people beauty and through that I get to meet your mother again and show her that I wasn't ugly."
"I never thought you were ugly," he heard a soft whisper and turned to see Sapphire standing in the doorway, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. The memory of the first time he made her cry was still fresh in his mind and he felt the guilt weigh down on him.
"You were never ugly to me," Sapphire repeated a little louder. She knelt next to him and gently lifted the bandages over his eye before she could stop him. Her heart tightened at the sight of the scar keeping his eye closed but from guilt rather than disgust. Gently, she kissed his scar. "I was angry at myself for being so weak. I was a burden to you since I couldn't fight and you got hurt because of that..."
Ruby was too shocked to move but his daughter wasn't. She warped an arm over each of them to pull then closer and whisper. "You're both beautiful and I want to be just like you. Please don't be sad, that was a long time ago and you're both happy now."
"And you're our happiness," Ruby agreed after placing a kiss on her head. His daughter was the most beautiful thing he created and he was so proud of her. He and Sapphire stood at the same time. "Let's go catch some fish together. Just the three of us."
Oh Franticshipping how I love you but can never write you. Ruby was originally supposed to be a larger part of Mononoke Island. I wanted to give him a conflict of loving to create beauty by making fabric but thinking that his scar makes him ugly. But since Mononoke Island was already juggling so many characters, I had to cut him out and make him a minor character. Love you Ruby but it's hard finding a balance with his character.