Written for the All Hallow's Harvest Prompt at The Village Square
It was a warm spring day. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves high above the lake. Kappa was indifferent to this. He did not wish to join the world beyond the lake, mostly contented to treading the lake bottom.
Though this is true, he often found himself drawn to the land creatures. Squirrels, monkeys, rabbits, anything that came close to the lake was subject to his curiosity. Most times, curiosity could be viewed as a relatively tame concept.
Children are often curious about their surroundings and will ask question after question about the world around them. There is no harm in that. All he ever wanted was the same thing, to ask questions and have them answered.
On this particular day, Kappa found himself lounging at the bottom of the lake, thinking strongly about taking a nap when a deer happened to creep close to the water's edge hoping for a drink. Kappa, ever curious about the world outside of his watery home, swam slowly up to the edge, making sure that he did not disturb the deer.
He bobbed his head above the water, getting a closer look at the creature. The deer's ears twitched at the sound created by Kappa breaking the water. Kappa watched this, even more fascinated by the creature before him.
The deer continued drinking from the cool, clear spring. Kappa swam closer, almost able to touch the land creature now. Suddenly, he lurched from the water, grabbing the deer by the head and yanking it into the water with him. The deer struggled. Trying to free itself from whatever had snared it.
Kappa spoke calmly and reassuringly to the creature, "It's okay. I just want to talk to you and ask you a few questions!"
The creature gasped for breath, thrashing against Kappa's vice-like grip.
"Why are you fighting so hard?!" Kappa asked, clearly irritated. "I promise I won't ask anything too personal!"
The creature's body suddenly went limp in Kappa's arms, making one final, feeble attempt to loosen his grip. A few stray bubbles formed around the deer's nose, floating slowly to the water's surface. Kappa watched these bubbles even more curiously.
"Where did those come from?" he asked himself.
He pushed the deer's limp body away, following the bubbles to the surface. Watching, he noted that some of the bubbles seemed to disappear as they broke the surface while some scattered across the water in different directions.
His head bobbed above the water, searching for the bubbles that had disappeared. He searched along the entire surface for any sign of the small pockets of air until something caught his eye. In the distance, he could barely make out the shape of some kind of foreign land dweller.
He had never seen anything quite like it. Most of the animals around here moved around on four limbs while this one moved on two. Feathered sky dwellers were the only things that he had seen with two legs and this was most assuredly not one of those.
Creeping closer to the edge, he was soon able to see the creature better. It appeared not to have any fur like the rest of the forest creatures, except for that on its head. There was a slight resemblance to it and the Harvest Goddess.
That is when it hit him. The Harvest Goddess had told him about these creatures known as humans but what was a human. He crept closer, not wanting to drive away the human before he could ask about it. Remembering the encounter with the deer, he decided that trying to get answers like that was not a good way.
"Hello human…" he hissed his voice sounding as if it were slithering.
The person jumped slightly, looking around in many directions before its eyes landed on Kappa. Kappa waited patiently, bobbing slightly with the ripples of the water. He grinned at the person, revealing a long row of sharp, pointed teeth.
"H-hello," the person stammered, eyes never leaving Kappa.
He swam closer to the water's edge and stated matter-of-factly, "I am Kappa. What are you?"
The human scratched its head, not quite sure how to answer this question, "I'm Will."
"What sort of human are you?" Kappa asked.
"I am a man as well as the doctor in town," Will stated simply.
"What is a doc-tor?"
"Um…a doctor is a person that helps other people who are sick or hurt."
Kappa considered this for a moment, nodding slowly in understanding, "What brings you to the mountain? Not many human's venture up this high."
"I was searching for herbs to make medicine."
"What are herbs?" Kappa asked, staring at the doctor.
"Herbs are plants that can be used to make medicines to make people feel better or to cook different types of food," Will answered in an almost textbook fashion.
A soft breeze suddenly started to flow, bringing with it leaves and the scent of everything around the lake. Kappa sniffed the air greedily. He had never smelled anything so enticing before, his stomach growling audibly.
"What is that wonderful smell?" he asked, inhaling long and deep.
"Maybe the herbs," Will answered simply.
"No," Kappa almost shouted. "This is no mere plant. I smell something that I would very much like to eat," he continued, licking his slippery blue lips with his serpent-like tongue.
"Ow!" Will cried, shaking his hand vigorously. "That's the bad thing about gathering herbs. Some of them have nettles."
Blood oozed from the opened wound, running in a steady stream down his finger. Kappa's eyes darkened as another, more pungent odor filled his olfactory senses. His stomach growled, almost audibly from beneath the water.
Will sighed heavily, taking a few steps toward the dirt path, "I need to be going so I can treat this properly."
Kappa awoke from his stupor, licking his lips again before yelling after the doctor, "You can't leave yet! Let me see your wound."
Will reluctantly reached his hand out for Kappa to see. Kappa reached out with long webbed fingers, taking hold of the doctor's wrist gently.
"That is not such a severe injury," he said, still holding Will's wrist.
"Yes, but it still needs cleaned and dressed, which I will attend to in town."
Will pulled against the creature's grasp, trying to withdraw his hand. Kappa tightened his grip around the doctor's arm, not wanting to let go until he was sure of what he had smelled. He pressed his slimy, wet nose against the back of the doctor's hand, taking a long sniff. Kappa's mouth watered, the scent radiating from the doctor was just so tempting. He licked the blood from Will's finger, savoring the salty, metallic tang as it quenched the burning thirst in his throat.
The doctor struggled harder against the vice-like grasp, trying to free himself. Kappa's long fingers wrapped tighter around his wrist, his sharp claws digging into the flesh, piercing it. He needed more MUST have more, he thought to himself hungrily, baring his razor sharp teeth.
He opened his mouth, tentatively taking a rather larger bite from Will's hand. Will screamed in pain but Kappa was too busy savoring the new treat that he had just discovered. Struggling harder against the creature's grasp, he finally managed to pull what was left of his hand free. He turned to run from this monster, only to feel the same vice-like grip around his ankle.
Kappa jerked against the doctor's leg, causing his to fall forward with a ghastly crunching noise. Will tried to scream but the impact had left his lungs burning, aching for air. He feebly kicked at the creature, trying to get away, fighting against the sudden dragging force he felt.
The water's surface broke around his ankles, making him more aware of the direness of his situation. Suddenly a burst of adrenaline hit and he could feel himself become revitalized. He struggled harder against the creature. Kappa pulled harder against his legs, bringing him waist deep into the water. Will released one final scream of terror as his entire body sunk beneath the water's surface.
The water erupted with a sudden burst of bubbles from the silent underwater scream that ensued from Will as Kappa's razor sharp teeth dug into his flesh. Blood shot forth, coating the entire surface as he savored his meal.
Kappa was finishing the remains of his meal, thinking how he would love to have seconds when a rather angry voice erupted from around him.
"Kappa!" screamed the Harvest Goddess, "What have you done?!"
"I'm sorry majesty," he hissed, "I just lost all control of myself. I did not know how wonderful humans tasted."
He licked his lips dramatically causing the Harvest Goddess to grimace, "You cannot eat humans!"
"And why not?!" Kappa argued.
"Because it's wrong and you know it!" The Goddess screamed. "For your actions, you must be punished."
"Madam Goddess, I promise nothing like this will ever happen again," Kappa hissed.
"No it won't! I am banishing you to your pond and cursing you with eternal sleep. Breaking this curse will not come easily."
"How does one break the curse," Kappa yawned, the effect of the curse overtaking him.
"Cucumbers are the only way to break this curse. You must have three in total."
Kappa grinned his malevolent toothy grin before slipping into unconsciousness. He knew that it would be a while before he would be free again but he was still a demon after all. From the Harvest Goddess, he learned that human's could easily be swayed if promised favor with a chosen deity. He just needed to wait for the day when someone who was foolhardy enough came to provide him with the offering of three cucumbers in hopes of gaining more energy to make their daily lives easier. Who would not want to gain favor with a powerful water demon?
Happy Halloween everyone!