The Old Trickster and the Cruel Woman
By
bobshady and Wolf Cubby Cutie
Niki chuckled, "The ocean is pretty."
Umber laughed and removed her towel. "It is a beautiful sight. Remind me to tell you about the Old Trickster and the Cruel Woman sometime".
"What's that, the sounds kinda like some movie that's borderline porn." Niki took off her sweatshirt.
Umber shook her head as she began looking at everyone on the beach. "No love. The Old Trickster is a pirate myth, and the Cruel Woman is what Pyrite and Glas call the sea".
"Oh, ok."
Umber lay her towel down and sat, beckoning to Niki. "Want to hear the story?".
"Yes." Niki smiled.
Umber smiled. "The Cruel Woman was once nothing more than water. No love, no soul, just water. During that time, there were far more sailors, for the water was flat and lifeless. Nothing more than a road where you needed a ride to travel on. Well one sailor grew bored with the flatness. So he began telling stories of the sea being a beautiful woman. Beautiful beyond all others".
"Like a mermaid?"
Umber shakes her head. "No. Back then there was no fish in the sea. No monsters, no fish, no coral or volcanos. Only water and sand".
"Well, the sailor would say that the woman of the sea was beautiful beyond compare, but that she had no heart, that she had no soul, and that her ass was flat as a proper deck".
"Were her boobs flat?"
Umber nods. "Flat as a ten year old boy, or at least that's how the story goes. Well the water, it decided to listen. It did not know what it was, only that it was. And to hear the old man speak, she thought she was beautiful. And that made her smile. Her smile brought the beautiful fish into being. That amazed the sailors, who made the connection of the old man talking and the sea becoming better".
Niki smiled.
"Well, the old man saw the fish for himself and smiled. 'That's my girl' he said. And he began telling stories of wonderous amounts of fish, far as the eye could see, and, since he felt it disrespectful to compare a beautiful woman with a ten year old boy, he said that she had a heart that could love anything and curves for days".
Niki listened.
"Hearing this the sea decided the old man was right and so made curves for days. The waves and tides, though they weren't as big, they were much calmer and slower. Along with that she made great schools of fish. Enough fish to feed humanity till the end of days. The old man once again began telling stories of the sea, saying that she was kind to the sailors, wishing them safe passage and swift journeys. So she began blowing them sweet kisses, telling them safe journey in the forms of white clouds and winds in the ships sails".
Niki leaned against Umber. "So what next?" Niki asked
Umber wrapped her arm around Niki. "Well, with everything going so right for the old man, he decided to move inland and find a wife. He no longer needed to work, and so no longer talked about the sea. She grew restless, unaware of where he had gone. You see, she had fallen in love with the old man. At first she was worried, frightened. Where was her beloved? Well, with all of her fretting, she caused the tides to be faster, the waves to be taller and much more forceful. Her frightened calling for her him turned the calm winds into powerful gales, strong enough to tear apart the sails that so relied upon the winds. Her worried fretting grew worse, until sailors began to die. The wives and lovers began to hate the sea, unkowing of what the old man had said and done. This caused the sea to become angry. Why should she be cursed when the man she loved was gone by those who knew her pain? And so she began throwing hurricanes at the shore, great tsunamis, and filled the sea with predators who would eat the fish and eat the sailors who fell in. All she wanted was the she loved to come back to her...".
"Can you really blame her though?"
Umber shook her head sadly. "No, and that is what makes the story so sad. You see, even before it knew what it was, the sea held magic. And it gave a little to the old man, causing him to be immortal. Well, he grew old, well, older. And the woman he married died. and his children died. And their children. And all the while he stayed the same. Old but spry, simple yet clever. After so long, he had seen his land change. Countries formed and fell, grimm attacked and wiped out the wounderous capitals of the world, and all the while he had never gone back to the sea. Well, he decided that he had had enough change and sought the sea again. When he set eyes upon and reached the shore, the sea knew he had returned and rose to meet him. Not as a wave, not as a storm, but as a woman meeting her beloved. In the time he had been gone, she had changed. Alot. And so the woman who rose out of the water was not what one would expect, though precisely what you should. She wore clothes of darkness and shadow, bending the light and giving tantilizing views. Her hair had grown long, reflecting the underwater fields of seaweed and plantlife. Her curves would bring any man to his knees, neigher fat nor skinny, she had the build of a woman who swam and rowed and ate healthy on top of it. Her hands were cold to the touch, but would warm quickly as well. Her shoes, sandals of the finest pearls and gems. But...she had been kind when he had left her. The time away...when she looked upon him she saw the man she loved, but also the man who had brought about the many, many deaths she had caused looking for him. He looked upon her with great love. While he had loved his wife and his children, they could not move him like she could. For her, he would sing a thousand songs, dance the night away, be loyal to her forever and go where she told him to".
Niki smiled, "That's really beautiful."
Umber looked sad. "It is, isn't it? But the story is not over. The woman was sad. So, so sad. After all, she was kind and wanted only the best for the sailors who wanted only to get to their destination. But because of this one man. This one man that she had fallen in love with...she had killed so many. As the old man reached out to touch this beautiful woman, she slapped his hand away. He looked at her, betrayed. He had fallen in love with her, yet she slapped him when he sought to embrace her? He sealed his fate, and that of all sailors in that moment. He looked upon her and said 'You cruel woman. You heartbreakingly cruel woman, who could beckon to any man and he would follow you, even knowing it meant death. With but a look at you, you break hearts and steal men. You don't even have to do anything. Just the sight of the sea will draw men to you. You will be hated by their wives. Maybe even by the men themselves. Those who love you are treated no differently than any other. You sad, cruel, beautiful woman'. And with that he turned to walk away. But with the power he had, he had changed her. Like he said, she became a sad, cruel, and beautiful woman beyond all compare, and in that moment she learned of rage. She grabbed onto him and would not release him as great storms and waves crashed upon the shores, killing more than can be counted. He was safe though, held tight to her breast. Afterall, despite her rage, she still loved him, and he her".
Niki started crying.
Umber held her, and for some reason, began to smile. "You'll like this next part love. Despite what the man had said of her, she still loved the people who once loved her and who she blew kisses to. So those who perished from the waves in that moment, turned into the dolphins and whales, the seals and the sea otters. Those that fell to the storms, they were brought to the center of the womans home, and there they were given enough parts that they could live with her in her home. The men and women became the merfolk and the sea spouts. And finally, the sailors who had been upon her waters when it happened...She cast them across the world, them and their families, to a great desert where they need not fear the sea again. She gave them oasises and springs to help them survive, but other than that she turned her back to the men she once blew kisses to. Seeing this, the man regreted what he had done, and asked her in his most quiet and gentle of voices, how he could be with her the rest of his days".
"I like that ending."
Umber smiles wider. "It's not the ending. Despite the love she felt for him, the woman could not stand the sight of him without feeling rage. So she told him to be gone from her sight. And he left. But as I said, he was simple, but clever. He returned the next day with a fresh face, a mask, and sang sweet songs to the sea. Curious, the woman came and met him. He told her of how he heard her singing, to which she could not figure out, as she had never before sung. Smiling, the man picked up a shell and held it to her ear. Shocked the woman heard the sea, her sea, inside the shell.
Niki listened.
"The woman began to love this man the same as the last, and in time the man got a ship and a crew and travelled every inch of his beloved. So happy was he, that one day he threw the mask off, showing his face to his beloved. It was a face she remembered. Storms once again consumed the sea, throwing his ship to the bottom. The man though, was immortal, and so washed ashore one day. He once again donned a mask, and set forth, proving his love for the sea. And the sea loved him in kind. Time and time again, the scene would repeat. That is why he is the Trickster, and she is the Cruel Woman".
Niki smiled.
