Written in less than twenty-four hours for The Domain's Fairytale Challenge, under the rules and regulations as set forth by Qzil.
I'm taking a lot of liberties here, but I liked it, and the Muse liked it, so that's all that matters. Feedback greatly appreciated!
I don't own anything but the plot.
She was tucking her girl into bed when she was asked for a story. Now, it wasn't uncommon to tell a story to her daughter before bed, but the girl had grown from a little toddler into nearly a child too old for fairytales and magic.
"Mother, will you tell me a story?" the girl asked as she pulled the covers up to her chin. "I want to hear a story like you used to tell me when I was a little kid!"
Mother chuckled as she leaned in and kissed the girl on the forehead. "Don't you think you're a little too old for this, my love? You're nearly nine! You're my big girl now, aren't you?"
Of course, she knew that nine was barely even past childhood. She wasn't yet ready to enter womanhood. She was still a girl.
Her daughter shook her head resolutely. Her eyes sparkled in the gentle moonlight coming through her open window. "No, mother…I want to hear a story. Could you tell me a story?"
Mother smiled. "Well, if you're sure you're not too old…" She sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned across her daughter, holding her in a loose and warm embrace. Instinctively, her daughter cuddled up to her, wanting to be close and feeling the warmth of her mother's body.
"I'm not too old, Mama," she murmured. "I want to hear a story."
"Very well," she replied. "I'll tell you a story. It's not…a pretty story. It's one of the oldest fairytales that Sinnoh has, my love. It's the story of the moon and the night, and why they love each other."
Her daughter closed her eyes and listened to her mother begin the tale.
"A long time ago, there was a wonderful little village called Fullmun. It was on the Western Sea, far out, so far that your boat couldn't reach it in two whole days because of the tricky currents. It was on a tiny island, built because there were precious minerals on the shores. The people who lived in Fullmun would gather these stones and sell them to the mainland for their bread and meat. Not a lot grew on that little island, but every day the stones would wash up from the sea and the people would collect them. They lived a simple life, but there were some settlers who wanted more than just picking the stones off the beach. One such was a girl named Cress—Crissy. She was the most beautiful girl in the whole town, with long pink hair braided with golden loops and a slender body, like a queen. Every day she would walk to the farthest edge of the forest and look out, watching to see the ships sailing near Canalave Port, and wonder where those ships were going. She was an adventurous girl.
"'Crissy, are you still dawdling about?' her mother would ask her every morning. 'You haven't picked your fair share of the stones. Stop daydreaming. A girl like you must work until she can be married to a nice husband and bear me grandchildren.'
"'Yes, mama,' Crissy would reply, and she would skip down barefoot to the beach and put the stones in her bucket, then she would come back to the house and give the stones to her mama and papa. When she was done she would go back down and stare at the ships, so far away in the distance.
"One day, Crissy spotted a ship that wasn't the regular trading ship coming to Fullmun. It was a giant vessel with black sails and a grotesque lion on the front of the bow. It sailed into harbor against the wind, on a day that no ships were supposed to come. The villagers were surprised! Who could be on this vessel? They crowded around the docks, waiting for the gangplank to come down and people to come off. Crissy pushed her way to the front of the crowd, of course, to see who could possibly be on this ship.
"The villagers didn't have to wait long. With a big groan, the gangplank came down, and a single person appeared at the top of the ship. It was a man. A big man. Crissy stared and stared at him. She couldn't keep her eyes off his frame. He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, even more beautiful than the one time she had seen Wailmer splashing in the sea on her daily lookouts. He was tall, and handsome. His black hair was unbraided, unlike how the men wore their hair in those days. A purple sword hung from his belt, and when he looked down at the people he had sharp blue eyes that were even bluer than the horizon where the sea met the sky. He stomped down the gangplank with heavy boots, and all the villagers except Crissy drew back in fear. She wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't afraid of anyone.
"'Who are you?' she asked him.
"He looked at Crissy with those deep blue eyes and she shivered. Up close, his striking face was hard to interpret. It could be that he would run her through with his peculiar purple sword. But she stood her ground. She wanted to know who he was.
"'My name is Darvin,' he replied, and that was that.
"Slowly, Darvin was accepted into the little town. At first, he didn't have property to build on, so he worked in the inn as a barkeep and hired hand. He would bring in his fair share of the stones on the beach, and never spoke more than was necessary to get what he needed. His ship sailed away on its own one day, the sails never once moving in the breezes that blew over the tiny island. The townspeople whispered in the dark and wondered if Darvin was cursed from the Original One for his ship. The Elders said he had an evil aura and warned people to stay away from him, and they did. He was treated like an outcast, despite the fact that he did his fair share of the work. He never complained, not even with the town's urchins threw rocks at him behind his back. His reception in the village waned…but he never left.
"One day, Crissy had finished her daily work and was headed to her lookout spot. She jumped over trees lying in the forest, swung from vines and branches, and climbed trees until she was in the clearing at the edge of the forest where she could watch the ships at Canalave Port and wonder where they were going. She thought she was alone until she heard a twig snap. Turning behind her, she found Darvin.
"'Darvin?' she asked. 'What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?'
"His mysterious red eyes never showed what he was thinking as he crept close to her. Crissy noticed that there were cuts and rips in his shirt and trousers. His boots were clunky and crushed the grass.
"'…I wanted to see where you go,' he said in his deep voice. 'You always leave after chores. After collecting the stones. Why do you come here?'
"Crissy was silent for a long moment as she stared at him. Again, his hair was unbraided and blew loosely in the wind. Even after all the time he had been on the island she had never noticed the white streak that ran across his forehead from his eyes like a scar. A horrible blemish.
"'I watch the boats,' she finally told Darvin. 'I watch the boats at Canalave and wonder where they're going. I want to go on a trip one day. All I've ever known is this island.'
"'The world isn't pretty,' Darvin said, continuing in his pacing towards her. Now they weren't but an arm's length apart. 'I've seen all of it. I go around the world once every year and it's nothing special or wonderful. It's horrible.'"
"Crissy bent down and motioned for Darvin to sit beside her. Without saying a word, she slipped off his boots and put them on the grass beside him. 'You made too much noise,' she replied, 'that's why you got cut on the thorns and the brambles. If you're quiet, the trees will leave you alone.'
"The two sat together in silence for a very long time, until Crissy turned to Darvin. She put her hands on his shoulders and hugged him, drawing him close to her. He put his arms around her, too, and they sat very close for a long while. It was then Crissy knew that she was in love with Darvin and she wanted to marry him. She wanted to spend the rest of her days with him. When they left the forest lookout that day, they walked hand in hand, and Darvin found that Crissy was right. The trees seemed to bend back from his touch because he was quiet. They had an open path to the road that led back to the little village. Darvin kept looking at Crissy because he knew he loved her, too, but he didn't know how he could ask her papa for her hand in marriage. He didn't have any money, or a house, and his ship would be back soon, and he must go on his voyage around the world.
"Before they had reached the village, Darvin stopped and let go of Crissy's hand. He knew that he must tell her. 'Crissy,' he said, 'I must tell you something.'
''What is it?' she asked. She reached out again for his hand but Darvin pushed her away.
''Soon, the ship will come back and I must go on my journey around the world,' he told her. 'I have…a curse upon me for something I did. I am not able to live in any one place longer than a year.'
"Crissy stood on the road looking at Darvin as she took in what he said. She hugged her arms to herself and wondered what he meant. Who had cursed him, and why? She realized that he must have the wrath of the gods visited upon him if the black ship took him to a different place every year, and he couldn't live in the same place again.
''Can I ride on the ship with you?' she asked. Her voice was trembling with tears. 'I love you, Darvin. I want to marry you.'
''I can't take…you with me,' he said finally. 'No one can come on my ship without being trapped in a horrible dreamland. I have to sail alone and take the horrible dreams of all the people with me. That is why the world is cruel, and lonely. Because I have to take their dreams with me on my ship.'
"Crissy was devastated. How could she be with her love when he was cursed to sail alone? She didn't want to live on Fullmun anymore without him. She wanted to be with Darvin forever, because Fullmun wasn't her home. Her home was with him.
"'I will follow you,' she said, making up her mind. 'Wherever you sail I will follow you, and when you stop, I will take the bad dreams away from the people and keep them for myself, so you don't have to suffer. I love you, Darvin.'
"Darvin took her in his arms and held her close like they had been before. Crissy put her arms around his neck and kissed him, feeling his lips and his face and the white blemish before his hairline.
'"I love you, too, Crissy,' he replied, 'but I can't ask that you do that. I can't ask you to give up everything you have here. I can't ask you to do that. I was cursed! I cannot bear you suffer.'
"Crissy tore herself away from him and looked up at the sky. Pointing towards the mainland, where she had heard the gods rested atop their mountain, she cried out, 'I will follow him to the ends of the earth! You cannot take him from me! Please, O Original One, Bringer of Light, Bringer of Time and Space, let me be with him!'
"Deep in their slumber, the Original One heard her cry and took pity on her. As Darvin watched she began to turn into the most beautiful of all creatures; a swan. She lost her human legs and her pink hair braided with golden loops became downy feathers. Crissy now floated above the ground with blue rings around her body and she keened out to Darvin with a golden cry that spoke of moonlight and pleasantness. Darvin cried out in fear as he felt his own body pull and stretch into a form that could encompass the shadows and the darkness. His purple sword drew up in his hand, and his wild black hair became a tattered cloak that swirled around him. His legs disappeared and his white scar billowed up over his head.
"For a moment, Crissy and Darvin could only look at each other's Formes in wonder. They no longer needed ships to move around the world. They could both fly, and while Darvin had to collect and keep the nightmares and the fears of the people, Crissy would be there to comfort the people of the world from their dreams. And they could be together forever …the end."
For a long moment, the woman was silent as she finished her tale. It took a lot out of her to give the tale the proper respect it deserved. In her arms, her daughter had fallen asleep shortly after the beginning lines. Their day had been long. She smiled as she brushed a strand of her daughter's hair back from her face, and gently kissed the girl's forehead. Her daughter was smiling as the woman moved off the bed. Her dreams were blissful and pleasant.
The memory of the story was lingering on her mind as she stood at the windowsill and looked out on the moonlit night. Tonight was a full moon, and she had…duties to attend to. But her daughter was the most important thing to her today; she could fulfill her responsibilities later.
For a moment, she didn't notice the gentle lull of the wind around her as she hugged her arms to herself. The room darkened for a moment, dimming until all the lights were subservient only to the moonlight streaming in through the window. The woman didn't even cry out in fear as a shadow wrapped around her waist, trailing up her sides until it touched her face, and from the shadow the figure of a man solidified until he was embracing the woman back to front. She leaned back into his arms and sighed happily as he trailed kisses along her neck and ears.
"…I told her about us," she finally said.
The man stiffened, but then relaxed. "In a year she'll go on a journey, like all the other kids her age," he replied. His voice was deep and the vibrations of his speech rattled the woman's throat. "She's growing old, Cress—"
The woman turned and put her hand to his lips. "Just for tonight…would you call me by my name again?"
He didn't pull away from her. Instead, he began his ministrations again as he nodded, his long black white hair brushing against her back. "Neither one of have gone by those names in a long, long time."
"Not since we first met," the woman agreed. "Thank you."
"Anything for you," the man grunted huskily as he folded her back into his arms, "Crissy."