SouRin Week: February 2016
Title: Trading It All
Author: melonmachinery
Day/Prompt: Day 6/Paper – Fantasy
Rating: T
Ch. Word Count: 350
Summary:

The tragic love of a child of the sea and a child of the land distorted by betrayal and finally turning into a dreaded family curse. It was a story he knew well, a story forgotten by those above the ocean waves. He promised long ago he'd protect the prince from his fate, it was his duty, his mission, for he was the one he loved, always.

A/N:

WOW! OKAY! I'm so nervous about writing this because it's a developing idea that I've had for a while now. It has already changed a lot from my first outlines of it, and is subject to change even more.

I'm going to try to post at least bi-weekly depending on how much time I have and how the story wants to progress. Although I feel like I should have done something simpler for sourinweek I really want to write this story so I figured now's a good time as ever. I hope everyone likes it even though it's just another take on everyone's favorite Little Mermaid.

I could not for the life of me decide the title, so here have both!

Trading a Tail for a Pair of Legs

Prologue

He swam with as much vigor as he could, trying to balance the unconscious boy in his arms, trying to keep his head out of the water. Only the faint noise of his companion's breathing gave him hope as he headed towards the distant shore. Swimming among the gentle rolling waves, their lagoon in sight, he held onto him tighter and swam faster. His hands ached, riddled with splinters of the broken wood from the capsized ship, debris that he had to swim through to save his friend.

Still, they hurt little compared to his heavy heart. He rode the coming wave that pushed them up to the outer shore. As its waters pulled away he propelled them forward, his friend coughing and sputtering as the next wave hit them, covering them. He pulled him up further wiggling his way onto the beach.

"Rin," he cried, leaning close to his mouth to hear the soft breaths there. He started coughing violently, but he was still sucking in air. His eyes did not open. "Rin!"

He brushed the sand and hair away from his face, his skin cold to touch. His friend's eyes still wouldn't open and he feared for the worst when he heard the soft whisper of his name leave his lips.

"Rin, I'm here," he reassured in Rin's native tongue. "You are home, I taken you home. You are okay."

Before he could hear his response great shouts and cries rang through the air. His head snapped up to the coast and saw the guards running towards them. He pushed himself away from the shore as fast as he could, the cries of the men loud and terrifying as he finally reached a water level he could swim in.

Blinding pain struck him then, and he glanced back to see the men coming after him. He swam away on instinct, and it wasn't until he was far away that he saw the red discoloration floating around his shoulder and felt the substantial weight and tug there. He heard his name being called and saw a flash of silver before everything went black.