Title: Tideless Wonders

Rating: M

Dedication: This is dedicated to everyone who loves my stories, and fantasy romance. I LOVE YOU PEOPLES!!!

--

Chapter One

Randi

--

Randi stared hopelessly out her balcony window. The confines of her castle home on the beach kept her from reaching her beloved ocean; keeping her from discovering the depths and wonders. Her parents, the king and queen, wanted their only precious daughter away from any dangers.

But there were no dangers to her in the ocean. None that she had yet to encounter, anyway.

The soft, salty, wonderful ocean breeze blew into her cell, (aka: chamber) sending wisps of her blonde curls into her diamond grey eyes. Why can't they just let me be free? She thought, staring hard over the castle wall into the setting sun and indigo ocean. Don't they realize I'm old enough to choose my own path? I would much rather marry a fish than the horrid, vulgar, conceited, ugly, dramatic, Prince Ashton. Randi shivered at the thought of her betrothed.

Prince Ashton was a tall, thin, and obsessed with himself, rude, prince that Randi's parents had chosen her to marry. No, she didn't like him. She loathed him. She hated the prince for every ounce of her mortal being.

A silent tear fell down her smooth face. This was arranged. She couldn't change it. Her parents' words were law, literally. She'd be unhappy for the rest of her life; freedom, will, and life taken from her because of this marriage. It would all be taken from the 16 year old by the end of the summer.

Randi whipped her face from the tears with the back of her hand. She couldn't cry now. This problem was far beyond crying. It was far beyond anything she could do.

She walked outside to her balcony, leaning her soft hands on the smooth marble railing of the balcony. A dolphin leaped out of the ocean.

No, it wasn't a dolphin.

Randi blinked, focusing hard on the dolphin, or whatever the thing was.

It waved to her.

It waved to her

How could it see her from over the wall? Randi slowly waved back, but the creature dove under the water. I'll probably never see it again. She thought quickly, shaking her head and turning away from the setting sun.

"Hello there!"

Randi turned quickly back, searching frantically for whoever talked to her.

"Down here!"

She looked down, seeing what she guessed was an 18 year-old boy staring up at her. He was waving to her, and sitting in the water near a metal bared culvert. He didn't have a shirt on, and Randi blushed slightly.

"What's your name?" He asked, shouting so his voice could reach her.

"Miranda." Randi said quietly.

"What?"

"MY NAME IS MIRANDA, BUT PLEASE CALL ME RANDI!" She shouted back, knowing that he now heard her. "WHAT'S YOURS?"

"Tristan. My name is Tristan." The boy, Tristan, called. "Come down here!"

"Err…" Randi looked down at herself. She was clad in only her pale green nightdress. Randi had to admit, Tristan was…attractive. Well, he was certainly better looking than Prince Ashton.

Tristan had ebony black hair, and she guessed evergreen eyes. His shoulders were broad and he had a muscled torso and what appeared to be abs. Yet she couldn't see his lower half, not that she wanted to anyway.

"Yes or no?"

She thought quickly, mind racing. "Yes. I'll be but only a moment."

Randi ran back into her room, searching for a hair ribbon. She found one, and it was a satin white. She pulled her hair back loosely, and then searched for her shell bag. It was around there somewhere, and she found that too; under her vanity table. Randi grabbed it, along with some knotted sheets, and swung the loose ropes around her body. She leapt back out onto the balcony, seeing Tristan motioning for her to hurry.

Randi immediately went for the edge of the balcony, throwing the sheets over the railing. She prayed that they'd hold, or at least until she reached the green grass below. She crawled down it, and quickly walked towards Tristan. He smiled at her, revealing straight, white teeth. She smiled back, hoping that there wasn't anything left from dinner between her teeth.

"I've never seen human do that."

Randi blushed, feeling her cheeks burn. For one reason or another, she felt shy and bashful around Tristan.

"Well, I'm really not supposed to leave the castle."

"Let me guess, your parents are too overprotective."

"You're right, to put it vaguely." Randi laughed lightly.

"Come, swim with me." Tristan put a hand out for hers. Reluctantly, Randi placed her hand in his and Tristan pulled her into the salt water. It felt good against her skin, both his hand and the water. "Now, hold on tight to me."

Randi didn't though. Fear and nervousness ran through her body. Girls don't just grab on to bare-chested boys, it just wasn't done. It was against her personality. Tristan saw this, sighed, and pulled her until she fell into the water.

She sputtered for air, and when she got some, she was firmly pressed against something smooth. The object felt smooth against her hands, and something strong was keeping her from squirming. She opened her eyes, and realized she was under the water.

Panic raced through her petite body. No, this wasn't right. How was she in the ocean? How did she get passed the wall? What was keeping her close to the beating of something?

She looked to her right and saw black hair rippling; Tristan's hair. His head turned to face her, and he smiled, but no bubbles exploded his mouth. His green eyes were now the color of seaweed, and they lured her into them.

Suddenly, her lungs felt tight, ready to explode. Randi needed air, needed to breathe sweet sea air. She tried to point upwards, but all she did was poke Tristan's chest hard. He didn't wince though, but deeper into the water. No, up! She thought quickly. I need air, you moron! I NEED AIR!!!! Randi shut her eyes again trying not to move to conserve air. The world just seemed to slip away…

"Randi? Randi? RANDI?"

Randi's shoulders were being shaken rather roughly, but she hardly noticed.

"Tristan, have you considered that doing that would hurt her?" It was another male's voice. But it was far mature than Tristan's. The person's that was talking now sounded fatherly.

"Err…"

"No, you haven't. Way to go, you just killed someone, a human female no less."

"Shut it, Kyle!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who took her for a swim…"

"But you're the one that dared me. And now look what you did."

"Me?! I wasn't the one who turned her!"

Randi's eye's fluttered open; the air cool against her parched skin.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, I think she's consciences, Tristan."

She felt her forehead, which was pounding hard against her skull. She was covered in something, what it was she didn't care. Randi shut her eyes for a moment, trying to rid herself of the pain. She was wet, and was sitting on a rock of some sort.

"Randi?"

She groaned in response.

"Randi?"

"What?" She moaned, trying to sit up.

"Err…miss; I wouldn't do that so quickly."

"What time is it?" She asked opening her eyes to see where she was.

"About ten o'clock at night."

Her eyes shot open. "What?! My parents are probably worried sick. I'm sorry, I have to go." Randi ripped off the blanket, and immediately Kyle turned away, coughing lightly. Tristan kept his eyes on her though. Randi looked down, seeing she wasn't wearing anything. She gasped and quickly covered herself, glowing in a bright pink blush.

"Just one question, Randi."

"What?"

"Actually, I have a few."

"Get on with it…"

"One; why is your skin always turning red? Two; how do you feel? Three; can you forgive me?"

Randi blushed even deeper. "Err…my skin turns red because I'm embarrassed…right now, I feel like I was run over by a horse-"

"What are they?"

Randi looked at him. "You know a horse. Tall, four legged, long faces? And to answer you last question, what do you need me to forgive?"

"For turning you."

"For turning me into what?"

"Well, I…see, the thing is…"

"For the sake of Poseidon, Tristan, you turned her into a mermaid!"

--

Chapter One

Tristan

--

Tristan swam swiftly under the sea water, scowling at what he was doing. Stupid dare, he thought, why did I even agree to it? He knew he couldn't get himself out of this one, no sir.

It was his best friend Kyle that so profoundly dared him. And what a dare it was.

He had to mate a female.

And it had to be no ordinary female;

It had to be a human female.

How he was going to find one on those in the midst of the ocean, he did not know. The only place he knew of at least one human was the Land, where the dry sand and rock were. At least he could take a look and see if there was even such thing as a female human.

There were rumors around Atlantis that told about female humans; big and luscious breasts, two long things called 'legs' that they'd walk on, defined curves, hair growing in the most obscene places. They also said that they craved mating, and were ready for it at a much younger age than regular mermaids were. (One reason Kyle had dared Tristan to the dare in the first place…or so he thought.) Tristan recalled during one of his Merman Health classes that went over the sexuality of females, both rumored human and mermaid, that female humans were ready to mate at from the ages of 9 to 13, as mermaids were ready from the ages of 20 to 24…

Of course everyone knew that male humans existed; everyday at least one ship full of them was sighted. About once every year a said sighting of a female human was seen, but it was always thought of as a fish tale or a lie. And everyone knew that mermen and male humans could mate as they please, they could even mate at birth if they wished.

The thoughts that were running wildly through Tristan's head were pushed out, thinking hard on what- no whom- he was looking for to break his unwanted virginity. He was just barely old enough to be considered a real merman: turning 19 in July. (And it was considered that one was to be very intimate in a very promising relationship before even discussing giving up virginities.) He closed his green eyes and envisioned what he thought looked like an attractive human female.

She had to be tall, not taller than him, but tall for human standards…and hair that was long, something that'd ripple in the ocean water. The female needed to have happy eyes; light, vibrant, eyes that were full of life…full of wanting and desire. The female also had to have a wonderful, no- beautiful- smile: no yellow, orange, or green teeth, white teeth; white as a sea shell. She had to have hands that felt of softened coral, but oh so much softer. She needed to be soft, not only physically, but emotional and in personality. The human needed to be kind, sweet, loving, and intelligent. She needed to also have at least a B shell…something to suck on while he mated her senseless…

Images of Tristan and a human female went through his head: swimming through Atlantis, meeting his friends and family, slamming her against the coral reef touching the hell out of each other…injecting 100,000,000 little pieces of him inside of her….

No, he couldn't think these thoughts, not just yet. He first had to find the female…find her and get to know her a little bit. The gills behind his ears fluttered wildly at the task at hand. Tristan surfaced, the cool evening air touching his warm skin. He shut his gills immediately, gasping for air through his nose and mouth into his lungs. He looked around, and saw a wall erupting from the ocean. He smiled; he had reached Land.

He jumped through the air, taking a short celebration for making it this far into the dare. He stopped and looked over the wall. There was something standing; a building.

There was a person standing in the building, Tristan saw it. He waved to whatever it was, and it waved back to him. Tristan dove under the water, reopening his gills to breathe easier. He swam quickly under the water, through a barred tunnel, and back onto the shore.

He was closer to the building now, and he saw a figure on what looked like a balcony.

"Hello there!" He shouted to the figure, not caring what it was…as long as it didn't try to kill him.

The figure had turned away, but it came rushing back.

But it wasn't just a figure…

It was a female.

It was a human female.

Tristan's heart leapt; she was perfect. Long, blonde, curly hair that fell over soft shoulders; skin that looked like white sand; arms that were long and lean; eyes that were grey like that of a sword fish's silver scales. She wasn't naked like the rumors said that human females were, she wore a long, sea green tunic that covered what he guessed was her torso and 'legs'. She was pretty…though she looked like she had cried. She looked young; very, very young. Her features were soft, but her grey eyes looked like that of someone older…someone who had seen terrible things happen. Compassion filled Tristan's heart and he felt just so sad.

"Down here!"

She looked down, seeing Tristan staring up at her. He was waving to her, and sitting in the water near a metal bared culvert. He didn't have a tunic on, and the human blushed slightly.

"What's your name?" He asked, shouting so his voice could reach her.

"Miranda." She said quietly.

"What?"

"MY NAME IS MIRANDA, BUT PLEASE CALL ME RANDI!" She shouted back, Tristan hearing her now. Randi…Randi…Miranda…the words rolled off his tongue pleasantly. "WHAT'S YOURS?"

"Tristan. My name is Tristan." Tristan called. "Come down here!"

"Err…" Randi looked down at herself.

"Yes or no?"

Randi paused. "Yes. I'll be but only a moment."

Randi ran back into the building, and came out with a bag and ropes swung around her body. They went diagonally across her chest, pointing out her form. She leapt back out onto the balcony, seeing Tristan motioning for her to hurry.

Randi immediately went for the edge of the balcony, throwing the sheets over the railing. She crawled down it, and quickly walked towards Tristan. She smiled at him, revealing straight, white teeth.

"I've never seen a human do that."

Randi blushed, and Tristan saw her cheeks turn a vibrant red.

"Well, I'm really not supposed to leave the castle."

"Let me guess, your parents are too overprotective."

"You're right, to put it vaguely." Randi laughed lightly. It sounded like music to him, and it surprised Tristan.

"Come, swim with me." Tristan put a hand out for hers. Reluctantly, Randi placed her hand in his and Tristan pulled her into the salt water. It felt good against his skin, both her hand and the water. "Now, hold on tight to me."

Randi didn't though. She just stood there, holding his hand. Tristan saw this, sighed, and pulled her until she fell into the water.

She sputtered for air, and when she got some, she was firmly pressed against his body. Tristan held her tightly to his chest as he sped through the water to the wide open ocean.

Randi's eyes were firmly shut, and her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. He felt her legs bump into his navy-blue scales. He couldn't swim with her wearing this tunic thing, and he paused, stripping it off of her. Tristan looked her over; she was still dressed in a smaller tunic tucked within something that covered her legs half-way. This new layout of tunics clung to her body tightly, and Tristan felt very compelled to just finish the dare now and get it over with. But he didn't, and continued to swim.

They were far in the ocean now, so far that Tristan couldn't even see the outline of the wall. Something flickered against his shoulder, and he looked towards it. Randi's eyes were open, and their grey-ness felt warm to his green eyes. He smiled, nearly laughing at her.

She poked him hard in the chest, and he went down further. Her eyes closed slowly as they went deeper; bubbles exploding her nose and mouth. She stopped moving, and Tristan feared the worst.

Oh no. Please, please, don't be dead. He thought. Tristan loosened his grip around her and paused again. She had turned pale, and her blonde hair wavered around her angelic face; her skin underneath his rough hands cold. He didn't want to be responsible for killing someone, especially a human…a female human.

He touched her; pressing his lips hard against her rose-colored pink lips. They were smooth; flawless. His gills fluttered furiously generating enough air for the both of them. It should've been a proper touch, but she needed air and he gave it to her. His mind went fuzzy afterwards, and he launched himself towards Kyle and his meeting place; where Tristan was to report to him after he finished the dare.

"TRISTAN!" Kyle went wide eyed; staring hard at the female in his best friend's arms. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF POSIDEN DID YOU DO TO HER?"

Tristan glanced at the female, and then glanced back at his friend. "She needs air. She needs support. WHERE IS A ROCK WHEN YOU NEED ONE?!"

"Trist, just undo this and put her back…oh, you can't undo this!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Kyle, where is a dang rock!"

"Just north of here."

"Then let's go! She needs air!"

"But she's one of us now! Why can't she breathe through her gills?"

Tristan looked skeptically at his red-headed friend. "Because she doesn't know she's got them. Hell, she doesn't even know what I did to her."

"YOU TOUCHED HER WITHOUT HER CONSENT?!"

"YES! C'MON! WE DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S DEAD YET!!"

--

"Randi? Randi? RANDI?"

Randi's shoulders were being shaken rather roughly by Tristan's wet hands, but it appeared she hardly noticed.

"Tristan, have you considered that doing that would hurt her?" Kyle said gruffly, pointing heavily it was Tristan's fault.

"Err…"

"No, you haven't. Way to go, you just killed someone, a human female no less."

"Shut it, Kyle!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who took her for a swim…"

"But you're the one that dared me. And now look what you did."

"Me?! I wasn't the one who turned her!"

Randi's eye's fluttered open; the air cool against her skin.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, I think she's consciences, Tristan."

She felt her forehead.

"Randi?" Tristan said, holding her hand. It was cold beneath his touch, but none-the-less soft.

She groaned in response.

"Randi?"

"What?" She moaned, trying to sit up.

"Err…miss; I wouldn't do that so quickly."

"What time is it?" She asked opening her eyes to see where she was.

"About ten o'clock at night."

Her eyes shot open. "What?! My parents are probably worried sick. I'm sorry, I have to go." Randi ripped off the blanket, and immediately Kyle turned away, coughing lightly. Tristan kept his eyes on her though. Randi looked down, seeing she wasn't wearing anything. She gasped and quickly covered herself, glowing in a bright pink blush.

"Just one question, Randi."

"What?"

"Actually, I have a few."

"Get on with it…"

"One; why is your skin always turning red? Two; how do you feel? Three; can you forgive me?"

Randi blushed even deeper. "Err…my skin turns red because I'm embarrassed…right now, I feel like I was run over by a horse-"

"What are they?"

Randi looked at him. "You know a horse. Tall, four legged, long faces? And to answer you last question, what do you need me to forgive?"

"For turning you."

"For turning me into what?"

"Well, I…see, the thing is…"

"For the sake of Poseidon, Tristan, you turned her into a mermaid!"

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!

- 3-

Magical