Chapter 1:
Leaning against the balcony edge, crimson eyes glance skyward to study the looming grey clouds in the distance, shuffling closer, growing bigger, pushed by turbulent winds up above. Despite their imminent approach, if he's not mistaken, the rain won't arrive until well into the week, which gives him four days if he's lucky. And given the pressure in the air, already heavy and palpable, when all that pent up energy is finally released, the resulting storm will be the talk of the town for years to come.
Four days.
That gives him less than half a week to get his work done.
He shifts his attention over towards the 'Unknown End' where the headland at the other end of the bay stands. Even from where he stands, he can faintly make out the sea stacks at the end of the cliff. It doesn't take much speculation to imagine just how fierce the waves are as they crash into large, jutting rocks and stacks. He can't help but lick his lips in anticipation of his upcoming challenge.
The waters of the Unknown End have always been off-limits to the townspeople. While many explorers have made the long, arduous trip by land, meticulously charting out their paths with maps in the hopes of coming across some great treasure, those who managed to make the trip back have all returned disappointed and empty-handed.
The sea, however, is a different story.
According to local legend, only one man has ever survived to tell the tale after his ship sank, leaving him stranded on the other side. Not even the strongest and most skilled of sailors are willing to risk their lives by cutting too close to the headland. There have been endless stories of giant beasts and serpents and other indescribable monsters lurking in the depths, waiting to sink unsuspecting ships and pull sailors to their deaths.
The sky's getting lighter as the sun rises in the horizon, blurring the sky with soft purples and oranges. He turns and retreats back inside to his study where a large aquarium stands. Designed and commissioned as a gift from his benefactor, he was given the tank but also the task to fill it. Though it still stands empty, he has every plan to look for and fill it with fish and marine plants of every kind to his liking.
He's not one for idleness, but he imagines that watching the colourful array of fish swimming around their reef will have a certain relaxing quality to it. And being unable to be at sea as often as he'd prefer, the aquarium would be like having a piece of the ocean waiting for him at home.
There's a knock at the door.
"What?" he grunts.
Two women walk in, the younger with a serene smile on her face. "Kurogane, I thought you'd be in here. You have a very important job ahead of you. I trust you're ready to make the trip?"
He nods and crosses his arms. "Like I'd let this chance slip away for an extra minute of sleep. I'm just waiting for the kid to get back."
"I know I've given you permission to go, but do be careful out there," Tomoyo tells him.
"Whatever. Of course I'll make sure the ship comes back in one piece, Tomoyo. You're the one who insisted it just be drop off and a minimal research expedition."
"Kurogane! That's no way to talk to the mistress!" Souma chides.
Tomoyo raises a hand to stop them. "It's alright, Souma. Even though you're so thoughtful and kind, I guess I can't expect everyone to be like you," she says, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. Then, more seriously, she says, "Kurogane, I wouldn't stay there any longer than necessary if I were you. My biggest concern is for you to come back in one piece yourself."
He scoffs and barely stifles his eye roll. "I'm the strongest sailor and fighter in this place; we both know that. If anyone can get that cargo ship to its destination, detour to the Unknown End on the way back, and make it back out alive, it's probably me." A smirk. "And even if there are pirates or monsters out there, I'll just have to cut through them all with my sword."
"You are indeed the strongest person around, but for all that you are strong, I'm afraid your swords alone won't always be enough," Tomoyo says quietly. She shakes her head and smiles. "Perhaps you'll come to realize the true meaning of strength through your journey."
"What are you talking about now? What journey? I'll be gone for less than a week," he complains, brows furrowed. "You're overreacting. Like I said, it's just a drop off and a measly research expedition."
There's another knock at the door. "Kurogane-san? The carriage is ready for us. Are you ready to go?" a boy's voice comes through.
"Alright, I'm coming," he calls out, stalking over towards the door. Looking back over his shoulder, he barks, "If you have nothing else to say, it sounds like it's finally time for me to leave. I'll be back later."
Souma throws her hands in the air in exasperation. "Kurogane! Watch your tone!"
Kurogane rolls eyes and sighs, "So, are we done or not, Tomoyo?"
At his impatience, Tomoyo merely smiles and raises a hand. "May the fates guide you back safely."
Not wanting to waste any more time on snide remarks in response to that, he merely nods. Making his way out the door, he looks over at Syaoran, his student and first-mate and gestures at the front door. "C'mon, kid. Let's go."
The boy nods eagerly and follows him out the mansion towards the carriage he had prepared. He makes a face at the vehicle. Riding in a carriage never ceases to make him uncomfortable. Not only do the walls severely limit his field of vision, but the worst part has to be how absolutely gaudy he feels in this thing. If it wasn't for the fact that he had to discuss the day's plan with Syaoran, he would've ridden up front with the driver or gone down to the docks on his own horse.
"Are you ready for this?" he asks.
Syaoran dips his head. "Yes! To be honest, I was so excited, I could barely sleep last night."
Not that he can blame the boy for his excitement, but he arches a brow anyway. "It better not affect your work."
"I promise it won't," the boy says earnestly. "I mean, we can't afford to slip up with the incoming storm and all, especially once we're at the Unknown End, right?"
He nods. "That's right. Besides, I'm sure the princess will be waiting for your return at the docks even if it takes all week. I have no intention of being the one to face her if something were to happen to you."
Face flushing at the mention of his childhood friend and lifelong crush, Syaoran stares at his hands in his lap. "Do you really think she'll wait for us?"
Kurogane snorts. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's already there, waiting to send us off. But never mind that for the moment, you can blush and stammer all you want when you see her. You know what our job is, right?"
Syaoran dips his head. "We're escorting a cargo ship with emergency supplies to the next town over to help them prepare for the storm, and if we can beat the storm with time to spare, we've been commissioned to do a small research expedition at the Unknown End."
"You got it. For now, let's focus on the first half and getting in and out of that town as fast as possible. I told you to chart out a route, didn't I?" From his pocket, he pulls out a tube containing his map and taps the boy's head with it. "I charted one too, so let's compare itineraries and see how well you did."
Arriving at the docks, the two of them step out of the carriage to hear their names being called. Kurogane watches as a girl with amber hair and bright green eyes comes running up to them with a warm smile on her face.
"You're here early," he says instead of returning the greeting
"Of course! I wouldn't miss your send off for the world!" she replies, her voice earnest and sincere.
Kurogane shoots Syaoran an 'I told you so' look. "It's not that big of a deal. It's just a quick trip," he tells her. "We'll be going full speed there and back, so we should be back in a couple of days."
Sakura shakes her head. "But it's a very big deal! You'll also be going to the Unknown End, won't you? The whole town knows about it!"
The boy nods. "Only time and weather permitting though."
She takes his hands and takes a step forward. "The Unknown End is such a dangerous and lonely place, so please be careful out there, Kurogane-san, Syaoran-kun. I'll definitely be here, waiting for you, when you get back."
"Sakura-hime, it looks like a storm is on its way. You should stay inside that day. You don't have to come out to wait for us," Syaoran says.
"Yeah, there's no need to worry. I'll be sure to get this kid back to you safely, princess," Kurogane reassures her. As much as he hates to admit it, even he's not completely immune to her charms.
Sakura shoots him a pout. "Syaoran-kun, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Sakura? And Kurogane-san, I'm not a princess. How come you address my brother properly but not me?"
"Because it's easier than calling you 'Younger Reed'," he says with a shrug and starts walking towards his ship to give the two some privacy. "We're leaving soon, so don't take too long, you two. And remember: you're in public."
The two heat up to interesting shades of red and immediately quickly begin stammering their sheepish goodbyes. Feeling like he's done his share of teasing, he ignores them in favour of checking on the preparations. Stroking the side of the ship as he walks by, he can feel the winds picking up.
He hops onboard to see the skeleton crew he'd asked Tomoyo for: a dozen of her best for the best ship in the fleet—the Suwa. A minute later, Syaoran comes running to his side, his cheeks still aglow. Kurogane nods and begins barking out orders to the crew. Within moments, the anchors are raised and the sails hoist and the ship slowly begins making its way out of the harbour to meet their escortee.
It takes them a little longer than expected to reach the next town, which doesn't surprise him in the least. Even with the Suwa, tacking into the wind is slow going, and when accompanying a bulky cargo vessel, the best they could do was inch forward at an agonizing pace. Luckily, they still arrived on time and left as soon as their client's ship entered the harbour.
Finally, it was time for the more exciting part of this job.
Out in the ocean with the wind in his face, he watches as the headland grows steadily closer now that they're travelling downwind. Twirling his spyglass around his fingers idly, he only hopes that the storm won't sneak up on them while they're at the Unknown End. As great as the ship is, the Suwa's still no match for the merciless sea stacks that line the headland.
"I've heard of some many stories about the Unknown End, but I never imagined I'd get a chance to explore it. Do you think we'll be alright? What do you think is out there, Kurogane-san?" Syaoran asks from beside him.
"Who knows? That's what we're here to find out," he answers. "We'll have to drop the anchors soon. The waves are too rough out there. The ship will sink before we ever get close enough."
"That's probably a good idea," the boy agrees. "Do you see anything interesting?"
Raising the spyglass to his eye, he surveys the stacks. "I don't know, you and I have very different ideas on what might be interesting. There are rocks, water, and more rocks—" He does a double take when a glimmer of gold and blue catches his eye.
"Kurogane-san?"
"I think I see something on one of the rocks," he says, focusing the spyglass. "Hold on."
As soon as the words leave his mouth, a soft melody reaches his ears. It's a beautiful tune in a language he's never heard before, full of sounds he can't imagine a human reproducing. The notes feel light and airy as float by. He imagines that if he looks hard enough, he'd be able to see them dancing and twirling around as they're carried off by the wind.
The sound of the waves fades.
The sound of the wind hitting the sails fades.
All the noise around him becomes muted save the song, and all he can do is stand there and listen, entranced
Then, just as suddenly as it started, the song stops.
Snapping out of his daze, Kurogane looks up only to see the ship drifting towards the rocks and quickly turns the wheel and begins giving out orders, breaking the rest of the crew free of whatever spell they had just fallen under.
"What do you think that was, Kurogane-san? You heard the song too, didn't you? What could've done something like that?" Syaoran asks after the ship has finally been steered back on course.
He raises his spyglass once more, honing in on the speck of gold—now revealing the vague shape of a person. "I don't know. We'll find out soon enough. Drop the anchors!" he calls out. Then, turning to the boy, he gestures at the rowboat. "Kid, you're coming with me. We're taking the dinghy out."
Syaoran's eyes widen. "To the Unknown End? The waves are too strong, we'll probably end up hitting the rocks."
Kurogane shakes his head. "We don't have a choice. I need you to come do the research and we can't go out in this ship; it'd never make it back in one piece. We'll attach two ropes to the dinghy: one tied to the ship to keep us from getting to close, and the other with the crew in case we need to beat a hasty retreat. Unless that singing starts again, these guys should be able to get us out of the water in no time flat."
"Should we really be going out there?"
"Yeah, we can't back down now, even though it looks like this whole expedition is turning out to be a lot more of a hassle than I'd originally thought." Then, smirking, he adds, "Besides, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can get back to the princess."
Face heating up, Syaoran quickly runs to retrieve the rope.
The waves are still on their side as they set out for the Unknown End in their rowboat. He tries not to let the thought of having to row against the current on the way back trouble him too much—yet.
The dinghy suddenly lurches back as it reaches the end of the rope.
"Alright kid, this is as close as the boat's gonna get, so you better get to work. That scientist wanted specimens and as detailed observations," Kurogane says, double checking the ropes.
Syaoran immediately takes out his notebook and tools to make observations while Kurogane takes out his spyglass to look for the golden figure he had seen earlier. Look as he may, he doesn't see it anywhere. He curses their position and wishes they could move the dinghy to somewhere with a better vantage point.
"Kurogane-san, this is really strange. It seems like the water is significantly calmer underneath the surface. I can see smaller fish swimming around just fine down there," the boy says, looking down a long glass tube.
"Hmm, that's good to know," he mutters. "Hey, the wind's picking up again; don't lean over too far or you'll fall in." Of course, right after he says that, a large wave crashes against the side of the boat, throwing the boy overboard. He watches as the boy gets swept up by the current, pulling him away from the boat. "Really? What did I just say?"
Kurogane grits his teeth and throws his sword down. He kicks his boots off and shrugs his jacket off and grabs the spare rope they had brought with them. He ties one end around his waist and the other to the boat and jumps into the water. Hanging onto the side of the boat, he looks around. "Oi, kid, where'd you go?"
There's a gasp from the other side of the dinghy. "Kurogane-san?"
"Over here."
"Looks like I overshot it," he hears Syaoran say. "I was right, though, this turbulence is very superficial. I didn't have to dive very far down to reach calmer waters. And, Kurogane-san?"
"What?"
The boat rocks as the boy climbs back onboard. He pokes his head out from the edge and reports, "I think I saw something when the current carried me away, something on the rocks over there. But I think I must've been mistaken."
Interest perked, he asks, "What do you think you saw?"
"I don't...something like a person? But that's not possible, is it?"
"A person you say? Sounds interesting. I'll be right back." He lets go of the boat and lets the current carry him off.
"Wait, where are you going!?" Syaoran asks, eyes wide.
"I'll go see whether it really was a person or not. You just concentrate on doing your research and don't fall in again. I'll yank on the rope twice if I need you to pull me back, got it?"
Before Syaoran can voice his protests, he dives down deep into the water, going beneath the waves. Much to his surprise, as his student said, the water was considerably calmer below. Holding his breath, he begins swimming towards the direction of the current.
Surfacing, he looks around for the person Syaoran mentioned. Spotting a haze of gold nearby, he wipes the salt water out of his eyes and looks again, squinting to further focus his vision. Sure enough, a few rocks away, suspended on a smaller sea stack, is the person with its eyes trained on him, wide and full of fear and surprise. He dives down again and continues swimming, not wanting to surface too often or too close to the stacks lest a wave catch him off guard.
Below him, there's nothing but the endless darkness of the ocean with the occasional fish meandering about aimlessly. Trailing behind him is the rope, and lengthy as it is, he hopes it'll extend far enough for him to properly investigate the area. Finally unable to hold his breath any longer, he surfaces to take a breath and to orientate himself.
When he looks around again, he finds himself facing the stack and the figure. His words fail him when he finally sees up close what he had an inkling of but denied all along.
A tail.
"This can't be real," he mutters, spitting out seawater.
A sudden wave sweeps him into the stack and the rope starts drawing taut. Not wanting to get swept into anything else, Kurogane reaches up and pulls himself out of the water. Another large wave hits the stack, spraying him all over with water and nearly knocking him right off. He can already imagine the fit Tomoyo will throw when he reports this back to her.
She'll call his actions unnecessarily reckless and she might even be right this time.
Not that he'd ever admit it out loud.
Finding a steady foothold, he pulls the knife he brought along from its sheath and holds it between his teeth as he continues inching his way closer towards the creature. Despite the wind and waves, he manages to get close enough to it to examine it more closely.
Bound by seaweed to the rock, the creature stares back in silence. There are fins flattened against the side of its arms and tail, and long, golden hair draped over its flat torso. Despite it clearly not being human, Kurogane can't help but think it beautiful.
The creature's light blue eyes narrow and study him back with equal intensity. Its frown deepens and the creature opens its mouth.
He brings up his free hand, ready to cover his ear should it start singing, but instead, all it says is:
"Leave."
A/N: Mer!AU's are always so fun to read so I wanted to give it a go as well. And here's my take of it! This story's been stewing in my brain for quite a while now, so I figured it was about time to get it written and posted now that I've reread TRC for the billionth time. I see this site's changed its format for new stories again. How interesting. Hope you all enjoy! Why are summaries so hard to write?