Disclaimer: All characters mentioned belong in the animé series Gundam Wing. The plot is taken from the book Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguié. Please don't sue me…?
Summary: A mermaid story like never before. They say that the prince was bonded to a boy who was not what he appeared and that another boy who saved the kingdom vanished without a trace. Some said it was witchcraft. Some said it was only a legend. For those who knew the truth, it was magic… (eventual 3x4 and 1x2)
Out of the Sea
By Ninetails
Chapter 1
The fisherman sat quietly in his boat staring at the darkening skies. The sun should have stood directly overhead, marking midday, but instead it was obscured by angry clouds that seemed to grow thicker by the moment. He squinted, staring at the horizon. The leathery skin of his face crinkled around his hazel eyes. A storm was coming up fast, too fast. A stiff wind suddenly sprang to life, roaring across the bow of the boat and bringing with it the unmistakable smell of rain. It was time to head for shore.
The fish had been acting strange all day, nervous, as though there was a predator lurking in the darkening water. He had been out since noon, and not a single one had found its way into his nets. Still, he had seen the dancing shadows and quick flashes of silver that indicated their presence. He quickly pulled the woven rope nets in and secured them.
A raindrop splattered on his nose and a shiver danced up his spine. Rashid, he thought, you'd better get yourself home fast.
No sooner had he picked up the oars and began to row that the heavens let loose. The ocean began to heave, and it was all he could do to keep his tiny boat from capsizing.
He strained at the oars with all his might. He had never seen a storm come up so quickly. He should have had time to make it home before the weather became this bad. His arms began to ache with the strain of fighting the waves. A huge one bore down on him, and he saw it through the rain, but it was too late to turn the boat. It crested over the bow and filled the tiny vessel with water.
He had always been careful, always respected the sea not only for what it could give but also for what it could take. He had lost his father and his two brothers to its wrath. His was a family of fishermen eking out a living from the sea. But the sea was a fickle mistress. He remembered the storm that had taken the lives of the other men in his family. Still, he, too, had gone to the sea for his livelihood. It was all he knew.
As wave after wave continued to crash down upon him, he knew that his time had come at last. The sea would claim him this day, and he would never see his beloved Quaterina again. he whispered a desperate chant to the Light, and another to King Neptune for good measure. Padan, the High Priest, would not be happy about that, but he wasn't there to take offense.
A short distance ahead of him, he saw a light shimmering in the water that grew brighter as he watched. Was it the Angel of Death coming to take him? He briefly thought about trying to go around the spot. He was too tired, though, to waste his strength rowing the extra distance. And if it is the Angel of Death, he reasoned, he'll find me whether I turn the boat or not. He kept his course, and moments later he was right above the light. He stared down into the water but could see nothing.
Cast your nets, a voice whispered in his head. Without thinking, Rashid scurried to comply, heaving the nets over the side and dropping them down into the light. Something heavy caught in them, and he feared that between the weight and the raging of the ocean, the ropes would snap. He began to pull them in. At last something broke the surface of the water.
Rashid gasped as the small face of a child looked up at him. He had enormous eyes that shone dark against his pale skin. His gold hair floated on the water, each long strand glimmering with a greenish light- the glow that he had seen. The child was caught in his net, and he heaved him into the boat. The child sat very still, the blinking of his eyes the only sign of life.
The fisherman quickly untangled him from the net until he sat naked and shivering in the bottom of the tiny vessel. Rashid peeled off his coat and wrapped it around him. For a moment, he forgot the wind and waves and storm as he stared at the child. What had Master Padan read from the Scriptures that morning? "I will make you fishers of men."
He smiled reassuringly at the child as he picked up his oars. "We are going to make it, you and I." The child just blinked his enormous eyes.
The Light, King Neptune- someone had sent the child to him. He couldn't let him die in the storm. That conviction gave him the will to keep pulling at the oars. At last after what seemed like an eternity, the wind swept aside a curtain of the rain and he caught a glimpse of the shore. His heart lifted at the sight, and he pulled on the oars with renewed strength.
Finally they hit the beach. He scrambled out of the boat and began to try to pull it backward onto the sand. Rashid fell to his knees, a sob escaping him. He was too weak. He felt his fingers beginning to slip from the bow when, suddenly, strong hands closed over his and lent their strength. Together they pulled the ship backward up onto the beach.
Rashid collapsed onto the sand, gasping and looked up to see his wife. His heart filled at the sight of her face, beautiful in his eyes. "Quaterina, I thought I'd never see you again."
"And I you," she answered.
He gestured to the boat. "I brought you something."
She looked in and gasped softly. "Oh my."
They made it to the house and barred the door against the lashing rain. Rashid peeled off his wet clothes, depositing them in a heap by the fire and changing into dry ones while Quaterina wrapped the child in a warm blanket. She sat down with him by the fire and lifted a lock of his wet hair. Rashid noticed that the glow from the child's hair was slowly fading.
He shivered and muttered a silent chant. Still, as he looked into the little boy's enormous eyes, he couldn't see any evil lurking in them. If he isn't of the devil, then he has to be from the Creator. He nodded slowly. He was the Light's gift to his Quaterina, who had no child of her own. He placed a hand on Quaterina's shoulder.
When Quaterina looked up at him, he had no answers for the questions in her eyes. They stared at each other for several minutes before she broke the silence.
"I thought you might be dead," she croaked, her voice hoarse.
"I nearly was," he admitted as he took a seat beside her. "Then I found him - out there in the water. I knew then that I was going to live and that the Light wanted me to bring him home - to you."
Quaterina gently stroked the boy's hair. "He can't be more than four years old. What do you think he was doing out there by himself?"
Rashid shook his head. "I don't know."
The boy stirred in Quaterina's arms and stretched his small hand out towards the fire. His skin was pale, deathly pale. Rashid felt his heart begin to pound. For a moment, when the child's hand was up in front of the fire, he imagined that he'd been able to see right through the skin, through his very hand, to see the fire glowing on the other side.
He shook his head to clear it. I'm exhausted, and a trick of the light sent my imagination on a flight of fancy. That is all. But beside him he heard Quaterina gasp, and when she turned to him with fearful eyes, he knew that it was no trick and that she had seen it too.
"Wh-what is he?"
He met Quaterina's eyes. "I don't know and I don't think we want to know."
She nodded slowly, and a silent agreement stretched between them. The child looked up at them questioningly. He stretched out his other hand from beneath the blanket. It was balled into a tight fist. Something dark shone through the cracks between his fingers.
"What have you got, little one?" Rashid asked, reaching gently to take his small hand. He pushed at his fingers, and reluctantly, his small fist began to open.
There in his palm was the largest pearl Rashid had ever seen. It was a shiny, midnight blue color and was almost perfectly round. He had never seen anything like it.
His small fingers balled around it, and his hand disappeared back beneath the blanket.
His wife started to rock the child gently in her arms, lulling him to sleep. "What shall we name him?"
Rashid looked into her chestnut eyes. "I think we'll call him Quatre," he said with a smile.
Two days later the storm had passed, but the destruction it had left in its wake was staggering. Villages up and down the coast had been destroyed, some of them completely. Worse, several hundred people had been killed.
As Rashid sat beside Quaterina in the temple that morning, he fervently thanked the Light for the safety they had enjoyed. Only a couple of people from their village had lost their lives. The High Priest solemnly prayed for their souls. In front of Rashid the town blacksmith, Thomas, together with his daughter bowed their heads in sorrow. His wife had been one of those who was lost.
Rashid felt guilty for his and Quaterina's happiness in the face of so much sorrow. Happy they were, though, for little Quatre sat between them. The storm that had brought him to them had made it easy to explain his sudden presence. They had simply told everyone that he was the child of a distant cousin in another village who had been killed in the storm.
That had satisfied the others, although it hadn't stopped them from casting puzzled looks at Quatre. Rashid closed a hand around Quatre's protectively. Maybe with time the sun would tan his unnaturally pale skin, and as he continued to grow, surely he would grow into his long legs.
Quatre looked up at him with his wide, turquoise eyes and asked him a question. He had no way to answer him, though. Whatever language it was he spoke was foreign to him. He thought it might be an eastern dialect, but he wasn't sure.
Rashid just shook his head and squeezed his little hand. They were working on teaching him their own language. He just prayed they would be able to communicate quickly before it became too much of a problem.
Quaterina turned to look at him and he smiled to hide his concern. He couldn't help but be afraid. Quatre was different; he wasn't sure how or why, but he did know the people of his village. They didn't tolerate anyone or anything that was different. Only five years earlier an angry mob had seized a woman, a traveling gypsy, accused her of Witchcraft, and burned her at the stake. He shuddered at the memory. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
He gripped Quatre's hand even tighter until the child began to wriggle his fingers. He had had a nightmare about the villagers trying to do the same to Quatre and him not being able to reach him. He had awoken screaming and soaked in sweat. He had lied to Quaterina for the first time in his life, telling her he didn't remember the dream. he had vowed, lying there, shivering and praying, that he would do everything in his power to keep them from hurting Quatre. He just continued to smile at Quaterina, who had enough to worry about without hearing his fears.
When the ceremony was over, he picked Quatre up into his arms. He hadn't yet seemed to master walking. He was trying, but he just went skittering on his long limbs, wobbling back and forth and landing in a heap time after time. He just needs to grow into his legs, Rashid thought.
Quatre wrapped his tiny arms around his neck and looked up at him. He asked him what sounded like a question. His tiny voice lilted as though he was singing. Rashid just shook his head and kissed his brow.
The boy held his pearl out to him and Rashid kissed it as well. Quaterina had secured it with a piece of rope and a loop so that Quatre could wear the shiny orb around his neck. The child laughed up at him. His laughter, at least, he could understand.
That night, Rashid sat bolt upright in bed, awakened by a keening sound that split the stillness and reverberated in the air. Chills danced up and down his spine, and fear touched his heart. Beside him, Quaterina sprang from the bed, grabbing for her shawl. They glanced to the bed where Quatre should have been, but it was empty. A hard knot settled in the bottom of his stomach.
They exchanged frightened glances and began to search the cabin. They found the child moments later sitting in the kitchen. He was surrounded by dead fish that were scattered about on the kitchen floor. He must have pulled them off the counter and unwrapped them from their protective coverings.
The stench of death was strong, and an unnatural sound was coming from Quatre. He stared up at them and pointed to a dead fish and then to Rashid. His heart began to pound as he realized that he was blaming him for its death.
Quaterina knelt down and folded the boy in his arms. "Those are fish. We eat the fish so that we can be strong," she tried to explain.
Quatre began to cry and Quaterina just held him, clearly not knowing what to say. Finally she looked up at Rashid, and he saw the tears shimmering on her cheeks as well. "Clean up the fish and hide them," she instructed him. "We'll keep them out of his sight, at least for now."
Nodding, Rashid did as he was told. The sound of the child's cries echoed inside his head, continuing long after he had fallen asleep in Quaterina's arms. It had been a completely unnatural sound, unlike anything he had ever heard.
TBC
Author's Notes:
Sigh… me again. I think some explanations are due. Let me warn everyone out there that this is an AU/Fantasy fic and that's why most of the characters are OOC. Err… Okay, okay, it's my fault for being stupid. Note the fact that the villagers' religious culture is a bit different from the normal Catholic one. Why? Well, in the previous religion, yaoi marriages are not permitted, so you could see my dilemma in creating this fic. Just keep in mind that though there are many similarities to a medieval setting, this fic is sometime long ago where kings rule the land and same-sex marriages (or in this case, bonding) is permitted and quite rampant too(snicker). Uh, oops, I think that was a spoiler. If everything is unclear in this chapter, just wait for the answer in the succeeding chapters.
As for Quaterina… well, in some fics, this was used for Quatre's mother's name. So, I took the liberty of using it too. If this is owned by anyone, then this serves as my disclaimer. No need to ask what fairy tale I've ripped this plot from, ne? I'm sure it is painfully familiar for all of you although... a few twists and turns are bound to be in this story. Next chapter will be posted in a week or 10.
I am SO embarrassed! I actually posted the prologue in Hana Yori Dango! I do NOT know how that happened! The category that I highlighted yesterday was Gundam Wing, darn it! (I could just curl up and die right now). Oh well.
To: leleppaneIf you ever get to read this, thanks for reviewing! Yup, the book is SO cute!
To: ming-chanNope, I'm not doing a crossover. Thanks SO much for pointing that out to me! I am SO embarrassed with my stupidity. Arrghh!
