Fish Out of Water

Chapter 7: Those Darn Maakin

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Author's Note: One chapter left people : 3 I'm so excited… and I just can't hide it… dah dahdah dah dah… yeah, you know the rest. I stretched it just for you guys… and added my attempt at some humor :o Beware.

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"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, I've been considering it for awhile, but I just wasn't sure when and even if I should ask you."

"Of course you should have asked me, you're my favorite nephew!"

"I'm your only nephew."

"All the more reason to go along."

"So, is that a yes? Really?"

"If you can enter, I would be glad to help out in any way possible."

A wide grin spread across thin lips, "Excellent."

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Sighing softly to himself, Ryou inched a bit closer to his mother as they swam through their small village, trying to ignore everyone around them."

"Why is everyone staring?"

Sara laughed slightly, grabbing her son's wrist and pulling him along a bit faster.

"It's what you get for disappearing on us."

Ryou fell silent as they passed through the gates, leading to their home, feelinghis stomach sink.

"What if Father is angry?"

"He won't be."

"How do you know?"

The queen smiled again, "Because I know."

He went silent again; dread beginning to seep through his veins as they drew closer to his father's throne room. A sudden though occurred to him.

"Where's Malik?"

"RYOU!"

His question was answered almost immediately as a sudden body connected with his own, knocking him backwards in a flash of gold. Arms wound around his pale body in a crushing embrace, much like his mother's had.

"Ryou! I was so worried, I went out everyday with Atemu and sometimes Leia and we looked and looked but you were never there and I felt so bad, it's all my fault this all happened!" The pressure increased on his chest as Malik buried his head against the other's neck.

"Malik, let go for a moment!" Ryou grinned as he spoke, attaching himself to his guardian as soon as he was let go of. "It's not your fault, don't worry, I'm fine, see?"

The elder nodded once, before lavender eyes met a dark green, his expression quickly turning to one of question, "Where did you find him?"

"A human had him and, apparently, had been taking care of him." Sara smiled slightly, before moving forward and rounding the corner to the throne room with a flick of her tail.

"A human?" Malik turned his attention back down to the prince in his arms, "The human from the boat?"

"Yes!" Bright green eyes lit up in excitement, "The exact same one! Oh Malik, he is amazing! He lives in this building; it's nearly as big as our castle! And he had two dogs, Sai and Kai -"

"Dogs?"

"These big… furry pts, they're so friendly, you should see!"

"But, that human, he took you…"

"Malik, h didn't… well, he did, but… I wanted to be taken, don't you remember? The whole reason I left in the first place -"

"Yes, and that's a foolish wish, Ryou, to want to be taken away by some human… do you know how dangerous that is?"

The white – haired prince nodded, "Yes… but, look what I've found because of it."

His name being called from the throne room interrupted their conversation, making the blonde loosen his grip from around the other. Grabbing his guardians hand as he pulled away, Ryou led the second merman in the direction of his parents. Their hands separated in the presence of his father though, the same dread as before settling down in the pit of Ryou's stomach.

"Hello, Father." Green eyes shifted down and landed on the floor, his voice a soft mutter.

"Welcome back, Ryou, where have you been."

The younger internally wince, noting that it wasn't a question.

Breathing in deeply, he lifted his gaze back up to his fathers, a frown set on his pale face, "I was with a human."

"A human! What were you doing with a human?" Roden's voice increased in volume, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Ryou shifted a bit uncomfortably, though his eyes still held their defying look, "I had left home and was unintentionally captured by his fishing boat. He took me to his home while I was unconscious and took care of me until Mother… somehow… came in contact with Bakura. And here I am."

Roden opened his mouth to speak, when his wife cut him off, "Ryou, tell your father why you left."

Slim arms crossed a pale chest, "I left because you were forcing me into relations I didn't want."

"Why didn't you say something?" The king's blue eyes softened slightly.

"I did!" Ryou's white hair floated out behind him as he made frustrated gestures with his now uncurled arms, "But you wouldn't listen! As if you ever do! I told you what I like and what I don't like when it comes to genders, but you just wouldn't have it and you continued to push me and push me and… and… " He took a moment to gather another breath, "Why would I stay around a place where I'm forced into things I don't want to do? Yeah, mum said there are things in life I'm not going to like doing but this is something I know I have a choice in and I have chosen not to mate with a woman!"

Silence slowly crept in around the four merpeople as Ryou's mouth closed, his vibrant green eyes blazing with a mix of anger and hurt, trained directly on his father. The other two didn't dare say a word, not quite sure what to say anyways. Finally, Ryou lowered his gaze, his expression taking on more of a sorrowful look. Curling his arms back around himself, he said:

"Father… please. I can't do this right now… maybe when I'm older, maybe my mind will change, I don't know. But… I just… I can't…"

Roden lowered his head slightly after a moment, before taking a deep breath and looking down at his son.

"Alright… you win. I'm not going to push you anymore. If you don't want to mate right now, you don't have to. Amane has already agreed to it whole-heartedly, so I suppose that will have to be good enough for now."

Ryou slowly nodded, feeling his mother's warm embrace around his shoulders. A gentle kiss was pressed into his cheek, making him sigh softly and close his eyes, turning his head towards her collar.

"You know we will always love you, Ryou, no matter what you chose or whom you chose to be with."

He nodded again, opening his eyes and looking towards Malik. The blonde smiled slightly at him, nodding in agreement as well. Glancing up at his mother, Ryou said, "I'm going back to see him now."

"He said sunset. It's only been a few hours."

A small pout crossed his lips as he pulled away from the mermaid, seeming to be trying to come up with a plan of how to pass the time. Malik searched for his own ideas, the first not being one of his favorites, but something to do none the less.

"Leia doesn't know you're back, she was worried about you too."

Ryou moved passed Malik with a twist of his tail, grabbing his hand as he glided by. Pulling the elder boy along, he bid farewell to his parents, quickening his pace in case they decided not to let him go as a last minute change of heart.

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Bored.

So bored.

Bakura laid an arm across his closed eyes, tilting his head back into the pillows adorning the couch he was sprawled out across. Letting out a low groan, he turned his head towards the flashing television, a mutter mixing in: "I'mmm sooooo booorrrreeedddd…"

A wet nose pushed against his hand, alerting the white haired male that one of the dogs had come to say hello. Stretching his fingers, Bakura slowly scratched the animal's head, making his way down behind an ear. Shifting his arm slightly, one mahogany eye cracked open, noting the black stripe of fur between dark brown eyes.

"What's up, Kai?"

A small whine answered him, turning quickly into a short bark, the dog beginning to bounce around on his paws, his tail swishing behind him.

Smirking slightly at his companion's anticipation, Bakura pulled his arm away, flipping himself over onto his stomach and then rising up to his knees. Leaning down to grab the remote that had fallen to the floor with his movements, the teen began flipping quickly through the channels until he reached the one he had been searching for.

"5:42… geeze, I must have slept for longer than I thought, plus an hour of tv… I guess it makes sense…" A pale hand wandered over his face as he spoke to himself, twisting his features for a moment. Glancing down, he smirked again, dark brown eyes still fixed on him and tail moving a bit faster. "Yeaaahh, alright, c'mon, let's trek down and wander the beach for a bit."

Kai barked again, trotting out of the large room as Bakura stood up, clicking the tv off as he did so. Dropping the remote down onto the cushions and grabbing his sunglasses from the coffee table, bare feet followed the dog's trail, lifting pale arms above his head in a stretch as he walked.

"Saaaiii…" He called out, placing the black shades on the front of his nose, "Sai, c'mon girl, we're going down to the water, get your ball!"

A scrabble of nails against linoleum was heard almost instantly, the second german shepherd rounding the corner of the kitchen. Padding past Bakura, the animal stuck her head under the table against the wall, shifting around a bit before pulling out a bright orange ball. Grinning her doggy grin with a mouthful of slobbery rubber, Sai trotted back towards the kitchen, rounding another corner and heading towards the sliding glass doors.

"Kai, let's go!" Bakura glanced down the hallway where the dog had disappeared, listening for any sounds of his location. Shaking his head, the male walked towards the glass doors, spotting Sai sitting patiently by the wooden panel, ball still in her mouth.

Sliding the door to the side, Bakura stepped outside, quickly followed by Sai and, soon enough, Kai. Closing the door back into place, he started around the empty pool, gazing into the dark green waters for a moment. Pulling his eyes away, he focused back on his two dogs, noting that they had already pushed past the doggy door.

Following down the steps, he walked leisurely across the warm sand, a finger pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, before both of his hands found their way into his baggy pockets. Surveying the beach, Bakura saw a few families here and there, a bit surprised that it wasn't more crowded.

'Must be a wave of people in the afternoon and then they're gone by dinner.' He thought to himself, eyes trailing to a pair of children splashing each other in the shallow tide.

Looking away, Bakura watched as Sai her way back towards him, dropping her rubber ball at his feet and looking up at him expectantly. Reaching down and grabbing the toy, he let it fly through the air a ways down the sand, the animal immediately taking off after it. Doing the same as Kai came over for his own turn, Bakura backed up a bit, making sure both dogs were far enough away. Turning, he stated towards the small cluster of rocks that contained the tidal pool, noticing another small group of small children playing on the very rocks. Frowning slightly at the annoyance of having to now deal with the small brats, he decided to take a darker approach, wanting to know how gullible they were.

Making sure his sunglasses were placed squarely in front of his eyes, he let a smirk slide out across his lips, his shoulder soon pressing up against one of the taller rocks as he leaned against it, peering through the gap.

Two girls and a boy looking to be around the age of eight stood around the semi-shallow pool of water, looking quite distracted. The females crouched together, staring into the green water and pointing to whatever they were looking at. The boy was a few feet away and brandishing a thin stick, seeming to be having an imaginary battle with his invisible enemy.

Crossing his arms over his bare chest, Bakura tilted his head lazily to the side, clearing his throat.

"I wouldn't get too close to that water if I were you, girls."

Three sets of eyes rested on him as soon as he spoke, the small boy frowning and coming a few steps closer, stick still in his hand.

"Who're you."

Another smirk crossed his features, revealing conveniently slightly sharp canines, "Who are you?"

"I'm Christopher and I'm eight years old!" The young boy jabbed a thumb to his slightly puffed out chest before waving his stick around some more, "So don't come any closer!"

Bakura chuckled, laying a hand down on the german shepherds head that now sat at his feet, "Oh, a tough guy, huh? Not as tough as that monster in there."

He gestured towards the pool of water, throwing Sai's ball again with his other hand, quickly followed by Kai's. Turning his attention back on the kids, his smirk came back to play when he saw the nervous look on all of their faces.

"M-monster?" The brown-haired girl with pig tails stammered, looking between Bakura and the water.

"Oh yes, there's a monster in there."

"There's no monster in there, Rachel!" The small boy named Christopher interjected, "I've been here tons of times and never saw no monster!"

"Oh?" Bakura shifted his glasses from his eyes up into his white spikes, mahogany eyes fixed on the other male, "You've been lucky then. I've seen it; I'm surprised you haven't either."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"Haven't you ever wondered…" The teenager stepped up onto the flat rocks and through the small gap, his hands moving back to his pockets, "…what that dark spot is at the bottom of every tidal pool?"

"That's just where the sun can't get to!" Christopher quickly came up to the elder boy and stood by his side, a deep frown on his young features, "Mommy said so!"

"That's because they didn't want you to know the truth." Bakura stepped up behind the two girls who had stood up as he approached. "There's a 20 foot Maakin that lives in each and every tidal pool in the world and, depending on how big the pool is, can have up to five in the same place."

"You're lying!" Short brown hair shook in front of blue eyes as Chris moved his head, "That's not even a word!"

"Isn't it?"

"Mister," The second blonde girl tugged on his shorts, trying to get his attention, "What's a Maakin?"

"It's nothing cuz it's not real, Amanda!" The younger boy was determined to prove the elder wrong.

"Believe it Shorty, it is real, I've seen it." Bakura looked towards the two girls again, "You've never heard of a Maakin? Geeze, what are your parent's not teaching you guys? It's sort of like an eel, only thicker, 20 feet in length, and it's black. It's got the speed of a cobra along with its killing accuracy." He paused, inwardly laughing like a maniac, "Can shock you just like that." He snapped his fingers, making all three children jump.

The pig-tailed girl looked back down at the water, seeming to search its depths, "Where is it? I don't see it."

"It's right there." A pale hand pointed over their shoulders, down towards the black portion of the water, "Keep looking, it'll move."

While the three children were focused down on the water, Bakura lifted a hand to adjust his glasses properly; tilting them slightly enough to catch the glare of the sun and direct it down towards the water like a magnifying glass. A small dot of orange light appeared in the water, reflecting off what Bakura guessed was a rock.

"Whoa, look out! It just opened its eye!"

The two girls both let out shrieks and Christopher gasped, all backing away from the water.

"See? What did I tell you?"

"C'mon, Rachel… I don't wanna play here anymore." Amanda pulled her friend further away from the water.

"Yeah… Chris, c'mon, let's go do something else." The brown haired girl disappeared past the small gap, leaving Bakura and Christopher alone.

Stick still in his hand, the small male started towards the opening, before stopping and turning towards Bakura.

"You're a big fat liar."

"And you're a puny little brat."

Christopher made a face at the older boy, sticking his small tongue out in the process.

Bakura wrinkled his nose, returning the gesture whole-heartedly until the other disappeared as well. Laughing to himself, he pulled his glasses back down over his eyes, the glare from the setting sun beginning to hurt his eyes. His hand lowered down onto his chest afterward, his fingers curling around the twisted shell lying idle as his thoughts began to wander back to the owner.

"So, is there an educational reason you torment the little children or is it just for fun?"

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To Be Continued

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Cloaked Vampire: Mwaha, I had exams this week and everything AND I still managed a whole 9-paged chapter : D Bow down! Booowwww… or review. Reviewing would be equally satisfying : 3