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I present: Selkie myth

Ships: Usuk, and Ireland with China

Ireland: Rowan

Fem America: Abigail

It is a truth acknowledged that if a man were to come across a selkie and steal her skin, she can never return to the sea and will live on land. However, the second that she finds her skin, she will be gone to the sea forever abandoning her husband and children. But for a moment, she will be human and that is all the life that you can be a part of.

Rowan never listened to her brothers about the dangers of the shore. What did they know? All the did was stay on the jetties and cause storms with their fighting. Rowan actually went on the shore. Not as a human lass, but as a seal. Close enough to stay wet but just far enough to get warm in the sun.

She never attempted to take off her seal skin before but she saw a bonnie lass with sunshine hair that she wanted to talk to. She gather her courage and took off the seal skin to reveal a thin, pale girl with flaming red hair and sea green eyes. She noticed a ton of spots on her arms and thought nothing of it. Her seal skin was spotted as well. She picked up the hollow skins and wrapped them around her.

With wobbly steps, she approached the lass who was now sitting on a slippery rock letting her feel dangle in the water.

"'ello!" She said in a cheery voice.

The blonde nearly jumped out of her skins when the turned and saw herself face to face with a very pale woman who was naked. She was wrapped in a spotted seal skin, but it was still indecent.

"Good heavens, you startled me." She gasped. She adverted her eyes and her cheeks grew to be a dark red.

"I am terribly sorry. My name is Rowan. I am a selkie and those grumpy lookin' seals are my brothers. Do you want to be my friend?" She grinned.

"Oh...um...of course. It is a pleasure to meet you Rowan. My name is Abigail." She answered.

"You shouldn't dangle your feet in the water like that. The fish can see what a bonnie lass you are and the next thing you know you are taken by the Finfolk." Rowan said seriously.

Abigail quickly removed her feet from the water. It was a good thing too. Rowan saw a shadow move and that piece of drift wood was getting to close.

"Why don't we go back to the sand?" Rowan pulled her new friend to her feet and nearly ran to the sand.

Abigail couldn't see, she was human after all, the glare of the white haired Finman. His purple eyes glared into Rowan's sea green eyes but Rowan was a selkie and they don't show fear. She glared until the Fin disappeared.

"What was that all about?" She asked bewildered.

"Nothing. Tell me about humans! I want to hear anything and I'll tell you about selkies!"

They sat on the beach, human maid and selkie, exchanging stories from afternoon well into evening. Abigail was right in the middle of telling her about her twin when a blond seal with emerald green eyes pulled himself on shore and barked.

"Is that another selkie?" Abigail asked, full of wonder. She was seeing what most dreamed of seeing in one afternoon.

The seal seemed to glare at Rowan in annoyance but when he saw Abigail, his eyes went wide. He pulled himself closer to her, grunted and slapped the sand at her feet. Rowan didn't think her little brother could be this forward!

Abigail crawled over and began to pet the blond seal.

Rowan burst out laughing at her brother's shocked face.

"It was nice to be a human but I have to go back. Thank you for being my friend!" Rowan put on the seal skin, waves calling at her feet, and jumped in.

The blond seal gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek and pulled himself into the waves. Abigail sat dumbfounded as she brought up her hand to touch her cheek.

"Did a selkie kiss me?" She asked herself. She felt the warmth and wetness on her cheek and smiled.

...

'Little brother, does this mean you want my new friend as your mate?' She teased.

'I believe I do.' He replied.

'Well, I saw a fin eying her so you will have to act quickly. This one seemed pretty set on making her his.'

'Who was it?'

'Ivan.'

Arthur let out a string of curses about where Ivan could go stick his fin.

...

Over the next few months, Abigail and Rowan became closer friends with the occasional visit from Arthur. He was mortified when she saw him without his skins but she brought him some of her father's clothes so he felt better. He was a gentleman and she a lady. He would treat her with respect and didn't want her to see him like that until he asked her to be his mate.

Among pants and a shirt for Artie, Abigail brought her a simple green dress that Rowan could go into town in. The two selkies didn't want to venture into the costal town without their skins, but Abigail hid them in a crevice in the rocks.

Rowan enjoyed the town and the people but she honestly preferred the sea. Arthur loved every moment he spent with Abigail. It was a nice day and the only downside was how that one man looked at Rowan. It made her and Arthur uneasy but they ignored it once they met Abigail's twin sister Madeleine.

She was a delight.

The day ended and the selkies made their way to the beach. The put on their skins and dove into the sea.

Yao Wang was one for getting what he wanted when he wanted it. He wanted the red haired selkie and he wanted her now. He would just have to bide his time to when he could steal away her seal skin. Preferably without that blond man and the idiotic Jones girl around.

He waited and found his opportunity on a gloomy Sunday. Right before his prize and the Jones girl came down to the beach, he took the seal skin and hid it in his pack. He congratulated himself but then that stupid blonde had to get in the way!

"Hey! Give that back!" Abigail ran towards Yao with her arm stretched out to snatch the skin within the bag. Rowan was just behind her and equally furious. Her green eyes were as grey as the sea and storms swirled inside.

Yao stepped aside and pushed the running girl off balance and she hit her head on the rocks. Abigail lay very still and didn't look like she was breathing.

"You slimy son of a Fin! If she is dead I'll curse your descendants until your line is finished!" Rowan didn't care for her skins as she ran to her friend's side and cradled the unconscious woman in her arms.

"You don't seriously care for the woman more than your skins." He laughed. "Do you?"

"I'd give up my skins if it meant that my brother's bride lived." The ginger fumed.

Yao almost screamed with delight! It was too easy!

"If you stay on land, I will personally pay for her medical treatment. If not, she will die. It's your choice."

"I'll stay." She barked. Quickly as she could get the words out.

"Perfect. When shall we marry? I believe it should be as soon as possible."

"Marriage? That wasn't the deal!" She screamed at him.

"Who's going to be the to save that stupid girl's life?"

"I will never love you!" Rowan snarled.

"And I am fine with that."

Yao picked up Abigail's small body and carried her to the town doctor. He wasn't hopeful of her waking up, but Yao didn't stay long to hear it. He was dragging Rowan to the church.

...

It had been two years. Arthur, Scott, Connor, and Rhys were furious about what happened to their sister. Scott, Connor, and Rhys created storms that no one could fish in. Slowly, the town was starving. Arthur personally went on shore and threatened Yao for kidnapping his sister. With a knife to his throat, Yao laughed and didn't reveal where he his the selkie skin.

Madeleine went mad trying to wake her sister. The town's wise woman said that if an immortal creature chose her as his, she would wake. Arthur and Madeleine were told of where an old seal skin was buried and went to retrieve it but the last anyone saw of Madeleine was her wide purple eyes crying, pleading for help as an albino Fin kidnapped her for is own with a loud "Keseseseses!"

Arthur tried to grab her, but she was gone. He continued digging and found the skin. Feeling weak, he stumbled back through the wind and rain to Rowan and Abigail. Yao was nowhere to be found so Rowan helped him carry the still unconscious woman to the beach and dress her in the skins. Arthur wrapped himself in his seal skin and dragged his bride into the water. Rowan saw a glimpse of two blond seals swimming beneath the raging waves.

When she finally returned to her prison, she saw her husband's youngest brother playing with a dirty seal skin. It was spotted and she recognized it as hers.

"Kiku, where did you find this?!" She snatched the skins out of his hands.

"I saw brother hide it in the fireplace and thought it was pretty. I didn't want it to burn."

Rowan hugged the shy boy tight and whispered, "I can never thank you enough!" She kissed him on the cheek and ran into the storm.

...

Yao went to the beach every day to search for his wife. He never found her but the storms stopped. He had a business trip in a town farther down the coast and saw four large male seals with two small females and a tiny pup. The larger female had spots on her coat that reminded him of his selfie wife.

"Rowan! Come home to me!" He shouted to the seal.

The seals glared at him and slipped below the surf.

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