#i’m kinda sentimental about this because i wrote it while vacationing at the same lake where i had the first ideas for ròn

[niennandil-me-writes]

the mermaid and the selkie

CN: mild violence

[kiss request “a kiss to give up control” for Bea (_JackFrost_ on twitter)]

"Become the beast We don't have to hide Do I terrify you Or do you feel alive?"

Karliene – Become the Beast

The full moon was casting its silver veil over the ocean. In a bay on the coast of a small island – too small to be of interest to the marine, or even most pirates – their tender fingers of light were brushing over a vessel that laid anchored there. Too small to be called a proper ship, it was closer to a boat, but then again, that would have made the name pointless, which was drawn in fresh colors on its side: The Relation. It lay peaceful, sleeping, just like most of its crew, which was enjoying a hard-earned rest here, and had been for a few days.

The bay lay within the land, protected by the cliffs from the more violent tides and wind, making the water here perfectly still, a perfect mirror showing the moon and stars almost exactly as up above. It was an image of calm serenity, not betraying the fierce fight that happened beneath.

In the depths far below the still mirror, between corals and seaweed, among jellyfish and schools of fish glittering in the silver light, a beast was delving through the water, looking for its next victim, and finding it in the juicy flesh of a fish. The beast with the body of a seal had no sooner spotted it as she dashed forward and caught it in her maw.

She was looking for her next victim when she noticed a shift in the water. Darting around, she caught a glimpse of scales shimmering in the moonlight. And unlike everything else she had encountered in the water this night, it was not fleeing her, but coming closer instead. She recognized the pink tail at once. She swam to the side, such that the creature shot past her, clawed arms outstretched. The selkie followed, her turn to attack now.

The fight truly began now. Two creatures of the sea, entwined in battle.

On land, they might have seemed like no big threat: The selkie with her rolls of fat on her hips and belly, her big cheeks and simple-minded face, her strength measuring no bigger than her height – or so it might seem. The mermaid walking around in high heels and pretty dresses, her pink hair done up in beautiful knots. Nice to look at, yes, (nice to look beside you, one might think), but nothing more.

Such were the errors of Man (a word capitalised here to mean both humanity and that particular brand of the gender), and in many a case, their downfall.

They shot around, pushing their bodies through the water with all the strength of the sea. The selkie was moving with greater speed and grace than one would have expected from her big body. Her tusks seemed even longer and sharper now than mere moments ago when she was eating her midnight snack, as did the claws on her flippers.

The mermaid’s tail whipped through the water and at her opponent, her fingernails perfectly manicured and ready to draw blood. She smiled and her teeth were sharp, her blue eyes gleaming. Her hair danced around her with every movement, as she evaded strike after strike and dished out her own, and then disappeared farther away.

It was a hunt, but none would have been able to tell who was the predator and who was the prey, nor which would prove victorious: the graceful strength of the selkie or the mighty elegance of the mermaid. All the other creatures in the water had disappeared, swam away or hidden to watch the spectacle from safety.

The fight had been going for a while now, and neither of them had landed an attack, always missing the other by just a few inches. There was not a scratch on either of them and neither showed signs of exhaustion. They could have kept going like that for hours, it seemed.

Then, finally and suddenly, they clashed together, like waves against a rock, but it was yet unclear who was what, the mermaid’s long arms closed around the selkie, her claws at her neck, and the selkie’s tusk likewise pointed at the mermaid’s delicate throat. For a moment, they stayed like that, unmoving for the first time, like they were caught in the beam of moonlight shining down from the surface. There was a tension, like lightning might strike into the sea at any moment and signal for the two beasts to tear each other apart.

Then the mermaid’s grin widened, the look in her eyes softened, until her expression seemed less like a bloodthirsty snarl and more like a teasing smile. Likewise, the selkie’s demeanor changed, becoming softer. They separated, swimming in different directions, circling around through the water, until they met once again in the silver beam of light. The selkie’s body seemed changed, almost like she had shrunk, her tusks smaller and her claws retracted, a playful seal once more.

As they rejoined, they shot together through the water, circling each other, chasing each other’s tail, until they came to a halt again, their faces close. The mermaid, still smiling, placed a soft peck of her lips on the selkie’s snout. When she pulled away, the selkie darted forward and likewise bumped into the mermaid, and then something in her changed and rippled.

At first it looked like she was being skinned alive, the big eyes becoming pale and blind as her pelt rippled away, revealing suntanned skin beneath, big strong arms pulling the gray fur away. Dark eyes looked out from a round face, long gray locks floated out in the water, as the selkie pulled the pelt down to her hips until she, much like her opponent and mate, was a being half human, all beast.

The mermaid watched, head tilted in interest, and a bit of awe at the other’s naked form, but she pushed herself backwards a bit, giving the selkie some space in her transformation. The selkie let go with one hand from her pelt and put it to the mermaid’s slender arm, pulling her closer again and guiding her hand to her hip, not to her naked human skin but farther down, to her sealskin.

The mermaid’s eyes fluttered open in surprise. She looked at Ròn and received only an almost uncharacteristically shy smile in return. The permission had already been granted. And then, as if that gesture had made her too vulnerable, the selkie darted forward and laid her lips to Purrl’s. Out of surprise, the mermaid held on to the pelt, and kissed back, laying her other hand to Ròn’s hip.

Ròn’s kiss was just like herself: violent and beastly, and Purrl made sure to return it in kind. Ròn was biting her, tearing into her lips with sharp teeth, and Purrl tightened her grip around her partner’s hips, digging her claws into her rolls of fat. Just like their fight before, the kiss was both ferocious and playful.

Suddenly, Ròn blew some air from her vast lungs into Purrl’s mouth. The mermaid drew back immediately, and Ròn watched with a grin as bubbles of her air rose from Purrl’s gills. With mock offense, Purrl drew closer again, tangling her long tail around Ròn as if she were holding her in place. Ròn leaned forward as well, placing soothing kisses on her gills, then nibbling on them. She could feel Purrl tense and then relax, and then Ròn moved downward again to gently bite into Purrl’s less sensitive shoulder. They stayed like this, tails entangled, exchanging kisses and touches and more while they drifted through the night-dark water, the mermaid’s fin fanned out around them like a silken veil.

When they broke the surface to return to the Relation, the moon had sunk behind the cliffs, and in the east the stars were fading in a pale blue sky.