It took me long enough, but I finally got off my rear and started working on this. So this is my character Selkie's story, something I've had rolling around in my head ever since I started playing this game.
Just so you know, this will contain some shoujo-ai/femslash, and quite possibly, if I manage to figure out how to write it tastefully, something between Selkie and a certain someone. If you don't like it, too bad. The back button's right up there.
Enjoy!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Swim! My mind screamed at me. Just get away!
The stormy seas battered my body relentlessly as I fought against the spear lodged in my side. The four men in the small fishing boat were tugging on the other end, trying to pull me up before they retreated back to shore or sank themselves. My body burned from overexertion as I tried to free myself from the biting metal, but no matter how I twisted or thrashed, the sharp tip only dug itself deeper. My vision was starting to blur, and the roaring of the sea mixed with the sharp cracks of thunder were all starting to blend together into a dull rushing noise in my head as all of my futile efforts made me come to one grim conclusion.
I'm going to die.
I relented, allowing my body to go limp, and I allowed the men to heft me up. With the last of my blurred vision, I saw one draw a sword and attempt to end me forever. As I went to close my eyes and prepare myself for the end, I felt a rush of adrenaline course through me, giving me a sudden burst of strength.
No! I will NOT die here!
The sharp blade, which was probably meant to split my skull open, grazed over my left eye as I made one more attempt at freeing myself. I thrashed, two of the four men falling overboard as I struggled, until the other two, which had promptly tackled me to try to restrain me, joined their drowning companions as the boat rocked violently and finally flipped over, sending them careening into the water. I, also, found myself slipping beneath the waves, but I felt my skin slipping off of me. I can't imagine the surprise the dying men felt when they saw not a seal, but a woman, sliding underneath the ocean.
Well, that probably paled in comparison to the shock they got when a large wave swept over them and swept them away to the deepest parts of the netherworld.
===
The sound of seabirds squealing overhead and the feeling of rolling waves lapping at my body made me stir awake, still aware of the searing pain all down my left side. I went to open my eyes, but found I was only able to open one, as the other was sealed shut. I was lying on the seashore, possibly three or four hours after sunrise, with the sun shining merrily upon my back. After two or three attempts at sitting up in my unfamiliar human form (well, admittedly, I had been in that form one or two times before, but those were times I willingly shed my skin). The happenings the night before were just a blur, but the pain was more than enough to remind me that I was at death's door just a few hours before. I didn't know where my skin was, or even if I'd ever find it, but for now, I was just focused on figuring out where in the world I was.
It didn't take me very long to notice the old woman standing on the shore, looking hard at me, as if she were trying to figure out just what a naked young woman was doing lying on the beach so early in the morning. However, as soon as she saw that I was injured, she was rushing back toward her small home, calling for who I assumed was her husband. I then saw her rushing back out with a threadbare blanket, which she threw around me. "Come, little one," she told me, her voice gentle. "We'll get you patched up. You just can't trust those pirates out there--they'll kill you before you know what hits you."
She brought me inside, where her husband was busy setting out a small jar of wine, some sprigs of some kind of plant I had never seen before, and a small knife, which the old woman took and began slicing strips of the blanket off of while the old man went outside to see if he could spot the ship that didn't exist except in the heads of the old couple. The old woman set to work, pouring wine over the wound on my side before telling me to close my eye and pouring it over the cut on my face. She then tore the leaves off of the small sprigs and crushed them into the rest of the wine with the handle of the knife, then spread the paste she made over my side, and finally, tied the blanket strips around me, protecting the wound.
"Is it too tight?" she asked, giving a little smile as she tied off the last knot. Before I could answer, however, she walked toward the small back room, saying, "Wait here, little one. I'm going to get you some nice warm clothes to put on." Two minutes in there and she was back carrying a robe of plain white cotton, which she put on me despite my feeble protests to allow me to put it on myself.
"Hush, hush," she chided me gently once the robe was on and secured with a sash as blue as the morning sky. "You nearly died out there, little one. Just stay here and relax. We'll make sure you get better, okay?"