Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ If only for one moment, I could be like you... ❯ Wishes and Witches ( Chapter 3 )

Had Ryou not been so terrified due to being far from any visible sources of water, he would have been more awed by all that surrounded him. Large brown pillars that branched out, ending in small green seaweed were everywhere. Beautiful multicolored birds that sang in every key and pitch filled the pillars and skies. He looked up a little and saw the sun through the canopy. "I should have been home...it was a horrible storm." Ryou mumbled quietly. "What will become of me now?" He whimpered looking back to the beautiful land creatures.

A cracking twig caught his attention and Ryou pulled himself behind a tree as quickly as he could muster. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw, a hand rushing to cover his mouth. It was a land dweller! She was an old, haggard looking woman, her silvery hair down past her waist, her hands wrinkled with age and no longer soft from their long years of work. She walked towards him smiling softly, leaning on her small cane. Ryou merely stared, awe-struck, everything inside of him screamed to get as far away as possible...but his curiosity and awe kept him glued to the spot, merely staring at the old woman.

"My my...if it isn't a merboy..." She said kneeling down until she was eye-level with Ryou. "What are you doing so far from the ocean little one?" She said reaching out to ruffle his hair. Ryou whimpered and blinked away from his daze, quickly scooting back, mouth still agape. The elderly woman merely laughed, when she got a good look at his fins. "Why, you're not even a full grown adult yet are you? Not mated...hardly out of your home!" Ryou kept scooting away until his back hit a tree. The woman muttered a few words, and the roots of the tree latched onto Ryou's torso, holding him fast to its base. "Hold still won't you? I'm not going to hurt you, I just want a look, it has been over a hundred years since I last saw merfolk." Ryou trembled and struggled against the tree, but stopped when it merely gripped him tighter.

"You're injured, just calm down. I'm going to take you to my home, heal you up and put you back in the ocean ok?" She said hobbling closer and looking Ryou over again. He swallowed hard and nodded, forcing himself to calm down. "Now tell me, how did such a pretty young thing get so far away from the sea?" Ryou frowned. "A storm...I...I got knocked out and I d-don't know where I am..." The woman waved the tree's roots away and laughed. "The hurricane three days ago?" Ryou blinked. "Three d-days? Everyone must be so worried about me!" He squeaked, looking around once more, still awed by all that he was seeing.

~~~~~

It had taken the old woman an hour to get Ryou `patched up' as she had put it, and he sat quietly in a small tub of water she had filled for him. His tail had been aching because he had been out of the water so long, and it had burnt under the sun's harsh rays. But as days passed, he healed and learned more about his new friend. Ryou also learned however, that it was very hard to sleep in such a small tub. But he never once complained. The wonderful tales the old woman told, of creatures so wild and unthinkable that Ryou held his breath in awe and glee, as she described them to him and spellbound him with their majesty. One creature that Ryou so desired to see was a `giraffe' and an `elephant'. Each, the old woman had spent hours describing to him, delighting in the sparkle of wonder in his eyes, and glow in his amazed face.

~~~~~

"So little one, tell me about the merfolk...are your people still well off?" Ryou nodded lightly, looking around in fascination at all the knickknacks the older woman possessed. "Yes ma-am." He said staring at a particularly interesting bauble. It was a small pentacle made of gold and each point of the star was tipped with a different precious stone. "Ha ha ha you're a curious one aren't you? Fall in love with humans, did you little one?" Ryou blinked. "Oh! I...I've just never met a human before, or seen so many interesting things! Those things outside you call `tree'...a-and that thing you call `bucket', and this thing called `hut' are all so amazing!"

The old woman laughed. "Oh? So you ARE in love with humans." Ryou giggled when a small furry creature walked up to him curiously, and pawed gently at him. "Oh what is this thing?" He said, touching it with as much, if not more, curiosity. "That is Tarot, my cat." Ryou gently rubbed the tiny creature's ears. " ...`cat' oh wow! It's so wonderful! I love this `Tarot cat'!" He said gleefully. "So Ryou, isn't mating season right around the corner for you?" Ryou looked up from the cat and frowned. "Yes..." He mumbled sighing, his mood suddenly falling.

"Why so sad? Surely someone loves you; your fins alone could attract a swarm of suitors." Ryou sighed. "It's not that...I...I'll have to stop seeing the land. I'd have to give up wondering about humans and settle down, never really seeing a human `town', or a `boat' or anything else Yami is always telling stories about." The woman nodded. "I see, so your heart is truly stolen away by humans..." She mumbled rising from her seat to hobble slowly to a small bookshelf. "You're so sweet little one, that I will grant your wish...I'll give you the power to see the cities and inventions you so desire. But you heed me; the human world is full of treacherous evil that will hunt down the purity of a mercreature such as yourself, as soon as it is sensed. People will do anything to use you, to cheat you or to capture you, especially if you are found out. Do you understand?" Ryou blinked in confusion, but nodded nonetheless.

"Then, as the goddess and god as my witness in this act of magic, I will give you the power to see the humans you adore so, and should you fall in love, the power to return to the sea with a happy heart, and a mate." She said smiling and mumbling a small spell, before hobbling over to Ryou and placing a warm gentle hand to his forehead. "When you awaken, you will be back in the ocean where you belong, with my gift to you, sweet little Ryou." She whispered, watching as Ryou's eyelids became heavy and slowly closed...