forum RIPTIDE// OxO // [closed]

Started January 02, 2020 by @Kinarymo

tune

(Sorry!)

Sanada stretches the corner of his lip, narrowing his eyes in focused thought. This must have been some issue with being washed up on shore, having hit his head on a rock or something. Perhaps, hopefully, his memory would gradually come back. “Does your head hurt?”

Akanashi gently rubbed the back of his head, as if looking for the source of the pain.

"Yeah… It's not as bad as it was when i woke up, but its still there… Kinda feels like i dipped my head in ice water, you know?"

He pulled himself up on the edge of the pond, finding a way to sit comfortably whilst partially exposing his soft underbelly, the tip of his propeller fins still in the water.

"It feels very weird." he continued. "I can't remember anything other than my name. Not even what i had for dinner yesterday"

“Well, it makes sense.” Sanada shifted around again to keep his legs from falling asleep. “It looked like you were quite badly wounded… Actually, doubt you even had dinner yesterday. By supper time you were already washed up on shore, or in this pond. Either way you were unconscious.” He smoothed back his hair with a hand, as it felt it was becoming messy already. He did have to keep up appearances, even to a ningyo.

The mermaid shook his head, looking at the stone in front of him, lightly frowning with his white eyebrows.

"It's so weird. The fact that i cant remember anything… What if i was a bad person?" he murmured, mostly to himself as he rested his head on the ground. Unlike Sanada, Akanashi did not seem too bothered by his own hair that was starting to become frizzy due to drying up after being in salt water for a long time. It looked kinda funny in a way.

"So, what do you want to do with me, now that you have me in your pond? I can't grant wishes, you know" he stated, smiling a little bit at the last part as if he'd made a joke

_(meep)

Sanada laughed a little, pulling up one knee to rest his chin, “As opposed to the common legend. Do you have any magical abilities at all? I am quite curious. Along with many other people, but I don’t think others would be as polite in asking you as I.”

The boy chuckled slightly, swaying his tail to stir the water.

"I don't really remember that either, sorry." he gave a guilty smile. "I really do not know what i can do, or even if i can do anything. Maybe i can grant wishes, but i dont remember how"

He rested his chin on his arms, a little bummed out at his memory loss. Not remembering absolutely anything was starting to get a little frustrating.

Sanada pulled his lips down into a frown. Well, this ningyo wasn’t very helpful, at least with its memory loss. Maybe his memory would come back with time, or maybe he needed more conventional, medical means. “So…you don’t know anything?” he reiterated. “Not even if you have a surname?”

The boy looked down at the stone and grass in front of him, sighing unhappily.

"Nope. Nothing."

Just how hard did he hit his head against the rocks? It was also pretty scary - his whole life, completely erased, just like that.

"I'm really sorry there isnt much i can tell you, i simply dont remember anything, even if i wanted to"

He let himself slip back into the water, until the lower half of his face was hidden behind the rock edge of the pond.

"Aside from my name, there really is nothing else." he murmured, looking away with sadness in his eyes.

A short pause ensued between them as the mermaid meditated over his memory loss and what to say next. Eventually, his vision snapped back into focus and his gaze rose up to meet the other's.

"Say, will you show me around the palace later? I've never seen one on the inside." he chirped, the earlier sadness vanished into thin air

Sanada blinked, surprised by the sudden change in emotion. He opened his mouth to answer him, but it seemed something wasn’t adding up. The ningyo had a tail, how could he show him around the palace? “I- hm.” After a few moments he gathered his thoughts for a better composed answer. “I suppose I could, in the sense that I’m allowed to. But… how would I possibly transport you around the palace?” He raised an eyebrow.

"Hm?" he hummed, before looking down at Sanada's legs then at his tail and making an "oooh" sound of realization. "This? Oh, don't worry about it, i got it."

He turned with his back against the pond wall, holding on to it with his hands; from the looks of it, he was trying to lift his tail towards the surface, except when he finally did it was not the graceful elongated fish tail with shiny white scales that appeared above the water, but a thin white leg with remnants of white scales on his calves.

"See? Now we match!" he smiled his usual bright smile as his newly appeared pair of legs continued to disturb the water's surface.

Sanada was stunned into silence, watching the scene with round eyes. “I—ah- wow,” he gasped. He brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it as if it hurt. He collected his thoughts after a moment. “I thought… I thought you said you didn’t know if you had any magic.” He supposed this would make it easier to hid the ningyo for the general public.

"Ah, i did? Huh, that's strange; i never thought of this as magic, it's just something i can do" the boy replied, looking down at his legs, like he'd just been told they should not be there.

He looked back up to Sanada, with his blueish eyes.
"Is your chin okay? Did you hurt yourself?" he questioned, innocently as a child, reaching up to touch him.

Eventually, Akanashi crawled out of the pond, standing up hesitantly. Now that they were one next to the other, it was revealed the boy was roughly the same height as Sanada, perhaps a few inches shorter; but their height comparison would have to wait, as the ningyo was pretty much naked and thus had to be offered a cloth to cover himself with - he did not seem to be bothered by the lack of clothes, most likely resulted from the fact he did not need any in general, as he dwelled underwater.

_(bump?)

Sanada shook his head and stood up. “No, no. My chin is just fine.” His hand traveled from his chin up through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around this. He could walk all along? “I… suppose I should get you some clothes, hm?” He briefly glanced over the ningyo’s new appearance. It was strange, and surreal to say the least.

The ningyo agreed to his suggestion, and waited patiently until he was finally brought something to put on for now, wrapping it around his body lightly with secure gestures - so he was at least familiar with clothing, meaning he wore them at some point.

No longer in the water, his hair had started to dry, slowly forming stringy waves towards the tips as it lay loose on his shoulders; it could have been from the sea salt embedded into it or possibly the pond water, who knew?

"So, will you show me around now?" he chirped, grabbing on to one of his arms like an excited little child.

Yeah, sure, but how about a warm bath and some proper clothes first?

Sanada chuckled, “I suppose so, but you’ll need… proper clothes first.” The ningyo needed his own clothes fit specifically for his small frame. But in the meantime Sanada’s own clothes might work well enough for a single day while some clothes were being tailored. “I’ll take you to a tailor first, and then I’ll show you around the palace.”

Hearing the plan for today, the boy nodded and followed Sanada out of the inner garden, all the way to the tailor. Once there, the man did a pretty fast job at measuring him - after all, he was only a few inches smaller than Sanada and had a more slim build.

Once the measurements were done, the two were able to finally take the tour that had been promised to the ningyo. He seemed really excited to be able to go exploring, following the man closely, scanning his surroundings with curious eyes

After the tailor, Sanada led the boy back to the main part of the castle. “Was there, or is there any specific part you would like to see first?” He offered. He considered bringing him to his quarters for a moment, just to see if there were any of his clothes that the ningyo might find more comfortable in the meantime where the other clothes were being tailored.

"Take me anywhere!" he smiled, holding on to him. "I wouldn't know where to start, so take me wherever you see fit!"

Like he'd stated before, Akanashi was not familiar to the insides of a castle, so taking him anywhere was perfectly fine. He continued to hold on to Sanada's sleeve, not wanting to get lost as the two made their way to the man's quarters

Sanada weaved through the halls of the palace, keeping a close eye for anyone that might either recognize the ningyo, or find it his apearance strange. Luckily the walk to his quarters was a short one, and they arrived without any direct opposition. Luckily. He pushed open his ornamented doors. "I know this may be a question you don't know the answer to, but just in case, do you know of any clothing style you particularly enjoy wearing?"

The boy's eyes shimmered with admiration as he entered the room, not knowing what to look at first. Everything just felt new and interesting to him, from the furniture, to the colorful decorations that painted the walls. His head turned around when the other's voice rung out.

"Hm? Clothing style? Mmmm, i dont think i have one, i havent worn clothes before - it just isnt a necessity under water. Do you have anything in mind?" he said, after a short period of thinking. This one you gave me already feels pretty nice as it is"

What he was wearing at the moment was barely enough to cover him up, but judging from his words, he seemed to enjoy the loose fabric aspect of it

(It’s alright!)

Sanada glanced over his shoulder to see what the boy was wearing, nodded, then went back to sitting through his wardrobe. Most of his undershirts were made of soft fabric and plenty large enough for them to fit loosely on Akanashi’s shoulders. “Will this work?” Sanada handed one over.

Pants were another query less easily answered—the waistline was tailored precisely to the person wearing them, and the boy was notably slimmer than himself. And yet, if the shirt was long enough to cover everything that needed to be covered, perhaps pants weren’t immediately necessary?