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Bastion was settling down for the night near the edge of the pond that his family was currently staying by. His mates were off hunting for meat or fruit and he was left to hold the fort with his newly arrived daughter and spirit son. He looked around wondering where the two were and finally spotted them rushing towards him. He gave them a what's up look as they stopped next to him panting slightly from running.

"Bastion! Bastion! Morana said you know good stories! Can you tell us one?" Angerona asked excitedly, "Please?! It'll help us go to sleep." Rashn nodded his head while staring up at Bastion and giving puppy eyes.

Bastion chuckled and gave them a small grin. He did have a soft spot for these two and would be happy to tell them a story... with his own little twist to it. "Okay okay.... settle down then and I'll tell you a story." He replied. The two listeners quickly settled down, laying on the ground, eager to hear a story. "Alright I'm sure you've heard of The Little Mermaid stories that the humans tell and some other Soquili tell.... I'll tell you of the story that started it all.... The Little Mer-Soquili."

"Once upon a time there was a small kingdom in the land of us Soquili that had a handsome prince. This prince was loved by all of his people and he loved them. He did everything he could to help his people and so he was often out and about in the kingdom, helping all the folk he encountered. One day he arrived at a small village by the sea who was being plagued by disappearances and poor fishing. He spoke to all of the villagers and saw that many of the men of the village were gone. Those that remained were the very old or very young. The folk who would normally wade out into the waters to set fishing nets were gone." He paused in his story to make sure that Angerona and Rashn were still paying attention.

"Now you know land Soquili can only swim so much, those that are more aquatic in nature have an easier time of it. This village was full of regular Soquili and Kelpi. Or at least it should have been. Now there were only a few Kelpi left and when the prince spoke with them they warned him to quickly leave the village before night fell. When night fell the curse the village was under would begin and surely this handsome prince would fall under it. Now the prince didn't believe that the village was under a curse but surely something was causing the disappearances. He vowed to stay in the village until he discovered the cause and got rid of it in order to save the village." He stopped as Angerona and Rashn began to whisper to themselves asking each other what they thought was causing the disappearances, "Are you done? Or shall I continue?" They both bowed their heads a little sheepishly and gave a nod for him to continue.

"The villagers could do nothing to dissuade the prince from staying. He stayed in a small hut near the water that night and fell asleep soon enough. In the middle of the night a song woke him up and he stepped outside. There in the water a beautiful Soquili mare sat upon a rock singing. It was the most beautiful and haunting song he had ever heard. He looked around and saw no one else was outside. Normally he would have thought that as slightly strange as surely the villagers would hear this song, but right now he only felt joy that he was the only one to hear it. He walked towards the water line and when his hoof splashed in the water, the beautiful Soquili out in the water stopped singing and jumped into the water. The prince cried out, not wanting the song to stop but it was too late. The mysterious singer was gone."

"The prince stayed out the rest of the night in hopes that the singer would come back but morning soon came with no other sightings. The villagers greeted the prince as the woke and he in turned tried to ask them if they had heard the song or had seen the singer previously. None of them had but one of the older Kelpi had a look of horror on her face at the question. The Kelpi tried to warn the prince to leave now before the song consumed him but he ignored her pleas. Days and nights passed as the prince stayed in the village, originally to save the village but now only thoughts of the singer burned in his mind. He had to find the singer, had to hear her song again. The villagers all grew worried about the prince and again tried to get him to leave but he was having none of it."

"A full cycle of the moon found the prince nearly sunk in madness as his obsession with finding the singer drove him to the edge. Night fell again on another unsuccessful day of searching and the prince fell into a fitful sleep. The prince woke up with a start from a dark and watery nightmare and stood up to go shake off the tendrils of the dream. As he did he paused having heard something. He cocked his head to listen and his heart lifted for joy! The singer was back and was singing her song again! He raced out of the hut and to the water. He paid no mind to the water when he reached it, instead dove right in heading to the deeper water whereas before he would have stopped in the shallows. 'Please! Singer wait!' He called out as when he splashed into the water the singer stopped and dove into the water. A splash of a tail, similar to some Kelpi tails but different as well, was all he saw as the singer disappeared. The prince's heart sunk fearing he would never see the singer again. He stopped wading into the deeper water, it was up to the point where he'd have to start swimming to stay afloat, when a ripple appeared not too far in front of him. Soon a head appeared and the beautiful singer was before him. 'Oh singer! How your song has haunted me these past nights. Why do you sing so sadly? Why do you not come ashore to the village?' The prince asked."

"The singer did not reply but only smiled coyly at the prince. Her head disappeared beneath the water before popping back up a little ways away from him, closer to the rock that she had been perched on before. 'Singer! Please do not leave! I only wish to get to you know and hear more of your song.' The prince cried swimming towards the mare. As he drew closer the head disappeared once more and then popped up further away, right next to the rock this time. Again the prince followed. When he reached the rock he began to climb upon it but it was slick with algae and water making it nearly impossible for him to do so. He tired himself out between the swim to the rock and the attempts to climb it. He finally gave up and looked to where the singer was but was no longer there. He frantically looked around and soon spotted her further away. 'Singer! Please... come back over here. I am so very tired, that I don't think I can make it to you.' He called out. In response he got the most beautiful smile from the mare and a leg appeared out of the water beckoning him to her." Bastion paused again as Angerona spoke up.

"Wait.... so the prince is really dumb enough to fall for a pretty smile and a 'come hither' beckoning from this mare? I thought he was supposed to be smarter than that.... This singer just screams suspicious to me." Angerona chimed not believing this prince.

"Are you done yet?" Bastion asked before continuing the story, "He hesitated for a moment when the mare began to sing. The melody called to the prince and soon he was swimming towards the singer again. His legs were growing tired but the singer wasn't moving this time. It wasn't until he was nearly upon her that he released that even a Kelpi would have a hard time floating in the water like this mare was. He stopped as the song no longer sounded sweet and beautiful but instead ominous and chilling. The mare's head dipped under one final time and a long finned tail, unlike any he had ever seen, flipped out of the water as the mare dove under. The prince looked around, spinning in a circle, and saw how far out in the water he was. He was about to swim back to the shore when a tug on his legs pulled him under. He fought to get back to the surface and did for a moment. However something powerful grabbed him from underneath and dragged him under. As he was dragged into the depths he saw the singer he found so beautiful swimming next to him as she and some other strange mer Soquili dragged him down. The song they sang as he drowned haunted his last moments."

"The next morning the villagers saw the prince was gone with no trace as to where he went. As they began to search for him a young foal looked out to the sea and saw a mysterious mare on the rock with the wind bringing faint notes of a song to their ears before the foal's mother called for them. The village never found the prince and as more Soquili disappeared the remaining villagers either left or joined the prince in his watery grave. The End."

".......That's it!? The prince died!? To a mer?! Where's the happy ending!" Angerona complained, "And what was up with that mer? Shouldn't she have saved the prince from drowning? That's how the story goes now! Man Bastion you suck at stories."

"Hey you wanted a story and I gave you one. Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes life is sirens and a watery snack." Bastion replied, "Now go to sleep. I'm tired."

(wc: 1736)