The Angel And The Undine

(Yes, actual plot. The 'good stuff' will be in the next chapter. But that chapter will take a while; I have to do a nearly complete rebuild/rewrite of it. Such is the curse of being a quasi-perfectionist.)

Undine Spring was a quiet, relaxing and peaceful spot in Elendia; a natural source of fresh, pure water from the mountains. From the spring, the waters fed into numerous rivers, both large and small, that bisected the lust and fertile land that made up Riviera. Legend has it that once, long ago, a colony of Undines lived there; but at some time they had vanished completely, leaving behind the crystal clear waters for reasons unknown.

While numerous fresh water fish species thrived, the place felt empty in a way, especially to those who knew the stories. But then one day, she came; a young Undine was found in the spring on a routine laundry trip. Her pale white skin, even her glorious, flowing emerald green tail were covered in open, bleeding wounds. These were tended to at the spring, where she soon took up residence; for to bring her elsewhere would have spelled death, so proclaimed the Elder. He had theorized that she became separated from her kin, but if she were attacked by some beast or other Sprites, one could only guess.

But as fate would have it, she managed to make it down one of the many rivers to that very spring, seeking a safe harbor before collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss. The young woman remained asleep, consumed by the gentle ebb and flow of the spring water for several days, her wounds healed faster than that of a normal Sprite.

They had almost vanished when, finally, she awoke. But upon greeting the world for the first time in so long she was utterly terrified, and what was worse; she couldn't speak at all. She tried, yet she could not even make a sound; she couldn't tell them all her name; a name of irony, considering her lack of speech.

She was named Meute.

It took weeks for her to trust anybody, and the first one that the young Undine latched onto was LuLu, the Fairy. It was like two souls that had lost one another were finally reunited after numerous years of separation. It was oddly touching how the lost, scared Undine and the emotionally damaged and rarely trusting Fairy became a duo and fast friends. However, in time, the young Undine grew used to the people of Elendia... mostly, the women.

The spring was used as both a place to wash clothes and to bathe; not a single day went by that she didn't have a visitor. Though it was mostly Mylene, who was seemingly the only woman in the whole area that was both married and had a family. Despite finding herself unable to speak, the young outsider listened well; she learned of the people, of the happy lives they led.

With time she let go of her suspicion and mistrust of them all, and for a time her life seemed to fall into a boring, repetitive groove. She would swim about in the spring waters, LuLu would talk to her about her gripes, Mylene would come to do some washing and tell her of daily events, and at times many of the young women of the village would gather at the spring and bathe.

They laughed and splashed so happily; there was many a time when the Undine would join them. The times with the girls were fun, she enjoyed playing in the water with them, getting into splash fights and such. But if there were men around, she would hide herself behind the prominent rock that stood proudly from the center of the spring, the same rock that she would use as a perch to sun bathe.

The normal groove of life, however, was cut short when, one day, all of Elendia was abuzz with news of somebody new. A young man with an odd sword appeared, seemingly out of the blue one. Meute had seen him the very day he appeared; when he came to the spring while exploring the village. She was understandably skiddish of him; he was, after all, the very first new face that she had seen since growing to trust the others of the village. With him, Meute had no idea what he capable of, what went on in his mind. LuLu even told him to leave her be, to try not to take advantage of her.

Just as Meute felt she couldn't trust the stranger, he offered to try and help her regain her voice. This was when she had heard something that surprised her, something that she felt a tinge of anger over; LuLu, the one she could consider her best friend, told him of something called a Moondrop could cure her speech.

The anger, though, faded when she realized that it was likely that the angry little Fairy didn't speak of it out of fear that she would raise the Undines hopes. After all, she didn't even know if the Moondrop truly existed. It was a possible false hope, but it was hope she wanted; no, it was hope that she NEEDED.

Meute wanted to talk again, she wanted to actually hold conversations with others. She wanted to be normal again!

The young man left that day, and shortly after vanished along with two of the local girls. Meute worried so for them, the fear that the tales of demons were true gripping her heart. Could it be that the stories were true? If so, would she ever see her friends again, or could that they had found their deaths at the hands of such foul monsters? And that young man; what of him? Maybe he too shared their horrible fate...

A full day passed by, the village was plagued by worry, and Meute more so, for she had no way to vent it; all she could do was swim and try to let the cool water wash away her fears. Then, as suddenly as they all vanished the young man appeared once more at the spring. In his hand he carried a small, blue seed-like object with a green stem which he then tried to offer to the young Undine.

He tried to give it to her directly, but fear overtook her, she lept into the water from her little perch in the middle of the spring LuLu nearly had a fit, she almost charged right at him, as if to punch him when he explained what the object was.

LuLu instantly took pause and gaped; it was a Moondrop, the very object that she doubted even existed. Meute, realizing that she may very well regain her voice, mustered her courage and swam close to the shore of the spring. Timidly the young Undine held out her hand, eyes pleading for him to give her the object that would restore her voice.

Thankfully, he didn't do anything to harm her; he merely handed it to her with a smile on his lips. Snatching it up quickly, Meute placed it in her mouth; that very moment LuLu panicked and stopped her before she could chew or swallow. Confused, Meute pondered why her friend would stop her; LuLu then explained that the Undine had to hold it in her mouth and let it dissolve like a hard candy.

Long minutes passed before it finally dissolved in her mouth, its precious fluids running down her throat. For the first time in so long Meute tried to speak; the first several tries there was nothing at all, but with persistence she managed to eek out a few noises. With more concentrated effort, the young water bound woman managed to produce sounds that could pass for parts of words.

"Th...ank...y...ou..."

A broad smile came to her lips as Meute finally managed to speak the first real words since her entire ordeal began, all that time ago. And it was all thanks to this young man, a person she'd only seen twice in two days.

For days after that, she asked LuLu about the young man, forcing the Fairy to actually talk with others. From them she learned that his name was Ein; and to her great shock, she found out that he was an angel of Asgard. The more that was answered, the more Meute asked; dozens of questions became hundreds, her desire to know all she could about the young angel grew ever larger. Emotions unknown to the young Undine started to emerge; whenever she thought of him, her heart would beat faster, her face and chest would feel warm... she'd tingle all over.

LuLu called it love... and lust. This only started more questions, ones the little Fairy couldn't answer. But Mylene could; from her the Undine learned much about these feelings, and about what men and women do together when they feel such things. The more she learned, the more she wondered if Ein would enjoy it, and if he would want to do this with her.

For those on the outside looking in, they would say that the young Undine was obsessed with him, perhaps having some manner of savior complex variant.

After so much time and all she had learned, the day had finally come; he had just come back from Tetyhs, the Sunken City. She had LuLu call NoNo, one of her fellow Fairies to the spring. In private, with LuLu having her back turned and fingers plugging her ears, Meute told the second Fairy that she wished to see Ein, alone. With a nod, NoNo went off to find the young angel, to tell him of her desire to see him. NoNo returned, all smiles as she told Meute that he was coming before grabbing hold of LuLu, dragging her from the area, much to her displeasure.

Alone, all she could do was wait and hope that her beloved wingless angel wouldn't reject her.