Another Fairytale

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

It was a sunny day, the recent rainstorms having passed not too long ago. It was early morning, some patches of the ground being muddy still from the recent rain. The sky was a light blue color, the sun climbing slowly through its cloudless surroundings. All was peaceful at the river as well, not churning with extra water anymore. It slowly moved along now as if tired from the night's rain as well.

A few rocks stuck out of the river here and there, stepping stones and large rocks as well. And a curious sight to most people sat upon one of the rocks. A small child no older then seven rested on one, clear blue eyes looking into the now peaceful river. Water clung to his body and hair, pearls also shining from the child's blue hair and strange fins that stood from behind his ears. But the strangest thing was that the child didn't have legs, only a cyan colored tail that rested on the rock as well as in the water.

Roxas has woken up not long ago, having just gotten out of his half awake state. Not many people came by here and he was a bit scared to try and keep traveling. Last night he had gotten battered by fast currents and sharp rocks after swimming into a storm. Bruises and small cuts ran across the mermaid's pale skin, who had been quiet afraid during the experience. All he had been able to do was take the beating of the water. Roxas was too small to fight fast currents and could easily be sucked into one.

Where was his Momma and Poppa? Roxas's face formed a small sad frown/pout. He couldn't remember anything about them. But he had to have parents! All the other people he had seen his age had had a Momma and Poppa and sometimes sisters and brothers. Maybe he had a brother or sister too. The mermaid bent down and dipped one of his hands into the cool water, leaving it there for the water to run against.

Why was he the only one alone?

[Calmay]

Tamises sighed as he made his way to the river. He had come all the way to Akaika to see the possible new recruit to his organization. The kid had failed the first test. He did not need people that could not even tell the difference between to similar files. Sure it was hard for someone to know which one was fake but if he had read it he would have seen that at one point the information on the papers differed greatly and that was all that he had been looking for. He did not want to take on useless people and have to train them all from scratch. Were there any competent people that he could teach his skills too. Of course he ended up taking kid into the organization but at a different post then the kid wanted. He was not going to throw the kid aside because he was not good at one thing. He was not going to be like his father.

What had made it worse was that he had to stay longer because of the rain. Well at least he was going to see the glistening river that people talked about. He reached the water and blinked. He was looking at a mermaid in the the water, or should he say merman. At first he thought that his sight had turned on without him knowing, but other people looked normal. The kid in river was showing his real form to others. He shook his head. He had not know that merpeople were desired for their flesh when they were dead. Or so he heard. He never really was interested in this living forever thing. What point was it living longer then your clients and those you worked with. He saw no point in it at all.

He walked over to the edge and looked at the mermaid even more. "Hey you. You know if you stay there like that people will become interested you and in not a positive way. If you can take human form you should. " He did not mention that he was the type of person that was more than willing to sell information if the price was right. He was just glad that he was in Akaika, it was much safer here then in the other two nations. Even though Sanchu was a neutral territory that is not one to say there was no shortage of shady deals, just not the amount in Daika. He then wondered if the creature was stranded there. He did look kinda beat up.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

Roxas's eyes stayed on the water as a fish swam by, sucking on the mermaid's fingertips. It was a strange looking fish, being very small and a bright yellow color. After a few moments the fish decided he wasn't food and moved on downstream. The child didn't pay attention to the few people that walked by as if in his own world. Some people just walked by and others stared at the child for moments before moving on, not willing to move into the middle of the river to reach the mermaid.

Roxas's world turned into reality when his blue eyes looked up to see a person standing and talking to him. The mermaid opened his lips but didn't respond, instead shutting them a moment later. His tail slowly came from the water and off to the side of the sitting child. The mermaid closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly, contrating on becoming "human". Slowly, the cyan fish tail turned into human legs covered with black/cyan shorts and black leg warmers. A loose white shirt also appeared, along with black armwarms. Lastly, white shoes and a blue scarf that faded into white appeared on the boy as the pearls and fins on his head disappeared.

Roxas opened his eyes and looked at the person, still sitting upon the rock. What had he meant by people becoming interested in a bad way? He hadn't even noticed the other people. With a quick blink, the mermaid's Sight kicked in and he looked at the people passing by. One person further downriver stared at the mermaid, appearence tinted by bad intentions. Roxas quickly turned off the ability, looking back to the man in front of him.

"Thanks Mister." Roxas said, giving the man a large smile only a child could give. He stood up from the rock's warm surface, scarf blowing as a faint breeze rolled past. The stone he stood on was tall so even though the mermaid was much smaller then the male, he now stood eye level with the person. The child continued to give the man a smile which had shrunken slightly to a normal sized one. "Your a nice person Mister. Did you know that?" Roxas said, happy to be talking with someone. Even his bruises and cuts didn't bother him anymore.

[Calmay]

Tamises could not help but laugh hen the kid called him a nice person. If the kid knew what he did for a living then he would have said otherwise. After all Tamises would do almost anything for information. Yet he had helped the kid. He wondered why he did that. He could have just tricked the kid and taken him captive. He was sure he could overpower something so small and yet he did not. He knew that part of the reason was that the mermaid in front of him was just a kid. He did not like to treat children like he treated adults. Though teenagers were another story. He smiled at the kid.

"How do you know that I am just being nice so that I can take advantage of you. You don't even know my name." He crossed his arms and looked at him. He could not help but want to play with this kid. He always had problems taking children seriously. They knew little of the world and how it worked. He often just wanted to teach them how cruel the world is, but he held himself back from doing so. He was not the type to run the children's fantasies. Other people could do that. Though he had to admit that he was trying to find a way to make this all advantages to him. There were very few people that he met that had even seen a mermaid let alone talked to one. He could learn much about them today if he played his cards right. He just had to appear as a nice older brother, which was easy for him. There were plenty of people in the origination that saw him as their older brother. Who was he to stop them.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

Roxas stuck his tongue out at the man in front of him, also pulling down one of his bottom eyelids. When his Sight had been activated, the man in front of him hadn't had any bad intentions towards the mermaid. He stopped and smiled again, wagging his finger at the male like a mother would. "I know because I just do." the child said, stopping his index finger's motion.

Roxas continued to smile at the man, happy not to be alone anymore. Even if it was just for a little bit, being with nice people like this person always comforted the mermaid. "By the way, I'm Roxas! Roxas Hikairi. And I'm seven and three whole quarters!" the child said, obviously proud at the fact he was almost eight years old. Maybe once he turned eight he would be able to find his family.

Roxas looked down at the river seperating him from the bank where the nice man stood. A pout found its way onto his face and then a smile as he raised his eyes. And with a determined face, the mermaid jumped across the small length of water, not wanting to return to being in his natural form. The child landed on his feet for once about two feet from the man. Roxas turned towards him with a successful smile and held his hand out like he had seen some adults do. It was called a "handshake" and the mermaid wanted to try it."What's your name Mister?" he said, still holding his hand out for the man.

[Calmay]

Tamises could not help but sigh. He really was not good with kids. It was taking him some skill to keep himself from doing what he would normally do when meeting adults. After all in his book adults and children were different. They would react differently in the same situation. Well under normal circumstances. It was rare that people broke out of the pattern that he had made. Unless they were teenagers. He was willing to treat them like adults, however this kid did not fit that age group yet. So he was going to be careful about what he said and what he would do around the kid.

He took the kids hand and lightly shook it before taking his hand back. He then sat down on the ground. He did not want to spend the next few minutes looking down at the kid. He already was doubting he would stay long. He could see that they would not have much to talk about. All he really could talk about was his family relationship and what he did for a living and that he did not want to discuss with Roxas. "My name is Tamises Brimhaven." He then motioned for the kid to sit down beside him. There was no need for him to be standing up all the time. "I'm not as nice as I seem. After all you just met me, you have no idea what I am capable of or what I do for a living. For all you know I could be an assassin."

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

Roxas let his hand be shook, also letting it return to his side afterwords. Why did adults do that? But the mermaid had seen other child doing wierder stuff, like spitting into their hands and then shaking them. But the weirdest thing the child had seen was two older kids in their teenaage years trying to suck each other's faces off. Of course, Roxas didn't voice these thoughts. No, the child blinked, activating his Sight, and then looked over his shoulder, seeing if anyone that had been looking at him with the wrong intentions.

The older man from before was still there, still tinted a dark color from the intentions towards the small mermaid. Roxas quickly turned his head away and looked back at the man before he spoke. So his name was Tamises Brimhaven? It sounded a bit strange and familar to the mermaid. Well, the last name did. The child moved to the other side of Tamises, away from the strange man that was stained with bad intentions. Roxas smiled when he spoke, wondering what Tamises did do. He decided it wasn't important.

"My Poppa is an assassin! So how could I be afriad of you even if you were one too?" Roxas said happily, smile back on his face. After looking at the strange man, his lips had turned into a frown and his eyebrows had furrowed slightly. They now raised back to their normal place and the frown had become another one of his sweet smiles. Oh course, Roxas didn't really know what an assassin was. His Poppa had told the child that he made the world a better place. Why wouldn't the little mermaid believe his nice Daddy? "Poppa told me that assassins were heros!"

Maybe Tamises would know were his parents were if he was an assassin? But he probably wasn't one. Roxas's eyebrows furrowed again in thought, wondering about his parents. Where had Poppa and Momma gone? And why? A pout appeared on the child's face, eyes's suddenly downcast like a stormy sky. Why had Roxas been left behind by his parents? Even to the people unable to read the mermaid's mind it was clear that something was troubling the small boy suddenly.

[Calmay]

Tamises laughed when Roxas said that assassins were heroes. There were few people that would say that. After all most people did not like those who took the lives of others for a living and chose not to deal with them. Of course to him they were either enemies or clients. Of course everyone could be client to him. If they needed information he was willing to fins it and sell it. "Lucky for you I am not an assassin. After all I wish to avoid that line of work. I tend to help people find information and things that they are looking for. Though I have helped assassins at times. I guess that makes me a sidekick." He did not like to think about himself as a sidekick to an assassin. He did not like dealing with death.

He sighed and wondered what to say. He really did not know what to talk about work and well he did not have that much of a normal childhood so he did not know how to relate. He could not think of anything to say at all. He turned to Roxas. "So what were you doing on the water. You look all beat up." He had no idea what happened to the kid, but he was not one to jump to conclusions. It was bad practice to do so. It led to misinformation and that was something that could kill his business. He smiled at the kid seeing that he had been worried earlier. "Don't worry. I might not kill people, but I still know how to fight if you need help." He had hidden weapons on him in case something happened. It was his best way of throwing people off guard. He liked throwing people off guard.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

Roxas broke out of his sadness as Mister Tamises asked him something. The reason why he had been in the water was simple. He was travelling to a nearby city to look for his Momma and Poppa. After all, he didn't have anything better to do. And the mermaid was beat up because of the storm from last, which had made the river dangreous. But the child didn't know whether to say the real reason why he had been in the water. After all, Tamises cold take him to the places called orphanages.

"The current beat me up last night because it was storming. And I was in the water 'cuz I'm not that good at walking with human legs." Roxas said, smiling. It was true that even though the mermaid often had to use them, human legs and him would never go along. The child often tripped over nothing or things like that. He pouted slightly, eyebrows having returned to normal even before he had spoken.

Roxas remembered what Tamises had said earlier and suddenly let out a large smile. Just maybe! Mister Tamises, do you think that you could help me with something? Maybe I could pay you by doing something! I'm good at cleaning 'cuz Momma taught me how!" Roxas said, suddenly dark mood completely cleared up back into an excited state. Maybe Mister Tamises could help him find his parents!

((OOC: Hey I was wondering something :3 I was thinking that maybe Tamises's father, Lord Brimhaven, could have captured Roxas's parents and killed them to eat their flesh or something? And Tamises could know about it too? Hehe, just a thought though!))

[Calmay]

Tamises looked at Roxas and wondered what to do. The kid wanted to hire him, but had no way of paying him with money. He only dealt with money since it was the easiest thing to value. Yet his kid was offering to clean. That was a big issue for Tamises. He did not need someone that was not part of his group around his people. He did not want the kid to hear something that he should not and end up in a more difficult situation that he was in now. It was indeed a problem. Either he could take the job and not have a real payment or not take the job. He sighed trying to figure out what to do.

He looked at Roxas and sighed again. "I'll do it, however I can not have you cleaning up my place. I do not want to put you in any unnecessary danger." He leaned back falling on the grass. He had taken on a job without planning to take it. It was indeed a troublesome trip. He should have sent another to go what he had to do. Well at least he met an interesting person. He looked up at the sky wondering what the kid wanted. There was not much that he knew of children could ask him to do. He doubted it was something like finding a lost puppy.

((OCC: What if they are being held prisoner and they do not make it in time to save their lives. However they manage to recover the bodies.))

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

The look on the small child's face was enough to melt any cold heart. A large smile and eyes filled with a feeling that Roxas wasn't used to. They were filled with hope and it made the blue depths sparkle. Maybe the mermaid wouldn't be alone anymore. Maybe Mister Tamises really could find his Momma and his Daddy. And Roxas could even have brothers or sisters like other people did! Now he had someone to help him find his family!

"I'm looking for my Momma and my Poppa! They're mermaids just like me. Momma has really long black hair and blue eyes! She also has a pretty white tail! And Poppa has lighter blue hair then mine that is shorter then mine and he has dark blue eyes. And he has a silver tail! I think their names are Mary and Leo...Do you think you can help me, Mister Tamises?" Roxas explaining, telling Tamise everything he remembered about his parents.

To his slight disappointment, Roxas couldn't remember having any brothers or sisters. He was an only child. But the smile stayed on the mermaid's face as he leaned over Tamise ever so slightly, wondering if the nice man would know anything.

((That'll work ^~^))

[Calmay]

Tamises said nothing as Roxas explained what he wanted him to do. He was not sure he could find his parents until he started to explain what they looked like. He created a fist with his hand and slammed it down on the grass. He knew exactly where his parents were, well he was pretty sure that he knew where to find his parents. He had heard from his brother that father had found a rare creature that was worth more then then he could imagine. He had hinted that they were mermaids and a couple. With Roxas' job he was quite sure that the two of them were related by more than just coincidence.

He sat up and looked at Roxas. "I'm pretty sure I know where to start. I am not promising anything though. It could be nothing. However, I will find your parents. It might just take some time." He got up and handed his hand towards Roxas. He had no time to waste. If his guess was right his father was going to kill them and probably some time soon. After he was sure that his father was the type that would not give up the chance to eat a mermaid. He had to stop his father before he did it. It was very important. He was going to have to be by horse to get back as fast as possible. Any other route or method would take to long to reach his house. He bit his lip worried if he could complete this job.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

Roxas's smile became even bigger as Mister Tamises said he would help. The mermaid had quickly moved his head back when the man sat up so he wouldn't get hit and now wondered why Mister Tamises was acting kind of funny. He threw the thought out the window as the older male stood and offered the mermaid a hand. The child took it carelessly and pulled himself up, wondering why Tamises was in such a hurry.

Maybe he already knew Wher Roxas's Momma and Poppa were! The child's smile stayed in place as he thought about seeing them again. Not only were they his parents but the mermaid hadn't ever met any other mermaids. "Where to Mister Tamises?" asked the child, looking up at him with deep pools of blue for eyes. They twinkled and held antipation to get going and find his Momma and Poppa.