The beautiful selkie glided through the water towards the small island. Phayu seldom came to shore, the human world didn't interest him, but now one of his people is missing and it's Phayu's duty as leader to try to find him.
Phayu probably would have done so anyway, Prapai was his best friend and like a brother to him. The problem was Pai loved humans, a little too much to be honest. He was always leaving their underwater kingdom to chase after one human or another.
Usually Pai only needed a single encounter and he was satisfied or sometimes he would just forget about the human he had his sights on after a few days. However his latest human obsession, a tall black haired boy Pai had spotted on the deck of a small fishing boat, he had been searching for almost four months. Visiting all the local human inhabited islands in hopes of finding the boy. Two weeks ago Pai had headed to this island and he hadn't returned.
Phayu heads to the beach and removes his seal skin so he will blend in with the humans. He carefully stashes it away in a small hidden cave, and steals some human's clothes he finds drying near the edge of a small village.
Rain walks slowly down the beach, tears filling his eyes. A fresh bruise was forming on his cheek. He had run away that morning after being hit by his mistress for knocking over a bottle of expensive oil while he was helping with the kitchen. Now he didn't know what to do. If he went back he would be beaten for sure for running away, but where else did he have to go?
Normally he might have gone to his friend Sky for advice, but no one had seen Sky leave his house for two weeks. One of the village boys had been bringing fresh food to his house daily and had started a rumor that there was a handsome but ill stranger there that Sky was taking care of. So instead of going to his friend Rain had headed to the beach.
Now he walks along the small beach, heading for his favorite spot, a small hidden cave at the edge of the ocean. To his surprise there is a man coming out of the cave, and what's more the man is completely naked. This surprises him enough that he stops crying, his eyes opening wide. Rain quickly hides behind a large rock, peeking around at the man. "He is so handsome." Rain whispers.
Once the man is out of sight, Rain goes to the cave. He sees something shiny behind a rock and pulls out a beautiful seal pelt that seems to glow in the dark cave. Rain strokes it thinking something seems familiar about this pelt. The family he works for has plenty of animal furs all around their house and Rain even has an old tattered one that he is allowed to sleep under. The feeling here is somehow different though. It's as if he has somehow found a piece of his unremembered past.
One aspect of a selkies magic is that they automatically understand languages of any creature they are in contact with. This comes in handy as Phayu questions the villagers. That along with his charming smile and stunning good looks soon put the villagers to ease and they tell him about the rumors of a man staying with Sky in his house outside the village. They describe Sky as a reclusive boy just out of his teens that had come to the village a few years ago and taken residence in his family's house that had previously been abandoned for two decades. Their physical description of him also matches that of Pai's missing human, Phayu can't help but note.
He uses the directions the villagers give him to make his way to Sky's house. Somehow he isn't surprised when he sees Pai sitting on the front porch of the large house, although how frail he looks is a little bit of a shock. Pai greets him with a large smile though. "Yu, miss me so much you had to come find me?"
"You've been gone for two weeks, of course I came to find you." Phayu says exasperated.
"It's a long story, I came to this village looking for my boy, but I was caught naked in a storm. Turns out my Sky is the one that found me." Pai says.
"Who's your boy?" came a voice from the side of the house. A young human comes from that direction greeting Phayu with a nod.
Pai gives him a charming grin. "Sky, this is my friend Phayu. Phayu, this is my Sky. He found me and nursed me back to health."
"So are you taking Pai with you now?" Sky asks. "I'll pack his things."
Pai gives Sky his best puppy dog look, "My Sky you know I am still too weak to return to the sea." He gives an obviously fake cough making Sky roll his eyes.
Phayu laughs. Obviously Pai is safe and sound and in full pursuit of this boy's heart. Phayu is slightly miffed at having come all this way for nothing, but glad to see his friend unhurt. He reminds Pai to look after his pelt, this is a literal warning because a selkie's pelt is their life force and their only way to return to the sea. Then he takes his leave of the two. They will just need to work out things on their own, far be it from Phayu to interfere.
Phayu is stopped short by the sight that greets him back at the cave. The boy curled up asleep ON HIS PELT. At first Phayu is outraged by the sight, but then he gets a closer look at the boy. Soft cute good looks despite the bruise on his cheek. He looks so sweet and vulnerable it makes Phayu want to take him in his arms and protect him from whoever hurt him.
The boy stirs and opens his eyes, looking at Phayu with a scared look.
"I won't hurt you little one," Phayu says, "what's your name?"
"Rain. I saw you earlier you were..." Rain blushes at this but Phayu can guess the rest. Rain must have seen him leaving the cave earlier. Humans were odd when it came to things like wearing clothes so he had been embarrassed by Phayu's nakedness.
Phayu moves closer and catches a scent from Rain that makes him freeze. This is a human, Phayu had been almost certain of that fact a moment ago and yet there is a selkie scent around him as well. Not that of Phayu's pelt, every selkie has their own scent and this one is familiar to Phayu although from his distant past. The scent is also very weak as if from a selkie that had been separated from their pelt for a long time.
"Rain do you live in the village?" Phayu asks, keeping his voice calm.
Rain shakes his head, "I live with my mistress in one of the houses outside the village."
"With your mistress?" Phayu asks
"Her father bought me when I was around four and gave me to her as a servant." Rain says.
"Do you remember your life before that?" A memory comes to Phayu of 15 years ago when Phayu had been nine. The cute little selkie pup that had followed Phayu everywhere asking hundreds of questions about everything. One day he had stopped showing up and Phayu had gone to ask his parents what happened. They gave him the sad news that the pup and his family had been caught by poachers and all presumed slain for their coats. Could this boy actually be that little pup? Is that why his scent was familiar?
"I don't," Rain says sadly, "I was told I was found by fishermen at sea and sold to the family but I don't remember anything before that."
"Rain, have you ever seen a pelt like this one?" Phayu motions towards his own pelt Rain is still sitting on.
"No, it's beautiful. The family I live with has many furs but I have never seen one like this." Rain says, brushing his hand along the soft material.
Phayu frowns, if Rain is what he suspects his pelt would have to be kept close by. A selkie that was kept too far from their pelt for too long would sicken and die after a while. The family he served must have it hidden away somewhere.
"Rain I want you to take me to your mistress's house, can you do that?" Phayu asks.
Rain looks scared but nods.
"Don't worry cute boy, I will protect you. They will never hurt you again." Phayu says and Rain can't help but believe him.
Selkies have many magical abilities besides the ability to learn languages. One of their abilities is the power to call water to their disposal. Phayu, like his namesake, is very talented at turning the water in the atmosphere into a fierce storm. When faced with an angry selkie with a raging storm at his disposal what human would not be afraid.
Rain's mistress soon gave in from terror and brought out a small locked truck that Rain had never been allowed to touch. Inside was a tiny pelt from a selkie pup, but as soon as Rain touched it, it shimmered and grew to one that suited his current age. Rain looked at the pelt in wonder.
Phayu would like to rip the woman to shreds for daring to hurt such a precious boy as Rain, but Rain pleads for mercy for his mistress. Although she had often been unkind to him, they had grown up together. Rain didn't have it in his heart for the woman to be hurt. Just being away from her was enough.
Phayu took Rain back to the clan who was amazed and delighted to have their lost pup back. Phayu and Rain grew closer as the days went by, seldom separated from each other. No one was surprised when Phayu took Rain as his mate. The ceremony was attended by everyone in the clan who celebrated the happiness of the two.
Notes:
This is from my discord's May Day game prompts. Prompt if Rain or Phayu were a creature of the ocean what would they be (we were given free reign to go supernatural).