Work Text:
When she takes a good look at the hook, all Beidou can do is frown at the shining metal. No catch. And no bait left either. The fisherman sighs and reaches for her backpack.
Hm…Sugardew and Fruit Paste Bait didn't work. Perhaps this one.
Beidou fixes a yellowish worm onto the hook and casts her rod again.
The day has been slow so far. She only caught a tiny, red Medaka she had immediately tossed back into the sea, the splash of water refreshing under the harsh midday sun.
A chuckle escapes her lips when Beidou thinks about that one time she went fishing a few months ago. She'd never imagined pulling this out of the waters. At first she had wanted to toss it back into the ocean, too and put as much distance between herself and the coast as possible.
Octopus was not her favorite after all.
*************************
Beidou's first catch on this lovely day is a tangled ball of seaweed. Or that’s what she believes is the dripping thing stuck to the hook.
She reels the catch in with a huff - another failed attempt to catch dinner - and starts to pluck at the slippery greens when she sees not one, but two tentacles wiggle their way out of the weed.
Beidou stares, somehow too surprised to flinch, as two become four and finally eight searching appendages, clinging to Beidou’s hand and curling around her fingers and wrist.
And they do well clinging onto her because as soon as Beidou spots a pair of human arms among them, she nearly tosses the bundle of leaves and tentacles back into the ocean.
Dropping them one by one to the ground, the creature frees itself of the seaweed and Beidou watches with her mouth agape how the wiggling ball slowly takes form. Dark, brown tentacles give way to an upper body resembling a young woman, with light, long hair and slender arms. She huffs and wrinkles her nose, plucks the last leaves from her hair and brushes her bangs from her face.
A red mark on her forehead sparkles in the sunlight like liquid fire.
She stops shaking off the greens as soon as she realizes she has an audience. For a brief moment her eyes widen, her body is tinted in a light shade of red - in embarrassment? - before she composes herself.
Chin held high and arms folded in front of her chest, the half-human-half-octopus narrows her eyes and gives Beidou a cold run-down.
Beidou, frozen in place despite the warm midday sun, feels strangely exposed under her scrutinizing gaze. With how those crimson orbs seem to pierce through her, baring her very soul.
Her hand tingles, partly because of the succors clinging to every piece of skin they can find and partly because her instincts still tell her to fling the creature back into the depths of the ocean. She has listened to the elders and fishermen alike retelling tales and true events.
None of them are suited as bedtime stories.
One tentacle creeps down her forearm and wraps around her wrist. Beidou shudders at the sticky sensation.
“It is rather unsightly to be greeted with an open mouth, human.” A tentacle waves disapprovingly in Beidou’s general direction. “If you don’t mind…”
It takes a moment for the words to sink in as Beidou is trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the thing can talk - and to her no less .
Tacky is the first thing that comes to her mind when she’s capable of thinking straight again, but she shuts her mouth anyway.
“Better.”
Her crimson eyes are back at scanning the woman in front of her as if assessing Beidou’s value like fresh fish at a market stall. Though the merchants refrain from tightening their grip around her wrist unlike the tentacle right now, which seems to have taken an interest in her pulse point.
“To my understanding humans become overly pliable when promised some sort of remuneration. While I am not in possession of the so-called ‘money’ you seem fond of, I can promise you another kind of compensation. Within my abilities of course.”
For a moment she hesitates to continue and her confident mask slips. But as swiftly as the passing breeze her jaw is set again. Beidou can feel the succors pulling at her skin greedily. The tentacle around her wrist emanates a pleasant warmth now.
“Human, I have - “
“Beidou.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name’s Beidou, not human.”
Although still flabbergasted, Beidou has not lost her pride. Whoever may speak to her, be it a snobby, rich merchant or a stranger at the bar; they will address her properly. She will not make an exception for a fishy entity either.
“Very well, Beidou.” The white-haired woman nods in understanding, before those crimson eyes are back at burning holes into her soul. “I may have mistaken the appropriate way to greet a foreigner.”
She unfolds her arms and touches the red mark on her forehead with two fingers as she inclines her head. “I am Ningguang and you may address me by that name.” The tips of Ningguang’s tentacles wiggle when her head rises again and she extends her hand in a pacifying way.
“Beidou, I have chosen you to escort me; to a place only few humans have ever ventured to.” The tentacle around her wrist tightens even more, chaining Beidou to her words. “If you succeed, I will compensate you greatly.”
Beidou snorts. “And what makes you think I will agree to this? Whatever this is. First of all, I -”
Whatever Beidou wants to say never leaves her mouth. She tries to dislodge the words where they are stuck in her throat, but no sound escapes her lips. Suddenly, her mind feels sluggish, as if she had been knocking back too many drinks at the tavern last night.
Ningguang.
Her wrist is burning now, the tentacle tightening even more. It’s burning like those crimson, alluring eyes. She feels the tide pull her in and drown her under the billowing waves. She tries to speak once more, but her lips open and close mutely.
It’s a trap. Beidou thinks in a far away corner of her mind. Ningguang, she’s…
Finally she utters something unintelligible, bits and pieces of a refusal maybe, but Beidou doesn’t recognize the meaning of her own words.
Through the burning haze radiating from her arm she barely registers when she slumps to the floor.
***************************
“You tricked me.”
“I merely steered your wandering thoughts into deeper waters.”
“Still trickery.” Beidou huffs out. “You could’ve at least asked me first and held me hostage later.”
“I had to make sure you’d be willing to accompany me. Just a little persuasion...”
“Ha! So you admit you forced me!”
Ningguang sighs. “There is no point arguing with you.”
Floating inside her little, hovering bubble of seawater right to Beidou’s right ear, Ningguang turns away and creates an impermeable wall of wiggling tentacles between them.
What have I gotten myself into? Beidou shakes her head, smiling at the sight they must make - a woman and a little octopus in a balloon full of water, traveling side by side. And arguing on top of that.
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m only teasing you.”
“Apparently your conversational skills are beyond my understanding.” The tentacles are lowered, the peace offering accepted and Beidou lets out a relieved sigh.
Had she known that day how ‘difficult’ Ningguang could be sometimes, ah well, she probably hadn’t decided differently. With no responsibilities, no real home and people to go back to, a nice, little trip to save a beautiful Octolady in need like a knight in shining armor sounded like a pretty good way to pass the time.
And she was promised a generous reward, too.
“Can we please stop by the water’s edge for a moment? I require some fresh water.”
The sun is merciless today, the heat sizzling Beidou’s skin as soon as she steps out of the shade and the salty breeze is the only relief she gets as they travel along the coast. Ningguang in her small, cramped bubble, on the other hand, must feel like being cooked alive.
“Sure, give me a second to find a smooth slope down to the ocean.”
Beidou settles in the meager shade of a small bush while Ningguang dissolves the protective bubble and spreads her tentacles around herself, burying the tips into the sand for leverage against the incoming waves. The first cooling wave rolls over her and she sighs in relief.
Without noticing it, Beidou smiles as she observes the little Octolady, who is playing with the flotsam like a child, winding the algae around one tentacle like a scoop of noodles before tossing it back into the ocean.
If one would have told her that she would grow attached to a half-human sea creature one day, she would've burst into laughter.
But Ninnguang, despite her high and mighty attitude, is not the slightest how the old tales have painted her kind.
Her curiosity is unmatched. Since they started their journey no day has passed without Ningguang asking about the world above the surface.
She marvels at the delicate butterflies and the many blooming flowers. “How can a plump caterpillar like this evolve into a fragile, flying being?” she asks, when Beidou places one into her palm. Ningguang tilts her head and studies the insect - are they used as bait as well? - and Beidou lets out a laugh.
She gets startled, when Beidou whistles with a blade of grass and it makes a high pitched sound. The nearby birds scatter away and the look on Ningguang’s face is menacing, but only as long as it takes for ashen color to disperse from her body. Afterwards, the sounds she makes with her own grass blade are a far cry from a whistle. They resemble a snort rather than anything else, but by the end of Beidou’s ‘lesson’, Ningguang is very proud of the little tweet she can make.
“Have you decided about your remuneration?”
Beidou, pulled out of her deepest thoughts, blinks against the sun before her eyes land on Ningguang, still bathing among the waves. The red mark on her forehead sparkles as do her crimson eyes which look at her questioningly.
“Not yet. I still have some time, don't I?”
“You do.” Ningguang turns around to look at the open ocean again. “I’d appreciate it though, if you would not keep me waiting for too long.”
“Of course, your highness. As you wish.” Beidou replies jokingly, before she lets out a long sigh.
Her remuneration; her reward. For a task, Beidou is not sure she is able to fulfill. The reason why a small - and sometimes cute - Octolady is seeking help from a human is because her original body is trapped in a cave in the depths of the ocean. This fraction of her, moving, talking and arguing with Beidou, is not the real deal, rather a tiny copy of herself.
“It has been especially… interested in me for quite some time now. For reproductive reasons it seems.” Ambushed, restrained and jailed to a cave, Ningguang had sent a part of herself out in search of help; and had placed her hopes into Beidou.
“I'm not as strong as you think.” Beidou had said, after hearing the whole story. “You really think, I of all people can save you?”
Ninnguang had taken her hand then, tracing the lines of her palm with the fingertips. “I cannot explain it, but I know you are capable of it.” A tentacle had wrapped around Beidou’s wrist, barely applying pressure as the succors clung to her skin. “I can feel it deep inside me.”
I won’t let you down - Beidou had vowed that day. I’ll help you.
Whatever may happen.
**********************
The underwater world is surprisingly colorful.
Well, it might be because her sight adapted to the light under the surface and she is now able to focus on every little fish swimming by. Beidou feels the cold currents on her skin, hears the crab scuttling on the ground below and moves as if she never set foot on dry land before.
Beautiful.
Words are meaningless in this world. Instead of opening her mouth to breathe and talk, Beidou can now communicate with Ningguang by simply thinking what she wants to tell her. Which is a dangerous trait indeed.
When Beidou marveled how Ningguang’s hair floated around her like a golden halo and her crimson eyes shone with the filtered rays of the sun - resulting in an embarrassed, medaka-red, little Octolady - Beidou mentally slapped herself. She needs to be more cautious with her thoughts or else a reddish-glowing Ningguang will blow what little cover they have.
She doesn’t understand the breathing-without-air-thing, but she has more important matters to focus on. They have a mission after all.
You’ve got to be kidding me. What the heck is that?
Beidou motions with her little knife to the gigantic, gray-shimmering creature guarding the entrance of a cave.
Besides her Ningguang, shrugs her shoulders and all her eight tentacles simultaneously.
I told you, you would have to fight a kraken. Have I withheld crucial information?
Y….yeah!
Beidou’s mouth falls open to scream at her, because she feels she cannot yell enough with her thoughts to tell Ningguang that fighting a kraken three times bigger than herself might be her death sentence. No, it definitely was the end of her.
How on earth am I supposed to kill that thing?
Find its weak spot and use it to your advantage.
You make it sound like a walk in the park - or rather a swim in the ocean.
Beidou chuckles at her own pun despite the dire situation. Ningguang rolls her eyes and sighs and Beidou is back to business just a moment later. She eyes the giant kraken first and then observes how Ningguang hovers beside her, tentacles moving listlessly around her and her skin littlered with pulsing dark splotches. The frown on her face deepens the longer she stares at the kraken.
Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find a way. Beidou reaches for the little Octolady, scoops her in her palm and brings her closer to her face. She gives her a reassuring, full-teeth smile which smoothes out the harsh lines on Ningguang’s face and stills movement under her skin.
Actually , Ningguang says, smiling back at her and glancing at the kraken, I might have an idea how you can emerge victorious.
**********************
Beidou dodges the incoming attack and ducks under the massive tentacle that aims for her head. Her hair gets caught on the succors and the pain of a thousand needles rips through her scalp as she janks it free and tries to put as much space between the attacking appendage and herself.
Damn, that thing is fast.
Do not engage in close combat. Aim for its weakness.
It’s not that easy, you know?!
Beidou tightens her grip on the knife and faces the giant kraken again which zeroes in on her, all eight tentacles ready to lunge at its adversary. Its massive head blocks out the light coming from the surface and its predatory eyes go dark and lifeless.
This is a stupid idea. Her knife isn’t even able to pierce all the way through the smallest tentacle. She will die here tonight, won’t she?
No! I have to kill it! I promised her.
She changes a glance at Ningguang, who is stashed away inside of an abandoned spiral conch near the battlefield, hidden and safe. Beidou had personally crammed the many wiggling tentacles inside the conch to make sure none sticks out and could potentially reveal Ningguang’s hideout. If the giant octopus were to spot her, she’d have no chance to escape.
Because, in order to help Beidou, Ningguang had given up all her remaining energy, boosting her physical abilities and senses to the point the now bright yellow starfish becomes painful to look at. Her body, though, feels as if she has never set foot on land her entire life and is built to live underwater. Every movement is effortless and swift, the water’s resistance nonexistent.
Apparently, the kraken received a blessing sometime in its life, too. It dives forward, head-first like some sort of projectile and rams into Beidou’s side. She hears her ribs crack as the left part of her chest is set aflame with pain, but she has no time to dwell on it, because the kraken’s tentacles are seizing her limbs.
The first one winds around her right ankle, the second one around her left arm and the third one is coming for her waist. Even though her knife feels like a needle in comparison to the thick appendages, Beidou rams it into the tentacle holding her left arm with all the power Ningguang granted her. Smoothly, the knife slides into the flesh and a thick cloud of black blood gushes out of the wound.
The kraken retreats with a soundless cry, all eight limbs protectively curled to its body as if it doesn’t know which one was hurt. The water around it is slowly painted black by its own blood and the kraken instinctively dyes its own body a shade darker to match the surroundings. And Beidou seizes the opening.
With the speed of a stickleback, Beidou shoots towards the cowering kraken. Her cracked ribs protest when she lifts her right arm, knife aimed at her target, but she grits her teeth and tightens her grip on her weapon instead. This might be her only chance.
GO TO HELL, YOU MONSTER!
The knife buries itself deep into the kraken’s eye which bursts open like a ripe tomato. The kraken trembles and spasms as more black blood oozes out of the new wound. Beidou is immediately surrounded by darkness and the only thing keeping her grounded is her hold on the knife’s handle. She pushes the blade further in - for good measure - and briefly wonders whether Ningguang’s blood is of the same color. Her thoughts are interrupted by a desperate cry, though.
Beidou, watch out!
She would have, if her view wasn’t obscured by blood-tinged water. Like that, the ambush hits her at full force and her head explodes in pain. Red mingles with black. Tentacles wrap around limbs. Beidou wrenches the knife out and plunges it back in. She hits flesh, again and again and the water surrounding her is already so full of it that she can taste the kraken’s blood in her mouth.
In and out. In and out. Until her hand cramps up and the knife floats to the ocean’s ground. She uses her bare hands instead, clawing at everything within reach, ripping flesh and tearing limbs for archon knows how long. Until she hears a familiar voice in her head.
Shh…you can stop now. It’s over.
Soft hands cup her face and thumbs trace her cheekbones. A pleasant warmth floods her body, numbing the pain and mending bones and skin together like a seamstress. Tentacles, which are not eager to hurt, wrap around her body and pull her closer. Her cheek is pressed against a soft chest and she can hear Ningguang’s heartbeat, strong and steady.
Rest now, Beidou.
Another warm wave spreads through her and her tired eyes close.
Thank you. For everything.
********************
Feeling a slight pulling on the rod, Beidou jerks back to the present. She blinks - once, twice - and hears the splashing of water and an annoyed exhale.
“If you desire to cancel our meetings, you can use your words instead of offering this atrocity to me.”
Ningguang takes a good look at the wobbling worm between her fingers, her curiosity peaked besides her forthright words, and takes a small bite. Her nose crinkles in disgust, and her body changes to an overall yellowish hue which mirrors the look on her face, though she is too dignified to spit the bait out.
She tosses the half-eaten worm over her shoulder, slings her tentacles around a large stone and props herself onto it as if nothing has happened. “Or do you wish to withdraw your compensation?”
Ningguang looks at her with a dreamy look in her crimson eyes, teasing and challenging. One hand supports her head as the ends of her tentacles move in a playful manner like cat tails. The afternoon sun casts a golden glow on the water around her and the droplets on her skin glimmer like thousand little gems.
She looks ethereal.
Never .
Ningguang first blamed her powers for this irrational decision, then Beidou’s overall foolishness. But even after days of arguing, her determination was unwavering. It was her wish after all; the compensation Ningguang had promised her, would they succeed in rescuing her body.
A compensation, which doesn’t feel like one at all. Not when they both very much like each other's company. Beidou’s wish is more like an offer, an invitation to stay by her side as long as she wants.
Ningguang had accepted, rigid at first. But when Beidou had engulfed her in a tight hug and rambled on about the things she had already planned for them, her doubts crumbled. If only Beidou was more proficient in making baits.
The rod is laid aside, boots discarded and thrown beside her backpack as Beidou climbs down the small cliff and wades towards Ningguang. The waves soon lap at her upper thighs, drenching her trousers, but Beidou doesn’t mind at all, her goal settled. She chances a look, first at those alluring eyes, then at the plush lips, before she moves a stray lock of white hair behind Ningguang’s ear. Their noses are barely touching now and Beidou can nearly taste the salt on her lips.
“Nothing is further from my mind than taking back my words.”
Beidou closes the distance and captures Ningguang’s lips in a gentle kiss.
It feels like heaven touching the moisturized softness of her lips, it smells of the ocean wide and deep she calls her home, it tastes like the finest salt the merchants sell for too much Mora. And of…
Ewww, Archons help me, what’s that?
Beidou suddenly breaks the kiss and tries - but fails - to keep a neutral expression on her face as Ningguang studies her with a devious smirk. When Beidou’s nose crinkles at the strange taste in her mouth Ningguang cannot contain a giggle.
“I told you they have a rather hideous tang.” she quips and starts advancing on Beidou whose expression worms from disgust to surprise to dawning horror as she realizes Ningguang is coming towards her, tentacles reaching out for her limbs.
Soon Beidou is trapped under her, arms and legs restrained by two tentacles each as she is showered with kisses from the most beautiful being in the world.