Ripples from Forgotten Weeks

Pleading - Kys

Kys stopped, finally, once they had traveled deep into the kelp forest. He turned back to look at the prince.

He'd grown since Kys had last seen him.

He had a strikingly melancholy look on his face. His green blue eyes had an earnest look about them.

As if he was as kind a guy as he appeared.

Kys began gathering up the things he'd need.

Vayne watched him passively.

Kys spotted the last plant he'd need. He'd have to poison both of them, but there would be a little time to find the antidote for himself.

Kys glanced at the prince. Why wasn't he doing anything?
"I'm going to kill you, prince." Kys told him.

Vayne flinched.

"Oh..." he said, glancing around as if looking for someone to help him.

Vayne took another look at the plants Kys was holding as if just then realizing why he was gathering stuff.

"I can't let you kill me. Everyone's relying on me to be king." Vayne said apologetically.

"And you think I'm just going to back down now that you've said that?" Kys asked.

Vayne gulped, then his eyes darted away, followed by the rest of him.

Cursing, Kys swam after him, leaving the last plant unpicked.

He quickly realized he was quite a bit faster than Vayne. Kys wondered if he should just follow him until he ran out of energy, but he quickly discarded that idea. What if he ended up out of the kelp forest, or attracted the attention of a big hungry fish?

Kys was smaller than Vayne, but he figured he still had a chance in a straight fight. The prince was about as spirited as a piece of seaweed.

Kys dropped the plants he was holding and thrust his tail hard, propelling him right into Vayne. Kys grabbed the prince's neck from behind. Vayne put his hands up in time to get between Kys' grip and his neck.

Kys struggled with him for a moment, then let go and backed off. Frustrating as it was, the prince was stronger than him.

"I know I was a terrible prince and I'll make an even worse king. But I have to do it, can't you see that?" Vayne said desperately.

Frankly, Kys didn't care whether Vayne was king or not.

Vayne stared at him.

"Say something." he pleaded.

Kys sighed.

"It has nothing to do with you being king. I want to kill you for my own satisfaction. Though it doesn't hurt that a lot of people will be made miserable by your death, beloved prince."

"Really?" Vayne asked, as if he didn't believe him.

Kys just stared at him.

"Everything I do seems to be wrong. Tyris is practically ruling the kingdom for me. I'm just a symbol, but even despite that I'm going to mess everything up for everyone. I just know it." Vayne said.

"How did this turn into a pity party for you, Vayne?" Kys hissed, irritated.

Vayne froze for a moment.

"Sorry. How about you, then? Are you okay?" Vayne asked tentatively.

Kys almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. They were lost in the deep green kelp forest, far from civilization, and his kidnapee was asking if he was okay.

"You should be more concerned about yourself." Kys said, trying to get the prince to look more intimidated.

"I spend too much time being concerned about myself." Vayne said.

Kys compared the merman in front of him to the merman he'd known. He'd changed a lot.

Kys had expected him to shine with joy, at the head of a horde of adoring friends, with the power to make decisions for everyone. It had been an image Kys had grown in his mind like a giant kelp, quickly growing bigger than even the reality Kys had known.

The truth was disappointing.

Somehow Kys didn't think killing the prince would be as satisfying as he'd thought.

"You certainly have the air of someone who spends too much time on self pity. Why don't you spend more time appreciating all the perks of your station? All that nice food, huh?" Kys said.

"It's my responsibility to get all that nice food to the commoners! To make sure everything we nobles have is distributed well among the lower class! ...I think of that every time I eat." Vayne admitted.

He really was a mess.

"I don't understand you." Kys said.

"What about me?"

"Why do you spend so much time worrying about what other people are doing?"

"Well, it's only natural, isn't it? They've shown me so much kindness."

"To mold you into a king that would feel indebted to them."

"No." Vayne said.

Kys looked at him skeptically.

"They're kind people. Perhaps Tyris is more concerned with ruling the kingdom, but they're all... As kind as anyone can be."

Vayne fell silent for a moment, and the shadows of the kelp shifted over his face.

"But the person who was kindest to me is dead. My mother. She was always there for me, even though I was such a handful growing up."

Kys had seen her once. He'd thought that she looked like some ideal of a mother, intangible, unreal. He'd felt so jealous of Vayne, but it hadn't mattered then. Vayne had been nice to him. He'd felt important. But once Vayne had forgotten about him that jealousy had grown into something larger than life.

"My mother can be bitten by a venomous octopus. She never misses a chance to tell me that I'm not grateful enough for all she's given me, even now that I'm catching my own food and sleeping outside. She can take my sister's gratitude, since anything Vars does means more to her."

Kys snapped his mouth shut, realizing he'd been whining about his life to his enemy.

Stupid, stupid. That'd just give Vayne ammunition. It'd just make it more painful when Vayne forgot he existed, like last time.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Vayne said.

"Yeah, well." Kys started uncomfortably. "Say, do you think now that I've kidnapped you I'll stick in your memory?" he changed the subject.

"Huh?" Vayne said.

"Forget it."