The Krakens Bride

On Land (Chapter 3): Yuki

My mind was all over the place today.

The day itself started all wrong with my father yelling at me to go pick an entire basketful of strawberries with mint leaves. Which I later learned was a fool's errand to hide me from the inspection that was going on.

At this point in my life, I was used to having to hide my own existence. It had been that way since I grew old enough to understand that I was different from the rest of the people in my village.

My hair had not taken on that strawberry blonde color as the rest of my family had, it was instead only the one color of the palest pink you could imagine. Even my skin was unusual. While my sister was sun kissed with a beautiful light caramel color to her, just like our father; I resembled our mother when she was sick.

Very pale with fragile skin, hell- even my eyes weren't normal. They were big with an almost almond shape to them, but the pupils were milky white like a pearl. It looked like I was born blind according to my parents, but I could see a lot better than most people in fact. It was indeed weird, but I had grown to be used to my own appearance now that I was older.

From birth, my parents had hidden me once they noticed the unique beauty that they claimed the other villagers would not understand. Though, I myself was not even sure why I was so much more "beautiful" than those who had given birth to me.

When I turned five years old, I got my first lesson on how to properly hide myself because at the time my mother had got pregnant once again. I was to run into the garden if we had guests. Or I had to creep out into the street with the darkest of hoods covering me and play in the wooded area around the village for a few hours until my father came to fetch me.

Never had I spoken to anyone from the village, but my parents did educate me in the house. So, I knew the basics of just about everything including the terror of the beast that plagued my world, the Kraken.

In my opinion it did not seem like a story to fear. It sounded like a creature who just happened to be temperamental, weren't all animals that way?

The animals I met during my playtime in the woods growing up were aggressive at first, then they relaxed when you treated them nicely. I figured that perhaps this Kraken needed someone to treat him kindly instead of fearing him all the time.

But my parents thought I was insane when I voiced that for the first time, so I instead did not tell them about my opinions on much of anything else because I was too "whimsical" in their eyes.

When my sister Yuliana was born, I thought she would be similar to me, and we could hide together once she grew big enough. 

That never happened though.

Yuliana was beautiful indeed, but she was normal compared to me.

Our parents let her go out and dance in the sun as I stayed watching from inside. I was not to be seen by others nor could I speak to anyone outside of our family, so I was always alone.

My only comfort was in the woods, where I was allowed to be free of my hood and do what I wanted without anyone there to see me. I could jump and dance, breathe the clean air, play with the many creatures that lived there, and ultimately be free.

But things changed when I heard of the gathering one day as I returned from the forest on my own; a bit earlier than expected.

My father was talking to someone from the neighboring village, I assumed they were not from ours because they had the harsh tone that many people who visited our home did. Which was not the same soft murmuring voices of those who lived here.

He mentioned an engagement being needed or Yuliana could be in danger of being taken. I was obviously confused but knew better than to come inside while others were there.