the traveler's gift

down by the river

the meaning behind this story is my partner they are genderfluid and I love them.

a lovely little nymph lived in a village on top of a mountain where she lived with their mother. her mother did not like the fact they were genderfluid so he cried and cried and cried by the river decorated with lilypads and stones and rocks surrounded by painted gloriest trees and woods. the nymph cried out her sorrows day after day evening noon and night he cried hoping that his mother would validate them on her gender. but it seemed no use if he cried under the moonlight they were always "female" That very word sent shivers down their spine in the context of her. no one in their village understood their struggle so they buried their sorrows in the light magical blue river. the color blue always calmed them down they had wavy brown hair and wished to dye blue but due to their mother's orders, they couldn't dye it or even cut it. her hair was down to her ankles by this point but she wished it was shorter her teeth weren't straight but he was very gorgeous. on this particular day, they had gotten into a fight with his mother about her being genderfluid, and they ran out of the village sobbing and ran to her usual place to cry by the river this evening she cried mumbling to themself about how he wanted to be loved by her mother and be validated on their gender being fluid. suddenly a figure was standing over her 

"Are you alright I couldn't help but notice you being in distress and well I can't let someone down stay there for very long... uhm may I sit next to you?". the stranger had darkish red hair that was medium-length and wavy, his scent was of beautiful roses and lavender.

 they quickly nodded at his question. "I'm Yuki I'm sorry you have to see me cry we are mere strangers to one another".

 the stranger turned to him sitting down "Nonsense we are no strangers, I'm Nico my pronouns are he/they what pronouns do you use?". 

the nymph was taken aback by the question surprised anyone would ask her "A-any p-pronouns". the stranger grinned almost like a Cheshire cat "Would you like to talk about why you are crying?"

 they nodded lightly and began. "well my mother is awful and tells me I'll always be female no matter what but I'm genderfluid and I  don't feel female but my mother insists I am"

 Nico put a hand on her shoulder. "yeah I get that my mother disliked the fact I was going from female to male I'm a demiboy. she said I couldn't do great things but here I am I'm a knight of the kingdom of nightgale. I promise you can achieve great things" Nico softly spoke in a calming manner. Yuki looked up at the blood-haired person with a little hope in his eyes

 "I-I can? I really can?". Nico chuckled softly to himself 

"Why of course I suppose you are hoping to do something great and you will."

 "do you have any friends in your life who may have gone through the things you have?".

 Yuki shook their head sadly "I mean my ex-girlfriend but I don't really like her." 

Nico nudged the other in the arm and grinned. "well now you have a friend who does and I have other friends who can relate to your experiences" The tomato-haired boy thought for a second and thought of an idea

"how about you come along with me on my next quest?" Yuki nodded quickly 

"Yes please!" Nico chuckled a bit at her response

"Well, you go back to your village inform who you wish pack a little, and meet me back here alright? Please pack some warm clothes and perhaps a blanket". the chili pepper-haired boy suggested to which the nymph nodded and quickly headed back to his village to pack their stuff for Nico's quest.

an hour later the two met back at the warm shimmery pond decorated by all types of wonderful flowers, where lilypads grow it was a beautiful familiar scene for Yuki it always brought her calmness.

"you ready to go?" Nico asked smiling at Yuki whose face was lit up by the sunset filtered by the trees making a splotchy pattern on his skin

Yuki nodded their head "I think so I hope so this is my bag I made years back it comes in handy it's made of leaves and other things sewn together".

"Impressive little nymph" Nico patted her on the head playfully Yuki pouted at the comment. "well then let's set off on our quest shall we?" Nico added and Yuki nodded.

as the two hopped on Nico's horse they road off to the first quest. 

"the first quest would be hunting down a dangerous creature that has been terrorizing a city nearby we need to kill it and its offspring it would be risking hundreds of innocent lives if we don't, i hope you understand Yuki," Nico said seriously.

the horse's hooves trotted against the forest floor stepping on branches and other things that made the environment make a crunching sound it was loud but not loud enough no one could hear everything else.

the brunette nymph understood how dire the situation was, and how much this quest would take but she was relieved to know that the situation wouldn't be such a big deal just slay the beast and its progeny he was a bit nervous they would admit but Nico was so calm and so charming, to say the least that she couldn't not go, he wanted to leave that village behind them for a while now just didn't have the guts to do it until this day. she was very grateful for Nico's arrival how sweet he was how clever and wise he was and they would not lie Nico was quite a handsome young man too.

The night glowed with stars a bit after a little while on horseback, Nico got off and set up some supplies to camp out for the night, he took off his shirt and revealed a leather breastband (a bra in other words) and lots of beautiful scars. big scars, small scars, fresh scars, old scars, deep scars, shallow scars, so many types of scar tissue but it didn't make him ugly or unattractive in any way, no. it made them more beautiful, even his breast tissue had some scars.

"oh! I see you staring at my scars I'm sorry I am so used to living alone with only Betty my horse i forget how to act around other people my apologies" Nico shapeshifted into a deer to escape the embarrassment that came with what he supposed as rudeness.

"I think it is such a brave patch to have scars you should be proud of them! if it makes you feel better I have some too but they aren't what they seem they don't make me brave they make me weak, weak that I could not be strong in my hardest moments" Yuki looked at Nico.

nico shapeshifted into his human form again "Nonsense those scars have deeper meaning than you think, those scars say you went through a rough time and survived i have some of my own too though i am quite shy about it".

Nico thought for a couple of minutes "We should head to bed huh Yuki?"

Yuki nodded her head in agreement. they both slept in a tent and waited for sunshine.