By Sambix
Based on | Click to view |
Artist | RottenMilk [gallery] |
Time spent | 42 minutes |
Drawing sessions | 1 |
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unnessecary links wrote:Characters(old, LOL)
My SMWs(closed)
Flight Rising(idk why)
3k+ Chickens(active!)
ocean kisses wrote:![]()
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the land that lies above the sea, it calls me wrote:merliah was born in the north pacific ocean. she was the only child. she hadnt been expected to survive, but she had, and the fact her parents had managed to conceive her had made her birth all the more miraculous to everyone, especially the kingdom's council of elders.
since the day she had been born, merliah had always been curious about the world above. the way the sun's rays caught the water's surface just right, illuminating it in a fancy display of light--the way all sorts of amazing (and sometimes not so amazing) things drifted over to the water's edge or sunk to the depths below--the way so many different kinds of people could exist on such a small piece of land. it all fascinated her.
despite her parents warnings, she had often tried to go up to the surface and watch the land dwellers go about their days. most of the time she got caught, but there were some pretty close calls where she got a good view of the world above. it only made her all the more curious, and she desperately wanted to go up there and see it for herself. her parents tried to be supportive, but always reminded her that she was a princess and did not belong to the world up there. she belonged down here, in the sea, where she had been stuck in all her life. living in since her birth.
these thoughts of hers didnt go down so smoothly with everyone else.
older simas criticized her, staff and servants often questioned if she was fit to be princess, and outsiders frequently questioned her parents authority due to their apparent "inability to get that daughter of theirs under control."
to put an end to the rumors and growing discontent among his people, merliah's father forbade her to go to the surface, and to further ensure she wouldnt try to go again, he had the sea witch, amalthea, craft a special necklace. the necklace would show merliah's parents where she was at all times, and through this, merliah's father hoped to put a stop to this "land dweller obsession of hers once and for all."
outraged and hurt, merliah had ran away. well, swam away. she couldnt really run without legs.
for almost a week, merliah hid out in one of her many hiding places throughout her parent's kingdom: in a small cove that was well hidden by seaweed and coral. she had been here many times before, however all the times she had came by, she had never intended to stay so long. soon, she ended up having to return home after being caught while looking for food one morning, and between the reprimanding and worried scolding and fretting of her parents, she knew she had messed up. she apologized repeatedly, swearing she wouldnt do it again. thankfully, they made up, but the repairs would only be temporary.
it was a few weeks later before another quarrel broke out. merliah had been refusing to speak to the elders out of spite and bitterness (and some might say because she was being petty), but apparently, they really needed to see her. having heard their snarky comments and rude remarks many times before, she had grown to distrust and even hate the elders. this outraged her father, who insisted that the elders were the most trustworthy people in the kingdom, but merliah still could not bring herself to trust them enough to go to them.
after a huge fight and a screaming match between her and her father, merliah went only to spite her father and, reluctantly, please the people around her. she had no choice; why bother fighting anymore? if this was what they wanted her to be--a, a robot--then so be it.
this attitude worked for a little while, but she soon found herself bored of living on auto pilot, and started going out and causing trouble again. this displeased her parents, who were starting to think she really had changed for the better, but to their genuine surprise, in just a few days their daughter went back to her old self.
ever the rebellious little sima, merliah felt the same desire from before rise to the surface. the urge to cause destruction and explore the surface and do what she wanted, not what everyone else wanted her to do, grew stronger by the day. still, she kept herself in check, made sure she wouldnt get caught, and planned her actions ahead of time.
this is around the time merliah met a land sima by the name rowan. rowan was.. enchanting. yes, enchanting.
she was smart, really, really pretty, and she had legs. to merliah, she was the absolute coolest friend ever, and kind of her only friend since.. forever. for her, this meant a lot. it meant someone liked her enough to want to be friends and continue interacting with her, it meant she wasnt as much of a burden as people told her she was, it meant she could make friends and have someone to be there for her like she would for them. it meant everything to her.
it was only a matter of time before she grew a crush, and only another matter of time before she found out her feelings were actually shared. despite the difficulties posed by their clearly different worlds, rowan had told her she hadnt minded, and since she could swim, it'd be almost the same thing as her being one of merliah's kind.
delighted and, for the first time in awhile, genuinely happy, merliah grew clingy to rowan very quickly. she smothered the other sima in what she had called "fish kisses" and gave her gifts right from the sea regularly. she offered her trinkets from shipwrecks and broken down death traps of the deep for rowan to inspect, since she was a collector, and brought her things from her private collection often.
everything was going great it seemed, and as the weeks turned into months with rowan in her life, merliah found herself feeling the best she had since she was able to perceive her own feelings and emotions and think for herself.
she supposed she should have known it wouldnt last.
it had been a regular old day for merliah--sneaking past the guards, avoiding sharks looking for a snack, trying not to spear herself on the ships that dotted the ocean floor--nothing was different. nothing should've been different.
she was so excited to see rowan again, only to find her nowhere to be seen. she was right on time, rowan should've been here already or at least coming down the feeble wooden steps leading to the shore, but she wasnt here. she wasnt anywhere.
confused, she searched around the reefs and banks thinking maybe she had tried to find her or swam out too far, but she found nothing. looking on land again also led her to nothing. there was no indication rowan had ever been here, in fact.
still, she waited. she waited from dusk 'till dawn for three whole days, and still rowan had not shown up. sluggishly, the sima retreated into the water without a glance back at the shore, heartbroken and defeated.
when she finally returned home, she met everything with nonchalance. she answers questions honestly but her voice wasnt in it. it was flat, muted, dulled down. merliah eventually stowed away in her room, locking the door, closing the windows and curtains, and refusing to face anyone.
for days, she continued this unhealthy behavior until one day, her mother and father decided to try to pull her out of her slump. they entered her room and talked with her, voices more gentle than she'd ever remembered them being. they talked for hours, and merliah had started a crying fest at least three times during the whole thing.
eyes red and shoulders feeling significantly lighter, at least for now, merliah ended up coming out of her shell to face the real world again. she threw herself into training, both as a princess and as a fighter, and continued with her less than stellar background activities. she put her entire being into everything, refusing to let herself think about rowan anymore.
rowan was gone. rowan was probably somewhere else, probably happy, and that was all she needed to know. she would be content as long as rowan was happy. that was what she told herself whenever she started to remember it and feel down. she didnt need rowan anymore, and using someone else as an easy way to feel happy wasnt in her nature. she had to find her own happiness, grab it, and keep it within arms reach with her own strength. she couldnt rely on everyone else to do things for her. she had to get her gills wet before she told others to jump into the water for her.
this brings things to the current time. merliah has a much better relationship with her parents now, however things are still rocky, but they're working on it and managing just fine. merliah is still kind of a brat, still does things she's not supposed to, and still manages to anger half the kingdom's upper class with her unruly behavior, but she's got her parents to help guide her through any future trials she might face, and she honestly wouldnt have it any other way.
daughter of the water wrote:![]()
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