Mash Up Two Classic Fairy Tales

Location: Albireo

Aliens: Rechin, Anguillar

It is said that the Rechin and Anguillar have always been enemies. The ocean planet Albireo has always had its “Seam” that separated the two oceans and therefore the two races. But once upon a time, a Rechin climbed out of his ocean and crossed the Seam. No one can say why, maybe he needed an adventure. Or maybe he had grown tired of never seeing the other half of the world.

 Whatever the case, he traversed the rocky shoal and plunged into the Anguillar sea. He was immediately met by an Anguillar, sliding through the water effortlessly with his long, eel-like tail. The Rechin said he came in peace, and the Anguillar said the same. The Anguillar showed the Rechin his world. The Rechin was startled to find it was not entirely dissimilar from his own. This made him wonder why they could not get along.

 A year passed this way and the two became closer and closer. The Anguillar hid the Rechin from his friends and family, knowing they might kill them both if they were caught. However, they had grown so close and relied on one another so deeply, they moved to a remote cave on the ocean floor and became bonded for life. The Rechin missed his home from time to time, but they were happy together.

 So it was that they lived and hunted together happily. Until one day, the Anguillar heard that something strange was happening in the ocean. Fish were dying in droves and they feared food would become scarce. The Rechin had the idea to stockpile food in the back of their cave, so that if the situation should get worse, they would be able to live isolated for a little longer. Days passed and then weeks, and it seemed the problem had gone away.

 Unbeknownst to the Anguillar, the Rechin had been eating from their stockpile. Anytime the Anguillar should leave on his own, the Rechin would eat just a little. Why not? The Rechin reasoned. All is well, and the food must be eaten sometime.

 However, the blight returned and lean times descended on the pair. They hunted what they could, but it became apparent that they would need fall back on their reserves. The Rechin eventually ran out of excuses to keep the Anguillar away from the empty stockpile, and his shameful secret came to light. The Anguillar became enraged, asking how the Rechin could have done this, calling him selfish and cruel. The Rechin warned the Anguillar should let it be, but the Anguillar was tired and starving. He railed against the Rechin. The Rechin was hungry, too. He tried to leave, but the Anguillar held him back.

 And so, the Rechin ate the Anguillar up.

 The Anguillar’s blood spilled out into the water, creating crimson clouds that rolled along with the tide. The Rechin decided to go back to his ocean, to leave all of this, all he had done, behind. However, the Red Tide borne from the Anguillar’s blood made it impossible to see. Lost and alone, the Rechin heard the ocean ask why.

 Such is the way of the world, the Rechin said sadly.

 The ocean wept, and seeing this so did the fish, and seeing this so did the other creatures of the sea. Their tears filled the Anguillar ocean until it covered the shoal, the blood red tide spilling out into the Rechin ocean, too. Seeing the Seam, the Rechin swam as hard as he could to get to the other side. Just as he met the middle of the Seam, the two oceans fell apart again, pulling away from the shoal, stranding him among the rocks.

 The Rechin tried to traverse the dry land as he had once before. But every time he tried to jump back into his home ocean, the red tide would pick him up and put him back. Eventually, he tried to return to the Anguillar ocean and found it would not accept him either.

 He died alone among the rocks. With his last breath, he asked the oceans why.

 Such is the way of the world, they said, the first and only time they were united.