[[ D'rinha's Story for Saint's Wake 7A.0005 ]]
"When I was young, I hated the morbid. I was fierce in it, regardless... But that was exactly /why/ I hated it."
"However, There's one story that fascinated me... It scared me too, but I found myself feeling empathy for the 'monster'... For the first time in my life."
He sighs, fidgeting his hands as he tries to ignore the people here and just speak.
"Sarume, and I would go to the Bloodshore on occasion... It wasn't far at all, and the beaches were more pleasant."
"She liked to ramble on and on about various things... But local legends were some of her favorites, and one night... She told me about the Bleeding Lady."
"This was far, far before that man owned it... But... Thinking on it... How has he managed to avoid her all these years?"
"The Lady, I mean... The ghost who haunts the shallows there, dragging terrible men to their watery graves."
"The name's a bit... Odd. Nothing about her death was all that bloody, but I suppose... It may be more of a swear, or a reference to her hunting grounds."
"Regardless of this, however... Her fate was fierce gruesome."
"A daughter of a merchant, fell for a fisherman. Gave him her heart and soul, and they were bonded soon after..."
"Not even a year in, however... She caught him with his mistress under the cliffs."
"Heart broken, she tried to confront him... But things quickly turned sour."
"His mistress shoved her, and the Lady fell into the shallows. Before she could get up, her husband... The one she loved so dearly..."
"Held her down."
"The towns folk never did find her... But when another moon had passed, her husband had already married his mistress. Lived with her in the house the Lady's dowry bought..."
"Well... Many years later, the bastard started hearing wailing any time he'd take his boat out."
"Screams on the high sea, which had no source, and sounded... Far too familiar for him to seek the town's help."
"He'd stay closer to shore to avoid them... But that meant less fish... And even then... The screams became calls. Shouts and hollers, just out of discernible range."
"Eventually, he stopped taking his boat out all together, opting instead to fish from the docks..."
"But just as before... The shouts became spoken words..."
"His name... I love yous... That sort of thing."
"He made for the beach, the voice becoming clearer and clearer... Until it was only a whisper in his ear."
"I. Miss. You."
"They found him face down in the shallows that morning. His body bloated and festering..."
"If not for his wife swearing she sent him off to work that morning, and his mates seeing him at the pub that night..."
"They would have all assumed he'd been dead for a whole moon."
"So now... Every once in a while... Local bastards and those who've been known to wrong the women in their lives..."
"Wash up on the shore. Face down in the shallows."
[[ Sources & Boss Comments ]]
This has been adapted from a macro! This won't be the format for stories going forward, but I thought it was best to preserve the spoken nature of the story.