A/N:
This chapter had no Taoris whatsoever, only RaKe, so I'm sorry to the people who don't like RaKe that much. This is the last backstory chapter I'll do, so please bear (bare?) with me. 
Also, this chapter image is only up because I think it's a cool image, and this is a bit what Snake's eyes look like.  
Thank you for your patience; don't forget to comment!
<3
—Sujinnie

RYU'S POV

20 MONTHS EARLIER

    It was two in the morning again and I was swinging out my window, like clockwork. I crunched into the street, looking around and wondering where to go tonight. I had all the freedom in the world, a brilliant expanse of stars watching me and cool night breeze. 
    I wondered briefly where Zane was, what he was doing, and frowned. I wished there was a way for me to contact him...
    I turned in a random direction, my hands in my pockets and a tune on my breath. I looked up when I bumped into something, finding myself standing in front of a sign for a nature reserve. I shrugged, stepping around it and walking into the entrance. 
    The reserve was basically a bunch of fenced in golf courses next to open fields of deer. I could hear water faintly in the distance and realized I must be close to the river, exhaling deeply before beginning the trek to the water. My footsteps echoed because of the trees and I paused once to listen to the wind in the trees, the rustling of animals settling behind me. 
    The river was suddenly in front of me, a rushing burbling expanse of silver with several large rocks a few feet out. There were damp leaves decomposing on the ground and I scuffed through them, walking to the bluff overlooking the water. 
    I threw my head back and spread my arms wide, a low laugh bubbling from my lips. This was peace and freedom, and I stepped even closer to the edge to consider the moon. I let loose an impulsive yell, then a howl, listening to my voice stretch weakly alongside the murmur of the water. 
    A tiny chuckle behind me made me whip around, simultaneously spotting a dark figure behind me and losing my footing as part of the bluff crumbled away. I gasped as I found myself pinwheeling through air and then the thudding impact of icy water hit me. 
    I spluttered to the surface, my arms flapping uselessly next to me as my shoes filled with water and pulled me down. Panicked thoughts rushed through me—too cold, can't swim, can't breathe—and I struggled to make sense of them. The water closed over my head like a slap and I was suddenly choking in leaves and water, silt grating along my tongue and rocks leaving bruising kisses on my knees and shins. I yanked my head up with a gasp, my chest heaving. 
    The water was so cold I couldn't breathe properly and I slipped under again, the water slamming me into a large rock and knocking the breath from me. I couldn't get back to the surface and my lungs ached, my head feeling as though it was going to explode. 
    There was a sudden loud splash next to me and I turned blindly, beginning to panic when something slick and strong wrapped around my neck. I thrashed, hands grasping at the creature and pulling back when I came into contact with a row of spikes. I was yanked above the water, my chin supported by the strong hold around my neck, and drew in a choking gasping breath. 
    There was something next to me, keeping me reclined against it while it began a clean sidestroke to the bank. I gave up, knowing there was no way I would win against an animal now, and just struggled to in more air. I got a mouthful of water and gagged, feeling rocks and then dirt scraping along my back when I dragged along the bank. 
    I closed my eyes, shivering and shaking while someone my side and pounded on my back. I waved them away and pleaded with whatever creature it was to just kill me quickly, don't beat me to death. 
    I was turned over on my back and there was someone pressing hard on my ribs, rhythmically pumping on my bones with bruising force. I could feel water bubbling up in the back of my throat and gagged again. 
    My eyes flickered open and I turned to the side, retching up dirty water and struggling to draw air into my lungs. The pressure became gentle hands on my shoulder and back, rubbing soothing circles onto my wet shirt while I choked. 
    "Good, breathe, take it easy." 
    I rolled another half-turn onto my back to look above me, blinking in shock when I saw Zane staring back at me. His hair was dripping into his eyes and he sniffed and dragged his wrist over his nose, water droplets falling from his fingertips. 
    "Breathe." Zane suggested quietly, moving away from me to stretch out in the leaves. He hugged one knee loosely to his chest, watching me with soft blue eyes. 
    "What are you doing here?" I gasped, pushing myself up on my hands, feeling the leaf litter crunching under my palms. Zane shrugged, tossing his fingers through his hair and trying to wring out the hem of his dripping shirt. 
    "Are you okay?" Zane asked. I nodded, beginning to shiver slightly in the night air, and hugged my arms tightly to my sides. 
    "Were you following me?" I asked hesitantly. Zane's eyes flicked to the ground and I noticed a freshly fading bruise ringing one eye, purple and green and yellowed at the edges. 
    "I'm sorry." Zane mumbled shyly. He ran his hands through his hair another time and I noticed a strange glimmering around his fingers, an inconsistency around his skin. 
    "What is that?" I asked, pointing. Zane looked from my hand to his with wide eyes, then slowly blinked. 
    Zane took a steadying breath and then held out his hand for me to inspect. His fingers were spread wide, and there was a strange shimmering in between his fingers until delicate webbing appeared. I flinched back with a gasp, looking at the translucent membranes that stretched between his fingers. There were small spikes on the back of his knuckles, and his skin had a faint bluish tinge around his wrists and the backs of his hands.  
    Zane turned away after a few moments, reaching behind him to draw the back of his shirt up until it was crumpled around his shoulders. There was another membrane lying flat against his spine and he slowly raised it, revealing a spiked fin not unlike the sail on the back of a swordfish. It stretched from halfway through his shoulder blades to his lower back, and it glittered iridescently. 
    Without thinking my hand reached out to touch it, and the membrane was silky soft and cool with water. Zane flinched but didn't pull away, and I gently felt the points of the spikes that stretched along the top of the fin. They were thick but sharp, and I narrowly avoided slicing my finger on one. 
    "Do you have these all the time?" I asked, awed. My fingers slipped down the membrane again until I reached where it joined the skin of his back, feeling the transition from cool silk to warm flesh. 
    "No." Zane said hesitantly. "Just when I'm fully submerged. I can glamour them too, if I want."
    "Glamour?" I asked, curious. Zane nodded, the fin slowly falling and then slipping away. The webs between his fingers also melted away, and when I reached out to lace our fingers together I was met with no resistance. 
    "Yes. Hide them, with a small illusion spell." Zane mumbled, pulling his hand away to tug his shirt down. 
    "What are you exactly?" I asked. Zane shrugged, turning to face me again and crossing his legs, his hands resting in his lap. 
    "Have you ever heard of a nokk?" Zane asked. I shook my head, and he sighed the way people do when they're trying to think of a way to explain something complicated. 
    "It's kind of like a water spirit, like a nixie." Zane tried again. I nodded, and Zane shook his head. "But they're males."
    "Okay, so...male water spirits. Keep going." I said, nodding slightly. Zane took another deep breath, fiddling with his hands. 
    "So...when I was little—like four years old, I think—I noticed that water felt different for me. Like, it was easier to breathe and I could go a lot faster than the other kids. I was getting to the age where my transformations would start if I was submerged, and I was forbidden from ever swimming again. That night, my mom told me what I was." Zane said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 
    "My mom and dad took a trip to the beach a few years before I was born. My mom met a man when they were on vacation, and they fell in love. They continued their affair for several years, but he was killed before they could become married. After he died, my mother realized she was...she was pregnant with me. He was a nokk." Zane said. 
    I was quiet, listening to him tell a story he had probably never told anyone else. It sounded rehearsed, like he had told it to himself hundreds of times, but there was the occasional waver of breath that let me know how nervous he really was. 
    "She hoped—prayed—that I wouldn't be like him, that she could hide me as her husband's. But supernatural blood is always dominant, and I gained some of his traits, like his eyes. Her husband eventually found out though, and my mother confessed. She died in a house fire when I was six, before they could divorce. Her husband always blamed me for her death." Zane said, fiddling with his fingers. 
    "Why would he blame you?" I asked softly. 
    "She died carrying me out. I was stupid, I saw the flames and froze. Burning is the worst way to die." Zane said, shivering slightly. He drew small circles in the dirt at his side, chewing on his lower lip. 
    "Zane, that's not your fault. You were six," I said gently. Zane shrugged, looking away and then glancing back at me. 
    "I'm sorry I followed you; I needed to get away." Zane said. The bruise around his eye had mostly faded, and I nodded.
    "I'm glad you did. I'm a terrible swimmer." I admitted. Zane chuckled a little, looking at the way I was shivering and standing up. 
    "Come, let's get you home." Zane smiled, offering a hand to me. I took it gratefully, his skin smooth and cool against mine. 
    I sensed that Zane was done talking, but I still had one last question as we walked to the entrance of the small nature reserve. 
    "What about your—her husband? Why does he hurt you? Why do you let him?" I asked. Zane shrugged, brushing his fringe out of his eyes and putting his hands in his back pockets. 
    "He only does it when he drinks. He discovered that alcohol makes me stop healing and changing. It makes me human, confuses my body. Since then, he's been pushing alcohol on me. Ever now and then, he drinks some himself and then things get...ugly." Zane said, his bare feet crunching on the gravel by the side of the street. 
    "I'm sorry." I said quietly. Zane looked over at me in surprise and I stopped in front of my foster parent' house. He halted too, looking down at me with a tiny smile. 
    "It's not your fault. It's not that bad." Zane said, reaching out to ruffle my hair. "I'll see you around."
    "Wait!" I said, holding my hands out. Zane raised one eyebrow and I quickly scampered into my bedroom window, grabbing a pad of paper and a pencil. I