Okay, so this is a story I am writing that is kinda like the Little Mermaid, but much more different, if that makes any sense xDDDD Anyway, I hope you enjoy~~~

Scales glimmering in the glow of the sun beaming through the water. Her tail, stronger than that of any other fish, pushed her through the waters of what the humans called the North Atlantic. A long mop of beautiful gold hair flowed from her head, a smile on her face as she swam. Above her was what the merpeople called 'human territory'. Only those with legs were accepted into the world. But of all the fish in her kingdom, she was the only one curious enough of the human world to want to go ashore. Many times had she been told the human world was dangerous. Full of war and destruction. Aggrivation and corruption. Violence and rape, but Maren had always had a firm belief there was good in everyone, even in the wicked sea-witch Alice, which seemed close to impossible.

She smiled, swimming upwards with a mighty thrust of her tail and breaking the barrier between the seafolk and landfolk. She looked around at the fluffy white bundles resting in the sky. A large brightly coloured orb sat in the sky, illuminating the landscape. Day and night, her father had told her. She smiled, closing her eyes for a moment. She sucked in the smells into her nose, something she couldn't do underwater. The beautiful smell of seasalt, dried fish and...humans? She blinked, turning around as a large fishing vessel ploughed through the waves towards her, making her seem small and insignificant. She gasped, diving under the wake of the ship before she was crushed under the beast. Once passed, she popped back up again, watching it with curiousity. On deck men were laughing, some even singing. They hadn't noticed her, luckily. She watched them, intrigued by there behaviour somewhat different to that of the people of her kingdom.

She blinked at the sight of a bird, fluttering around the head of a man with silver hair before finally perching on his shoulder. She tilted her head to the side, watching him as he cast the nets out of the ship before patting his bird on the head. She giggled, smiling slightly. As the time passed by, she followed the ship, watching the young human male. With her preoccupied mind, she didn't notice that she had become part of the catch of the day until they started to reel in the nets, Maren becoming enveloped inside the net as it closed up on her. Closer and closer she went to the surface as the nets rose up, panic rising within her as she struggled and fought to free herself. Fish around her tried the same, flopping madly to escape. It was only a matter of time...until she was caught. She squeezed her eyes shut, biting on her lip tight enough to draw a single trickle of blood.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw bright violet eyes staring into her azure eyes. She blinked, looking at the owner of such magnificent eyes, seeing it was the young human she had been watching. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, glancing back at his shipmates.

"Guys! Get me a blanket!" He ordered, a shipmate grabbing said blanket and passing it to him. He wrapped her in the blanket, covering her tail before picking her up. "Seems we have a girl overboard.." He said, frowning as all the men admired such a beauty this girl had. She blinked, totally and utterly confused, though their gazes did embarrass her slightly, a light blush creeping onto her face.

"..."

"She shall be in my quarters, away from you pack of wolves.." He mumbled, the rest of the crew chuckling and waving it off, a few whining in protest. He sighed, carrying her to his cabin and setting her on the bed, biting his lip. "...Mermaid huh..?" He whispered.

She blinked, not knowing what to say, instead examining him. She blinked, grabbing his leg suddenly, causing him to fall backwards.

"H-Hey!" He yelped, blushing slightly as she pulled his boot off, staring at his toes in awe. She grabbed one, jumping slightly as the gurgling noise he made. She tilted her head to the side, blinking before he began giggling like a little child. "S-Stop it! That tickles!" She smiled, giggling also with a smile that seemed to gleam like a million pearls. He watched her for a moment, smiling also, which was apparently a rare sight for him as she had watched him on deck.

"M-Maren.." She said, blushing slightly. She wasn't used to speaking in the open like this. Underwater your voice became a gurgle. A coherent one, but still much different to being in the human territory. He blinked, thinking for a moment before realising that she was trying to tell him her name. He smiled slightly.

"I'm Ásbjörn." He said, the girl smiling in delight and grabbing his cheeks. He rose an eyebrow in confusion at her action, blinking. He really was interesting, she thought to herself.

"H-Hej!" Maren grinned, smiling up at him.

"A-Ah, H-Hallo.." He said, smiling back. She was cute, he had to admit. That was why he had to keep her hidden from the others, not only because she was cute, but because of her being the thing of legend. A fairytale. Mermaids don't exist, yet here she was. It was still taking some time for him to grasp. Once they went ashore, he would free her back to the ocean so none of his crew became suspicious if one day she just randomly disappeared from the ship.

Around dinner time, he walked into the cabin with some fish, handing it to her.

"Here, you must be hungry." He said, watching the girl take a bite and spit it out again.

"I-I don't eat fish..." She whispered. He blinked. If she didn't eat fish, what did she eat?

"K-Kelp and seaweed..." She whispered, seeing his obviously confused expression. He thought for a moment, disappearing and returning a few moments later, passing her a plate of seaweed.

"It gets caught in the net sometimes." He said, smiling as she chowed down the seaweed, finishing it with a rather satisfied look on her face.

"Tak."

A/N:

I hope you liked it. I shall post the next chapter soon. C: I promiiisssee~~~

By the way, for those who don't know, Maren is Fem!Denmark and Ásbjörn is Iceland.