To Love the Sea
Disclaimer – I do not own the characters. I'm not making money off of this story. The story and characters belong to abc's Once Upon a Time. If I did happen to own it then Killian's boots would be under my bed every night…if you know what I mean haha ;] and I'd do very naughty things to that amazingly gorgeous pirate. Just so everyone knows Ariel looks like JoAnna Garcia, who has been casted as my favorite Disney Princess 3
Full Summary – Two hundred and fifty years before the curse is a story of a Mermaid Princess and a Pirate Captain. Ariel upon her husband's insistence brings him to the land of her birth, Neverland. There tragedy strikes and she loses her love by a dark soul's hands.She then meets a certain pirate Captain with a hook for a hand who lost his love in a similar way. Unwilling to return to the sea to be with her family and morn the loss of true love she stays aboard the Jolly Roger with the infuriating Hook and his crew. What happens when after almost three centuries being around one another the two learn to love again? What happens to them when an old promise of revenge, and a curse rips them apart for 28 years before they can later be reunited?
Warning – This chapter contains Character death.
Chapter One – First Encounter
Ariel wasn't sure what possessed her to bring Eric here. To the land of her birth. Where nothing but the weather as well as the day changes. A land where time has no meaning and one simply does not age while there. A land that once night falls a chorus of heart wrenching sobs emanated from the youngest of the Lost Boys echoed throughout the island and out to the farthest reaches of the ocean. Neverland.
Despite warning Eric of the dangers the island posed he still wanted to see her world…or at least part of it. So here they were in the immense green tropical forest of Neverland. The smell of the trees mixed with the scent of the fresh water river streaming nearby. Ariel listened as Eric marveled at the lush greenery and the strange flowers he had never seen in the Enchanted Forest.
Her green brown eyes didn't pay much attention to the scenery, rather what lurked just beyond the trees. The mermaid's eyes often drifted to the sky keeping in mind how much daylight there was left and for a certain shadow figure to swoop down and attempt to steal her love's shadow, his very soul, and devour it.
"Ariel this place is amazing!" Eric stated as he turned to his wife noticing her slight wariness that melted partially at the praise of her world.
"I haven't really come up on the land when I lived here. Only really to the beach where some of human's lost things appeared so I could collect them," Ariel said with a smile before looking up once more. She noticed that the sun was quickly setting and soon night would fall. Not long after the crying would start, "I think it's time we go back to the beach and get back to the realm of the Enchanted Forest. It's nearly night time."
The mermaid nearly cursed out loud when the darkness came as soon as she uttered those words. It had been three years since she had been there. Time in the Enchanted Forest worked differently. She did not remember that the days in Neverland were so much shorter when it was fast approaching winter and the nights seemed to drag on endlessly. It was early summertime in Eric's realm.
Her hand reached for him as she stumbled forward slightly wanting to leave quickly. Even though she had been using legs for the better part of three years she still wasn't as graceful as she had hoped. As Eric's strong smooth hands steadied her the first mournful echoes filled the air.
"What is that? It sounds like children."
"It's the Lost Boys, the younger ones at least. Come we must go," Ariel urged as she tried to pull him back towards the direction they came.
"We must help them. They could be hurt Ariel…is this why you didn't want to be here after night fall?" Eric asked as he stepped away from her.
With a sigh she tucked a strand of her dark red hair from her face and avoided his dark blue eyes as she nodded, "It was one of the reasons. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist wanting to help the Lost Boys, if you tried—"
"If you tried then Pan would rip your shadow from you. Do you know how painful that is? Rrrriiippppp," The new comer stated as he emerged from the trees with a dark smirk upon his scarred face.
"Felix. We were just leaving. Peter has nothing to worry about," Ariel said as she moved in front of Eric as if you guard him.
Eric however had another idea and pulled Ariel behind him with his left hand as he drew his sword with his right pointing the blade at Felix defensively, "Who are you?"
"Why I'm one of the Lost Boys," Felix was otherwise unafraid of Eric as he held his own weapon, a thick and heavy branch that had a round uneven shape at the top, resting against his right shoulder. His stance was relaxed but still somehow seemed threatening. Maybe it was the dark and tattered hood shadowing his face, the wild look in his eyes, the x-shaped scar on the right side of his face, or all three combined.
"Eric, lets go. Please!"
He turned his head to her as she moved towards his left side taking in her pleading look. "You know we can't. I won't leave those boys behind. They need help."
Felix chuckled and brought the pairs eyes back to him. His own eyes raised and Ariel gasped in horror as her eyes drifted up as well to see the shadow figure Peter usually took changed to when he took flight. The glowing white eyes were focused on Eric as he came down and reached his hands into his back before pulling and extracting the Prince's shadow. Ariel was aware of her screams that filled the air and were drowned out slightly by the Lost Boys crying for their parents to rescue them.
Eric's limp body fell to the ground as Peter pulled his shadow away, to where she didn't know. Her hazel eyes stung and fat salty tears fell down her cheeks, raining down upon Eric's face as she bent over him crying for him to wake up. Ariel looked up again to see the shadow floating above her.
Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him through her tears, "Y—you monster!"
"Now calm down mermaid. I'm sure Peter will give you a head start to run from here. You wanted to leave after all and that must've earned you some mercy in Pan's eyes."
Clouds formed seemingly out of nowhere as her anger was directed towards Felix who was sneering down at her, "At least let me take him back to his world so he can have a proper burial."
"You shouldn't have brought him here in the first place. Clock's ticking Ariel."
She turned her head down to her now dead husband. Was it only this morning he was laughing warmly and peppering her with kisses as he begged her to come here? With a soft kiss, that she hoped in vain would restore him back to the way he was, Ariel apologized to him. With a heart-tearing sob she stood shakily grabbing Eric's fallen sword and ran for the beach. If she got to the water she'd be safe.
The trees and bushes seemed to grab at her as she ran past. Thorns and branches pulling at the delicate fabric of her teal dress caused rips in the skirt. Twigs from the trees that descended like gnarled fingers would occasionally grab at her dark red curls that flowed like waves in the wind behind her. Through her blurred vision she could hardly make out the roots that seemed to jump up in attempts to trip her. Ariel, though she could hardly see, knew she was going the right way. She could smell the saltiness to the air that alerted her to the ocean that was not to far ahead of her. Faintly over the sobs the sounds of the waves kissing the shore could be heard.
Finally breaking through the brush Ariel gave another sob as the black waves beckoned to her. She was only a few feet away from the cold inviting water when her foot caught on a rock jutting out of the grayish sand. As she fell forward she cried out tossing the sword to her side not wanting to land on it and cut herself. Ariel's head collided with a thick trunk of beached driftwood as her body landed on the cool soft sand. Feeling dazed and the edges of her vision fading into blackness she tried pushing herself up and reached for the water before she felt forward again letting the seduction of the darkness overtake her.
The sound of wood creaking softly and the feel of the warm bed underneath her that smelt oddly of the sea and something sharper, that she couldn't quite put a name to, was what she first became aware of. Her eyes refused to open and her head felt as if it were split in half but she felt somewhat safe. Ariel sighed deeply with relief; her nightmare was just a dream. It didn't happen.
Footsteps echoed quietly around the room as they neared her alerting her to another's presence. She smiled but it turned into a grimace because of the pain from her temple as the bed dipped when he sat next to her. Her hand went slowly to her head but Eric's rough hand hindered her.
"Did I fall again? I just had the most horrible dream," Ariel said to Eric wrapping her hand with his frowning slightly. Her eyes were still not obeying her, remaining stubbornly shut as if they were sown closed. Ariel could not yet tell that it wasn't her love and if she could she was in deep denial trying to stay with the fantasy as long as she could. His smooth hands had more callus' than she remembered. While they bore some years of wielding a sword they were nothing compared to the large warm hand she now held.
"I'd love to hear about your dream lass, but first I'd like to know how you came to be here."
That was not her Eric's voice. Eric didn't have a deep British accent. If his voice was not his own and neither were his hands… Her eyes finally yielded to her will as she forced them open. Blinking a few times as her hazel orbs adjusted to the light of the cabin she realized where she was. Sitting up abruptly a wave of dizziness and nausea crashed over her. Letting go of the pirate's hand she lifted it to cover her mouth.
It wasn't a dream. It was very real and Eric. Oh Eric! A sob wracked her body as she cried for her lost love. Pan had stolen his shadow and devoured it and forced her to run. She fell only just a few yards from the waters edge and passed out when she hit her head.
"N—o. Gods, no! It—it was real. Eric!" She cried into her hands wishing more then anything what had happened truly didn't. Ariel wished this was just some cruel dream. A dream cooked up by her mind when she had finally given in to showing Eric Neverland the night before.
"I don't do well with women crying…especially in my bed."
Her watery eyes lifted from her hands and she glared up at the pirate who smirked down on her. Any other time she would've marveled at how light a blue his eyes were, though now they seemed like the shallowest of waters. Ariel would have thought he was quite handsome for a pirate but he was mocking her grief. She hated everything about him. His ruggedly handsome features, his jet-black hair, his cocky smirk, but most of all she hated his light blue eyes. It was then she noticed his left hand was gone and in its place was a silver hook.
"Do not mock me sir!"
"I'll mock whoever I bloody please on my ship lass. Now how did you come to be here again?"
"How do you know I wasn't from here in the first place?"
"The only adults in this realm are the crew, the Native Indians, and myself. All my crew are men and you're far too pale to be an Indian. Now I won't ask again."
He held up his hook menacingly but she could see that he wouldn't hurt her, he couldn't. She'd been hurt enough on this night. His hook cutting into her flesh would be nothing in comparison. Though it did seem sort of ironic. Maybe her father would finally see her snared on a fish-eaters hook.
"I came with my hu—husband. We were on the island…then night came…and Pe—Pan took Eric's shadow."
"Well he certainly doesn't like outsiders on his island," He stated as his tone softened. His blue eyes looked upon a woman who was like him. He had lost his love to a crocodile while this red haired beauty had just lost her own love to a similar fate, "What is your name lass?"
She looked at him confusion mixing in with her tears. Why was he all of a sudden being so nice to her? "Ariel."
"Well then Ariel. Welcome aboard the Jolly Roger love."
"And you? Who are you?"
"I am called Captain Hook."
"Alright Hook," Her brows rose before she looked at him with skepticism. Obviously it was just his nickname…and what a creative nickname it was, at the moment she didn't care what his real name was. All Ariel cared for was wondering how she was going to get Eric's body back to the Enchanted Forest without Pan knowing she was back on land. She fell back against the bed as Hook left the cabin, her head in her arms as she morned her Eric's death with her dark red hair cascading over her arms like a waterfall of waves and her shoulders shook with sobs that wracked through her body.
I wanted to start off with how they met. I didn't want to kill Eric, I'm sorry! Don't hate me! The next chapter will take place in Storybrooke, before Emma gets there...I'm just going to summarize what happens when she gets there. Anyway I'm going to do flashbacks of Ariels past with Killian like the show...its gonna be mixed up. One chapter will be a few years later, then the next it might backtrack...something like that. Anyway Read and Review let me know how you like it.
- - Aly