A/N: This story was inspired by a beautiful manip by Starscythe on tumblr (full link in my profile) that she graciously gave me permission to use as a cover. The wonderful and brilliant LillieGrey asked for a fic and this is what I came up with. An OQ take on The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Forest style.
Unbeataed, all mistakes are mine. I don't own OUAT or the Little Mermaid, nor any of their characters.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Saviour and the Thief
She watches the ship from afar. She shouldn't be at the surface, her mother would kill her if she found out, but Regina has always been curious about the human world. "You're a mermaid, you're not supposed to be curious, you foolish girl, you're supposed to lure them towards the rocks so they will drown before they can hurt us. Until you understand that, you will not go up there." Cora had said.
Regina has no idea why Cora hates the humans so much, although she heard rumours that her mother once loved a man, long ago before she married Regina's father, and was rejected when he realized who she really was. All humans can't be like that, Regina thinks, before narrowing her eyes at a commotion on the boat. A man is being shoved on a plank over the edge, his hands and feet tied. One final violent push and he falls into the water.
Regina doesn't even take time to think about the consequences and swims swiftly towards the drowning man. She grabs him under his arms and races to the shore as fast as she can. She tries to keep his head out of the water despite the added exertion it demands. Finally, they're on the sand but he isn't moving and Regina doesn't know what to do. She shakes him hard and sighs in relief when he gasps and splutters, spitting out the liquid he swallowed.
She helps him to lie back down, droplets falling from her long ebony hair on his face. He looks at her then, his eyes are the colour of the sea she just saved him from and she knows she is lost. He smiles, his hand cups her cheek. "I owe you my life, Milady. What shall I call my saviour?" He asks, his voice hoarse and rough. Her face falls as she tries to reply but remembers she can't, Cora took away her voice until she learns her lesson and decides to act like a real mermaid should.
She shakes her head sadly and seizes his hand to put on his heart. "Milady?" He calls back as she moves away and back in the water. "Milady, will I ever see you again?" He shouts but she can't bring herself to look back.
The blue eyed man stays unmoving long after his saviour has left. A mermaid, he thinks, he has been saved by a mermaid. He had always thought they were legendary creatures, even after all the stories he has heard in all the realms he has visited, and now he owes his life to one. The most beautiful creature he has ever set eyes on, legs or no legs, has just rescued him and fled before he could learn anything about her.
He doesn't even know her name or if he can ever see her again. He will try though, he may be a drunken lowly thief but he is Robin Hood and he always pays his debts.
He finally gets up and makes his way back to the port where this whole damn adventure started and where he hopes his friends will still be waiting for him. A band of thieves in a pirate harbour, there was no way it was going to end well, and of course Robin didn't improve the situation when he provoked a one-handed captain into bargaining his latest plunder at cards and then accused him of cheating. An extremely inane thing to do when you are surrounded by said captain's ruthless crew.
Next thing he knew he was bounded hands and feet, a sack over his head and roughly tossed on the hard floor of a vessel's deck. The rest is history, even if he still has trouble coming to terms with it. He hitches a ride on a cart and is back at the inn on the docks by sundown. The establishment is rather well-kept as taverns go. He has seen some much shabbier places, with a much more wretched clientèle. That's probably why it is so easy to find his men, they look out of place. Well that and the fact they don't seem to have moved since the night before. Has it really been a whole day?
He approaches and notices the solemn mood around the table, along with the many empty pints.
"Why so glum, men? Has someone died?" Robin inquires and they all straighten up so quickly that some of them slip and fall down on their asses. They gape at him disbelievingly.
"Robin?" Little John exclaims. "You're alive?" He stammers.
Robin looks down at himself and back at his pale band of usually fearless thieves. "Does it look like I'm a ghost to you?" He teases.
"We were sure that they would have thrown you overboard in the high sea, weighted and chained, first chance they got. What happened? How did you escape?" Alan-a-Dale queries in a salve of rapid questions.
Robin grins. "Well, they sure tried but it turns out I have a lucky star."
The others stare, not following. "Whatever do you mean?" Friar Tuck stutters with difficulty, squinting at him.
The Merry Men's leader looks around and then leans on his arms supporting himself on the table. They all gather closer around him.
"A mermaid," he whispers conspiratorially.
"A mermaid!" Little John blurts out loudly, causing the others to shush him and the rest of the patrons to stop talking and look at them. "Sorry, sorry."
Robin shakes his head. "You're hopeless my friend, but yes indeed a mermaid pulled me out of the water after those pirates tried to drown me."
"But Robin, this is..." Much starts but he cuts him off;
"Crazy, impossible, unheard off? I realise that, but still it is what happened and I intend to find her and thank her. Now, I'm thirsty and I'm the only one without a drink so I'm going to fix that. Then, we can celebrate the fact that you won't be rid of me anytime soon," he declares before heading to the counter, leaving his men behind, speechless.
"You really saw a mermaid?" The bartender asks him discreetly as he is preparing his drink.
"What's it to you?" Robin replies, eyeing the man warily.
"No need to be like that. It's just that we haven't heard about such a rescue in a long, long time." The other man answers.
Robin's eyebrows raise in surprise. "You mean this has really happened before?"
The innkeeper nods. "Oh yes, some of the elders could tell you their stories, clear as if it was yesterday. It hasn't happened in years though, well it wasn't the same anyway." Seeing he has Robin's undivided attention, he continues, pushing the pint in front of him. "Before it wasn't rare to hear about sailors or whole crew being saved from shipwreck during a storm, but about twenty years ago it stopped. On the contrary, from then on, there were more shipwrecks for no legitimate reasons," he emphasizes.
"Why? What's changed?" Robin asks eagerly, taking a sip of his ale.
"No one knows for sure but there were whispers about a witch, a sea witch who took over control of the merfolk and changed the rules. A couple years ago, a prince from the Maritime Kingdom claimed he had been saved by a mermaid, just like you, but when he tried to talk to her she was dragged away by some monstrous creatures. He never could find her, he travelled across all the seas and oceans but he never saw her again. So if a mermaid really helped you, well either she is out of the witch's reach or she is going to face some serious consequences," the bartender finishes his tale darkly.
"You think she could be hurt because she rescued me?" Robin asks in disbelief.
"I'm saying the merfolk aren't our friends anymore, and if what you say is true, then I doubt you'll ever be able to find your saviour," the man responds.
Robin ponders for a while, biting his lip in thoughts.
"You seem to be well-versed in those things," he states at last and there is just enough implied accusation in his tone for the bartender to bristle.
"I have spent all my life in this tavern, I have heard a lot of things."
Robin nods his head, a serious expression on his face. "Since you know so much, let's say I want to stop this sea witch. What would you advise me to do?"
The bartender looks at him with wide eyes. "I would tell you to go dig your grave now because this foolish idea is a sure way to die young."
Robin smirks. "What if I wanted to try it anyway?" He insists.
The bartender sighs. "The captain you provoked last night? He lost his hand to a powerful sorcerer. A man who it is said can accomplish the impossible, for a price," he mumbles, his voice barely audible.
"Who is that man?" Robin presses, inclining his head closer.
"The Dark One," the other man mutters. "He goes by the name..."
"I know," Robin interrupts. "I heard about him."
"He is your best bet," the innkeeper asserts.
"I'm not so sure about that," Robin objects. "I'll find another way. Thank you for your help," he adds, turning around to join his men.
"If you think you can defeat this witch on your own or by asking help from the fairies, you can say goodbye to your little mermaid right now," the man calls back. "But that's up to you."
Robin exhales deeply, briefly looks back to nod at the innkeeper and walks to the table.
"We're leaving, men," he announces and heads to the door without waiting for them. They exchange looks and scramble to their feet in a racket of dragged chairs, falling pints and yelled confused calls for their Thieve-in-Chief.
No one notices the strange grin on the innkeeper's face or the glint in his eyes, nor do they hear the light cackle he lets escape as the door closes behind them.
Regina is desperately trying to enter the Coral Palace without being seen. She hopes her absence wasn't noticed. She finally goes back to her room and freezes when she sees her sister there.
"Hi, sis!" Zelena exclaims cheerfully, her flaming red hair flowing behind her as she nears her. "Had fun today? Went on another of your little expeditions to the surface? Mother is going to be so unhappy when she finds out," she chides gleefully.
Regina's eyes widen and she shakes her head wildly, silently begging her sibling not to say anything.
Zelena gets even closer to her, and caresses her cheek softly before seizing her chin forcefully. "My poor, poor idealistic sister. Mother already took your voice and you didn't learn your lesson. The prodigal daughter falling in disgrace. She always put you first, the smarter, prettier, better singer. Her little perfect pet mermaid," she spats. "Well, things are going to change now, aren't they? Mother knows all about you saving that human and she is coming for you." She tells Regina sweetly, madness dancing in her eyes, not once releasing her hold. The redhead seems to relish in her sister's terror.
"Regina! Regina! You need to go now. Cora in on the rampage and if she finds you... OH!" Regina's friend, Ursula, stops talking the second she sees Zelena there. Her gaze go from one sister to the other.
"How nice of you to come inform my sister, Ursula. If she could talk, I'm sure she would say how much she appreciates the gesture." Zelena mocks, smiling at the younger mermaid.
"Well, if that isn't my runaway daughter!" Cora exclaims. "Is this a party I was not invited to?" She asks, observing the scene. "Ursula, your father is waiting for you to sing for our guests," she addresses the girl coldly and Ursula leaves, throwing one last sorry look at Regina.
"Zelena, I'm sure you can be useful there too," Cora adds, as an afterthought, to her eldest daughter, ignoring the disappointment on her face as she releases her younger sister regretfully. "Well, it's only the two of us now." Cora's gaze turns predatory as she swims around Regina, like an eagle would circle its prey before striking.
Regina swallows nervously, trying to control her jittery nerves.
"I have always had such high hopes for you, my darling." Her mother continues. "Everyone always complimented on how much you look like me but I'm afraid they were wrong. You are nothing like me, otherwise why would you continuously ignore my wishes and commands? I thought taking your voice would be enough, but I'm sad to say I'm going to have to take more serious measures from now on."
Regina's eyes fill with tears and she tries to talk, desperate to tell her mother not to do that.
"You went too far my love. A trip to the surface out of curiosity, I can turn a blind eye to it, but this? Rescuing a human? Don't you remember little Ariel? Wasn't that incentive enough?"
Regina mouths 'Please' over and over but her mother's eyes only harden. Cora slaps her, one of her heavy rings cutting back open her daughter's already scarred lip and Regina's tears finally flow, mixing with the water surrounding them, as she tastes her own blood.
"You don't beg, Regina, I taught you better than that! You never beg anyone, you are my daughter. You should look down on them all but instead you chose to be their friend, their equal. If that's how you want to be seen, then fine, I'll treat you like one of them," Cora concludes with an air of finality and resignation.
"Flotsam, Jetsam," she calls and her trusted green moray eels come instantly by her side. "Take my daughter where you know and don't let anyone stop you," she orders, her eyes not leaving Regina as she watches her being seized tightly by her creatures and being dragged away, Regina fighting them every step of the way.
Regina twists around, struggling against their hold to look back at her mother, screaming even if she can't be heard, pleading in vain.
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