It did not take long before Ariel came to regret her deal with the sea-witch.
In fact, it was pretty much immediate.
As Ursula finished chanting her spell, Ariel felt the magic cleave apart her tail, shaping the human legs she had wanted so much, but as she gained her new appendages she became aware of one human trait she had, um, overlooked.
Of course she knew that humans drowned. Every merfolk knew humans drowned, it was why they stayed out of the water, unless they were safely ensconced in their ships, but Ariel hadn't really thought ahead to what her becoming human would entail. In fact she rather thought it would have ended at the feet thing, but as the luminescent whirl of magic whipped around her, the water in her lungs was forcefully expelled, and she began to choke.
„Be sure to hold your breath, princess," Ursula informed her casually, cackling as Ariel panicked, kicking her legs impotently, instinctively trying to guide her ascent to dry air.
Flounder and Sebastian caught on quickly and together they climbed to the surface. Ursula's cave was close enough to the shallows that the distance was surmountable, but the journey left her lungs burning. Breaking above the waves she heaved for air, gasping and choking, spewing the water from her lungs. It was no easy matter, though, as the surface was nearly as full of water as it was beneath, winds and waves crashing overhead, the early morning sky dark with storm-clouds and rain.
She kicked her legs, and moved her arms, holding onto Flounder in a desperate attempt to swim toward the shore she knew was only a short distance to the east. The winds came from the north, though, and Ariel's legs were weak and Flounder was small, and though together they managed to keep Ariel above the waves, they were quickly swept southward, away from the shore and away from Prince Erik.
Her birthday had come and gone, and so had the floating lights, rising into the sky with little care for Rapunzel locked away in her tower.
Mother Gothel had made her hazelnut soup and Rapunzel had received the paints she'd asked for, but the whole ordeal... the way Mother had screamed that Rapunzel was never going to leave her tower...
Rapunzel didn't want that.
She knew that the world outside was unsafe for a young girl, and she hadn't argued when Mother kept her hidden away in her tower for the last 18 years, but she was an adult now, and what Mother had once convinced her was her safe haven now felt more like a prison; Mother's concern rotted and decomposed to reveal just... paranoia. Or maybe even something worse.
Rapunzel didn't doubt that her Mother wanted her safe, but after her reaction about the floating lights, the young girl began to wonder just what she was supposed to be protected from.
She had read enough books – Mother spoiled her with books and paints and pretty things; anything she wanted really, except the freedom to go outside – she had waited and waited for the chance to meet people. Make friends. Maybe one day find a husband, or even just a – a lover, even, like the women in her books.
And she was a woman now! She was 18; no longer a child to be kept hidden away. She was learned. She knew maths and astronomy, and history. She'd read about politics and philosophy. She was well read and well spoken in not only her native German, but in English, French, Latin, Danish! She had even started teaching herself Italian only just recently. She knew what the world outside was like! She knew how to act and what would be expected of her!
And she wasn't going to sit any longer in this tower and waste the knowledge she had accrued.
Incensed and motivated, Rapunzel quickly packed a few of her favourite dresses, some fruit and nuts and dried meat, and a cooking knife because she wasn't completely naïve as to think that there weren't real threats outside her mother's paranoid imaginings, she set about constructing a pulley out of her long hair. It wasn't too difficult to modify the system she had used these long years to pull Mother up the tower into a way to get her down.
Then.
She was out.
She stood at the base of her tower, looking up at it from a vantage point she had never seen before. How crazy it was to think that she had lived in this tower for 18 years and had only ever looked down from it and never up. Everything was up from down here! The trees and the rocks were so much taller than they appeared from up high.
And the grass!
It was soft and plush and cool against her bare feet. She wiggled her toes and gasped at the simple joy of the sensation.
Bending down she ran her hands across the blades, shivering as they tickled her palms. Giggling, she flung herself backwards, rolling in the fragrant, verdant foliage as she had always dreamed.
After (very thoroughly) exploring the clearing and all its wonders, Rapunzel gathered her sack of belongings and walked into the unknown.
She'd had no particular direction in mind when she'd set out, but once she hit the open road the fear instilled in her by her mother set in, and Rapunzel quickly set about moving off the "beaten path" and away from the dangers of highwaymen and, and, and other villains that used the main roads, who would come after a vulnerable young woman.
Rapunzel stayed off the road.
Half an hour of travel through the brush and Rapunzel was beginning to rethink this whole venture.
She didn't even have any shoes!
The ground was uneven; there were roots and sticks and thorns and rocks and other detritus that stuck into the tender soles of her feet, and she really wished that Mother had thought to bring her some shoes at some point.
But of course, why would Rapunzel need shoes if she never left her tower?
Oh God – how was she going to get back into her tower?!
She'd wanted to explore, not run away completely!
Or had she?
She hadn't actually thought it out passed "I want to get out of this tower".
Perhaps she ought to have spent a little while planning this adventure before immediately climbing out the window.
She should just go home and wait for Mother to get back.
Mother would be mad, though. She'd scream and rage and Rapunzel would cry, and really, as long as she's already out, she might as well have the adventure she wanted.
She might even meet people!
Not villains and highwaymen though.
Rapunzel broke through the trees and so broke off her thought, breath taken completely by the sight in front of her. She had emerged onto a steep hill (she didn't think it was quite a cliff...?) overlooking the beach.
The ocean was...
It was amazing.
It was awesome in every sense of the word, in that Rapunzel was absolutely overwhelmed with awe. It was so... vast. It took up the entire horizon like it went on forever, meeting the sky almost seamlessly in one great, blue abyss.
After long, long minutes just staring out into the hypnotizing waves, Rapunzel's eyes swept up and down the beach only to catch a flash of bright, vibrant auburn, the likes as she had only read about in books.
The figure was too far away, but from the length of the hair Rapunzel thought that it might be a woman. She was nude, or close to it, just lying on the sand. It's possible that she was only sunbathing (Rapunzel understood the compulsion), but even with her limited understanding of the outside world, a naked woman prone on the beach was a bit odd, and Rapunzel didn't want to risk it being some kind of emergency.
Looking around her, Rapunzel carefully climbed her way down onto the sand.
„Hallo!"she called, bringing her hand up to help throw her voice. The girl twisted around to look at her, but didn't respond. Rapunzel was reassured that she wasn't dead, at least. Hiking up her skirt, she ran with difficulty across the sand (she made a mental note to spend the rest of the day playing on this beach because the sand felt indescribable). She jogged the short distance, as the other girl sat up.
As she came nearer she noticed that yes, the girl was very, very naked, and possibly a year or two younger than Rapunzel herself.
„Hallo, Fräulein," Rapunzel greeted politely. „Ist alles in Ordnung?"
Are you all right?
Rapunzel held a hand out to help the girl to her feet, and while the other girl accepted the help, she did not answer - in fact her brow was creased in confusion.
„Geht es ihnen gut?" she asked more clearly.
Are you well?
The befuddled look did not disappear from the girl's face. She slowly shook her head, and Rapunzel couldn't tell if it was an answer or if she simply didn't understand.
„Können Sie mich verstanden?"
Can you understand me?
The strange girl was becoming distraught, her breath picked up and Rapunzel could tell that she was beginning to panic.
She guessed the answer to that one was 'no'.
Rapunzel sighed in frustration, hands coming up to play with her hair as she tried to assess the situation.
„Uh..." she bit her lip, one hand still wrapped around her companion's fingers in what she hoped was comfort. She gestured toward herself. „Meine Name ist Rapunzel" she enunciated jabbing herself too hard in the clavical, hoping the idea itself would translate, if not the words. „Rapunzel," she repeated before pointing at the other girl, eyebrows raised in prompt.
Nothing.
She had read a book where two people of different lands tried to introduce themselves to one another and this was the way they had done it. Hopefully it was universally understood, but at this point Rapunzel was beginning to doubt that.
She tried it again.
Pointing to herself: „Rapunzel."
Pointing to the girl:
Finally the strange young woman started to respond. She licked her lips and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The redhead looked around, frustrated before shaking her head, looking to Rapunzel desperately, gesturing to her throat.
Could she not speak?
„Können Sie nicht sprechen?" she asked before shaking her head. Stupid question.
Rapunzel covered her mouth with her hand, raising her eyebrows again in question, and yes! The girl gave a small, relieved smile and nodded her head, covering her own mouth.
Rapunzel grinned back.
The blonde looked around for some way to continue their communication, hoping one might spontaneously appear to them. As she turned back the way she had come she noticed her footprints deep in the sand and gasped with inspiration.
Turning back to the foreign girl, she mimed writing with a pen, kneeling down in the sand before she could respond.
Turning to the side so her friend could read clearly, she used her finger to write in the wet sand, Rapunzel. She pointed at the word and then at herself, repeating her name once more.
The redhead gave a brilliant grin and brought her finger to the sand as well.
Ariel
Rapunzel looked at the word and sounded it out carefully. „Ar..i..ell?" the redhead nodded happily, tapping on her own collar bone.
The girl's name was Ariel.
Rapunzel packed the sand back into place before writing anew.
Hallo, Ariel
She spoke the words out loud as well.
Ariel smiled unsurely but wrote carefully underneath,
Hej
'Hej', that was Danish. „Taler de dansk?" Rapunzel questioned slowly, mouth clumsy around the foreign words that she had only ever read in her books.
Ariel perked up, nodding, not expecting Rapunzel to know her language.
„Er de godt?" She repeated her earlier question now in the appropriate language, and Ariel swept the sand clean again.
I was caught in a storm
Rapunzel gasped, concerned, looking at Ariel's nude body, not seeing any marks or bruises that would indicate a shipwreck.
„But you are uninjured?"
Ariel nodded reassuringly.
The storm has brought me too far south
I am looking for Prince Erik
Rapunzel shook her head apologetically. „I don't know anything about the neighbouring royalty, I'm sorry. I don't even know anything about my own monarch, to be honest. I've read about politics, of course, but only academically. Historically. I've... had a pretty sheltered upbringing. I don't know much about current events, or... anything," she glanced back up at the forest, to where she knew the road lay beyond it, and the villages beyond that, her voice heavier and more earnest than she had meant it to be.
Ariel tugged on the loose sleeve of Rapunzel's gown, catching her attention, and the older girl turned back toward her.
The redhead scrawled in the sand, I had kind of a sheltered upbringing myself, she glanced up at Rapunzel shyly.
I've only been to the shore once before, when I met Erik
He is the only person I have met outside of my
Here she paused, biting her bottom lip as she thought, before finally writing,
family
Though Rapunzel wondered if that was the word she really meant.
Still, the blonde smiled. „This is the first time I've ever been to the beach myself. I grew up in a tower, and... well, today is the first day I've ever really been outside. See," she leaned back and pulled her skirts up, wriggling her toes in Ariel's direction, much to the younger teens amusement, „I don't even have shoes, because until today, my feet have never had to touch the ground. Well, the ground outside, anyway."
Ariel's eyes were bright with understanding, in a way Rapunzel didn't really expect. Curiously, tentatively, the younger girl's hands drifted down to wrap loosely around Rapunzel's right foot, thumb nearly tickling the sensitive sole, now covered in scratches and dirt and sand from her short travels.
Mine have never touched the ground before, either Ariel wrote, only half an eye on the sand.
My whole life has been spent in the sea
„Oh," Rapunzel breathed, her lips shaping the syllable soundlessly. „So you grew up on a... a ship, or a boat or something?" She asked curiously, fascinated by the idea of a life at sea, and by the thought that someone actually understands.
Or something Ariel scribbled enigmatically, but Rapunzel didn't press. There was, however, another question this brought up.
„Is your family all right, then? Do you know? Do you know how to get back to them?" Rapunzel fretted, racking her brain for ideas on how to contact the poor girl's family who must be worried sick, if not worse. What if their ship wrecked? How does one contact a ship? How would she go about arranging a, a, a search party or something?
Ariel shook her head viciously to dispel her worries.
No no she wrote, My family is safe. The storm only caught me because I left
Ariel hunched into herself, wrapping her goose-pimpled arms around her naked breasts.
Rapunzel nodded understandably (after all, she ran away from home as well, didn't she?), picturing Ariel stealing a life boat, like the heroes in her stories, sailing away from a life of piracy. What if Ariel's family werepirates?
That sounded both frightening and exciting, and Rapunzel bit her lip while her imagination ran away with her.
Ariel couldn't tell what was going on in the pretty humans mind, but her face didn't appear to show disapproval in any case, so she felt herself relax a bit, unwinding her arms from their defensive position around her chest.
It was amazing to her that a human could be experiencing Land for the first time like she was. That this Rapunzel might be as new to the human world as Ariel herself was, though Ariel had the benefit of not having been cooped up in her father's palace all her life. She couldn't imagine what it would be like not to be able to go outside at all.
Rapunzel was turning out to be even more interesting than Prince Erik.
Or, no. That's not true – couldn't be true, because she had to make Prince Eric fall in love with her.
In three days.
When she wasn't even in the same region, as was made clear to her by the blonde's strange, foreign language.
Once more Ariel felt a bolt of panic strike through her.
Clearing the sand, she asked her companion, Is there any way you could help me find my way back to Erik?
Rapunzel caught the movement of her fingers and her attention snapped back to the here-and-now. She tilted her head to read, her long braid falling over her shoulder. Ariel wondered if all human females had hair so long.
The human nodded slowly. „I... we could probably find someone nearby who could help us. I've studied the maps. If your Prince Erik lives in the southern kingdom then it's very close. You could probably travel there in a day, I think. We're very close to the border as it is, here.
„But it's not yet midday; do you think we can stay on the beach for a little while?"
Ariel took a moment to deliberate, knowing she had to find Erik as soon as possible, but wanting to take the time, as Rapunzel did, to explore the sand and enjoy her human body. Finally, she nodded her assent, and Rapunzel grinned ecstatically and climbed to her feet, the redhead hesitating before following suit.
Ariel watched curiously as she shed her coverings, leaving them to crumple in a heap on top of her bag. Under the colourful garment were white under-things which she unlaced as well; a billowy something with two holes for her legs, like what Prince Erik and the men on his ship had worn, only these were shorter and worn more loosely. Conversely the wrap on her torso was cinched tight, unlike what the men had worn. It looked uncomfortable, and Rapunzel looked relieved to be out of it.
The blonde noticed her watching and seemed to understand her expression. „I know that I don't strictly need to wear a corset, since I never leave my tower, but I begged Mother to buy me all the latest fashions. She told me I wouldn't like it, and I don't, really, but she went to all the trouble to bring me what I asked for, so it would be rude not to wear it at all. Usually I just wear it when Mother comes. And today, of course. If I'm going to be around people, I ought to wear the fashion, right?"
Ariel nodded; it sounded logical, she thought, though she doesn't know anything about human fashions.
She thinks to how her sisters tie their hair and wear beads around their necks and wrists and waists.
Ariel doesn't think she'll ever understand fashion, no matter the species.
Rapunzel pays her no mind, tossing her wrap on top of the pile. Ariel notices that it's left red lines striping down her stomach where it dug into her skin. It looked very uncomfortable.
„So you ran away from home to be with Prince Erik, then?" the human asked. The mermaid nodded, sparing a moment to wonder on the curious phrasing 'run away'; how interesting? Of course humans come and go on their feet, don't they?
Rapunzel smiled softly, curiously. „Are you in love?"
Ariel hesitated before shrugging. She loved him she was sure, but she hadn't yet had the chance to make him fall in love with her in return. Still, Rapunzel's face dropped in disapproval.
„Why on Earth would you run away for him, then?" the blonde asked, and this was what Ariel was afraid of – even Rapunzel, who seemed to understand her better than even her family did sometimes, couldn't understand her feelings for Erik.
„How long have you known him?" the human asked before she could come up with a way to answer now that they were out of the sand. Ariel shrugged again, nervously, before resorting to pantomimes. She held her forefinger and thumb close together. She hadn't known him long, but that didn't mean she didn't know what she felt.
„Not long, then?" Rapunzel confirmed. Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she stared far away. „You said you'd met Prince Erik on the beach... Was that the only time you'd met him?" she asked at length, cautious like she was afraid of the answer.
'No!' Ariel mouthed vainly, momentarily forgetting her lack of voice as she shook her head to deny Rapunzel's claim, but... Though she'd watched him for a long while on his ship, and she'd stayed with him all night and into the next morning, technically that all counted as just one event, if a particularly long one. And it was certainly the only time Erik had seen her.
He didn't even know her name.
She stopped the vehement shaking of her head as she realised this. Rapunzel must have understood her stricken expression for the assent that it was.
„Ariel," Rapunzel admonished, and the disappointment in her voice stung. „You can't just leave your home and your family behind – with no warning, even! – to be with a boy you don't even really know!"
The mermaid flinched, but Rapunzel continued. „I mean, I know I've no leg to stand on, really-" that's an even stranger idiom that the running one, „since I ran away as well, but I at least have a good reason! I am an adult, and I shouldn't have to spend all my time locked away by myself like some kind of prisoner, but you – how old are you?"
The blond whipped her head around and stared hard at Ariel who cautiously held up six fingers. „Six..? Sixteen?" she asked, and Ariel nodded. „You're sixteen years old, Ariel! Maybe you're old enough to get married or, or have a lover, but you're still a child under your parents' protection, aren't you?" Ariel agreed, reluctantly. „They're probably worried sick! If you at least knew this boy; were properly in love with him, then maybe it would make more sense. Would certainly be more understandable; I mean, I would probably accept it, anyway. But, but, Ariel," Rapunzel came in close, hands bracing themselves on Ariel's shoulders. „You don't know this boy! Maybe, I mean probably he's attractive enough, if you're willing to uproot your whole life for him-" 'Uproot'? What does that even mean? „But what if he's a jerk? What if you have nothing truly in common? If you don't actually like each other? You don't even know! And, sure, you can, and definitely should court each other first, but you've already left your whole family behind! They're at sea somewhere, how will you get back to them if it turns out that you and your prince aren't right for each other?"
What would she do? She couldn't go back to her father's kingdom; if she fulfilled the spell's obligation, she would lose her tail forever. If she failed, she'd be a sea worm under Ursula's rule forever!
Ariel covered her mouth with her hand, face screwing up as her vision blurred with tears.
„Oh, Ariel," Rapunzel breathed, lecture apparently over with as she folded Ariel in the warm circle of her arms. The mermaid cried silently, the consequences of her actions suddenly crashing down on her – nothing had gone as she had planned, and now she was stuck choosing between a shark and a harpoon. The blonde shushed her softly, stroking her damp, sandy hair. „Don't worry, I'll get you to Denmark, I promise, and we'll find a way to get you back to your family." Ariel shook her head, knowing now that she truly will never be able to get back to her family, but that was a sentiment Rapunzel couldn't understand, and so she merely held her tighter.
Eventually, the older girl did pull away smiling sadly down at the mermaid as she brought her hands up to brush the tears from her cheeks. „Don't you worry, Ariel. I'll get you home. We'll make a proper adventure out of it, hm? But first! As I said before: it's not yet midday. Let's have some fun, yeah?" The blonde grinned coaxingly, and Ariel rubbed her eyes with her hand and smiled back, nodding.
Rapunzel took her hand and dragged her back over to the water. Ariel had no way to tell her that she's been in the water he entire life and has no desire to spend her only time as a human playing in it, and so follows her into the shallow tide. Rapunzel giggles happily as the waves crash coolly into her ankles, and she kickes the water at Ariel who rolls her eyes and splashes back. Soon the two are running and splashing in the shallow water, the empty beach echoing with Rapunzel's whooping and laughter as they play. The blonde screams when wades too far out and the tide rips her feet from under her. Her bright golden head disappears under the surface, but she bounces back up, laughing and struggling to her feet before Ariel has time to worry about humans and their penchant for drowning.
„You grew up on the water, and you survived the storm, so you must be a very good swimmer, right?" Rapunzel asks and Ariel nods. It's more difficult with legs than with her tail, of course, but the storm earlier forced her to learn quickly how to compensate.
„Will you teach me?"
Ariel blinked, caught off guard for a moment. She forgot that Rapunzel had never been in the sea before; that Rapunzel probably was as poor a swimmer as Ariel was at using her new legs.
She agreed.
Bidding Rapunzel to wait in the shallows, Ariel waded out deeper until the water reached her middle. Turning back she gestured for the human to watch, and then she jumped into the current. It took a moment to get her bearings and remember that she didn't have a tail, that she couldn't move her legs together and hope to stay afloat. Instead she tried to remember the alternating movement she had perfected earlier that morning, arms guiding her way.
She swam out to a low rock a short distance from the shore, heaving herself up a moment to breathe before swimming back. She made this circuit thrice, and though she felt clumsy and inefficient, she thought Rapunzel wouldn't know the difference.
As she thought, Rapunzel clapped when Ariel finally stood from the water, and beckoned the blonde closer.
Looking intently at the older girl, Ariel bent over at the waist so her torso was parallel with the water and mimicked her earlier arm rotations. Obligingly, Rapunzel bent over, and Ariel braced a hand under her stomach, the other coming to her thighs, encouraging her to lift her feet off the sand. Now the human was held aloft on Ariel's hands, kicking and propelling her arms as she moved herself forward.
They practised for a long while, until Rapunzel felt comfortable swimming out to the rock.
Ariel followed at a slower pace, watching as Rapunzel's plaited hair flowed behind her like a shining, golden tail.
Rapunzel reached the smooth, moss-covered rock safely and pulled herself onto it, collapsing onto her back in exhaustion. Ariel joined her, proudly applauding her success.
„Danke," Rapunzel panted, smiling proudly herself as her chest heaved, breasts rising and falling with each inhale.
Ariel stared for a moment before blushing and turning away. She leaned back on her hands, feet kicking in the water as she enjoyed the late morning sunshine and the view of the sand and the forest in front of her. Rapunzel lay on her back, feet pulled up out of the water, knees bent to fit her body on the space available.
Her eyes shut as she rested, skin pale and shimmering in the light, and Ariel can't stop watching her, twisted around to look behind her at Rapunzel's face. The mermaid brings her gaze down the length of her body to the legs propped up beside her. She didn't notice before, but there are hairs there, on her legs, so pale as to be nearly invisible except in direct sunlight as they are now. Ariel looks curiously at them, her own legs, and the space between them free of hair. Maybe it would grow if Ariel were to remain human.
Mindlessly Ariel runs her hand down Rapunzel's lower leg, down to the top of her foot. It's soft, downy like a seal pup; like Ariel's own smooth skin. She pets the extremity again, drawing her attention to the knotted joint in the middle, prodding the cartilage before twisting to follow the muscles of her upper leg.
As she turns she catches Rapunzel looking curiously at her, though making no move to stop her.
„You act like you've never seen a leg before," Rapunzel says softly, voice barely carried over the waves, and Ariel can only shrug.
„I read that it's improper for a lady to show her ankles or her legs, is that it? You've never seen another girl's bare leg before? I wonder if it's okay that we're swimming here in the nude..." Rapunzel bites her lip and scans the beach as if someone were about to come down to scold them.
Ariel taps her finger on Rapunzel's foot, eyebrows raised in silent question, to which Rapunzel shrugs her assent, wriggling her toes again. Taking the leave granted her, Ariel slips down into the water, bracing her forearms on the stone to study the delicate bones and tendons in the human's feet.
The sea had cleaned her of the dirt and sand, though the light abrasions remained. Ariel's fingers trailed lightly on the soft bottoms, Rapunzel twitching, squeaking quietly when it tickles. Ariel traces the tendon in the back, and maps out the jutting curve of her ankle, comparing one high arch to the other.
Obligingly, Rapunzel flexes her feet, and Ariel watches, enthralled by the display.
She brings her face up close, observing the smooth, hard nail at the end of her long toes, and from this vantage, she can see the light whirls in the pads. Ariel exhales in wordless wonder, and can't help but press a soft kiss to the soft pad of her biggest toe.
Rapunzel gasps, and though Ariel can't see her face from here, she doesn't think the older girl is displeased. Encouraged, Ariel brings the digit into her mouth, sucking lightly, tongue scraping softly against the short nail before she pulls her mouth away.
The blonde is breathing audibly now, but she makes no move to stop her, so she continues, pressing kisses into soles, running her tongue up the graceful arches.
Rapunzel is squirming now, thighs parting briefly before squeezing tighter together, feet shuffling farther apart, and Ariel can see the pale, blonde curls nestled between her legs, growing damp though the Sun has left her nearly dry by now.
Ariel watches as she sucks on the inside of one pale ankle, seeing the soft folds flutter with arousal.
„Come up here," Rapunzel rasps, voice low, and Ariel can only obey, climbing up onto the rock, between Rapunzel's legs as they spread to accommodate her.
Rapunzel holds her arm out, beckoning her down, and Ariel follows, bending over the blonde, sucking in a breath when the soft peak of Rapunzel's nipple grazes her stomach.
Rapunzel wraps her arms around the redhead's neck, pulling her in close so they're breathing the same breath.
„Have you ever been with a girl before?" Rapunzel asks, whispering between them. Ariel shakes her head.
The human huffs a laugh. „Me neither," she confesses, hands stroking Ariel's wet hair, down her back. „Of course – but, I've read? I have... books that show love between two women. Would you... I mean, is that something you would...?"
Ariel nods her agreement, proving her enthusiasm by eagerly closing the distance between them.
It's off-centre, and their teeth clack together, neither one quite knowing what they're doing, but Ariel tilts her head, and Rapunzel takes her bottom lip between her own, and suddenly everything is perfect. They're bodies are pressed together from their mouths all the way down to their feet, both of them writhing and wriggling against one another as they kiss.
When her lungs are burning, Ariel pulls away, both of them gasping for air.
„Here," Rapunzel rearranges herself, twisting and folding into herself. „Put my leg between yours, like – yeah, like that," Ariel straddles Rapunzel's thigh, thicker than her own and soft. Instinctively she rocks herself down into it, gasping soundlessly at the pressure it puts on her sex.
„Oh, yes like that," the blonde murmurs, pulling them closer so she can rut her own wet mound into Ariel's leg, bracing her arms behind her for leverage.
Ariel wraps her arms around Rapunzel's middle, holding them close together while she rides the human's thigh. One of Rapunzel's hands come up behind Ariel's head and pull her down, fisting in her shining red hair, holding her to her bosom, and Ariel doesn't bother trying to resist temptation, takes the soft, pink bud into her mouth, sucking like a babe at Rapunzel's breasts.
Rapunzel keens, gasping and twists into Ariel's body.
They continue on like this for a long moment, before Rapunzel sobs dryly in frustration. „It's not – not enough, I can't –„ she rearranges her limbs once more, wrapping one leg around Ariel's back. „I want to just... together. Press your Scheide onto mine; we can rub against each other."
The mermaid didn't quite understand the word, but the she got the idea, and together they moved, pressing their nether lips together in an obscene parody of the kiss they had shared before. Ariel grabbed hold of Rapunzel's arms, the blonde bracing herself in turn, and together they rocked themselves forward and back, flowing into one another like the tide.
Rapunzel had been right; the angle was much better now, the pressure on her pearl exquisite, and she knew that if she'd had her voice, she would be wailing like a siren by now.
As it was, the cove was echoing with the endless sounds spilling from Rapunzel's lips; short moans and keens and cries as the human grows nearer to her release.
Ariel crested first, screaming silently, back arching as she gushed, riding the high of her pleasure.
Rapunzel didn't cease in her assault though, grinding herself into Ariel hard and fast, the stimulation nearly painful it was so intense, the redhead already sensitive after her orgasm as Rapunzel chased her own.
After a few minutes of exquisite agony, Rapunzel disentangles herself from the circle of Ariel's arms and falls back onto her back, giving a few tired moans to indicate her own lingering pleasure.
They lie together, curled into one another, trading kisses and caresses until the sun starts to burn too brightly, Rapunzel's skin already glowing pink, and Ariel drops herself back into the water, luring the blonde out with a few playful splashes.
Rapunzel squeals at the contrast in temperature and races Ariel back to the shore where they find themselves a shaded patch of cool sand.
Rapunzel picks up her discarded clothes and follows Ariel to the shade, laying out her dress to protect their naked bodies from the sand.
While Ariel sifted shifted the soft sand aimlessly through her fingers, Rapunzel got to work on building a sand castle. She'd seen pictures of sand castles; huge, sprawling reconstructions of grand palaces, sculpted out of sand. She quickly realised that she did not have quite that amount of architectural prowess, though, as it was all she could do to build a tall mound.
Once Ariel caught on to what she was trying to do, the redhead set out to help. The foreign girl proved useful in shaping straight edges and corners, and Rapunzel left her to it, packing the wet sand in to add a tower. Towers, she knew.
After an embarrassingly long time, they managed to sculpt an almost decent looking castle, and Ariel began to sift through the sand for shells to decorate it with.
Suddenly Rapunzel hears a sharp hiss, and turns to see Ariel's palm blooming red, a shard of glass discarded on the sand in front of her.
Blood dripped from the bowl of her hand, and Rapunzel could see that tears were welling up in her eyes.
„Oh, verdammt!" Rapunzel swore, taking Ariel's small hand between her own.
She knew it was dangerous, Mother had always said that people Outside would try to hurt her for the power in her hair, and Rapunzel had no assurance that the Dane's family weren't pirates, but she couldn't not help her friend. A cut like that could get infected quickly.
„I can help, but you have to promise not to tell anyone," Rapunzel said urgently, and Ariel nods confused but trusting.
The blonde gathers her braid, wrapping it like a rope around Rapunzel's bloody palm. Ariel's eyebrows are creased in befuddlement and Rapunzel smiles reassuringly.
Taking a deep breath to gather herself, she sings.
„Blume leuchtend schön, kannst so mächtig sein. Dreh die Zeit zurück, gib mir was einst war mein. Blume leuchtend schön, lass mich nicht allein. Halt das Schicksal auf, gib mir was einst war mein; was einst war mein."
Her golden locks glew brightly as they worked their magic. Brighter than usual, Rapunzel noticed, a foreign melody mixing harmoniously with her own, Ariel's body swirling with brightly glowing magic as well.
When the song had finished and the luminous magic fading into the wind, Rapunzel stared, dumbfounded to realise that her magic healing hair was not the most interesting thing about the two of them.
Where once had been a pair of long, very human legs, now sat a thick, muscular tail, green and damp.
„Oh!" exclaimed a voice beside her, her companion no longer mute.
Ironically, Rapunzel was rendered absolutely speechless, mouth open as she stared wide eyed at the mermaid beside her.
„My voice! My tail!" Ariel ran her hands over the inhuman appendage, and up over the column of her throat, taking inventory that all was as it appeared. „Rapunzel," she exclaimed, finally turning to address the human, „you broke the spell! Thank you!" The mermaid canted forward, wrapping her arms around Rapunzel's shoulders, the blonde bringing her arms up automatically.
„No... problem?" She replied, unsure.
Ariel pulled away and grinned. „I was under a spell: my voice for human legs. I went to a sea witch called Ursula to make me human because I wanted to be with Prince Erik," she gave Rapunzel a significant look. „As payment, Ursula took my voice, but said that I had to make Erik fall in love with me before sunset two days from now, and give me a kiss. If he did, I would be human forever. If he didn't, I would turn back into a mermaid," she gestured at her … entire self, „and be kept as Ursula's prisoner, forever."
Rapunzel gasped, leaning back. „And you agreed to those terms?" she asked, aghast at such, frankly, poor planning and decision making.
The redhead blushed, rubbing the back of her neck. „Well, at the time, I was sure I was in love with Erik..." she says. „I didn't think I could fail."
Rapunzel purses her lips but doesn't argue, unsure how she could without sounding like a hypocrite, or repeating her earlier lecture.
Ariel continues, „When you scolded me earlier it made me realise what a terrible decision I'd made; I gave no thought to how my father would feel to have me disappear like that, and I knew that there was no way I could make Prince Erik truly fall in love with me before sunset in only three days. I was terrified of what would happen when I failed."
The human quirks a reluctant smile. „Well," she drawls, „now you don't have to worry about that any more. Do you know how to get home from here?"
Ariel nods, pushing one wet, red strand behind her ear. „I know these waters like the back of my hand," she assures. „I can probably be back home tonight."
Rapunzel sighs, eyes drifting shut in relief.
They flutter back open when a soft hand cups her jaw.
Ariel leans in close, breath warm against her face. „Thank you," she reiterates earnestly before pressing a grateful kiss to Rapunzel's swollen lips.
Rapunzel melts into the kiss, reaching up to tangle her fingers into Ariel's bright hair as she pushes her tongue past the seam of Ariel's lips in the French style.
The blonde shifts closer, her free hand coming up to cup the mermaid's soft, perky breast, pinching the rosy nipple between her fingers before drifting down the smooth plane of her stomach. She jolts in surprise when her fingers touch the cool scales of her tail.
„I'm sorry," Ariel murmurs against her lips. Rapunzel's face scrunches up in confusion.
„We can't... make love when I'm like this," the redhead blushes, and Rapunzel darts forward to kiss the flush from her cheeks. She pets Ariel's flank, kissing down the mermaid's neck.
„We don't have to make love again," Rapunzel points out, licking at the curious folds behind her ear.
Ariel shudders, gasping. „Ohh... But I want to!" she argues petulantly, grappling at Rapunzel's hip.
The human sidles closer, pressing her lips to the mermaid's disappointed pout.
„There is more than one way to make love," she reassures playfully, pulling Ariel's tail to drape across her legs.
Ariel pulls away, wide-eyed. „There are?" she asks hopefully, and Rapunzel nods, racking her brain for some of the other stories she had read, thanking the heavens that her Mother didn't bother to read the books she brought for her.
„Where is your... your womanhood... on this body?" the human asks awkwardly, both girls blushing, but Ariel obligingly trails her hand down her stomach to the widow's peak of her tail.
There in front, where her mound would be as a human, is a slit the length of her hand, sealed and camouflaged by the smooth scales, but Ariel rubs at the seam with her finger, before pushing in and spreading it with the vee of her fore and middle fingers, parting it like Rapunzel would part her own outer lips, to reveal a vulva not unlike her human one, pale pink and damp.
„Oh..." Rapunzel intoned, dipping her fingers into the wet heat before rubbing the slickness into the hidden nub at the top of her folds. Ariel moans, tail thrashing as her hips rock up into the movement of her fingers. „You see? You're not so different down here as you were before," and, before Ariel could argue as to the mechanics, Rapunzel ducks her head down to lick a long stripe from the top to the slick hole at the bottom.
Ariel cried out, falling back into the sand, and Rapunzel follows her descent, swinging her leg over Ariel's chest leaving them top-to-toe, Rapunzel kneeling above the Mermaid's face with her own head buried in Ariel's slick folds.
The taste is salty but not unpleasant, and Rapunzel dips her tongue into the source, licking inside her as Ariel sighs and moans in response. When she wraps her tongue around Ariel's swollen nub, the mermaid grabs hold of her hips and drags her down, devouring her own dripping sex.
While she laves attention on Ariel's bundle of nerves, she presses a long finger into the greedy hole, thrusting in and out, adding a second when the muscles loosen hungrily, Ariel alternating between long, hard licks with the flat of her tongue and quick flicks that make Rapunzel keen and groan.
The human braces herself with a forearm on Ariel's thrashing tail, rocking herself down into the mermaid's open mouth.
Their climaxes come quickly the second time, Ariel following Rapunzel's example, two fingers stuffed into her slit, crooked into that perfect spot deep inside her. Rapunzel's fingers thrust in and out quickly, the friction driving Ariel closer and closer to her peak.
They come together. Ariel screams as she squirts, back arching nearly off the ground and Rapunzel swallows the fluid down, licking her clean as she gushes her way through her own orgasm.
Trembling and exhausted, Rapunzel falls to the side, head pillowed on Ariel's strong tail.
Ariel lays back on the sand, hand absently petting Rapunzel's leg curled up against her.
Well. That explains her earlier fascination with her feet, then.
They lay resting, listening to the crashing waves until the Noon bell tones in the distance.
„It's midday," Rapunzel informs her, and Ariel's face clears in understanding.
Ariel sighs unenthusiastically and sits up, Rapunzel following suit. „I suppose I should get started on the journey back home then, if I want to make it back by tonight."
Rapunzel grabs the other girl's hand, squeezing it, gulping nervously. „You'll make it back all right, then?" she asks, worried. „You'll tell your father about the witch? I don't want her to come after you again."
Ariel nods, though her face belies her anxiety. She drags herself awkwardly back down to the water, Rapunzel following close behind until it's up to her waist, deep enough for Ariel to swim freely, both of them of a hight once more.
„You should keep exploring," Ariel says, holding onto Rapunzel's hands. „You were right before, you shouldn't be cooped up like some kind of prisoner. My father can be... overbearing. And he doesn't understand me, but he's never kept me locked up. He didn't want me to come to the surface, but I had the whole sea to explore. It's not fair that you didn't have the same."
Rapunzel shrugs, relenting. „I suppose I can look around some more. There's a village nearby, I think." Ariel nods.
„Good," she says, then, unsure, „Will I see you again?"
The human bites her lip, not knowing how to answer. They press close, noses brushing against each other. „Maybe," Rapunzel answers. „We can meet, maybe at midday on the full moons? You know when the full moons are, right?"
Ariel affirms, „Of course; spring tides. You'll be here, then?"
The blonde shakes her head. „I might not be able to make it. Or you might not, but we can check in. Maybe leave messages? Or... something."
The mermaid agrees and pulls Rapunzel close to kiss again.
„So this is goodbye then... For now."
„For now," Ariel repeats.
They stand, unmoving for a long moment, before the mermaid pulls away, swimming further out. Waving one last time, Rapunzel watches as her flaming hair disappears beneath the water.
It's long after Ariel has gone that Rapunzel drags herself back to shore, pulling her clothes back on.
She promised Ariel that she would explore, but she doubts anything will be as wonderful or as interesting as the friend she made on the beach. She already did everything she set out to do. She met someone, made a friend and a lover.
Still, she has an adventure to start, and she wants a story to tell on the next full moon.