Louder Than Words
"Eric, dear, where are you going?"
Eric turned away from the doorway to see Carlotta, standing at the other end of the palace's entrance hall, rubbing a dish with a cloth and looking at him concernedly.
"Just down to the sea," replied Eric, wondering why Carlotta seemed so fretful. She looked further skeptical upon receiving the answer.
"You're not going to look for your mystery girl again, are you?" she asked, with an eyebrow raised, but otherwise her face and tone both implied she was more worried than annoyed.
"Oh, no, I'm not right now, don't worry," Eric answered as he shook his head, now understanding what he should have guessed immediately, "I'm taking Max down there for a while." He patted his panting sheepdog on the head.
Carlotta relaxed a little, "Well okay, honey. Just promise me you'll try and relax, and don't go wandering off looking for her."
"I promise," agreed Eric, smiling and nodding a little, "I'll see you in a little bit."
"Goodbye, Eric," smiled Carlotta, waving before she set off back to the kitchen to help Chef Louis.
Eric turned and started making his way down to the shore, with Max bounding down the steps ahead of him. When the dog reached the bottom, he immediately made himself busy running around and sniffing for nothing in particular. Eric followed him until they reached a point where the sand met the sea, where Max continued to examine the area. Eric smiled fondly at his playful pet, and leant back against a rock by the castle wall, staring out to the sea. After a moment, he pulled his flute out of his pocket, and began to play the song that she had sung for him, falling deep into his thoughts.
It had been three days since the disaster on the ship, and he still hadn't been able to find the girl who had rescued him. He really had looked everywhere he could, searching the town, the coast, even the woods in hope that he might cross paths with her, but it was all in vain. There was no way he could have missed her; her red hair was so vivid that Eric was sure it had to be impossible to walk past her without realising. But it wasn't her physical appearance that he remembered the most. In fact, when he did regain consciousness after she saved him, his mind had been so clouded that the image of her face had left his memory moments after she disappeared. He remembered that he was mesmorised by her beauty at the time, but to his regret, he somehow couldn't actually recall much of what she looked like. It was her voice that truly stuck in Eric's mind; that soft, melodious voice. He had never heard such a beautiful sound in his life.
Grimsby was insistent that there had been no girl, having seen or heard no one other than Eric when he and Max finally found him, let alone someone matching Eric's description. Carlotta was more encouraging, although she wasn't so fond of Eric leaving the palace so soon after such an incident. But Eric was undetered; just one day's rest had done him good enough, and even if it hadn't, he was determined to find that girl whatever it took. Not only because she had saved him, but because of what she had done afterwards. Staying with him until he gained consciousness, stroking his cheek, singing to him that she wanted to be with him. The fact that this was the first time Eric had ever seen her didn't matter to him at all. As he'd said to Grim, the feeling had hit him like lightning, and he just knew when he laid his eyes upon the girl that she was the one he was meant to spend his life with. There had to be a reason why this girl of all people had saved him. She had to feel something like he did if she had sung such a song for him. But where was she?
Eric stopped playing his flute and sighed, pushing himself away from the rock. Max, who had settled down next to Eric's feet a few minutes ago, bounded up and began to follow.
"That voice," Eric said aloud, as he began to wander along the beach, "I can't get it out of my head." He looked down at Max, who was looking at his master concernedly, almost as if he understood what he was saying. "I've looked everywhere, Max," the prince continued, as he knelt down to scratch the dog's ears, "Where could she be?"
A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. Basically, this story will be about Eric's thoughts during his time with Ariel when she can't speak. I'm not too sure how long it will go on for, but right now I've got it planned up to their moment in the blue lagoon. This chapter is just a little starter; the following chapters will be longer and have more stuff going on, so basically, things will pick up from here and the story should get better. But how's it looking so far? Leave if comment if you've actually got something to comment on (I know there isn't much to comment on so far). Any and all reviews, likes and follows are highly appreciated, and I'll see you all later, bye!