Authors note!

This story is going to start off slow. I mean really slow. It's not going to get too interesting until about Ursula. This beginning is the little mermaid everyone knows and loves and for the most part verbatim with the movie. IF YOU WANT, SKIP TO CHAPTER FOUR, THAT WHERE I START TO CHANGE IT UP. Please bear with me. This is my first fic soooo. Yep. Thanks for reading!

Gulls fly smoothly on the cool sea air. The clouds are gray but the wind doesn't warn of a storm yet, it blows the fresh cool salty air that fills the massive ships billowing sails. As it crests the waves, you can hear the crew singing.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue
And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho
Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you
In mysterious fathoms below"

A young woman dressed in a pair of blue trousers, high boots, and a collared V-neck with the sleeves rolled up leaned on the upper rails. Her jet black hair whipped around her face as she closed her eyes taking in the refreshing smell of the ocean, her shaggy English Sheepdog by her side. "Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face…a perfect day to be at sea eh Grimsby?" The dog barked in agreement.

Grimsby propped himself up on the other rail to glare at the girl, "Oh yes…delightful!" she chuckled as she watched her care taker and best friend (besides her dog of course) leaned over the rail, green again.

"A fine strong wind and a following sea. King Triton must be in a friendly type mood!" said one of the sailors pulling on the rigging.

The girl jumped down to the main deck to help secure the rope, "King Triton?" her blue eyes brightened, intrigued by the sailor's story.

"Why, the ruler of the merpeople lass! thought every good sailor knew about him." Said another older sailor unloading the fish that were just hauled in from the nets.

Erica leaned down to pet her shaggy dog. She rubbed his ears as Grimsby staggered down the steps having caught ahold of his stomach for the moments.

"Merpeople! Erica, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense." He said straightening his tie and fixing his hair.

"But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth! I'm tellin' you!" the older sailor said shaking one of his fish at Grimsby. "Down in the depths o' the ocean they live!" he waved his arms and Erica smiled as they edged closer to the rails. Suddenly the fish slipped out of his hands. Flopping wildly it slapped Grimsby several times in the face before it got itself completely over the edge and back down into the ocean where it breathed a big sigh of relief.

"From whence wayward Westerlies blow
Where Triton is king and his merpeople sing
In mysterious fathoms below"

After a moment the fish started off again. Through the kelp, scaring the colorful plumes of the barnacles, it ignored them and kept swimming. It swam for a while with a school of angel fish before turning off. Past the jellyfish, in through the caves, deeper and deeper it swam. The whales told him he only had a little farther to go until, there! Finally! In the dark depths of the ocean sat the shinning merpeople's palace.

There was a grand concert tonight, fish and merpeople from all around gathered in King Triton's massive concert hall to see the presentation of his youngest daughter.

The trumpet fish sound the grand fanfare and the concert is set to begin. A small seahorse with a ruffle enters the hall and clears his throat.

"Ahem . . . His royal highness, King Triton!"

The crowd cheers as the mer-king enters the hall. A trio of dolphins pulls a large shell carriage and the trumpets and audience cheer. His crown and trident, the symbols of his throne glint as he circles around over the people's heads. With one last lap, the dolphins bring him towards the ceiling and his trident begins to glow. With a wave he sends a bolt of energy into the chandelier above creating a rain of sparks on the crowd.

"And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignatius Crustaceous Sebastian!" the little seahorse announces with a flourish.

A trumpet sounds and a small shell carriage exits the large doorway from where the king came from. The little red crab smiles and waves at the crowd before almost losing his balance as the two goldfish pulling his shell speed up and lurch. They pull up next to the kind who is smiling and waving easily in control of his own mounts.

"I'm really looking forward to this performance Sebastian."

Sebastian chuckled and waved his claw, "Oh, Your Majesty, this will be the finest concert I have ever conducted." The king's carriage came to a rest in the high balcony and Sebastian turned around to continue. Your daughters - they will be spectacular!" the fish lurched again causing Sebastian to flip his shell.

Triton chuckled at the crab's efforts trying to crawl back into his shell to continue to the directors podium. "Yes, and especially my little Ariel."

"Yes, yes, she has the most beautiful voice…" he said proceeding to the stand and muttering under his breath, "If only she'd show up for rehearsals once in a while…"

The strings begin tuning and the lights dim until only a single spotlight shines through the dark onto the little crab. His ride comes to a stop and straightens out his shell, nodding in acknowledgement of the crowd's applause before bending over and pulling out a scare book and baton larger than he is. The room is silent as he traps the orchestra to attention on the stand. He raises his hands and in a massive down beat the music starts. An upbeat tune starts and a curtain of bubbles is pulled back to reveal a stage with three large clams set on them.

The clams open to show two girls in each of the shells who begin singing. "Ah, we are the daughters of Triton.

Great father who loves us and named us well" Triton puffs out his chest in pride over his daughters as they begin their solos introducing themselves.

"Aquata,"

"Andrina,"

"Arista,"

"Atina,"

"Adella,"

"Allana."

"And then there is the youngest in her musical début," a fourth shell rises up and the sisters surround it ready to present the youngest.

"Our seventh little sister, we're presenting her to you," Sebastian waves his arms grinning back at the king. It was time for the big finale.

"To sing a song Sebastian wrote, her voice is like a bell,"

"She's our sister, Ar-i.." the shell opens and everybody lets out a collective gasp. Sebastian throws his baton in shock and turns around cringing.

Triton is standing up, his weapon glowing as he angrily shakes his head. "Ariel!"