The sounds of the battle above had been reverberating through the water for what felt like hours. Ariel had seen its kind before: the fire, the blood, the wreckage and corpses alike sinking slowly to the seabed. The huge expanse of water above the kingdom was glowing red and orange from the fire, eerily beautiful in its own way. She longed to swim to the surface and see what a real battle was like. Her father, the King of the Sea, King Triton, had told her all about them. He'd never allowed any of his daughters to go up to the surface though, not ever, and he certainly wasn't about to let them when it was so dangerous up there. He didn't know that Ariel snuck off whenever she could to go up and breathe in the fresh, salty sea air. She loved it up there, loved the sights and the smells. Loved to watch fishermen on their boats, to sight pirate ships from afar with their menacing sails. For years she had heeded her fathers warnings, and had stayed far away from the carnage of a proper fight. But tonight, as her sisters and her father slept, Ariel could feel her rebellious streak ignite within her. "I am a Princess", she muttered under her breath, "and princesses should be allowed to do whatever they please." She looked around for any sign of movement from her family, and once she was sure that nobody was watching, she swam upwards.
The higher she swam, the more deafening the noises became, but she didn't turn back. There were dark shapes moving far off in the water, most likely sharks circling, waiting for their meal to fall right into their jaws. As she reached the surface she was glad to be so far away from the battle itself. The air, which she usually relished against her face, was hot and heavy with the smell of smoke, and death. The sky, like the ships and the sea, seemed as if it were alight. There were no stars out tonight, Ariel noticed sadly. She loved to look at the stars, to find shapes in the way that they aligned. Sighting a rock jutting out of the water near her, she swam to it and clambered up onto its surface to watch the ships.
One, the farthest from her, was already sinking. Her mast was broken, her blood red sail aflame on the water. Ariel could hear the screams of dying men, chilling her to the core. From what she could see some were burning, others drowning. There were most likely others dying from wounds incurred from sword fighting, if what her father had told her about these battles was true. Whilst it looked as if this ship may have been defeated, she'd fatally damaged her foe. The second ship was fearsome to look upon. She had black sails, torn and ragged from the battle. The wood she was made of seemed to be as black as night, whether or not that was the affect of the flames or the darkness, Ariel couldn't tell. She began sinking, bow first, the angle at which she was entering the water becoming steeper every second. As her unsupported stern rose out of the water, a roaring crack sounded, and the vessel split in half. The stern remained afloat for mere minutes before sinking into the icy depths of the ocean. Ariel felt sorry for the men who had lost their lives here tonight, knowing that if there were any survivors left even now, they wouldn't last long. They would either drown, be consumed by the fire or the sharks alike, or freeze to death in the bitterly cold sea.
She waited a while before launching herself back into the water, which felt warm against her skin. Dipping her head under, to check for sharks, she began the decline to the seabed. As she descended, her curiosity got the better of her and she turned in the direction of where the battle had been. As she neared the site of destruction, she was pleased to note that the sharks had obviously had their fill, for now. She knew it wouldn't be long before they came back for more though. The bodies of drowned men and some wreckage from the ships floating above on the surface cast shadows in the water, submerging her into darkness. The amount of death around her made Ariel feel nervous, scared even. She propelled herself upwards, determined to see what was left behind. Mostly there was a lot of splintered, burning wood and wreckage floating. The fires had dwindled significantly, but the flames stubbornly clung to some of the debris. Very few bodies were in the water, Ariel presumed that many had gone down inside the ships or had ended up as the sharks' dinner. The mast of the second ship was still afloat, with her black sail still attached. That was when Ariel noticed the body.
The man was lying face down on top of the mast, his thighs on either side of it, holding him up. His eyes were closed but she could see his breath in the cold air, he was alive. Clad completely in black clothing, he had dark hair; almost as black as the sail he was floating next to. His stubble was dark too, and styled in a way that accentuated his strong jaw line. "Even in unconsciousness there is an arrogance about his features," she thought to herself as she gazed upon his face. His mouth was almost tilted into a smile, the slightest hint of a dimple on his cheek. "And I bet he has blue eyes. I just bet he does." Ariel swam to the end of the mast, deftly untying the knot of the rope that connected the bottom of the sail to it. Grabbing a large door that was floating nearby, she gently pulled the man from the mast and rolled him straight onto it. He groaned from pain, which was when Ariel noticed the gash in his side. It didn't look too deep to her, but she couldn't be sure until she got him to solid ground. Quickly, she tied the rope around the door and began to swim, pulling him away from the wreckage.
When she reached the rock that she'd watched the ships sink from, she pulled herself up onto it. Wishing now, more than ever, that she had legs to help her, she tugged on the rope to pull the door closer to the edge of the rock. Putting her hands under his arms, she began to haul him, with great difficulty, onto the rocky surface. Bracing her tail behind her she was just able to do it. She placed her hand on his chest, and leant her ear close to his mouth. His chest rose up and down routinely, and his breath tickled her neck. Satisfied that he was definitely alive she moved to sit farther away from him. It was then she saw his left arm.
Where there should have been a hand, there was a hook.