The story of Ariel: By kat13109
There once lived a girl named Ariel. She had a perfect life. Loving parents, a nice home, and good friends.
One day though, everything changed. . .
Towns' people were running and screaming, some were even crying. Ariel desperately searched for her parents, but they were nowhere in sight. She clutched the little teddy bear to her chest as if her life depended on it.
"Ariel!" Her mother cried, sweeping her into her arms, "What are you doing? We have to go!"
Little Ariel looked behind her and watched as their village burnt to the ground. All of the men were fighting off the soldiers who were throwing torches into every building that was still standing, ending with the town statue of their king.
Her mother took her to the edge of the Dark Forest and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Run Ariel, run and don't look back. I love "
Her sentence was cut short as an arrow plunged into her heart.
"NO!" Ariel yelled, "NO MOMMY NO!"
Ariel started to cry as Kenta, her dads' friend, came over to her and hugged her tight.
"It's ok Ariel, it's ok. Come on, we have to go."
He cradled her in his arms and ran into the Dark Forest.
Ariel couldn't take her eyes off her mother, lying there in a pool of her own blood, being dragged away until she was out of sight.
She stopped crying long enough to go to sleep.
Ariel woke up, freezing cold and surrounded by dwarfs. Seven of them to be exact.
"Who are you?" The one at her feet asked in a sweet tone.
"I'm Ariel."
He helped her up. "Is your village the one that burnt down?"
She nodded her head slightly.
The dwarfs raised Ariel. They taught her how to fight, how to find food, hunt, build shelter, make cloths, and most importantly, how to defend herself against things living and non-living. Good and bad. Right and wrong. Therefore, in the end, she would always come out victorious.
Then, they sent her off at the age of seventeen, leaving her a knife, clothing, and advice.
As Ariel picked berries from the seven-season bush, she heard a crack sound off in the distance. "A twig," Ariel thought to herself, "Someone's coming."
She grabbed her knife, just in case, and ran behind a tree, careful not to make a sound.
"Cuta! I've found a river!" A man said, calling his friend who was right behind him. They had been walking through the Dark Forest for three days now, and were relieved to have found something to drink.
So when they saw the river, they scooped up hand-full's of water at a time.
"What do I do now?" Ariel asked herself, "I wouldn't stand a chance against those two men at once."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said, stepping out from the tree and hiding the knife in her sleeve. "If you drink too much of that water then you'll get sick and die."
The men turned around and faced Ariel.
The older one stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?"
"I should be asking the questions since you're drinking from my lake."
"Your lake? This lake belongs to the kingdom, as does the Dark Forest." He said, taking another step forward.
"No, it belongs to me."
They gazed at each other, never breaking eyes. Not even when Ariel pulled her knife from her sleeve.
"Who are you?" He asked again.
"Who are you?" She replied.
He caved in, "My name is Du. Prince Du the third, and if you pull that knife on me, then I'll have you arrested."
She laughed and stepped so close to him that there was only a thread of air between them. "If I pull this knife on you then you'll never make it back to your precious little kingdom."
He said nothing.
"A prince huh? Well, prince, how is the kingdom doing these days? The last time I was there, it was burning, burning and death. That's the last thing that I saw. Did the palace rebuild the town? Cut taxes? Count the dead?" Ariel said the last part very slowly and quietly. Every syllable slid off her tong like dew off a flower in the morning of a spring day.
Prince Du said, "None of those things were my decision. I was only eight years old when that happened."
"Yeah? Well I was only six, and I had to make some grown-up decisions. Did you even ask your Father?"
He said nothing except for, "Again, for the last time, who are you?"
"My name is Ariel."
As quickly as a thief in the night, Ariel took her knife, slashed him and his friend right above their kneecaps, and then ran.
She wasn't about to go back to that place that she used to call home. It wasn't home anymore. It was no longer a place of singing and dancing and happiness. That was the old, dreamy village where her parents had lived. It was now the old, dark, nightmare village where her parents had died.
About six months had passed and Ariel hadn't seen prince Du, but she was perfectly fine with that. However, the thing was that she couldn't get him out of her mind. He was haunting her thoughts. Maybe it was because it was the first tall person she had talked to in ten years, or maybe it was because he was the prince, but he was still with her.
"Clamp, clamp, clamp." Sounds of at least six horses coming her way.
"Oh no." Ariel said aloud.
She quickly grabbed her knife and ran to her shelter, but the king's men had already seen her.
They grabbed Ariel by her hair and pulled her onto a horse without much struggle.
"Let me go!" Ariel said, pushing to get off the horse and succeeding.
She rolled and tumbled but didn't stop running. What could she have done that was so horrible that they would come looking for her in the Dark Forest?
"Stop!" Someone yelled, but she didn't stop.
Suddenly, a strong hand collapsed around her lips and dragged her behind a tree.
On instinct, she swung her fist and it connected with her kidnapper's face.
Wait, that face, "Prince Du? What are you doing?"
He rubbed his jaw and said, "Ouch! I was trying to help you. The dwarfs sent me here to help you. Don't ask questions. Just listen. I am going to drag you out of here and show you to my men. You're going to act like you want to get away from me. Then, there will be a man with the only black horse, he will carry you back to the kingdom and then I will help you escape. But I can only get you out of the palace; the dwarfs will take it from there. Don't ask questions. Just trust me."
Ariel had almost no time to think about until the prince was dragging her out from the tree by her hair.
"You're hurting me." She cried, but the prince just brought Ariel to his father without a word.
Ariel came before the king in chains and dirty cloths. Prince Du sat beside his father, gazing at Ariel as if she were a normal girl. But they both knew that she was much more than that.
"State your name girl." The king said with a deep monotone voice.
"Do you not already know it king? Has your son not already told you my identity?"
Everyone was shocked by Ariel's choice of words. No one had ever spoken to the king that way. "I want to hear it from you girl."
"My name is not 'girl'. If you want to know my name, then ask your son." For some reason, Ariel never wanted to tell anyone her name, much less the king.
"Do you think that this is a game?" The king asked.
"No, games are fun."
He had had enough. The king rose from his chair and walked up to her. "Listen to me and listen well, I am your king, and you will do as I say when I say it. You will not mock me in front of my men. Now for the last time, what is your name?"
"My name? My name is none of your business." She looked him straight in the eye when she said it.
He turned to his men and said, "Take her away."
Two men came and started to drag her. Ariel shouted, "Is this how you treat your people? Is this how you would want your son to die?"
The king held up his hand and said, "Stop." One simple word and all sound deceased. He turned to face her, "What did you say?"
"If you weren't the king, and someone killed your family, but the kingdom did nothing about it, how would you feel?"
He said nothing so she continued, "Do want to know why I live in the Dark Forest? It's because I have nowhere else to go! My parents died and you did nothing! When the village burnt down, you just stood by and watched it burn. You watched your people die. You watched my parents die, fighting for you. Now do you understand? No. You don't understand because you have never experienced anything like that. Have you?"
The prince looked at Ariel and said with his eyes, "You shouldn't have said that."
"Never experienced the pain? I don't think that you understand. My wife died in childbirth. Do you know how hard that was on me? Do you know how many times I wanted to kill my son? I came so close, but then I saw his eyes and couldn't do it. Now I understand that you were young and scared, but even though I watched my village burn, I still felt it burn. Every time they threw a torch, I died a little inside."
"Then why didn't you do anything about it? You could've saved so many people if you would've just stood up to those torches! If you would've just sent more men! If you would've fought them off, maybe my parents would still be alive, who knows? But as the king, your job is not only to protect the kingdom, but the people inside of it."
At that moment, prince Du rose from his chair and asked, "Farther, may I speak to you in privet for a moment?"
He looked surprised, but said, "Of course."
Prince Du left the room and his father followed behind him. "What is it son?" He asked.
"Well, I had to get you out of there before she made a complete full of you in front of your men. Now listen to me, if you don't stop trying to outdo her, then she won't stop. That girl in there has been through hell and back and won't stop until she has won. So what I suggest is that you give me some time alone with her to warn her. Please."
"No. Now son, I understand that—"
"You don't understand. Farther, please just listen to me."
The king thought for a minute and then said, "Fine, but make it quick."
Prince Du went back in without his farther and told the men, "Leave us please."
They turned and left.
"Can I leave now?" She asked.
"No. Not yet. I'm afraid that you will have to stay another day." He replied.
"What? Why?"
"Because you're not doing what every other citizen does."
"And what is that?"
"Show respect."
Ariel sat down, but prince Du came up to her and made her stand back up. "Listen Ariel, if you ever want to get out of here, then I suggest that you actually show my farther some courtesy. If you don't want to get out of here though, then continue to do what you're doing."
She just looked at him as he said it though. He was so close to her, holding her arm so tight. "Could you please let me go?"
"No! Ariel, you have to listen."
"Stop saying my name!"
"You want me to stop saying your name Ariel, is that what you said?"
"I said stop it!"
"But Ariel, I thought you said to stop saying your name. Oops, sorry Ariel, oh my, I did it again."
"Stop! Why are you being so mean?"
"Well, I'm not trying to Ariel. It's just that, Ariel is such a beautiful name that I can't stop saying it. Ariel, Ariel, Ariel."
"I said stop saying my name!" She swung her fist and hit him right in the face.
But prince Du didn't say or do anything except lean down and kiss her.
For the slightest second, she hated and despised him for kissing her after being so annoying. She wanted to slap him and hurt him in every way possible, but then, she looked into those deep, sea green eyes and, all of her hate was replaced by love.
Two years later, the king died in his bed and prince Du became the new ruler of their kingdom. Fortunately, Ariel ruled by his side. Eventually, Ariel was ready to have a child and got pregnant, but before she had the baby, there was one last thing that she had to do.
Ariel knocked on the door of the dwarf 's small home that she had grown up in and took a small step back.
They answered and were completely shocked. "Ariel, is that you?"
"Yes G, it's me."
They all hugged her tightly, but not too tightly, and told her to come on in. "What are you doing here? Aren't you the new queen?"
"Yes. But I have a favor to ask you before I have my child."
"Anything for you Ariel."
She sighed and looked at her stomach. "Well, you see, I was thinking that when I have this baby, what will happen to me? So, if I die, or am kidnapped or something horrible happens to Du, and me then I want you, all seven of you, to take care of her. Or him."
"Oh, don't say that."
"Just promise me you guys, promise me that you'll look after her."
They nodded and said at the same time, "We promise."
She smiled and bid them one last good-bye, and then rode off to the palace.
Sadly, Ariel died in childbirth. Just like Du's mother. But they still had a beautiful daughter. She had pale skin and dark black hair. They named her, Snow White.
But that's a different story. . .
The end
For now. . .