A/N: I know, I know, I have no business starting a new fic when I'm so lax about updating the ones I already have posted. But, you see, with so many plot bunnies hopping about in my mind, it's impossible NOT to post a new one. So, here goes nothing. Let me know how it is!
Oh, and I made up a few "rules" if you will about mermaids and their survival in and out of water. If they don't make any sense, feel free to ask me to clarify.
THIMBLES! And on with the fic...
Saran VD
By the Sea
Prologue
The sea was calm and quiet with the exception of a small school of fish. That is, until a hyperactive mermaid came swimming through the school, attempting to break them up. The fish, who were used to this sort of thing, just continued on their path. Once she was on the opposite edge of the school, she frowned and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. A young bottlenose dolphin swam over to join her.
"Why aren't they fleeing?" the mermaid asked the dolphin, staring at the school of fish.
One of the fish answered her. "You're Triton's granddaughter, right?"
"That's right," said the mermaid, puffing up her chest proudly.
"And you wouldn't hurt any of us, would you?"
"Of course not!"
"So why should we swim away from a ten-year-old mergirl who doesn't intend to harm us?"
"You bring up a good point," the mermaid agreed, "but couldn't you just play along?"
"These are dangerous waters, little princess, to be playing carelessly in. In these open seas, we are easy targets for sharks and humans."
"Puh! A mere human, harm Princess Mariah? Nonsense!" she said, laughing.
"You'd be surprised," said the fish.
"Well," asked Mariah hopefully, "if you won't play, can I swim with you all?"
"Umm... Mariah?" interrupted the dolphin. "Shouldn't- shouldn't we be heading home soon?"
"Oh, hush, Flipper, look how bright the sun is!" Mariah retorted, gesturing toward the surface.
"But I'm scared!" Flipper whined.
"Oh, hush, nothing is going to happen."
"But Mariah..."
"I said hush, Flipper. I'm the Princess, so you have to listen to me!"
As the two continued to bicker, a small dark shape appeared at the surface. The fish, knowing what was coming, became panicked and started swimming away from it.
"WAIT!" called Mariah, swimming to catch up with them. "I thought you said I can swim with you."
Before the fish could reply, the entire school of fish, including Mariah, was caught in a net.
Mariah screamed. The net completely enclosed them, and all of its occupants began thrashing about in their mad attempts at escape. "Flipper!" called Mariah to the dolphin, who was swimming in a tight circle with his eyes shut. "Get help!"
He stopped circling and faced her. "From who?"
"Anyone!" she shrieked as the net began to leave the water. She had to twist around in the net to continue to speak to Flipper as he swam away. "And hurry!" In a panic, she continued thrashing and ended up with her fin hopelessly entangled in the net by the time she reached the surface.
Mariah found herself face-to-face with a human fisherman, who was throwing the now dead fish into a basket to his left. His face was gruff, but he looked kind. "Ah, so this is why me nets were so 'eavy this mornin'. I was wonderin'." He must've noticed how horrified she looked, because he took her small hand in his large, leathery one. "You're gonna be okay, little miss. I'll make sure of it."
She tried to speak, but all that came out was a squawk.
"Poor little miss. No voice, eh?" The fisherman's eyes traveled to her still-thrashing tail. "No legs either. Pretty little mergirl, aren'tcha?"
Her eyes widened in terror. This must be the kind of human Grandfather warned me about, she thought to herself as the man grabbed a knife off the bottom of the boat. The kind that sees me as food. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, as if to block out the pain of the knife's blade. However, her curiosity took over her, and she opened one eye in order to look at him. He wasn't cutting her with the knife. He was trying to untangle the net from around her fin, but was pulling it tighter instead of looser. She could feel it cut off the flow of blood to her left fin. The pain became so great that she passed out.
She couldn't feel any more pain when she regained consciousness, and when, several minutes later, she had the courage to open her eyes fully, she realized why.
The tissue was dead; there was no other reason that the once bright pink tail fin had turned blackish- blue. She found her voice at last.
"What did you do to me?!" she cried in horror, staring at her now-dead fin.
"Ah, so the pretty mergirl does have a voice. I'm sorry about your fin, I really am. Din't mean to hurtcha, did I?" He frowned thoughtfully at the fin. "Don't think it's good to leave dead stuff attached. Me uncle had to cut off his hand when that was hurt, din't he?" He pulled out the knife. "Think that's what needs to be done now."
"No, don't-"
But the fisherman didn't listen to her, and with one swift slash of his knife, the dead fin was no longer attached to Mariah's tail, and blood was flowing heavily from where it had been.
"Now look what you've done!" snapped Mariah. "What if it had gotten better?"
The fisherman didn't reply. He simply picked up the severed fin and threw it into the water. Then, much to her surprise, he didn't throw her back the sea, too. Instead, he tore some fabric off his shirt and bound the wound tightly. "Lay down," he instructed her, placing her fin on his lap. She obeyed, slightly afraid of what was to come. He took up the oars and rowed back to shore.
!!
Meanwhile, Flipper was frantically swimming back to Atlantica. He was stopped at the gates by a stern-looking guard. "You know you aren't permitted in Atlantica, dolphin," said the guard with a frown.
"This is important!" Flipper sputtered. "Princess Mariah sent me, sir, to get help! The humans have caught her."
The guard's eyes widened, and he allowed the dolphin to pass.
Flipper swam straight into Mariah's mother's chamber. "Your Highness!" he said breathlessly.
Mariah's mother didn't seem to hear him. She was staring at herself in the mirror as she pinned her dark curls back.
"Miss Alana!" he snapped angrily, and the mermaid turned to him. Her serene expression became alarmed when she noticed that Flipper, who nearly always had Mariah at his side, was alone.
"Flipper! Where's Mariah?" asked Alana in a panic.
"Fish... humans... this way," he panted, beckoning for her to follow.
"Hold on," she said, and she swam in the direction of her father's throne. "Daddy!" she called, searching frantically for the sea king. In her hurry, she nearly crashed into him. He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she sighed in relief.
"Yes, daughter?" King Triton asked.
"It's Mariah. Flipper said something about humans, and she's not with him."
Even Triton, who was normally so calm, was frightened and worried by this news, and he swam toward the surface as fast as he could, with Flipper and Alana at his tail.
When they got to the surface, there was no boat in sight. Both of the merpeople turned on Flipper, worry etched on their faces.
"Please, please tell me Mariah's playing one of her tricks again," Alana begged.
Flipper held back tears as he shook his head.
Triton's voice cracked, and he headed back to the depths.
"Daddy! Just where do you think you're going?" snapped Alana, following him once again.
He sighed. "Alana, if the humans have taken her, there is nothing we can do to help."
!!
Mariah herself was soaking in the fisherman's washtub as he searched for food that wasn't fish.
"Don't eat much else, see? Don't want to make you eat it, though, since you practically are one."
Against her will, she found herself asking him, "Then why aren't you eating me?"
The fisherman chuckled. "I knew I'd like ya," he said. "I'm not eatin' ya 'cause you're an awful lot like a human, too, and I wouldn't eat one of my own kind, would I?" He handed her a bunch of grapes. "'Fraid it's all I've got."
She picked a grape off and ate it, studying him with interest. "What's your name?" she asked him.
He smiled and bent to check her makeshift bandage. "Henry," he said, removing the blood-soaked fabric, and the wound began to bleed freely again. He grabbed another piece of fabric and re-wrapped her fin. "Me name's Henry. What's yours, pretty mergirl?"
Figuring that since he didn't seem interested in eating her, she was safe, she answered his question. "Mariah, daughter of Alana, daughter of Triton."
Henry froze. "Yer Triton's granddaughter?"
She nodded and winced as he pulled the bandage tight.
"Well, if I ever hope to have fish in my belly, I'm gonna have to take extra- good care of you, aren't I, Miss Mariah?"
"That's right," she said, sounding as self- important as ever. "My Grandfather is the sea-king, and he'll punish you if anything bad happens to me." She glanced down at her tail. "Well, worse than this, anyway."
"I don't doubt that," said Henry with a laugh, "which is why I'm helpin' ya. We fishermen are a superstitious bunch."
!!
Two months had passed since Mariah had disappeared to the surface of the ocean, and Alana was beside herself. She was so distressed by the situation that she no longer took care of her appearance at all, something that her husband Dylan found worrisome, though naturally he was more worried about his daughter.
Dylan was the first to give up hope. It took him six weeks to decide that Triton was right, and that there was nothing that could be done to save her. Eventually, he persuaded Alana that he was right, and she fell into a deep grief.
It ended up that, when Mariah was ready to return to the water, Flipper was the only one still looking for her.
Flipper was circling the location of his friend's abduction one warm summer morning when he saw a boat approaching. Terrified, he dove into the depths.
On board the boat, Henry was using the oars to splash little Mariah, keeping her wet. They both were laughing. At the spot of the mergirl's abduction, he stopped rowing the boat and smiled at the little one that he'd become so close to in the last two months.
"Well, Miss Mariah," he said with a heavy sigh, taking her hands, "it's time for you to go back to the ocean, innit?"
She nodded, her eyes glowing happily.
He pulled her upright so that she could jump out of the boat more easily. "You sure you'll be able to swim?"
"I hope so," she said, her grey eyes wide with longing as she stared at the waves.
"Me, too," he said. They were silent for a few seconds, holding hands and staring at each other. "Well," said Henry gruffly, breaking the spell between him and the little mergirl, "guess this is good-bye."
She nodded, looking sad, let go of his hands, and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. "Thank you. I'll tell Grandfather how nice you are. You'll be catching so many fish, you won't know what to do with them all."
He returned the embrace, letting go quickly. He knew that if he got too attached to this child, he wouldn't be able to let her go. "Off with ya," he said, nudging her. "Go on, get!"
Smiling sadly, she leapt into the cool, clear water. The last thing that Henry saw of her was her little one- finned tail.
Once in the water, Mariah flipped head over fin with joy, but this was not easily done. As she tried to right herself, she saw a familiar shape in the water. "FLIPPER!" she exclaimed joyfully, attempting to swim. It was a lot harder to swim without a fin, she realized. She could only go half of the speed she used to be able to.
Flipper, however, had been waiting to hear that call for two months, and he raced towards his friend as fast as his fins could carry him. He nearly barreled into her before noticing the missing fin, and he stopped short. "What happened?" he cried, looking at her tail in sorrow.
"Oh, Flipper, I missed you!" she said, throwing her arms around him. "I need to get back home, Flipper. Can you help me? I... can't swim very well anymore."
"I'll say," he muttered, and he swam off with her still holding on to him.
The guard at the gates of Atlantica didn't even ask when he saw Flipper anymore; the dolphin had been given permission to come and go from Atlantica as he pleased. They passed through the gate and headed to her mother's chamber, Flipper babbling all the way. "And wait until your mom and dad see you, they'll be so happy. And your grandfather's been worrying sick, but that might be because he still hasn't found Morgana, so your cousin can't come in the ocean with us to celebrate all of the holidays with the rest of the family, and Ariel can't visit without her daughter. And your Aunt Aquata had another baby, did you hear? Well, of course not, you were above the water. His name's Leo, and he's got this really bright red tail, like really bright, and he's really cute." The monologue finally ended when he got close to Alana's chamber. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," she whispered. "I wanna go all by myself." And she swam, alone, towards the doorway to Alana's chamber. Flipper hated watching her struggle, so he nudged her to give her an extra boost. She smiled over her shoulder at him, then turned her focus back to swimming. She was saddened by the effort that this short swim took, and she grabbed the doorframe for support before turning the corner.
Alana was curled up- asleep- in a chair near the door, her once-perfect curls in a state of disarray.
"But
"Wow, Mamma," said Mariah, grinning, "for once, my hair looks better than yours." And it did. Before she returned to the ocean, Henry helped her style her dark waves neatly, and he gave her a pearl hairpin to use that had once belonged to his mother.
Alana awoke with a start. Her hair flew about her head as she looked around for the source of the voice. Finally, her eyes fell upon her young daughter in the doorway, and- for the first time in two months- she looked truly happy about something. "Mariah!" she breathed, and unceremoniously wrapped her daughter tightly in her arms.
Mariah returned the hug so tightly that she worried that her mother would be unable to breathe. Neither of them suffocated, though, which could only be a good sign. "Oh, Mamma," said Mariah, burying her face in Alana's hair, "I missed you so much."
Alana pulled away and looked at her little girl's round, smiling face. "Your father and I thought…"
"But I'm fine!" interrupted Mariah, trying to keep her mother from seeing her injury. "See?" And she batted her eyelashes.
Alana laughed merrily. "You're much too young to be acting so flirtatious, little one. Now come. Your grandfather has to see you. I don't know if Flipper told you, but he's been so worried."
"He might've mentioned it," grinned the child, and she allowed her mother to leave first. This time, as she swam, she managed to (barely) keep up by pulling herself with her arms, but it was still hard to keep from rolling over. Fortunately, her mother was too happy to have her daughter back to notice that something was wrong.
Right before they entered the throne room, Alana turned to her daughter. "Wait here," she instructed. "I want to surprise him."
Mariah nodded. As Alana entered the throne room, Mariah moved closer to the doorway so that she could listen in.
"Daddy," said Alana cheerfully, "I have a surprise for you."
King Triton, who had been reading, looked up at his daughter and attempted to return her smile, but he couldn't hide his concern. "Well?" he asked.
"I'm not telling you," she said tantalizingly.
Triton sighed loudly. "Alana, I don't have time for this. Just tell me."
"I'm not telling you," she repeated, more earnestly. "But I'll show you."
Mariah hated the set-up, which made her sound like a mildly interesting zoo animal.
"Let's see then."
Alana turned to the doorway. Mariah peeked around the corner to see her mother beckoning frantically at her. With a deep breath, she pushed off the wall and swam awkwardly towards her grandfather.
Triton, like his daughter, didn't initially notice something was wrong. He, too, was blinded by his happiness to see her back in the sea. "Is that little Mariah?" he asked, holding his arms out to the eldest of his grandchildren.
Mariah smiled in confirmation and began to use her arms as paddles.
Triton's smile faded a bit. "Why can't she swim?" she asked
She stopped swimming towards them and treaded water with her hands. "Nothing, Mamma, honest. Just got caught in a net."
"Just caught in a net? What happened to your tail?"
Mariah looked down and bit her lip. "Oh, that. Just an accident, really."
Triton had noticed her severed fin as well, and he looked angry. "It was the human, wasn't it?"
"What else did he do to you?" asked Alana, her fists clenched tightly and a vein on her forehead popping. "He had you in his clutches for two months. He could have done anything. Did he violate you?"
They were scary, Mariah decided. She didn't think they'd get this angry. "It was an accident. The net got stuck around my fin and he tried to cut the net and he… his hand slipped."
"His hand slipped," sneered Alana. "Likely story."
"No, honest! And then he felt really bad about what he did and nursed me back to health and made sure I was one hundred percent healed before he let me come back."
Triton looked as if he believed her. "But now you can't swim as well."
"No," she admitted. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Does that mean I can't be a sea princess anymore?"
"Of course not, honey," cooed Alana, taking her daughter in her arms. "Right?" she asked Triton as Mariah clung to her shoulders to keep from sinking.
"Of course," said Triton. "Things will just be a little more… difficult from now on."
"See?" said Alana, wiping the tears off her daughter's cheek. "You'll be fine."