I
Ariel followed the royal a ship all the way to port. She made sure never to come too close to the surface not to be seen. She'd been travelling for days now, by then her crying had stopped. She should know better than to deal lightly with the Dark One. She heard pirates and sailors talk about him; a vile creature that controlled specially a small village in one of the kingdoms. She should've made clear of what she was dealing.
There were none of her sisters left. She searched fiercely; sang and hissed, but never heard anything back. She thought Zoso would take only a few, but he took them all. The finless torsos sunk in the ocean, the blood filled the water, and she thought maybe the sailors couldn't see it for they didn't seem to mind it as they sailed away.
She managed to eat off of fish and other ocean specialties during the journey, not to scare the sailors away. Ariel tried eating only off fish for a while before that, but they seemed never to truly fulfill her, but now she was determined. She lost her sisters for this, she would make it work. She wondered if in human form she could, perhaps, eat other things? She breathed differently when Zoso pulled her up on land. Her senses lowered drastically, the singing of her sisters was only a faint memory in her mind in the few moments she stayed on land. Perhaps when a human she truly transformed completely into one? She hadn't had the chance to try and explore her human self completely until that night.
Ariel observed from afar as the ship docked, she took a considerable distance not to be seen and popped her head out of the water to observe as the sailors prepared to leave the ship. A castle stood strong and powerful far away on a mountain and the dock was made of a hard dark wood, the small village surrounding port was vibrant with life, the houses and establishments were made of dark stones, and oil lamps and blowtorches illuminated the entire village. Ariel could hear music, laughter and voices, and observed as the sailors left the ship and were greeted by locals.
Ariel dived again and swam towards port; she could see the earth that held the city strong baying the water and swam slowly to a darker part of the port. Carefully she swam up again; the tip of her head and her eyes popped out of the water and she realized she was on the other side of the ship, above on the ground a stoned house blocked her view. Seemed like the perfect place to transform and emerge out of the water. She closed her eyes and concentrated, her fin slowly turned into the pair of legs and her body evolved with the organza dress to cover her up. She lost a bit of grip again and almost drowned, but managed to swim to the dock and stand up quickly on ground.
She took a deep breath, feeling as her heart slammed her chest with a mix of excitement and fear and with the little confidence she had left, she walked around the ship, feeling the wet wood with her bare feet, she looked up at the ship and observed as sailors kept disembarking on the other side. She noted that indeed her senses were a lot less sharp when in human form, when she could barely hear what they were saying among all the voices and couldn't make up all the smells that filled her nostrils; the only strong smell she could really make up was the ocean breeze.
"Hello, pretty lass, are you lost?" a voice stunned her. She looked from the ship to where the voice came from and stared at an old man offering a hand to her.
The man had a bald head covered by a red stained and old bandana, a few of his left teeth were crooked and yellow, his eyes were dark as the night around them and his face was covered in with a dirty white beard, he was dressed with stained brown pants, a pair of old boots and a ragged puffy shirt. Ariel was so distracted observing the ship she didn't even realize she was about to actually step on land, the man offered his hand to help her up the small step from the docks to the land.
"No," she tried to sound casually, her voice failing a little. She hesitated but took the man's hand. "I'm not lost, sir."
"Looks like you are," he replied with a horrible smirk as he helped Ariel up.
She could feel rawness in his skin and quickly let go of his hand as soon as she stepped on the stoned ground. He grabbed her hand strongly as she tried to step away. Ariel panicked for a second and tried again to let her hand loose.
"Sir, please, let go of me," she said lowly. The man tried to pull her closer as she resisted.
"Oi, Old Jackie!" a third voice spoke up. "What are you doing?"
Both Ariel and the man, Old Jackie, looked at the source of the third voice. A handsome man with deep blue eyes, a beardless face and a white smile looked back at them. He was dressed with a royal uniform, white and blue, his black hair was hidden beneath a beautiful black hat with a black and white feather on the side. Ariel recognized him immediately: Prince Eric.
"Your Highness," Old Jackie said as soon as his eyes met Eric's, letting go of Ariel immediately to bow.
Ariel looked from Eric to Old Jackie and thought of doing the same, and so she did: clumsily imitating Old Jackie and with her head down. She heard as Eric's boot made a repetitive noise as he approached both of them. The Prince stood in front of Ariel and she stared at his boots, fighting hard not to look up, he took a gloved hand to her chin.
"Aren't you a pretty one?" Eric said, his voice deep and strong, Ariel looked up but kept bowing, she stared mesmerized at his white smile. "Stand up," he said and she did as she was told, he took the hand from her chin and kept on smiling. "What's your name?"
"A-Ariel," Ariel stuttered for a second as she lost her eyes on his. Eric glanced for a second to Old Jackie by her side and gestured apathetically to the man, who stood up and left them almost running.
"Ariel," Eric's eyes met hers as soon as the man left them. "Do you want to join our welcome home party?"
Ariel smiled in excitement and nodded her head. Soon completely forgetting how she got there, her sisters and everything else in her life as she joined her prince and followed him and his sailors to a tavern by the port.
x
Ariel shyly accompanied the party to the tavern, loud folk music played and the prince was welcomed by many common folk, most of them seemed of a lower level than him, with ragged clothes and dirty skins. As soon as Eric entered the tavern he distanced from Ariel, greeting and talking to the common people. Some women attended to the sailors, including Eric, with tight corsets on their bodies, heavy make up and their lavishing curves dancing with the music.
Ariel stood by a corner and observed, casually avoiding looks and people trying to grab her to dance… and other things. No one insisted, and as much as she wanted to actually join the feast, she was still unsure of how to act. She looked around and observed as people talked, played, danced, ate, feasted, kissed. She observed as two beautiful blonde women sat on each side of Eric's lap, their long tanned legs showing as they pulled their skirts up. The Prince happily ran his hands on the girls' legs as they kissed his neck and lips while he drank and talked to his friends.
Was that what human women did? She observed cautiously as if learning, they seemed as if they were enjoying it. At the same time she observed other women feasting, but reserved, and was confused. Maybe that attitude was a choice? It wasn't as if they were like mermaids, they weren't exactly predators. Humans had choices and lives, they didn't live to lure sailors, kill and feast on them. They had more, and whatever they did it was their choice. Ariel wasn't accustomed with making choices.
Ariel was caught by absolute surprise when a hand gently grabbed her elbow and pulled her away to a dark hallway. She took her elbow away and noticed when Prince Eric stared at her, his blue eyes shining with the light coming from the feasting hall. She swallowed dryly when he pinned her to the wall, one hand on each side of her head. She looked up, as he was taller than her and nudged down when she noticed he was about to kiss her.
"Where are you going?" he grabbed her arm again when she nudged and escaped his pin. This time he wasn't so gentle.
"Please, let go of me," she looked from his hand strongly holding her arm to his eyes.
"I'm your prince," his voice was loud, but so was the music and talking on the feasting hall, no one seemed to hear him, his tone was pompous. "You should do as I say, now come here."
Ariel thought faster than she expected, and as the prince pulled her closer to pin her again she took one knee up strongly to his crotch. She felt a sting as her skin ripped a little when her knee clumsily touched his belt with her attack. Prince Eric fell to his knees immediately and let go of her, Ariel stepped away, frightened.
"You are not my prince!" were the only words she managed to say. Although the fear took her body completely, her voice sounded confident when she spoke.
Eric grabbed his crotch and moaned in pain, but when she spoke he shot an angry look at her. However, before he could react Ariel ran away, making her way quickly among the people and leaving the tavern.
"Guards!" his voice rang louder than the music this time. Everyone stopped talking and playing and looked directly at him. Some of the sailors stood up abruptly dropping women, tables and beer on the floor as they walked up to their prince.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" one of them spoke up as he stood a hand to Eric.
"Find Ariel, the red head." the words sounded darker than the sailors ever heard coming out of their prince's mouth. He refused the help and started to stand up on his own. The sailors quickly left him, taking their swords and walking out of the tavern.
x
Ariel ran as fast as she could, and noted mentally that she'd be much farther now if she were swimming with her fin. She made her way among the people and ran towards the docks. She heard as men started to shout her name and commands to the others guarding the docks.
When the men guarding the docks realized the others were after her, the red head was already running on the wooden platform beside the ship.
"Stop, right now, in the name of the king!" a voice spoke up from behind her. Ariel turned around and started to walk slowly backwards as a wave of men started to walk in her direction, bows and swords in hands.
Ariel smiled when she reached the end of the wooden dock. Her heels slowly stepped away from the dock and she maintained balance with her toes. The men kept approaching her.
"You have nowhere to go, surrender yourself," one of them said as they approached her more, only a few feet away from her. Ariel smiled and before they could take another step she jumped backwards into the water.
She was completely underwater when she changed again and her fin wiggled to swim away from there, she diverted from the arrows the men shot at the water and she observed already far away when some of them jumped underwater to find her, but could barely see with the darkness of the night around them. Ariel turned back and continued swimming away, as fast as she could.
x
"Gone?" Eric's voice was a mist of incredulousness and rage. He stared at his guards and sailors, all of them evading his glance.
All of his sailors hated when this happened. Eric wasn't as nice and caring as he looked in feasts, he was cruel and spoiled, as was his father, King Richard. He hated to be confronted, he despised people who didn't please him and most of all: he hated to be disappointed.
"You are telling me that a woman jumped here," Eric continued and pointed exactly where his sailors said Ariel jumped. "Diverted from your arrows and swam away. In this darkness?"
"Your highness, we searched everywhere around in the water," one of the sailors spoke up, his voice shaking. "She was no where to be found."
"Well, clearly she came back to land, you idiot!" Eric's voice rang with a yell, his guard jumped. "She probably came up from somewhere else!"
Eric walked towards the captain of his personal guard and took the man by his colar, before speaking slowly and gravely.
"Tear this village apart, but you will find her," the prince said. "No man or woman says no to me and gets away alive. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Captain Mills stared at his prince's eyes and nodded quietly. The prince let go of his captain and started to walk away, the men opened up passage as he walked.
"You have three days," Eric said as he walked towards the horse his guard brought to him. "Bring her to the castle. You may do as you please with her, but bring her alive."
Captain Mills observed as Eric mounted his black stallion and trotted away. The soldier shook his head when he noted the frightened eyes of the peasants as the prince left the small village. Eric was too much like his father; the little hope of a fair ruler to their kingdom was lost.
x
Far away from Prince Eric's kingdom a pirate ship sailed slowly by the calm sea on a bright morning. Captain Killian Jones sat carelessly over an empty barrel of wine, his feet up resting over a rope as he peeled off an orange with his knife. His attention was drawn suddenly to a raven flying over his ship. A message, he knew. He watched as the raven sat on the shoulder of one of his sailors. The dark skinned man took a parchment from the bird and set it free. He read and his eyes locked on Jones' as he started walking towards his captain.
"Word from my deceased mother, Hugo?" Jones asked sarcastically, due to the man's serious expression, as he chewed on a piece of his orange.
"Captain Lars says a royal ship is coming our way," Hugo answered, ignoring his Captain's joke. "He was at Quutamo, our dear Prince Eric was a little annoyed a few days ago because some girl said no to him, his guard couldn't find her anywhere, so he decided to take his anger somewhere else."
"When is that spoiled prick not irritated with something?" Jones replied after a scoff. "Let them come, we will send them running back like last time. We keep our course, King Midas is one of the few that doesn't hate us, we need to step on land for a while, sell all this crap we took from King George's trade ships to get some coin."
"We could take a detour—"
"We could," Jones said as he put his feet down. "But we won't, a detour will delay us. We keep course. Besides, these waters are too calm, I'm getting bored."
"Aye, Captain," Hugo said, defeated, and nodded.
Jones smiled mischievously and nodded back, taking another piece of the orange to his mouth as his friend walked away. He wondered for a while who was the surely mad girl that dared to say no to Prince Eric of Quutamo, the most ruthless and spoiled prince of all the kingdoms and amused himself as he imagined the look of incredulousness on the prick's face when she did so.
A/N: Please, please, please review and let me know what you think. I know it's annoying when authors beg for reviews, but I could use some encouragement! :P Thanks for all the views, faves and follows!
