"Today's the day!" Arista chirped into the small cavern of the girls' bedroom. "Wake up sleepy gills! Don't want to miss your breakfast feast, do you?" she was more or less inclined to make it known through tone of voice how little she actually cared for tradition. Still, each princess got to choose whether they would be celebrating their 15th or not (as well as what time of day they preferred to surface), and Adella had decided to go along with a morning cast off. She had not expected to be woken up at the crack of dawn, however.

The brunette flopped onto her stomach on her shell bed, pulling a pillow down pointedly over her head and ears. The long hair spilling out from under was a mess of tangles and hadn't been pulled into its usual forehead bun yet. She was still wearing her flimsy sleep top.

"C'moooon," her older sister groaned, pulling at Adella's fins. "Everyone's waiting!" It had been sneaky, but in the middle of the night Arista had more or less convinced their five remaining siblings to abandon the area. She might have promised her eternal servitude and an unending supply of all the extra clams she got at dinner for the rest of her years in the castle, but that was beside the point. Triton, his advising crab Sebastian, Ariel's guppy friend Flounder and the rest of the sleepy family, as well as some of the castle's guards and guests, were all waiting on the main floor.

Arista was beyond anxious. Adella's feigned snoring did not sit well with her at all, and she got a cunning idea. Without beating her tail much so as to keep quiet, the blonde crossed over to her vanity, grabbing a brush. Her reflection gave off an evil smirk as she oh so carefully slid the bristles up under Adella's pillow, caught hold, and gave a nasty yank.

Up floated the pillow as Adella's arms snapped to tangle with Arista's.

She shrieked, "that's not fair you- you eel!" Reclaiming control over where her hair had been pulled.

Arista relinquished her hold on the brush and doubled over laughing, hitting her cheek on the hard shell bedframe. There were tears in both girls' eyes as Adella gently styled her hair and flicked Arista hard on the arm.

"Alright, alright don't get your scales in a frenzy. I'm going" She rolled her eyes, pulling off her shirt and replacing it with her shell bra. She paused to put two little clams on her ears before jetting out of the room and down to the dining room on the seafloor. Arista, momentarily disoriented by how quick she'd been, was smacked in the face with a few bubbles from her sister's wake, and hurried after her. Adella couldn't really been mad at her, but Arista had been driving her spiny for the past week. Each day they got closer to her birthday, she noticed Arista tailing her closer and closer, until the day before when she hadn't left her side at all. Truthfully, Adella felt a bit sad, that if she couldn't find this mysterious boy or his ship it might destroy her sister altogether. After all, none of their other sisters had seen a ship at all. What if the sea remained open and empty for her own surfacing? Adella didn't express her concerns, however. She knew Arista was smarter than she let on and would feel worse about the odds than she did.

Everyone at the breakfast table seemed to be two parts excited and one part restless. The restlessness was ultimately a desire to return to bed. King Triton's face brightened and everyone settled down, relieved, when Adella swam in. They didn't pay as much attention when Arista nearly rolled in onto her fins a few seconds later. The ceremony could begin. Triton headed the table, with his two eldest daughters, Attina, on his right side. Aquata sat on his left. Andrina sat next to her and then Alana. Arista took her place next to Attina (and across from Aquata) as she was fourth eldest. Since it was Adella's birthday, she took the foot of the table, with her younger sister Alana on her left. To her right sat Ariel, the youngest of the princesses at 13 years old. She smiled the brightest and wished Adella a very happy 15th. She was perhaps the most excited for Adella to surface and bring back her stories, next to Arista.

Breakfast was clams, kelp, sea snails, and shrimp. Conversation was kept light as they all enjoyed the meal, and afterword Triton made an announcement on how proud he was of his daughters. What fine princesses they were all turning out to be, and how fond he was of them. He remarked on Adella's kindness and perceptiveness in regards to the citizens of the kingdom, as well as her sisters. She was always able to understand when they were in a good mood or were upset and was always ready to help. She would greet everyone with a smile. Triton expressed his hope that she find the surface agreeable enough.
Each sister, in order, had gotten up and hugged Adella as they expressed their love and desire to hear her stories upon her return. Arista gave the longest hug, both excited and hopeful, but was unusually quiet. Ariel on the other hand could not stop asking or reminding Adella to remember every single detail, and then some.

"Are you sure you'll remember it all?" She worried her lip. "You will, won't you? Oh, won't you bring me something back?" Her eyes danced and she gripped her sister's hands tight, overwrought with anticipation.
Adella laughed and pulled her into another hug, promising to do her very best.

Finally, it was time to go.

Arista watched from the edge of the room as Adella gathered herself, whipping her tail against the seafloor to gain the propulsion that would carry her to the surface with each powerful flick of her fins. The room below her clapped and cheered. They all watched as she became smaller and smaller, then steadily they all pushed their chairs in and the room emptied out. Arista waited for the palace staff to clear the table and leave through the corridor that led to the kitchen. She carefully scanned the area, checking that she was truly alone, before pushing herself straight up and beating her tail against the water in order to reach the air as fast as possible. She was not the fastest swimmer in the family, Ariel was that, but she was determined to find Adella before she swam out of range.
Adella herself had broken the surface and gasped at the sheer openness of the world. No clouds were in the sky and the air was filled with the cawing of seabirds out for their own breakfast. She smiled at them and waved, splashing her hands down into the water to wet her face. Her skin was growing tight fast, but she didn't mind. She noticed the lighter green-blue color of the waters near her and remarked that she must be near the sandbar Andrina had found. She thought that, certainly such shallow water would not be good for swimming or sailing near, and regretted that she must leave the clear water and soft sand for deeper water. Arista surfaced about this time and followed from a foot yards back.

So they both noticed the growing shadow in the distance at the same time.
"Oh!" Adella cooed. It was quite the miracle indeed, but there was no way to tell if the hull that had been quickly coming into view was Arista's ship or not. It was quite a bit smaller than Arista's story, even so she could still note how it did pull the water beneath and alongside it as it disrupted the flow, creating its own rippling waves. Though it was a nice day, there was an underlying wind that moved it along quickly. Adella was just noticing the small triangular white things billowing in the air on strange poles. She was busy watching the forms of two men bustling about and pulling at strange ropes not so far above her, so she tried to stay mostly underwater with only her eyes above to see. She was too busy, in this case, to notice just how close it had gotten when she heard the shouts of the men and felt rather than saw a great school of fish move frantically past her. Their gills and fins tickled her stomach, and as she turned to watch them swim away behind her, the boat loomed closer. She could hear the panicked voice of Arista, and briefly wondered when she'd gotten there. Adella wanted to ask why she was concerned when her arm caught on something rough. Her mind went wild as she thrashed her tail and arms, pulling at the net that held her.

"Adella!" Arista cried, floating at eye level with Adella as she pulled at the rope. Tears spilled from her eyes. Adella was sobbing out of shock, but Arista could not accept defeat yet.

"You've got to swim down!" She decided. The boat was headed back where in the direction it had come from now that it had a catch. Arista had to swim faster to keep up, but she grabbed at the net and still pulled it towards the deep. Together they pulled until the boat was leaning and the men above running about in a panic. Still the boat sped along, even against the wind. Arista cursed that she could not reach their father to have his help in turning the tide. "That's it, keep going!" She encouraged, but Adella was getting even more tangled, and fatigued.

"I can't do this for much longer," she protested. Above, the fishermen were attempting to haul the net up.
Arista pulled herself up to see more. Her heart dropped as she saw land, where great weeds that did not dance in the waves or wind stood in clusters. Between the groves, there was the entrance to a wide river. They wanted to pull their catch aboard before they reached it and Arista could not let that happen.

"Jellyfish," she breathed as she sank. She was ready for a plan B and coming up with nothing fast. Adella sank against the bottom of the net and it lurched up with the sudden ease of resistance. As both mermaids were startled, Arista pulled the entwined ropes harder and noticed near her fingers how some strands were coming loose from being tugged by the barbs on Adella's tail. "Adella!" She shouted.

"It's hopeless," Adella sniffed, rather thinking that she should never see her sisters or father or home again.

"No," Arista demanded. "Rub you tail against the rope, and don't stop swimming down!" She set her eyes and hoped she exuded the confidence she didn't feel as she gave a wicked grin. "We've got this," she assured Adella softly.

The two worked against the heave of the sailors, whose arms strained and faces went red from holding their breath and grating their teeth. They cut and cut, as Arista's fins brushed the top of the riverbed. Most of the rope had been cut away and Adella was pulling the last of it apart to get the bulk of her tale out. She popped free, somersaulting into the free water with an exasperated squeak of delight. The fishermen fell to the deck as the net gave way and was pulled on top of them, empty and destroyed. They yelled and kicked, later telling the people of the fishing village of the one that got away. Not a one of them having actually laid eyes on the catch. Adella collapsed into Arista's arms.

"Thank you, oh I didn't think I'd survive that."Adella admitted. "You were so strong"

Arista buckled under the admiration, she felt guilty. "I was scared but I mean, I couldn't just let that happen." She quirked her head and felt heavy for more than one reason. She knew she could never go searching for her ship again, and she accepted it because she never wanted this to happen again.

"Let's go," Adella floated back a pace. They smiled at each other and she put out a hand for Arista to take.
As she reached for it, her vision was skewed suddenly. Adella gasped and yanked her arm back as another net filled the river's opening, and with a great heave, and to the horror of both, Arista was flung atop the land and out of Adella's view.

She turned tail and she fled, for Arista was no longer within her reach, and only her father could help with her distress now.

Arista was left staring up at a gleeful old woman with white hair and a stooped back. She grinned as pain jolted down Arista's scales and fins, shocked by the sudden lack of water (for you see when she hefted her tale up onto the ship the year prior, it had been gradual and still under the onslaught of rain). Fatigue settled upon her as she gulped the dry air and her vision went hazy. The woman laughed an awful sound as Arista blacked out.