Finding herself lying down on a stone-like substance, she felt something stinging her fin. It was probably just the air, burning her like bees in the summer, or perhaps she had gotten hurt, in whatever way she had gotten there. But then it hit her, the fact that her fin was hurting, and she opened her eyes to find what seemed to be her worst nightmare. Screaming desperately, slamming her fists against the stone she was lying on, she hadn't even cared to notice whether Killian was there, which he later proved to be. "It didn't work! Why didn't it work?!" she screamed, with a piercing sound coming from her very powerful lungs. Somehow he found a way to comfort her; the only man who could possibly be more devastated about this than she was. So she got quiet, after seconds or minutes or hours of screaming - she didn't know how long she had been doing it. But it was like it made her numb, all the energy that had went into her desperation. Practically lifeless in his arms, she was carried along the stone-like substance, which was shaped like a big trail. He kept on walking for what felt like miles, and the girl grew tired, and sick of the air in the new world they had entered, it was worse than being on Killian's ship, going into the water now and then. Back there, the air had been humid, at least in comparison to this air. He didn't seem to notice how heavy she must be, her fin was very heavy, and long for that matter, but she didn't notice herself. Mermaids were very strong creatures, some of them considered themselves the strongest creature alive - not physically, but because of what they could do. Because of their power. Ariel had never felt a need to use it, perhaps some moments of weakness, but she definitely did not consider herself a powerful creature. She was much closer to the opposite.

She realized that she had to have fallen asleep, when she awoke and found herself in his arms in a completely different place than the last time she had checked. They were still on the ever-long stone-trail, but there were houses. People looking out their windows with confused eyes, as the pirate came carrying a mermaid through the village begging for help. She knew she needed it, but she never thought the man would beg for it. Another thing she thought she'd never see was the tears shaping in his eyes, proving that she hadn't been the only one devastated over the fact that his plan hadn't worked. It was awful, and living in this world, now seemed like a worse option than staying back where they had came from. This place was grey and cold, which wasn't something she would complain about, since heat and sunshine would be torture for her for this long a time, but it wasn't beautiful, it was dull and an odd sight for a girl used to such magic that existed where she came from. It was a world which seemed unbearable for her to live in, at least in the form she happened to be in now.

A woman, seemingly angry came out of a house, and seemed to be headed towards them. "Hook!" she exclaimed angrily, but the anger changed into confusion, as she saw the girl in his arms. The blonde girl, whose name seemed to be Swan, if Killian was right, looked right into the mermaids eyes with deep disarray in hers. "Who are you?" she asked, looking even a bit amazed, with her gaze still on Ariel. She was wondering the same thing, who this Swan-woman was, how she knew Killian, and why in the world she was so shocked by seeing her, why she wasn't scared or despiteful of her. Ariel had no time to answer before another woman came out of the same building, not looking quite as angry as the previous one. This woman had short, dark hair, and big friendly eyes. And this woman, looked like she was reacting the more sane way to the fact that Killian was carrying a mermaid into their village. This woman asked the same thing, who she was, but with a commanding tone in her voice. She was hesitant about the mermaid, and rightfully so. It was all a very confusing situation, even for Ariel, who was the one who didn't seem to belong. She didn't understand why it hadn't worked, and she was hurt, dehydrated. Her thoughts were blurry, and she couldn't think about an answer as to who she was.

"She needs water," Killian said, his voice strong again, not begging, more commanding. He wasn't begging these women, and even though this was more like him, she couldn't help but thinking he was a different person in these girls presence. More arrogant than usually, angrier, even a bit superior. It was odd, and she needed to know who they were. The little dark woman, the hesitant one, nodded violently. It seemed as if she wanted to help, even though she was fully aware of what Ariel was. "Water as in a glass of water, or a tub?" she asked, sounding almost as stressed about the matter as Killian. "Tub," the pirate answered quickly, and the woman nodded for him to follow her into the house. The blonde one, Swan, was looking angry again, hissing to Killian that 'they sure as hell weren't helping him, if that was what he thought'.

Being lowered into the tub, being way too small for her body, she didn't feel as comforted as she thought she would. She missed his arms, and the water was way too warm for her, and completely without salt. But it was water, it was wet and it was moisturizing, and that gave her some comfort, in comparison to being up in the dry air. Slowly she relaxed, and lowered her head under the water, allowing the much cleaner oxygen enter her lungs, without all the traces of dust and wood in her throat. The way the water took away the burn in both her skin and her throat, was incredibly comforting, and the way the sounds were drowned made her only hear a small part of the big fight that seemed to be going on over the surface. She wanted to go up, defend Killian against the seemingly angry women, but she couldn't bring herself to go up there again, and she was tired. She could deal with all of her horrible problems in the morning. As the mermaid breathed in water, and the wounds of her fin slowly started to heal, the world went black, and she dreamt herself back to the ocean and the glistening waves.