Author's Note: Another short chapter, but this time it's just because I was busy and I need to put my novel first.
Raya woke up when the boat docked on dry land. She had taken her turn to sleep after Namaari. Raya rubbed the sleep out of her eye and got up, all the while feeling terrible about the previous conversation. "Namaari, about last night-"
"We should keep going," Namaari said simply.
"We can talk on the way."
Namaari exited the boat and Raya followed close behind. "You were wrong earlier."
Raya rolled her eyes. She was trying to make peace, but Namaari so quickly called her wrong.
"You said I think you want everyone to be miserable. You were wrong," Namaari explained.
Oh. That was actually a surprise as well as a relief. "I don't think you want everyone to be miserable either. We both want what we think is best for Kumandra, but . . . lately, it seems like we're fighting for two different Kumandras."
"I'm not sure either of can switch which Kumandra we're fighting for."
Raya's mind scrambled for a worthy reply. Would she try to convince her otherwise or accept the difference between them? Ultimately she ran out of time to decide. The rain came. They knew what that meant. Raya and Namaari looked to the sky and saw dragons running on the rain.
"Oh great; more running," Raya complained before sprinting away with Namaari. "I didn't expect Ariel to make her move so quickly."
"There's not enough of them to take Heart by force. They're here for us," Namaari reasoned.
Before they got very far, two dragons cut them off, dropping out of the sky and landing in their way. A total off seven dragons landed at various points, surrounding Raya and Namaari. They drew their swords, but they knew they wouldn't be able to fight their way out of this alone. Sisu was the one to step forward, preparing to kill them.
"Oh, that is so cruel," Namaari hissed.
Raya was torn up at the sight of Sisu snarling at her. "Sisu, stop! It's me, Raya!" Sisu didn't seem to care who it was; at least no one would be able to tell just by watching her. "I know you don't want to-"
Sisu charged toward Raya, unpersuaded by Raya's words. They didn't want to, but Raya and Namaari drew their swords. Sisu showed no sign of stopping nor deviating from her murderous intent; that is until an arrow struck her in the shoulder, causing her to fall and tumble.
Raya, Namaari, and the other dragons looked to see where that arrow came from.
"These are the dragons everyone's been goin on about?" Merida asked. "I thought they'd be bigger."
"You sound disappointed," Phillip said.
As if they weren't in danger, Merida took the time to explain, "Honestly, I was hoping the dragons we fought together would be bigger than the one you fought for your last lass."
"Ah, that is a missed opportunity, isn't it," Phillip agreed. "Would you believe me if I said I would fight seven giant dragons for you?"
"I'd only believe that story comin from you."
Two dragons raced toward Phillip and Merida. Blonde hair wrapped around one of their necks and pulled him into a collision with the other.
One of the two dragons got up and tried to retaliate, but Eugene slashed at the dragon's paws, fending him off.
Four dragons leapt into the sky, stepping on the rain in order to gain the upper hand. Cinderella cast a spell that turned much of the rain into rocks that pummeled the dragons relentlessly until they fell out of the air and crashed. The rocks continued to shower onto the dragons until the rain ceased.
Phillip was easily able to hold his own against two dragons at the same time, blocking their jaws with his shield and hacking at their limbs while Merida shot a few more arrows at non-vital points.
Eventually, the dragons became tired of being beaten around and let out hateful hisses before they retreated.
"That's right! Run home to your mommies, ya wee posers!" Merida taunted. "Come back if you figure out how to fight without someone holding your hands!"
Raya and Namaari looked around at the band of strange visitors, recognizing a few similarities. "Their eyes and skin tones look like Ariel's," Raya said.
"That one even has red hair like hers," Namaari added, pointing at Merida.
Eugene approached Raya and Namaari and shook each of their hands while saying, "Hi, there. Pleasure to rescue you. Name's Eugene; as you can see, I'm the resident handsome one in our group. Some might say that would be Phillip, but we agree to disagree. This is my wife, Rapunzel; she has magic healing hair. That one over there is Cinderella; she can basically turn stuff into other stuff with her magic wand. The red head is Merida; she's the best archer you'll ever find. The guy next to her is Phillip; he's been dating Merida for about a year now. He used to be engaged to another girl named Aurora, but that ended in complete and total disaster."
Raya replied awkwardly, "Um, hi. I'm Raya, this is Namaari."
"Hello," Namaari said awkwardly.
"Um . . . where are you all from?" Raya asked, unable to keep the confusion out of her voice.
"Long story short, we're from Europe," Eugene condensed.
"Never heard of it."
Namaari asked, "Is that anywhere near . . . Atlantica?"
Rapunzel lit up at the question. "You know about Atlantica? We're looking for someone from Atlantica. Have you seen her? Her name is . . ."
"Ariel?" Raya guessed suspiciously.
"Yes. Where is she? Is she alright?"
Raya and Namaari tensed up, gripping their swords tighter having never put them away. "Is Ariel a friend of yours? Namaari asked.
"Well, yes," Rapunzel answered, furrowing her eyebrows. "Is that a problem?"
"Your friend is taking Kumandra for herself and she's the one who sent those dragons to kill us. So, yes, there's a problem."
"What?" Cinderella breathed, stepping closer to them.
Raya explained, "Ariel just marched into the palace like she owned the place, and the next thing we knew, she owned the place! She forced four out of the five chiefs to bow to her and she's going to take over Heart next."
"That's not the Ariel I know!" Merida said defensively.
"Maybe you don't know her very well," Namaari said, earning a glare from Merida.
Cinderella said, "I don't know who told you all that about her, but Ariel wouldn't do this."
"We saw her do it all ourselves!" Raya shot back.
"In that case, the only explanation here is that the two of ya are lying to our faces!" Merida insisted.
"Everyone calm down," Rapunzel said soothingly. "This must all be a misunderstanding. Just help us find Ariel. We'll get everything straightened out."
"The only way we would help you find her is if you would agree to help us kill her," Namaari said.
"Is that so?!" Merida shouted, drawing an arrow from her quiver.
Author's Note: I know it's pretty common for crossovers to have to protagonists fight each other over a misunderstanding. But this just seemed like the logical direction for things to go considering the circumstances.