Chapter 4 - Fireworks and rescue
Suddenly, the ship started shaking violently as the waves turned rough.
"Hurricane a comin'!" Yelled one of the sailors. Stella and Flora swam back under the water to avoid being tossed and turned by the waves. Stella expected to see Arron with them when they were safely below the surface, however the prince was nowhere in sight. "Arron! Where are you?" Cried Stella and Flora.
Back on the ship, Arron dived below the waves, but kept his head above the water to look for the princess. Sienna tried desperately to hold on to one of the ropes connected to the sails, but the wind proved too strong and she was sent flailing into the monstrous storm. "Arroooooooooooon!" She cried.
Sailors ran frantically about the ship, pulling on ropes and lowering life boats. A huge flash of lighting struck one the ships sails and it caught on fire, engulfing everything else on the wooden vessel. The sailors and grimsby managed to make it safely into a life boat, but Erica was still on board, looking everywhere for her beloved cat.
"Maxine, Maxine!" She shouted helplessly, until she finally found the snow white cat cowering behind some barrels. She quickly scooped up the cat, but lost her gripping as her foot fell through some loose floorboards and the cat went flying, luckily right into Grimsby's arms. Erica tried desperately to pry her foot out of the ships floor as she saw the flames creeping towards the barrels of firework gun powder. But Erica was too late, the ship exploded in a myriad of colourful fireworks, and she was sent plunging into the black ocean.
"Princess Erica!" The people in the life boat cried out, but there was nothing they could do, it was either live or drown to death in the deep sea. Meanwhile, Arron searched frantically for Erica. Underwater, above water, until he finally found her unconscious body clinging onto a piece of draft wood. She slipped off the makeshift floatation device and fell into the cold waters. Without hesitation, Arron dove after her and tried with all his might to pull the girl up to the surface, desperate to keep her head above the water. Stella and Flora spotted the duo and, ignoring their kingdoms laws, helped Arron carry the useless human body back to shore.
The group struggled but eventually made it to the edge of the sea, where they placed the princess down on the sand as the sun began to rise. Stella and Flora quickly went back into the water, eager to get back home as soon as possible. But Arron stayed on the beach despite the crabs protests. Erica's shirt and skirt were ripped, and she looked a fright. Just then, Sienna flew down to the shore to inspect the unconscious girl. Sienna opened one of the princesses eyes and closed it again, clearly having no knowledge of how to check if someone was alive.
"Is she…" Started Arron "Dead?" Sienna flew over to the princesses legs and placed Erica's boot to her ear. "
It's hard to say" She said. "I can't make out a heart beat." Suddenly, Arron saw Erica's chest slowly rise up and down.
"No look, she's breathing" he said with a sigh of relief. "She's so… beautiful…" He said as he took her head in his.
"What would I give,
To live where you are,
What would I pay, to stay here beside you,
What would I do to see to you,
Smiling at me,"
As Arron sang these word, Erica slowly started to open her eyes and took hold of Arron's hand. All she could see was an adorable face, smiling sweetly at her, and all she could hear was a voice singing sweetly…
"Where would we walk,
Where would we run,
If we could stay all day in the sun,
Just you and me,
And I could be,
Part of your world"
Arron heard Erica's guardian calling out for her and he dived back into the sea and hid behind some rocks. He turned to face Stella and Flora. Stella's red chin was hanging so low it touched the rock below her, but Sienna scooped it back up with a huge smile on her face.
Arron smiled to himself, knowing Stella was totally furious with him. But what did he care? He had just saved a humans life, the princess for that matter.
Arron watched longingly after Erica as the old man he saw on the ship earlier came and took her back to safety.
"Oh Erica, there you are" Said grimsby as he helped the little girl to her feet. "Oh you do love toying around with my blood pressure, don't you?" He said with a small laugh.
"A-a boy, r-rescued me" she said shakily, still waking up. "He was…singing…he had the most…beautiful voice…" Grimsby knew that the girl had had a rough night at sea, and was almost certain she was just seeing things.
"Come now Erica, I think you swallowed a bit too much sea water" But Erica wasn't listening. She insisted that the boy she saw was real as best as she could, as she was only half conscious.
"No, he-he was real, Grim, I know it, and I'm gonna find him." As she said these words she nearly tumbled forward on her legs, and grimsby had to scoop her up and walk her back to the castle.
"The queen must never know." Stella said to Flora and Arron. "You won't tell her, I won't tell her, we will all stay in one piece." But Arron wasn't listening. He was too fixated on the spot where he saw Erica fade from view. His heart was pounding with something he'd never felt before. Was this, love?
"I don't know when,
I don't know how,
But I know something's starting right now,
Watch and you'll see,
Someday I'll be,
Part of your world!"
Back in the lair of the dreaded sea sorcerer, Ursilis was yet again observing the prince through his crystal ball, laughing wildly.
"Oh, my god" he laughed to his eels "I can't help it, it's too easy! The kid is in love with a human! And not just any human, the princess for crying out loud!" He clutched his sides as more laughter continued to flow. Ursilis looked back at his eels. "Mommy dearest would just love that. FLOTSA! JEENA! You know what to do." The eels both nodded and swam out of the lair. "Just a bit more time.." Ursilis thought to himself as he caressed his shell necklace "And we'll have ourselves a fish out of water story…"