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Chapter 3: Lost

(Elsa)

Elsa coughed, spitting sea water from her mouth. She twisted over onto her stomach and coughed again, clearing all of the water from her aching lungs. She gasped for air. Being trapped underwater she didn't think she'd ever get the chance to feel oxygen filling her lungs again. She didn't waste her opportunity, though. She took in several deep breaths, one after another.

Elsa rested on her hands and knees. Her hair was disheveled and grainy with salt. What was once put back in an elegant braid was now hanging all around her face and down her still-sodden back. Her gown clung to her skin like tight leather. Had she not been blessed—or perhaps cursed?—with her ice magic, she was sure she'd be shivering and possibly threatening fate with the possibility of hypothermia. Luckily, the cold didn't bother her. Being soaked and covered in grainy sea salt did, however.

Where am I? Elsa thought.

The gray light coming from the horizon was enough to let Elsa know that the sun was just now rising. Elsa searched her surroundings for anything familiar, but there was only water—lots and lots of water. And, the boat that she was now sitting it. "Did I die?" she asked herself, her voice quavering. "Surely I can't be alive. I drowned..."

Her hands trembled as if she hadn't eaten in days. Her last known thought before waking up was being twisted and trapped in the thick, heavy sails of the ship. Water had enveloped her, causing her lungs to cry out for oxygen. It was dark and she had been on the verge of death. Surely this couldn't be life? She had to have been dead.

A light breeze blew across the calm seawater and she inhaled another deep breath. As it all flashed back to her, she took in several deep breaths, her heart pounding in her chest as she thought about the water enveloping her, constricting and denying her the chance to breathe. Not wanting to take the air around her for granted, she kept taking in deep, long breaths. As she did, her heart slowed and she calmed herself.

Maybe I'm not dead? she pondered. But, how did I...

She sat back on one of the wooden benches in the small life boat. The breeze halted and air became still and all was silent. There was something eerie about being all alone out on the vast open sea. How did she get in the boat? Who rescued her? And why did they just leave me here?

As the sun lifted above the horizon, more and more of the sea became visible. There was literally nothing around her other than water. She wasn't even sure how far she was from her sunken ship. Was she directly over it? Was she miles away from it? How did I get in this boat? That one question was at the forefront of her mind and she eagerly wanted an answer to it. Though, being out on the sea all alone, she feared she wouldn't find one.

"Hello!" Elsa shouted. Her voice echoed and then faded. Not a single reply. "Hello!" she shouted again.

She shifted around in the small life boat. Water was everywhere. Even living in a castle that overlooked a fjord, Elsa still hadn't seen so much water in her life. Traveling across the seas never seemed this bad either, especially since she always had someone to talk to. Now she was alone. Alone with the sea as her only companion—the companion that had killed her entire crew and left her abandoned and somehow alive—and it was vast and it was endless.

Elsa's jaw trembled. She felt tears well in her eyes. She had run away from home once, but that was for the better of her kingdom, her sister—or so she had thought at the time. Had she wanted to return, she could have, but now… now she wasn't so sure. Would she die out on the sea? Would she suffer the same fate as her parents? The thought of her parents brought more tears to her eyes and she began to hyperventilate.

Elsa stood frantically in the middle of the life boat. Her voice quavering, she shouted again, "Hello!" The boat began to rock back and forth causing the Queen of Arendelle to gasp in terror and she quickly sat back down on the wooden bench in the middle of the life boat. "Please," she whimpered, "someone help me…"

She sighed, wiping her eyes. Crying wouldn't be of any use in getting home. She needed to calm herself if she wanted any hope of surviving. Elsa was lost out at sea and she had to accept that. She had no idea where she was or how far from her sunken ship she was or even how far from Corona she even was. There was nothing to tell her of her location. It didn't help that she knew barely anything of coordination and traveling by sea. She always relied on her captain for that part of travel. Though, one thing she did know was that the Sun always rose from the east. With that bit of knowledge she could use that to make her way north and hopefully back home to Arendelle.

On either side of the small life boat were wooden oars. Elsa had never honestly paddled a boat, but she had seen other people do it from her window overlooking the fjord in her bedroom as a child. It never looked too hard. Put the oars in the water, push, lift, and repeat.

She leaned over to the edge of the boat and stared down into the water. The sun's golden light brought a beautiful green hue to the surface of the sea causing it to glisten and sparkle. Beneath the surface, the water grew darker the further down it went until darkness consumed everything. Though lost and dreading her situation, she couldn't deny how beautiful the sea really was… and just how deadly it could be.

Elsa grabbed the handles of the oars and dipped them into the water, pushing, lifting, and repeating. It was difficult to maneuver at first, but once she got the hang of it the boat began to glide through the calm water. She got into the swing of it and began rowing away with ease. Her next stop would be Arendelle, or so she hoped.

# # #

(Ariel)

The sun was still in the east, rising to its peak at noon. Its warm glow cascaded down on the surface of the sea, warming the water. The air was stagnant and the sky was blue without a single cloud in sight. A few fathoms below the surface of the sea lay Ariel curled up in a ball, her arms wrapped around her emerald green tail with her fin as a makeshift pillow. While sleeping, she had sank a bit from where she had taken her resting spot directly under the boat of her rescued prince.

The water was still and all was silent surrounding Ariel's little spot. Her tail twitched as she dreamt about rescuing her prince again. It was something she would always remember and cherish. It was how she met the first love of her life, Eric. His ship had been caught out in a storm and struck by lightning, causing it to go up in flames. When she saw the handsome prince of Glowerhaven struggling to reach the surface, she intervened. He had passed out, but luckily she had gotten to him just in time to rescue him. She brought him to shore and admired his beauty, singing to him with her sweet, melodic voice that she had no doubt inherited from her mother.

"It's gone!" The voice grew louder and louder as it approached Ariel. "It's gone! It's gone!"

Ariel's eyes fluttered open. She uncurled herself and stretched her tail and her arms and bent her back, thrusting her breasts out to stretch her spine. Her mother's leather pouch that Ariel had made into a satchel still hung at her hip. Her red hair floated all around her head and in her face. Ariel grabbed her satchel and opened it. She pulled out her decorative clamshell-seaweed hair band and the dried out starfish she kept fastened behind her left ear. She tied the hair band in her hair keeping her bangs out of her eyes and she attached the starfish to a tuft of hair behind her left ear.

Ariel yawned taking in a mouthful of wonderful seawater. It was normally cool, but with the sun beating down on the surface the water around her was now warmer than usual. Her tail glistened and sparkled in the sunlight as it broke through the surface and refracted in the water. Ariel always enjoyed the look of her tail with light beaming off of it. She liked to pretend that she was one of the Biolumiere—an ancient race of merfolk that were able to use their tails as a source of light. They often glowed with such majestic colors that the whole sea would stop to stare at them. They were incredibly intelligent and perceived as fiercely territorial, highly dangerous, and quite deadly. They were also regarded as the most beautiful merfolk in all of the oceans and seas. They lived further down south and took residence in the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans. Sunlight meant nothing to them.

"It's gone! It's gone!" A blue Tang fish came swimming hastily toward Ariel.

"What's"—Ariel yawned again—"gone?"

A blue fish swam around Ariel in a hurry. It was almost flat vertically in appearance. It had a black stripe that ran along its lateral line, which was the top of its body near the dorsal fin, and to its caudal fin—the tail fin—which was all yellow. Its pectoral fin was blue like its body with a small yellow stripe at the edge of both fins. They were truly beautiful fish with their blue and yellow color schemes and they were also regarded as a delicacy in Atlantica. Seeing the fish swim around her, Ariel's stomach began to growl. Hunger was settling in and had the fish been paying any attention whatsoever it surely would have run from the mermaid rather than run toward her.

"It's gone! It's gone!" The fish continued to circle Ariel. It stopped to admire the satchel hanging from the seaweed strap around Ariel's neck, then it began circling the mermaid again.

"What's gone?" shouted Ariel.

The fish stopped circling Ariel. It faced the surface. "The creature that sits on the surface! It's gone! We're free!"

Ariel furrowed her brows. Her red hair floated around her face as she looked up to the surface. "What was on the surface? What kind of creature of was it?"

"What?" asked the blue Tang.

"The surface," said Ariel, "what was up there?"

The blue Tang shifted its eyes as if it was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The surface!" shouted Ariel. "What was on the surface?"

The blue Tang's eyes widened. It backed away from Ariel. "You're—you're a mermaid," it stammered.

Ariel sighed, putting her face in her hands. She was getting nowhere with this fish. Then, it hit her. Her eyes widened and she looked to the surface again. Only the clear blue sky and the large, yellow sun were above her. The boat was nowhere in sight. She gasped.

"The boat! Where's the boat?!"

"The boat! The boat!" The blue Tang began swimming madly around Ariel, darting through her flowing red hair and spiraling around her body until it reached the tip of her tail. "Where's the boat?!"

"Stop it," Ariel screamed. "You're not helping! It's gone. Where did the boat go?"

The blue Tang paused and took in a breath as if to speak, but then halted. It flapped its tail fin. "What's a boat?"

Ariel's eyes were wide, her nostrils flared, her face as red as her hair. She clenched her fists until her knuckles were white. "You're a useless fish! I should eat you!"

"If you eat me, then that no longer makes me useless, but rather useful." The blue Tang swam up to Ariel's belly and floated next to her skin. It could hear the growling of Ariel's stomach. "Yep, yep, you're definitely hungry. You should get something to eat—OH! I'm Doria by the way! I've never met a fish like you before. You look weird, almost like you're a human and a fish, but if that were the case, then you'd be a"—Doria paused, realizing for the second time what Ariel was—"mermaid..." Doria screamed. "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" Doria swam off into the void of the sea screaming, "Don't eat me!"

Ariel's nostrils were still flared and her face still red. The fish had given her no useful information about her prince and where he may have gone. She was happy to be rid of the fish, though. I need to find that boat.

A few fathoms away from her were a school of mackerel. Their silvery scales glistened with the light permeating the surface. Ariel swam over to them hoping to not scare them away. When they caught a glimpse of her they all dispersed.

"Mermaid!" they all shouted in unison.

"No, wait, I'm not going to eat—oh, it's no use! I don't eat every fish I come across, you know," Ariel shouted as the mackerel all swam away from her.

Ariel floated to the surface where the water was considerably warmer. She broke through the surface and her red hair clung to her cheeks, neck, and shoulders. Her prince was nowhere to be found, though. Hopefully a whale didn't carry off with the boat, Ariel thought. Do whales do that? Do they randomly carry small boats away? She shrugged not knowing the answer to her own question. "My prince!" shouted Ariel. "Where have you gone, my prince?"

The water rippled behind Ariel and she quickly turned. Her arms and breasts floated on top of the warm, calm water. Her tail gently swayed beneath her. Whatever had caused the ripple hadn't been her. She tensed up fearing another shark may be near. She submerged to get a better look through the water. Her red hair floated above her head like anemone and then something silvery darted directly in front of her, startling the mermaid.

The silver creature glistened near the surface. It darted upward and launched itself out of the sea and into the air. The water rippled in a different area as the creature returned to the water. It turned and made its way to Ariel. It had a long snout with three fins—two pectoral fins on either side of its body and a dorsal fin on its spine—and a flattened tail fin. Ariel recognized the creature.

"You're a dolphin!"

"Last time I checked, I most certainly was," said the dolphin.

"Did you happen to see a boat at any time this morning? And if you did, would you be able to point me in the direction it went?" asked Ariel.

Ariel was fortunate to have met a dolphin. While many of the smaller fish were petrified of mermaids (for fear that that may be eaten), dolphins on the other hand were loyal friends of the merfolk. The dolphin squealed.

"Was it a small wooden boat?"

"Yes," Ariel shouted, finally happy to get somewhere on her news with the boat and her prince. "It was sitting right up here," Ariel said pointing to the spot above her. "There was a human I rescued last night from a ship wreck and then a shark almost got him. I managed to get away and once the ocean was all clear, I wanted to take a short nap to gather my strength back. I guess I slept longer than I wanted... Anyways, the boat is gone now and I don't know where my prince went. Did you happen to see where he went?"

The dolphin jabbed its snout to the north. "The boat went that way."

Ariel faced north. "Of course, it went north. That ship was heading north. Why would my prince not head north as well? That makes total sense."

"Yep," said the dolphin. "I guess not all mermaids can be the smartest of the bunch."

"Hey," Ariel whined, taking offense to that.

"Now where did that school of mackerel go?" The dolphin swam off into the warm sea in search of breakfast.

Ariel had hoped that nothing had gotten her prince and that maybe he had just floated away. Though, since the storm last night, the weather had been rather calm. Maybe he swam away himself? Ariel beat her tail in the water and made her way north.

# # #

Where could he have gone? I've been swimming for what feels like hours. Surely I should have seen the boat by now?

Ariel swam through the warm water keeping a watchful eye out for the boat. It was nowhere to be seen, though. While swimming north, she passed several schools of fish, all of which dispersed when they noticed her. She wasn't focused on them, though, even if her stomach did continuously remind her of how much it wanted to be fed. She was focused on her search. She was determined to find her prince.

The sun was at its peak, high in the sky. Its warm, gentle glow from the mid-morning had been replaced with hot, golden rays that cascaded over the surface of the sea. Ariel enjoyed the sun for it kept her body warm, not that being cold ever bothered her. Living in the cold depths of the sea down in Atlantica, she was naturally used to the cold water. Her body temperature always ran cooler than that of a human's. Whereas most humans would die of hypothermia if exposed to the seawater for too long, Ariel found it welcoming and homely. She had to admit that as much as she had wanted to be human before, the sea would always be her home even if she did want to live on her own and near the surface—away from her father's watchful eye.

When Ariel was a human living in Glowerhaven she had always enjoyed being outside. She loved being on the beach and admiring the ocean from the human's perspective. She felt less homesick when she was on the beach. She often was visited by close friends such as Scuttle and Sebastian and Flounder. Of course, all of that had changed when Prince Eric ordered a wall to be built around the kingdom. The wall prevented Ariel from returning to the beach, but more importantly for Eric, it kept her under a close eye when it came to her husband, the prince of Glowerhaven.

At the thought of Flounder and her two years as a human, Ariel's determination began to wane. What am I doing? It's because of Eric—a human!—that Flounder isn't here any longer. I lost my best friend because I wanted to be with the humans on the surface. Yet here I am in search of another human so I can—what?—make the same mistake? Maybe father was right? Maybe mermaids don't belong on the surface? Maybe this is all futile and pointless? What if I lose another friend because of my search for this human? I can't take another loss like that.

Ahead of Ariel a familiar figure began to take shape along the surface of the water. She continued forward making sure to stay just low enough in the sea that she wouldn't be made out as anything more than a common fish. As she approached the figure she recognized the wood from the bottom of the boat as that of her prince's. She had found him. It was most definitely her prince!

Maybe he won't be like Eric? Ariel thought, optimistically.

The boat was idle; the sea calm. Ariel swam up underneath the boat, making sure to stay aligned with the shadow it cast. She didn't want to scare her prince by being mistaken for a shark or another predatory sea creature. She really wanted to see him, though. She wanted to see the man she had saved from the terrible storm the night before. But, did she dare to make her presence known? Did she dare to surface and gaze upon her strong, handsome prince?

In the rush of trying to save him from drowning and to save him from being shark bait, Ariel really hadn't gotten a chance to see him before. She imagined what he looked like, though.

I bet he has long, dark hair—oh! Or, perhaps he is blonde?—No, wait!—maybe he has red hair like me? Oh, I like that! Okay, he has shoulder-length red hair. His eyes are, um, blue like the ocean. He probably has broad shoulders and muscular arms because what prince doesn't look like that? His voice is probably deep yet gentle. He's caring and thinks of others. His name is Frederick—no!—Ricard—no, wait!—Ariel gripped the satchel hanging at her hip and remembered the name that her mother had told her that was once embroidered across the now worn leather—his name is James. James is the name of my valiant prince.

Ariel's heart fluttered in her chest. A rush of warm tingles balled in the pit of her stomach that, from when she was a human, she had learned were called butterflies. Her tail tingled at the thought of her new prince. She bit down on her lower lip softly and giggled to herself. James, my prince. That's it, I have to see him!

Ariel placed her hand on the underside of the boat. She slowly guided herself to the side of the small, floating vessel. She did her best to be as silent as possible. The tip of her nose broke through the surface. Following that her face emerged. She didn't want to join James in the boat just yet. She just wanted to get a good look at him. As she inched her way up the side of the boat, she finally was able to gaze upon her new prince.

He was facing the opposite direction as Ariel. His hair wasn't short and red, but rather long, blonde, and a wild mess. It parted in all directions along his back. It had most likely been caused by the seawater, Ariel figured. While both merfolk and humans had hair, merfolk hair was more accustomed to the roughness of the seawater whereas human hair wasn't able to take it quite as well. The salt often left human hair dried and grainy, as if they had sand in their hair.

Ariel continued to gaze upon James. He wasn't nearly as broad or as muscular as she had imagined. In fact, for being a man he had a rather thin and petite figure. Also, his clothes weren't like that of a prince's. They were baby blue and hung loosely from his body. He was wearing a gown that Ariel had often seen the women in the castle at Glowerhaven wear at night. James turned around without warning and Ariel froze.

Their eyes locked. It was in that moment that Ariel had realized that her prince was not in fact a prince at all. Her prince was a woman! Her face was thin and her skin was red as if burnt by the sun. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean. No wonder she had such a petite frame and was wearing women's clothing. James was a woman! Ariel quickly submerged.

"Wait!" the woman shouted.

Ariel hid beneath the belly of the boat, making sure to stay out of sight of the woman she had mistaken for a prince. Ariel's heart pounded in her chest. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment. She whipped her tail back and forth due to anxiety.

How could I be so stupid? Ariel thought. Of course he wasn't a prince—er, she! Of course she wasn't a prince! How could I ever have hoped to have had that kind of luck! Ariel began smacking the palm of her hand against her forehead. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

The water rippled on the side of the boat where Ariel had surfaced. Fingers danced through the water. "Come back," the woman had pleaded. "Where did you go?"

Ariel had to admit, though, this woman did have a beautiful voice. And those eyes, they were gorgeous. Even her hair was something Ariel admired, even if it was a tangled mess. She wanted to wet it and braid it and decorate it with seaweed and clamshells. Maybe I should give her a chance? At best I get a new friend out of it. Besides, I did save her life.

"Please, join me in my boat! I have room for another!"

Oh, okay, I'll be up there! Ariel grinned. Here goes!

Ariel pushed herself out from under the boat, her head resurfacing. Her tail floated under the boat. The woman in the boat gazed down at the redhead. "Where did you come from?" asked the woman.

"The sea," Ariel replied.

The woman in the boat chuckled. "Well, my name is Elsa." She extended her hand, offering to help Ariel into the boat. "I have plenty of room up here for you. You can get out of the water and tell me exactly where you came from and where you're heading. If there's land anywhere around here, please feel free to point me in that direction."

Ariel took Elsa's hand. Her skin was cool to the touch, despite her face, arms, and hands being burnt. Her skin was soft and smooth. Upon touching the blonde in the boat, Ariel's heart began to flutter again. What was this feeling?

Elsa grabbed hold of the side of the boat for leverage and pulled Ariel up. "What do you have down there," Elsa joked between deep breaths, "an anchor?"

Ariel came out of the water and landed in the small life boat. Her red hair clung to her neck, shoulders, and exposed breasts. Her leather pouch hung from her hip and the seashell hair band managed to keep her bangs out of her eyes. The sun's hot glow beat down on her cool skin and sent several tingles down her spine. She giggled. She sat back in the boat with her tail hanging over the edge. She turned her attention to Elsa who was sitting at the opposite end of the boat with her mouth agape and her eyes wide.

It suddenly dawned on Ariel that mermaids were nothing more than folklore to humans who had never seen them before. Based on Elsa's expression, Ariel had guessed that she was one of the humans who hadn't ever seen a mermaid.

Elsa stammered, "You're—you're a... a mer... mer"—Elsa choked on her words.

"—mermaid?" said Ariel, cowering away from Elsa in fear of what she may do to the princess of the sea.

Elsa screamed which caused Ariel to scream. Ariel beat her tail and did her best to quickly escape the boat. Unfortunately, as she tried to escape, the boat thrashed from side to side and then capsized. Ariel was back in the water as was a frightened Elsa. The blonde panicked which caused her to sink further into the sea. Ariel dove after her and grabbed her. Elsa tried to get away, but Ariel's grasp was too strong for the blonde. She continued to panic until she passed out. Ariel brought the blonde to the surface and flipped the boat right side up. She tossed Elsa into it and then disappeared into the sea once again.