A/N: I am really feeling this muse right now! I love it. I did go back and edit the last chapter, it probably isn't perfect but I added, clarified, and fixed a little bit in case anyone wants to go back and re-read it There isn't a whole lot you would miss if you continued on though. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. I don't own OUAT yada yada yada. Oh also, this chapter isn't beta'd….I know! SORRY! But I wrote it after a long day of work and then homework and I just wanted to post it up for you guys. I'll edit it later. With that in mind read on mateys! .

Chapter Posted: 08/16/13

Part of His World

Chapter two

It had been three days since the pirates arrived in Neverland. Three whole days that Ariel had been cautiously observing them from a considerable but safe distance, studying them, learning about them. It was nostalgic watching these humans, it felt like the old days when she would watch the bustling city ports, back when she had first started to yearn to be as happy and carefree as the land walkers. Three days she had been sleeping in the deep waters of the ocean, wrapping herself up in the comfortable and secure kelp beds protected by the cool darkness. Three days of her avoiding her open lagoon for fear of being noticed. When she had a craving for the sun she would have to travel a considerable distance around the island to make sure she wouldn't be inadvertently spotted.

She wasn't the only one to take notice of the trespassers. She would spot a lost boy or two hiding in the dense brush lining the sandy beaches, spying on the ship and its occupants. Even the legendary Peter Pan himself had come out on the second night to terrorize the crew; much in the same way he had the first week she had shown up, same as he had lost interest in her he hadn't been back yet to visit the vessel.

The pirates stayed anchored a few hundred yards from the beaches, she watched as they pulled down the smaller sails, presumably to work on them since she hadn't seen replacements go up. It wasn't like they could just go into town and easily purchase or trade for a new set, as far as Ariel knew Neverland didn't have towns, small native villages maybe, but it wasn't a bustling trading post that's for sure.

She could hear them talking, yelling, and laughing with each other some nights, not quite what they were saying because she was too concerned to get to close yet, but she could make out sound thanks in part to her enhanced hearing. She felt drawn in by noises, by the movements. Ariel could feel the pain of emptiness welling up inside her chest as each day passed and she continued to observe. How she missed conversing with, well anyone. How she missed the companionship of others around her, partaking in work, dancing, conversation. The little things that one could easily take for granted like sitting next to someone even in comfortable silence - she craved that again. It hadn't been a problem she realized she had for such a long time. She always felt alone, but now the urge to be back among people was starting to consume her every thought.

And of course when she thought of people, her mind was naturally drawn to Eric.

To hold him again at night, that would mean the world. That wasn't possible though. She could settle though for just being among and around those humans up close.

It wasn't until the sixth night that she actually gathered up the courage to venture closer to the ship. She waited until the moon was high and the stars were bright. Her cat like eyes gave her impeccable nocturnal vision that would put perfect human vision in the daytime to shame. She stayed deep under the water until she was practically under the wooden urchin crested hull, surfacing with great care to be as noiseless as possible. Her kind were skilled at being silent, stalking predators, only revealing themselves when they so desired, so she allowed those instincts to take hold and guide her.

She looked up the tall side of the stern, the ship towering over her form now that she was up close and making her feel small in comparison. She listened for any noise or indication that someone might be up or about. Her priority was not being discovered so she had to stay ever vigilant even if the possibilities this late at night of that happening were slim.

She pressed her hands flat against the hull and just felt the wood under her palms. The gentle rocking a soothing feeling, like she was trying to lull her to sleep with a silent lullaby. She closed her eyes and pressed her ear against the damp wood just above the water line, closing her eyes and listening to the echo of the waves rocking the ship. For the first time in a long time Ariel had the strong urge to sing a beautiful song. It had been so long since she had said a word much less filled the air with her siren's melody. She knew well the consequences if she parted her lips, so she settled for softly humming along with the tune the ship provided.

After a while she pulled away, already missing the contact, like the ship was an old friend. Perhaps she was just delusional and was imagining any connection she could for the sake of not feeling so empty and alone in the world. Still, there was a pull she couldn't deny. She swam around the entirety of the hull slowly, letting her long claw like nails of one hand scrape gently along the wood behind her as she went, just to keep that contact.

When she reached the back she looked up, her name was the Jolly Roger. She let out an amused snort; it seemed fitting and cliché all at the same time for a Pirates ship. She stayed there, bobbing in the water looking at the elegantly scripted words, running them through her head. It wasn't until the sun started to peak above the horizon that she drifted down and away again.

On the seventh day she watched them put up one of the patched smaller sails. Even from a distance she could see the heavy stitching bringing the ripped seams back together. She smiled amusedly when she took note that the sails were less sail and more stitching. She wondered just how affective they would be in actually catching the wind and getting the massive ship anywhere. It was certain they wouldn't survive a storm of any magnitude, goodness someone could probably blow on them too hard and they'd come apart again. That was just her assumptions though. Surely their Captain had a plan to get acceptable sails in the future, preferably the near future; they had already been anchored in the same spot for a week, which was already days longer than most ships stayed docked in port, and there were actually things to do in port.

`Silly pirates` she mused.

On the eighth day she finally saw them lowering the smaller row boats. She could only speculate they were either out of food, fresh water, or needing a change of scenery, maybe all of the above and then some. She took extra care to keep hidden as she watched the first few men descend the rope ladder; they obviously had to be deck hands if she judged solely on their tattered and dirty dress. Some were carrying empty burlap sacks over their shoulders as they came down one right after the other.

About thirteen men were sitting in the boat, all dressed in the same dirty white, brown, dark green or blue shirts and pants. Some had bandannas on their heads, one had a patch over his eye, all of them had a sword or dagger attached to their belts. One couldn't mistake them for anything but pirates, flag aside.

It was the next man to come down the really caught her attention, even from afar. He was dressed differently than the others; his clothes were all dark black and appeared to gleam in the sun as if to be made from leather. Unlike the others to precede him, his clothes were form fitting instead of baggy and maybe it was the color concealing it but they appeared cleaner as well. Even from her distance she could tell his hair was messy but well kept.

There was no mistaking it; he definitely wasn't like the others. He might even be handsome, if she were only close enough to get a good look. That would risk being seen, and that just wasn't an option. She couldn't afford to be careless; she couldn't gamble being hunted these men. Still, she could feel the curiosity pulling at her.

Eric had always spoke badly of Pirates, her only interactions with them when she had lived in the Castle was to watch their lifeless bodies swing after being sentenced. She had had a lot of freedom to travel through the kingdom and amongst the people as she pleased, but Eric had always insisted that if she were to travel to the docks and taverns surrounding that she take the royal guard. She only went a few times, problem with the royal guard was that common folk would rather nothing to do with you. She never saw a Pirate the few times she did venture to the docks and never within the city walls either.

Her only experiences with Pirates as a mermaid was either hunting them or hearing about all the cautionary horror stories of them hunting her kind. There wasn't a single positive thing she could think up to associate with a pirate. They were savage, heartless, bloodthirsty, cruel, and greedy. They raped, pillaged, stole, and murdered without second thought. There was no mercy, no compassion, sympathy, or even empathy for their victims. The worst of the worst humans to exist, that's what she had learned pirates to be.

Still, despite all the warnings in her gut, her curiosity and if she were honest a bit of her hunger was winning. These were the first real men she had seen in for gods knows how long, if she didn't count the occasional glimpse of the lost boys, a fairy, peter pan, or other mermaids. Which after hundreds of years she didn't count them, not at all.

These Pirates were new, they were exciting, and they had awoken emotions in her she had forgotten about. Forgotten what they felt like. Emotions were irrelevant in her culture, it was easy after so long to have just shut them off and ignored them completely. Their sudden arrival made her feel like she had lived the last decades on auto-pilot. A shell of the woman she used to be.

She wanted more of that. She wanted to feel alive again.

Deciding the cost was worth it she sunk down again and with steady purposeful flicks of her tail ventured closer towards the men who were now rowing towards shore. She spotted the perfect cove of rocks to hide behind, she would feel less exposed this close up if she stayed low enough and kept behind them. Peaking up through the surface again, her fingers carefully curling around the top of the rocks to pull herself up just enough to get a visual she could see them pulling the boat onto the shore. It took the men three heavy tugs to get it up high enough that the tide wouldn't take it back out and away from them.

"Welcome to Neverland my men!" a voice boomed boastfully, with just those few words she could tell they were laced with arrogance and pride. She watched as the man from black spread his arms wide in a grand gesture. That's when she noticed the glint of something shiny and metallic; when he turned she saw that one of his hands was replaced with a hook. At that discovery she narrowed her eyes, her mind wondering about the how and the why, and secretly wanting to hear the story. She saw see no fear in his eyes, only accomplishment, and a bit of a challenge like he was daring the land to throw them the best it had.

The other men however, their body language and eyes spoke of bewilderment, wonder, curiosity, and fear.

`Good` she thought, at least they had some sense. Neverland wasn't their land, and could be very dangerous. They were right to be apprehensive. The other man though, the one with the hook for a hand, he seemed almost fool hardy in his arrogance.

"Remember, keep in two's for protection, don't wonder off alone, and don't go too far. Keep to the plan, we need to collect some food, anything that looks edible bag it and bring it." His voice was authoritative and commanding, possibly a little exasperated, obviously he had already said this but felt the need to reiterate.

She watched a younger man, no more than seventeen, make his way towards a berry bush along the edge of the sands and start to pick and handful. As he was about to pop a few into his mouth, she watched the man that was speaking earlier slap them out of his hand harshly with the hook, having kept a close eye on the boys movements "don't be foolish boy!" he nearly hissed, "If any of you idiots sample what is here before I've had a chance to compare the items to the list of edible and poisonous, I will throw you off the side of the ship to whatever fate befalls you," he took a moment to make eye contact with all the crew for emphasis "That's if you don't drop dead first. Bag it and bring it, don't eat it. Understood." His tone firmly phrased the last part as more of a demand then a question but none the less a few strong voices piped up.

"Aye Aye, Captain."

So that answered that question. He was the Captain, their Captain, the Pirate Captain. She had a feeling, but now she was sure. Personally, he seemed a bit young to be a Captain, he couldn't be older then thirty-five at most. She wasn't the best judge of age though; it took a hundred years before it looked like her kind had aged by even a day, nearly a thousand to look like they had aged a year.

When one of the pirates glanced in her direction she quickly sunk behind the rocks. Turning swiftly under the water and pressing her back to stone. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She highly doubted the man has seen her, but still the rush was exhilarating. She closed her eyes and tried to focus, even under the water she could hear the Captain yell "Come on men, we don't have all day." and then the steps in the sand as they started to walk away in various directions, some down along the beach, others back into the jungle.

When she felt it was safe again after a long pause, she rose back up, peering carefully over the tops of the rocks. She could see a few men but not nearly as many as before, what really caught her interest was the back of the Captain as he headed east down the beach, alone.

Ducking back into the water she used her powerful tail to catch up, popping up above the water a few times like an otter would, just to catch sight of him on land and make sure she wasn't going too far ahead of his steps, making sure to stay just behind so that he wouldn't look out and see her.

She could have picked any of the sailors to follow, even the seventeen year old boy, but for some reason hearing his voice had stirred something in her. She had heard the muffled sound of their voices for days, but to hear actual words, to be able to catch a full sentence and understand it. She had completely forgotten what the spoken word sounded like. Ariel wanted to hear more words, more sentences. So she followed against her better judgment. Like any curios creature she was going push her boundaries.

When he reached the lagoon, her lagoon, she felt a tug of aggressiveness. This had been her sacred place of peace since she had come to this land. No one came near it, no one touched it, and no one bothered her in it. It was hers. She had forgotten what being territorial felt like. She pushed the emotions down after a few inflamed seconds, had she been one of her sisters, she would have stalked and attacked simply for the trespass, but her instincts were dulled, always had been. Still, for it to rear it's ugly head again, it made her uneasy.

She swam further west to the other edge of the lagoon where the rocks were plentiful and reached out far enough to hide behind without fear of being caught at all. These were more plentiful, higher, with more cracks to peak through. The beach ended at the west side of the lagoon, rising up into a high rocky mountain side on the east, surrounded by the dense jungle to the north, and the open ocean to the south.

Ariel was almost sure he was going to venture into the jungle and she wouldn't be able to follow. It made her miss her legs and feet terribly. She hadn't wanted to walk again as badly as she did while watching him travel down the sand, his boots sinking down into the softness. He never faltered in his long powerful strides though; he walked like he had purpose. When he didn't she was silently thankful, but she was unsure what he would do now.

She watched him make careful note of his surroundings, he seemed to watch and listen for a few long moments. Soon his shoulders relaxed and he shucked off his jacket, laying it across a large boulder. From this angle she could see that he had dark stubble growing along his chin, just enough to give him a rugged edge, and his eyes were lined with thick charcoal that screamed rebellious, and his ears were adorned with sparkling stones that she recognized as diamonds. He had expensive taste.

She glanced down at the diamond wedding band she still had on her left hand. She hadn't taken it off in all this time. The symbol of her love and marriage. She let it glitter in the sun for a bit , the rubies and emeralds surrounding the clear stone were dulled with age, and lackluster due to the years exposed to saltwater, but it was still gorgeous. Eric had told her the colors reminded him of her beauty and uniqueness, she had promised to never take it off, and she never did. She let herself get lost in her thoughts and memories.

When she looked up again, she let out an audible gasp. She slapped her hand over her lips as soon as it had come out but it was too late. She could have very well screamed it, the birds far up above were barely squawking, and the ocean was calm so the waves were nearly silent, the wind was non-existent to mask the sound.

She hadn't meant to capture his attention but she had, as soon as the noise left her lips he had his sword unsheathed and pointed in her general direction. He hadn't seen her, but that didn't matter. She knew that he knew something was there. Her heart was racing so fast she could practically hear it rushing past her ears, she could feel it slamming against her ribcage. She sunk low into the water but she could still his angry voice demanding who was there. She didn't dare reveal herself.

She started to mentally reprimand herself. How foolish she had been, how careless, how completely stupid. He had caught her off guard though when she looked back up. He had removed not only his jacket, but his vest, and shirt as well, even his belt with his sword had been resting atop the boulder. He was left in just his pants and boots, and she had seen his hands working the lace of the pants free, just a few seconds longer and….

She shook her head violently under the water, sending her red hair flaring out around her. This was bad. She really should be more worried about her life. She had been right, he was handsome. Even from the short glimpse that caught her off guard she could tell his body was well toned and defined. The last time she had seen a man half naked was ages ago when she still lived on land, the last time she had seen a man fully naked were years before Eric died. She remembered how Eric had been ashamed in his old age to allow her to touch him in any sort of sexual manner; it had been a trial near the end to even allow her into the same bed to hold him. It had brought a deep sadness that she hadn't grown old with him, that her young beauty had made him so self-conscious in his last years.

Sometimes she had the feeling that he felt like he was nothing but a burden to her. That maybe she was staying with him out of pity instead of love. The topic never came up, but she could see it in his eyes every now and then.

Again, she had to pull herself from such sad thoughts, back to more urgent and pressing matters. The Pirate Captain now knew something had been spying on him.

`Shit` she thought angrily. Finally she felt an ache in her tail and realized she had been swimming out to sea as fast and as hard as she could. She couldn't recall when she had started to swim so frantically away from the lagoon. It must have been a survival instinct because when she came up again the ship and lagoon both were so small and so far away.

That was enough spying for a few days, she had already risked too much, revealed too much.

She needed a quiet place to hide and think, to figure out what her next move would be. Heading further west around the island she made her way to a small cave accessible only by an underwater cavern. That would keep her well hidden for a few days.

Perhaps she should just stay hidden away until the Pirates were on their way.

But the emotions, the rush of fear and adrenaline. She felt more alive now than she had in such a terribly long time. How was she supposed to let that go now?

Curiosity killed the cat.

This cat was still ever curious.

AN: So, her first real-ish interaction with our lovely Captain. It wasn't much but I promise her curiosity will get the better of her soon, and now our favorite Pirate knows to be more aware since obviously something is out there ;) I would love to know what you all think, so if you feel so inclined, leave me a lovely review pretties. XOXO

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