Wandering free, wish I could be part of that world

Flynn cocked his head at her when she was practically staring at him. At first he thought he had interupted her or something, which may have been unfortunate if it were the case. He granted her a moment during which he remained silent, just awaiting a reaction or an answer from the young woman.

“Oh!” Ariel’s eyes widened, and she looked down at her side. That thing, that was his! Nodding quickly, she pulled the satch out of the water and up toward him.  “I found this earlier...you don’t mean this one?” Beaming, she continued, “I was going to see my friend about this, about what it is.” She paused and furrowed her brow. “About, er, what’s inside. He studies and knows a lot of stuff like this.” 

Well, this was interesting. It was most definitely a girl. Why was she out here at such a late hour? She also didn’t seem remotely alarmed at a talking frog. “So you are not from around here?” That was a shame, she probably wouldn’t be able to help him with directions.

Ariel shook her head. “No, not at all.” She shrugged a bit sheepishly. “But this area seems pretty neat; I’ve never seen any places like this! ...Maybe a little dark and gloomy, but I’m sure there’s all sorts of neat things to find here.”  She grinned nervously, looking away at the murky water. “Well, to be honest, I wanted to get away from home a little bit. Daddy and I got into an argument about the surface again, and, well...” She huffed, crossing her arms. “I just don’t understand him!” Ariel’s face softened. “I’m sorry for being such a downer. Where are you from?”

Flynn could have gone there and lied about it. Pretended he didn’t know how exactly he launched his prey straight into the ocean. He was perfectly aware though and that made it all the worse. The crown was easily worth several fortunes and would have paid the ransom for him to escape poverty permanently.

Ariel surfaced through the water and let out a content sigh. Everything seemed to be perfect. The weather was good (meaning that her father wasn’t in a bad mood), and she didn’t have any obligations that she was forgetting. 

It was turning out to be a terrible day for Naveen, absolutely horrible. It had started out great, but then had gotten wrapped up in the Shadow Man’s schemes and now he was here, hopping through who knows where as a frog. And then, top it all off, he had turned someone else into a frog, and he was fairly sure she hated him (which she had full reason to) and…well, life was just too complicated now.

Ariel gasped in surprise. She was pretty sure that she was away from any humans’ line of vision, but unfortunately, it seemed like one spotted her anyway. Her instincts kicked in, demanding her to swim away and find some cover. However, upon listening further, she didn’t hear any heavy footsteps hitting the deck above her.

Ariel sighed in relief and squeezed his hand, leaning in toward him. She relaxed her shoulders in an effort to let the tension in her body go.  “I’m fine too.” Looking up at him, she smiled warmly, “No worse for the wear! Only my hair’s a bit messier now, but I’ll deal.”  She looked over at the wheel and furrowed her brow, studying it. It looked like it was lodged in between the rocks pretty good. The part of the wheel that was not in the rock did not appear to be broken, at least. It truly was a stroke of luck.  “Do you think we can get it out?”

Genie’s stomach growled in response.

Ariel laughed lightly and turned her head to face him while still swimming forward. She smiled brightly.  “It actually depends on which kingdom you live in. Some kingdoms, like us, live strictly on a flora diet. We eat seasponges, seaweed, coral, kelp, things like that! Other kingdoms, however, they eat other seacreatures in order to manage and regulate the populations there.”  She shrugged a shoulder and furrowed her brow slightly. Movie, directors...all of this talk went over her head!  “That’s perfectly fine! I heard one of the chefs say a fresh batch just came in.” She paused for a beat, then ventured,  “What is a movie? I’ve never heard of this before!”

Eric rode on, smiling in the evening air, trying to keep his eyes on the castle. This always happened in Foix de Lille. Every time he came to this place to visit the palace, somehow, he got lost, or at least seriously sidetracked. This time though, he felt good about their course.

Ariel nodded. “Prince Kit...I haven’t heard that much about him besides the little bit of information from the invite. I can’t wait to meet him! What is he li-- ah!”  The carriage tilted itself forward, now lodged into the cobblestones on the road. She almost fell forward toward the front of the carriage, but luckily she held her hands out and stopped her fall.  “Eric, what’s wrong?! Are you okay?!” Ariel rubbed her head and pushed the door open. She hopped out and raced toward Eric in the coachman’s seat and bit her lip. “Let me help you...”  She reached upwards and offered her hand.

Fortunately, this stranger was friendly, her physical features revealing themselves as she drew closer. The stranger was blessed with a petite frame, big blue eyes, and a shock of red hair. Merida’s own hair wasn’t as nearly bright as hers, that’s for sure.

Ariel’s eyes widened. Living here in a castle could only mean one thing, one very, obvious thing.

Charming’s Ball Starters!

Her composure broke, and now Aquata felt tears sting her eyes. With furrowed brows, the princess looked over her sister and tried to formulate any words that could possibly fit in such a situation; sisterly wisdom, anything. But nothing came to mind.

Ariel sniffed and moved her gaze, seeing Aquata hold her hands. With a weak smile, she tightened the hold, entwining her fingers with her sister’s.  Everything’s going to be okay.