SALTWATER QUEEN

@readytcstand // starter call !

his eyes have watched for several moments now.  a hardly subtle manner in his spying techniques.  and such he cannot help himself emerge from the shadows after watching enough of the queen’s antics.  perhaps growing uneasy at such a royal who was quite unlike his own.   ❛  surely you have a reason to venture from your castle without proper guard.  ❜  curiosity beckoned. 

                        he’s certainly got her there. despite grimsby’s constant insistence that the danish queen be accompanied by palace guards on her frequent strolls through town, she’s never quite felt the NEED to do so. ariel trusts her people, and feels she could adequately defend herself should something ever go awry. however, this man’s UNSOLICITED questioning of her decision plants a small seed of doubt in her mind nevertheless. 

       🙶 —— something like that, i suppose… i always thought sirens were SHOREBOUND, but i could very well be wrong. 🙷 or, there might be different… breeds of mermaid. somehow, jack can’t help the feeling of smug SATISFACTION that rises in his chest.

       he knew they weren’t all bad. ( unless this is a trap, which it could be, but his ego and unwillingness to be wary are clouding his judgement. )

       🙶 they DID sing to us a fair bit. …can you sing, miss ariel ?? what are you doing so near a pirate ship, anyway ?? that’s very dangerous. 🙷

      🙶 pirates aren’t all as nice as me, you know.                   …i suppose that means we’ve got something in common. 🙷

               ❛❛ oh my gosh, i love to sing! but i’m sure my voice is no match for a siren’s. ❜❜ in all the tales she’s heard, the creatures’ ENCHANTING voices were responsible for luring men to their deaths, and ariel can only imagine how hauntingly beautiful they must sound in order to incite such tragedy. the thought alone is enough to send a shiver down her spine.

            ❛❛ so how did you manage to ESCAPE anyway? you know, from the mermaids trying to eat you? ❜❜ crimson lips curve into an incredulous smirk as the mermaid makes a mental note to ask attina if she knows anything about the sirens later. ariel recognizes it would be futile to present such an inquiry to her father, as king triton will likely want to shelter his youngest daughter from the unseemly nature of it all. it angers her how he could be so HYPOCRITICAL, turning a blind eye to the horrors that occur in his own domain while denouncing all humans as barbaric creatures, when she had living, breathing evidence before her that they were NOT all deplorable beings. jack had been nothing but kind to ariel – so far, at least. 

                however, his next question catches the mermaid slightly off guard, reminding her once more just how RISKY this entire venture is, swimming right up beside a pirate ship where she could easily become ensnared by a net & held prisoner. she can practically hear her father chastising her for her foolishness already. but still, something within her cannot help but TRUST this pirate. ❛❛ i don’t know. i guess i was just… curious. i’ve always been FASCINATED by your world. ❜❜ there were a plethora of reasons why ariel felt drawn to the ship, but they all boiled down to her unrelenting desire to learn more about the world above the waves & its inhabitants.

           Moana couldn’t keep her own excitement to herself either! She’s actually meeting a mermaid! This was surely something everyone else at the village would not believe. But her gramma had even told stories about merpeople and sirens and other sorts of creatures within the ocean. How lucky Moana must be to discover one of them!

          “Well, I’m definitely telling my family about you, Ariel! And, well, I guess we’re pretty much in the same spot. My own father forbids me to go into the ocean or past the reef. He wouldn’t even let me stay around the shore! Well…not all of us are barbarians, really! Unfortunately I’ve seen how some can be cruel but we’re really not like that to hurt others!”

                   ❝ really? ❞  crimson lips curve into an incredulous smile as ariel begins to discover her similarities with the human, despite the fact that she’s spent sixteen years of her life underneath the waves while moana walked on land. ❝ i guess we’ve got that in common! your father won’t let you explore the ocean, and mine won’t let me LEAVE it. ❞ the mermaid finds that to be quite ironic, almost COMICAL in the most unfortunate way. it seems that while moana & ariel are united in their desire to journey beyond their own worlds, their fathers are consistent in their fear of the unknown and prejudice against those that are different. although the fact INFURIATES the mermaid, she cannot help but feel slightly relieved that she now has someone to commiserate with.

                     she’s always KNOWN deep down it was wrong -- the very principle of what and who she is. a siren, born & bred with the sole purpose to KILL, ending countless human lives with every ship sunk at the mercy of their enchanting voices. but yet there was nothing she could do to stop it, nothing that could ever erase the blood on her hands. each time ariel swam towards another ship with her sisters, the catalysts of yet another tragedy, she TRIED to resist. but the ocean would inevitably overpower her, forcing her voice to shape itself into the haunting melody of the sirens. the same melody that had driven countless men into MADNESS, toward watery graves at the bottom of the ocean. until now.  

                     the very moment she sees him, something inside ariel shifts. it’s a change so discernible that she cannot help but gasp, as despite the countless men jumping to their DEATHS around them, it feels as though there is no one there but him. it takes her a moment to realize that she’s no longer singing, and before the siren can fully comprehend the significance of that fact, he too is FALLING. 

❝ Why do you not come out of the water? do I  frighten you, fair maiden? I apologies if that's  the case, I can leave if you wish it. ❞

@readytcstand // starter call!