Red [Ariel!]

[Ayen]

The dual suns still burned brightly into the sky mid-afternoon, Tori was walking down the sidewalk humming “My Favorite Game” by The Cardigans. One of her favorite songs since first hearing it during the opening of Gran Turismo 2 for the Sony Playstation. Moon Valley has been quiet ever since the failed zombie attack and remained out of the bidding for the tower ever since their mayor Luca Valentine had passed away. Tori wasn’t very worry about national politics but places like Isafaro and Jherrazad did make her uneasy and all the things that went “bump in the night” inside and outside their city was a large cause for concern, but for now she was enjoying the nice weather. Humming soon turning into singing.

“I only know what I’ve been working for. Another you so I could love you more. I really thought that I could take you there. But my experiment is not getting us anywhere.”

[Ariel]

"Where...am I?" Ariel had managed to take shipwrecked sails and wrapped them around her body for covering. It got her quite a few looks and the naive girl didn't understand what was wrong with her fashion. Didn't humans dress this way? It certainly wasn't as glamorous as she thought it would be. Ariel bit down on her lip nervously and continued to wobble her way around aimlessly. Legs were so difficult to walk on but realizing she was human still was a joy to the red head. Now she was a part of this world!

Shivering from the cold, she hugged herself and continued wandering to find some place to stay. It was easier in the ocean to find shelter since most places were vacant and being alone out here was nerve wrecking for the teenager. Then, something greeted her ears that caused hope to well up in her: singing. Music was here! It wasn't just in the ocean! A smile lit up her face and she turned a corner, bumping right into the source before falling back. Gravity was working against her.

"I-I'm sorry!"

[Ayen]

Tori staggered at the bump but was able to maintain her balance, the same couldn’t be said for the other redhead that had ran into her, quickly apologizing for doing so. Tori was about to reply when suddenly she was silenced by the girl choice of wardrobe. Sails? Why on earth was she wearing sails on her body? The redhead was concerned for the stranger and was quick to kneel down beside her.

“Are you all right? What in heaven’s name happened to you why are you wearing sails?”

[Ariel]

"Ooooooh," Ariel smiled down at her wardrobe and grabbed handfuls of it in fascination, "Oh so that's what those are called!" Sails. The Little Mermaid hadn't seen very many ships during her sixteen years of life and Scuttle never knew the proper terms for any human items. Ariel was too sea-savvy to even know know her seagull friend was wrong. It was then she realized she was in contact with a human! Ariel's eyes just lit up like a child on Christmas Eve and she stared at Tori.

"You...you're...you're a human!" She couldn't contain her excitement! At last she was with what had fascinated her for years! "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh I can't believe it I--! How do humans greet each other?" Who cares if this was awkward?! No, Ariel didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable talking to Tori like she was the greatest discovery of all time. Wait until her family hears about this! "My name's Ariel! What's yours?"

[Ayen]

Awkward was the understatement of the century. Tori honestly thought this girl had lost her marbles, to the extent that she was actually looking around for any white coats searching for this redhead. She was just glad Nex wasn’t here as he would be freaking out over an attractive woman wearing nothing but sails. Tori was unsure how to respond to the stranger, struggling to find the right words to say.

“M-my name’s Tori and yes…. I’m a human…. and you’re not….?”

Tori looked her over, pretty sure, but as far as she was aware Ariel was a human too. Unless she was some supernatural being in a human disguise but why would she blow her cover like this? Surely she couldn’t be anything bad then. Wait…. did Tori just thought this girl was pretty?

[Ariel]

"W-Well I am now, I guess!" Ariel lifted up her bare foot, grinned from ear to ear and wiggled her toes! Her fins could never do something as amazing as this and she completely forgot about Tori for nearly a minute. So that's what those things could do? Maybe she could cross them too? "That's so great! I didn't know those things could do that." Now to stand back up but she didn't know how to. Ariel rolled over onto her hands and knees, pushed herself up, turned her legs in, lost her balance and fell to the ground. Ouch! Ariel winced and touched the tender part of her back that made impact.

"It's sure different up here." Ariel looked down at her feet and noticed they were dipped in a puddle. Why was water always so scarce up here? But, after they got wet, she noticed green was beginning to race along her skin! The mermaid gasped and pulled her feet away under the sails to dry them off. No, she won't be a mermaid again while she was a human!

[Ayen]

Tori simply watched while Ariel became fascinated over her own feet, like an infant discovering them for the first time. The detective in her was curious to find out what she was if not a human but first thing first, they needed to get somewhere less crowded. Her room back home should do the trick she’ll just tell her parents she brought a friend home from school and they’ll think nothing of it. Just a little white lie, no harm done right?

“Hey um…. how would you like come back to my place and--- What the hell!?”

Tori’s entire line of thought went out the window when she saw Ariel’s legs begin to turn green and look like it was forming some kind of a tail but before she could see any more the redhead had concealed it with her sails. Tori scooted away from her, not too far but not too close either. After the zombies incident and other isolated incidents concerning supernatural beings in Moon Valley one could never be too careful anymore.

“What are you?”

[Ariel]

"I'm a mermaid." Ariel didn't mind confessing this to a human. She looks trustworthy and hadn't done anything wrong yet. Why her father harbored so much ill will against these people baffled her. "I-I don't know how it happened but when I went through this gate I got legs. But when I sometimes get wet my fin returns." Ariel gave her a sheepish smile and now looked more like a shy child rather than the bold, curious mermaid gone human. It's not a matter of shame of her heritage but the fear of losing what she had desired for so long.

She parted the sails enough to look at her feet and saw the fin had disappeared. Ariel breathed a sigh of relief and carefully got onto her wobbly legs again. Balance was a success this time but she certainly looked odd with her hands raised and knees turned in. There was so much more to learn about humans and she was eager. First, walking was necessary. "H-How do you do this?"

[Ayen]

“You’re a…. you’re a what?”

Convinced she must have heard her wrong Tori made sure to get the wax out of her ear but the subject of conversation wasn’t changing. She was for real. A mermaid gone human. Well that was better than zombies wasn’t it? Ariel mentioned a “gate” could she mean the Downward Spiral; the tower north of Isafaro?

“What gate did you come out of? Was it a large tower?”

The other redhead looked to be more interested in walking as she stood on wobbly legs, asking how she and the rest of humanity did it. Tori was having difficulty on how to explain it as it always came as second nature to her, she was too young to remember learning how to walk for the first time. But even then, excluding falling down here and there, it never did take much effort. From her experiences anyway.

“Uh…. well.”

Tori stood next to Ariel making sure she was walking before lifting one foot up and then stretching it a couple of inches ahead of her and then repeating the process with the other foot.

“Like this; left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.” she said while moving her feet.

[Ariel]

"Yes! It was really, really big! Almost as tall as Atlantica. That was my home." Ariel disregarded Tori's stumbling over her words when she said she's a mermaid and planted her hands against the wall next to her. Why were legs so hard to control? "Something was swirling within and a big, hot flash of light was destroying everything. Anyone who got near it just...disappeared." Did her family even get out of there alive? Will she see any of them again? The Little Mermaid's blue eyes were downcast at this and she momentarily forgot she was a human. What good was a dream if no one was there to share the joy?

“Like this; left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.”

Ariel wobbled a bit when she was being taught how to walk. It was getting easier to maintain balance now that she wasn't turning her feet in and constantly reminding herself that she wasn't underwater. How did humans get to places if they couldn't just swim up a building? "I...I think I'm getting it!" Ariel's smile returned and she stretched out her arms, finally walking normally. The first of many steps had been taken in her new life...

[Ayen]

Just as Tori thought, the tower was bringing people in from other worlds on top of people just appearing out of nowhere but why? What purpose did it serve? Tori was under the impression that the tower only acted as a gateway for people to travel back to their own world so why would it tug others to them? This was probably a mystery that would be too great for Tori to solve. Even the major World Leaders couldn’t figure it out. Tori then broke away from her thoughts and looked back over to Ariel.

“Atlantica?”

The little mermaid was starting to get the hang of walking so now it should be smooth sailing from here (no pun intended) to Tori’s house so they could talk more, and Ariel could wear something other than ship sails for once.

“We can talk more at my place. Maybe there we can find you some clothes to wear, would you like that?”

[Ariel]

"Yes! I'd love to! I never saw a human house from the inside!" In pictures from water-sodden books she got a small idea on what the interior was like but due to the damage, it was sparse if anything. Fashion had also changed from what she had remembered seeing on ships and those marred books. Where were the frilled dresses and suits? Looks like people changed like the merfolk.

"Where is it?" Ariel now was understanding the concept of balance while walking. While waiting for Tori, she ran around in circles and braced herself against the wall whenever she needed to halt. It definitely was like watching a child discovering the joys of walking and the freedom that came with it.

[Ayen]

Despite how strange this whole situation was Tori couldn’t help but smile at Ariel. Had the situation been reversed and it was Ariel teaching Tori how to swim as a mermaid the redhead could imagine that she would be much the same way about having a tail as Ariel did about having legs.

“It’s this way.”

Tori took her by the hand and led her down the sidewalk until they came across the entrance to a forest. After walking past several trees and birds that flew through the air they came to a fence, Tori jumped over it and then helped Ariel over it as now they were in the backyard of a maroon colored house.

“Here we are. Now if anyone asks you’re a friend from my school.”

Tori then led Ariel through the backdoor which led to the kitchen and then past the doorway into the living room, turned left through another doorway that led out to a hall and then went right finally reaching Tori’s room. The first thing Ariel would see upon entry would be the brown desk carrying a black computer, a matching 19 inched wide screen monitor and a white printer. Beyond that was a darker shade of brown dresser with a white fan on top of it. To their left was a made up navy blue futon in front of a 30 inched wide screen television set and several video game consoles inside the stand below it.

“And this is my room.”

The closet wasn’t too far away from the door as she walked over and opened it up for Ariel to see.

“See anything you like?”

[Ariel]

Human houses were so different from her home in Atlantica. Unlike the rooms made of coral and other sea-based life this was of entirely different materials she had never seen before. The stuff below her feet was so soft against her toes and she couldn't help but wiggle them to increase the sensation. The struggle to get here was worth while and the humans weren't the only fascinating thing here: the bizarre things that stretch to the sky for one was an eye catcher!

"“See anything you like?”

Ariel immediately set her sights on a plain but simple long blue dress. It looked like it had seen very little love over the years and she stared at it. Were humans allowed to grab things or did someone have to do it for them? Ariel didn't want to come off as non-human to Tori even though it was already established that she is a mermaid.

[Ayen]

Tori eyed the blue dress, having forgotten she even had it to begin with. Dresses weren’t really her forte and it further served her “tomboy” reputation back at school although there was a green dress that she would wear on occasion but that was only once per blue moon.

“I’ll leave you to change.”

Tori turned around and left her room, closing the door behind her and giving Ariel her privacy so she could get out of those terrible looking sails she was left with for clothes. The redhead was right outside the door just in case she needed help with anything. This scenario was like the many “Fish out of the water” stories she’s read in books and seen in movies, only this time the person in question actually came from the water.