anneoftheisland

Current Location: the small waterfall

Entry tags:

ariel,
in-game

picnic

Normally Anne's picnic basket held all her worldly belongings, ever since she'd fled her home ahead of the storm, but today she'd stowed all of those things beneath Ariel's bed so that she might use the basket for its intended purpose: a picnic. She'd needed to take a trip down to the small waterfall anyway, to determine whether Matthew's apple tree had survived the storm, so she thought it might be lovely to make a day of it with her new friend Ariel.

"Have you been here before?" Anne asked her, pushing through the last underbrush blocking the path. "Oh, I'm sure you have, you were on this island long before I was, but this is one of my very favourite places."

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"It was difficult, but I've been here for a long time and I feel much better about it now," she said, trying to play it off as nothing. It wasn't, not really, but she was reluctant to bring it up and let all those emotions back to the surface. She kept walking, she could hear the waterfall coming up.

"Well, perhaps with a little bit more practice, I can learn to swim like you do," said Anne. "It will take some time to get used to it, I think."

"It's so much fun, Anne," Ariel said, sounding wistful, and reached out to take her friend's hand. "It isn't the same but it's as close as I can get."

"Well, nothing's quite the same here, but we all make do," Anne agreed. "And some things, some things might even be better."

"Like what?" Ariel asked curiously. She knew there were things she liked better about being human, but she wondered what was different about this land in particular as opposed to other land.

"Well, if I'd never come here, we'd never have met at all," said Anne, "and that would be a terrible thing, don't you think? Even though I'd never have known that we'd never have met, I imagine there would have always been a little hole in my life where you should have been."

Ariel stared at Anne in wonder. She thought what Anne had just said was possibly the most lovely thing anyone had ever said to her. "Thank you, Anne," she finally managed to say, her voice soft.

"Well, it's only the truth," said Anne, smiling softly and tugging Ariel closer with their linked hands. "Here we are. Now we should find a place to eat our lunch and then perhaps you can go swimming."

Ariel smiled, her shoulder brushing Anne's. "I feel the same way," she said, feeling a great swell of adoration toward the other girl.

"Swimming first and then eating?" she asked, looking hopeful. Ariel sometimes found that the human food made her sleepy and lazy. "And you could at least come dip your legs in, couldn't you?"

Anne blushed and nodded her head. "I could certainly do that," she said. That was something she'd grown comfortable with, during her months on the island. "The cool water would feel very nice today, I think."

"It is hot out today," Ariel agreed. She looked around the clearing and tugged at Anne's hand, leading her to a spot with some shade but near enough to the waterfall that they could watch the rainbows at the base of it. "How about here?"

"Right here is perfect," agreed Anne, her eyes roaming the clearing until they fell upon one particular spot. Matthew's tree, being tiny and protected and able to bend with the wind, had survived the storm. Anne exhaled a breath she hadn't realised she was holding and smiled at Ariel once again.

Ariel returned the smile and let Anne's hand slip from hers so she could spread the blanket out on the grass while Anne could take care of the basket. She slipped her shoes off and curled her toes into the soft grass. It really was perfect. "Let's go!"

Anne hesitated only a moment, then slipped her shoes off, too, and followed Ariel to the water. "You must be a very good swimmer," she said, "if you grew up in the water."

Ariel pulled her shirt and pants off without ceremony and gave Anne a shrug, feeling bashful but still smiling. "Maybe, although it's different with legs." She looked out at the small pool of water. "There isn't much room to swim here, but it looks nice."

"I've never been in the water here before," Anne confessed. "I've only gone in the ocean, and once at the big waterfall by the caves. When I come here I mostly sit on the grass and listen to the water."

"Then it's a new experience for both of us!" Ariel exclaimed with a smile.

She dipped her foot into the water to feel how cold it was and then walked right in until it was up to knees. "It's cold!"

It was cold, Anne realised when she dipped her toe into the water. Strange how the water could be so cold when the air was so warm. It was shocking at first, then really nice, and she looked around for a spot where she could sit comfortably and dangle both of her feet in.

Ariel moved in further until the water was up to her waist. She walked right over to the waterfall and stood underneath it, letting out a small shriek at the sudden onslaught of cold water.

Anne shivered in sympathy, even though she was growing accustomed to the temperature. There were some rocks just to one side of the waterfall that she though she could sit on while she watched Ariel swim, though she might be in danger of becoming damp from the spray of the falls. Still, it looked to be the best place to sit and she made her way over to it.

Ariel moved out from under the waterfall, laughing, and pushed her wet hair out of her face. She grinned at Anne. "I wish you would come in," she called.

Anne shook her head as she made herself comfortable, dangling her feet up to mid-calf in the cold water. But maybe next time... maybe the next time she would find it in herself to go swimming as Ariel did. She smiled a little even just thinking about it.

Ariel half-waded, half-swam over to Anne's spot and gave her legs a playful splash. She folded her arms on one of the lower rocks beneath Anne's and smiled up at her friend. "Was your mother's hair red, Anne?" she asked, thinking back to what Neil had told her.

"I don't know," Anne confessed softly, staring at her feet as she kicked a little water back in Ariel's direction. "My parents died when I was very young; I don't remember them at all. I think someone would have told me if my mother's hair had been red as well, though, if only to console me about my own."

"Oh..." Ariel frowned, squinting a bit at the sunlight coming down from behind the other girl. It framed her hair making it look golden. "Red hair comes from the mother's side I was told. Do you not like yours?"

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