<div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/FwrheB9.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Ariel<br/><strong>Time/ Day:</strong>Day One<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Outside the Castle<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Maui, Open<br/><hr/><br/>The surface world sure was a marvellous place. Every time Ariel had lived her story, she had hoped to spend more time up there, or at least more time to roam the world freely. The ride on the carriage and the venture into town had always been among her favourite moments, and now she was wandering the outer gardens of the castle without a purpose, without the pressure of knowing she might be taken back to the ocean in three days time.<br/><br/>It was such a wonderful feeling.<br/><br/>No wonder she took absolute ages even making it through the large outer gate, when every flower, every shrub and animal and fountain offered a distraction to the girl. Ariel was just admiring a little ladybug that she'd scooped up off a leaf, letting it walk across her fingers as she continued her walk towards the palace's main entrance. The red and black pattern was so curious that she never really did notice that she was no longer alone. Roughly the young mermaid collided with the unyielding form of what was quite positively the largest man she had ever met in her life. Ariel shrieked, staggered back, only to find herself  being kept from making a nasty - and embarrassing - fall by a strong arm that had scooped her up mid-crash.<br/><br/>A little startled, and considerably more confused, Ariel glanced up at the man who had rescued her.  She smiled nervously, tucking a bit of her red hair behind her ear, which had become a bit of a tangled mess after her awkward collision. "I'm sorry," she said, and Ariel only carefully dared to get back on her own two legs again. She retreated the hand that had become pressed against the imposing stranger, wondering briefly where the ladybug had gone.<br/><br/>"I'm just not used to these..." Ariel glanced down at her feet for a moment, then decided that perhaps mentioning off the bat that she was a mermaid wasn't the best way to make new friends. "...shoes," she finished instead, and her smile widened slightly. Ariel finally wrested free, although it felt a little bit like a loss that she couldn't quite explain. Stepping back, she considered the proper way to greet the man, and finally took the tip of her somewhat unconventional dress, and curtsied.<br/><br/>"I'm Ariel," she introduced herself. "Thank you so much for catching me. I would have looked so silly arriving at the castle with bumps and bruises on my first day!"