Huntsmen VS Croí Dearg

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

A pause took place after the suggestion. There was a feeling that this man could make this harder than it had to be. The wheels were turning in his mind, but the red head interjected, in a unique way. What exactly she was telling him he had no clue, but he recognized that all familiar accusatory finger being point at him and knew he was getting an ear fill on the matter. It was strange and why they were communicating like that was a mystery. Hansel gave Gretel a shrug to signal he didn’t understand what was really going down in front of them. The red head took their hands and it made him uncomfortable. A person in his bubble wasn’t really his thing and he shuffled a little to the side and away, but let her keep holding his limp hand. The man didn’t really leave them any option and Hansel wanted to interject that their room would be equally as private and was what he was hinting at, but swallowed his words for time sake. Also an argument didn’t need to happen with the people and he felt like this Prince could easily start arguing if he didn’t get his way.

 


The woman gave them a nudge in the direction of the home before running of to her husband’s side. Sharing a glance with his sister, he gave her a shrug and started following them in that direction. The two were truly secretive and he was sort of surprised how quickly his sister’s question was shot down. Small talk was off the table as he didn’t really know what to say after that, so followed them to the house in silence. Not that it bothered him. New people could make him fairly irritable anyhow. The house was quaint, but pretty bare. Hansel’s eyes travel to the kitchen at the mention of lunch and it seemed it had already been in the works before they found the two of them.

 


“Uh. . .” Hansel looked over to his sister before answering trying to read what she wanted. This pretty much was her suggestion, so he agreed to it. “Lunch would be great, if it isn’t any inconvenience.  Thank you.” The thank you was more directed at the red head since she was preparing the meal for them. “Um, should we wait for lunch so Ariel could partake evenly in the conversation?” he asked, not wanting her to be excluded because she was in the kitchen.    

 

[pyreshadow]

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Prince Eric
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Ariel was already heading towards the kitchen at the mention of food while Eric situated himself in one of the seats at the dining table; though he couldn't lean quite as comfortably as he wanted until he had removed the bow from his back and let it rest against the table beside him. He watched as Hansel and Gretel seemed to exchange glances as they weren't expecting an offer of food it seemed. They had probably just expected one of those in and out type of deals more than anything. Hearing the thanks, Ariel peeked her head out and waved off the thanks with a quick smile before going right back to what she was doing before. "It's not a big deal, really. She usually likes to cook a decent amount so we don't have to worry about food for a few meals." Eric explained as he watched her cutting up some of the vegetables that she was going to add to the pot that was already on the stove. Although the mention of whether to begin now or to wait for her caused him to glance over to the man for a moment. Ariel seemed to have heard it also and Gretel had to wonder if she had hearing like a hawk because she couldn't speak. Or maybe it wasn't to that extreme but she knew the redhead could hear really well based on how she came back and did a few more of those hands signs. By the looks of it too Eric didn't like what she said as he was quick to shake his head.


"No." The simple answer caused her to pout and it was his turn to point a finger at her. "You're as much involved as this as I am so I don't want to hear it, Ariel. You can tell me all you want that it's fine but the answer is still no." The two of them seemed to have a little stare down before Ariel ended up conceding with a pout on her face. She walked back to the kitchen and let a huff leave her lips to blow some of her hair out of her face before she turned her focus back to her cooking. Eric watched her for a moment with the corner of his lips turned upwards as he tried to hide the smirk growing on his lips. "She was trying to say that we could start without her since she wouldn't really have much to say on the matter anyway. It'll be better that she's a part of it." In part because it'll help her grow simply because of how she grew up and this just might help her. As much as he doted on her, he did still want her to get some real world experience. Just....not too much. The rest of the time it took for Ariel to cook went by in silence, with idle small talk happening very little. Gretel still attempted and at this point Eric actually tried to indulge her a little bit. Not if it was anything personal about Ariel but anything else was pretty fair game. Eventually, Ariel came back in to the dining area with two steaming bowls in her hand that she placed on to the table before she disappeared back in to the kitchen. The bowls were each filled with thick pieces of meat, potatoes, carrots, as well as onions, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and a rich broth. The smell was enough to get Gretel's attention as it was an aroma that she never smelt before; one that was as rich as the broth looked and smelt full of flavor. As Ariel came back with the other two bowls, Eric made a motion for the two to come over to situate themselves at the dining table.


"It smells amazing." Gretel couldn't help but compliment as she headed over to take a seat at the table beside her brother, eyeing the bowl in front of her. It looked just as amazing as it smelt and when her eyes looked up at Ariel the redhead was giving an almost shy smile as if she didn't know what to do about the compliment. Another cough ended up having to be covered up, one that was just a little stronger this time around than the ones that had been muffled earlier. Instead of giving Hansel time to comment on it though, she opted to quickly keep the topic on the other woman. "How long has she been cooking?"


"This would make her third time making stew but she's been cooking for a few years now. She's a little...adventurous when it comes to flavor though. Not in a bad way but it won't be anything like you'd find around these parts." Eric replied before taking his first bite, Ariel having already begun to dine on her own bowl. Gretel tried her hardest to avoid Hansel's gaze for the moment and took a bite, her eyes widening at how flavorful it really was. Half the flavors she couldn't identify since they weren't familiar but maybe they brought some herbs with them from back home? Before she could really ask about it though, Eric made a motion with his spoon towards the siblings. "So what is it that you need to update us on?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The question started an argument and Hansel immediately regretted asking it. The fact was he wanted out of the house and in their private room back at the inn. The sooner this could get over with the happier he would be. The couple carried on and it was like his sister and he were invisible for a moment. A disagreement broke out between the two. Hansel acted as if he was interested in the house as he averted his gaze to look at them until it was over. Eric gave a little explanation, though it wasn’t really need for him as he gathered what it was about from what the prince had exchanged with his wife. A smile was forced as he nodded in agreement. Truth was he thought all four of them sitting down was for the best, that way he knew everything was relayed how he wanted it to both of them. Gretel did a bit of small talk while they waited, but he was only half listening. Small talk was never his thing.

 


The meal smelt great. Hansel pulled out a chair next to his sister and thanked Ariel when his bowl was sat in front of him, not that he started enjoying it with the other. The cough did not go by unnoticed and he could tell it was getting worse. Anger burned in the back of his mind as he knew Gretel put the topic on the meal to purposefully avoid him. The stew was twirled around in the bowl as he stared at the back of his sister’s head. Look at him or not, he knew she could feel his heavy gaze. Hansel refrained from rolling his eyes as the couple could take it personally, not knowing it was meant for his little sister. One that he was going to have a stern talking to once this was over. Eric gave him a great opportunity to speed along the process with his question. Clearing his throat, he left the spoon in the broth, resting on the edge of his bowl, a bite he still hadn’t taken.

 


“There is a group of women working for Chernabog and killing the seal bearers. There isn’t much we know about them. We came across one another when we arrived and were meeting the seal bearers we were watching over. There is a sorceress with lavender hair, a short woman with black and white hair, a child that can fly, a short dark haired woman that sort of squirted ink and there was a pirate. Like I said we don’t know much about them we were ju-“

 


A knock at the door interrupted and Hansel twisted around to look at it before eyeing the couple. Another knock came quickly, giving them barley anytime to react and it was harder than the first followed by a male’s voice.

 


“Eric, Ariel, are you two in?”

 


[SIZE=11pt]“Someone is watching us!” A soft voice full of fear commented quickly after the male and you could hear the two shush one another as they wait for the couple to answer the door for them. [/SIZE]

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━------━━━┓
Prince Eric
┗━━━━------━━┛​

Gretel could feel Hansel's gaze almost like it was trying to bore a hole in the side of her head; she tried her hardest to ignore it and just kept her gaze on the bowl of stew in front of her. Adventurous was one way to describe the flavor of the stew but Gretel couldn't say it was a bad thing. It was certainly feeling pretty good going down so that was also a good plus. Not that it helped with the light burning that she felt in her lungs but she just assumed that was from the coughing. When the question of what they needed to be updated on was brought up, she knew that Hansel's gaze finally moved. The hole he had been drilling was slowly dissipating back to what it should be so she carefully stole a glance his way. Only once she was sure he was looking towards Eric as he spoke did she let out a silent sigh as she knew she was in trouble with him. It wasn't her fault though that she was getting sick! Well...okay maybe it was but it wasn't like she wasn't trying to keep it at bay here. As her thoughts began to grumble a little, they stopped abruptly with the knock on the door. Out of instinct, the spoon dropped and her hand went to rest on one of her pistols.


Both Eric and Ariel listened intently as Hansel began to speak about a group that was working for the demon that the Queen had mentioned; a group that was actually going after the seal bearers they were meant to protect. The couple ended up exchanging quick glances as the women were being described but Hansel didn't really get to finish whatever else he was going to add. The knock to the door seemed to put them on edge for a split moment before the first voice eased the couple. Ariel was quick to smile and Eric let out a soft chuckle before waving his hand towards Gretel. "You won't need that, Gretel. Our seal bearer's are...well, a bit suspicious about things. They often come to us thinking someone is watching them or they heard something. It's all right." He assured the younger sibling as Ariel was already heading towards the door so that she could let in the couple; almost instantly the two -a younger couple that seemed to be clinging to each other- rushed inside while glancing over their shoulders every now and then. They were quick to hide behind Ariel, pointing out the door and trying to get the redhead to spot whomever it was that was 'watching' them.


"What did he look like, George?" Eric seemed to be indulging them, which was a little bit of a surprise; the prince got up and walked over to where they were and the other couple were even quicker to move to hide behind him next. They both seemed to talk at the same time to describe what they thought they saw. As this was going on, Gretel figured she shouldn't be staying next to her brother just yet since she didn't want to get lectured for her cough. She knew it was coming, she just didn't want it happening right now; so she got up and walked over to the door as well to take a peek outside since Ariel was still scanning the crowd. Setting a hand on her hip, Gretel began to do the same since she knew -or at least had an idea already- of what she might be looking for. After a quick skim, she didn't really see anything out of the ordinary but as she was turning to head back inside she noticed something that seemed...spotty. Taking one step further out the door, she noticed a Dalmatian to the left that was slowly making its way towards the house. Gretel tilted her head a little at that and quickly scanned the area again to notice a second one coming from the right.


"Move back." Gretel told Ariel in a rush as she back in to the house and grabbed the door; though the redhead seemed a little confused at the sudden demand, she did as she was told regardless. Gretel was ready to close the door but paused as she noticed something even more odd; straight ahead now, crouched low was a lynx that seemed larger than the average feline. Its eyes were that same piercing blue that made the younger sibling know it was the sorceress; the lynx let out several different calls, likely letting the other women know where to come now that she knew where the seal bearers were. Quickly Gretel slammed the door shut and bolted the lock, not a moment too soon either; something hard slammed against the door, deep, fierce growls and a roar that didn't seem to fit the lynx following suit; whatever it was was trying to claw in through the door or break it down but the material of it must have been pretty good to not break so easily. "Oh shit." Gretel had almost been pushed off the door by the sudden force and it certainly caught Eric's attention. He was quick to set his hands around the seal bearers as a means to try to tell them it would be all right.


"They're here. I saw the sorceress and the shorter one isn't too far since her pets were with her. I don't know about the others though." As Gretel spoke, she pulled out one of her pistols and aimed it at the door that was still being clawed at from the other side. Without warning she fired off a couple of shots and an angrier roar shot through the air followed by silence. All of a sudden there was nothing and it unnerved Gretel even more. Her gaze went to Eric for a moment and he gave her a reassuring nod to show that he wasn't going to leave the seal bearers side; then she looked to Ariel, who already had an arrow loosed to her bow and was ready. Finally her eyes settled on her brother and she gave him a sort of apologetic look mixed with a 'we'll talk about it later' type of one. Now wasn't the time for him to hold on to the lecture she knew he wanted to give when he'd need her here.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The redhead was in the doorway scanning the crowd and shortly the brunette from before showed up. A soft hum left her lips at she eyed the real reason she was helping. The demon’s promise of gold or whatever was never what she wanted. It was revenge. The child was left in her under her watch, so the two had stayed back. The usual little night gown had been replaced with normal clothes and Wendy had been scouting the two siblings along with the sorceress. Ever since the pirate was killed the child had been quiet as a mouse, steering clear from the witch. A grudge being held for interfering was Ursula’s guess. Wendy only really gave her time to Cruella’s Dalmatians. Wendy looked up at the woman and gave her a look that was unnerving. Before Ursula knew it the child was skipping barefoot towards the side of the house. Well one of them would be occupied if not dead while they dealt away with the bearers. Shrugging off watching the child she headed towards the house, the door now closed and locked.      


The matter could be picked up later. If the pair was truly worry warts then it could make things more difficult if they knew someone was actually after them. An annoyed sigh escaped as his sister got involved quickly, knowing that the she feared the lecture he had in store. Not to step on anyone’s toes, he let the girls handle the door and Eric the seal bearers. The couple didn’t seem too worried so Hansel stayed quite relaxed, but did get to his feet. His gaze stayed on his sister since he could read her the easiest. The door was shut quickly and he could hear the loud roar of an animal. His hands were already finding his shot gun. A couple of rounds were fired off by his sister and then silence. The shot gun remained pointed at the door as silence fell and he carefully listened to hear what was happening on the other side. Hansel caught his sister’s look and knew she would use this little fight in their discussion later and insists it was the best they she had been there. He shook his head at her and turned his attention to the door as a familiar growly voice came from the other side.


Ursula had gone straight to the door and leaned against the siding of the house in case anymore shot were fired. The black haired woman tilted her head back let out a laugh, knowing very well that it was distinguishable enough for everyone to know she was on the other side. A smile crossed her lips at the thought of the couple inside. Meddling fools.


“Knock, knock, pudding pop.” The sea witch gave a side glance to the door and was about to add on when a shot was fired and glass was breaking. Brows furrowed in confusion as it sounded like didn’t come from inside. The puzzled looked came and went as she remembered that Wendy had sort of went rogue.. The child was not her responsibility and she wanted to enjoy this. The other two could control the little whelp if needed. “Ariel darling, open up. What do you have to fear? H-hmmmm?” A pouch was taken out of her pocket and tossed in the air. It was a mixture of her own and it would turn those little legs of hers back into the fin she was supposed to have.


Wendy went to the side had used one of pistols she took off Hook’s body and fired at the man that had killed her guardian. No sorceress was going to get in her way today. Hansel had ducked out of the way in time and rolled away. A curse escaped as he really didn’t have too well of an idea on how to fight off the child. Hurting her just didn’t feel right, but she was sort of leaving him no choice. There was the sound of more as she made a gap big enough for her to fly threw.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━------━━━┓
Prince Eric
┗━━━━------━━┛​

Gretel's brows furrowed slightly with the way Hansel shook his head and it was hard to not let out the sigh she felt coming. She was in trouble, regardless of what was to come of this fight. As much as she wanted to pout about it, she sucked it up for the time being and turned her focus back towards the door. There was a laugh that seemed to unsettle the redhead beside her and almost instantly caused the prince to stand a bit taller. Gretel glanced between the two of them with a tilt of her head curiously but neither of them really said anything. Not that Ariel really could but they did exchange uneasy glances with each other. The moment that the voice was heard on the other side, Eric reached out for Ariel's arm and pulled her closer despite the protesting look on her face. He quieted whatever argument she might have wanted to bring up with a soft look but before he could even say anything about Ursula, another shot was being fired and it wasn't from anyone inside the room. The seal bearers had ducked to a corner of the room and now huddled together near by, the woman practically hyperventilating. Eric and Ariel crouched low and situated close to their side in a protective manner so that they were on either side of them mostly to assess what it was that was coming in to the house. Seeing that it was a child with a gun was certainly a surprise, one that caused Ariel's brows to furrow together slightly.


"It seems their description was pretty spot on." Eric commented softly as he eyed the little girl that seemingly had her focus solely on Hansel for whatever reason. That was fine with him, that meant he could take care of a certain other problem. "Ariel, stay here with these two and keep watch over them all right? Whatever you hear from that witch, just let it go in one ear and out the other. Things will be fine, I promise." He gave her a smile and it seemed to help some of the nerves that were growing in the redhead; taking a small breath, the grip on her bow tightened and once she felt ready she gave the prince a quick nod. He hesitated a moment but then still ended up reaching out to give her a kiss on the forehead before he stood up slowly. With a hand on his sword, he was ready to head to the door when he felt a pull on his shoulder to move him out of the way. A surprised look crossed his features as all of a sudden a couple of rounds were being shot off near his head; glancing to the side, he noticed Gretel beside him before he turned to see what it was that she was shooting at; or rather whom apparently. The woman that stood near the broken window that the child had come out of was the short, busty woman with multi-colored hair stood with a grin on her face. Despite the fact that there was a line across her cheek with a smear of blood where a bullet likely had grazed her she seemed completely unfazed.


"Hello, darling." Cruella blew a kiss towards Gretel, which just caused the brunette to roll her eyes and aim her gun once more. Tsk'ing slightly, a heavy growl could be heard coming from the back of Cruella's throat as she let out a small laugh. "Now, now. I don't really feel like playing around too much today. At least not with you." Cruella ended up eyeing the prince instead as her eyes slit before she dropped and rushed forward; with a roar-like growl, her body changed in an instant. Her bones dislocated, outstretched, and repaired underneath furred muscle of the beast she was becoming. The seal bearers began to cling harder to Ariel's arms and the redhead wasn't even sure what to do at this point. She was trying to hardest to keep herself from shaking but the truth was, she was scared; this was almost as bad as it was when she had to go up against Ursula and that was something she never wanted to relive again. These people were relying on her though so even though she was scared, she had to do what she could to at least try to help. Though it seemed that the moment she had made up her mind to do so, it made little difference. The change took only a few seconds but the white fur stood out among the dark of the house. There was no time to react as she came crashing into both Eric and Gretel, slamming them into the door and knocking it off of its hinges and out of the house. Ironic how now both times they had been to a seal bearer's place the house lost its door, not that she cared in particular. Gretel rolled a bit further, coughing a bit and holding her side from the hard impact. Eric seemed to be recovering a bit more quickly as he was already getting to his feet though Morgan was already on to him. As Cruella began to shift back to her human form, she could see the sorceress blow something in to his face that caused him to stumble and fall back to the ground.


"A hallucinogen. It'll only last a few minutes though, we don't have too much time." Morgan explained simply enough as she walked over to where Cruella was waiting for her. A shrug was all she received as an answer and she knew it was in part because of what happened the last time they interacted with these people. None of them had liked that she interfered with Wendy killing Hansel but...it just didn't sit well with her. Before she could think too long on it though, her eyes caught sight of the two seal bearers that they were meant to kill slipping away out of the side of the house. Did Ursula not realize they were escaping? Well, maybe she could use the chance to make up what happened by getting them herself so it would be better this way. "I'll take care of those two myself." Morgan made a motion so that Cruella could see she was referring to the seal bearers before the golden haze began to form around her body. She chose a simple bird for the time being to make following them easier and would get them right when they least expected it. It wouldn't take long at all. Cruella eyed her as she flew off for a moment before a smug smile grew on her lips with the idea of having a little fun before the day was done. Peeking over her shoulder, she decided first to skip back over to the house and see what Ursula was up to before having her fun with the prince.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Wendy

The witch hunter was on the move quicker than Wendy expected. He ducked down and rolled towards the little girl in hope to restrain the wild child. Not a chance. Another shot was fired. A near miss and it grazed his jacket. This was growing tiresome and at some point child or not, he would put an end to this. Hansel stopped to look at the tear in his clothes, to make sure there was no injury. Wendy took advantage of the distraction and charged at full speed, a small dagger out and ready to sink into him at the first chance. Not fazed by her attack, Hansel countered her quickly. Her arm was caught and her feet taken out from underneath and she met the ground hard. In a matter of seconds her hands were pinned against the wood floor and they were face to face. Wendy was turning red in the face from struggling against him and turned to glare at him when he started to make demands


“Calm down.” Hansel growled, having lost patience with the child. A loud roar caused him to glance up and he saw a beast at the last second slam into into his sister and the prince. The door had come off its hinges and Gretel was out of sight. Riddled with worry, he continued looking outside the door for any sign she was alright. A dirty look was sent the child’s way as squirmy runt was the reason he couldn’t check on his sister.  Wendy spit in his direction and then started kicking and screaming. A knee of hers was rammed into his groin and he doubled back and away with a hiss. “You little . . .” A snicker caught his ear and he looked up to see Ursula peeking in through the doorway laughing at the scene. Ready to shut her up, a hand went for when of his pistols when a dagger was slashed at him, nicking the side of his arm. Wendy was relentless and just kept coming with attack after attack. Hansel caught an arm again and began wresting the child for the weapon.

 


Ursula acted fast while Hansel had his hands full. Before he body was fully in the entry way she had thrown her concoction at the floor near Ariel and exploded open. The powder was blue and as it went into the air it swiftly turned to a clear liquid form that looked like water. It wrapped around the redhead’s legs and when it cleared a fin was left instead of her legs. A raspy laugh followed and Hansel looked over briefly confused by the sudden appearance of a mermaid, but didn’t have loads of time to let it sink in as he fought off Wendy. Ursula’s heels clicked at she got closer to her pretty.

 


“Nowhere to go, literally a fish out of water.” The bow was ripped away and thrown so it couldn’t be used against her. At the same time Hansel had gotten the dagger free and sent it spinning through the air at the sea witch as she knelt closer to Ariel. It didn’t stick its target but it made the dark hair step back and sent a glare at him. Wendy had been over powered again and was being held in one arm against her will, kicking to get free. “Don’t meddle in things you don’t know.” she bellowed, grabbing hold of a back of a chair nearby and throwing it at him. The force knocked him over and his opponent was free once more. Wendy had armed herself with a broken piece of a chair and started swinging immediately at Hansel while he was off balance.   

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━------━━━┓
Prince Eric
┗━━━━------━━┛​

No matter which way he looked -up, down, left, right- it was all blurry and muddled; Eric knew what was going on, he could still hear the sounds of what was going on around him but he couldn't see anything. What he did see didn't make any sort of sense as it was like his world was being turned upside down...or maybe inside out? Either way, it wasn't normal and it was that purple haired woman's fault. He knew when the woman went away though, as she made it clear she was going after someone. Then there was the sound of the other woman's footsteps leaving and another cough from the younger witch hunter. What got him was hearing Ursula's voice in the distance; that laugh, no matter how quiet or short, was unmistakable and he didn't want to leave Ariel alone with that witch. Pushing himself to his feet, he regretted it for a moment when a rush of dizziness caused him to want to fall right back down to the ground. With a shake of his head, Eric forced himself to ignore it and started to make his way towards what he knew had to be the house. The sword was drawn and held firmly in his hand despite the fact that he was beginning to shake uncontrollably. The house was growing darker, more terrifying as he got closer and looked as if it wanted to destroy him; the only thing that kept his feet moving was beyond that darkness, he saw the red of the one person he wanted to see and knew she needed him now more than ever. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to be there for her.


Ariel's eyes darted from where Hansel and Wendy were fighting to where Ursula was lurking in the doorway. The moment she laid eyes on the sea witch, Ariel had attempted to draw the arrow she had ready but it was far too late. Whatever magic the witch had readied had already been done and it had caused a gasp to leave the redhead's lips. A hand came up to wave off whatever substance was that came at her, only to realize the substance was going for her feet instead. Quickly a panicked look crossed her features and as her legs curled up to her sides, it was already too late. The legs she had grown so accustomed to walking with changed in an instant to the beautiful tail she had grown up with; the emerald green scaled fin sparkled even in the little bit of light of the room. Another gasp left Ariel's lips, only this time because it was harder to breath the air. The bow was all but forgotten about and tears were prickling at her eyes; the tiniest of noises almost left her lips so her hand shot up to quickly cover her mouth. Just in time too as she glanced up to see a dagger almost hit Ursula. What a shame that it missed the witch. As Ursula was distracted with Hansel for the moment, the redhead took the chance to use her hands and try to pull herself away from the other woman. Although, she didn't get very far before she bumped into the legs of someone else.


"And just where are you going? We weren't done playing, you know." Cruella spoke in a calm manner, a devilish smile on her face as she slowly bent down to try to caress Ariel's cheek. The redhead was quick to smack her hand away, which just caused a laugh to ensue. "I can't tell if you're naive or you've got fire but you're pretty interesting. Pretty too. What a shame." With a small sigh, Cruella kicked the mermaid hard enough in the ribs to send her flying into the wall next to Ursula once more. A satisfied smirk from the dent it left spread on Cruella's lips as she watched the other woman shake a little from the pain. "Aww, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" As Cruella pretended as though she cared, she stepped a bit closer when she thought of something else to do instead. She had noticed Eric standing in the doorway for a little bit now, probably because of that hallucinogen that Mim gave him. After the hit that Ariel received though, he came rushing in and slashed his sword with all his might at Cruella and just barely missed her. The kick he threw next didn't but before she could stumble backwards, her claws extended and dug deep into his arms. "Well, well. Aren't we a little upset?"


"What have you done?" Eric demanded, fully ignoring Cruella as his attention went from Ariel to Ursula as if he could actually see her properly. He could see enough of her to know that there was something wrong. Not just by the way she was on the ground but by the way she was trying to hold back her sobbing too. Before he could even get an answer though, a low growl left Cruella's lips as she didn't quite like being ignored. So she dug her claws in deeper and yanked hard before she started an onslaught of swift claw attacks that was becoming harder and harder for him to keep up with.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Ursula



The child was like a hound out for blood with the way she swung with all her might. Not much of a threat. If the man was willing to hurt or kill Wendy the quarrel would surely be over by now. That was not the case. Hansel was still only trying to restrain Wendy.  Not that she was complaining as with the witch hunter preoccupied it made everything else all the more easier. The mermaid crashing into the wall and leaving a dent stole away Ursula’s attention away from the two fighting. The wall was dented from the blow and a playful grin stretched wide as she looked at her helpless prey. It never got old seeing the fear in the other’s eyes. Ursula knelt down and her eyes light up into a bright purple. Titling her head to the side she kept her eyes glued on the mermaid, though she could hear the tussle behind her between Cruella and Prince Eric.  

 


“Do you want to cry for help? Eric come help me!” Her lips formed a big pout and she spoke in a baby voice as she mocked Ariel. The sentence was followed by an eye roll as she heard the familiar voice of the Prince, demanding things like he owned the place. Turning her head to look at him, she noticed Cruella literally had her claws in him. “I set things back to the way they were. The way nature made it.” She informed him, like it was obvious what her agenda had been this whole time. The emerald green tail was motioned to before she straightened up and stepped closer to Eric. A moment went by to let he multi-colored hair woman have her fun, but Ursula was determined to have the final blow. “Cruella, share the fun.” she teased, a menacing grin forming. A purple tentacle slipped out from underneath her dress and curled around the prince’s throat. Two other followed and wrapped around his wrists to restrain him and pull him down in front of the little mermaid princess.

 


“You don’t break deals with me honey and get to live happily ever after.” she chimed sweetly, as if she was in the right. The tentacle squeezed tighter like a boa constrictor around his throat. Ursula’s gaze never left the red head as she squeezed the life out of her beloved right in front of her. Seeing the couple in trouble, Hansel got a little more aggressive with the child and knocked her hard against the wood flooring and rolled away, jumping to his feet. Pistol was drawn and aimed immediately, but before could fire a tentacle came out of nowhere and knocked the firearm out of his hands and sent him flying across the room and into a wall. An irritated sigh left her lips as her eyes darted to the other male. “You’re next.” she hissed, tired of the worm. Twice now he had interrupted and he was the one that killed the pirate, it was only fitting they get a little revenge, an eye for an eye. Turning sideways she looked over at Cruella, asking if she wanted to help deal with him. The four tentacles disappeared underneath her dress and left Eric dead on the floor.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━┓
Ariel
┗━━━━┛​

Ariel curled up some from the pain she felt because of the kick, trying her hardest to ignore the woman's words. It did hurt but she wasn't going to give Cruella the satisfaction of seeing her cry; or at least she was trying her hardest not to let her. Tears pricked at the sides of her eyes but it wasn't until she heard Eric's voice that they rolled down her cheeks. Her head snapped up to him and her eyes were wide with a growing fear. There was something off about him, she could see it in his demeanor. A fierce glare was sent towards Ursula when the witch mocked her but she didn't say anything; she couldn't. Although she realized a little too late that things were not looking good and it was getting worse by the second. Something was wrong with Eric as he could hardly counter Cruella's swift slashes; one ended up nicking his wrist in just the right way that got his sword thrown from his hand. Just in time for Ursula to step in it seemed. A hum left the multi-color haired woman's lips as she seemed to back off to let the witch have her way with the prince; for whatever reason, Cruella seemed to not want to get in the way of this one. Somehow she got the impression this one was...personal. Taking a couple steps back, she knelt down besides her Dalmatians and just stroked their fur for a couple moments while watching the scene play out with a grin on her face.


At this point, Ariel was shaking both from the fear and the fury rising within her. Her whole body was trembling as she shook her head 'no', tears pouring at this point. She couldn't do anything but watch as the man she loved was killed before her very eyes. She could hear Cruella laughing in the distance even above her growing sobs but her eyes stayed lock on Eric's body; nothing else even mattered any more. How was she going to live without him? There was so much about the human world she still didn't know and now...now it didn't even matter because she had her fin again. She had her tail and Eric...Eric...the thought wouldn't finish in her mind as her body shook vigorously with her sob. She didn't even notice when Ursula's attention moved to Hansel because he had tried to intervene; truthfully, she didn't even notice anyone else in the room any longer. The only thing she did was force her arms to pull her closer to Eric's body until she was next to him. "...Eric." His name came whispered out as barely above a whisper as she reached out to pull him close; with a trembling hand she shook him, crying harder when there was no response.


"I'd love to play with him next." Cruella's voice rung out in the air in a playful manner as she stood tall in her heels; both her arms were held out to her sides with her claws fully extended. Even her eyes showed her more apparent beastly side now with how her pupils were slit like a cat's in the light as she eyed Hansel, her new prey. As she stalked closer to him, she could hear Ariel sobbing behind her and thought nothing of it at first. Only, she realized that it wasn't just sobbing that she was hearing and that caught her off guard. With a slightly confused look, she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the redhead clinging to Eric; all of a sudden, she heard a deafening scream of a high amplitude that caused any glass in the house to shatter instantly. The amount of pain resonating from the scream alone was enough to cause Cruella to drop to a knee, her hands moving to clutch her ears as if that would actually help her. In just the short amount of time the screaming started it felt like her head was going to explode and she couldn't even think straight. She knew she needed to get the hell out of there but she just couldn't move. As she started to double over from the pain, all of a sudden it stopped and all she could hear was a nasty ringing in her ear that wouldn't die away. It was loud and obnoxious. A glare went in the direction of Ariel since the redhead had been the one to scream, she just knew it; there was a bucket near the mermaid, that along with how her hair was now clinging to her body showed that someone had tossed it in through the window to give water to her body. It was enough to startle her and stop her screaming.


"Hey, we need to leave. The job's done and the militia's on its way." Morgan came running in through the front door, panting and covered in blood; not only that though but there were a fair share of bruises that were forming that showed she had gotten in to her own scuffle as well. Gretel was hot on her heels and it caused an irritated sigh to leave Morgan's lips as she had to wonder just how stubborn the witch hunter really was. Even with knocking her over the head with a rock, Gretel was still trailing her. There was blood dripping down the left side of Gretel's face, partially into her eye but she had long since been ignoring it since wiping it did little to no good. Tsk'ing lightly, Morgan quickly moved to where Cruella was and made a motion to her to get her up to her feet quickly Although whatever she had just said, Cruella wasn't entirely sure since she couldn't hear a thing.


"What?" Cruella ended up yelling and the confused look Morgan gave her for the yelling went over the multi-color haired woman's head.


"We need to leave. Now." Morgan spoke more simply as she eyed the mermaid and the prince for a moment, a stoic look on her eye. There was much going on in her mind about that but she wasn't going to say anything on it. Instead, she made a motion to the closest window and said "The militia is coming, so hurry up would you?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The two of them were stepping closer to Hansel, but his gaze was on the redheaded mermaid hovering over the deceased before standing up to defend himself. Eyes lit up purple, another tentacle started sneaking out from underneath. This time he was faster and a throwing knife went through the slimy limb and pinned it to the wooden floor. A screech of pain was let out by the dark hair woman that was quickly covered by a higher deafening scream that brought everyone to the room. Wendy, about to charge in the fight and beat the other two in killing the witch hunter, was curled up in the fetal position. Tears streamed down her cheeks from the pain. Cracks grew quickly on the windows before the completely shattered all together. Hansel’s hands went to protect his ears, but it didn’t help any. His face was turning red from the pain and it felt like his head was about to explode. A thick liquid substance started coming from his ears, which he knew was blood immediately. Ursula had her hands over ear, like the rest of them. The empty door way was behind eyed as she tried to command her body to go outside. Suddenly there was relief as the scream had suddenly stopped.


There was a loud ringing in his ears and he looked up to see what had caused the all to double over in pain. It had been the redhead and he let out an aggravated sigh as he wiped some blood away from his ear. The lavender hair witch came busting into the room, covered in blood. There was urgency in her demeanor, but he couldn’t hear what was being said. Apparently none of them could as he heard the multi-colored hair shout what. A low growl came from Ursula as she reached out to remove the throwing knife from her tentacle. What the other witch had to say didn’t matter. Her gaze went back and forth between Hansel and Ariel. One of them was gonna get stuck with this knife. The mermaid was too risky, she could scream again. She made it look like the attack was going to the redhead, at the last moment she threw the knife towards the male. Hansel ducked down in time to dodge the blade and there was no time for another attack. Ursula looked out the window and it all made sense now; they needed to get out of here. Wendy was already by Cruella, waiting for her lead and followed them all out when they left, Ursula being the last out. Dirty looks were sent to the both of them as she playfully waved good-bye.


“Gretel?” he shouted quickly, twice as loud as he thought. The back of his head leaned against the wall as it sunk in they had lost again. The world spinning and there was a loud ringing in his ear that wouldn’t go away. Using the wall for support, he straightened up onto his feet and looked over the place. Tiny pieces of glass clung to his jacket, a few pieces fall off when he stood up. The house was completely trashed. His gaze fell on the mermaid for a moment before he walked to get a good look outside, looking for his sister. The glass crunched underneath his boots. Once Gretel was in his line of vision a worried expression took over. There was good amount blood running down the side of her face. There be time to look her over, but he looked to Ariel for the moment. “Are you alright? Do we need to get you to water or something?” he asked, concerned evident in his voice. Never had he dealt with a mermaid before. This was all new. How long she could be out of water he didn’t know, but it was going to be a pain in the ass finding out, since she couldn’t really speak.     

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Cruella noticed the child nearby and scooped her up into her arms before heading towards the window; her Dalmatians had already gotten the hint and had climbed out one by one, so the multi-color haired woman helped Wendy out first before climbing out herself. Morgan followed suit, then Ursula, and just like that they were out of sight before Gretel could get to the other side of the room. A curse left her lips as she looked out the window, eyeing to the left and the right to try to spot where they had gone. Not that it mattered anyway since they wouldn't have been able to follow in their current condition. That witch had actually put up a decent fight this time around, although it was partly because of how she had gotten under Gretel's skin. Which she'd need to talk to Hansel about in due time. As if he could read her mind, Gretel jumped a little when her brother practically shouted her name and quickly spun around to look over at him.


"I'm here." She walked towards him while she spoke, a soft look on her face as she looked him over. The group they faced really knew how to put up a fight as this marked the second time they'd lost. How was this going to far with that demon? Gretel bit her lip nervously as she reached out to lightly brush off the last bit of glass that clung to Hansel's jacket before her eyes moved to settle on the mermaid as well. Ariel was still clinging to the prince's body and was sobbing more quietly now that it was just them. Only when she heard Hansel's voice speaking to her, she seemed to flinch slightly but otherwise she didn't move nor did she even attempt to say anything. Gretel took a second to place her pistols back in their holsters before she knelt down to be somewhat at eye-level with the redhead. "Ariel, please. We want to help you but we don't know anything about your...condition? We've never dealt with mermaids before." Gretel spoke in a gentle tone to try to coax the other woman enough to get her to at least talk to them. Or...maybe not talk since Gretel had heard the scream and knew without any doubts it had come from the redhead; but at least communicate with them in some way or another. A few seconds went by in silence with Ariel resting her head against Eric's, her eyes closed and her breathing slowing; eventually she lifted her head up some to wipe at her eyes as she took in a slow, deep breath. They were red and puffy, her cheeks tear-stained and it looked like she was about ready to burst into tears at any given moment again. There was still some hesitance as she glanced to the side but she ended up reaching out and making a motion for Gretel's hand. It sort of confused the brunette for a moment but when she started to hold her hand out, Ariel gently took her hand into her own.


"I can be out of water for about a day, at most. Throwing salt water on me like what was in the bucket helps to keep me out longer but I would still need to get to water as quickly as possible. I'm sorry to trouble you like this." Each letter was written out with Ariel's finger and Gretel put it together in her head bit by bit; truthfully she was a bit thankful that the redhead still had another means of communicating besides that sign language that she did with Eric. If that had been all she knew then she might have been in trouble.


"It's no trouble, really. We'll get you there." Gretel gave her a smile as she made the promise and the redhead attempted to give her one in return, although it was a meek one at best. Giving the redhead's hand a gentle squeeze, Gretel then stood up and turned to look her brother over. "We'll have to bring her to water. She said she can last a day at most but if we throw salt water on her it'll help her last longer outside of water." As she told him this, Ariel shifted slightly so that she could reach out and motion towards Hansel's hand so she could try to tell him something as well.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The redhead didn’t respond and clung to her deceased husband. Hansel looked down at his feet, not knowing how to comfort the women. The back of his sister’s head was eyed as she went over and knelt beside Ariel. In a sweeter and more sympathetic way she explained they only wanted to help. That was enough to get the red head to look up, in time. He watched behind his sister as the mermaid slowly began to communicate by spelling the words out on her palm. Clever way to communicate and he was happy they didn’t have to try and decipher sign language. In many ways his sister was better with people and he was grateful for that. What would he do without Gretel? He never wanted to find out. Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he waited patiently for the girls to communicate. It was certainly a process that took time, but he didn’t mind. His gaze left as his sister approached and started talking, only a few words he could catch. Water, a day, a few others words he could make out by lip reading. Shaking his head to show he didn’t catch all of that, he pointed to his ear that had some smeared blood by the opening.


“I didn’t catch all of that!” he shouted, not knowing how loud he was being. The wound was eyed again and he was about to reach out to take a closer look at his sister when he noticed the mermaid shifting. His gaze went down to Ariel who was motioning for his hand. “Uh.” he shifted, nervously, sharing a glance with his sister before he got down on his knees to be closer to the mermaid. His hand was held out palm up for her to communicate and he forced a gentle smile on his face. Her face was puffy, red and he felt like one wrong thing could send her sobbing mess again. It made him nervous that he’d do the wrong thing. A glance was stolen in the direction of the prince and he wondered if they should give him a proper burial with Ariel before she goes back to the ocean or would he have to be sent back to the kingdom. The thought didn’t stay long as he felt her touch and looked down at their hands to focus on what she was trying to communicate.   

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━┓
Ariel
┗━━━━┛​

The shouting caused Gretel to jump slightly again and she looked over with surprise and worry on her features now. Why was he shouting? It was then that she noticed the blood smear around his ear and she pieced it together; the scream from earlier because of Ariel affected everyone in the room, that was why he couldn't hear what she was saying. Before she could repeat it more slowly so he could lip-read or even look him over more closely, his attention went to Ariel as the mermaid was reaching for him. Gretel was quick to motion him to the redhead with a smile that she tried to hide before she looked around the room once again. A sigh left her lips as her gaze settled on the prince's body before it went to the door when she heard the sound of metal clanking together. An armored man stood in the doorway trying to assess the situation and since her brother wasn't exactly capable of saying what went down, Gretel headed over to the man to let him know what had happened. There were a few other men behind him that were dressed similarly and it seemed they each had the crest of the White Queen on the breastplate of their armor. That at least saved them time from having to figure out where they would have to go to let the Queen know of what happened here.


Ariel returned Hansel's smile with a meek one of her own; she could see how uncomfortable he was with this but she felt she needed to let him know now. Especially given how he was shouting and how she could see the smearing of blood along his ears; it was her own fault and she felt horrible for having put him through such a thing. When Gretel ended up walking towards the door, Ariel glanced over briefly just to see what it was the brunette was doing before she turned her attention to the palm that was within her own hand. "I told her that I can last a day out of water but I can last longer if I have salt water poured on me. I really don't mean to trouble the two of you but I'm grateful that you're willing to help me." There was a pause in her writing as Ariel glanced to the side for a moment as she settled her feelings. Her eyes were watering again like they wanted her to start crying again but she was quick to wipe them away to keep her from doing so. "I'm really, really sorry that you had to suffer when I let my voice out. That sea witch in the group that we faced, Ursula, she cursed my voice some time ago after Eric defeated her when we first wanted to get together. That's a long story though and...one I don't really wish to speak of. I just...I wanted to say I'm so sorry for hurting you. I never meant to..." Ariel's hand started to shake a little as some tears began to flow again as she thought about how much she wanted Ursula to suffer. Revenge had never been something she was comfortable with but now...now she was thinking about asking her father for the trident just for that. How she would use it when she had a fin, she had no idea but that could be figured out later.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

His gaze followed Ariel’s and landed on his sister dealing with the knights. An uncomfortable conversation he guessed as they were once more defeated by the same people. Ariel was his main focus and he turned back to as she started communicating. Hansel spoke quietly the words she wrote out on his palm so it would all make sense. The few words he made out earlier clicked in his brain now as he it was explained to him what the mermaid needed. Hansel nodded to show that he was following along. The mermaid looked away and an uncomfortable feeling came over him. Her eyes were welling up and he didn’t know what he’d do if she started crying. Quickly they were wiped away and she returned to writing in his palm. The sea witch actions toward the couple made sense. A curse? How Ursula went straight for the couple and how she wouldn’t let the multi-colored hair woman finish the prince off made sense now. It was a personal vendetta. There was no need to for more details, so he nodded to show that he understood. An apology followed by tears made him shift uneasy as he wasn’t really equipped to comfort, but he was going to do his best. Taking her hand, he gave it a soft squeeze.


“H-hey.” he said softly. Hansel kept her hand in his, in a comforting way. The other went up to point to his ears. “Don’t worry about this. Been through worse, ok? Really.” There was another sensitive topic he knew he needed to address and he glanced over at Eric’s corpse. Swallowing hard, he eyed her trying to make sure what he said next came out correctly. “I’ve never lost a lover, so I’m not going to pretend to know what you’re going through. We’ll do our best to help you in anyway, even beyond getting you to water. Understand?” he said, remaining calm and keeping his voice warm as he spoke. Doing the best he could to be comforting. People claimed to know what him and his sister was going through when their parents passed and he refused to be one of those assholes. “Do you want some time alone? Collect your thoughts?” Give her a chance to say good-bye privately.  

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━┓
Ariel
┗━━━━┛​

Ariel tried her hardest to keep her sobs under control this time around since she knew she couldn't break down. Eric wouldn't have wanted her to; he would have wanted her to think about the next move and not dwell on what was already done, even if it was such a hard thing to do. What was she going to do without him...she couldn't fathom it even now and just thinking about it kept the tears flowing. She had to push through it though, for his sake. Feeling her hand being squeezed, she brought her gaze to meet Hansel's and eyed his ears briefly when he spoke. He told her not to worry about it but that didn't mean she wouldn't. How could he have been through worse? If she had kept going any longer, he would have died along with the rest of them. Not that the redhead was going to tell him that. Sniffing lightly, she brought her free hand up to wipe at her eyes again while she felt herself tense at the mention of losing a lover. Almost instantly her eyes went to Eric and she felt herself holding on to Hansel's hand a bit more firmly; it was still gentle but it was almost like if she let go, she felt like she'd lose herself. She gave him a quick nod to show she understood but he likely had no idea just how much that meant to him. Outside of Eric, there was no one on land that she could turn to for support. So hearing him say those words cause a fresh wave of tears threaten the sides of her eyes but she'd be damned if she'd let them fall this time. The hand that wasn't holding Hansel's went out to hold the prince's despite how it was already losing its warmth.


When she was asked if she wanted time alone, her eyes glanced over to the prince's face before she slowly nodded her head. At first she was going to leave it at that but then she brought her other hand back to Hansel's palm so that she could write something into it again. "He will need to be taken back to his kingdom so that they can properly bury him. If you could send word out addressed to a man named Grimsby, as he was Eric's confidant. He will take care of the arrangements as...I will be unable to." Ariel eyed her tail for a moment with disapproval on her features before a heavy sigh left her lips. "But...he wouldn't want me to mourn his loss and instead remember how he was while alive. I can't imagine what I'll do without him but I know that I must. For his sake and my own. Please...just give me a few minutes." Once Ariel finished the last letter, she gave Hansel's hand a gentle squeeze before pulling both her hands back. She attempted to give him a stronger smile and in truth it was more bright than the one she had given him earlier. The smile faltered slightly as her gaze went to the prince's body before she reached out to caress his cheek. Fresh tears once again worked their way down her cheeks and this time, she silently cried as she buried her head into the groove of Eric's neck.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

At the nod, Hansel looked over Ariel one more time as she held on to the prince. It was time to give them a moment and he looked off in the direction of his sister. About to leave he felt her gentle touch again on the palm of his hand. He turned his head back around and focused on what she had to say. His expression was soft when he looked back up and agreed with a head-shake that he would send word to the gentlemen that went by the name of Grimsby. A squeeze of his hand was the signal she was done for the moment and Hansel look his leave for the time being. A hand ran through his hair as he resisted looking back at the redhead and he walked up the group of knights and stood next to his sister. By now they were mostly filled in, he guessed since the ringing in his ear was still too loud for him to hear well. He knew he said it was ok, but he was wondering if there had been permanent damage now.


“Ariel wants a bit of privacy.” he said, gesturing for them to move a bit further away from the door so she could have more privacy. A knight was tapped on the shoulder as they were shuffling away from the door and filled in on the person that needed to be notified about Prince Eric’s death. The knight put a hand solemnly Hansel’s shoulder and nodded that he understood the situation. The man was quickly off to find someone to deliver the message so Prince’s affairs could be taken care of as soon as possible. Gretel was eyed as now they had some time alone. There was much to be addressed. Gently taking a hold of his baby sister’s chin and turned her head to the side to get a better look at the wound. “That looks pretty deep. What happened?” he commented quietly, eyeing it a bit longer before letting go and grabbing a piece of fabric from his pocket to start cleaning away the blood from her eye.   

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

"Thank you, I'd appreciate the help in that." Gretel gave a light bow of her head to the knight that was near as the man had offered to supply them with a proper carriage to be able to transport Ariel to the sea. It would be much easier than trying to get her to ride a horse, that was for sure. Not only that but he was also going to inform the Queen of just how dangerous this group was that the demon had gotten his claws in to as well. Something different needed to be done because clearly babysitting wasn't working out. That was something she wasn't going to worry about though and she made it abundantly clear that her and her brother's first and foremost priority right now was getting Ariel to safety. The knight actually agreed, thus him offering the carriage to make it easier. Her eyes glanced over her shoulder to her brother when he neared and gave a small nod with his announcement. It was understandable that she'd want some privacy; it was a shame the door had been busted off, otherwise that would have been closed to give her more but at least she had some. The knight she had been speaking with went off to get the carriage gathered for them and the rest went off to likely get the information off to the Queen. Then the knight that Hansel was talking to about the arrangements for the prince's body had scurried off in the opposite direction.


As much as her mind was all over the place, thinking of different things all at the same time, when she noticed her brother looking her over. She didn't move much and let him move her head so he could look over the cut on her head; although her eyes did glance to the side as she wondered if he'd even be able to hear her if she did talk about it. "I followed the sorceress after being thrown out the door by that multi-color haired woman." Gretel figured by enunciating her words and speaking just a little more slowly, just enough for Hansel to be able to read her lips, he'd be able to follow what she was saying if he couldn't hear still. "It was too late for the seal bearers by the time I caught up to her but I thought I could still get some information out of her. In the end...I feel like I got played though. I didn't get anything about her or the group or the demon, pretty much nothing useful to our cause; the only thing I got was that I know she had something to do with my cough. When I had her pinned, she asked me how my body was feeling and how bad my cough was and I hadn't even coughed at all during the fight. I tried getting more information out of her about that and that's when she knocked me over the head with a rock. Thus-" Gretel pointed to the wound Hansel had been cleaning before rolling her eyes. "I don't get her at all. She's working with them but then she's also doing things that goes against them as well. Like stopping that child from killing you last time. Then this time, that bucket of water -which just so happened to be salt water, mind you- was something that she threw in before she went in to the house to tell them they needed to leave. She even had the chance to kill me too but she just left me there. Thinking about her is making my headache worse." The last words came grumbled out as more of a pout while Gretel crossed her arms over her chest. There was a pause before she looked her brother over briefly with an equal amount of concern before she added, "Did you catch everything I said or should I write it down? We need to get you fixed up to, you know...somehow. Can you hear properly yet?"

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The cut would have to wait a bit. Pausing in his work when he noticed his sister talking, he focused on her lips. The enunciating helped him make out the words, but he still probably wouldn’t have caught it all if he wasn’t reading her lips. A brow rose at the mention of being played. Hansel listened carefully and his eyes grew with concern. The cut was eyed at the mention of the rock, but he quickly was back to reading lips and focusing on his sisters words. The purple hair woman was quite a confusing one. The bucket of water he hadn’t thought of, more so just grateful that she had one it. Possible it was done to save her posse. It was like trying to solve a riddle when it came to those four. Hansel shifted, processing the news. A worry that something bad was happening to his sister riddled his mind. A smile crossed his lips as it became her turn to worry over his injury. Besides waiting it out, he didn’t really know what else they could do about his hearing for the mean time.


“I caught everything.” he said solemnly. A smile was forced, but it was pretty weak. Everything was just a mess. Getting their asses handed to them to again, didn’t put anyone in high spirits. “Might be a bit better?” Not much if so because the ringing was still like church bells. Sheepishly, he went up to gingerly touch his ear. The blood for the most part was dried, the bit that hadn’t been wiped away. “Not much to do besides clean them and wait for the loud ringing to leave.” he added, shrugging. The damage had been done. Now was just the healing process. “Gretel, if she caused that cough that is bad. Like real bad. What are we going to do about that?” he asked with a sigh. The sorceress could have done a number of things to his sister and it was hard to take the next step when he didn’t know what it was, or the severity of situation. Was it just a cold or what? Hansel was regretting take up this job at the moment. They should have just gone off on their last hunt and then vacation. Hands in his pocket, he slumped against the exterior of the cabin and looked over at his sister.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

A relieved smile crossed Gretel's lips when he said he caught everything, even if she didn't quite believe that he was all right. It was far too quick for him to have healed from that kind of injury and he just reiterated her thoughts by what he added. Her eyes glanced to his ears the moment that he touched them before a heavy sigh left her lips. They were pretty messed up this time around, that much was clear. It was obvious that the first time they came across those four that they really were just being toyed with. Even this time they were being a little more serious but they still weren't going at them for real. It made Gretel wonder what it would really be like if they would have. "We'll get cleaned up soon. The knight that I was talking to is getting us a carriage ready so that we can transport Ariel more easily to the sea. So once that's squared away and when she's ready, we can get situated and cleaned up before heading out." It was more of a suggestion than anything, one that she was still sure to speak slowly and enunciate still so that Hansel could pick up on. Right now wasn't a good time since they needed to keep an eye on Ariel until she was ready and then they could maybe go back to the inn for the time being. Or just leave from here, she wasn't even sure at this point. All she knew was her head was pounding and the sleep that she wanted she knew she couldn't have just yet. Her brother's rather serious question caused her to shift from one foot to the other as she looked to the side to avoid his gaze for the moment. Before she could actually answer him though, she felt that itch in her lungs that was starting to become familiar before the coughing fit happened. The burning that it left was uncomfortable and brought about a sour look mixed with a pout on her features.


"I don't know what to do." Gretel answered honestly after a moment of silence, more so that she could clear her throat afterwards than anything. She didn't look at Hansel though and kept her gaze in front of her so that he could still see her lips enough to lip read. "But that sorceress knows about this cough. She did something to me, which means she has the power to undo it. This cough...it's getting worse and I don't want to know what's going to happen if I let it be. I want to find the sorceress and make her speak. Even if that means we stick around and help with the Queen's task a little longer. I know that in a way it would be using her but that witch is working with those people. That means we'd eventually run in to her much faster if we stay working together with the Queen and the rest of the Huntsmen that she has. I know you probably regret agreeing to this but there's no point in thinking like that since we can't change what's already happened. If we can focus on just getting to that sorceress, then we can find a way to get her to reverse the effects."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The cough was getting worse and that caused a frown on his features. Unlike before, he did have a lecture that she needed rest or a break coming. None of this could exactly be controlled or helped really and his gaze went to his feet while this uncomfortable moment passed. It felt awful not being able to do anything to help. He glanced up in time to see his sister speaking again and read her lips, having a bit more difficulty with it this time around. Sticking around seemed like the only thing they could do, even if it was his first instinct to call it quits. This plan to get the sorceress to talk wasn’t exactly a good one, but it was the only route they could really take. The witch would have to be willing to reverse whatever she had done and that is if she could. Those thoughts stayed to his self as he didn’t need to pile anymore crap on his sister. Gretel could read his mind and it drove him bonkers some of the times. Being called out on regretting ever saying yes irritated him.




“Get out of my head.” he said softly, shaking his head at her nonsense that was spot on. There was a bit of a laugh that followed before his facial expression turned grave again. “You’re resting from now on.” he stated, the tone in his voice let her know there was no winning this argument, if she so chose to make it one. “You don’t need to speed up the process by over exerting yourself.” The truth was he didn’t know if that’d make the effects happen faster, but he wasn’t in the mood to take chances at the moment. Hansel would ship her off back their home if that was actable, which it wasn’t. The knight was returning with the carriage behind his sister and he stole a glance in the direction of the mermaid, wondering if enough time had gone by for her to say her goodbye. Hansel shifted his gaze and gesturing with a nod to the door to see if his sister thought that it was time for them to go in and checked on the mermaid.   

 

[pyreshadow]

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Gretel
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The fact that Gretel had to 'rest' from now on didn't sit well with her but she wasn't in the position to argue with her brother currently. It wasn't like they had much going on right now anyway since what they would be doing was dropping off Ariel to the sea for the most part. How hard could that really be? As much as she gave a nod to show she would listen -mostly- there was still a pout on her face as her eyes drew to the carriage briefly. The knight came over to tell her about how to get to the sea from here and provided them with a map that showed where they could stop along the way to pick up some water to splash on Ariel as well. Gretel gave him her thanks for all the help he provided but he didn't actually leave quite yet. Instead, he waited as a couple other knights headed their way with a blanket and a small cart likely to carry the prince's body away. That, coupled with the look that Hansel had given her, was sign enough for her to bring her gaze inside to see if the mermaid was quite ready. The redhead was laying there, combing her fingers through the prince's hair. When she realized that there were eyes on her, she sat up a bit straighter and gave the brunette a small nod of her head to show that she was ready. That was passed along to the knights, who then went inside to collect the body; one of them ended up helping Ariel into the carriage while Gretel settled herself at the reigns. They were told that there were some provisions for them as well that were in the carriage, along with their bags from the inn that had been gathered for them.


Once her brother was settled as well, Gretel set off in the direction that the knight had told her to go. Between the couple of stops that they had to do at some small villages to get salt water for Ariel, it took about four days for them before they were actually able to see the ocean in the distance. It had almost been a straight shot from the town they had come from and there was almost no interference of any kind. That was always a nice change of pace, to not have anyone trying to stop them from reaching their destination. The only thing that wasn't so good was that Gretel was getting worse even just doing nothing; not only was she coughing, which felt like she was starting to hack up a lung, but she was starting to get cold sweats and fevers every now and then. Not often thankfully but it was a sign that even though she was resting like Hansel told her to it didn't matter. Which meant that she, being the stubborn woman that she was, was going to still be doing something even if her brother didn't want her to. Not that she was going to bring it up to him since he'd likely still try to stop her from doing things. Glancing over the map quickly, Gretel brought her attention back to the horizon and scanned it from one side to the other. The ridge was clear on the map but wasn't quite so clear on the horizon itself. If they didn't have the map, they might have actually gone over the cliff and fallen into the waters below. It looked as though the only passable entrance to get Ariel safely to the sea would be to head through a fishing village that was a bit further up the ridge. Unless Ariel wanted to dive into the waters but she highly doubted that since who knew how rocky the waters were below; mermaid or not, Gretel was fairly certain the other woman could still get hurt from such a jump.


"Hansel." She called out to her brother to get his attention before making a motion towards the village she was guiding the horses towards. "We'll have to cut through there since I didn't see any other dip along the ridge for some distance. Hopefully the people there are friendly enough to let us pass without asking too many questions." So far the villages they had gone through didn't ask what the salt water was for and didn't ask what was in the carriage either. She wanted to keep it that way too but with a village this far out it was hard to tell. A coughing fit came that caused one of her hands to come up and grasp her shirt tightly from the pain. Trying to downplay it didn't work to her favor either and she had given up on that after the first couple days of the coughing getting worse. "O-once we drop her off, we'll need to see if we can find another one of those Huntsmen. See if we can tag along with them until that group shows up. If anything, I'm sure if we contacted the Queen she'd let us know."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

Four days passed by incredible slow. Finding a place to return the mermaid to the sea was sort of on the difficult side. Not to mention that his sister’s condition continued to decline. Making him more irritable each passing hour he had to hear that heart wrenching cough, knowing that time was ticking away to find a solution. Small talk had been cut to nothing as he didn’t really get a good part of his hearing back until the third day. Lip reading was tiring, so they had sat in silence heading in the direction they were pointed in. There was one more challenge to get pass before they could let Ariel go in the sea and that was what his sister was addressing at the moment. A part of him loved hearing her voice, even if it was a bit different from all the coughing, but it made things all the more better. A familiar fit coughing ensued and he did his best to ignore it and not look pained. The village entrance was eyed and a smile on his face grew, at least one thing was going in their favor.





 


“Doesn’t look like we’ll need to do that.” he stated, the smile growing as he pointed out the blonde with obnoxiously long hair waving them down. Rapunzel had been keeping her eye on the horizon for them the last forty-eight hours for the hunters. “Little luck on our side for once.” Though, each time he had thought that, the group of four showed up to take any of that fortune away. The blonde was walking to meet them and when the carriage was near a good chunk of her air wrapped around a post like a rope and she pulled herself up on the carriage driver seat next to a stunned Hansel.

 


“Why hi again, been expecting you.” she chimed softly, looking forward at the pair of knights guarding the entrance and then back to the pair of siblings. “Best I do the talking. Sort of not super friendly here or maybe they just don’t like me.” she murmured, smiling happily despite those around her being down. The bearer she had been paired with was a complete bore. Life was fish to this woman and if she had to be taught how to properly gut a fish one more time, well he head might explode. On top of that rumors of her talents, stealing, got around so everyone gave her dirty looks, as if they had something valuable. Everything stunk of fish, no one would want that.

 


The guards tilted their helmets in polite greeting to the siblings and then eyed the blond that they were stuck working with. A smile was forced on her face. “They’re with me.” she stated sternly, before one waved them through, without inspection. A smile grew on her face as she waved at them bye, knowing very well they weren’t happy they had to do it. “Heard you had some special cargo and that is why I came out to meet you.” Rapunzel looked behind her as if she could look through the wooden carriage and see the mermaid inside.    

 


“Is your bearer --”

 


“Yup” she interrupted, smiling at the two of them and giving a Hansel a dirty look not to go any further on the topic. Word had gotten out and the two were a bad omen in her eyes. That group of four went wherever the pair traveled and she didn’t think this time was any different.

 

[pyreshadow]

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Gretel
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​

A slightly confused look passed over Gretel's features briefly as she looked from her brother over to where he was looking to see the blonde he was pointing out. It took a moment to recognize the long locks but the mention of luck caused her to wrinkle her nose slightly. Every time they thought their luck was good, things turned sour real quick. Gretel was starting to wonder if maybe this was going to end up similarly though she kept the thought to herself. A smile was forced to her lips as the blonde came to meet with them and hoisted herself up to sit next to Hansel, making them fit a bit tighter in the front. "It's nice to see you again, Rapunzel." Gretel greeted the other woman in a friendly manner with a nod to show she'd listen and let her do her thing. It wasn't like there was much other choice in the matter anyway. It was like they thought, the people here weren't friendly so they would have searched the carriage and something would have happened to Ariel. Yet as they neared and Rapunzel spoke to the guards they were let through just like that. Internally Gretel was sighing out in relief but outwardly she didn't let it show just how happy she was that the other woman was here. How would they have gone by otherwise? Her eyes darted over to her brother when he asked about the seal barer but the topic was shot down pretty quickly. That was perfectly fine with her.


Another coughing fit came, this one being shorter than the first thankfully, but the pain left in its wake lasted much longer; it was a burning, throbbing pain that didn't seem like it wanted to go away any time soon either. Gretel chose to ignore it for the time being and settled with focusing on guiding the horses towards the shoreline instead. "You'll be able to see her before we drop her off. This was the only way we were able to get her here so...thank you, Rapunzel." Gretel gave the other woman another smile, figuring it would be better to leave the topic on a better one than trying to bring up anything else. At this point, they were already near the shore so Gretel turned the horses to guide them more to a secluded part of the beach to give them privacy. The carriage was lined up in just the right way so that when the door opened, no one from the village would be able to see who was getting out. "Right, here go." She said it more for Ariel to hear than anything before setting the reigns down and jumping down to the sand below. It took her a moment before she could actually walk because of a wave of dizziness but she shook her head to press through it. Once she walked around to the side of the carriage with the door, she opened it to already be greeted by the ever curious redhead peeking her head out. "What?" Ariel waved her hand towards Gretel's so the brunette held out her hand, only to have it quickly snatched up by the mermaid's.


'You really need to get that cough looked at, Gretel. Isn't there some kind of medicine or something you could take for it?' There was concern in the redhead's gaze as she looked over Gretel, who was equally as quick to wave off the concern with her free hand.


"It's fine really. We've got a plan for it so it's under control." Mostly. Once they could actually find the sorceress and if she'd even cooperate to begin with. "Do you need help getting out?" The conversation changer caused the redhead to pout a little but she still looked paused Gretel for a moment before slowly nodding her head. "Hansel, could you give me a hand with getting her out of the carriage?"


'Just to the water's edge is fine, no need to do too much more as I can manage the rest just fine. You two have already done so much for me and I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for you both...oh. Who is she?' Ariel noticed a lot of hair as she was glancing around and there was a slight amount of panic at first in her eyes.


"Don't worry, she's a friend. She won't hurt you."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel

The hint was taken and a smile grew on Rapunzel’s face as the youngest sibling changed the topic off her bearer. However, crude and boring the person could be, she would protect her with her life. This whole time she had done her job perfectly and didn’t need the hunters meddling. Merfolk weren’t from around the parts she lived, but since she had taken residence up in this little fish town every other fisherman claimed he had seen one. The tales ranged from them being beautiful and caring to frightening creatures that had gills on their face, black soulless eyes and webbed hands that pulled you down into the deepest depths of the sea. The mixed matched stories peek her interest and she was curious to see what the mermaid inside the carriage looked like.


 


“I’ll be nice to meet her.” she stated, pulling her gaze from the front of the carriage to the road in front of them. The carriage was already on the shoreline, coming to a stop. Hansel, who had remained quiet since the glare was sent his way, was the first to hop down and started to do a perimeter check. Rapunzel’s light blue eyes followed after him, watching him as he did his work. The pair didn’t seem foolish or incapable of doing their job well. Could it really have been such awful luck that followed them wherever they went? A brow crinkled in confusion as she heard the other’s female soft voice conversing, but no one else.


 


Two feet, with knee high boots were swung over the edge as she dropped down to the ground. Curiously as the other spoke about a cough, the blonde with thick long locks peered around the edge of the carriage door to be meet by fiery red hair and an emerald green tale. Other than that, she looked quite beautiful and human-like. A smile grew on her face, but she remained silent to let the pair sort out what needed to be. Hansel turned on the heels of his feet, studying their surroundings a little longer before returning to his sister’s side to help out. The two were clearly close, Rapunzel noted. Her gaze fell back on the mermaid at Gretel’s comment. She gave a gently wave for a greeting and smiled at the other.


 


“I’m Rapunzel, another working with the Queen.” she stated softly, her face gently but serious at the mention of the Queen. There was a bit of hesitance as the state of the huntress hadn’t gone unnoticed. The brunette was eyed as she might not take this suggestion lightly. “Think it be best of Hansel and I helped.” she mentioned softly, now avoiding Gretel’s gaze and shifting her gaze between Ariel and Hansel, waiting for them to back her up. “Only if you’re ok with it, just by the state of that cough though I think it be best if Gretel takes it easy.” she added, when her gaze settled on the red head.


 


Hansel’s feet shifted underneath him, not protesting against the other’s help. The condition of his sister was being slightly ignored as there was nothing to do at this point, but that didn’t mean he was for her pushing herself. His gaze fell on the mermaid and shrugged his shoulders like he didn’t care who helped, but his eyes betrayed him. Clearly he would rather have Rapunzel, but he didn’t say so to keep a fight from happening.