.:Naughty.Tales:.:Ariel:.:1:.

I know I said that the Cloud TG would be up first, but this story was finished rather fast ^^ So I present my rendition of Ariel and her fun new colors! Enjoy everyone! Now suffer through the uber-long story!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ariel lay under the kelp covers of her sponge bed, listening for the sound of the night gaurds. She waited patiently in the darkened sea water until she knew it was safe. Tonight she planned on sneaking out into colder regions of the ocean to search for treasure. The seasons were shifting and with them came fierce storms that could sink most any ship that dared to sail at night. Most merfolk weren't really intereste in the sparkling and reflective treasure of humans, but little Ariel was different.

She was infatuated with all things human. Much to her father's disliking. She knew more about the land-dwellers than most of the undersea hermits did. But that didn't stop her from talking to them, which was just about everyday. Her father was King Triton, ruler of all seas and the creatures that swam in them. The humans even thought that he could control the weather-that it was somehow determined bvy his mood. This of course, was not true. King Triton could manipulate the weather with his golden trident but he would never do such a thing. He knew better than to do such things as changing the weather on a whim. One should not tempt to control nature. This was taught to all merfolk at a young age but not to humans apparently.

The gaurds outside were talking in whisper-quiet voices. Inaudible even to Ariel's sensitive ears. Four small spine-like tendrils protruded from either side of her head, and connecting them was a thin, blue translusent membrane. These were her ears and with them she could detect the movement and body heat of anything from the surrounding area. Her ears twitched back and forth as she followed the fading movements of the gaurds. It wasn't long before the lingering warm dissapated into the cold shifting waters of the sea. She could no longer detect any movment of a sea-creature.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ariel through her kelp blanket into the cold water that filled her royal bedroom. She then lept up into the same waters and swam over to her coral vanity. In front of it sat a little stool whose base was made of a similar coral to her vanity, and the seat cushion was made of more sponge. Ariel tipped the stool over and removed the bottom revealing a secret compartment. Inside was a lantern that held a ring of glowing pearls. The pearls provided her with a necessary light to see in the deep murky ocean waters.

After setting the stool down she swam back to her bed. She slid her hand under the sponge mattress and felt around until she found her bag. Quickly she pulled it out and threw its one strap around her shoulders. Ariel then picked the lantern back up and quietly swam to the curtains that covered the entrance to her balchony. Slowly and carefully, she held her breath as she peaked outside and listened for the guards. There were none. Once she let her breath go all life seemed to spark in her-with a flurry she whipped her tail and fins, surging her forward into the cold icey depths of the night sea.

Ariel pounded her tail furiously as she made her way to a deep and distant part of the ocean. With her sensitive ears, Ariel could sense that the water in one of the underwater canyons was still settling. She knew that a ship had sunk due to some horrific storm. And she knew that on ship would be treasure. Treasure that was hers for the taking. Ariel's whole body tingled in anticipation. She had a secret grotto in one of the underwater canyons. The path that lead to it was virtually untraveled by merfolk. The entrance itself was incredibly small, making it difficult to fit through. But not for Ariel.

Ariel was a tiny, little mermaid. Especially compared to her six sisters. Ariel was the youngest of the seven, by several years. She had much room left for growth in her little body, but her sisters often teased her that she would stay small forever. Her father would scold her sisters for saying such things but he was the most protective when it came to her. All because she was so small. Ariel's body was short and willowy. Her flesh was tanned in color, made firm with her lean muscles but still felt soft to the touch. Her lower half was just as lean and thin, her tail's scales reflected the many shades of green and blue the sea had to offer, and her tail fins were thin membranes of many shades of green and blue like the ones on her ears. Her hair was a dark, yet vibrant green that rolled and curled with the subtle movements of the ocean. Her eyes were very much like the sea itself; clear and reflective in the light but in the dark her eyes would turn just like the ocean and absorb all-not reflecting even light.

All of this made Ariel quite the beauty, even for such a young mermaid Ariel was in a class all her own. But unlike the rest of her sisters, or even other mermaids, Airiel didn't have a real figure. Only the natural curve of her dark cockel-shell top gave even an illusion of a bosom. Even when they were younger than her, Ariel's sisters were already beginning to develope. If not fully developed already. It was a little painful to her. Being reminded everyday of what her sisters had that she didn't. But Ariel tried to not let it get her down. After all, if she were so montrously huge like her sisters then she'd never be able to find so many secret hideaways.

Once she approached the still-settling underwater canyon, Ariel could see why it was so easy for her to find. Three ships had sunk-all at the same time! It was almost like a dream come true for Ariel. Normally, when a ship sunk it was a passenger or a trading boat that offered little to her. But this time she had three huge ships that could've belonged to humans called "pirates." She learned early on that it was those "pirates" that had the best treasure. She beat her tail against the icey ocean water and swam off towards the ships.

One at a time, Ariel combed her way through the ships. Room by room, she went over everything. She didn't want to miss a single thing. Because she knew that she'd never have this kind of luck again. Ariel hit each room like a torrent. The already wrecked state the ships were in were made worse by Ariel's searching. As she tore through each room she found more and more treasures to fill her satchel with. She quickly wished that she had brought more than one bag. She remained hopeful that noone else would find the sunken ships and that she could simply come back the next day and gather more treasure.

Ariel was making out like a scalely, little bandit. She had found clear, colored stones cut into the shapes of flowers, crowns and tiaras, small, thick metal disks that had funny little symbols carved into them, several strands of pearls in varying colors, at least five different miniture tea sets, dolls with the most exquisite dresses, and dozens of those clear and colored rocks. After the second ship, Ariel's bag was nearly filled to the brim. And all of the treasure she's accumilated was only from the first two ships. She still had to search the third and final ship.

The third sunken ship was a bit of a let down. It was the most deserted ship she'd ever seen. There was hardly anything inside. Even though it had been mangled by the fierce storm there should've been more inside. More of anything! There weren't any chairs, beds, desks, crates, tools, bottles, or anything. The ship looked new enough, even in its wrecked state, but it looked like it was hardly touched by any man. Ariel was ready to call it quits when she noticed a glint of light in the dark water. It had come from a corner in one of the lower rooms of the ship. Ariel swam over to the corner which was packed with wrecked crates and wooden boxes.

She carefully moved the broken boxes aside and saw a hole in the floor. Ariel smiled to herself as took off her bag and sat it down on the floor. The hole's dimunitive size would only allow her petite body through. Ariel slid her body, tail first, into the dark hole and brought the bag and latern in after the rest of her body. The hole lead deeper into the ship. Virtually no light reached this new room, only the magic latern that Ariel brought provided light into the cave-like room.

As she shined the light around the little room Ariel saw another similar speck of light. The quick flash caught her attention. She whipped her whole body around to face the direction it came from. Up against one of the tilted walls were more broken crates. Ariel swam over to them, throwing them aside, greedily searching for the treasure that taunted her. At the very bottom of the pile of crates was a little box made of dark wood. The box was intact but the lock that was suppossed to keep it shut was broken. The lid was slightly open. A small faint light poured out from the lid's opening. Ariel held her breath as she opened the lid fully. Inside Ariel found a rather large necklace. It was a cockel seashell that had a dull metal-golden color and was slightly larger than her fist. Attatched to it was a short strand of ivory colored pearls. The short length of the pearls was almost comical compared to the sheer size of the seashell pendant.

Ariel found that it wasn't the necklace that was glowing, but the inner lining of the box it was in! The dark little box was lined with a brilliant, glittering gold that gave off its own light. Ariel was dissapointed that the contents of the box weren't the source of the light and that the necklace itself was pitiful to look at. But she decided to take them both back to her secret grotto. She pulled at the pearl-beaded string and brought it over her head. She then proceeded to bring it down over her head and hair, which took some effort. Ariel knew she'd have to change the length of the string when she got back home. When the necklace hung around her neck, Ariel snapped the lid of the little dark box shut and tucked it away in her satchel.

She took up her magic lantern and slid her bag off of her shoulders. Ariel pushed both items through the little hole that lead to the rest of the ship. As Ariel made her own way through the hole she noticed that everything felt warmer all of a sudden. It wasn't morning already was it? Would her father find out that she snuck out again? She knew she'd have to hurry up and get home. There'd be no time to stop by the secret grotto and stash the treasure. She was going to have to hide in it in her bedroom somehow. Once her slim body was through the hole in the floor she looked down to pick up her things. That was when she noticed the cockel-shaped necklace was faintly glowing. Ariel gasped for breathe as everything started to grow warmer.....