TMC - CHAPTER 2 The sun rose, but at first not high enough to lighten the forest or the sleeping trollgirl. Grul slept on peacefully, until around midday she awoke. She looked around. The forest looked exactly the same as where she lived, and Grul felt a bit dismayed by this. So far her adventure hadn't given her much new landscapes to look at. After finding some roots and berries to gnaw on she felt ready to proceed onwards. She went back to the river and looked about. She could not see the elf ship, it had most likely sailed on already. Considering the blanket momentarily she dropped it into the river and watched it slowly sink. Well, she'd hoped the blanket would be watreproof enough so she could follow it stream on and so have a kind of a guide to take her somewhere wonderful, but unfortunately nothing as special happened. She shrugged to herself and started walking along the river. Perhaps she wouldn't go on an adventure afterall. Maybe she'd find a nice cave somewhere in the forest where she could settle down by herself. She'd then make squirrelstew, hassle small animals (helpless or not) and generally live a good troll's life. She wondered if there were trolls around this part of the forest and spent some time happily fantasizing about trollguys. Eventually the trees started to lessen around her. The undergrowth disappeared and was replaced by grass and weeds. Grul walked on admiring the completely unblocked view of the blue sky above. She'd never really seen so much of the sky at a time before and felt surprised just how much blue there was. The clouds were incredible also. She stared up and walked on, unafraid of tripping on anything. And then the land ended. She'd reached the sea. Grul stopped and stared out. The sheer vastness of the ocean was too much to take in at once. Fresh wind blew from the sea and ruffled her fur. Grul sat on the sandy beach and immensed herself in the horizon. The few seagulls in the distance held her utterly fascinated. Feeling overwhelmed she laughed a bit and closed her eyes, letting the fresh wind bring the smell of ocean to her. It was pleasant. The sun was behind some hazy clouds high above her and its warmth was just right. Some jagged rocks jutted out over the waves. There were seashells buried partially underneath the sand. Bundles of seaweed had washed up on the beach and the endless waves rolled them around and around in the waterline. Unnoticed, two small dots appeared briefly over the waves in the distance. Grul heard the quiet cry of a seagull. Again the dots appeared, but somewhat closer now. The scent of the rotting seaweed accumulated on the beach smelled interestingly spicy to Grul. The dots surfaced again and were more like odd shapes between the waves and gradually they came closer to the beach. The mermaids stopped at the shallow water, the water barely coming up their naked chests, to stare at Grul. Two beautiful faces surrounded by long wavy hair contemplated her suspiciously. The mermaid on the right was taller than the other and had yellow hair. The shorter one looked younger and had purple hair. The purple haired one glanced uncertainly at the yellow haired one. "What do you think that is?" the purple haired one asked quietly. The yellow haired mermaid pouted and shrugged. "Couldn't say..." "Haven't you any damn idea?" "Language!" the yellow haired one snapped at the other mermaid. "Bah, give me an answer. It's not a human, is it?" "No, too hairy. I can't know everything." After a moment of consideration the purple haired one asked in turn: "Do you think it's alive?" "I don't know, it's pretty still. Maybe it can't hear us." "What if it's dead?" the purple haired mermaid asked and opened her eyes dramatically. The yellow haired one rolled her eyes. Grul opened her eyes and looked at the mermaids who'd turned their attention away already. "In that case get up and go." "But it could be alive and dangerous!" "In that case the same thing, really." "Argh, I don't want to go!" the purple mermaid whined. "You have to, you're the youngest of us and they always suceed in quests. And stop complaining, you're royalty!" "Blah blah, youngest only succeed if they're humble and," she pretended to gag, "innocent..." "Little miss spoiled princess, just get dressed and get on with it!" The purple mermaid snorted and turned her head. "Shan't." "Get – dressed", the yellow one stressed. "I... won't!" "Yes, you will! I have no time to argue about this!" "Will not, will not, will not", the purple mermaid poked her tongue out. "Don't do that, you're a princess! Ugh, you're so annoying!" "Ooh, ooh. My big sister's so annoyed at me, oh poor me. What am I to do now?" "How about get on with the quest?" the yellow mermaid grumbled. Grul was growing a little tired of listening to the mermaid's pointless arguing and shifted uncomfortably. The sudden movement quieted the mermaids down as they turned to regard Grul intently. The purple haired mermaid leaned closer to the other and whispered loudly to her. "What do you think those are?" and pointed at Grul. "Those shiny black things? They could be kind of like boils or something that rise in a body when it dies..." "So it's been alive?" the purple one gasped. "I don't know!" the yellow one rolled her eyes exasperated and continued: "Maybe they're shiny beetles or slimy worms." "Ew!" the purple mermaid splashed the water and wriggled her fingers. "Or eyes, of course", the yellow one added as an afterthought. The purple haired mermaid made a face at the other one and then turned to Grul. The mermaid crawled a little closer in the shallow water and addressed Grul. "Hello! What – are – you?" she spoke loudly. Grul frowned at her, but she didn't seem to notice. The mermaid continued: "ARE – YOU – ALIVE??" "What do you think you're doing?" the yellow haired mermaid sighed pointedly. "Trying to find out if it's safe or not, of course!" Grul growled quietly at this. The purple haired one started and turned back to Grul. "What was that? Who are you? Do you have a name? Can you speak? Is there anything there or am I just wasting my time here?" As it seemed to Grul that the mermaid wasn't going to leave her alone any time soon she decided to try talking to her. Perhaps she could convince them to leave her alone... Grul grumbled a bit first, just in case it might intimidate the mermaid, but she remained staring fixedly at her, apparently eagerly awaiting to hear something recognizable. "Grul", she muttered eventually. "Excuse me?" "Grul. 's my name." "You hear? It has a name!" the purple haired mermaid turned to remark delightedly at the yellow haired one. "It can speak..." the yellow haired one mumbled skeptically to herself. "Nice to meet you Grul. Do you eat mermaids?" the purple mermaid then asked cheerfully. "Shh! Don't ask stuff like that, it's not diplomatic!" the yellow one hissed angrily. The purple mermaid turned to roll her eyes at the other one. "I don't know", Grul muttered uncertainly. "Ah, never had one before, huh? Well, we taste awful, just so you know. Definitely wouldn't recommend trying, believe me, we know these things", she nodded sagely. The yellow haired mermaid groaned and looked purposedly away. Grul stayed quiet. "Oooh!" the purple haired mermaid suddenly squealed. "Are you busy? No? Would you like to join me in my quest? Be a part of my adventuring party? Going alone would be pretty dull!" she beamed hopefully at Grul. The yellow haired mermaid shook her head with a condescending look on her face. Grul shrugged. She really didn't know what to do anymore. "I will take that as yes! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gil-yama-li-monsach-ra. Her Royal Highness", she added in a self-righteous tone. Grul considered this. "Gil", she said. Her Royal Highness, the purple haired mermaid frowned. "No, no... Gil-yama-li-monsach-ra", she repeated enunciating each part clearly. "Her Royal Highess", she added. Grul considered this again. "Gil", she repeated in a more forceful tone, trying to make clear that she wouldn't say all of that every single time. It would be ridiculous. Gil sighed and started saying her name one more time when the yellow haired one interrupted her. "Leave it. You know we call you Gil too. It'd be pointless to try and make that call you by your full official name. Nobody does that. Anyway, it's not even under our rule." Gil rolled her eyes, but did not protest. "Fine, I guess I have to go kind of incognito, anyway. Wouldn't want any bad types knowing my position as a royalty. Might cause trouble!" "Indeed. Shouldn't you be going already?" "Yes!" Gil turned towards the other mermaid. "Hand me my clothes, sister dear. I shall get dressed now." Her sister bent backwards and reached under the waves behind her. She lifted up a pair of colourful seashells joined together by some seaweed, gave them to Gil and reached back for again and brought up more seaweed. The weeds had been straightened and fashioned into a kind of pants. They'd been adorned by few tiny pearls. Gil held the garments and went behind one jagged rock. The yellow haired mermaid hummed and looked about while waiting for Gil to finish. Grul stared into the horizon. Suddenly they heard a splash. Gil appeared behind the rock and waded to the beach. She was dressed and had mysteriously acquired legs. "Done", she needlessly informed. "The legs confused me a bit there and I lost my balance. I'm okay, though! Nothing to worry about!" Her sister sighed. "Well, I'll be going back now. Have to tell dad you're off." "Good, good. Right..." Gil raised her hands to her hips and looked around. "Know where you should head yet?" her sister asked. Gil made a face and bit her lower lip. "Well... Er, that way", she pointed inland. It was rather obvious from her expression that she had only a very vague idea about the direction. "Excellent", her sister said blandly. Then she started to edge her way back into the ocean. Gil and Grul watched as she turned and swam away. Gil drew a breath and turned to go. "Hey, you! Don't just sit there, you promised to come along! Um... Grul, that's right, that's your name, Grul! Come on, let's get going", she yelled as she started walking away. Grul stared at the ocean a bit longer, but then gave up and rose, and followed Gil. This story © to Riikka Kankaanpää, please do not use without permission.