This Disney crossover femslash collage is of Megara of Hercules x Ariel of The Little Mermaid. Since both of their films were given a prequal series, of their younger years, I wanted to reference their common link in the collage.
Please enjoy this beautiful color piece of Meg and Ariel done as part of a commission by @thenamelessdoll (posted here with permission)! The necklace Meg is wearing is from my fanfic
Why do I like writing hypothetical scenarios involving my dnd characters? Idk, it’s just fun, I guess.
This hypothetical scene features Megariel Rapidfin, my merfolk rogue, perhaps two or three years into the future from the current campaign.
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“Hey, is it rude of me to ask where we’re going?” Megariel asked with a slight lift to her voice, straining her ears to hear much of anything through the cloth bag over her head. There was no response, just the continued pounding of boots on stone and the occasional rattling of chains. She sighed internally but kept pace. Not that she had much choice in the matter; the rope secured tightly around her wrists kept her from doing much of anything, and rough hands on both arms made sure she kept moving forward.
No sight, no real hearing, and restricted movement.
Not ideal.
But they wanted her alive. That was a start.
A door rattled open, creaking on hinges that even muffled sounded desperately in need of oil. Something cold pressed up against her wrist, snapping the bonds as the bag was unceremoniously yanked over her head. Now blinded by the sudden influx of light, two hands took advantage of her temporary weakness and shoved her into the room. Stumbling over her weary feet, she turned around in time to see a solid oaken door slam shut behind her. A sharp click confirmed she was locked in.
Megariel pinched her eyebrows together and let out a long sigh. Perfect. Jumped by no less than seven guardsmen when she just wanted something to drink, grabbed with barely even an attempt at a fight, and dragged off to a place where she was pretty sure even The Heart Tree didn’t know. Wonderful start to the evening. Grumbling a little under her breath, she glanced down at her wrists and gingerly started working blood back into her hands.
“My...apologies for the interruption, my dear,” a voice said, low and sweet to the ears. Ever so slowly, Megariel turned to her left, spotting a simple table with two chairs set across from each other. One of the chairs was already occupied by a man, relatively short but well dressed, jacket adorned with golden metals and colorful stripes. He sat proper, shoulders back and head held high, offering a gloved hand to the empty seat. “I do hope my men weren’t too rough with you.”
“Oh no, definitely not, the pins and needles in my hands must be from something else,” she replied, meeting his gaze but remaining where she stood, kneading the sore tendons and muscles at her wrist.
“Please, have a seat. I must insist,” the man said with a charming smile and cold eyes that indicated that this was not a request.
With cautious but still lively steps, she strode over to the table and plopped down, dusting off her royal blue coat and straightening her hat once she had settled in. Her toes just barely graced the floor, but she sat up as tall as she could in the surprisingly well crafted chair.
“Ah, that’s better, don’t you think?” the man asked, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly. Despite his proper posture, his movements were with a slowness that comes with the absence of fear. Either a general or the head of intelligence. Probably both. “So, this is the infamous First Mate Meg. I have to say, I’d thought you’d be taller.”
“Everyone says that,” she replied, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair until she was balancing on just two of the legs.
“An accomplished gem thief turned right hand woman to the most powerful pirate in the seas,” he continued, giving a flippant hand gesture. “Cunning, bold, and slippery as a fish, appropriate given you’re one few merfolk to openly walk on land. Quite the resume you’ve got there.”
She held his gaze, refusing to blink or so much as give a smile to the supposed compliments. “Cut to the chase, what do you want with me?”
“Just as to the point as the rumors say,” the man said with a chuckle, folding his fingers together and planting his elbows on the table. “To business then. Tell me, Miss Meg, have you ever considered using your…rather unique set of skills for more legal endeavors?”
“I was under the impression that you government types didn’t hire, what was it you guys called me, oh right, ‘low life scum’.”
The man let out a low chuckle. “Well, my dear, things have changed quite a bit since that motley crew of yours has been terrorizing Aeros. Information on anything regarding the S.S Nutmeg is…highly prized, you know. Sure, civilian reports can get us the occasional lead here and there, and magical detection does have its merits…but what better way to know a ship’s secrets than through her crew?”
“So at what point does the floor drop under me and the torture begin?” she replied in deadpan.
Almost amusedly, the man leaned over to rest his chin on his hands. “This is not an interrogation, my dear. This is a job offer,” he said, unfolding his hands and holding one out. “I am General Omaren, the King’s current Head of Intelligence.”
At this, Megariel raised one of her eyebrows. Ever so slowly, she uncrossed her arms and shook the outstretched hand. “You want to hire me as a spy?”
“A double agent, precisely,” he continued, breaking the handshake. With the same deliberate movements, he laced his fingers together and set them on the table. “While your capture would certainly prove…beneficial to our cause, having you amongst the crew would help us more in the long run.
“A force from the outside unites a people. A force from the inside destroys it beyond repair,” she said in response.
The man nodded in agreement. “So you understand. Your captain has been notorious for sniffing out our agents, so I thought it was time for a…different approach.”
Megariel leaned back a touch further in her chair, mulling her thoughts for a short spell. “What’s in it for me? Cause right now, all I’m hearing is that I wouldn’t be stuck here.”
“You would be compensated, of course, handsomely,” Omaren said, gesturing with a hand. “A full pardon from the king for your service, potentially even a noble title and some land to accompany it.”
She leaned back even further, a slight smirk on her face. “And if I refuse?”
Omaren returned with a smirk of his own, slimey and calculating like that of a venomous water snake. “Unlike other members of your crew, Miss Meg, you have a much longer history of being on the wrong side of the law. There are warrants for your arrest on every island in the archipelago, and coupled with your recent endeavors into piracy…the other option for you is a spot on the gallows,” he replied, his eyes glimmering with an uncaring logic.
For the first time since she had entered the room, Megariel broke her gaze from the general and let it wander to the dull gray ceiling and walls. Silence stretched between them, only interrupted by the occasional creak of wood or deep breath as the rogue gave thought to the matter at hand. After a rather uncomfortable amount of time, she simply shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”
Omaren simply smiled and rose from his seat, walking around the table with pointed movements before stopping at the door. “You’re a smart one. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” he said, swinging the door open and locking it behind him with an audible click.
As soon as she was alone, Megariel kicked her feet up onto the table, closing her eyes and humming a tune under her breath. She rocked back and forth to the rhythm, listening to the creaks and cracks of the wood under her.
Decisions, decisions…
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Shots and alarms rang through the guard tower as Megariel ran, soft shoed feet pounding on the stone below her. It had been comically easy to pick the lock and almost as easy to locate her confiscated weapons. Now bearing her signature rapier in hand, she took stairs two, three at a time as she fled ever further down. Blindly, she raced down hallways and stairwells, only to turn back at the slightest indication of guard movement. She ran in circles, weaving between decorative suits of armor and storage rooms to no real avail. It wasn’t long before she was forced outside and into a large courtyard, surrounded on all sides by men and women holding much larger weapons at the ready.
“I must say, Miss Meg, that was a quite impressive display,” Omaren said, giving a slow clap to her as he approached from one of the wings of the building. “But what about our little deal?”
“Thought it over, and my answer is go fuck yourself,” Megariel replied, eyeing up the various guards to her left and right and front and back. Ten to one, with crossbows pointing down from the rails above.
Not great odds.
Omaren laughed, the sound scraping against her ears like a bad nightmare. “And what exactly do you plan on doing now? You, the rogue who refuses to kill?”
Megariel thought for a second, glancing up to the darkening sky. She smiled, taking the rapier in hand and placing it back into its scabbard.
“You’re right, I don’t,” she said with a slight nod upwards. “She does.”
With an enraged roar and a blast of frigid winter air, ice rained down from the sky. Screams erupted from the guards who weren’t frozen on the spot, crossbow bolts firing widely against a target they could see but would be lucky to hit. The clash of claws on steel rang through the courtyard as something large and powerful slammed into the ground, knocking those not paying attention off their feet. A massive tail whipped around, slamming into the remaining men and women left standing until it was just the large silver dragon looming above them all.
“GET. AWAY. FROM MY FIRST MATE,” the dragon growled, her voice bellowing around what little remained of the courtyard. Any guards who could still walk scrambled away from the still standing rogue, staring up in abject terror at the massive winged creature before them.
With a large smile on her face, Megariel strode over to the dragon and swiftly climbed onto her back, hands and feet finding long since remembered holds. The second she was settled in between the dragon’s spines, they were airborne. “Thanks for the lift, Captain.”
“Stop on Aeros Major, they said. Restock supplies, they said. It’ll be a short trip with NO ONE CAPTURED, they said,” Nutmeg seethed under her breath, raining down another swath of ice onto the ruined guards station for good measure before flapping her wings and flying off at breakneck speed into the night sky. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Captain. They were more interested in getting me to turn coat than stick me full of holes,” Megariel replied, giving the cold silver scales a reassuring pat.
“That’s, what, the fourth time this year?” the dragon snorted, turning her wings into the wind and towards the north. “What’d they offer you?
“Full pardon, whole heck of a lot of money, a ladyship, and maybe some land,” Megariel said with a shrug, settling back against one of the captain’s spines.
Nutmeg let out a low whistle, an impressive feat for a dragon. “Enough to have you set for life and then some.”
Megariel snorted, giving the dragon another pat. “Oh please, they’d sooner pardon you than honor a promise like that. Not to mention you wouldn’t let me betray you like that.”
“No I wouldn’t,” Nutmeg curtly agreed, slowing her wing flaps as a large ship came into view. There was a long pause as they circled over head and shouts came from the crows nest. The large dragon swung her head around, one large eye looking her over. “Meg…you wouldn’t actually take a deal like that, right?”
Megariel smirked. “Nah. Got everything I could ever want right here, Nutmeg.”
A smile crept across her face. “That’s what I thought.”
With a quick tuck of her wings, the two of them swooped around the mast until both dragon and rider were level with the ship. Cheers rung out as the other crew members caught eye of them both. As soon as the two of them were close enough to the deck, Megariel jumped from the dragon’s back, landing on the wood with only just the slightest of wobbles. Not long after, she was joined by a woman just a touch taller than her, sporting a spotless white blouse and long brown coat.
“Seems the imperial court thinks the crew of the S.S Nutmeg Three is up for grabs,” Nutmeg barked, stomping up the steps and to the wheel, coat and hair billowing in the late night wind. “They’re about to learn how wrong they really are. Set course for Aeros Major!”
Megariel smiled and gave a quick salute. “Aye, Captain.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
i’ve decided that for my own mental health i should not continue to force both art and fic out of myself every day, but i will continue to post my fics. so here is day 12 of femslash february, which was rewind! it’s ariel/megara, and i hope you like it!
