Magic

Chapter 12: The Chief

"Rapunzel, are we there yet?"

Olaf had been asking her the same question for over an hour now. Rapunzel couldn't blame him; they had been in their basket over the past couple of days and they had yet to find any land.

She carefully peered over the edge and saw ocean waves bob up and down underneath the large sky. "Not yet, Olaf. We'll keep an eye out."

After she warned Olaf not to lean on the edge, Rapunzel watched the snowman wobble over towards it and stare out into the open water.

"We'll find land soon, right?" Olaf asked, peering around.

"I'm sure we will," Rapunzel reassured, trying to do everything she could to be hopeful. Pascal chattered up to her. "It may not be right away, Pascal, but I'm sure we'll run into something."

That last word made her wish that she'd said something else instead. They were stranded in the middle of the ocean and they had no clue what could be lurking underneath in the water. Whatever was out there could attack their basket if it wanted to. The worst part was that they had no idea how much longer that would be.

Another thing that worried her was the basket. It was made for air, not water, and Rapunzel wasn't sure how long its stability would hold up in the ocean water. Should it weaken, they'd be in danger of water running in, resulting in their basket sinking.

Rapunzel rubbed her eyes and held back a yawn. Since their basket fell in the ocean, she'd been vigilant. She wanted to keep watch in case something happened to the basket, or if they ran into something, whether it was land or an underwater creature or a storm.

Heaving a breath, Rapunzel ran her fingers through her hair as she slowly peered up at the sky. The sky was a little cloudy, making everything seem darker, but the temperature still hadn't dropped. So far, it seemed like there might be a chance of rain, though it could just be a cloudy day for all she knew.

The splashing reminded Rapunzel to stare at the ocean water all around her. The peaceful waves bobbed their basket, creating a soft gurgling sound. Despite its potential danger, the ocean was very beautiful. She remembered that when she returned home to her parents and Cassandra was showing her the library, she found a book about the ocean. In that book, it showed an illustration of under the sea and it made her wish that she would swim underwater one day.

A squawking seagull flitted over their basket, making Olaf smile.

"Hi, bird!" Olaf called, excitedly. His twig arm waved at the bird. "How are you? Ooh, you're so cute! Can you help us find any land?"

Rapunzel and Pascal giggled as they watched Olaf talk to the seagull. He always brought a smile to anyone's face. She wondered how Anna and Elsa would react to this.

After the seagull flew out of sight, Olaf peered back at Rapunzel. "It doesn't look like that bird's going to help us. What kind of bird is that?"

"It's a seagull," Rapunzel chuckled. "They're often around beaches and the ocean. I think that it would help us if it could."

Pascal crawled further onto the edge to see if there was any land coming up that they might've missed. After he surveyed around a few times again, he glanced over to Rapunzel and Olaf, letting out a squeak as he shook his head.

"It's okay, Pascal," Rapunzel comforted, petting him before she allowed him to crawl onto her palm. "We want to find land too."

Olaf peered down at The Little Mermaid and opened up the book, revealing an illustration of a mermaid swimming in the ocean. The book hadn't gotten wet because it was in the little basket that Henry gave them.