Arista was bored.

Incredibly, devastatingly bored.

The sun had warmed the waters, but despite the lovely weather, there was no one in sight. Most of her people tended to avoid the Lagoon; too many Wild Ones about, too many pirates and too many of those pesky Lost Boys for the typical merperson's liking. Most fun things were. Despite their playful reputation, most of those who dwelled in the sea were terribly resigned. Personally, she blamed the King's overprotective nature and love of the differential.

Stretching her arms above her head, the young female sighed to herself. Her tail curled, fanning out and glittering like nacre in the bright sunshine. The only sound came from the rushing waterfall a few feet away, calming her as she restlessly rolled her fin. Well, it should have been calming her, but heavy matters weighed on her mind- not to mention the starfish she wore over her breasts were growing restless and beginning to pinch at her skin. The tiny creatures were dry and irritated as their mistress lounged about. Arista hardly noticed. Her mind had wandered back to her family, a subject that was becoming rather touchy as of late.

Her sisters had been growing distant lately. They had lost all interest in teasing the pirates or treasure hunting, in searching out the coves and in the human's strange frequencies they called music. Instead they were looking for things like romance and consorts. To Arista, it was very disconcerting to see. In her older sisters, she understood; they had titles and the family reputation to uphold. In the younger girls, it was almost sad to see them losing themselves to politics so soon.

Her gaze followed a crab as it scuttled across the rock she was laying on. She recognized it as one of her father's many spies. A scowl replaced her placid expression. With a flick of her tail, she sent it flying over her head. It snipped at her fin with vengeance, tiny pinchers slashing frantically at the air as it went sailing into the clear waters of the Lagoon.

A pitchy cackle cut through the air. "My, my, you certainly have a way with the sea fairing creatures, don't you, dearie?"

The mermaid's eyes rolled over to the eccentric man on the shore. She hadn't seen him before. Interested peaked, Arista sat up. He wasn't one of the pirates that frequented the shore and was much too old to be a Lost Boy. Merchants typically didn't stray so far into the forest, much less dare to venture so deep that they came across the Lagoon.

She tilted her head at him. Her long hair, curly and blonde, fell from her breasts and the dual starfish she had been using, more as accessories than actual covering, attempted to crawl away. Modesty was of no importance to her, nor any other mermaid when it came to the strange useless lumps of blubber on their chests, but that didn't mean the female appreciated their insolence. With a scowl, she dropped them gently into the water. Two more quickly slithered toward her hand, eager to please her any way they could. With two of the creatures' kin firmly in place, Arista looked back at the human.

The man didn't seem to care about her modesty either. His gaze remained trained on her face, although it did slip curiously down to the long azure tail that sparkled in the sun. He was strangely dressed, even for a pirate, in a long coat with strange armour-like vest over top. His skin was an odd coloring, the green reminding her vaguely of her youngest sister's fin and the strange markings on it reminding her of her own scales. Her first instinct should have been to flee, as her father had taught her, but seeing as he was alone and seemingly rather small, she merely arched a brow at him. Slipping into the water, the mermaid approached cautiously. Her limbs were lithe and agile and it only took a moment for her to reach another rock, this one considerably closer to the shore.

Peering around it curiously, she watched as he sauntered around the edge of the water. He twiddled his fingers at her in a flamboyant manner. "Catfish got your tongue?"

Her gaze drifted to his legs. He was rocking on his feet, from the back to the front in an absent intriguing manner that she supposed was natural to him. His feet were pointed and strange looking, darker than the rest of him, but that was apparently quite common among humans, at least from what she had seen from pirates.

Eying them curiously, she tilted her head as flicked her brown eyes up to his face. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Now, what gave me away?"

"You're willingly conversing with a mermaid," Arista told him with a shrug. Her bare shoulders eased out of the water, letting the thin scales that stretched over her collar bones catch the light before they fell back under the surface. "Not many men are brave enough."

"Ah, yes, who would dare fraternize with the man eating sirens of the deep?" He giggled and pointed a clawed finger at her. "I've heard all the stories. Tell me, is it true your songs can lure sailors to their deaths?"

"A common misconception," The female admitted, she swished her tail, pleased to be speaking with someone new. Anyone new. "Typically the men get distracted by our appearance and crash themselves. No idea why though."

He pressed a finger to his cheek. "Oh, I can think of two reasons."

Her brows flicked upwards, along the thin line of scales that framed her eyes as an eager smile crossed her lips. Shuffling up on the rock, she leaned toward him, her pale claws digging into the stone in her haste. "You can? What are they?"

He waved a hand as if swatting the idea away. "Never mind that now, dearie. Tell me, how would you like to get out of this pond?"

"I don't suppose you have a net?" Arista asked with a wry smirk. Azure scales, the same shade as her tail, glittered around her dark eyes as she rolled onto her back. The ones between her shoulder blades scratched against the stone, tickling her. Her head hung off the edge in a childish fashion that earned an amused smirk from the strange man at the shoreline. The mermaid didn't notice. Putting her hands behind her head, she flicked her fin into the air, showing it off to him. "I'm afraid I'm not made for the mainland, traveller."

"Well, if you're interested, we could make a deal…" A grin stretched across his face, his teeth crooked and off colored, but she hardly noticed. She was too enrapt in his words to suspect anything sinister as he carried on nonchalantly, "And I could get you out of there."

Arista regarded him silently a moment. Her head was still hanging off the edge of the rock; her long blonde hair flowed over the edge of it and a few more starfish secured themselves to the loose strands. Her lips pursed with annoyance as a smaller one crawled across her face and settled on the pale scales of her collarbone. With a gentle finger, the maiden stroked its tiny arms as she considered the man's words. Finally, she asked, "How?"

"I give you legs, you provide me with, shall we say, assistance. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Her brown eyes blinked curiously at him. "What kind of assistance?"

"I find myself in need of a strong swimmer… and who better than a mermaid?" The little man bent his fingers in a quick erratic manner that distracted her from his words a moment, but only a moment. Her eyes narrowed a touch as he went on, "A skilled swimmer should have no trouble gathering what I need and I need a lot. If you agree to be my own personal salvager, to come when I call without question, I'll give you not only legs, but the ability to use them at your own discretion… And gainful employment, which really is much more fulfilling."

The young maiden hesitated. "If I go with you…I'll never see my father or sisters again…"

"Hm, well, life's full of tough choices, isn't it?" He teased nastily. "So, you get your legs and I get my own personal treasure hunter? What do you say? Hm? Time really is of the essence, dearie, and I haven't got all day."

"I don't know…"

"Think of it! You'll have adventure! All the freedom you could ever want, with no, uh," He toed the crab she had sent flying minutes prior with a pointed foot as it scuttle across the sand in front of him. "Unwanted attention."

Resentment boiled in her blood and without second thought to the consequences, Arista nodded. "Deal!"

"Wonderful!" He crowed before coaxing her forward with a crook of his finger. "Come closer, dearie, let's get a look at you."

Without a second thought as to who the stranger may be, or the implications of her deal, Arista did as she was told. She eased onto the shore, the grains of sand irritating the delicate scales of her hands and tail as she peered up at him. The trust was visible on her face and the man almost seemed to hesitate a moment. It passed quickly and he offered her his hand.

The mermaid shook it and a scream bubbled out of her throat.

The blue across her face and collar drained into the same pale shade as the skin under the thin layer of opal surface scales all over her body. They shifted and fell to blend with the azure scales of her tail as they broke away from her skin. Her gills were ripped from her throat, hanging around her collar and melding with what was left of her torn scales. They twisted and stretched, hanging off her like an immodest dress that was just long enough to cover her new sex from the strange man's gaze. The starfish fell, dead, across her lap and onto the beach beside her. The moment of fiery pain faded quickly and she looked down at the strange covering with dazed curiosity.

When her gaze rose to his, he merely shrugged. "Well. Every pretty girl needs a pretty dress."

Arista looked back at her new legs. She went to touch them and realized her hands had lost their scales as well, her fingers no longer webbed or clawed. She flexed them experimentally before looking back at the long, ashy appendages that poked out from her torso. Running her hand down one of her thighs, she marvelled at the texture of the skin, so foreign and smooth compared to her tail. She wiggled her toes and rolled her ankles and felt a happiness bloom in her chest. She could go anywhere she liked now. She was free. She never had to go back to the ocean again. A squeak of excitement left her as the strange man offered his hand once more. Arista took it without a second thought.

He eased her to her new feet, not commenting as her ankles seemed to stutter under her weight. When she finally grasped the concept of standing, he grinned at her and stepped back. "I take it they're up to your, uh, standards than?"

"They're lovely!" The woman threw her arms around him. Ignoring how he stiffened and how quick he was to push her away, she gushed, "Oh thank you! This is the nicest thing that's ever happened, Mr… Mr…?"

"Rumplestiltskin, at your service, my dear." The strange man gave her a flamboyant bow. "And what shall I call you?"

She teetered a moment before returning the action. It was a bit more awkward, mostly because she was still have some trouble standing and her new dress left one of her breasts completely exposed, but neither of them paid that any mind. "Arista."

"Arista," He repeated with a hint of fondness, or perhaps condescension, in his tone. "Well, are you up for your first task?"

"But I can't swim without my tail…"

"Of course! You think I would do my newest employee such a slight?" Rumplestiltskin moved behind her.

He gave the seams on bottom of her dress a yank downward. It fell to cover her legs. The same rush of pain filled her and Arista found herself once again laid out on the beach, staring at a tail forked with two fins where her legs had once been. When she peered up at him questioningly, he pointed to the small groove on her stomach where the blue scales met the shiny pale ones.

"Do you see the seam?"

She nodded, still a bit dazed and a bit sore, but not overwhelmingly so.

"If you want your legs back, all you have to do is pull it up! Then poof! You're back to human! Want to be a mermaid again? All you have to do is push it down!" He crouched down to her level. One knee deep in the sand, he tipped her chin up for her to meet his gaze with a clawed finger. "You should be thanking me, dearie. I'm not usually so giving with my deals."

"Thank you, sincerely, Mr. Rumplestiltskin." Arista gave the seam a pull and winced as her scales fell away. With a deep breath, she shook the pain away and looked up at him, "What can I get for you today, sir?"

Rumplestiltskin beamed at her.

A/N: I always thought Rumple would've made a much better Ursula than Regina. Anyway, if you can't tell, this story is heavily AU when it comes to mermaids; in both their appearance and abilities.