The title of this is based off lyrics from a song that one can hear on a ride in Disneyworld.
Also, I've borrowed a friend to write this chapter! I've taken Jack from the user EvilEd666! See? *points over at Jack Frost, sitting far on the other side of the room* He's avoiding being near stories right now.. (Ed, you've traumatized him!) But he's helping! YAY!
Not The Life For Me – Introductory Kidnapping
Life in their little town was normal. Occasional chilly nights, occasional snowstorms, occasional sailor visiting or selling, occasional hunter wandering into their midst, nothing out of the ordinary.
Jack Frost lived in his little house with his mother and little sister. Their home was small, normal, cozy, normal, and had been in the family for years, also normal. Jack was seventeen years of age, his sister a mere ten, and he was betrothed to be married once he turned eighteen. Even after five years he wasn't sure how he felt about it, but decided to not go against his late father's wishes, like most men his age would.
The town had pleaded with his mother to remarry, and Jack was glad she chose not to; she was too old to bear any more children, and therefore saw no point in being a burden to her new husband. How anyone could have found this master sewer, cook, florist, cleaner, and child raiser to be a burden was a mystery to Jack, but some would have.
It was only a few months before Jack would turn eighteen, and he hadn't even once met his bride. Sometimes it worried him. Other times it encouraged him.
He told his sister he was more excited for when she would marry than for his own marriage. He knew she would have a wonderful husband.
At home now, Jack was just helping his mother tuck his sister into bed when he heard screaming. Jumping to the window while his mother tried to calm his sister, Jack gasped at what he saw. Half the town was awash in flames and the people were running for their lives through the streets. An explosion- Jack jolted backwards. Cannon fire. Pirates!
Running back around Jack hurried his mother and sister to the only place he knew they would be safe. A falsely carved out tree behind their house. His father had hollowed it out as a way to keep at least one of them safe from attack. They had always agreed it would be Jack's baby sister. She had much more to live for.
His mother and sister climbed inside the hollow tree and Jack carefully placed the false bark back over the opening. The tree was barely big enough for both of them. Placing his hand on the tree, Jack whispered his blessings to them and promised they would be safe.
Hurrying back to his house, Jack thought perhaps he could find another place to hide from the murderers and looters. He only made it halfway, however, before he was nearly surrounded by men with guns.
Two of them grabbed his arms. Shouting and kicking, Jack wrenched himself free, aiming to run, but froze when a large pirate pointed his weapon straight at him. "Let's not have any of that," the man said.
Swallowing, Jack remembered his mother and sister in the tree. Remaining where he was, Jack raised his hands in surrender, and asked that the men not steal from his home. They laughed and hurried inside: exactly as he had hoped. But the two men who had grabbed him took hold of his arms again, and the man with the gun pointed at him ordered them to take him away.
Jack wasn't sure whether to scream for help or to remain silent. He chose the latter, protecting his family. He watched as his house was destroyed, and breathed easy when the pirates rushed away from his house after they were finished with it.
Jack found himself thrown into a cell with other men from his hometown deep within the ship of the pirates. He tried to break free of the metal bars encasing them, but was unsuccessful before more pirates tossed more men inside with him. By the time the cannons ceased there had to have been twenty of them inside the small cell.
Feeling the ship cast off by the tell-tale lurch of the removal of the anchors, Jack shook the bars violently, begging to be let go so that he could be with his mother and sister. He screamed for release.
Hours had gone by, and each of the exhausted men had fallen asleep long ago. Even Jack had not been able to keep up his strength. He was lost to sleep's hold.
When they were woken the men were given water and scraps of food before the pirates dragged them all up to the deck and put them to work. Jack was put with seven other men whom he had known since birth to wash a stretch of the deck.
Jack had been trying his best to do just that, but running back and forth along wet, slippery wood, proved challenging for him. He fell down and attempted to get back up. A pirate barked at him, "Get up! Back to work!"
He tried pushing himself up and stumbled slightly. Jack heard an ear-splitting crack and felt a searing pain upon his back. With a scream, he collapsed back down.
"I will not tolerate laziness!" the pirate bellowed at him, "Back on your feet!"
Jack tired, once more, to steady himself. But this time it was the pain that kept him down. With a whimper of pain, he felt his arms slipping back down. Again, the crack and the pain upon his back. Screaming, Jack fell back down.
"Insubordination!" the pirate shrieked at him, "You will work or you will die!"
He whipped him again. Screaming, Jack cried, "Please! Please, stop!"
"Back talk!" the pirate roared, slamming the whip into him again. Jack sobbed as he fell into the wood of the ship once more. The pirate whipped him twice more before ordering him to get back up.
Gritting his teeth, Jack pushed himself back up to his knees. He had done nothing wrong… Looking to his left, Jack felt betrayed at the fact that none of the men- the men who had helped raise him- had even lifted a finger to aid him.
Scowling, Jack spit and vowed that next time he'd give the pirate a reason to whip him.
And for the next week, that was exactly what Jack did. Disobeying direct orders from his captors, doing his absolute worst job of everything, beginning tasks he was not told to do, ruining other men's work, Jack was determined that if he were to be the only one to stand up for himself, he would do it every day.
Currently Jack had just been found trying to undo the rigging at the mast. He was caught by his favorite pirate, but instead of being whipped as he had previously been; the man grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to a door in the ship's bodywork he hadn't been allowed near previously. (Not to say he hadn't gone over to it just to spurn the men.)
The pirate knocked twice, said, "Captain," and pulled him inside. Jack did not fight the pirate' grip, he simply gritted his teeth and stood there in the dark room.
"What is it?" a soft droll came from the man standing with his back to them. He was at the window, making his body appear to be nothing more than a shadow, but Jack knew he was addressing them.
Yanking him forward, the pirate said, "I've been havin' an awful lot of trouble with this prisoner. I were hopin' that we could throw him overboard an' let him drown." Jack scowled up at the unshaven pirate.
The captain laughed lightly. He turned his head to look at them, and he said, "Now why throw a perfectly healthy slave overboard? No, let me have a word with him… I'm certain I can convince him to behave…"
The pirate nodded, shoved Jack forward so that he collapsed to the ground, and marched out of the room. Jack bit his lip on impact, and frowned when he tasted blood on his teeth. The days in the salty air had chapped his lips and skin to hell, and now he found every part of his body was frail to all attacks.
Pushing himself up, Jack stumbled a little when a swell passed under the ship. The captain remained at the window, watching him with a devilish smirk, before he began to approach him. Jack attempted to remain confident, but he realized that with every step the man took toward him, the more frightened he became. He did his best not to let his fear show.
Finally the captain stopped just a mere five feet before him. His nearly golden eyes shimmered maliciously down at Jack and his slick black hair hid the sunlight from Jack's blue eyes. Scowling up at him, Jack was prepared to fight should the need arise.
"Now, why have you been disobeying orders?" the man asked, smiling down at him, "You should know better than to be ungrateful. We've let you live… But pouring scummy water into our gunpowder, unhinging the mast's riggings, attempting to toss a cannon overboard- these offenses surely have earned you plenty of whippings, have they not?"
Glaring into the devil's eyes, Jack hissed, "You bastards stole me away from my mother and sister, and you expect me to be grateful!?" Clenching his fists, tight, Jack shouted, "You bastards!" He jumped forward, attempting to attack the captain, but his wrist was caught before he landed a hit.
He tried his other hand, but the same happened. The captain shoved him against the wall, holding his wrists far out away from his head on either side, and he scowled straight into his blue eyes.
"I should have you whipped for your disobedience," he hissed.
Jack spat in his face. "Good," he growled, "The first beating I received was completely unprovoked- at least you'll have a reason behind your cruelty."
The captain seemed undeterred by the fact that Jack had spit at him. He continued to scowl at him. "Explain," the captain said, not sounding any friendlier.
Laughing coldly, Jack said, "Your ever faithful dogs whipped me simply because I wasn't as fast as men twice my age in cleaning your cursed ship! And then I was whipped because the pain prevented me from standing up in fifteen seconds! And lastly, I was whipped for asking him to stop… At least all my other punishments have been for good reasons…"
The captain grinned, released his grip on Jack's wrists, and walked away to a table carved into the ship's hull. He took an apple from the bowl atop its surface and offered it to Jack.
Jack didn't take it. "Come now, you must be hungry," the captain said, smiling. Jack wouldn't budge. Laughing, the captain said, "Well, it seems my men truly have brought in a fighter! Won't even accept my peace offering!"
"I won't accept anything but being brought back home," Jack snarled, "I won't accept any price lower than being returned to my mother and sister."
"How do you know they've survived?" the captain asked, biting into the apple, allowing a stream of its juice to run down his neck. Jack watched it for a moment, his hunger betraying him slightly, before returning to glare at the man.
Smirking now, Jack said, "I made sure your men didn't find where they were hiding."
"Oh?" the captain grinned. "Do go on…"
"A hollow tree," Jack said, clenching his fists tight.
The captain's grin stretched across his face. "I must say, I'm rather impressed," he said before biting into the apple again, "But I will not return you to your family. Not until you've learned your place on board the Nightmare Galleon…"
Jack scowled. That was the name of the ship. He knew that much by now. Learn his place… Jack scoffed, looking down to his right. A few of the men whom had been captured with him had been accepted into the crew during the week of his revolt. The men quickly learned that obedience meant no punishment, even acceptance, and they gladly became dogs to the call of the crew.
"Not me," Jack hissed, more to himself than the captain.
"Come again?" the taller man asked, looking hardly interested. The way he leaned against the table casually, eating the apple, said he had not a care in the world. He did not find Jack to be a threat, and his body language conveyed that.
Looking up at him, Jack hissed, "I will not become a mindless member of your crew. No matter how many times I am beaten. I won't rest until I can go home."
Frowning a little the captain asked, "What's your name?"
Jack didn't answer. He just stood there in defiance. Now the captain scowled. Getting to his feet, the captain set the apple upon the table. He approached Jack slowly. Jack scowled up at him until he felt a hand around his throat.
"I'll ask again," the captain hissed, his fingers tightening around his throat, "What is your name?"
Jack tried to swallow. Gritting his teeth against the need for more air, he spat, "Go to hell."
The fingers tightened further, and Jack's hands flew up to try and claw them away. Staring straight into his eyes, the captain hissed darkly, "Your name."
Jack couldn't get any air. He couldn't breathe! Gasping helplessly, Jack tried to show that. He gripped the captain's hand limply, trying to plead with his eyes, as his voice was taken. The captain loosened his grip and Jack gulped down oxygen.
"Your name?" the captain repeated.
"Jack," he answered, closing his eyes and swallowing down air, "My name is Jack…"
"Good boy," the captain spat, tossing Jack to the floor in a gasping heap. Jack rubbed his throat, swallowing and choking on the air he needed. The captain stomped past him toward the door.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic," he snarled, "You should be thankful I didn't snap your neck…" He then opened the door and called to one of his men, "When you lock the prisoners up tonight, be sure Jack is in a cell by himself…!"
Jack charged at his back, hands going straight for his throat. The captain caught him, laughing a little as he held both of Jack's wrists with one hand. He could snap them both in an instant if he wanted to.
"On second thoughts, perhaps I should take him myself," he said, dragging Jack out of the room towards the stairs leading inside the ship.
Wriggling and trying desperately to yank his wrists free failed him, so Jack began trying to kick and flail to get loose. When all else failed and they were halfway to his cell, Jack bit down on the captain's arm. He chomped down hard and he tasted blood- he had broken the skin.
The captain hardly more than flinched. He opened the cell door and looked down at Jack, still biting him. "Kindly unclench your jaw," he said, "Or I'll have to break it…"
Jack stared at him in shock. Slowly letting his teeth out, Jack cringed a little seeing the bruising, bleeding bite mark on the captain's arm.
"Didn't that hurt?" Jack asked, looking at him in confusion.
The captain observed his injury for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and saying, "It's a flesh wound… Mild in comparison to many I've received… Now…" He released Jack's wrists and stood there, waiting for him to walk into the cell.
Jack blinked and looked at the captain, then the empty space he was being told to sit in. Jack could hear the blood dripping onto the floor next to him. Swallowing Jack stepped inside the cell and allowed the captain to close and lock it behind him.
"Good boy," the captain hissed, walking toward the stairs. "You'll be locked in here for twenty four hours with no food, nor water. Hopefully that will change your attitude," he said just as he left.
Spitting out blood, Jack whispered, "Like hell I am…" He went straight to work trying to pick the lock to his cell. He stopped only when the crew took the remaining seven men not part of the crew to their cell near his. They had fallen asleep long ago when he finally felt the metal clink and saw the door swing a little.
"Yes!" he whispered, pushing it open and quickly hurrying toward the stairs and toward freedom. He looked back once, grinning with his victory, and then went toward the stairs. He was nearly at the bottom step when his entire body froze. Coming halfway down the steps was the captain.
The captain looked up and stopped where he was when he saw him. They stared directly at each other for a moment before the captain's eyes wandered to the open door behind Jack.
Smiling, he said, "You've broken free… And it hasn't even been twelve hours…" His eyes returned to Jack. "I must say, Jack, you're just full of surprises. And I haven't been so impressed in ages…"
He began walking back down the stairs toward him. Jack took a step back. "But I'm afraid that now you've given me reason to bind you in your imprisonment…" he said.
Swallowing, Jack continued backing away from him. He froze when he felt the criss cross feeling of the bars to the other men's cell press against his back the captain smirked. "It looks like you're out of ideas," he said, reaching a hand out to grab one of Jack's wrists.
Using his grip as leverage, Jack jumped up and kicked him straight in the gut. The captain spluttered on impact, but as he staggered backwards, his grip on Jack's wrist only tightened, and Jack was pulled with him.
Scowling at him, Jack said, "Let go of me."
The captain raised his head and smirked at him. "Now why on earth would I do that?" he asked, chuckling at the angry face plastered to Jack's features. Yanking Jack forward and shoving him into the wall, waking three of the other prisoners, the captain hissed, "I'll give you a choice, Jack. Stay down here and rot in your cell as a prisoner, or learn your place and live as my lover."
Jack spat in his face once again. "I'd rather die," he growled. The captain scowled at him, wiping his face off.
Dragging Jack back toward his cell, the captain said, "Then enjoy your time aboard this ship. I hope the brig is to your liking, because this is where you will be sleeping from now on…"
Fighting against him every step toward his prison, Jack spat, "I prefer this filthy place to a bed up there with you and your mindless crew!"
The captain shoved him against the cell door. Glaring directly at him, the man gripped Jack's chin in his palm and shoved his lips into his. Jack's eyes went wide and he immediately began clawing at the captain, kicking and shoving at him as his tongue invaded his mouth.
Finally Jack bit down on the invasive muscle. The captain recoiled with a hiss and scowled at him.
The captain shoved him into his cell, slamming the door, locking it, and he wrapped chains around the door, keeping it closed, before locking the chains shut. Jack jumped forward and began trying to break free.
Scowling at his prisoner, the captain spat, "Enjoy your hell, Jack."
This is based off the fact that in the Guardians of Childhood book series, Pitch is captain of a ship called the Nightmare Galleon. :3