Willow swung her feet off of the edge of the pier, neck craned up ward her large brown eyes darted from star to star joining them together in her head, creating pictures in her mind's eye as the nebula around her small planet merged with the over cast clouds. Humming out of tune Willow idly played with the frayed hem of her skirt as her mind was lost to its imagination.
Her mother, being a successful and well dressed tailor, would often scold Willow for dirtying her clothes so readily after she'd spend hours re-washing and re-stitching them. She would also often regret filling her head with stories of the infamous Captain Nathaniel Flint, raiding large cargo ships and other thrilling tales of the mighty space pirate, but unfortunately it was the only way she found that would send her daughter off into a blissful sleep.
Now all day everyday Willow's head would constantly be away with in the stars, running around the gardens pretending to be a ruthless pirate like Captain Flint, collecting sticks and stones imagining that they were precious booty and hiding them away in the pockets of her dress.
Picking out a small pebble from one of her pockets, Willow rolled it around in the palm of her small chubby hand, running her fingers over it. Climbing to her feet she tossed the pebble off the end of the pier and spun around, running down along the wooden planks jumping across the odd plank or so as if they were gaping holes in the ground, soon hopping back onto soft grass of her mother's garden.
Willow picked up a long stick which she had tossed aside earlier that day and began to swing it around her head, her small voice squeaking out as she did so. Spinning around she pointed its tip to a large rock sat on the ground in front of her.
"Yarrgh! A foe! Ye dare challenge Captain Willow?" Swinging the stick above her head she struck the rock with surprising force for a seven year old.
Jumping around the rock she continued to strike the rock until she deemed it defeated. "Ye be warned of the famous Captain Willow! No one be stealing my precious booty!"
Running around to the other end of the gardens she began to kick up a large pile of leaves, swatting them away with her stick as they fell back to the ground. Willow was suddenly stopped as a stern voice pulled her from her imaginary world, turning around Willow's mother stood by the door way with a hardened look upon her face as she saw the state of her daughters dress.
"I want you to come in and wash for dinner, you're filthy."
Willow's mother was a strict woman, although she may appear cold and hard she truly loved her daughter but often had trouble showing it, after the recent passing of her father she suddenly became very hardened. She was a hard working woman and was a highly recommended tailor, so they had no money worries and were able to live comfortably, but the loss of her husband left a large empty whole in both of their hearts.
Sinking her shoulders Willow reluctantly dropped the stick and dragged her feet up to the door way where her mother stood arms folded across her chest.
"But mum I was just about to defeat –..." Her small voiced whined.
"No buts. Now, in." She said as she pointed a finger into their kitchen.
As Willow stepped into her kitchen she kicked off her small black shoes and jumped up onto a small make shift stool, allowing her to be tall enough to reach the sink to wash her hands. Stepping up behind her, her mother grabbed a fair sized wash cloth and ran it under the warm running water and began washing her daughter's dirt covered cheeks.
"Honestly Willow, I don't mind what you do playing in the garden, but must you insist of getting so dirty?" Sighing she looked at her light blue dress, covered in mud and grass stains. "I can't keep scrubbing and stitching your dresses up every night, I have enough work on my hands as it is."
Drying off her hands and face Willow looked up to her mother with big eyes. "If they're just going to get dirty again why do keep washing them?"
Her mother narrowed her eyes at her, and lifted her off the small stool before allowing herself a small smile.
"Because I still carry small hope that you'll decide to keep your clothes clean. Now, sit up at the table and eat your dinner before it gets cold."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Climbing up on to her bed later that evening she wriggled underneath her blankets as her mother put away some toys that lay idly on her floor.
"Hey mum? What do you think I'll be when I grow up?" Willow asked as she traced her fingers along the lace pattern on her blankets.
Her mother raised an eyebrow at the unusual question, but pondered the thought before answering none the less.
"Hopefully, if you bring your head out of the stars you'll be a tailor like me, so I have someone to hand my business down to."
"Making dresses?" Willow pulled a face as her mother tugged the blankets up to her shoulders. "But that sounds so boooring..."
"But it puts food on the table, and that's what's important." Placing a kiss on her daughters head she dimmed down her lamp. "Now go to sleep."
Almost instantly Willow drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming she was aboard a large pirate ship dressed in torn pinstripe trousers and a large black leather coat which grazed the tops of her ankles, and atop of her head sat a grand captain's hat, complete with feathers, skull and cross bones.
She would bark orders at her crew members, taking long powerful strides across the deck showing the upmost power and authority over her men. When suddenly an enemy ship began blasting cannons at her might vessel!
"Quick men! Open fire!" She yelled as she unsheathed her long sword as the enemy began swinging aboard her ship.
Swinging her sword she clashed swords with the opposing captain, a man much larger than herself but she was quick and nimble using his weight against him. Clashing weapons with the captain she stepped to the right as he swung at her left, spinning around she rammed the handle of her sword into the man's back causing him to stumble forward and fall to the floor before allowing Willow to give the final blow.
Seeing their captain defeated the opposing pirates retreated back to their vessel, but to be sure they wouldn't attack again, Willow commanded her men to open fire once again damaging the rockets to the stern of the ship.
Willow was suddenly torn from her dreams when she heard a loud crash from downstairs, dazed and slightly scared she peered above her blankets. Another loud crashed echoed through the hall ways of her home, along with a scream she instantly recognised as her mothers. Quietly stepping out of her bed she ran over to her toy-chest and grabbed out a wooden sword. Now was the time for her to be brave, like the pirates in her storybook fighting of foes to protect their treasure it was time to become Captain Willow.
Pushing open her door she could hear the other loud voices accompanying the loud crashes and the sounds of pistols being fired. She could hear her mother yelling and screaming at the men invading their home.
"What are you doing!? I have nothing of value to you! Get out of my home!" Her mother screeched from the hallway.
"Keep her quiet will ya?" Willow heard an unfamiliar voice call and a reply. "Aye captain!" followed by muffled sounds of her mother obviously being gagged.
Willow clutched her wooden sword in one hand and ran down the stairs as fast as she could, she was no longer the seven year old daughter of a tailor, she was Captain Willow, fearsome pirate about to protect what is precious to her. Running up behind the large alien who had a grip on her mother, she began to strike its back with her wooden sword.
"Let go of her!" She squeaked her little voice as loud as she could.
"What in the- -?" The voice she heard from before spoke again as a large bear like man came into Willows view, she gasped as she saw his robotic arm, leg and eye. He looked like one of the pirates from her story books with a cold and ruthless glare across his face. Shaking off the fear she ran at him with her wooden sword, but before she could hit him he picked her up by the scruff of her night-dress in one swift movement.
Willow yelped as her feet were no long on the floor, her mother's eyes widened and managed to break free of the large aliens grasp, rip of her gag lunging for her daughter.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
But before she could make it to her daughter, a deafening sound of a pistol being fired echoed through the air. All Willow could do was watched as her mother's eyes widened and her faced paled, a large red patch on her mother's night gown began to grow. Her mother's body fell to the floor like one of her rag dolls, lifeless as a pool of blood grew by her side, spreading across the wooden floor boards.
"Mu-Mummy!" Willows large brown eyes widened and filled with tears, she felt her stomach fall along with her mother, willing her to get up and help her fight off the invaders. She began to let out screams mixed with sobs as she thrashed around relentlessly in the cyborgs grasp until he had to shift her under his arm to keep her from kicking.
The large cyborg let out a growl. "Ye weren't supposed to kill the woman ya bleedin' idiot!"
The crew continued to raid Willows home as if her mothers' body was nothing but an object in the way of their work. Hanging beneath the cyborgs arm Willow let out squeaky sobs, feeling utterly helpless. Her games of playing pirate all seemed far too real now and she didn't want it, she didn't want to be Captain Willow, she didn't want to play with swords, she wasn't the brave and notorious pirate she pretended to be.
She was a seven year old girl, under the arm of a true pirate as her mother lay dead on their living room floor.
Lifting Willow up to eye level the cyborg looked at her, his cybertronic eye scanning over her as the cogs in his brain began turning.
"Ye have spirit lass." He said as he tucked her under his arm one again and turned his head over his shoulder. "Back to the ship men, we're done here!"
Willow looked around at what used to be her home, lamps smashed, furniture ruined and burning, her home now retained an ominous burning glow which now began to fade as the cyborg carried her out of her home and into the dark outside as she watched everything and one she new and loved burn to the ground.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
10 years later
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Willow stirred slightly in her sleep and the small boat pulled into a dock, jerking to a stop, she was awoken fully as a large hand grasped her shoulder giving her a light shake.
"On yer feet Wills, we got business to take care of." Silver said as he shook her.
When Willow opened her eyes she looked around herself and saw that it was already dark out, as a few drops of rain fell against her cheeks, the last she remembered, herself and the rest of the crew were hot on the trail Billy Bones. They were so close to getting that treasure map she could almost feel it at her fingertips.
Rubbing her eyes and jumping on to the dock she grabbed her belt and clipped it around her waist, equipped with her trusty cut-throat grabbing her pistol, she cocked it and put it in its holster.
Silver looked over across to the small building up the hill, he followed its path down with his eyes until saw the still burning remains of Billy Bones's vessel. Loading his robotic arm with a blast pistol he led Willow and the rest of crew up to the inn. Willow looked up at the sign; 'The Benbow Inn' for some reason she felt a strange feeling swirling in the pit of her stomach. Shaking off the odd familiar feeling that washed over her she followed her Captain up into the small inn.
Blasting in the door, Hands was able to tare the rest of it from its hinges, allowing the rest of the crew to get through the door way. By the time Willow had gotten through the door the crew had already destroyed half off the kitchen, knocked the lights of their walls igniting a fire which threatened to lick at the wooden beams on the ceiling.
Willow felt her stomach drop as she saw Billy Bones' chest open and emptied in the hallway; that surely couldn't be good for them. 'We're too late...again.'
"Where is it!?" Silver barked at his men. "Find it!"
Grabbing a hold of Willows shoulder, Silver ordered her to search upstairs and take anything of value. Giving him a curt nod she bounded up the stairs missing every other step as she went. Running down the small corridors Willow kicked open a door to reveal a, rather untidy, bedroom.
The walls were covered in random flags and the odd picture of a famous galactic singer she couldn't remember the name of, clothes and books were scattered across the room as a large bed sat by the wall with its blankets half on the bed, half on the floor. Willow made her way over to the large wooden desk at the end of the room and rummaged through the draws. There was nothing, literally nothing of value, a few blue prints for a solar surfer, dog-eared school books and other random odds and ends like screwed up paper, paper clips, empty pens and a few random nuts and bolts.
Willow was about to check in the next room when something caught her eye on the shelf by the bed. It was a large red book, with a golden spine and intricate patterns on the front, as she traced her fingers over patterns something sparked in the back of her mind, like a far off memory she couldn't quite put her finger on. Opening the book at each corner small lights lit up, developing holograms in the centre of the pages.
"On the clearest of nights, when the winds of the Ethrium were calm and peaceful, the great merchant ships with their cargo of Arcturian Sura Crystals felt safe, and secure."
Her breath caught in her throat as memories of her childhood flooded back, this was her favourite book, the tale of Captain Nathaniel Flint, she felt rooted to her spot as she thought of the time before the crew, before Silver, back with her mother and - -
Willow was suddenly torn from her thoughts as Silvers voice hollered up the stairs.
"Wills! Get out'a there! The whole buildin' is commin' down! Get back down 'ere before ye get yerself crushed!"
She suddenly realised the room filling with smoke as she remembered the fire that was started downstairs, dropping the book she bounded out of the room and practically threw herself down the stair case and out of the door along with the rest of the crew.
"Did you find it?" Willow asked Silver and she coughed out smoke, running down back to their vessel.
"No, but we've managed to find a lead on who 'as it. We best lay low until we know our next step. What about yerself lass? Find anythin'?" Silver looked about her person as she seemed to have nothing in hand.
Mentally kicking herself for not picking anything up on her way out, she shook her head. "Nope, nothing but a load of junk" she waved a hand in front of her face. "Typical teenagers' bedroom"
Scoffing, Silver put the thrusters in full power and steered the boat out of the dock in back into the night skies. Willow turned in her head to look at The Benbow Inn as it burned to the ground, the feeling all too familiar.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A.N: So this is my first go at a Treasure Planet fan-fiction. I know the whole OC/Jim thing has been done, but I've had this idea for awhile now and I don't think the story has been done like this yet (not what I've read anyway) so I hope this might be a little bit different.
I'm basing Jim and Willow's age to be around 17 years old because I think it'd be a bit more appropriate than 15.
Reviews and critiques are more than welcome, for they make me smile. C: