AN: I do not own Treasure Planet or any other Disney character I use in this story, nor do I own the Dutch sagas, on which this story is based.
The princess of Terschelling
A strange castle
On the North Sea a terrible storm terrorized a modest ship with just one large sail and one small sail. The poor man in the crow's nest had a hard time keeping himself from falling down. The wind blew hard against the ship's side and drove it out of its course. The waves were like giant serpents, crushing down on every sailor who tried to work in this weather. The captain of this ship, Captain Amelia was a straight forward, firm woman with the quick reflexes of a cat. It was said she had her tail and ears everywhere, mutiny was not to be done under her watch.
"Mister Hawkins, leave that." Captain Amelia shouted through the howling wind to a boy of the age of 15 who was trying to secure the sails. "You better get to the live-lines, we will have to trust our course to the storm and think of our survival first!"
"Aye captain!" Screamed the boy back. He gave her a salute with his right hand to make sure she knew he understood. He set to work immediately. At the helm Dimitri saw his little brother run about. He himself was soaked to the bone by all the waves crushing over him. And the ship was no longer under his control. Oh, how he envied Milo and Anya, warm in the cabins below. Well, he didn't really envy Milo that much. That poor sucker must be very sick by now with all the wobbling of the ship.
"Master Dimitri!" In a blink of an eye captain Amelia stood beside him. "The storm is too much for us, we have to go with it." She said. "Your brother should be with you shortly with your live-line. Till then, keep your post and brace yourself." With that she was gone once again. Dimitri didn't like this. She didn't even tell him if he had to stand here all night! He sighed, she always left such things out. Shortly after that, his brother Jim appeared with the live-lines. He tight one around his brother's waist and tightened him to the mast behind him.
Jim worked as hard as he could, with the wind and rain blocking his vision and balance. Sooner than he had expected he had finished his work, luckily the ship was small and therefore had a small crew as well. Glad that he could escape the mad storm, Jim went into the cabin where Milo tried to work with his navigation calculations.
"We are going to much south-east, soon we will crush ashore." He said when Jim came in. "well at least we are still heading for France as we were supposed to." Milo left his compass and peered outside. That was a big mistake, as soon as he saw the angry waves he turned green and quickly left the window. With a great sigh he settled himself down in his chair.
"Eh, are you alright?" Asked Jim him doubtfully while he closed the door to block out the storm.
"As long as I don't see the sea." Replied Milo beaten down.
"The captain says that it is no use. We have to wait till it's all over. I have already tight everyone to their live-lines." Told Jim him and he sat himself down on the little sofa in the cabin.
"Ah, that's fine to hear." Milo closed his eyes and relaxed completely. At that moment Anya came in through the inner door which lead to the other cabins. A strong, beautiful young woman she was. She and Dimitri would settle down and get married in France at the end of this journey. Anya had still family in France and they were sure to be happy there. Jim was still too young to live by himself, but he had a strong will for adventure. Years ago he got a job on this boat under Amelia's supervision. Jim and Dimitri's mother was still alive and whenever Jim came back on land, he traveled to Russia to see her. Anya was not exactly motherly, ladylike, but she did care about her little brother-in-law.
"Will the crew be alright out in that storm?" She asked and she dropped a towel over Jim's dripping hair. At that moment Audrey came in from outside. Completely blown away by the wind and soaking wet, she sank next to Jim on the sofa. Anya went to fetch her a towel as well. Audrey was a girl who once came on the ship as a stowaway, dressed like a boy. It didn't take Captain Amelia long to seek her out, but Audrey had proved herself useful as an expert in ships and was allowed to stay.
"I give up!" She exclaimed and she threw her hands in the air. "This weather is impossible, no one can sail through this!"
"I thought you always keep on trying?"Teased Jim, but he was tired as well and couldn't even manage smirk at her.
"I know when I'm beaten, this is hopeless!" Replied Audrey frustrated.
The following morning, everyone woke up to see that the ship had hit a sandbank and lay now complete stuck in low water. Jim and Audrey rushed on deck to see where the storm had taken them. Right across the low water stood a castle. It was completely surrounded by water and sand with only one route to a small village.
"That castle, it's kind of strange, don't you think?" Said Audrey.
"Yeah, it looks abandoned." Agreed Jim. Milo came to stand next to them. He had brought his compass and map with him and tried to figure out their location.
"If my guessing is right, then we must be at the north of The Netherlands." He said with a puzzled look to his map.
"That makes sense." Replied Audrey. "It lies within our course." Her gaze was still fixed on the castle. "Look, someone has seen us!" She suddenly cried out and started to wave at the man on the other side of the water.
The man brought his hands to his mouth and shouted: "If you come off your ship now, you can walk clear through the water!"
It was quite a distance, but the wind was now quiet and they could understand him easily. Just after that, Jim wondered why the man knew he could speak English to them. The ship itself was original Finnish and had a Finnish flag. But that was not important, they must be used to foreign ships stranding on their sands.
It took them not long to get ashore. The water came only to their knees. While kicking the water out of their boots, the crew came a bit awkwardly on the cobbled streets of the village. The people came all to them at once to help. They seemed to exactly what to do, in small longboats they sailed to the ship armed with big hooks attached to thick cables. Once all the cables were tightened to the ship and all the longboats had returned to the shore, they pulled the ship with great strength to the quay.
"Now you will find no difficulties to return to your ship whenever you like, ma'am." Said one of the village men to Captain Amelia. He was fine dressed and with the way he presented himself, you could see that he was the mayor of the village. He spoke with a thick accent, but then again they all weren't English originally. No one, except Captain Amelia, but she was used to difficult accents by now.
"Thank you for your kindness, mayor." Replied Amelia.
"Do you have anywhere to stay?" Wanted the mayor to know.
"I prefer to stay on my ship now that it is possible, but I would like a few rooms for a few from my crew."
"Certainly, how many rooms do you need?"
"As you can see, my crew is rather small, 8 rooms will do."
"Very well, our inn has only room for 4, but our princess will arrive here soon. She will be glad to offer some of her rooms to your crew."
"The princess, sir?" Asked Amelia in astonishment.
"Yes, ma'am. God bless us, she is still with us. She comes here whenever something has happened. She has a way of treating the sick and injured and consults the widows who lost their husbands at sea. She plays with the confused children who lost their fathers and calms them. Many princes and noblemen have tried to take her away, but she vows she will not leave us. The princess is our little angle in need."
"What about her family?" Asked Audrey, who decided to join the conversation.
"The poor child lost her parents years ago to the sea. She has known the same pain as the people of this village."
"She is just a child? How old is she?" Interrupted Milo surprised.
"She is not yet 13 yours old, I suppose that makes her less a child nowadays, but she is still so little and fragile."
Jim wondered if it was alright for this man to talk this way about his princess. He hoped he could see her, the princess seemed to be impossible to be real.
AN: End of chapter one, I hope you liked it. I know nothing has happened yet, but please review!