Fandoms: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Treasure Planet, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Hercules (might come more later on)

Genres: Adventure, romance, fantasy

Rating: T in the first chapters, might get M later on

Pairings: Sinbad/Jim, slight Eric/Jim, others

Warnings: Language, possible sexual contact, alcohol

Chapter 1

Pirates

"But Captain, with all due respect, the part of the ocean where we're headed is known to have a lot of pirates," Jim Hawkins pointed out while circling an area on the map laid in front of him. The captain smiled and patted him on the shoulder, and Jim felt like an inexperienced 17-year-old cabin boy again.

"Hawkins, I appreciate your concern, but we're already behind the schedule. That part may be dangerous, but it's faster than going around the islands. We need to take risks to get in time to our destination," Rayleigh Wills, the captain of the ship, said. "And when it comes to fighting, we have the best cannons on this ship. Pirates know that, and they don't have the guts to attack."

Jim sighed internally. He respected the old black-bearded man, but for what reason had he even hired him as an adviser if he wasn't going to listen? He knew about Jim's past with pirates, so Jim should be the pirate expert if anyone. And he knew that yes, the pirates did have the guts to attack ships, whether they had better cannons or not. Jim was also more familiar with these waters than the captain since he had sailed there many times before. He wasn't in the mood to fight, though, so he just nodded at Rayleigh's words.

"All I'm saying, sir, is that we should be on the alert all the time. Pirates are very unpredictable."

"Yes, thank you. You may go now," Rayleigh told him, turning to light his cigar. Jim grimaced slightly at the heavy smoke that was now starting to fill the room, and he quickly slipped out of the cabin. God, how could anyone bear to inhale that kind of poison daily? He had tried it once on his first mission after becoming a military cadet, and he had almost choked. There was no way he would ever want to be near that stuff again.

"Jim! Good timing!" The brown-haired man felt someone's hand wrap around his shoulders, and when he turned his head he saw playful blue eyes staring at him.

"Eric," Jim grinned, stopping. Eric's hand felt warm around him, and the small crush he had developed somewhere along the way started creeping up on him in the back of his mind. There probably wasn't a single person on the ship who wasn't affected by Eric's charm, but when Jim had caught himself staring at Eric's naked chest when he was changing his clothes, he had realized his feelings weren't purely friendship. It had led him to many awkward situations, which Eric didn't even seem to realize.

"Everyone's having dinner right now, so the deck is all ours," Eric smiled, leading both of them to the railing. The sun was starting to set and it painted the sky with shades of red and orange. The fresh sea breeze blew through their hair, and Jim wondered whether Eric was being romantic intentionally or accidentally. He settled for the latter, since he was sure the black-haired man was oblivious to his longing stares. For him they were just good friends.

"We're going to sail through the infamous Red Mud," Jim sighed.

The dangerous part of the ocean was referred to as 'Red Mud' since the water became red from blood from all the fights between sailors and pirates, and no sane sailor usually sailed through it. Or if they did, they had an army of warships with them.

Apparently their captain was quite temerarious (some people called it stupidity), and it was more important for him to get on time to their destination than the safety of his crew. Jim wondered again why he had been hired.

"Are you serious?" When Jim wasn't showing any signs of it being a joke, Eric frowned and leaned against the railing. "I've sailed with the captain since I was a boy, and not once has he acted like this. The cargo must be pretty damn important if he's willing to take a risk this big."

Jim pressed his shoulder against the other's. "But if the cargo is that important, isn't it better to be safe than sorry and sail the longer way?"

"You see, a cargo that important is probably going to an important person. And, what they always say, 'time is money'," Eric stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The captain probably gets also a lot of money if he's on time."

"I guess you're right… I still don't like this idea, though."

"It'll be alright", the black-haired man grinned, showing his dimples. "You've sailed on spaceships, survived from a supernova and various sea monsters, fought against pirates, helped to draw maps on space and Earth… I think you'll survive this one too."

"So you've heard the stories?" Jim couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be noticed by Eric, who was quite a sailor himself.

Eric pushed him jokingly. "Of course! You're a legend among us, James Pleiades Hawkins. And what, you've achieved all that in five years?"

"Well, technically four and a half…"

"Exactly! You've experienced more than the captain, who has been a sailor all his life."

Jim shrugged. "You can't really compare us. I wouldn't know how to handle a whole crew, let alone a few men. I'm just an ordinary sailor and militant."

The black-haired man laughed at his modesty, and a comfortable silence landed between them. The ship was creaking as the waves hit against it, and somewhere under the deck could be heard muffled laughter and talking from the kitchen.

"We should probably go and eat before all the food is finished," Jim suggested, and together they walked down the stairs leading to the lower deck.

Jim was still half-asleep when he felt something crash heavily against the ship. The crash sent him flying down onto the floor, and then the sounds of a warning bell and men yelling started. He sprang to his feet and was pulling his white military jacket on when Eric dashed through his door, looking like he had run a mile. His hair stuck out in every direction, but so did probably Jim's too.

"Grab your sword," he panted, and Jim knew what was going on.

"Damn those pirates, we're not even on the Red Mud yet," the brown-haired man muttered, rattling through the closet looking for his sword. He had thought he wouldn't need it on this journey, so he had stored it securely into the closet with his clothes and other stuff.

"What the hell was that crash?" Jim asked, following Eric through the corridor where the sailors' hammocks were. There were clothes everywhere thrown in a hurry, and some had even left their shoes behind.

"It was the pirate ship. It has some kind of harpoons that attach to the ship, which makes taking over it much easier. They're already trying to get on, although our men are making it difficult," Eric explained. There was no sign of his usual playful self, which meant the situation was deadly serious.

"Shit," Jim cursed, "I'd like to say 'I said so' to the captain, but I think I'll save it for later."

His words earned a laugh from Eric, but it died when they reached the deck. The pirates were starting to take possession of the ship, and even if Jim didn't want to admit it to himself, they were good fighters. He was going to say something to Eric, but he didn't have time because they were both pulled into the fight by a pair of pirates, who had noticed their arrival.

"Well, you certainly know how to handle a sword," one of the pirates grinned at Jim after he had managed to block his attacks. The pirate was big, so big that Jim's head barely even reached his bare chest. The pirate wore earrings and had a blue tattoo on his left shoulder.

"You're not bad yourself," Jim said through his gritted teeth. Their swords met and sent sparks flying around them, and Jim had to take a few steps back to keep his balance. The pirate's attacks were powerful and quick, which was a bad combination, and Jim knew he wouldn't last against him for long at this rate. He had to try to finish him as soon as possible.

Jim dodged another attack and saw an opening in the pirate's defense. He kicked the other's foot, making him lose his balance, and slashed his sword towards him. What he hadn't expected, though, was the pirate stopping his sword by biting into it with his teeth.

He tried to pull the sword back to himself, but the pirate's grip was strong.

"What – " Jim didn't have time to finish his sentence because the next second the pirate had wrenched the sword from him, leaving him defenseless. He backed a few steps, but his back met with a mast. He swallowed.

The pirate was on his feet again, and he was closing the space between them threateningly. He had now a sword in his both hands and one between his teeth, and Jim's chances of escaping weren't looking so good. Then there was a shout.

"I've got the captain! Drop your weapons!"

Everyone's head turned to the direction where the shout had come from, and to Jim's horror he saw a pirate holding Rayleigh Wills with a sword on his throat.

There were clanks all over the ship when the crew was forced to drop their swords. The pirates started grinning, and one of them walked towards the captain with confidence in his every step. He was wearing red clothes and a red hat over his brown hair. Was he the captain?

"Men, gather everyone here," the red-wearing man commanded, and Jim was roughly dragged by the big pirate to stand with his crew. He was glad to see Eric a few men away from him, and they nodded reassuringly at each other.

"Well, if it isn't Sinbad," Rayleigh spitted the word Sinbad like it was bad wine. The pirate's grin even widened.

"Captain Rayleigh Wills," Sinbad made a mocking bow. "Seems like you've heard about me?"

The captain didn't answer.

"You don't seem very talkative today, so let's get straight to business, shall we? According to the course your ship was headed, you're going to sail through the Red Mud, am I right? Well, we could take you under our protection. The other pirates know how strong my crew is, and they wouldn't dare to harm you or your ship."

Rayleigh frowned, confused. "What are you after?"

"You see, there's something on your ship I want," Sinbad continued, "or more specifically, someone."

Rayleigh's crew was also very baffled at this point. Who could be so important on their ship that the pirates thought it worth to attack them? They were pretty good sailors, of course, but you could hire sailors of the same level anywhere. And pirates probably had their own sources of recruiting new crew members.

The pirate holding Rayleigh had lowered his sword, so the captain was free to yank himself free to maintain at least some of his pride. He straightened his back. "Who are you referring to?"

"I believe there's a man called Hawkins on your ship."

Jim's blood turned cold at Sinbad's words. He didn't notice, but Eric was staring at his back almost as horrified as himself.

"What do you want with Hawkins? I can't just give up my men!" Rayleigh demanded. He was starting to get angry, but Sinbad also seemed to lose his patience.

"That is no concern of yours. May I remind you that you're in no position to negotiate?" The smile had faded from Sinbad's face. "I'm offering you a fair deal here. I'm not even going to touch the cargo. Take it or not."

Jim realized that the pirates would take him with them anyway, did the captain make the deal or not. With the deal the crew could at least sail through the Red Mud safely, if the pirate captain's words were true. He didn't want to put his captain into a difficult position because it would mean that the captain could possibly lose the trust of his men. He also didn't want to watch his comrades getting killed by pirates, so he did what every person would do in his situation.

"I'll go with them, Captain," Jim said. His voice was surprisingly calm and steady as everyone's eyes turned to stare him. He had also caught the pirate captain's attention, and he could feel his eyes on him as he pushed his way through the sailors to the front.

"So you're Hawkins?" Sinbad stroked his beard, and his lips curled slightly upwards. Jim met his eyes with a challenging look.

"Hawkins, you can't – " Rayleigh started but was silenced rudely by Sinbad.

"Captain Wills, I think you didn't quite hear the man's words. He said he's coming with us," Sinbad stated, grabbing Jim's arm. Jim didn't resist since he didn't want to make this any harder than it had to be.

"Jim, why are you doing this?"

It was Eric, who had made his way to the front too. Three closest pirates got ready to stop him with swords if needed. Jim's heart ached when he looked at the black-haired man, and everything he had ever wanted to say to him came to his mind. He didn't say anything, though. Just dropped his gaze.

It was an easy choice to give up his freedom for Eric's safety.

"It's decided then. Rat!" the pirate captain called one of his men. "Shoot five shots to their flag! That way the pirates will know not to attack this ship."

The man named Rat responded with 'aye aye, Captain', and with amazing agility he climbed up the mast until he reached the flag. While he was shooting, the pirates started retreating to their own ship with Sinbad (and Jim) leading them. A few of them lingered behind to make sure the sailors didn't get any funny ideas. When all of them were ready, the harpoons were detached and the ship started gliding away quite fast for a ship of that size.

"Mind telling me now the reason why I'm here?" Jim snarled and yanked his arm away from Sinbad's grip. He didn't look back at his old crew.

"Wow, easy there! Jim was it?" the pirate captain asked, raising his hands to show he wasn't going to do anything.

"Hawkins to you."

"Alright, whatever you say, Jim," Sinbad chuckled. "Let's start again. I'm Sinbad, the captain of this ship."

Jim sighed exaggeratedly. "I kind of figured that out."

The big pirate who Jim had fought against earlier walked past them, laughing at their conversation. Sinbad sent a glare after him.

"That jerk is Kale. He's the one who's in charge if I'm not here," Sinbad introduced. "The one who shot the flag is Rat. You shouldn't probably get too close to him."

Jim's eyes followed the man who was now climbing one of the masts like a monkey. Yeah, he should definitely stay at least a few feet away from him.

"And that one is – "

Something big jumped at Jim from behind, knocking him down painfully. When that something started licking his face, he realized it was a… dog? And a slobbering one, too.

"– Spike. Sorry, should've warned." The grin on the captain's face told otherwise.

Jim got up, annoyed, and wiped the slobber off his face. The dog looked at him, wagging his tail. At least he could be friends with the dog if all of the pirates turned out to be complete idiots, like they seemed now. Especially the captain.

"Let's make this clear. I just want to get this over with, whatever it is you want me to do, and go back home. I'm not here because I want to," Jim said. His voice was ice cold.

"Okay," Sinbad shrugged. "I can't tell you the reason we brought you here now, but you'll find out. Eventually."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out."

Jim realized he wouldn't get another word from the captain, so he accepted his destiny and let Sinbad lead him to his cabin. Apparently he would use the captain's cabin from now on together with Sinbad since he was, in his own words, 'generous and hospitable', and the cabin was 'the most comfortable one around here'. Jim was sure, though, that the pirate captain just wanted to keep an eye on him and prevent him from escaping, but he accepted the offer.

"Well then. Welcome on board, Jim Hawkins."

A/N: I hope you liked the first chapter! There just aren't enough fics about this pairing. I'm still not sure how many chapters there'll be, but my guess is around five or six, depending on my inspiration to write. I'm trying to get better at writing, so comments are warmly welcomed. Thanks for reading!