Arista woke up to the sounds of a man screaming in pain. Startled, she sat up on the captain's bed. How do I keep ending up on here? she wondered. She jumped off of the bed and stood in front of a vanity mirror for a moment. It looked like a woman had once slept here, because there were numerous beauty products and perfumes on the counter, along with a framed portrait of a curvy, fair, dark haired woman. Arista quickly combed her hair and studied her reflection. Her lightly tanned skin and light blues eyes contrasted nicely with her white blond hair. She added a small bit of red lipstick to her lips, similar to the shade her tail had once been. Parting her hair to one side, she deemed she looked seductive enough. She had woken as if she had been planning what to do the entire night; she would convince one of the crew to tell her where Mermaid Cove was and she would escape and find it herself.

Now presentable, she walked out of the cabin door with confidence and across the deck to see what all the commotion was about. Blood was splattered on the deck and even on the crew, who were standing in a circle and silently watching. "Gah!" screamed the man who was kneeling shirtless with his hands bound and tied to the mast in front of him. She recognized him as James, and his back was covered with lash marks.

"Perhaps this will remind you to listen when I say don't touch the merchandise," said Hook, bringing the whip down on James' back again. "But if you forget I may not be as lenient. And here's the gal now!"

Hook squatted next to James who was panting, and without taking his eyes off of Arista said, "See that cut? That'll leave a scar, and that makes me very unhappy. Try anything else and I won't hesitate to make you walk the plank. Now let's get back to work men!" The Captain stood up as he barked these orders and the crew ran to their tasks faster than usual. As Hook approached Arista, she saw James behind him give her a menacing stare. She quickly turned around and began walking the other way.

"What's wrong starfish? I took care of it," he said, grabbing her arm and turning her to face him. She yanked her arm out of his grip and gave him an incredulous stare. Doesn't he know violence only leads to more violence? "Well, I don't know what you're thinking most of the time, but I think that clearly meant piss off," he said jokingly.

"Where are we headed now Capt'n?" asked Smee tentatively.

"Cannibal Cove!" he said, pulling a bronze telescope out of his pocket and staring into the distance. She'd really like to shove it down his throat.

"Are you s-sure Capt'n? There are spirits and witches and-"

"Cannibals?"

"Yes! And cannibals living around that bay. Wouldn't it be better just to go home now?"

"And waste that magic bean you gave me? No, we're not leaving until I get what we came here for. Now get back to your post. And I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said now to Arista, who had been staring longingly over the ship's railing at the sea, debating whether to jump in or not. "The water's colder here than where you're from; you'll either freeze or drown, starfish."

The captain was right; the air began to get colder and dryer the farther they sailed. The sea's began to get rougher as well and waves would often splash over the railings and onto the deck. The dress Lily had given to her was far too short and thin for the weather, but instead of staying in the cabin all day she went around to explore the decks. Hook was always busy reading maps and charting their course, while Smee drank wine while simultaneously mopping up the bit he spilled. Other members of the crew would be adjusting the sails or scrubbing the decks, but treated her much more coldly after the whipping. She was relieved every evening when Robert finally called them to dinner. This particular night she walked over to sit with the crew like she always did when Smee called, "Miss! The Capt'n would like ye to eat with him tonight."

Everyone stared as Arista stood up, and Smee motioned for her to follow him to the other side of the ship. She frowned and shook her head at him. "It's not a request Miss, I'm s-supposed to bring you, uh, kicking and screaming if that's what it takes."

A couple of the men chuckled and, her face burning, she got up and walked down the deck with Smee. He led her to an opening in the deck, and she descended a ladder that led down to the cellar, where she saw a table had been set. The captain was already sitting at it, and motioned for her to sit across from him. She folded her arms and sat down while staring at him crossly.

"Go ahead, eat," he said. "No one likes the slop Robert cooks."

After a moment's hesitation Arista helped herself to the fish in front of her and began to eat ravenously, noticing he had not given her a knife. She grew self conscious when she realized he still hadn't eaten a single thing. He just sat there watching her eat. She glared at him suspiciously and put down her fork.
He laughed with unexpected warmth. "I didn't poison it if that's what you're thinking. I've already eaten actually, this is all for you," he said, gesturing to the small banquet before him. She warily eyed him and mouthed, "Why?"

"Because I care about you," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "And I want you healthy when we sail back to Fairytale Land."

She angrily pushed her chair away from the dining table, and crossed her legs and looked at him challengingly.

"Oh a hunger strike is it? This will be interesting." A charming smile played across his face and his green eyes glowed in the dim light, but her pale blue eyes turned icy and she frowned right back. Pointing at the porthole window she tried to say, "Let me go!"

"Hmmm," he muttered, stroking his short beard thoughtfully while slowly pacing across the wine cellar. "Sleep with me," he replied nonchalantly.

"No," she said, shock written across her face.

"Then you see," he continued, "I'd get nothing out of simply letting you go."

Arista's mind raced trying to figure out her next move. However she couldn't think properly on this foreign ship, and especially not when Hook was around. She was usually so good at masking her emotions, but around him she could barely hide her anger. Twirling her fork in her hand she wondered if she could stab him with it. He seemed to sense what she was thinking, but before either of them could make a move, a loud crashing sound started both of them. Arista heard the splintering of wood and felt the hull's groan underneath her feet. She stood up from her chair but lost her balance and nearly fell as the ship turned sharply to the right. Hook was already up the ladder though, and she heard him shout, "What the Hell did you do to my ship?"

Kicking the chair aside she quickly crawled up the ladder and a startling sight met her eyes. The main mast had snapped in half and broken part of the ship's hull, and now the front deck was drenched as water began to flow into the ship. " - wheel began ta spin like it was possessed!" shouted a member of the crew back at Hook. "We tol' ye no good would come out o' coming to Cannibal Cove but no, yer too obsessed with killing the Dark One."

"I'm the Captain of this ship and you won't speak to me like that! Sabotage, that's what you did!" His green eyes flashed, and as he spoke he drew his steely sword from it's sheath.

"Give it up Hook," said James slowly, emerging from the crowd of men gathered around Hook and his first mate. "It's time for a few changes around here," he said, mockingly saluting Hook. "Grab him!" he shouted, his mouth contorting into a twisted sort of smile.

"What are you doing?" shouted Hook as five men descended on him. He succeeded in punching one man in the jaw before the other four restrained him and took his sword. "I am your Captain- !"

"Not anymore!" shouted James, relishing his victory. "It's time for a different leader, don't you think men?" and they shouted their agreement in unison, even Smee halfheartedly. "I'm sick of this crap, 'Milah!' 'Milah!' She's gone mate, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Hook struggled against the four men holding him back, gritting his teeth as he said, "So what do you plan to do, hang me?"

"By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish I had hung you. You see, this anchor here is reserved for you," said James, his one black eye glinting maliciously. "Tie him to it!"

"Sir?" asked one man timidly.

"Do it or I'll tie you to it as well!" spat James.

Hook put up a great struggle but in the end the men managed to tie him to the anchor with a few lengths of rope. Until now Arista had stood frozen in place behind the crew and out of anyone's notice, but now she began looking for some way to escape. The sun was just starting to rise (nights never lasted long in Neverland), and looking to the north she saw the coast just a few miles off. They had merely grazed one of the many coral reefs that surrounded the island.

"And what do you plan on doing Captain," said Hook sarcastically, "With no way of getting home?"

Arista began to slowly back away from the crowd of men until she bumped into something- but she realized it was only the foremast. Looking up she caught sight of a corner of a map fluttering in the wind- the one she had seen Hook study so much. That map, she realized, was her ticket out of there. Swallowing her fear, she then began to scale the ship's mast. The wood scratched her hands and feet, causing them to turn bright red, but she kept climbing. "You know I've never liked you Hook," continued James pretentiously, pacing in front of Hook who was now tied to the ship's anchor. "And ever since that woman came along- "

"Don't talk about her like that!" growled Hook, straining against his bonds.

"Ever since that fat woman came along (she wasn't even that pretty mind you), you were waiting on her hand and foot, taking us wherever she wanted to go. Well, before I kill you I at least should let you know that she was using you Hook; she didn't love anyone except her son."

"Liar!"

"Why would I lie to you now, when I'm about to kill you anyways? You really need to stop getting so attached to these women, it's unbecoming. Speaking of which, where's that little whore of his? Let's tie her to the anchor too! How ironic would it be to see a mermaid drown?"

"There she is!" shouted one of the crew members and pointed up and the mast. Arista had almost reached the crew's nest, but not fast enough because they all caught sight of her familiar blond hair and red dress. She looked down at the main deck and saw James staring at her with vicious anger in his eye. The lashes on his back must have still burned.

"I'll get her myself!" he shouted and walked around the fallen mainmast to the base of the foremast. Arista had just managed to pull herself up into the crew's nest and stuffed the map into her dress pocket. "You've got nowhere to go!" He began to climb the foremast at an alarming speed, causing her to do something absolutely terrifying- climb up onto the mast which ended directly over the ocean. Holding her arms out for balance, she began to timidly walk towards the edge.

"Watch out!" someone called, and she turned around and ducked the knife James had thrown just in time. He began to climb up onto the mast too, but before he could get to her Arista dashed barefoot across the rest of the mast, and praying to the gods that there were no rocks below her, dived head first into the sea.

"I'm going to kill that bitch," hissed James.

"Well that was impressive!" called Hook. "The cunning 'Captain' James outsmarted by a little mermaid!"

Without looking away from the spot in the ocean Arista had just vanished in, James said, "Throw him in as well."