Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet. I do own Lizzie.
A/N: Hello and welcome to the THIRD chapter of A Legendary Exploration where our heroes will finally embark on their journey to Treasure Planet. So without further ado, I turn it over to Lizzie. Enjoy!
'Wow, Jim, you're practically an expert,' breathed a wide-eyed Lizzie as she watched her best friend soar through the sky before landing in front of the preteen girl. 'Do you think you could teach me how to ride it?'
'I don't see why not,' replied Jim, stepping off his board so Lizzie could climb on. Jim then showed her how to operate the controls. 'Make sense.'
'More or less,' murmured Lizzie.
Jim smiled slightly. 'Just remember, it's not only the buttons that make it fly, it's you. You direct the board's path by angling your body in the direction you want it to go, as long as you keep your balance anyway.'
Lizzie frowned. She was extremely clumsy even for a twelve-year-old girl. 'Maybe this isn't a great idea, after all.'
'We'll take it slow,' he promised. 'And if you do end up falling off, I'll catch you.'
Elizabeth Shillings stared into her friend's confident brown eyes and nodded 'Okay.'
Jim grinned and stayed true to his word as he had Lizzie start by hovering only a few feet off the ground and caught her when she tumbled off. 'You okay?'
'Yeah, thanks,' said Lizzie though honestly, she wasn't entirely sure as heat filled her cheeks. 'I think I'm just embarrassed.'
'Don't worry, Liz. I'll have you flying in no time,' Jim assured her. 'Then you and I will be able to ride the skies together as a team.'
~ A Legendary Exploration ~
The scene up on deck of the RLS Legacy was chaotic but in an organized way as sailors hurried to their stations.
"We're all clear, captain!" declared one of the crew members while Jim and Lizzie strived to stay out of the way.
Amelia inclined her head in acknowledgment and turned to Mr. Arrow. "Well, my friend. Are we ready to raise this creaking tub?"
"My pleasure, Captain," responded Arrow. "All hands to stations! Loose all solar sails! Heave up the braces!"
The ship began to move as everyone suddenly started to float into the air.
"Engage artificial gravity," commanded Mr. Arrow, resulting in everyone returning to the deck and Jim grabbing Lizzie.
"You alright?" he asked her.
"Mhm," she answered, blushing like she had that day in the scrapyard except now she knew why which made her flush even more.
Jim quirked a dark eyebrow. "Liz?"
"Take her away!" boomed Mr. Arrow causing the teenagers' heads to snap up as the RLS Legacy commenced its journey to Treasure Planet.
"Jim, look," whispered Lizzie after he had put her down. She pointed behind him at a pod of Orcus Galacticus, aka space whales.
Jim glanced at the whales with wonder before returning his attention to Lizzie and giving her a lopsided smile causing her stomach to do flips. "Let's go get a closer look."
~ A Legendary Exploration ~
"This is incredible," remarked Lizzie from where she perched on the shrouds of the ship next to Jim. "I would love to be able to do this for a living."
"As a sailor?" guessed Jim.
"No, as a pirate," she said, winking at him.
Jim laughed. "We'd have to get our own ship."
"Why just one?" inquired Lizzie. "Let's have an entire fleet."
"That does sound a lot better," agreed Jim, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Her golden hair had come undone from its ponytail and was a light from the glow of the stars floating around them leaving his mouth dry.
"What?" asked Liz after noticing he was staring at her.
Jim shook his head and went back to watching the whales. "It's nothing."
Lizzie quirked a blonde eyebrow but was unable to respond as Silver called them to attention.
"Jimbo! Lizzie! I got two new friends I'd like you to meet," he announced, producing a mop and bucket from behind his back and throwing them at the cabin boy and girl. "Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket."
"Yippee," muttered Jim, holding the mop.
Lizzie laughed and started to make her descent back to the deck. "Come on, let's get to work."
Jim sighed dramatically as he followed her and helped swab the deck. "Yeah, I got his Mr. Mop."
Lizzie rolled her eyes while she filled the bucket then smirked mischievously and splashed the sulking boy.
"You think that's funny, do you?" he said, his bangs plastered to his face. Jim then raised the mop at the giggling girl. "Let's see how you like it."
"James Pleiades Hawkins, don't you dare," began Lizzie but it was too late. Jim had dunked the mop in the bucket and fling water in her face, soaking her entire head. "Oh, you are so going to get it now."
Lizzie lifted the bucket and made towards Jim who retreated away from her until he bumped into a sailor who looked like a giant red spider with lobster claws.
The sailor spun around and glared at them with huge yellow eyes. "Cabin boys and scullery maids should learn to mind their own business."
"Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?" inquired Jim.
The sailor grabbed Jim by the front of his shirt with one claw, hoisting the lad off his feet, and threatened him with his other claw. "Maybe your ears don't work so well."
Jim scrunched his nose. "Too bad my nose works just fine."
"Why you impudent little-!" growled the sailor. "Any last words, cabin boy?"
"Put him down now," ordered Lizzie, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know Jim can be mouthy, but you don't need to have this extreme of a reaction. You are supposed to be an adult. Try acting like one."
The sailor turned his head to look at her. "Or maybe I should begin with your girlfriend instead."
Before he could harm either of them, however, Silver appeared and grabbed a hold of the sailor's free claw, attaining his attention. "Mr. Scroop, you ever see what happens to a fresh purp when you squeeze real hard?"
Silver twisted Scroop's claw making him yelp in pain.
"What's all this then?" demanded Mr. Arrow, striding over to them. "You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the trip. Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"
"Transparently," answered Mr. Scroop as the crowd which had gathered dispersed and he released Jim.
"Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir!" cheered Silver. "A tight ship's a happy ship, sir!"
"You okay?" Lizzie asked Jim, going over to him.
"Fine," Jim grunted as Silver rounded on them.
"Jimbo, Lizzie, I gave you two a job," he reminded them unnecessarily.
"Hey, we were doing it," retorted Jim. "Until that bug thing…"
"Belay that!" the cyborg roared, cutting them off. "Now I want this deck swabbed spotless and heaven help you if I come back and it's not done. Morph? Keep an eye on these pups and let me know if there be any more distractions."
~ A Legendary Exploration ~
"Well, this has been a fun day, huh?" mused Jim to Morph a while later after they had finished swabbing the deck. "Making new friends like that spider psycho."
"Friends is one way to put it," muttered Lizzie as Silver returned.
"Well thank heavens for little miracles," said the cyborg. "Up here for an hour and the deck's still in one piece.
"Um, look, I, uh…What you did…Thanks," murmured Jim, awkwardly.
"Didn't your pop ever teach you to pick your fights more carefully?" asked Silver as he noticed Lizzie glance worriedly at Jim. "Your father's not the teachin' sort."
"No," affirmed Jim. "He was more the taking off and never coming back sort."
"Oh, sorry, lad," replied Silver, rubbing the back of his neck while Lizzie yearned to comfort the hurting boy.
I'll probably only make him mad again like before, she figured. It was so much easier when it was just the two of us and Jim didn't have to be worried about being embarrassed when it comes to showing how he feels.
"Hey, no big deal," Jim was telling Silver, shrugging. "I'm doing just fine."
"Is that so?" said Silver, smiling at them. "Well, since the captain has put you two in my charge, like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into those thick heads of yours to keep you out of trouble."
"What?!" exclaimed Jim and Lizzie.
"From now on, I'm not letting you two out of me sight," he continued as if they hadn't spoken. "You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bums without my say-so."
"Don't do us any favors!" shouted Jim obstinately.
Silver laughed. "Oh, you can be sure of that, lad. You can be sure of that."
~ A Legendary Exploration ~
The old cyborg kept to his promise as he taught the cabin boy and girl how to clean and patch the hull of the ship, peel potatoes, and-
"Seriously?! More dishes?!" groaned Lizzie after Silver had left the two of them in the kitchen that was overflowing with dirty dishes. "And here I thought there had been a lot at the Benbow Inn. This is ridiculous!"
"Yeah," agreed Jim as they rolled up their sleeves and got to work washing the dishes. They were almost finished when Silver came strolling in with another huge pile of dishes which he dropped in front of the furious teenagers and walked back out.
"That second-rate, no good, slimy, son of a-," muttered Lizzie savagely as she returned to scrubbing a pot with renewed vigor. "If he thinks a task like this is too much for us then he's about to be sadly disappointed."
"You can say that again," said Jim, acquiring his own pot. "They're gonna see how good of a team we are."
Lizzie smiled to herself. Now there's the Jim Hawkins I know.
The two best friends worked diligently late into the night until Silver came to check on them and found spotless dished stacked neatly as a sleeping Lizzie leaned against Jim with her head on his shoulder. The cyborg rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and draped his coat over them, believing Jim was asleep as well but the weary cabin boy had enough energy to open his eyes and watch Silver climb the stairs before feeling the weight of Lizzie's head on his shoulder causing him to look down at the girl.
She really is incredible, not to mention beautiful, Jim thought, laying his head on top of hers and closing his eyes. In a weird way, I'm glad Dad left, otherwise I wouldn't have been in the scrapyard and met Lizzie though she still drives me crazy.
Jim drifted off to sleep as night turned to day and the ship's wakeup call jolted them awake. Lizzie blushed as she realized she had been sleeping on Jim's shoulder making the boy decide he liked the shade on her as they hurried to complete their tasks for the day.
~ A Legendary Exploration ~
One afternoon Silver elected to take Jim out on the skiff and teach him how to maneuver it.
It's about time a potential male role model gave Jim some attention, thought Lizzie as she waited for them to return and mended a torn shirt. A little while later the boys reappeared, and Lizzie helped to pull the skiff in.
"You having a little trouble there?" Jim asked Silver after knocking into the cyborg.
Silver laughed and pushed him away playfully. "Oh, get away from me."
"How'd it go?" inquired Lizzie.
Jim grinned up at her causing her heart to stop. "It was awesome!"
Silver nodded as they plopped down in the bottom of the skiff. "Oh, Jimbo. If I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, they'd be bowing in the streets when I walked by today."
"I don't know. They weren't exactly singing my praises when we left home," Jim informed him as Lizzie sat down next to him. "But I'm gonna change all that."
"Are you now?" replied Silver. "How so?"
"Uh, I got some plans," said Jim vaguely as he folded his arms behind his head. "Gonna make people see me a little different."
Silver glanced at Lizzie who was frowning slightly. "Oh. Sometimes, plans go astray."
That's what I'm afraid of, thought Lizzie.
Jim closed his eyes. "Not this time."
Silver sighed and tinkered with his metal leg as Morph transformed into a wrench to assist him.
"So, uh, how'd that happen, anyway?" asked Jim, eyeing him.
"You give up a few things chasing a dream," revealed Silver.
"Was it worth it?" murmured Jim.
"Heh, I'm hoping it is, Jimbo," said Silver, leaning back. "I most surely am."
The ship suddenly began to shift and groan as a nearby star went supernova.
"We need to get on deck now," noted Lizzie.
Jim nodded and helped her out of the skiff then Silver. The three of them raced upstairs to find everyone in a panic as Amelia ordered for evasive action.
"All hands fasten your lifelines!" commanded Arrow.
Good thing Silver taught us how to tie knots, mused Lizzie as she secured hers.
"Mr. Arrow secure those sails!" yelled Amelia.
"Secure all sails!" boomed Arrow. "Reef them down, men!"
The crew did as they were ordered as the star dissolved into a black hole, threatening to pull them in.
"All sails secured, Captain!" shouted Arrow.
"Good man! Now release them immediately!" she told him.
"Aye, Captain," replied Arrow, turning to the others. "You heard her, men. Unfurl those sails."
"You have got to be kidding," panted Lizzie as she followed Silver back up the mast.
"Mr. Hawkins," called Amelia. "Make sure all lifelines are secured."
Aye, aye, Captain," said Jim, checking them. "Lifelines secured, Captain!"
"Very good!" commended Amelia as the crew finished unfurling the sails and returned to the deck.
"Hold on to your lifelines, gents!" advised Arrow. "It's going to be a bumpy ride!"
Lizzie held on to the mast while Jim covered her body with his and Silver shielded them both as the RLS Legacy rode the last wave to safety.
"You alright?" Jim asked Lizzie after she swiveled around to face him.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "You?"
Jim nodded and absentmindedly pushed a piece of stray hair out of her face making her blush as Amelia walked over to them.
"Well, I most congratulate you, Mr. Silver," she remarked. "It seems your cabin boy did a bang-up job with those lifelines. All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow? Mr. Arrow?"
Everyone glanced around but Mr. Arrow was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost," announced Mr. Scroop as he came forward and handed Amelia Arrow's hat. "His lifeline was not secured."
"No, I checked them all," insisted Jim, hurrying over to the posts. Mr. Arrow's lifeline was gone. "I, I did. I checked them all. They were secure. I swear."
Jim stared imploringly at Amelia who turned her focus to the crew. "Mr. Arrow was a fine spacer, finer than most of us could ever hope to be but he knew the risks, as do we all. Resume your posts. We carry on."
Jim gritted his teeth and bolted. Lizzie hurried after him and grabbed his hand.
"Jim, wait," she began.
"Leave me alone, Liz," he muttered, not looking at her.
"Jim, please," murmured Lizzie. "What happened wasn't…"
"Just leave me alone already!" roared Jim, rounding on her causing Lizzie to drop his hand as her eyes widened. The teenage boy sighed in exasperation and stormed off.
"Some team we are now," Lizzie grumbled miserably as tears rolled down her cheeks.
A/N: And there you have it! Until next time, read review and show the love!