Author's notes

I didn't want to make a note this early into the story, but I feel that I must address something first just in case. From the 26th of July till the 3rd of August, I will be away on holiday and will be unable to update this story for that one week. I will try and post the next chapter before then, but I can't promise anything, which is why I'm telling you this now instead of leaving you all in the dark for an entire week with no explanation as to why.

With that being said, please enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3

Lost and found

The large hand on the pirate ship alarm clock pointed straight down, while the small hand landed between ten and eleven. The mechanism activated and the tiny bell, which hung high above the miniature sails, sang its unforgettable song.

Jake was catapulted from the land of nod as his consciousness returned to his body. He forced open his eyes, only to be greeted by the underside of his red, sword-patterned quilt. Reluctantly, he reached over and silenced the clock's wail, the muscles in his arm still stiff.

He let out a sigh as he sank deeper into his pillow. He felt a tidal wave of disappointment wash over him. He just had the most wonderful dream, one that felt so real and he never wanted to wake up from, lucid and vivid. Peter Pan had returned with an urgent mission beyond the Never Seas – an adventure so big, that he required all of their help. Jake and his mateys flew with Peter to foreign lands with beautiful islands and landscapes. They encountered perils big and small in which they all managed to overcome with teamwork. They had just reached the final obstacle when all of a sudden the fire breathing dragon roared a mighty howl, which turned into the alarm on the clock.

He threw the cover off, only to see the underside of Cubby's bed. Jake clambered out, his sandaled feet landed on the blue rug with a skull logo that lay on the even, stone floor. His legs wobbled upon taking his weight, still drained from yesterday's activities. As a pirate, Jake was already an active kid, but the events involving the golden statue had really pushed his limits.

The bedroom of their hideout, while not the fanciest place in all the land, was more than suitable for their sleeping needs. The walls were carved rock, grey with a faint, blue tint; it was a glorified cave, but there was no better place where they would rather rest their heads. The basin stood at the side wall - a crude wooden cabinet with a couple bowls of water, a mirror hanging above, and a towel rack by the side. A small, purple barrel stood as a stool to accommodate for the smaller mateys. Sunlight seeped through a hole in the far corner of the ceiling where a pole extended from above.

In the bed over from Jake's, Izzy sat up straight. The pirate lass let out a yawn while rubbing the tired out of her brown eyes. The other day had been kind on her. Her cheeks were as rosy as ever on her tanned complexion. She pulled away her bandanna and hairbands, letting her brown hair down, which was more reminiscent of straw from a haystack.

"Good morning, Izzy." Jake said with a groggy voice.

Izzy pulled her quilt aside and shifted to the edge of her bed. "Good morning, Jake. Izzy is reporting for duty." She jumped off her mattress. "What's wrong? Not up for the old all hands on deck vibe?"

Jake stretched his aching muscles. "Not today, Iz." Jake explained. "I'm just a little stiff from yesterday."

Movement caught Jake's eyes as something stirred in the hollow barrel that hung over the foot of Izzy's bed. A green parrot reared his head from the cushy interior, shaking the fuzziness out of his feathered face.

"If you thought that statue was heavy," Skully chimed in. "Try lifting that when you're my size."

From the bed above Jake's, Cubby stirred from under the compass-dotted sheets. His eyes remained glued shut. He began to giggle. "No-ho-ho… don't…" He whispered between fits of laughter. "Not that… anything but…" His giggling continued to rise.

Jake and Izzy watched with perplexed looks as the pirate kid thrashed about.

Skully flew over and landed on the rail. He leaned in close and said. "Cubby, wake up." The chubby kid was in stitches now. "Cubby!"

Cubby fluttered his eyes open, revealing his blue irises. He gasped, his laughter came to an end. "Huh? What?" He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Aw, coconuts." He looked around and found his mateys staring at him. "What?"

"Wow, Cubby…" Skully said. "That must have been some dream you were having."

"What are you talking about?" Cubby asked, his cheeks turning red.

"You were just laughing in your sleep." Izzy said. "It was like something was tickling you."

"What? I was?" Cubby scratched the brim of his bandanna. "I was just having the strangest dream. We were all students at this school and Captain Hook and everyone else were the teachers and then Jake became a girl and Izzy became a boy," He took a breath. "And there was this other girl who claimed to be part of our crew and we all knew her but never seen her before then everyone turned into feathers and started to tickle each other and then you woke me up."

For the longest time there was silence. Jake, Izzy, and Skully gazed at Cubby, their faced contorted into the weirdest expressions they could muster.

Skully was brave enough to break the silence. "Wow… that sounded crazy." He faced Jake and Izzy, then turned back to Cubby. "I mean, another girl in our crew? Really?"

The hollow quiet was broken by the sudden outburst of laughter. Everything was back to normal.

Putting the strange dream behind them, they went through their daily routine. They bathed, washed their hair, brushed their teeth and got dressed into their usual attire. They went to the dining room and fixed themselves some hearty breakfast. The table was rectangular and fitted with four chairs at each side; two of them were tree stumps with fitted backs while the other two were barrels. Skully sat on the end of the table while chowing down on a plate of crackers, the savoury mountain was three times taller than him. Cubby sat at the other end, thoroughly enjoying his coconut breakfast cookies. Jake sat in-between them. He had gotten himself the islander's version of a bowl of cereal, half a coconut filled with granola, washed down with a cup of mango juice. The young buccaneer felt rejuvenated as the final drops of nectar went down the hatch.

"Feeling better, Jake?" Izzy asked. She sat opposite to Jake. Her breakfast, a fruit salad, still remained half-eaten. She shovelled a slice of apple and banana on her spoon and popped them into her mouth. One of the great things about their lifestyle was that they never struggled to get their five a day.

Jake stood up, skidding the tree stump back. "Yeah, I'm feeling great."

"There you go." Skully said. He gobbled up another cracker. "All you needed was some time to wake up."

After finishing breakfast, the crew stepped outside onto Pirate Island's beach, exiting through the secret door. From where they stood, they could see everything. The jagged rock with the impaled ship had not changed. The mountains were still as prominent and green as ever. They scanned the sea-bitten shore, searching for anything that washed up, whether it be some new toy or a message in a bottle. All they could see was seaweed. The sun was blazing down hotter than normal.

Cubby fanned his hand over his face. "Aw, coconuts, it's so hot today."

"No kidding." Izzy said, wiping sweat off her forehead. "We must be in the middle of a Never Land heatwave."

"You know, mateys?" Jake began. "We've been working hard over the past couple of weeks. I think it's time we took the day off."

"That sounds good." Said Cubby. "But what are we going to do?"

"How about we go to Pirate's Plunge?" Jake suggested. "We haven't been there in weeks."

"Yo ho, that sounds like fun." Izzy said.

"Ah, Pirate's Plunge," Skully reminisced. "I still remember the time Old Feather Hat blocked the river and drained the falls."

The decision was unanimous. The pirate crew proceeded back into the hideout, and got ready to head out. They collected their swimming gear, along with a few towels and their beach ball. Cubby found his map that led to the location of Pirates Plunge.

Bucky's grotto was easily the most spacious area of the hideout. Its expansive ceiling and wide walls were more than big enough to house the little ship. A waterfall concealed the cave exit, and it could easily be controlled on and off whenever Bucky was required to leave. The pirates boarded Bucky from the slide that extended from the ceiling.

"Is everybody ready?" Skully asked. Crackers. Why do I keep saying that?

Jake held up his wooden sword, carved straight from the trunk of the Forever Tree. If one were to visit the said tree, they would find a blade shaped profile in its veiny skin. "I got my sword. I never leave the hideout without it."

"I got my map." Cubby reached into his pocket and retrieved a scroll containing careful illustrations as to where to find their destination, gifted to them from Peter Pan himself.

"And I got the beach ball." Izzy triumphantly held up the primary coloured sphere in her hands. There was a sudden silence after she said those words, followed by the awkward stares from the rest of her mateys. "And my pixie dust." She took one hand off the ball to divert due attention to the pouch that hung from a string around her neck. "Just in case there's an emergency or something."

Jake climbed up the steps and took hold of the steering wheel. "Yo ho, let's go! To Never Land, Bucky!"

Bucky chimed his bell. He opened up his blue and white striped sails, complete with a picture of a gold doubloon. Bucky sailed out from the grotto, the waterfall momentarily stopped to allow him and his passengers to depart without getting drenched.

Jake and his crew had sailed to and from Never Land more times than they could remember. Each trip felt shorter than the last. Bucky breezed through the sea, rocking ever so gently from left to right. It wasn't long before the mountains of Never Land were in their sights, the island that offered something new every time they travelled its rich settings.

Jake looked out to the flat, blue line that separated the ocean from the sky. His thoughts reverted back to his dream, or the pieces he could remember; his mind had already begun to purge the imaginary reel out of existence, but the most exciting parts were still there. He wondered what Peter Pan was doing right now, far, far away in strange lands. He could only imagine, just like in his dream, what kind of adventures the boy was getting involved in these days. Jake's memories wandered back farther and recollected the day Never Land was on the brink of vanishing - the day he was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly with the boy who never grew up. It was a choice that he chose to accept, but later turn down. While he never regretted his decision to remain with his friends, he sometimes wondered where he would be today had he decided to go with Peter. There were probably millions of alternate universes out there, each one holding a different decision made at a certain time, and each one a completely different world because of it. In one of those universes, there existed Jake and Peter Pan: Guardians of Never Land.

The young pirate leader broke out of his thoughts when Bucky sailed up against the shore. Bucky extended the blue walkway and his passengers disembarked. Jake, Izzy, and Cubby carried their swimming gear and towels under their arms. Cubby retrieved his map with his free hand and scanned the directions on the surface.

"Follow me, mateys." Cubby said as he gestured forward with the map towards an opening between the trees, the paper flopped to the side. "Pirate's Plunge is that way."

Jake said. "Lead on, Cubby."

Cubby led the way, walking down the theoretical dotted line. They travelled deeper and higher into Never Land. Eventually, their ears picked up the sounds of rushing water, like there was a waterfall hidden behind the acres of trees. They began to pick up the pace, excited to dip their toes into the sweet, cool waters of Pirate's Plunge.

Jake had a head start on the rest. "Last one in's a-," He stopped as they reached the falls. The smiles on their faces vanished. The cliff loomed high above. Water spilled over the edge, guided down by three intertwined slides until they pooled down below. The water was surrounded by seamless, untouched sand.

That wasn't the only thing they saw. There were other people at Pirate's Plunge, and it wasn't Captain Hook.

Captain Cronus sat on a deckchair, scrawling in his notebook. He had a crate positioned by his side, its current purpose was to hold the inkwell that stood on the square surface. He withdrew the quill back into the inkwell, dabbled the tip into the black fluid a few times, and then reintroduced it to paper.

His coat lay on the back of the chair, its length touched the ground. His hat slung off the edge, over the coat's shoulder. His scruffy hair was allowed to bask in the clean air and shining sun.

Ever since he landed upon Shipwreck Beach, he and his crew had spent the rest of their time getting to know the strange lands that lay before them. So far, their travels have taken them to the oddest and most outlandish places he has ever seen. A canyon where cannonballs constantly rolled up and down the slopes. A hedge maze with vines that attempted to tickle you if you got too close. A bee hive that buzzed a sleep-inducing drone. The list went on.

His attention was drawn to a holler that sounded from above. Animal slid face first down the waterslide. The expression on his face was that of pure joy like a child on Christmas day. He reached the bottom and splashed into the waiting body of aqua. He lay submerged for a couple of seconds before bursting to the surface. He arched his head back, spat a stream of cold water from his gob, and ran his fingers through his soaking hair.

His spit came close to hitting Flint, who sat half-submerged at the edge of the pool. He instinctively brought his hand up to shield his face.

"Hey, watch it." Flint hissed.

Suddenly, a splash hit him from the side, soaking the side of his hair, plastering it to his skin. Flint turned to find Trig, the first mate, sitting with his feet dipped in the pool.

"Relax, Flint." Trig splashed more water on him. "A little water never hurt anyone."

Flint didn't say anything, but instead retaliated by fighting fire with fire, or rather, water with water. Trig chuckled as a wave of liquid splashed on him, dripping into his beard.

Cronus glanced over at the large, slanted rock that stood at the water's edge. Gloom sat atop the rock, doing the only thing that he does best. Not even the gigantic slides nor the prospect of refreshing water on a hot and sunny day could entice him to put down his precious tome.

Cronus retreated back to his notebook, and wrote with the freshly loaded quill.

Joining the inkwell on the crate were two other objects: a cup filled with freshly squeezed orange juice, and a book. This wasn't just any run-of-the-mill novel: it was one of a kind, written on high quality paper, and by someone who nobody had ever seen. It was rumoured that the book had once belong to a young child who came from a faraway world many years ago. All traces of that child vanished just as quickly as he or she appeared, everything except for this piece of literature. The outside was not made of leather or wood, but card. The front cover was tarnished beyond recognition, whatever elaborate art that adorned the face had been erased by the sands of time. There was a title at the top that was barely legible.

Ham…e…

Wi…l…m Sha…esp…ar…

"Hey, look." Animal called out, getting everyone's attention.

Cronus broke away from the page. "What is it, Animal?"

Animal pointed towards the clearing. "We have guests."

Cronus rotated himself in his chair and faced the pathway. Just as his crewmate had pointed out, there was company. There were three children and a parrot standing at the clearing. They were dressed in a fashion that was popular with the wonderful world of piracy, but had a look of innocence smeared across their faces. They were all carrying rolled up towels and one had a multi-coloured ball.

Ezekiel Cronus took one look at them and couldn't help but smirk at what that one-handed has-been said about them. So, these are the despicable pirates Hook was talking about. When he learned that these pirates were also lost boys, he could only envision what they looked like. Apparently, Hook wanted these kids out of his hair so badly that he tried to manipulate Cronus into doing his dirty work. The boy standing in the middle was obviously the leader - he was the tallest, even if he was just over four-feet tall. The short, podgy lad was clearly frightened, his little knees were shaking. The girl was the one that confused Cronus the most. They were called lost boys for a reason; for one, they were forgotten children; and secondly, they were boys, never girls.

"Uh oh." The short child whispered, hiding behind the girl. "I don't like the look of them…"

"Let's not judge a book by its cover, Cubby." The tallest one, the boy with the black hair and green eyes, said. "Let's go to them and say ahoy. They might be nice people."

The Captain ascended from his throne, setting the notebook and quill back to their places. "Greetings, little pirates." He walked towards them.

"Ahoy there." The leader boy smiled warmly, greeting them like they were old acquaintances. "I don't think we've seen you before."

"I wouldn't think so, young lad." Cronus replied. A smile arched on his lips, bewildered that a child of about eight or nine years old greeted him with the phrase 'ahoy'. "My crew and I just landed here yesterday. We've been exploring these lands ever since."

"Is that so? It's good to see that you're settling in." The boy continued. He pointed his thumb to his chest. "I'm Jake." He motioned to the others. "And these are my mateys: Izzy, Cubby, and Skully."

The girl, now known as Izzy, waved. "Pleasure to meet you, visitors."

Cubby struggled to look Cronus in the eye. "Umm… H-hi…" He remained partially hidden behind Izzy.

"Hi there." The parrot greeted.

They terrorise Never Land with every step they take. Eh, Captain Hook? "Such manners are rare among pirates… not to mention lost…" Cronus was about to say the word 'boys' when once again he was drawn to the exception to that rule. "…Children. I am Captain Ezekiel Cronus, and these are my crewmates." Individually, he announced each member. "I've heard a little about you from your friend, Captain Hook."

"What did he say?" Jake asked.

"That you were the most treacherous pirates to ever lay foot on Never Land, and he wanted me to take care of you while he profited. I didn't believe a single word of it."

Animal and Flint climbed out of the water. The former shook himself dry in the same way a dog would. Flint and Trig were caught in the hail of droplets that flew from his body. Gloom shuffled to his feet and peered over his tome while keeping it partially ajar.

"Trust that sneaky snook to pull a trick like that…" Jake said. The sight of many eyes on them made a small hint of uneasiness developed in his tone. "Anyway, it's always great to see new people around here, Never Land doesn't get many visitors."

"Really? The island in the middle of nowhere isn't a great tourist spot?" Flint said sarcastically while wiping moisture off himself "Why am I not surprised by that?"

"Don't be snide, Flint." Trig said as if he were a mother scolding a child. "Have some manners."

Cronus motioned at their towels. "I see you were looking to take a swim, yes?"

"We were actually, yeah." Izzy responded. "This is Pirate's Plunge, and it's our favourite swimming spot."

"Pirate's Plunge, eh?" Cronus said. "Well, I regret to inform you that there isn't any space for others to join."

"…Okay, good…" Cubby stuttered. "I don't think I can trust them anyway…" Cubby felt the cold sensation of sweat breaking beneath his bandanna. His eyes darted back and forth between the strangers. The captain, as tall and toned as he was, looked like he could tear Cubby into tiny pieces with his bare hands. Flint had this glint in his eyes, one that portrayed dark intent. Gloom just screamed mysterious, staring with his sunken eyes and constant grimace. Cubby wanted nothing more but to escape from their sight.

"Yeah, it already looks crowded enough as it is." Skully added.

"It would seem so, mateys." Jake said. "The only question is: what do we do now?"

Cubby felt his hands fidget. He broke them apart and placed them in his pockets. His fingers brushed against a piece of parchment in his vest. He almost jumped, his heightened fear interpreted the unexpected object as a fuzzy insect that somehow crept into his pocket while he wasn't looking. His fright was over quickly as he got a grip on himself. He focused his attention back on the piece and pulled it out of his pocket. Cubby dared not look up on the chance that someone had watched him make a fool of himself.

The paper was folded and yellow and the edges were generous with rips. He opened it up. It was a map, one that he barely remembered making. Never Land was accurate and to scale with every shape down to a tee, including Skull Rock in the top right.

"Hey, check it out mateys." Cubby said, holding up the folded paper. "I've had this map in my pocket this whole time and I didn't even know it."

Jake said. "Where does it lead to?"

Cubby saw the three icons and the dotted line that connected them. "It leads to treasure that's buried in Never Peak Mountain."

In his zeal, he didn't notice that Captain Cronus was towering over him, taking a peek at the map. "Interesting map." He said, making the pirate lad jump out of his skin. "Where did you get that?"

Cubby murmured, his tongue unable to make complete sentences. He struggled to look the captain in the eyes. They were blue like his, but way colder.

"It's okay, Cubby." Jake comforted. "Go ahead and tell him."

Building up a mountain of courage, Cubby opened his mouth and words came out. "It's mine… I drew it myself."

"Is that so? Incredible." Cronus turned to his first mate. "Trig, come over here and look at what this kid drew."

As requested, Trig stood from the pool and waddled himself over. Sand and grass stuck to his drenched feet. Trig leaned over and observed the map with his only eye, taking it in in all of its fine detail.

"Let's see… This is shipwreck Beach right here…" He pointed at the map. "We travelled this was until we found that canyon… then we went this way to those hedges… which means that we are here at Pirate's Plunge." He pulled back, satisfied by what he had saw. "Excellent work there, young lad. You're quite the cartographer."

A smile finally formed between the boy's chubby cheeks. "Hey, thanks. I…" He stopped, dumbfounded. "A carto-what?"

"A cart-o-graph-er. You do know what a cartographer is, right?" Trig's question was met by dumb silence from the pirate scamps. "Map maker. A cartographer is someone who makes maps."

"Ohhhhhhh." The children and pet parrot said in unison.

"Well, since these guys have already occupied Pirate's Plunge, how about we go hunting for some treasure instead?" Jake suggested.

"Yeah!" The rest of the kids shouted together.

Animal spoke up. "In that case, you might want to be careful in case that Captain Hook tries to get it before you do."

"Don't worry about us." Izzy replied. "That crook is always trying to swipe our stuff."

"Good." Animal smiled. "Because he's hiding behind that bush right over there."

There was a line of shrubbery that lined the edge of the jungle, consisting of a muddle of vines and bushes. A feather stood out alone from above the foliage, its lack of colour and fluffy texture set it apart from the environment, making it stick out like a sore thumb. The eight-and-a-half pairs of eyes focused on its location.

Jake folded his arms, tilted his head, and smiled. Trust that sneaky snook to be close at the first sign of treasure. In fact, muttering that word attracted the captain the same way a dinner bell attracted a starving sailor.

"I think they see us, Cap'n…" Mr. Smee's recognisable voice whispered from behind the brush.

"Pipe down, Mr. Smee, or they'll hear us!" Captain Hook yelled as the feather rotated ninety degrees to the left. The feather returned back to its original placement and remained still. "They heard that, didn't they?"

"Me thinks they did, Cap'n." Bones said in his unmistakable twang.

The feather rose from behind cover, revealing the hat that it was attached to, which in turn revealed the man whose head it lay upon. Captain Hook stood there with a dejected posture. His crewmates stood up too. Jake and the Never Land Pirates were taken back by Hook's sudden change in appearance. His usually pale face was now a sickly green with deep blue lines below the eyes. Ill was not the right word to describe his look – more like he was mutating into some kind of slimy, gooey, gelatinous blob.

Hook struggled to raise his hook and wave. "Ahoy, puny popinjays…" An angry gaze was directed towards the Grey Raven captain. "Cronus."

"We meet again, Captain Hook." Cronus said as he bowed ever so slightly.

"Shiver me timbers, Hook. You look horrible." Izzy asked concerned. "Are you okay?"

Hook scowled as he attempted to retain his wicked demeanour… poorly. "I don't need sympathy from the likes of…" He cheeks puffed up before the next words came out. He clamped his only hand over his mouth and tried to stop whatever was coming up from coming up. Holding it no longer, he disappeared behind the bush once more. The sound of his retching gave away his position.

"Oh, the cap'n be okay." Mr. Smee said. "He just got a little too carried away with the grog last night, which the crew right here were ever so kind to give us." He reached into the shrubbery and patted his captain on the back. "There, there, Cap'n. Let it all out."

Jake and his pals all cringed at what Captain Hook was going through. They had heard stories of certain drinks that did funny things to those who drank them. Beer was the word. A drink that turned you into a slobbering, babbling mess, made you fat, and tasted like the underside of a dinghy. The worst part came when you wake up the next day and you go through something called a hangover, just like Hook was right there. Such stories have discouraged the pirate kids from ever touching a drop.

"Glad you could join us, Captain." Cronus said. "These young pirates were just about to go on a treasure hunt."

Captain Hook fumbled out of the bushes. "What a coincidence, so am I." He approached the little cartographer. "I want that treasure all to meself." He made a swipe for the map. "Now, give me that map!"

Swiftly, the children dodged his lumbering grab and made a break for the exit. Hook, all the while, was too sick to stop them. "See ya, Captain Hook. Later, Captain Cronus." Jake said while they ran.

"And get some rest, Hook." Cubby informed. "You definitely need it."

Jake and his crew disappeared into the brush, determined to outwit the villainous captain before he could reach the treasure himself.

Hook pointed at them. "Get them, you slobs!" He bellowed. "I want that map!"

The Jolly Roger crew followed his order and began to pursue the pirate pups, their captain tagged along behind in an awkward gallop. The Grey Raven crew were left standing there, speechless to what they just witnessed. Knowingly, the men turned to their captain.

Cronus took a few steps forward before facing his first mate. "Trig? Did you get a good look at that map?"

Trig smiled. "Yes, Captain." He pointed his index finger straight towards his brain. "I got it memorised all in here."

Cronus called out to everyone. "Let's have ourselves a little race."