Chapter Four~
The response was instantaneous; the pirates dropped their buckets and took up swords. Jet laughed, drawing his own dual swords and diving amongst them. He leapt upon one, knocking him down, before he jumped at another, dodging their blows and striking out to slash their belly open. His feet never touched the ground as he moved among them, dodging and cutting and inflicting more carnage than he received.
Zuko looked around, wondering if the Lost Boys were meant to go help, wondering if he should go help his fellow pirates, but the Lost Boys all kept to their duties and he reluctantly followed suit.
They hurried, the Lost Boys carrying as much as they could, as fast as they could, with barely any help from Smellerbee or Zuko (though not for lack of trying). Zuko kept his head down, trying to ignore the sounds of battle. He didn't care too much if the men fighting Jet were his men, but he hoped that his uncle wasn't among them.
"We're almost done," Pipsqueak announced. One of the younger boys led the last of the group's cargo, the ostrich-horses, onto the ship.
"Are we ready to go then?" Smellerbee turned to Zuko.
"Yes, it'll just be a moment, can I get some help –"
"Oye!"
Time seemed to stand still as the three turned towards the fight on the dock.
Several men lay unconscious or otherwise about the wharf. Jet was still fighting like a madman. More pirates were arriving at the pier only to make the decision to put out the fire or fight a wanted criminal. Those that chose the bucket brigade soon found that to be an unwise choice as Jet attacked anyone on the dock.
One character the Lost Boy hadn't yet gotten to was the fixation of the three aboard 'Nyla'. Mostly because this man was pointing at them and shouting and suddenly other people were taking note of them.
"We need to go now," Smellerbee announced.
"I agree, 'Pipsqueak' right? You're with me," Zuko ran down the plank and began to unravel the ropes tying the ship to dock, the giant of a boy following behind to assist him.
The young pirate tried to ignore the sounds of battle coming closer. Jet's previous tactics of causing mayhem had now changed to a defensive strategy. Smellerbee ran down the plank, drawing her knife as she joined the melee. Together they fought off the barrage of marauders. Jet flew amongst them while Smellerbee leapt about, jumping off knees, shoulders, and heads to gain the high ground and incapacitate her targets before they realized that the blur coming at them was a threat. Brief flashes of light moving between attackers revealed that even Tink was assisting in the fight.
Zuko and Pipsqueak finished casting off and hurriedly began boarding, the plank tilting as the ship started to move away. "Jet, Smellerbee we have to go!" Zuko called out as Pipsqueak stumbled up the walkway ahead of him.
"You guys go ahead!" Jet half said, half snarled as he kicked an attacking pirate hard in the stomach.
Zuko made it to the deck and turned to watch the Lost Girl wordlessly obeying as she ran for the ship. As nimble-footed as Smellerbee was, as soon as she took her first step on the plank, he knew it was going to fall. Still she raced forward, a bloodied pirate hard on her heels.
The plank gave way suddenly, flipping over as it slid off the edge of the dock, sending both Smellerbee and her attacker plummeting to the ocean.
Zuko dove half over the ship's rail in his effort to catch the Lost Girl. He managed to grab one hand, but struggled to hang on. The material in her gloves slid roughly against his palms and his arms burned with the effort. Luckily it only took a moment for Pipsqueak to come to Zuko's aid. The giant reached over beside him, took Smellerbee's other hand and lifted her one-handed onto the deck.
The Lost Girl brushed herself off, casting a short glance Zuko's way. "Thanks," she said quietly.
"It was nothing," Zuko replied, feeling slightly embarrassed as he resisted the urge to massage his shoulder.
"Hey, um, Smellerbee?" One of the younger boys came forward. "What if the other ships try to follow us?"
"If we stick to the shallows the bigger ships won't be able to stay in range," Zuko spouted without thinking. Smellerbee shot him a look, but it was softer than her usual glares.
"And the smaller ships?" She asked him.
"Taken care of!" Jet surprised them as he flew over and alighted on the ship's rail. "Tink is gumming up the wheels as we speak. We're gonna have to ask Jin to hook us up with that special glue again. It works great."
"Just so long as you don't get any on you," Pipsqueak said in his usual baritone. "The only thing that can un-stick it is anteater spit."
"Really? It wasn't sticking to Tink. Good thing I guess," Jet laughed. He stepped onto the deck and started strutting about, admiring everything. He ran his hand over the sleek muzzle of a canon, revering the weapon. His hands, like the swords at his hips, were bloodstained, so he left a red streak across the metal barrel.
"We could strip this whole thing," Smellerbee said, thoughtfully running her hand over the wood of the ship's railing.
Jet stopped appraising and glanced over at the young pirate, "Zuko, I love this ship!" He announced. He suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled the cloth off of his head. The Lost Boy walked over, handing over the cravat. "Thanks for this too."
"No problem." Zuko took the red cloth from him, bundling it in his hands as he watched the Lost Boys (and Girl). They were all walking about deck, looking over the railing or admiring the ship's parts. He felt a surging pride in him. He'd accomplished something here. He hadn't caught the Avatar, but he'd gone out and got something done.
He looked down at the cloth in his hands and saw that once again Jet had left bloody handprints on some of his clothes. The feeling of pride dimmed inside him.
Zuko had his make-shift crew beach the ship not far from Moon Bay Port – but as close as they could get to the Lost Boys' village.
All the boys had come out from the village by then - even the very youngest of them. The ship was unloaded in less than an hour's time, an hour more and the ship was empty, everything from the bunk material to the captain's maps. In the next few hours Sneers and Jet ran around directing boys as they brought in carts and animals and stripped the ship of everything. It wasn't long before the vessel started to look like a skeleton of its former self, gaps in the hull looking like ribs. The boys cut and hammered until there was nothing left of Nyla but an impression in the sand and several cartloads of timber.
Once the new cargo was safely stowed away the boys proceeded to catch their second wind. Such a good haul was worthy of one.
Zuko used to think no one could throw a wild party like a pack of drunken pirates – but he'd never celebrated with the Lost Boys before. He didn't know which way to turn. For one thing, there was food everywhere. Candied nuts, breaded fish, thinly sliced duck with lettuce wraps, buttered broccoli piled onto roasted potatoes and onion, even a whole cooked pig, sweetened with fruit and honey glaze, cranberries piled up around it like a mountain. There were no desserts as far as Zuko could see – but he knew there had been some at one point.
The newest Lost Boy filled a bowl with food, then awkwardly stood aside, trying to decide where to sit.
All the Lost Boys were gathered in the area , though they didn't all fit on the platform. A bunch of youths sat on the tree-branches nearby or cluttered up the walkways with outstretched legs and empty bowls.
A few boys saw Zuko and called out for him to join their groups – but he didn't recognize any of them. He scanned the crowd, looking for a single familiar face. He lucked out when he spotted Jet.
Their eyes met and the Lost Boys' leader waved him over, almost instantly the other boys vying for Zuko's attention quieted.
Zuko sat amongst Jet's lieutenants, still feeling out of place. But that was nothing to how he felt when Jet rose a few feet into the air and the whole grove fell silent.
Jet paused as though waiting for all their attentions, despite that he'd already got them. "As some of you might have heard, today we visited Moon Bay Port. We liberated some merchandise from a ship there and you may have noticed we were fairly successful."
There were a few cheers, Jet paused to allow the praise, then continued. "Our senior retrieval team did an amazing job rolling with the punches. They've proven themselves to be fine sailors."
There were some scattered laughs. Jet went on to recount the entire tale. He gestured animatedly, making everything the Lost Boys had done seem extra heroic – like stealing was the greatest thing a person could accomplish in their lifetime. Whereas when he described the pirates' actions they all seemed stupid and incapable.
Something that Zuko noted was that, while all Jet's story was from his own perspective, very rarely did he say things that he did. Instead he described the heroics of the other boys, even listing them by name. He applauded Smellerbee's decision as the team's second in command, noting her choice to switch tactics and hijack the ship. Each of the boys on the senior retrieval team got an individual piece of praise. Then, embarrassingly enough, he praised Zuko. He said Zuko had more than proven his abilities as a thief as well as shown his skills in taking charge. The Lost Boys listened in fascination to Jet's recount of stealing the ship. Zuko noted that Jet's version was a bit more spiced up that how it actually went. Besides the fact that Zuko's part was more glorified than it actually was, the Lost Boys' leader also claimed to have spotted a water dragon chasing a pod of dolphins.
The Lost Boys ate it up. They cheered and booed and Jet encouraged them. Zuko looked around at all the young faces, mouths open in awe, and thought that Jet was one hell of a public speaker.
As soon as Jet finished his story Zuko was surrounded by curious boys, all of them eager to know about sailing and to hear the story form his own lips. Jet and his lieutenants seemed to vanish, abandoning Zuko to his new found popularity. The young pirate tried to speak as Jet did: leaving out the hunger, thirst, discomfort, and fear that had permeated throughout his entire day and leaving only a heroic story in its wake.
The night wore on and the celebration grew.
Some boys took up instruments and played music on the platforms. Still others played music on the walkways and along the tree branches so that one could ever travel out of earshot of one band before going within earshot of another.
Some boys danced, some started playing games, either running and shrieking or laying out cards and anything worth value. There was laughter and screaming and Zuko wondered how the hide-out had never been found if it could be so noisy.
The young pirate felt a little overwhelmed. There were kids rolling on scooters down the walkways, kids sharing drawings that they quickly hid when Zuko walked past, kids showing off animals Zuko had never seen before, including a nasty, wolf-headed, spider creature which two boys were busy feeding.
Some boys mocked a sword fight while others wrestled. A ball was kicked and sailed by Zuko's head, which turned out to be lucky, since in turning to avoid the ball he spotted a child swinging towards him on a vine and was able to duck in time.
The whole village was a mass of activity. But at least the younger children weren't allowed near the recently stolen rum.
Zuko spotted Jin guarding the booze, only allowing the older children to partake. Pipsqueak and the other larger boys were having a drinking contest. Tiny, little The Duke sat beside his larger friend, cheering him on and stuffing his face with cookies from who-knew-where.
'It's just like being back at Moon Bay Port,' Zuko mused as he heard the sound of breaking glass. He spotted Smeller bee seated quietly beside Longshot while Sneers told a story. Then he caught Jin's eye as she shooed away two boys hoping for a drink. 'Only the women aren't prostitutes.'
Zuko stumbled his way through a sea of bowls, discarded food, and the occasional outstretched arm or leg. He finally made his way over to the edge of the platform, but he'd gotten himself turned around while he was avoiding stomping on people's hands. He couldn't see any of the people he knew from where he was.
This was impossible, there were so many faces and none were looking his way anymore. The young pirate was just about to call it quits when he heard voices near him – not familiar voices, but familiar words. He stole a peak and saw that just around the branch-bend there was a group of boys huddled on the walkway, telling stories – most disturbingly about him, though they didn't know it.
"Hook is the prince of the pirates and his fierceness is only outmatched by his father and sister's." They all spit at the mention of her and Zuko wasn't sure whether to be bothered or amused.
"He has a big scar on his face from where a dragon burned him – but he killed it and ate its meat and that's why his eyes are yellow like a dragons'!" Zuko felt his ears blush hot, he'd never killed a dragon, let alone eaten one, and most people born on Pirate Island had yellow eyes.
"He gets his name from his two hook hands."
What?
"How does he hold things?" Another boy asked.
"His uncle holds them for him, no shush!" The first boy replied. "So one time he comes to the island and he sees a mermaid in the water he," the boy made a violent swinging motion with his arm, "catches her and hangs her up out of the water 'cause he's so strong. She flips around but she can't get free because her tail is hooked! She thinks he's going to eat her like he ate the dragon so she begs to be let go but he just says, he just says to her 'No!' And he swings her around and instead of eating her he starts to ask her questions – about the Avatar."
Zuko started to listen then. The rest of the child's story was largely fictional of course (he summoned the mermaid and paid her handsomely to answer his questions) but perhaps he might learn some truth about the Avatar.
"What did he want with the Avatar?" One child asked.
"You've told this story a million times already," another complained.
"Probably to eat him!" A third boy piped up.
"Nobody really knows," the storyteller answered cryptically. "But nobody, not even Hook, could get to the Avatar so long as Jet's around."
There it was then, Zuko mused, Jet was the key to getting to the Avatar – as well as the lock to keep him out.
"Tell us another story – the one about the water dragon with the ticking belly." One of the boys pleaded.
Zuko turned away then, he could honestly say that he knew that story better than anyone and he didn't care to hear it again.
The newest Lost Boy decided to bow out. He was tired and he'd never been one for parties anyway.
He set off, trying to find the way back to his 'room'. Of course he ended up totally lost. He ended up in another tree (not the one he needed to be in either). There was a large patio, with what was probably a gorgeous view by day, but in the dying light of evening it was mostly just a frighteningly empty, black space.
At the back of the platform, nestled between the joining of two huge branches sat a tent. This strange teepee was made entirely of canvas and rope. Smaller, over hanging branches made the fort seem dark and secluded, a private place where Zuko felt he shouldn't linger.
He looked around, trying to get his bearings, but he'd somehow underestimated the number of trees the Lost Boys' village contained. He could see where he'd come from, because it was the loudest place in the village but he didn't know where to go next.
Still curious about his new surroundings, Zuko felt the ridiculous urge to look down from the platform. Leaning over the ledge, he was startled when something glowing and most-definitely flying whizzed past him.
He turned quickly then slowed as he watched the creature perch atop a lantern. It was busy eating something there so it didn't mind Zuko coming up to it.
It wasn't Tink. It wasn't a fire imp. It was tiny, almost about as tall as Zuko's pointer finger. It shifted positions, leaving dimly glittering powder in its wake: a pixie!
The pixie looked like a tiny person. It had small, delicate features with large, almond-shaped eyes. Wings grew out of its back, they were see-through, except for the glowing, spider-web veins cutting across the clear.
The pixie shuffled its feet as though considering leaving. Its wings shifted, making a soft whispery noise.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye the pixie was gone! Pinned to the ground by a glowering Tink.
Zuko jumped at the suddenness of the attack and before he could do anything Tink, who was tiny to him, but giant sized next to the little pixie, picked up the smaller creature and shook it violently. The imp then cuffed the pixie round the head and boxed its ears.
Zuko came to his senses and shouted, stomping at the cruel little thing, though he didn't want to step on Jet's pet.
Tink let the pixie go immediately and it scrambled away confusedly before it came to and fluttered off. The fire imp stayed behind and glared up at Zuko. Those tiny yellow eyes seemed terribly fierce for something so small. Finally the little creature bent down and began to gather up the scattered pixie dust, stuffing it into a tiny purse at his hip.
Zuko watched the whole thing, feeling a little shaken. He turned, ready to be lost somewhere else rather than lost with such a nasty little creature.
"Zuko?"
The young pirate spun on his heel to see Jet coming out of the tent.