Chapter 10

Vroooom, Vrooooom, Vrooom *Slowly materializing into view is a blue phone box called the TARDIS. The door opens to reveal the author.*

Myst: WHOOHOO! It's finally done! After months of writing, re-writing, and tears, I, along with Freak and my brilliant new beta-reader MissBreePhoenix, have finally got chapter ten up! Oh man, so many things happened since this last updated. Wreck-It Ralph, me getting to season five of Doctor Who (crying and curling up in a corner in-between episodes), the Mark of Athena, Star Trek into Darkness and Rise of the Guardians (how great is Jack Frost? He's like a winter version of Peter Pan with the voice of Chris Pine). I like to thank the following:

MissBreePhoenix who, without her, this wouldn't be possible.

Freak, my partner in crime and now training to be a Dauntless.

And to you readers, for you have waited, patiently. And a bit anxiously.

I do not own anything of Peter Pan or Little Mermaid. So without further ado, allons-y to the chapter!

Chapter 10

"Cabin Boy"

Below the Jolly Roger's decks, Melody woke up to find herself tightly bound; the handkerchief Hook wrapped around her mouth still gagged her. She was lying on a cot inside a cell. It was dark; the only light was from a single lamp hanging at the side of the ladder that leads up above. Her nose wrinkled at the foul smell of mold and something unidentifiable. Blood, maybe?

Melody inched herself up into a sitting position, leaning her back against the wall and dangling her legs over the edge. Just as she was thinking how in the seven seas was she going to get herself out of this situation, her head swung around to the sound of footsteps coming down the wooden stairs.

Calloused, grimy feet were the first to come into view, followed by blackish-brown pants tattered at the hems and a white button-up shirt. Then the face of the boy who was wearing this appeared, looking to be around Peter's age. He had jagged hair that was the color of coal, covered by a deep-sea blue bandanna and had olive-toned skin. His eyes were dark brown, staring down and self-conscious. The young princess watched him as he struggled to carry a barrel down and heaved it on top of another in a pile near her cell. Panting, he leaned against the barrel and wiped the sweat from his brow. Then he spotted Melody, as if seeing her for the first time.

Flustered, he ducked behind the pile of barrels quickly, causing Melody to raise a thin eyebrow. After a moment, the boy looked from his hiding place to stare at Melody, wonder in his eyes. Then he shook his head, as if to chide himself for acting with foolishness, and stood up.

"So, you're that mermaid princess everyone's been talking about?" Melody tilted her head, unsure of this boy. His voice didn't hold any malice or sarcasm, just curiosity.

Slowly, the boy walked over to the front of her cell, one hand grabbing a metal bar. He just stared at her, like she was a seventh wonder he never saw before. His Adam's apple moved as he gulped.

"They told me about you. The girl with the fish blood in her, and whom has Peter Pan wrapped around her finger. You're not the first girl he's fallen for, but you probably already knew that by now."

Seeing the angry face she was giving him, he quickly remedied his statement, waving his hands in front of him. "Not that I mean any disrespect, miss. I was just saying what they tell me. The pirates, that is. They don't tell me much except orders; they give me a lot of those. Especially Cap'n."

He frowned at his feet, crossing his arms. "Even before I joined this crew, we've been doing nothing but trying and failing to defeat Peter Pan." He lowered his voice to mimic Hook in an angry tone. "'Blast that Peter Pan! Get Peter Pan! Find Peter Pan's hideout so we can blow him up!' It's just one failure after another. And I don't even get to be a part of it. All he has me do is work below decks. I barely get to see the sunshine or the ocean. And…" He paused, as he seemed to realize that he was telling this all to Melody. "I'm just rambling all this to a prisoner."

Melody jumped in surprise as he growled, grabbing his hair. "I can't take it anymore!" he exclaimed, both hands now gripping the metal bars. He banged his head at the rails, looking like some sort of crazed person. "I can't do this anymore! If I have to stay in this Locker any longer, my head will explode."

The way this kid went from being shy and calm to loud and insane kind of reminded Melody of her father's stories of his long sea trips. Two or three weeks at sea and a few crewmates would get mild cases of cabin fever. Once or twice one would go really crazy to the point where he had to be locked up in the brig to calm him down. She felt pity for this boy as he was so young and seemed kind of nice to be losing his mind.

Taking a shaky breath, the boy stopped his mindless freak-out and calmed down.

"Sorry about that, little fresh air and isolation tends to make a person go berserk. And I'm sorry that I'm boring you with my problems—especially considering you have bigger ones of your own—but it's just that, I don't get to talk to anyone much. And you're not even talking back, so maybe I am just talking more to myself, then."

His hands dropped to his side, turning his back to her. Melody stared at the boy as he sit down, an idea coming to her head. If she could win this boy's pity, she can convince him to untie her. Now's the time to do it.

The boy sighed, wrapping his arms around his knees. Melody eyes soften when he buried his head from view. This boy looked so vulnerable that it tore at her heart. She hated the thought of taking advantage of this poor boy, but what choice did she have?

Before she could try anything, a rough voice yelled from the entrance that made the boy jumped.

"Cabin Boy! Get up here, now! Cap'n's orders!"

With slumped shoulders, the boy stood up and dragged himself across the room. At the base of the ladder-steps, he stopped and glanced back at Melody. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, as if debating within himself. His fist clenched, biting his lip.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said before quickly climbing up the stairs.

Melody's shoulders sagged. There goes her chance, maybe the only chance fate was willing to throw her way. She prayed that she could get out of here before anything bad happens. Her mind drifted toward thoughts of Peter, and she wondered if he was on his way that very moment to save her.

The cabin boy, down on his hands and knees, scrubbed the floorboards inside the Captain's cabin. Turns out Hook just wanted him to clean his room. Again. Even though he did it yesterday.

Well, at least he wasn't doing fish-gutting duty.

Speaking of fish, he couldn't stop thinking about the girl in the brig. It had been a long time since he talked to a girl, let alone seen one. He couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation with one. Heck, he couldn't remember when he talked to any near his own age.

She was so beautiful, and he felt awful for her. True, she had mermaid's blood in her and he's been warned that mermaids have this power to lure victims, and place spells on men to bend them to their will. But even if she was a hybrid, he still felt guilty. He wished he could help her, but—

He paused in his work. The suds from the brush popped one by one as the boy stared into nothing, lost in thought.

What was he doing? He didn't want this life. But he couldn't go back either. That place, even the memory of it, is gone. Nothing left except for the flames. The flames that he saw danced inside the bubbles now. That moved closer to him like they wanted to burst from their soft cages and consume him. He could almost feel the heat scorching his face, cool beads of sweat trickling down his skim. His ears were ringing with the distant memory of gunfire, and screaming. So much screaming.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his hands around the brush until his knuckles turned white, breathing heavily. Then the door slammed open and he jumped back to reality, almost knocking the wooden bucket over with his elbow. He looked up to see Captain Hook and Mr. Smee before hastily going back to scrubbing, trying to act like he hadn't stopped working at all.

Their footsteps echoed toward him and a pair of black boots, ones he's ordered to shine every week, stop in front of him. The boy stopped what he was doing and looked up. To his relief, the Captain didn't look angry nor had a fake smile, so that means the Captain won't yell at him. He stood up on his knees and saluted him.

"Cap'n."

"The crow's nest's a bit empty," Hook said causally, and then held out the spyglass that was in his only hand. "You'll be filling it tonight."

The boy blinked a few times, surprised to hear that. He took the spyglass and nodded. "Aye-aye, Cap'n." He tucked the instrument in his back pocket and tossed the brush into the wooden bucket. Before he left, Hook stopped him with a hook on the shoulder.

"Remember, boy: if you see the girl trying to escape or anyone helping her, sound the alarm. She does not leave this ship." The Captain lifted up his hook dangerously close to the boy's face. "Understood?"

"Aye-aye, Cap'n," he answered, eyes crossed, staring at the hook for which his captain was known for. "She doesn't leave this ship." And hurried out of there.

Few minutes later, he was up in the crow's nest, enjoying the fresh air and the cool breeze tickling his face. Hook rarely let him do lookout duty. He guessed it was because Hook hates kids and didn't like the fact that one of his crewmembers was one—usually he keeps him below decks. However, when he was allowed to come up, he savors every second of it.

He sighed, a smile on his face. Leaning against the railing with his arms folded, he gazed up at the blanket of stars, the moon half full. Too bad it wasn't full; he'd love to see a full moon after all these years. Or maybe it's been decades? How is one to tell when they've lived in a place such as Never Land? Where time doesn't seem to exist and nothing grows a day older.

The sails were up, lines secured as most of the crew were asleep. He didn't know why they've stopped in the middle of the ocean after flying out of Never Land. Weren't they worried the flying boy might come and try to rescue his girlfriend? Or maybe that's what Hook is hoping for. Draw Peter Pan out of familiar territory into a strange one. And when Peter does, he'd be the one to announce his arrival. No telling what would happen next, maybe that sea witch will do something. He did hear that she promised to help Hook defeat the legendary boy. Once and for all. There was also rumor that Hook will use the girl for ransom since she is a princess. He did manage to sneak a peek at the castle while they were doing recon and he has to admit, it was huge.

One thing was bugging him, though. Even if this all works in Hook's favor, what then? How will this all play out?

Then there's that witch. Morgana was her name. Could they really trust her?

What if she'd turn her back on the Captain? Or all of them? Would she take care of Hook after she's helped him with Peter Pan? Kill the whole crew even? She was a witch, and witches can create terrifying spells. He had this memory of once reading a story where an evil witch cursed a young princess and practically declared war on a whole kingdom just because she wasn't invited to a party. Also, that witch could shape shift into a dragon! He couldn't imagine what a sea witch is capable of.

The cabin boy pushed himself off the rail and stretched his arms out. Once he felt something cracked, he dropped his arms and returned his attention to the horizon. Seconds later, something moved in the corner of his eye. He directed his full eyesight to it. Down in the water, he swore he just seen something moved.

Furrowing his eyebrows, the boy picked up the spyglass from the floor and looked through it. A shadow moved underneath the rippling waves, so fast that he almost missed it. Was there something under there?

The cabin boy shook his head, thinking that it's probably nothing.

Then the ship shook.

The sharp jerk nearly caused the boy to fall out of the nest. The men below, who moments ago were sleeping wherever or up at their posts, gave out shouts of alarm and started to run to the ship's side, searching the water for what caused it. They were all met with an odd sight; a circle of water was bubbling like it was boiling out of control, and it continued to grow fiercely until…

Splash!

The cabin boy threw his arms up as seawater cascaded them like a downpour. He stared, wide-eyed in fear and awe as the water melted away to reveal big, pupil-less, yellow-golden eyes.

The sea serpent was as tall as the Jolly Roger, water dripping down its emerald green scales. The fins on each side of its face and back flared up as it screeched, revealing jagged teeth. It slammed its body into the ship's side, nearly capsizing it. The force propelled the cabin boy out of the crow's nest and toward the churning sea. His flailing hands managed to grab hold off the ratlines, saving him from a watery grave. He latched his body onto the rope, eyes closed and scared.

One of the men rang the alarm bell and the crew rushed around to grab whatever weapons they could. Their bravery was short-lived when the monster drove down and snatched a poor pirate by his shirt. He screamed as he was yanked into the air and into the waters below along with the serpent's head. That was when the panic and screaming began throughout the deck.

Trembling, the cabin boy quickly climbed down the ratlines and swung himself onto the deck, taking off in a full sprint toward the stern. He had to warn the Captain, had to get him.

Another jerk, practically a two second earthquake, caused him to fall down again. He got back to his feet, using the railing for assistance, and glanced down at the water. Small currents surrounded the haul in a whirlpool, the dark outline of the serpent visible underwater. It was slowly turning the ship in place, the speed gradually increasing. This was certainly a frightening sight for the cabin boy, the one time he finally had the chance to be out from below the ship, total chaos breaks. And he wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. When it came to the action, the other pirates dealt with that—specifically if that action involved all those times fighting Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

"What the Devil is going on out here?!" the Captain demanded, exiting his cabin and stopping dead in his tracks as he got his unspoken answer. The Captain's dark eyes widened.

The cabin boy was first to speak, "It's a sea serpent, Cap'n. It appeared out of nowhere and began attacking the ship."

"I see that it's attacking the ship, you brat!" Hook barked, looking around the ship and saw his crew continue to run around uncontrollably, and very frightened. "Quit running, you bilge rats! Make haste for the cannons! Fire at the beast!"

As if being put out of a trance, everyone obeyed the Captain's order, and quickly got to work. The cabin boy knew how well the crew were good at taking orders from Hook but he had no idea it would be like this. Perhaps when it came to the near destruction of the ship, something else was brought out in them. As he looked back to the Captain, he saw that sea witch exit the cabin and caught what appeared to be an evil gleam in her green eyes—or more of an evil gleam that what was already there.

"What are you staring at, boy? Get to helping the crew!" Hook ordered, causing the cabin boy to flinch and run over to the nearest canon he could find. One that was still close by to hear what Hook was telling Morgana.

However, due to the increased speed the ship was creating thanks to the sea serpent, causing an unnatural wind to blow and create noise, it was difficult for him to really make out what Hook was telling her. He saw her nod, almost too enthusiastically, and went quickly in the direction Hook was pointing her to. But as soon as the Captain had looked away, Morgana went the opposite way and made a quick run to below the deck. The cabin boy felt sick to his stomach for he knew who was down there and that was the mermaid princess Hook captured earlier. He could only imagine what Hook had told Morgana to do and he really didn't want to find out what she actually intends to do.

The sound of the cannons firing broke the cabin boy away from the Captain and the sea witch. The other men were shooting at the water, hoping to get a good shot at the sea serpent but it was moving too quickly. More cannons were shot and some of the crew were running back and forth from below the deck to retrieve more cannon balls. The cabin boy felt someone jerking his shoulder roughly and he looked to see one of the pirates staring at him.

"Go fetch more, boy! We need more if we're to stop this beast!" he ordered, voice gruff and a tad frightened.

The cabin boy gave a quick "aye-aye, sir," and ran off to the decks below. It seemed like great comfort for him to be back below but he knew it would be short lived if he didn't retrieve the cannon balls. As he began to collect the heavy items, he heard a loud clanging sound and hid behind one of the rum barrels. Carefully peeking around it, he saw Morgana pulling a struggling Melody with one her tentacles. The young girl kept fighting until Morgana's tentacle squeezed her too tight, making her groan in pain.

"Keep quiet," Morgana hissed, lifting the young princess up to her face, and glared at her. "We don't want the dear captain to hear us."

The mermaid princess glared back at Morgana, causing the sea witch to cackle and went back up. But before she was fully gone, the princess caught sight of the cabin boy and they both made eye contact. He was able to see the fear in her ocean blue eyes, almost as if to say, "Help me." Once she was out of sight, the cabin boy remained frozen in place. The princess had seen him. She was practically pleading with him to help her out and he wasn't sure what to do. If he ignored any of the orders the crew or the Captain gave him, he'd surely be in trouble, but he couldn't possibly leave the poor girl with that awful witch. The cabin boy was definitely caught between a rock and a hard place, and he finally came to the decision of it all, he sighed.

"I must be mad if I'm going to go through with this."

Running up the steps, the cabin boy was back on the upper deck and was searching for Morgana. He made sure not to get caught up in the chaos with the other pirates and went straight to the rowboats. The cabin boy wasn't sure if Morgana would even use one of them but it was worth a shot. When he reached there, the cabin boy saw Morgana about to haul herself and the princess onto the railing of the ship.

Before she could go any further, he called out, "Stop!"

The sea witch turned her bony frame in his direction and glared, "What do you want?"

"I can't let you escape with the prisoner," he squeaked, fear edging into his voice.

"And I suppose you are going to stop me?" Morgana sneered, lifting the mermaid princess so the cabin boy could get a better look. "Well, princess, it seems like your own knight in shining green armor won't be the one to even attempt to rescue you after all. Instead, you'll be rescued by a dirty, little cabin boy."

Morgana laughed, making the cabin boy very uncertain of his actions right now. Or at least that was how he felt until he saw a cannon ball close to his feet. Thinking quickly, he picked it up, struggling with the weight of it and called out to Morgana again. "Well, don't forget about this!" And tossed it at her.

When she saw it coming, it hit her squarely in her stomach and was tossed against the railing, releasing Melody in the process. She groaned and glared dagger at the cabin boy.

"You worthless fool! How dare you attack me?!"

She was about to launch herself at him until she heard one of the pirates call out, "It's coming out of the water!"

Looking over, Morgana spotted the sea serpent and fumed. That beast was her only distraction for her escape with Melody and now that couldn't happen. She turned her attention back to the cabin boy and used one of her tentacles to drag him closer to her, the appendage wrapped a handful of his shirt. Once he was close enough, she raised her hand to strike him across the face. "I'll make you pay for this!"

But without warning, Morgana was hit by the sea serpent's tail and was launched toward the sea, screaming all the way until the cabin boy lost sight of her. For some odd reason, the cabin boy felt slight gratitude for the serpent but that didn't last long. The sea serpent continued to attack the ship and the men continued to fight it off. At least that sea witch was gone and wasn't going to take the princess. Then he was reminded of something. The princess!

He ran over to her, seeing that she was still gagged and bound. She stared up at him with wide ocean blue eyes, silently pleading with him to release her, and he couldn't agree to it anymore. He searched until he found a knife next to some rope and grabbed a hold of it, getting to work on getting her free. As soon as he was done, he took off the handkerchief Hook used to cover her mouth and couldn't believe that he actually helped.

"Go, you need to get out of here," he told her, lifting her up and pushed her in the direction of the rowboats.

She stared at him, very surprised that he actually helped her out. "But-but what about you? Why would you help me?"

"There's no time to explain. Just go!" he ordered and helped her onto the railing.

Melody pushed away from him and flew up into the sky, being careful not to attract attention from the other pirates and Hook.

When he saw that she was away, he went straight to work on cutting the rowboats off, making sure the others wouldn't get to her if they saw her. As soon as he was done, he went back to helping the others fight off the sea serpent—making sure to keep the knife with him in case anything were to happen. The other men were still trying to blast at it with their cannons but it didn't really seem to do much effect on it. The cabin boy searched around the ship, in high hopes of possibly finding an answer to this huge problem until something shiny caught his attention. The cabin boy tried to get a better look at it and saw the moonlight bounce off the pointy object. It was a harpoon: quite long and had a very well sharpened spearhead, and it seemed like the best thing to use against this large beast. The cabin boy ran straight for it, picking it up—along with the rope he wasn't aware that was tied to it—and ran straight for one of the unoccupied cannons.

He knew he had to attract its attention somehow, he had a plan and hoped that it would work. Picking up a cannon ball, he quickly stuffed it into the cannon, along with some powder, lit the fuse and fired. The cabin boy missed, his shot getting in the way of someone else's and he began the preparation for another. He fired again and this time it seemed like it barely grazed the creature. The cabin boy was beginning to grow frustrated, he only had so few cannon balls and powder left that he had to make sure this one caught the beast's attention. After loading another one, he fired and this time it hit the creature, causing it to look toward him. He got nervous but quickly loaded the harpoon, along with new powder, and made sure to aim it toward the creature's face. Once he lit the cannon, the harpoon shot and was heading straight for the monster but little did he know some of the rope that was tied to the harpoon somehow wrapped itself around his ankle and the cabin boy was sent sailing toward the creature.

The cabin boy screamed, feeling the cold air sharply hit his face as he looked ahead toward the creature. This was it, this was his end. If the harpoon doesn't kill the sea serpent, then sea serpent would surely kill him. As he drew closer, he shut his eyes tightly and hoped this wouldn't be too painful. But before anything would happen, he stopped and heard the horrific cry of the sea serpent. The cabin boy looked up and saw that the harpoon had in fact hit the creature between the eyes and felt it fall back into the sea. He grew terrified again as he was being dragged under water with the dying monster.

When the cabin boy was under, he struggled to set himself free, trying his best to untie the rope that had somehow wrapped around his ankle. He was being dragged under much more quickly and remembered about the knife he had. Grabbing it, he began to cut at the rope and made sure to hold his breath longer than he normally had. The cabin boy saw some air bubbles escape his mouth. His lungs were burning, straining and tightening from lack of air, and he was starting to feel a little dizzy. But finally, he had cut the rope and tried to swim back up toward the surface. The cabin boy was indeed struggling, he hadn't realized how deep he was dragged down to the water by the dying sea serpent and was slowly starting to lose consciousness. He grew tired and his lungs were very much strained. His vision was starting to give, causing him to stop and nearly give in to this awful fate he had unknowingly got dragged into. The cabin boy stared toward the sky and the moon from the water, seeing its soft glow against the water. The cabin boy welcomed the darkness that was now starting to invade his vision and just before he finally closed his eyes he saw something begin to swim toward him. Not sure if it was his imagination or the Angel of Death but he couldn't make anything out from it. Even as he tried, his eyes closed and finally gave into the cold embrace of death.

Now, the readers who waited, review! *Disappears into the TARDIS as it de-materializes, traveling to another place in another time.*