To leave or to stay
From the crow's nest where they were standing, the night seemed quite calm. The pirate's racket below them had momentarily stopped, and the only audible sound was the clashing of the small waves against the ship's hull. Now that the mist was starting to clear, it could even be said that it was a beautiful night, and in any other situation they could have easily enjoyed it.
The searching party had reunited after exploring almost the entire ship, no good news to be shared. Ria and Lonny had looked around the desk, while Tink and the others had gone inside, but neither of them had seen Zarina. Terence had stayed with the ship, in case someone came. If Silvermist had been there, they would have even searched the waters.
"Where could she be?" asked Terence.
"Knowing her, she's probably gone exploring." pointed Tink.
"She could have waited for us." added Vidia, who was starting to get pissed. They all knew Zarina loved to explore, either at her lab or outside of it, but disappearing inside a pirate ship, with so much violent and drank men, and one particular small captain probably chasing after her, that was going too far.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about that now." replied Tink, breaking the silence. "So how about we use this opportunity to make sure the pirates remain where they are?"
"What do you mean?" asked Iridessa.
"We could immobilise the ship." said Ria, joining the conversation.
"Exactly! We can tie the anchor to the seafloor, disable the rudder, and bring down the sails." The tinker was getting more and more excited. Everyone agreed with the plan. Since there was no telling when their beloved captain would return from her small adventure, it was better to do something useful meanwhile.
"And when Zarina returns, I'll have the balloon fixed." added Terence, holding a rope he had been trying to fix.
"I think I'll help you with that first." said his girlfriend with a giggle.
…
James noticed Zarina opening her eyes, so he quickly put a hand on her mouth to kip her quiet.
"Wha… what are you..?" exclaimed the fairy with surprise, but James gave her a warning expression.
"Shhhh!" They were inside a wooden hole, and she saw some big shadows passing by, and heard some rude voices. Pirates. When the sound of their steps was faint enough, James took a look outside. She wanted to ask him what was going on, but her voice didn't come out, her head hurt. "We should get going" said he, looking at her. She tried to move, but all her body hurt, and her wings were wet, probably with the liquid of the glass that had hit her. James sighted and then suddenly he took her on his arms. Had he carried her all the way like this? She blushed a little, but was too tired to complain.
"You saved me." were the only words she managed to say. James tensed a bit.
"Don't get me wrong." he tried to sound indifferent. "If the pirates capture you now, I'll have nothing to appeal to them." But Zarina had already fallen unconscious. "At least she hasn't noticed she's missing some things." thought he. He felt more comfortable now that his sword was where it belonged.
He took another glimpse outside before stepping on the deserted corridor, and then he started to run again. In his intent of running away from Starkey, he had failed to reach the stairs leading to the desk, and although he had managed to lose the man, now he had to find another way up. Luckily the other pirates were too focused on yelling at each other to even worry about him or Zarina, thanks to the alcohol they had probably already forgotten them being in the ship, but that didn't make them less dangerous.
With all this, his plan wasn't going as expected, but it wasn't that bad. After all, his idea of meeting Zarina and gaining back his sword had been accomplished, and now, if he managed to get the fairies out of the ship, the remaining should be relatively easy. The only reason Starkey was this furious was because of the drinking, but once he was sober, he would certainly understand that without a proper captain they were completely lost, and in the end he would agree to another attack to the Hollow. James was confident that by now he had already gathered enough information to make a successful assault, as Smee had wisely pointed. He would have preferred to regain his size before trying to reason with his crew, but he could by no means let the pirates go to mainland without him.
He stopped at one corner and looked to both sides before resuming his escape. Zarina had rested her head against his shoulder, and she still had her eyes closed. "How can she sleep with all this movement?" She wasn't heavy at all -he didn't know if it was because of her being a fairy or because of his own strength- but carrying her like this made him feel a little awkward. He couldn't picture himself doing this same thing two years ago, and he hated to think that only two weeks with the fairies had affected him this much. It was also true that holding Zarina like this gave him a great sensation, he felt powerful. "Stop thinking of stupidities." he thought to himself, noticing that his heart had started to beat faster. "Concentrate on the running!"
He turned three more corners, and then the stairs finally appeared before them. It was then that he realised, there was no way he could climb them with his current size. There was a small slit at the wall to his left, but the path going up wasn't as good as the ones he had already seen, it was wet and musty, slippery. He put Zarina down carefully, sitting her down so that her back was leaning against the wall.
"Zarina. Hey, Zarina!" It was useless. James remembered how strong the glass had hit her, and for a moment he feared it had truly hurt her, but he dismissed the thought, there was no time for worrying. He was now thinking how he could get upstairs, when the running and shouting behind them alerted him.
"Let me go, he's mine!" Starkey appeared down the hall, making a big fuss. Smee was grabbing his shirt in a desperate intent to stop him.
"Ca… Captain!" Starkey's moustache tensed and he started to run in their direction, dragging Smee along. His movements were irregular and clumsy, but strong. "Run!" exclaimed the sailor, holding his red cab with his free hand.
James raised Zarina in a rush. They entered the tunnel just in time to dodge the two pirates clashing against the stairs. The path was truly sloped, so James held the fairy on his back with one hand and climbed with the other. He could hear Starkey trying to reach into the hole, but he didn't stop.
Fortunately, the tunnel led directly to the desk, and they were soon at open air. Now the only problem was how to get up the mast. He thought the balloon had landed there, but without wings it was almost impossible for someone his size to climb that high, even less carrying another person while running away from someone a hundred times bigger, who would soon realise he only had to climb the stairs to catch them.
James looked around, searching for a rope he could use, and then he saw her. A red-haired fairy he had never seen was standing midair a few meters before him. The outfit she was wearing, he had seen it somewhere before, but it wasn't from any fairy he knew. She looked at him, seemed undecided to approach them. He heard Starkey's shouts downstairs, they had to hurry. Whoever that fairy was, she was a fairy, which probably meant she was on Zarina's side, so he stepped forward towards her, and she finally flew to them, and took Zarina in her arms, she was surprisingly strong for a fairy. "Maybe a soldier." thought he, but neither of them said anything, and Paige took the Head Alchemist away.
"Caaaptain… Captain Hook… Where are you?" Starkey had gotten rid of Smee and was now standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hey you scum!" shouted James from the ropes he had started to climb. "I bet you can't even catch me."
"Ahahahaha, we'll see that!" He was drunk, but his size was still a big advantage, and James had to practically run to get away. They went up and up, higher and higher. They were now at the second yard of the mainmast, the balloon up in the mast before them. Here James had the advantage, he was more agile, and fit better in the yard, not to mention that Starkey's balance wasn't as good as it should have been. James was sure he was going to escape, but then he heard laughing.
"Look at that!" James turned around and saw Starkey looking at the red-haired fairy still holding Zarina, trying to reach the crow's nest. The pirate moved his hand and hit them, making Paige drop the other fairy. Zarina fell to the yard below. James and Starkey quickly glanced at each other, and then the last one smiled mischievously before starting the descend. "Damn it!" thought James. He couldn't let Starkey get his hands on Zarina, but if he went there, he was in risk of getting captured himself. And, besides, the red-haired fairy could perfectly save Zarina before the pirate got to her, no?
This had to be his final decision. Either he helped Zarina, at risk of getting captured, or he let Paige run the risk and returned to hide in the cabin until everyone had calmed down. In the first case, he would have to carry the fairy to the balloon, which meant he would have to join the fairies. But if he left the job to the scouter, he could remain at the ship, and eventually become it's captain again. This was the real decision: to leave or to stay. He looked at Starkey, then back at Zarina and again at Paige, and then he turned around and resumed the escape.
…
Ria and Lonny were almost done with their part of the plan, tying the anchor with seaweeds, when they heard some loud voices at the desk. They hurried to the balloon, to find that the others had also returned.
"What's going on?" asked Lonny.
"The pirates are chasing Zarina!" exclaimed Iridessa.
"What?" the two alchemists joined their friends, who were looking over the railing. The first thing they saw was Starkey, who had almost reached the first yard, and when they looked to where Vidia was pointing, they finally saw Zarina, laying on the yard, unconscious.
"There's only one pirate, but he was chasing James just a few seconds ago. We didn't even notice Zarina was there until he started to descend." Because of mist that was still around, and the ropes and masts, they hadn't seen Paige carry Zarina or being hit by the pirate.
"And where is James now?" asked Lonny.
"He's disappeared." said Tinkerbell with a grieve tone, while she put back the last piece of the balloon's basket.
"Such a coward, he's probably run away." agreed Vidia.
"Well, we have to do something!" urged Lonny.
"Yeah, the balloon is ready." said Terence while sprinkling all the pixie dust he had over it. "Hurry on!" They all jumped in while the engine started to rise.
"Tink, the rudder!" said Vidia. "I'm going down there, make sure to have this thing ready to catch us!"
Starkey was now almost arriving. He couldn't see too well, it seemed as if the whole ship were spinning, but he managed to move forward. He was going to get that damn fairy, and Captain Hook would be over once and for all. He was about to take the last step, when he noticed someone was pulling his moustache. Paige was trying to drive him away, but instead she managed to destabilise him enough to fall. He started to wobble dangerously, and the scouter had to fly away to dodge his arms. Vidia had already reached Zarina, but she was still grabbing her, and Starkey was going to fall onto them, when suddenly an enormous barrel fell from the sky and stuck him on the head, making him fall to the floor. Vidia looked astonished as James jumped off the rope which had been tying the barrel and landed beside them.
"Let's hurry now that he's down." He grabbed Zarina more carefully than Vidia would have expected, and jumped to the balloon which was already passing below them. The speechless fast-fairy followed him.
…
Zarina opened her eyes to the night sky. She was sitting on a wooden surface, leaning on something soft. The ball of cotton above told her she was in the balloon, and the wind caressing her hair said they were moving. Vidia and Iridessa were sleeping before her, and she could see Tinkerbell at the helm to her left.
"Tink?…" Her friend looked at her and smiled sweetly.
"Oh honey, you awake?" said Iridessa, opening her eyes. Vidia opened them too and yawned loudly.
"The pirates…"
"They are gone, Zarina, you don't have to worry anymore." explained Terence, who was sitting beside Think, making her company.
"I see… great news then." But she didn't seem much convinced, and her friends wondered why. If they had known she was sad because she thought she was never going to see James again, they would have laughed, and Vidia would have surely not said what she said next:
"And if it hadn't been for this gentleman here, you would be gone with them. You had us worried there." Zarina looked at her without understanding, and when she turned around she almost fell from the surprise. James was looking at her with a half smile, clearly amused of her fright. She had been leaning on James the whole time!
"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed. The others started to laugh.
"Did you really hit your head that hard? He's been with us this whole adventure." said Vidia with her usual sarcastic tone.
"Yeah… I know that. I mean… I thought…" She looked at James, who seemed to be getting suspicious. "He doesn't know I heard his conversation with his subordinate. But why is he here?" She noticed she had been staring at him, so she looked away, and then she realised she was missing something.
"My belt… and my swords! Where are they?"
"You didn't have them when we found you." said Lonny. "You must have lost them when you fell." She found it difficult to believe, but she didn't say anything. James stealthily pushed his coat over the swords, which were now hanging from his newly acquired belt.
"You should rest." Everyone looked at Ria, who was talking from the first time since they had taken off. Zarina smiled widely at her, nodding, and then she rested her head against James shoulder once again. It was a little awkward, but since she had already been doing so, there was no reason to change it now, she would have plenty of time to play the cold queen back at home. It was only one night. And he had returned, it was all the reason she needed right now.
The others looked at her fall asleep like this without any complains. Normally they wouldn't have approved of it, but they were as much surprised as Zarina, if not more, at the fact that James had decided to return to the Hollow, most probably to save their friend. Seeing James knock down Starkey and then take Zarina into his arms to personally put her on the balloon had even induced Tinkerbell into thinking that maybe, just maybe, he did really care for her.
James closed his eyes too, trying to avoid all the people who so eagerly wished to know what he was thinking about. Truth was he would have never returned if it hadn't been for Zarina being in danger, but he also wanted to continue with the plan of growing back to his size before retrieving his ship and his crew. He had learned that the fairies had disabled the ship, so now he had some more time to carry on his plan, to clear his feelings, and to clear some doubts. As, for example, the identity of that mysterious red-haired fairy. He had been willing to ask the other fairies, but they didn't seem to know anything of her, so he had decided to remain quiet about it a little longer.
Zarina moved closer to him, and he passed his arm around her shoulders. The cool wind blew unflagging, sweeping the last traces of mist out of the ocean.
…
The cold water splashed against his face, waking him up. Starkey stood in a flash, startled. The sun high above the sky hurt his eyes, and he had to cover them to finally recognise the chubby pirate before him.
"Goo… Good morning sir." said Smee, hiding the pail he had just used behind his back. Starkey stepped forward with anger, raising the tiny man from his shirt's collar.
"Where is he? Where's Hook?"
"Ho… How would I know sir? We haven't seen him since we set off."
"Don't lie to me!" cried Starkey.
"I… I'm not, sir! You must have dreamed it." Starkey stared at him for a few seconds, and then he finally released him. He noticed most of the pirates were running from here to there.
"What's going on?"
"It's the rudder, sir. Some drunk fellow must have broken it tonight, 'cause it's not working."
"Fix it! And do it quickly! We have to get out of here."
"Ye… Yes sir!" Smee watched the man walk away, and he sighted with relieve. "Man," though he. "when the Captain does come back, I'll demand him some vacations."
