The Plea

-Alice-

Gil's visits were the only reason she got up in the mornings. Her trips into town had all but ceased. When she had no other choice then to risk a venture she kept to the north eastern side of the isle. She wouldn't dare venture close to the pirate docks. She didn't see Uma, Harry or Gil during her visits anymore. She avoided any of their hangout spots along with the docks and kept her trips short. With her new found spare time she wandered the woods around her cave. She had found a small, forest green notebook with mostly empty pages, during one of her trips last year and once she ripped the few child scrawled pages, she had her very own journal. Taking up Nanny's practice started to record whatever she observed from the location of certain plants to the amount and colour of squirrels she spotted in certain types of trees.

One morning, Gil excitedly told her about the crew they were forming in preparation for the big race. She was proud of her friend for making strides down his own path in life. She was still worried of course, about him being so close to the man who haunted her nightmares, but she doubted he would come to any serious harm. After all, Gil would be with his friends and she trusted them with him completely. They were the reason she was able to avoid checking in on her friend without worry clawing away at the back of her mind.

She busied him with questions about piracy and laughed at the stories he told her. He quieted after a while and said to her in a quiet voice.

"Remember when you asked me what my dream was"

"Of course, I do."

She whispered back.

"I think I know what it is now. I want to be a pirate. To live by a code and become my own man."

"I think that's a wonderful dream."

She admitted, she meant it too. He was discovering his own path in life and she could see him vividly in her mind; blonde curls and sun darkened skin, smiling at her from the deck of a great ship. She wanted nothing more than to help him achieve his dream. It would be hers too. She would never be able to escape the isle, but just maybe, she could help him. Her small flame of hope flickered at the resolution. Gil had given her a new dream. If he found happiness she would be happy too. Her dream was to help Gil achieve his. She would do what little she could to help him live the life he wants to. She suddenly felt better than she had in months. It was like she had found traces of a trail in the woods during a cold rainy hunt. A trail to track, a path to follow, she was renewed by purpose.

Gil didn't return the next morning. Alice supposed it had to do with the big race that was fast approaching. She didn't mind the solitude. He had missed mornings before but always returned eventually. Cloaked in one of her thick blankets, she walked to her book shelf and withdrew one of the books Estelle had given her. They had all been read at least twice over by now, it had been a whole year since that day at the lodge. She opened the thick binding of the small booklet and thumbed through the pages until she found the one with the corner she had folded to mark the spot. It was the smallest of the books Estelle had given her and the only one that mentioned the ring by name. The little book was an index of magic objects, published by some scholar on the mainland several decades ago. The entry for the ring was only half a page long and Alice could recite every word by heart. The entry outlined the myth of the rings' creation by the four dwarves; Alfrigg, Dvalin, Berling and Grerr, their trade with Freyja, Odin's acts of anger and the dwarves desire for revenge. The only mention of the ring's curse in the last few lines;

Blood for blood the price is demanded, a cost shall be paid for all those enchanted.

That which is given, must be taken, to save one soul, another will be forsaken.

The print was prefaced by a beautiful sketch of the ring. It was surprisingly accurate, for its simplicity. Alice traced her finger over its curving lines. This was the ring that held her destiny prisoner. Forever entrapped in it's winding vines, no hope of escape.

The pit in her stomach twisted with the familiar grief for her own future. She would have no crew to watch her back, no ship to explore the vast seas beyond the horizon outside her cave. Only the echo of the cave walls and the crackle of her small fireplace. She could only watch the birds soar above the sea outside of the dome like when she was a child, but she would never be able to fly with them. Her wings had been clipped long ago, like a bird who fell from its nest and must scamper around the forest floor and hide from predators. Trapped in the hostile environment it was not made for but unable to escape. Alice didn't leave her bed for most of the day. She felt numb and hollow. She wasn't hungry or tired but she lay in the dark beneath her covers and closed her eyes.

Gil returned to her two nights later. She heard his approaching steps and recognized the sound of his gait.

"I knew you would come tonight" she sing-songed in a teasing tone.

There was a laugh from above and the creak of wood. He must be sitting in that rickety chair.

"And how is it you know that?"

"it's the night before the big race! Are you nervous or are you excited?"

She asked and leaned her head against the wall. She had missed him.

"Both, but we aren't going to win that ship tomorrow."

"Well, not with that attitude!"

"It's not about attitudes, Alice. They are going to cheat and win. We can't cheat, because if we do and get caught they will kick us out of all pirate stuff forever. We can get rid of their dumb boost machine because the ship under super security and Harry made me promise not to tell Uma because it would crush her and she would give up on the race altogether. They had no choice but to play their hand at the race and walk away empty handed and wait for another opportunity." Gil sighed.

"I've got a feeling that we won't have another one for a long while."

Alice was shocked at what she was hearing. She sat upright, mind whirling.

"What? Slow down a second. Boost machine? Super security? You're throwing a lot at me at once, here."

He told her about the machine that Harry had spied through a crack in his father's office door. She didn't know what to say, but she needed to say something.

"Oh. Well that's a pickle."

"Well I was kind of hoping you would be able to help?"

Alice winced. She had been dreading something like this might happen. He hadn't asked for anything since Uma and Harry got sick years ago. That little stunt almost got her killed. With what she knew now and all that she still didn't know, she couldn't risk any more crazy ideas.

"Gil, I-"

"Can you make our boat go faster? Or curse their crew with a stomach bug? I'll do anything you want in return, whatever deal you want to make, I'm in. Please. We need this win. I need this win."

Alice was struck by his desperation. She recalled their last conversation and the pride in his voice when he told her about his dream. She had made a choice didn't she, to help him achieve his goal. She understood how much this victory would change the lives of Gil and his friends. If they won, they would officially be pirates and with their very own ship to boot. It was an incredible opportunity that would otherwise be near impossible to the teens. The least she could do was try. If it got too dangerous she would just bail and give some excuse in the morning.

"Gil, I- I can't do those things. I don't work that way. I'm sorry. If I upset you. I will do what I can, but I have to do it my way"

Gil heaved a great sigh of relief.

"What do you want in return?"

He asked. She toyed with her old lie, her safety net of fear. She could be like her father, like Nanny, or she could follow Gil's example, to become her own man. In a manner of speaking. She wouldn't lie, not if she didn't have to. Not to Gil. Not to her friend. She might find the nerve to tell him about her secret mortality eventually. Maybe in a few years, everytime she tried the conversation in her mind, it led to questions she couldn't answer or didn't know. She was so tangled in lies and secrets she wasn't sure how to unravel them anymore. Her parents and her nanny died shrouded in them. She would be different.

"Nothing. This isn't a deal, Gil, this is a favor. Between friends."

Gil changed the topic and Alice was relieved for the distraction. They chatted for a while longer until she reminded him of his big day tomorrow. Her mind was still spinning the race problem and she would need all the time she could get if she was going to pull off another miracle. As he leaves she calls out after him.

"Don't take too long coming back. I can't wait to hear what happens"

When he leaves Alice springs into action. She runs the conversations back through her mind and picks out anything that might be helpful as she flits about the cave in a flurry of movement. There's a machine in Hook's office that runs on some sort of propellant. Given enough time and materials Alice could probably construct her own version but she didn't have a fraction of the time that would take. She couldn't sink their boats or make them heavier without having someone notice the alterations in the morning. Her only chance was to somehow disable that machine. If she could get a close enough look and a few minutes alone with it and she might be able to figure out how it works and break it. But, to get close to it, she would have to go to the one place that she had been avoiding; The Jolly Roger.

It would be near impossible to slip onto the ship, if Harry's report was to be believed. But if there was anyone who could pull it off, it was her. She had been slipping into and about town unnoticed for years. In broad daylight and in the dark of night. She had every alley and rooftop committed to memory. If there was anyone who could slip through heavy security into a heavily populated ship and out again unscathed and unnoticed it would only be her. She had gotten away with the impossible before. The chance of success was slim but the least she could do was try. She owed her friends that much.

Alice dressed quickly in a grey long tunic and black jeans. She zipped a light hooded black sweater over her and belted her knife to the side of her jeans. The jacket was thin but there would probably be a need to climb and run at full speed at a moment's notice. She covers the ensemble with one of Nanny's short cloaks. She had grown tall enough that she could fit most of the old woman's things. With the reduced diet and constant exercise nanny had never been very large. It would give her the extra warmth but she could ditch the extra layer easily if it slowed her down.

Alice checked the pocket watch she hadn't been expecting Gil so late in the evening and they had spoken for some time. It was close to midnight and anything she did, she would have to do in the few hours remaining until dawn. Frowning she tucked the small gold watch into the front pocket of her jeans and unclasped the necklace from her neck. Alice thought of leaving the ring at the cave. What she was planning was dangerous enough with her putting herself in a vulnerable position in the very home of the man she feared. If she were caught, the ring would give her away and she would be killed. Then again, if they caught her they would probably kill her regardless. Alice was clever and light on her feet but she wasn't magic. The ring might come in handy, gods forbid. She held up the chain. She had grown since she was a child and the ring no longer sat low on her chest. It was prone to falling out from under her tunic when she was climbing or jumping. It was too noticeable. Alice let one end of the chain fall into her cupped hand and dropped the ring into her palm. She slipped it onto the index finger of her left hand, it fit perfectly. Alice pulled the gold watch from her picket and strung it back on the chain, slipped it back into her pocket and fastened the end of the necklace around one of the belt loops of her jeans. The ring is still on her finger and Alice tests her grip and finger movement. The ring is small enough that she barely notices it, but it looks noticeable. The gold shines and the small white gem sparkles in the dim fire light. She digs through a chest of her winter gear and pulls out a thin pair of black leather gloves she pinched from the woman in the fur coat at the market. They fit her long slim fingers perfectly and Alice had been planning to use them for climbing in the late fall and early winter. She slipped the glove over her hands and flexed her fingers. The leather was soft and supple but the fingers and palms had a design of rough leather stitched onto it for grip. They wouldn't wear out too fast. Alice looked at the junction of her fingers. The band was invisible beneath the leather but the gem pushed up, puckering the leather. Alice frowned at the bump. She pulled the glove off her hand and twisted the ring around, so the gem was facing her palm and slipped the glove back on. She turned her hand over. Any evidence the gem was disguised by the natural pleats in the leather and the decorative reinforcement. Plus, if she needed to hide the ring, she could slip it off with the glove. With the ring folded safely in the glove it would be easier to hide. It wasn't the best solution, but it would have to do for now. Alice tied her softest leather boots tight to her legs and hurried out of the cave. Time was ticking.