Chapter 17:
Once Sebastian was relieved of his duties at the tavern, he tidied up and ventured out to the spring that he showed Tala. Hook had asked him to look for her, and he figured that would be the best place to start. She wasn't going to go back to Hook quickly, not after that display she put on at the bar. Tala was angry with him for one reason or another, that much was clear.
He was pleased to see that his best guess was correct, but he was surprised to see that she wasn't just there to sulk. As he pushed through the foliage and peeked through the trees, he saw her dress laying in a bundle on the rocks. Tala was sitting in the water, completely nude, letting her head rest back against the edge of the water, where there was a little tuft of grass. She was looking up at the night sky, utterly lost in her own thoughts.
"I suppose I should have expected ye to be here," Sebastian cleared his throat to announce his presence, not wanting to startle her. Although he had already gotten a glimpse of the tops of her breasts, he covered his eyes and moved forwards so she could see him. "Come for an evening bath, did ye?"
"You don't have to cover your eyes."
"Well, it wouldn't be very gentlemanly for me to look upon yer naked body, Tala," Sebastian said lowly. Despite the temptation to take her offer, he kept his hand up to block her from view.
"Is it really so alluring that you can't even look? As a child, I was taught my body was a weapon. Nothing more."
"Try to think of it more like a treasure. More valuable than any gems or gold. Ye should treat it as such, so that mere tavern boys like meself don't even have the honor to gaze upon it."
"You are an interesting man," she giggled, bringing her arms in to cover her chest. "I am covered now. You can look."
Sebastian lowered his head, but the slight attempt to cover her bosom did little to put out the fire that seeing her like that ignited within him.
"Hook asked me to tell ye to return home if I happened to find you," he explained, walking closer to sit by the edge of the water. "I think he means to apologize for something. At least, he seemed rather apologetic."
"I'll go back to his home when I'm ready." Tala shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "But the night is hot, and the water is cool. I so rarely get to bathe in such nice water."
As if she forgot that she was supposed to be acting modest, Tala allowed her arms to leave her breasts so that they could raise and allow her fingers to carry water through her dripping raven hair. If it had still been longer, as it once was, it could have covered her breasts for her.
"You can get in if you want," she told Sebastian as she wrung the water from her hair. "I promise I don't bite."
"Tala. It would be indecent of me." How could she so casually tempt his waning willpower without even realizing the implications of her words? She must be truly naive, or she was more of a she-devil that Sebastian gave her credit for.
"Do you keep your distance because of Hook?" Tala asked, leaving her side of the spring to wade closer to his. "Are you afraid of him?"
"Most people are, and they're right to be," Sebastian answered honestly. "He is the feared Captain of the Jolly Roger. Nobody crosses him and lives to tell about it."
"You are so different from him," Tala mused, tilting her head to look up at him. "I can sit before you completely exposed, yet you don't try to touch me. You barely look at me. Do you not like me?"
"I assure you that's very far from the problem, lass."
Tala pondered for a moment, wondering what Sebastian meant by that. If he liked her, then why would he not touch her when she practically invited him to do so? He said it was natural to want to touch the person she loved, so perhaps that was the missing piece. Sebastian didn't love her. But did that mean that Hook did?
She pressed her hands into the rock on either side of Sebastian's legs and hoisted herself out of the water as far as she could reach. Tala managed to lift herself just high enough to press her lips to his ever so softly.
It wasn't anything like the way Hook kissed her. There was no predator vs prey, no pressure or pain at all. Sebastian stayed still for the most part, keeping his hands locked by his sides, keeping his tongue behind its toothy cage. He simply sat there and allowed her to press her mouth to his in a gentle, harmless way.
Tala sat back after a moment, looking into his eyes, which had just reopened once the kiss ended. She saw it there. The hunger. The desire. But his eyes did not hold the anger and frustration and madness that Hook's did when he looked at her that way.
"What was that, lass?" He was blushing. Tala thought it was kind of cute. "I hardly think meself deserving of such a gesture."
"I just wanted to know what it would feel like." Tala was surprised by her findings.
In some ways, she quite liked the gentle, careful way he let her kiss him. If she was being honest with herself, however, the passion with which Hook kissed her was not at all present. Maybe there was a missing key after all, be it love or lust. Sebastian just wasn't being consumed by want for her. He wasn't going mad with desire. But she couldn't decide if that was better or worse just yet.
"Ye best be gettin' home." Sebastian rose to his feet, touching his fingertips to his lips as if savoring the memory of their kiss. "Hook will have me chained and tossed into the ocean if he finds out that I... That any of this happened."
"I'll go," she gave in, moving back to climb out of the spring beside her dress. Sebastian was quick to cover his eyes again. "You did nothing wrong. He won't hurt you."
"You shouldn't put too much faith in that thought, lass. He'd hurt a man for bumping into him."
"He's not the villain he pretends to be," Tala mumbled as she stepped back into her dress. "He's just a man."
Tala shook the water from her shoulder-length waves and walked off into the woods without another word. She could've said goodbye, but she was a little irritated by how afraid of Hook Sebastian was. It made her feel lonely thinking that everyone on the Isle would be afraid to even be her friend because of the oh-so-frightened Captain. She scoffed at the thought. Hook was nothing to be afraid of.
Tala moved through the forest easily, as if she belonged there. Back on the mainland, Neverland, she roamed her forest nightly, just looking for something to do. Often she would hunt for her people. Sometimes she would climb a tree and look out over the horizon, wondering what else was out there. Now she knew. Pirates and village people. Nothing special.
She was very nearly to Hook's house when she heard the snap of a twig behind her. Tala froze, every muscle tense and on edge as she looked around her. Mere moments later, a group of three men staggered into view.
One of them she recognized.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here, lads," Mr. Morrow chuckled. There was a distinct slur to his words that worried her. "A savage in her right proper habitat. Among the animals that crawl through the mud and leaves and kill each other for scraps."
"She's just been for a bath, I'd wager," another man noted, seeing her dripping hair and damp clothing.
"Even the dirtiest dogs bathe themselves, lad."
Tala hesitated for a moment, anger bubbling under the surface as she clenched her jaw to keep it from spilling obscenities. Eventually, she decided it was best to just ignore them and continue on her path to Hook's.
But this unfuriated and agitated them further. Her refusal to acknowledge them drove Mr. Morrow to step forward and grab her by her bicep.
"Just where do ye think you're going? Off to seduce Hook with yer wily ways?"
"Do not touch me," Tala growled, jerking her arm away from his grasp. "You reek of rum. Go home and rest." It was the nicest possible thing she could say, but it did little to change his mind. He was determined to hurt her. Whether it was out of pure, unbridled prejudice or some sick personal pleasure Tala couldn't be sure.
"We should head on back," the third man said quietly to Mr. Morrow. "If Hook finds out ye bothered his woman--"
"She's no woman," Mr. Morrow scoffed drunkenly. "She's a beast."
"Less a beast than you," Tala muttered, taking big steps backwards, wanting to put distance between her and the pirate's.
"Excuse me?"
"You are the savage. A disgusting, foul-mouthed, bad-mannered pirate who smells worse than the livestock," Tala hissed back at him. "Go home and sleep off the rum, you pig."
Feeling triumphant that she shocked them into silence, Tala turned on her heels and started back towards Hook's house. She wanted the safety and comfort of being around someone that everyone feared but her. Someone who would protect her.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to reach that perfection. After only a few steps, Tala was suddenly blindsided by a very hard, heavy rock. Mr. Morrow had picked it up from the forest floor and smashed it against the side of her head sloppily. It was still enough to send her to the ground. Once she was there, he kicked her violently in the ribs, causing her to yelp and roll onto her side away from him.
"Ye don't get to disrespect me on me own island, you filthy savage. This place belongs to me and mine."
Tala couldn't even manage a response. Her head was throbbing now, and she was certain she felt blood dripping down her right temple and cheek.
"Now, Mr. Morrow," the other pirate tried to intervene. "You'll do nothin' but make the Captain angry."
"If you leave her out here, Hook'll never know," the second man commented, stepping closer to inspect the injured Tala. "Her people would do the same to us."
"Oh they have," Mr. Morrow boomed, kicking her again, this time in the face. His boot was heavy, and the moment it connected with her face, Tala felt her lip split open on the inside and begin spilling blood. "They've killed plenty of us. They love to kill, the rotten savages."
"Wouldn't it be such a waste to kill her first? Shouldn't we conquer before we kill?"
"You'll get yerself killed if you lay another hand on her!" The third pirate shouted, backing away from the brutal scene playing out before him. "I'm not going up against the captain for you, Morrow."
"Then get out of her, lad!" Mr. Morrow scolded him. "There's no place for lilly-livered cowards like you."
The third man looked down at Tala for a moment, battled his conscience, then took off running back through the forest. Once he was gone, Mr. Morrow felt even more emboldened. He knelt down in the leaves to grab Tala's legs and flip her onto her back.
"Do you think Hook's had her?"
"I don't doubt it. Why else would he be keeping her around?"
As Mr. Morrow began fumbling with her dress in an attempt to push it up her legs, Tala caught the glimmer of a blade under the moonlight. It was a long dagger, sharp, and just within reach in Mr. Morrow's boot. When he sat back to begin unbuckling his belt, Tala took her opportunity.
She summoned her remaining strength and leaned forward to grab the hilt of the dagger. Mr. Morrow was too slow to react, made sloppy by the rum coursing through his system. Before he could move or run, Tala swept the sharp edge of the dagger across his throat, splitting it open as he had split her lip. Only, this wound was fatal.
He tried grasping at his throat in an attempt to stop the blood from pouring out of it, but it was no use. The blade was sharp, and it had dug deep. The other man turned to run in horror, mouth agape after seeing Mr. Morrow wounded beyond help. Tala, however, was blinded with rage.
She staggered to her feet and left at him, driving the dagger into his lower spine, the first part of him she could reach. It wedged between his vertebrae and send him to the ground with an agonizing scream. Tala didn't bother to finish the job. She left the blade buried in his back and turned towards home.
Tala was dizzy, disoriented, and covered in blood. Yet, all she wanted to do was get back to safety. She wanted to get back to Hook.