AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is picking up where Kimberly Appelcline's "The
First Kiss" fanfic leaves off (you can find the fic on this very site),
somewhere halfway through the epilogue. Kimberly's story, in turn, is a
continuation of P.J. Hogan's movie Peter Pan, which is of course a version
of J.M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan, which is in itself a sequel (of sorts) to
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (also by Barrie - which can be read at
gutenberg.net). Confused yet? ;-)
Here's Chapter IX.......All comments welcome please! Enjoy! (
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IX. POWER STRUGGLE
Anthony tried hard to avoid making contact with anything, should his very touch give him away as he crept through the jungle. It had now progressed to such that his aura was leaving more permanent marks on Neverland. Already did the large tree with the underground chamber that he presently called home shine like a beacon throughout that side of the island. And the whole perimeter around the fairies' den where he spent so much his time was seeing considerable signs of life as the greenery now once again usurped the frost. Thus Anthony had to be most careful when venturing into less friendly territory, such as the Indian encampment and Mermaid's Lagoon. But worst of all, he must avoid The Pirate.
At least, that is what he thought the fairies called him. He was still learning the fairy language, but they talked so rapidly and all at once that it was sometimes impossible for him to wrap his little head around it. But he was almost positive they used the word "Pirate" when warning Anthony of the most feared and villainous individual in Neverland. If he understood the fairies correctly, this scoundrel had taken reigns over the island in recent years, sinking it further into the cold oblivion that it was at present. They said he had an iron claw instead of a hand, and eyes that turned blood-red when he gutted you with it...
For as many warnings as the fairies had beseeched upon Anthony, he had an overwhelming desire to seek out this dastardly fiend, just to see how much, if at all, these words of caution were warranted. Anthony felt no fear – 'tis amazing how little fear a child will feel when he has only an idea and not the real threat actually staring him down in person. And it was this recklessness that led Anthony towards the forbidding Pirate's Cove that night.
He stepped lightly, floating mostly in midair, to evade brushing up against anything and setting it aglow with his essence. But the forests were so thick that such a feat was truly for naught, as with every careless touch, he left behind his telltale mark, rather like smears of fresh green paint that dripped off of the leaves. No matter how hard he tried, he could not fully slip through the jungle undetected, for the island has eyes – and the evil Pirate had even more of his own.
And the footprints implanted among the mostly frostbitten shrubberies are what these eyes followed, all the way up to the edge of the Cove where the ship was docked – or rather, frozen solid within the iced-over waters – and where Anthony was spying from within the bushes.
Anthony had just begun to formulate a plan for boarding the ship when, suddenly, a giant and weather-beaten hand shot out from behind him and around his mouth. In no time at all, several other large hands had a hold of every other available part of his person. Attached to the hands were many fits of cackling, and then a face – oh, a most dreadful and depraved face – which rested on Anthony's tiny shoulder.
"Sooooo, you want to see the ship, do ya?" came the even more debauched voice. "Alright then, let's go see the ship!"
And with a loud "HURRAH" did this band of degenerates march little Anthony through the brush, down to the Cove, and onto the menacing pirate ship. The boy thrashed and fought at first, but he quickly realized that they must be taking him to The Pirate, and he ceased to struggle. He was perfectly confident that he would be able to get away from these brutes if he put forth the effort, but so intense was his curiosity to see what this Pirate was like that he held off until he felt it necessary to fight.
And so his captors led him onto the ship and towards the captain's quarters. Only three eventually accompanied him inside – the enormous one holding him and two others for back-up who opened the cabin door for the former. The room was quite dim, lit by only a few small candelabras distributed to strategic places within. Anthony almost did not see the dark figure lurking in the shadows on the other side of the room, his back to them. All he could make out was a black silhouette – everything black, from his scuffed leather boots, his ill-fitting trousers, the loose shirt- sleeves, and, most grotesquely, the tightly-curled black hair, hanging down upon his back like a huge pile of black silkworms being ruthlessly dangled from a great height.
Anthony kept his eyes glued to the dark shape as it slowly began to turn around. And thus followed a pair of the coldest, bluest eyes – bluer than any flower petal or pool of water that Anthony had yet seen. But they were nearly buried under the grimacing brow, capped off incongruously by a most self-confident grin. And then, finally, there it was – glittering brightly against his black visage was the iron claw where his right hand should have been. But it did not look to be so much like a claw as a...
"Hook," the dark man introduced. "Captain James Hook."
His voice was like warm molasses oozing over sandpaper. He half-bowed to his little guest, but it was more mockery than real respect. He straightened again and let out an amused huff. "A Boy. Marvelous." He was an imposing figure indeed, but Anthony was rather taken by his own sense of purpose and arrogance.
He began to walk towards him, stroking his iron claw. "And what may I call you, young sir?"
A grin akin to the Pirate's spread across Anthony's lips. "You may call me...Your Worst Fears!"
Instantly, his three captors began to guffaw loudly, and even the dark Pirate himself had a chuckle.
"Oh, indeed!" the Captain said facetiously. He turned on his heel and began to leisurely pace about the cabin. "My men tell me that you mean to, shall we say, 'overthrow' me."
"It must be done," Anthony responded calmly. "And it shall be."
Hook snickered again. "Oh, my good lad, it would be a lie if I said I had not dreamed for a day like this to come, when someone would arrive in Neverland to finally challenge me. It has become so frightfully boring having everyone do as I wish that I daresay sometimes I pray for a mutiny!"
He laughed again, but the other three pirates did not. They would not dare to.
"However," Hook continued, leaning up against a desk across the room, "I have grown quite comfortable with my life here in recent years, and very pleased with the work I have done." He motioned towards one of the many cabin windows to the gloom and misery outside. "And I do not intend to let some snotty-nosed brat barge in here and attempt to undo all of it."
Anthony thrust his nose into the air haughtily. "It will happen, sir, so you may as well get used to the idea."
"My, you are unabashed, aren't you? Reminds me of a little monster I once knew, long ago..." Hook let his mind wander for a moment but then quickly brought it back to the present. "But, no, I am sorry. I cannot let you negate my authority here."
"And what do you suppose to do about it, Captain?"
Hook brought his claw up to his chin in an exaggerated show of pondering. "Well, I could kill you of course..."
Anthony figured as much.
Hook's ice-blue eyes then lit up. "BUT – I may have a proposition for you." He began to walk steadily, straight towards Anthony, and when he was but a foot from him, crouched down to his level. "How about if you were to join me?"
"Join you?"
"Yes! Become a pirate, live the life of leisure and thievery. The work is not so hard and the rewards are bounteous!"
"You mean I am to be another one of your subordinates?" Anthony frowned, shooting disgusted looks at the three pirates.
Hook was willing to compromise. "You can be co-Captain if you like!"
But Anthony had heard quite enough. In one swift movement, he leapt from the floor and with all his might smacked Hook in the chest with his feet, sending the wicked man hurtling back towards his desk. Anthony's legs followed through upwards until his arms had slipped gracefully out of his captor's grip and allowed him to float, upside-down, to the ceiling. And before the pirate knew what had happened, Anthony pushed off the ceiling, dove down once more, and glided underneath the pirate's legs, past the other 2 pirates, and out the cabin door.
Hook grappled to his feet quickly and emerged from his quarters, fuming. Anthony was still buzzing about the ship, taunting the other pirates on deck.
"SHOOT HIM!" Hook roared. And several tried, but Anthony dodged every bullet – even luring one shot towards another pirate across the deck who was promptly hit by his own shipmate's fire.
Hook let out a terrible grunt of frustration. Anthony flew up toward the crow's nest and looked down at the infuriated pirate one last time before escaping into the jungle. He bowed gallantly.
"'Til we meet again, Hook!" And with a mocking laugh, he disappeared among the trees and brush.
Hook growled and struck his claw into the nearest wooden mast. "Oh, how I loathe children..."
Here's Chapter IX.......All comments welcome please! Enjoy! (
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IX. POWER STRUGGLE
Anthony tried hard to avoid making contact with anything, should his very touch give him away as he crept through the jungle. It had now progressed to such that his aura was leaving more permanent marks on Neverland. Already did the large tree with the underground chamber that he presently called home shine like a beacon throughout that side of the island. And the whole perimeter around the fairies' den where he spent so much his time was seeing considerable signs of life as the greenery now once again usurped the frost. Thus Anthony had to be most careful when venturing into less friendly territory, such as the Indian encampment and Mermaid's Lagoon. But worst of all, he must avoid The Pirate.
At least, that is what he thought the fairies called him. He was still learning the fairy language, but they talked so rapidly and all at once that it was sometimes impossible for him to wrap his little head around it. But he was almost positive they used the word "Pirate" when warning Anthony of the most feared and villainous individual in Neverland. If he understood the fairies correctly, this scoundrel had taken reigns over the island in recent years, sinking it further into the cold oblivion that it was at present. They said he had an iron claw instead of a hand, and eyes that turned blood-red when he gutted you with it...
For as many warnings as the fairies had beseeched upon Anthony, he had an overwhelming desire to seek out this dastardly fiend, just to see how much, if at all, these words of caution were warranted. Anthony felt no fear – 'tis amazing how little fear a child will feel when he has only an idea and not the real threat actually staring him down in person. And it was this recklessness that led Anthony towards the forbidding Pirate's Cove that night.
He stepped lightly, floating mostly in midair, to evade brushing up against anything and setting it aglow with his essence. But the forests were so thick that such a feat was truly for naught, as with every careless touch, he left behind his telltale mark, rather like smears of fresh green paint that dripped off of the leaves. No matter how hard he tried, he could not fully slip through the jungle undetected, for the island has eyes – and the evil Pirate had even more of his own.
And the footprints implanted among the mostly frostbitten shrubberies are what these eyes followed, all the way up to the edge of the Cove where the ship was docked – or rather, frozen solid within the iced-over waters – and where Anthony was spying from within the bushes.
Anthony had just begun to formulate a plan for boarding the ship when, suddenly, a giant and weather-beaten hand shot out from behind him and around his mouth. In no time at all, several other large hands had a hold of every other available part of his person. Attached to the hands were many fits of cackling, and then a face – oh, a most dreadful and depraved face – which rested on Anthony's tiny shoulder.
"Sooooo, you want to see the ship, do ya?" came the even more debauched voice. "Alright then, let's go see the ship!"
And with a loud "HURRAH" did this band of degenerates march little Anthony through the brush, down to the Cove, and onto the menacing pirate ship. The boy thrashed and fought at first, but he quickly realized that they must be taking him to The Pirate, and he ceased to struggle. He was perfectly confident that he would be able to get away from these brutes if he put forth the effort, but so intense was his curiosity to see what this Pirate was like that he held off until he felt it necessary to fight.
And so his captors led him onto the ship and towards the captain's quarters. Only three eventually accompanied him inside – the enormous one holding him and two others for back-up who opened the cabin door for the former. The room was quite dim, lit by only a few small candelabras distributed to strategic places within. Anthony almost did not see the dark figure lurking in the shadows on the other side of the room, his back to them. All he could make out was a black silhouette – everything black, from his scuffed leather boots, his ill-fitting trousers, the loose shirt- sleeves, and, most grotesquely, the tightly-curled black hair, hanging down upon his back like a huge pile of black silkworms being ruthlessly dangled from a great height.
Anthony kept his eyes glued to the dark shape as it slowly began to turn around. And thus followed a pair of the coldest, bluest eyes – bluer than any flower petal or pool of water that Anthony had yet seen. But they were nearly buried under the grimacing brow, capped off incongruously by a most self-confident grin. And then, finally, there it was – glittering brightly against his black visage was the iron claw where his right hand should have been. But it did not look to be so much like a claw as a...
"Hook," the dark man introduced. "Captain James Hook."
His voice was like warm molasses oozing over sandpaper. He half-bowed to his little guest, but it was more mockery than real respect. He straightened again and let out an amused huff. "A Boy. Marvelous." He was an imposing figure indeed, but Anthony was rather taken by his own sense of purpose and arrogance.
He began to walk towards him, stroking his iron claw. "And what may I call you, young sir?"
A grin akin to the Pirate's spread across Anthony's lips. "You may call me...Your Worst Fears!"
Instantly, his three captors began to guffaw loudly, and even the dark Pirate himself had a chuckle.
"Oh, indeed!" the Captain said facetiously. He turned on his heel and began to leisurely pace about the cabin. "My men tell me that you mean to, shall we say, 'overthrow' me."
"It must be done," Anthony responded calmly. "And it shall be."
Hook snickered again. "Oh, my good lad, it would be a lie if I said I had not dreamed for a day like this to come, when someone would arrive in Neverland to finally challenge me. It has become so frightfully boring having everyone do as I wish that I daresay sometimes I pray for a mutiny!"
He laughed again, but the other three pirates did not. They would not dare to.
"However," Hook continued, leaning up against a desk across the room, "I have grown quite comfortable with my life here in recent years, and very pleased with the work I have done." He motioned towards one of the many cabin windows to the gloom and misery outside. "And I do not intend to let some snotty-nosed brat barge in here and attempt to undo all of it."
Anthony thrust his nose into the air haughtily. "It will happen, sir, so you may as well get used to the idea."
"My, you are unabashed, aren't you? Reminds me of a little monster I once knew, long ago..." Hook let his mind wander for a moment but then quickly brought it back to the present. "But, no, I am sorry. I cannot let you negate my authority here."
"And what do you suppose to do about it, Captain?"
Hook brought his claw up to his chin in an exaggerated show of pondering. "Well, I could kill you of course..."
Anthony figured as much.
Hook's ice-blue eyes then lit up. "BUT – I may have a proposition for you." He began to walk steadily, straight towards Anthony, and when he was but a foot from him, crouched down to his level. "How about if you were to join me?"
"Join you?"
"Yes! Become a pirate, live the life of leisure and thievery. The work is not so hard and the rewards are bounteous!"
"You mean I am to be another one of your subordinates?" Anthony frowned, shooting disgusted looks at the three pirates.
Hook was willing to compromise. "You can be co-Captain if you like!"
But Anthony had heard quite enough. In one swift movement, he leapt from the floor and with all his might smacked Hook in the chest with his feet, sending the wicked man hurtling back towards his desk. Anthony's legs followed through upwards until his arms had slipped gracefully out of his captor's grip and allowed him to float, upside-down, to the ceiling. And before the pirate knew what had happened, Anthony pushed off the ceiling, dove down once more, and glided underneath the pirate's legs, past the other 2 pirates, and out the cabin door.
Hook grappled to his feet quickly and emerged from his quarters, fuming. Anthony was still buzzing about the ship, taunting the other pirates on deck.
"SHOOT HIM!" Hook roared. And several tried, but Anthony dodged every bullet – even luring one shot towards another pirate across the deck who was promptly hit by his own shipmate's fire.
Hook let out a terrible grunt of frustration. Anthony flew up toward the crow's nest and looked down at the infuriated pirate one last time before escaping into the jungle. He bowed gallantly.
"'Til we meet again, Hook!" And with a mocking laugh, he disappeared among the trees and brush.
Hook growled and struck his claw into the nearest wooden mast. "Oh, how I loathe children..."