Harry couldn't believe it was actually the little black-white haired boy that led his two sisters towards the Lost Revenge. He and his little dog had given the entire pirate crew shelter and a chance to catch their breath. After they rested and ate they went to the docks. Using the shadows of the night Carlos sneaked the group past the guards until they finally arrived at the Lost Revenge at the first sign of dawn. Meanwhile Jay had left to talk to Mal to remove Harriet, CJ and their entire crew from the list of fugitives.
Harry wanted to run towards his sisters, hold them for a moment and make sure they were okay. Instead he leaned against the mast with a smirk on his face. He had done the same thing after Uma had suddenly appeared in the ocean, just after he and Gil had slipped through the barrier. He wouldn't show them how much he missed them. Wouldn't show how worried, maybe even scared, he had been that something had happened to them. He would only show he was happy he saw them again, nothing more.
"Finally, for a moment I thought you would be missing out on all the fun," Harry greeted his two sisters. Harriet walked up the pirate ship, closely followed by Sammy and the rest of the crew. CJ immediately climbed in a rope and swung herself on the ship, making an entrance as always.
"Honestly didn't plan on being here," Harriet said dryly.
Again Carlos noticed how much the two were alike, until Harriet walked up to her younger brother and very caring wrapped her arms around him. She let out a sigh of relief before she released Harry from her embrace. Harry looked over at Carlos for a moment. Carlos had been standing at the railing, watching how the two pirate crews merged in together. It was obvious they were all old friends here.
"Oy, it is Gil!" CJ screamed from above. She swung down from her rope and landed in front of Gil. "Missed me?"
"Yea, we did," Gil answered her. "Why didn't you write to us? We were really worried about you guys."
Gil looked up at Harriet, but Harry jumped in before she could answer. "Sweet Gil, they are my sisters. They can handle themselves." Harry then turned towards Harriet again. "But I am curious as well. What took you guys so long?"
"Where shall I start? Your new friends threatening to arrest us or Gaston threatening to kill us if we tried to leave," Harriet said sarcastically.
"One of my new friends is making arrangements for you with Mal as we speak," Harry answered her. Harriet rolled her eyes.
"Pleading to the king and queen. Why not." Harry shrugged while he smiled at her. Harriet returned the same kind of smug smile, while the two siblings spoke with each other without words.
"You still look so handsome. It's like your muscles grew even bigger than the last time I saw you," CJ said to Gil. She already clung to him, having a tight grip on one of his arms. Gil didn't seem to mind, probably already used to it. Harriet and Harry looked at each other again, rolling their eyes over their little sister's behaviour.
"Beat it CJ, he has a boyfriend now," Harry said to her. CJ turned her back towards her brother in response, holding an even tighter grip on Gil's arm.
"Who? You?" Harriet asked Harry.
"Unfortunately no. It's Jay," Harry answered her.
"Jay?" Harriet said surprised. "You mean the Jay? From the Core Four?" Gil's bright smile confirmed it and Harriet crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Forget it, CJ. You're never getting Gil."
"Gil and I both know we are meant for each other," CJ said and pulled Gil even closer towards herself.
"If it was Harry you would've stand a chance, but not against Jay. I'm sorry." Harriet's smug smile showed she was obviously not sorry at all. Harry slowly turned his head towards her, a betrayed expression on his face.
"Speaking of which," Carlos said, noticing Jay walking towards the Lost Revenge. For a moment Jay frowned when he saw CJ so close to his boyfriend, but he quickly shrugged it off. He had known CJ for a long time as well.
"You're off the list," Jay said immediately.
"You managed that so fast," Harriet said gratefully.
"Told a little white lie," Jay replied softly. "I told them you went over here to meet up with your brother, probably wanting to join his crew. We could use the extra soldiers here. And I also forgot to mention you threatened to kill Carlos and Dude. Thought it was better to leave that out for now."
"She just held a knife to my throat," Carlos joked, standing beside Jay. He held Dude in his arms. The little dog was still a little shaken up and stayed close to his best friend.
Harry once again refused to show it on the outside, but he felt a rushing warmth from all that was happening. Somehow Jay went to such trouble to make sure his sisters would not get arrested. Even lying to his own friends. Harry knew he didn't do it for him. He could see the looks Gil and Jay gave each other again. Jay would do anything for Gil. Even joining the pirate crew for a day. And even lying to the king and queen of Auradon. Still Harry felt grateful towards him and he knew he should repay this depth to them one day.
By intuition Harry could feel her presence and he turned around, glad to see Uma walking up to him. She hooked her arm in his, just like CJ had done with Gil, and let her head rest against his arm. For a moment they stood there in silence, watching old friends meeting up and two different pirate crews unite. CJ and Jay were already getting into a heated conversation about Gil. For a moment Harry had to smile, glad it wasn't him who was fighting over Gil for once.
"It's good to see you smile again. I was getting worried about you too, you know," Uma suddenly said beside him. Harry chuckled softly, as he could feel a warm glow spread from his chest over his entire body.
"You should know better than wasting your time on worrying about me," Harry replied. Uma looked up at him, making Harry look back at her. She raised her eyebrows up to him, making her dark brown eyes even bigger. Her eyelashes curled up, a beautiful contrast against the blue eye shadow. Her lips were a little pecked up, giving Harry the urge to kiss her. But with her he wouldn't give in to his reckless behaviour. No, not with her. She was too precious to him, like an actual treasure.
"I know you better than most," Uma spoke to him. "So I know when I should be worried about you. And the last few days you have not been yourself."
Harry laughed out loud, making the impression that he took it as a joke. He hated that she had noticed, but he loved her for noticing. She smiled back at him and shook her head, showing she still wasn't buying his tricks. Her smile made his heart beat even faster. For a moment everything was perfect. His sisters were back and also Uma was exactly where she belonged, close by his side.
Harriet could see the blissful expression on her brother's face, which made her hesitant to interrupt. But she had important information that she had to share. "Captain Uma of the Lost Revenge, it's great to see you again," Harriet said, walking up to them.
"Captain Harriet Hook, you and your crew are welcome on my ship," Uma greeted back.
Harriet nodded politely. "I hope you know why we are here," Harriet started.
"Gil said you tried to leave the city of Auradon, but he got in your way. And instead of leaving, you agreed to come here. I assumed Gil successfully persuaded you to help us."
Harriet gave her a small smile, looking over at Gil. He had one arm wrapped around Jay's shoulder and ignored CJ's ranting when they shared a small embrace. "It never takes much for him to persuade me," she said, just before she turned towards Uma and Harry again. "I was never against your case. I tried to stay neutral. Even though we already failed before we reached Auradon."
"What do you mean?" Uma asked her. She could handle it when Harry spoke in riddles, but not from his sister.
"We needed a ship to cross the sea. Since Gaston has claimed every ship on the Isle, including ours. So we had to steal one of the ships back from him. But when we were at it, we might have destroyed every ship we could set our hands on."
"My sister, well done!" Harry cried out.
Harriet smirked back at him. "CJ wanted to set a huge fire to them all, but I said that would be too obvious. We sabotaged all the ships. They won't notice immediately, but enough to make sure none of them will be able to set sail."
"So Gaston can just solely cross the bridge," Uma said, finishing her explanation. Harriet nodded with a smirk on her face.
"I couldn't betray dad," Harriet said to Harry. "But I couldn't betray you either. Gaston has some other plans, but he never shared them with us. A few sunken ships are all I can give you. I am sorry, brother."
"Why did dad side with Gaston?" Harry asked. He hoped someone could finally answer the burning question he had for days on end.
"Gaston promised dad the magic mirror," Harriet answered. "Promised dad with the mirror he would finally be able to find Peter Pan and his hideout. And of course dad immediately clung to this new hope. While in fact, we don't even know if that mirror is even real. It was said in the story that the Beast has a mirror that can show you anything. But does it actually exist? Does it still work? Dad didn't think it through, he just went all in."
Harry nodded slowly. The answer didn't surprise him at all. Still, he felt disappointed in his dad. Captain James Hook had already made a lot of mistakes back in the past when he tried to capture the boy that refused to grow up. Yet again his dad had proven that he didn't think things through when it came to this boy. Harry sighed, but immediately felt better when he could feel Uma squeezing his arm. He wasn't alone anymore.
"Thank you," Uma said in Harry's place. "We need all the help we can get if we are going to defeat Gaston today."
"Today?" Harriet said. The shock in her eyes told Harry her surprise was genuine. She really didn't know what Gaston was planning.
"If the information we received is correct, then yes," Harry confirmed.
Harriet thought for a moment, softly nodding to herself. "That explains," she said after a while. "Yesterday Gaston gave me an ultimatum. Or we would assist him on the battlefield or he had to make sure we wouldn't stand in his way. He didn't make it sound like a threat, but I knew he was planning to lock us up in Hades's cave. Or worse, what do I know. That's why I decided to leave the island in such haste."
"And somehow you couldn't bear the thought of leaving the twins, but you were planning to leave your little brother in the dark," Harry said jokingly. The truth however still stung a bit. Just like with Uma he wasn't able to hide his hurt from his sister, since she gave him a regretful smile.
"I really planned to come back for you, I just didn't know how," Harriet said to him.
"I'm really glad you're here now," Harry said truthfully.
Suddenly the third sibling joined in the conversation. "I cannot believe this, Jay became a pirate," she shouted to her big sister.
"Just for today," Jay shouted back, making sure everyone would hear it.
Harriet turned towards Jay, a bright smirk on her face. "Once a pirate, always a pirate. Welcome on board."
Harry sheered in agreement, causing the entire crew to cheer with him. Jay wanted to throw a comeback, but quickly closed his mouth when he noticed Gil happily cheering with the rest of his crew members. Jay silently asked for help from Carlos, but he just shrugged with a smile on his face. He actually started to like the pirates, even though they had threatened to kill him just a few hours ago.
"Alright, listen up," Harriet shouted to her pirate crew. "I just learned Gaston is probably going to attack Auradon today. And I thought, since we're all here anyway, why don't we join Uma's crew and show that bastard you can't force a pirate to your hand!" A loud cheering from both crews let Harriet know they all agreed with her.
"And who knows," Harriet said, as she spoke a little softer. "Maybe the little boy is right. Maybe there is a place for us here after all this is over. Somehow."
"I told you," Carlos said. "Not just kids like Squeaky and Squirmy will get a fresh start in Auradon. You will all get a second chance here."
"Let's hope you're right," Harriet said pessimistically.
"Oh no, Carlos is right," Gil came in between. "It's amazing here. There is so much to see. Jay and I will show you around."
Jay raised his eyebrows at Gil, but before he could respond, CJ was already clinging to Gil's arm again. "Deal!" she said with a satisfied smile. "Now let's kick some butt first."
Uma and Harriet looked at each other for a moment. They nodded in agreement before they turned towards all the warriors on the ship. "Prepare for battle," the two captains shouted in sync. The pirates cheered again, this time also accompanied by Carlos and Jay. Even Dude dared to wig his little tail again.
"I'll be leaving towards Evie's cottage again," Carlos said to Jay. "You are going to be alright here?"
Jay looked up at Gil. He could see Gil had spoken the truth last night. Grabbing the shoulders of his brothers and sisters, raising each other up and leaning on each other's back. The pirate crew was like a family to him, it was where he belonged. Jay nodded towards Carlos. "Don't worry, we'll be alright."
Gil ran ahead, ready to grab his weapons, just before he turned around and gestured to Jay to follow him. Jay nodded, but then he could feel how someone grabbed his arm. Jay looked up and saw Harriet standing behind him.
"You hurt him and I'm going to rip you up in pieces and feed you to my crocodiles," Harriet softly spoke to him.
"Noted," Jay chuckled, noticing how Harriet smiled back at him. Even though Jay knew she probably wasn't joking at all.
Gil looked up at his own reflection in the mirror. It was an old one, and some pieces of the mirror were missing. A few scratches and a lot of dust were collected on it, but Gil barely noticed it. He just stared at himself for a moment, before he added another black stripe of paint on his right cheek. His finger trembled, which caused the stripe to be crooked. He felt anxious. Gil couldn't remember he had ever been so scared before battle. Scared about what would happen if they won and even more scared if they lost.
He looked away from his own reflection, not able to look at himself anymore. He stared at the colourful pots of paint on the table in front of him. Just beside the paint and the water laid his sword, ready to be picked up for the fight. Gil looked away from the weapon and decided to wipe his hand on the handkerchief that lay beside the paint. He was lost in his own thoughts until he could hear footsteps behind him. Gil turned around and smiled when he saw Jay walking towards him.
"You always put paint on your face before battle?" Jay asked.
"It's a pirate thing," Gil simply answered. Gil turned back towards the mirror. He sighed as he notices how he messed up the last stripe. "I just can't get it right today." He took the little handkerchief and roughly rubbed it over his cheek. The paint didn't disappear, but turned into a black and orange mess on his skin. Gil sighed. It didn't really matter anyway. He would never become a true warrior, no amount of paint could change that.
"Here, let me," Jay said and softly took Gil's hand in his. Gil allowed him to take the handkerchief. "You just need to add a little water," Jay explained, letting a few drops of water fall on the cloth. He carefully removed the spot on Gil's face with ease.
"Thanks," Gil softly said, before he turned towards the mirror again. He dipped his fingertip in the paint again and drew another stripe on his face. His hand already didn't shake as much and with a swift movement he drew the first marking on his face. Still not perfect, but it had to do. He added an orange stripe and another black stripe underneath it and looked back at Jay.
"Better," Jay stated. "But…" Jay carefully removed some paint with the handkerchief. "Now you're ready for battle."
Gil smiled up and caught himself in his reflection. He could see Jay standing beside him. He suddenly looked stronger. Better even. Then Gil noticed something else. He quickly added some more paint to his finger. Before Jay even realized Gil swiftly stroked over Jay's nose, leaving a black marking behind.
"Hey!" Jay shouted out surprised and rub the back of his hand over his nose.
"Don't remove it," Gil said chuckling.
"I don't need markings to become a better fighter," Jay said, but already didn't make any effort to remove the paint from his nose anymore.
"But you're a pirate now. We all have warrior paint during the battle."
"All of them?" Jay asked.
Gil frowned and thought for a moment. "Well, maybe not all of them," Gil answered, not willing to lie to Jay. "But a lot of us have. And you don't want to feel left out, do you?" Jay sighed, considering the markings.
"We can easily remove them if you really don't like it," Gil said and pointed at the handkerchief.
"Alright," Jay sighed. Gil smiled brightly at him. He added some fresh paint to his fingers.
"Horizontal or vertical?" Gil asked, his finger already close to Jay's skin, eager to start.
"Horizontal," Jay answered after a short consideration.
Gil looked fully concentrated when he added the first black stripes on Jay's cheeks. His hand was steadfast and also added the orange stripes. He swiftly added three black dots beside the orange stripe on both cheeks. He took a step backwards and looked pleased with the result. Jay looked in the mirror and couldn't help to chuckle. He wanted to say he looked ridiculous, but honestly he didn't.
"The one on the nose is deformed," Jay said, pointing at it.
Gil took the handkerchief and with utmost care removed the paint from Jay's nose. Jay barely felt that he was being touched, while he remembered how roughly Gil had rubbed his own cheek. For the last time Gil took some black paint on his fingertip and with a swift movement added a new black stripe on Jay's nose.
"There," Gil said happily. Jay smiled back, taking a little paint himself. Gil didn't move a muscle when Jay added a few stripes on his chin and added an extra layer on his nose.
"Perfect," Jay said, looking at the result.
"I'm so glad you're here," Gil said softly to Jay. Jay smiled back at him, moving closer to his boyfriend.
"Yea, me too," Jay said back to him.
Gil kissed Jay on his lips. He didn't feel so frightened anymore. The warmth coming from Jay's fingertips on his skin chased all his doubts and fears away. He could feel how a little bit of paint got left on his neck when Jay softly pulled him even closer to him. Gil didn't mind at all and deepened their kiss.
They parted again, even though Gil rather stayed like that. He wanted to stay in this warm and safe embrace, instead of raging on a battlefield within a few hours. But then the two could hear the sound of a horn, the signal that the enemy had been spotted. Gil grabbed his sword from the table. He took one last look in the mirror before he looked up at Jay again. They silently nodded at each other, before they climbed up the stairs towards deck.
On deck Jay noticed how all pirates were gathered, ready to leave to reinforce the main army. Jay saw how indeed many other pirates had similar markings on their faces. He also saw Harry grinning towards him. He didn't have any paint on him, but the black shadow around his eyes was thicker than usual.
Then Jay saw what the entire crew was looking at. An enormous group of people gathered at the bridge towards Auradon. It was too far away for Jay to clearly see, but he could swear he could actually see Gaston in front of the army; proudly parading on a black horse while wearing his red tunic.
Jay looked at Gil. Gil still looked anxious, his teeth clenched and his expression serious. Jay took his hand and softly squeezed it, noticing how Gil immediately looked less tense. No words were necessary anymore. Gil held a tight grip on Jay's hand, not willing to let go. He was ready to take on his dad.
I deeply apologize for not uploading this story in more than one and a half year. Like I said it isn't because I don't care about the story or the ship anymore, life just won't light up. I'm not sure if there is someone else who still cares about this story, but as long as there is at least one person (and that person would be me) who cares about it, then I will still upload it.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be uploaded next week. That's a promise. :)
