Captain Hook was waiting for them when the small boat reached the shore. He hadn't been there before and they hadn't seen him arrive, he was just there as though he always had been. Anamaria noted that none of the crew seemed to notice him as they continued their silly games as though they weren't the least bit tired, playing for so long under such hot a sun.
"Welcome back Peter Pan." Captain Hook greeted Jack, completely ignoring the first mate by his side.
"Thank you." Jack accepted cordially. There was no actual reason to be hostile to the other Captain. Not yet. Not when the only real reason he had so far was because it was really quite shocking to see ones arch nemesis return from the dead for the second time. It made much more sense to be polite and bid his time and see what he could learn by being nice. After all, everything happened at the opportune moment. There was no need to rush things.
"You'll find that I've learned a lot since our first meeting Peter Pan." Captain Hook sneered.
"Who are you?" Jack asked calmly. He wasn't sure yet if the Captain Hook was Barbossa angle was going to be a problem, but he wanted to know who exactly it was that he was talking to.
"I'm Captain Hook." The older man said. "I'm also Captain Barbossa of that's what you are asking me. Yes Jack, I still remember." He paused for a moment. "Well done Peter. I see I've taught you well."
His sword flew out of his hand again and the boy crouched on the ground, a foot away from his fallen weapon breathing in harsh pants. Angrily, he glared up at his enemy as though daring him to finish the killing stroke. With a weary sigh, the Captain shook his head.
"I can't properly enjoy your downfall if you are that inept at this." He told the child in front of him. Picking up the discarded sword, he offered it to him hilt first.
"Get up." He ordered. "Take the sword. I'm going to teach you how to fight."
"Captain!" He heard the surprised gasp from someone in the background and chose to ignore it this one time. He could fully appreciate the fact that it did sound like a strange request coming from him.
"I'm not going to hurt you boy." He called out irritably when the child made no movement to take the weapon, not helping himself at all by waving around the sword he was still holding. "If we are going to be paired up as rivals without any of our consent, I want a good one. So I'm going to teach you. Take the sword." They had been fighting on and off for weeks now and the only reason that the Captain hadn't been able to kill Peter Pan was because the boy had always flown away before the final stroke.
The Captain had realized by then that there was no reason to actively hate the child of the island, but whenever he tried to soft through his thought on the matter calmly and logically, the bloodlust came back stronger then ever, eradicating all common sense. He decided shortly afterwards that thinking on the matter was just too much trouble.
"Thank you." Jack accepted neutrally, knowing exactly what the older Captain was referring to. He had woken up in the hospital, in the real world with definite knowledge and skills that could not be explained and quickly used it to his advantage by becoming the youngest pirate Captain in the nearest waters.
That had been shortly before the appearance of the first Lost Boy. As though the island had sensed the albeit strange and fragile bond that their savior was forming with the pirate Captain, the one that was supposed to be his enemy, and set about correcting the problem. The new boy to the island would hate all pirates with a deep passion and would remind Peter of his place, of what he was supposed to be doing.
The child just appeared on the shore of the island one bright sunny morning. As any other child his age would do, he looked around with some element of confusion and wonder at his new surroundings for a moment or two; then shrugged and went off into the trees to explore his new playground.
It wasn't until evening that Peter Pan had finally left his teacher and gone back to the tree that he had found to be his home and found a new bed inside. Confused, he looked around but nothing else had changed.
"Tinkerbell?" He asked his question. The fairy had been his faithful and only companion since he had awoken to find himself on the island and as far as he was concerned, she was the one that held all of the answers to the place.
"The bed is for a child, a companion for you. A companion your own age." The fairy explained. Peter considered that for a moment.
"It would be nice to have a mate to fight against The Captain." He said. "Where is this boy?"
"Outside. Discovering Neverland. He hasn't found the tree yet." She explained. "Go look for him Peter, I'll get you both some food from the Indians." Food from the Indians was always unusual; interesting and delicious, a treat to welcome the new boy to his new home.
To his credit, the new boy didn't seem very startled when he turned around to find another boy hovering in the air above him. He took it all in stride, as one in a dream would.
"I'm Peter Pan. Who're you?" Peter asked, landing on both feet on the ground right in front of the boy. The new boy thought about this for a moment.
"Slightly." He finally said confidently, as though daring Peter to contradict him and tell him that Slightly was in fact not a name and ask for his real one. Peter did neither of those things. He nodded his acknowledgement seriously, then looked Slightly up and down as though looking for something special.
"I live in a big tree, that way." Peter pointed vaguely in some direction behind him. "There is a bed all ready for you." He turned around and began heading away, this time on foot. "Tink is getting some food for us."
"Who is Tink?" Slightly asked curiously.
"She's my fairy." Peter said this as though it was the most natural thing in the world and Slightly looked startled for a moment before accepting that new fact. On the other hand, he had just seen his new friend fly so maybe fairies were not such a big stretch.
"How do you feel about pirates?" Peter asked calmly as they continued walking. "We've got a few of them in a big ship in the cove. I go fight them sometimes."
"Wicked!" Slightly exclaimed. "I hate pirates. Can I come with you next time and we'll fight them together?" He asked excitedly. And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
For Slightly, hating pirates was natural. He still remembered the world outside of his dreams and pirates there were not held in high regard. And even though his mother had never been that forceful in her negative opinions, choosing instead to talk of them rather neutrally, a child of any age was much too easily influenced by his other elders and peers with whom he spent most of his days. Anyone else would be so jealous of him for a chance like this. A chance to actually fight the pirates that one could only talk and fantasize about.
The next day Peter attacked. The Captain was always ready; his reality was always full of swordfights and bloodshed. His eyes held only glee as he attacked the child right back. His ever resourceful mind noticed how much his enemy had improved, how much he still had to learn. Noticed the new child standing curiously off to the side, watching everything. He wouldn't join in the fight yet, not until he knew more, not until Peter failed.
They were never to have a civil conversation again. The interactions went back to cocky mocking coming from the child and the bloodthirsty anger from the pirate Captain. The moments of normal rational thought for both of them, became less and less before completely vanishing altogether.
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K, that's the chapter. So sorry it took so long, seems that real life is really taking over and it's not only me either. I really hope that people aren't too busy to read this. Or I can wait until the summer cuz everyone will be less busy then, I hope. It's just funny because I got one review to my last chapter - I already answered that one.
DarkoBender, thank you again for reviewing.
Happy reading everyone!
