Chapter 11:

Hook instinctively reached over when he woke the next morning, but his hand only flattened against his exotic silk sheets. There was no other body, no little wolf, lying in the bed next to him. He jolted upright when he realized she was gone, then flung his legs over the side of the bed.

After sliding on his shirt and captain's coat, Hook went barrelling through his cabin door. As he stepped out on deck, he noticed Mr. Smee leaning against the railing of the ship nearby, admiring the crystal blue waters they were sailing into.

"Mr. Smee," Hook called his name.

"Look, Cap'n, it's the Isle," the elderly man pointed out at the mass of land in the distance. "It's as pertty as I ever remember seein' it. Don't it feel just fine to be home again, Cap'n?"

"Smee, where is the girl?" Hook asked, not even bothering to take a look at the view that had Smee so entranced. He couldn't care less about the beautiful sea or the visage of home on the horizon, not when their guest aboard the ship was missing.

"Oh, the little miss is fine, Cap'n," Smee reassured him quickly. "She's been up in the nest all mornin' doing lord knows what, but she's fine. Nobody dare go up there in fear of walkin' the plank for it."

"Seems like the crew finally acquired some sense," Hook sighed, feeling some of the tension and worry leave his body as quickly as it arrived. "See to it that the ship be prepared to dock, Smee. We'll hit land by nightfall."

"Aye. Cap'n," Smee nodded, waddling off to give the crew Hook's orders. He was a good man, a good first mate, and Hook was extremely relieved to have him on his side. No one was as loyal as Smee was, nor could Hook trust anyone as much.

Confident that his orders would be carried out, Hook made his way over to the ladder that lead up to the crow's nest. It had been a long time since he climbed up it himself, so long ago that he was much older the last time he tried. Now young and nimble, it wouldn't be quite so difficult for him to make the climb.

Besides, this time he had an incentive.

"Oh, little wolf," he called as he approached the top of the ladder. Hook pulled himself up and into the crow's nest, sliding to the back side of it when he realized the other side was completely occupied by Tala.

She was curled up there, wearing her traditional garments still despite how he ordered her before to wear his clothing instead. There was a stone in one of her hands and a blade made of boar tusk in the other. Tala was using the stone to sharpen the edges of her ivory blade, smoothing the edges until the blade could cut through flesh with ease.

"Why are you hiding away in the nest, Tala?" Hook asked her, carefully removing his captain's hat and setting it beside him so the wind didn't catch it and carry it away. "You could have stayed in my cabin, where it's safe."

"I wanted to be alone," she answered immediately, turning her dagger over in her hand to assess the sharpness of it. "This is the only place I can be alone."

"You haven't forgiven me?"

"There are many people I haven't forgiven," she muttered, not bothering to lift her stare from the blade she was sharpening.

For some reason, she seemed to want to avoid his gaze, as if she had grown too soft to it. Tala obviously wanted to be angry at the world, and she didn't want anyone getting in the way of it, especially not Hook.

"Little wolf, listen to me-"

"I have," Tala interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"Tala-"

"I am not going to do anything foolish," she reassured him with a soft mutter.

Being cut off again silently infuriated Hook, but he grit his teeth and clenched his jaw so no harsh words could escape. She was making it clear that she wasn't ready to talk about it, so Hook had to just take the hint and give it up for the moment, at least until she decided it was time to discuss it another day.

"You told me... to live for myself. I will," she continued, sensing his annoyance with her decision not to speak about what had been revealed the night before. "I am Tala of No Tribe. Freed from duty... for the first time in my life. I need time... to adjust, James."

Hook's anger immediately faded away at the sound of his real name on her lips. His expression softened, and he let out a long sigh. Of course she needed time. Everything she had ever known, all she had been taught and raised with, had crumbled down around her in one single moment.

"You can start a new life on the Isle," he tried to encourage her. "Our community is small but welcoming. You can be happy there."

"There are more... like you?"

"Yes, Tala," Hook chuckled, "there are more like me. Only a bit fewer than your own tribe. Did you really think my crew and I were the only ones in Neverland?"

She blinked at that. Tala didn't want to admit that she had, in fact, believed that him and his crew were the only pale faced men in Neverland. Her tribe never ventured far from the shores of the mainland, so no one knew about the Isle. Not even Pan, which is likely why Hook made it his home, his safe haven.

Tala stood up and turned to look out at the sea. Her eyes fixed on the mass of land in the distance that sat on the horizon as it waited for Hook's return. Could she really start a new life there? A native among the pale faced men. Tala was afraid, but she had little choice in the matter. Her old life was over, destroyed, and the only option she had was to forge a new one.

Hook was wrong about his estimated arrival time. The Jolly Roger didn't touch the shores of the Isle until dawn the next day, since the wind decided to work against them. The sun was just about to peek over the horizon when the ship was tied to the dock.

Tala watched the crew scramble about, securing everything on the ship and removing all their personal belongings from the cabins below deck. The plank was propped up against the dock to make it easier to walk down, and all of the lanterns on the ship were extinguished, leaving it in darkness until the sun rose.

The moment her bare feet touched the soft sand, Tala felt an overwhelming amount of relief. Having land beneath her instead of a merciless sea was much more comforting. As soon as she stepped on the shore, she lifted her gaze to look around.

This place was much different than her camp back on the mainland. It was filled with buildings made of wood and thatch roofs rather than the hide tents and lean-tos she was used to. It seemed much more advanced, much more comfortable, than what she had known her whole life.

It wasn't just a camp, it was an entire village.

"Don't worry, lassie," Smee spoke from beside her. She turned to him, eyes full of an anxiety even she didn't realize was plaguing her. "You'll be alright here."

"She'll be the only savage in the Isle," Mr. Walsh, a particularly honest pirate, muttered as he passed by her with arms full of crates and luggage. "I wish you luck, little wolf."

Tala didn't like the tone of his voice. He made it sound like she was going to be hated by the people of the Isle because she was a native of Neverland. If that was the case, maybe she couldn't get the fresh start in life that she needed. Maybe it would be just as tumultuous and unwelcoming on the Isle as it was among Hook's unsavory crew.

"Are you ready, Tala?" Hook spoke over her shoulder. She dropped her gaze to her feet, not wanting him to see just how nervous she really was. "This is my home. Consider yourself lucky to ever see it. No one from the mainland has ever been here before, especially not a savage."

Her head jerked up suddenly so she could shoot him a glare. Tala felt suddenly offended by the word, as if it injured her already fractured dignity. She let out a small growl, then began walking up the shoreline, wanting to be alone again, to be away from Hook and his crew.

Whatever this new life brought, Tala knew she must forge a path on her own. She didn't want Hook's help, or to be locked away in his quarters like some kind of pet. Tala was determined to figure it out on her own, even if the people of the Isle hated her.

But Tala did long for familiar faces. She longed for her home and her people more than she would ever admit out loud. If she was going to survive in this new world, she was going to need allies. Something more than just Hook and Smee.

Hook watched her leave with furrowed brows. There was a moment, brief as it was, that he felt like he was growing closer to the skittish little wolf. He could touch her without her recoiling, without her flinching. He even made her smile once, and he found himself longing for that power again. Now that she was on the Isle, he hoped she could find a new family. Tala deserved that much after all she gave to her old one.