Chapter 19:
Tala looked down at her reflection in the restless ocean water, frowning at the sight of a nasty gash surrounded by dark bruising that had disfigured the side of her face. Her bottom lip was swollen, and a small cut could be seen where the boot had struck it. She wasn't used to seeing herself like that anymore. It brought back old, painful memories.
It reminded her of her childhood, when women weren't taken seriously as warriors. It took a lot of time, and proving herself, for her fellow tribesmen to respect her as a fighter. As a child, she was often teased by the boys who were training to be warriors alongside her. They would often challenge her to fights, and she would usually come out of it bloody and bruised.
Her father encouraged it. He believed it would make her stronger. Maybe it did. Maybe her father's harsh ways of training saved her life when Morrow threatened it. But seeing her face like that again, marred by bruises and cuts, reminded her of that scared little girl who used to curl up into a ball and wait for the beating to end instead of fighting back. She learned eventually that the only way to protect herself was to fight back.
"Tala!" Hook shouted her name from the treeline, anger and fear lacing his tone. "Why would you just up and run off alone after what happened last night? Do you have a death wish? Do you want to give me a heart attack?"
She didn't bother to acknowledge him, lifting her gaze instead to look out over the horizon. So much ocean separated her from her people, from the past that she used to be so proud of. She wondered if her mother was alright, and if anybody still missed her.
Hook walked over to where she was sitting in the sand, mentally lecturing her about wearing her furskins out and about instead of a proper dress. He dare not speak his grievance aloud, however, because she was very much still not like herself. The events of the night before seemed to still be weighing heavily on her mind, slumping her shoulders and darkening her eyes.
With a heavy sigh, Hook plopped down in the sand beside her, following her gaze out over the water.
"You know. I don't consider this island home. Neither do I consider Neverland to be home. For me, that vast ocean in between is where I feel most at peace. It's where I feel like myself," he told her after a moment of silence between them. "Do you miss your home, Tala?"
"I have no home anymore," Tala muttered, furrowing her brows. "They sold me as a slave to Pan to settle a debt. They are nothing but cowards and traitors to me now."
"Neverland is your home. It's where you were raised. If I could make it safe for you again, would you be happy there?"
"How could you make it safe?" She scoffed. "My tribe will never dare stand again Pan."
"I don't mean by standing again him," Hook turned look at her more closely. "Perhaps bending to his will might be the key to your return home. If I give him his fairy, and the years I stole from him--"
"You can't!" Tala said so suddenly and so loudly that it startled Hook. She glared over at him, finally rising from the depths of solemn reminiscence to express a genuine anger. "You can't give him back a single day. You can't."
"Wouldn't that make things simpler? You could go back to normal."
"Then you would be withering away again. You wouldn't be the same."
"I could live with that."
"I couldn't. I don't want you to change."
Hook was a little surprised by her words, as well as the conviction in her voice. She was absolutely, vehemently against Hook losing the youth that he fought so hard to obtain. For what reason? Had she finally grown to care about him, at least in some capacity? If he was even just a friend to her, that was a victory in his eyes.
"Alright," he conceded. "But what can I do to make things better for you, Tala?"
"Let's go back to your home," she suggested after a moment. "The ocean is... beautiful. I'm sure there's more of it for me to see. I'd like you to show me your home, every part of it."
"Won't you miss your precious tavern boy?"
"Maybe. You could always invite him to be a part of your crew."
"And why would I do that?" Hook almost snarled.
"Because he's my friend. There isn't much here for him. It seems like the best thing to do."
"You really do enjoy tormenting me, don't you?"
"Perhaps a little. Small though it may be, I take my revenge when I can get it," Tala almost smiled, watching at the edge of the water swept up the shore just far enough to touch the tips of her toes.
"I'll rally the crew. Even your tavern boy. We can set sail tomorrow morning."
"I'd like that," Tala nodded her head. "I think we'd both feel better getting away from this... place."
Hook understood. She had experienced trauma at the hands of men who lived on the Isle, men who were generally well respected. Unfortunately, not many of Hook's kind--pirates, thieves, killers, and the likes--could manage to respect her. She was little more than an animal to them, a wolf in Hook's cage, and he was happy to remove her from a place so hostile towards her.
One day, he would bring her back. He would wait until her trust in him had grown, until she was comfortable and content spending every moment at his side, and perhaps in his bed. Only then would he be able to bring her back to his home away from home.
Hook was content sitting in his favorite chair, listening to the sounds of his beloved crew readying the ship to sail. Tala was nestled safely below deck, taking a bath while Smee stood watch outside of the door. Nobody could be trusted anymore, not even his own men.
His cabin had been cleaned by some ladies from town, and the smell of the fresh flowers sitting in his window reminded him of how much he missed the Jolly Roger. While his house, built of wood and metal, might be where he lay his head at night upon the shore, his ship was his true home.
His inner peace was soon disrupted when a particularly disgruntled tavern boy pushed his way through Hook's cabin door.
"If ye have a grievance with me, Captain, I would have rather you come tell it to me yerself. I don't appreciate being summoned like a dog," Sebastian said as politely as he could manage. He was already clearly agitated by something else, and having to leave the bar at the request of Hook only exacerbated his anger.
"What makes you think I have a grievance?" Hook raised a brow.
"What happened to Tala. The whole Isle has heard about it by now. But I had nothing to do with it, and I did exactly as ye asked," Sebastian said with the utmost sincerity. "I never wanted anything to happen to her. If I had known--"
"The only person responsible for what happened is dead," Hook interrupted Sebastian before he could delve any further into self-pity. "That's not why I asked you to come here."
"Then why?"
Hook uncrossed his legs and stood up, stepping closer to Sebastian to stand above him by a few inches. He eyed the tavern boy, trying to understand what Tala liked about him so much. His blond hair was unkempt and his face was dirty from sweat and the grime behind the bar. He wasn't much to look at as far as Hook was concerned, but women were strange creatures.
"Tala has insisted I invite you along on this... expedition," Hook told him honestly. "I haven't the slightest clue what your relationship is to her, but I don't think it wise to refuse or upset her right now."
"Are ye asking me to join ye, or are ye telling me that's what's to happen?"
"The last man to upset Tala died a painful death, and the next one will, too."
"Well," Sebastian scoffed at Hook's threat, "I'm not so sure I feel comfortable with these arrangements. Tala may not think much of me, but I think the world of her. Wouldn't that be rather awkward for the two of us, Captain?"
He had some nerve admitting that he had feelings for Tala so directly. Hook almost had to respect it. Maybe it was his forthcoming personality that made her feel so at ease. He didn't lie, nor did he hide behind a fake mask of indifference. Though it could have gotten him killed, he admitted that he had feelings for her.
"Contrary to popular belief, Tala is neither my pet, my plaything, nor my prisoner," Hook confessed after a moment, flopping back down in his chair. "She is here of her own accord, on account of nowhere else to go. Her tribe betrayed her. The Isle betrayed her. This ship is the only place she is safe."
"Then I'm glad she's here."
"Since she's not my property in any shape or form, she is free to make her own decisions. She asked that I invite you to join us, but imagine it less an invite and more of an order," Hook went on, trying to remain unphased by the genuine care Sebastian expressed for Tala.
"Why would she ask for me to join? She has no ties to me, no desire for me," Sebastian furrowed his brow, confused and perturbed by the entire situation. How could he let go of and ignore his feelings for Tala when he was trapped on a ship with her?
"She considers you a friend."
"So ye must consider me ye enemy."
"Not an enemy," Hook shook his head. "An opponent, perhaps, but not an enemy."
"I'm not an opponent either because I'm not competin'," Sebastian huffed, folding his arms over his broad chest. "I might like the girl, but a smart man knows when he's beat. Which is exactly why ye should reconsider yer request."
"It's not a request. It is an order."
"Why?"
"Because the only positive interaction Tala has had with a person is you," Hook explained truthfully. "She thinks of you as a friend, a companion even. You may very well be the only person in the world she considers a friend, so I'm ordering you to join my crew for this journey. So that she may have at least someone to keep her company when I cannot. So she can have at least someone she feels she can trust."
"Surely she must trust you."
"Some days she does," he sighed deeply, "but her distrust for me still runs deep. I haven't always done right by her. I've upset her plenty, but you have never lost her trust. So." He clapped his hands together, "You better go gather some belongings and report back here by sundown. Off to it."
Sebastian hesitated for a moment, wanting to refuse again and again until he was set free of that responsibility. It was going to be a nightmare being Hook's unwilling opponent, but it would be worse even still to be his enemy. If he wanted to live a long life, he needed to do as the Captain asked.
So he headed back for home to say goodbye to his friends and family and gather his things. It was going to be a long, tumultuous journey, he imagined.