Chapter 25:
Hook used a rusted old machete to chop his way through the foliage. There was a spring located a little inland that had fresh water. He planned to have his crew fill as many canteens as they could before returning back to the shore to gather coconuts along the tree line.
This island, on more than one occasion, had been a place for them to restock on supplies and rest between the Isle and the main island of Neverland. But it had been some time since they last set foot on its sands, and the paths they cut for themselves in the past had long grown over. He was having to retrace each and every one as they maneuvered the island.
Eventually, they did reach the spring. He took a seat on the rock, picking branches and thorns from his boots as his crew got to work filling containers with fresh spring water. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around.
The island would be perfect for a little cabin, he though to himself. It had plenty of space and resources. Pan hardly ever left the mainland, only doing so in times of emergency or desperation. He once encountered Pan on that island after the fairies disappeared from Neverland, as if he thought they might have found their way to different shores.
Its isolation would make it a perfect place for Hook and Tala to live together. He could build a little house near the water. Perhaps even raise a little boy.
Hook quickly shook the thought from his head and scolded himself. He didn't want children. He didn't want to settle down. A pirate belonged on the water, and he had long sworn that he would spend eternity at sea in Neverland.
But there was nothing here to pillage. No treasures to be stolen, only treasures he had to protect. There was no pirates life anymore, so maybe it was time to give it up.
Rustling in the thrush nearby tore him from his conflicting thoughts. Hook turned towards the sound, standing up from the rock he was resting on.
His crew didn't seem to hear it. They carried on with their canteens mindlessly, sipping from them every now and then before refilling them.
Hook put a hand on his flintlock pistol and ventured towards the treeline. As he got closer, he saw a figure dart from a bush and run towards the trees. Hook broke off into a sprint after it.
"You there!" He shouted, shoving his way through dense foliage, sticks, and branches. "Stop or I'll shoot!"
The figure continued to run, staying just a little ahead of him. Hook only caught glances now and then before the trees covered him.
Shortly into the chase, however, he heard a soft cry then a loud thud. He broke through the leaves to see a boy holding his ankle at the base of a tree.
The boy wore fox fur around his waist, and had another strip of it across his chest, like a holster of some kind. Attached to his hip was an entire severed foxtail. More notably perhaps was the small wooden box he clung to as if his life depended on it.
"You," Hook panted, admittedly winded after the chase. Hook looked over the boy a little closer. He seemed vaguely familiar, as if he had seen him before. But all lost boys were grown now except this one. It made no sense.
"Aren't you a lost boy?" He lifted his pistol to point it at the boy. "What're you doing here? How have you remained young?"
"Just leave me alone. I didn't bother you!" The boy whined, rubbing at his ankle with one hand and clutching the box with the other.
"What's your name?" Hook asked, taking a threatening step forward, the gun still drawn and aimed right at the boy.
The boy hesitated, then let out a defeated huff.
"Slightly."
"You are one of Pan's," Hook raised a brow, "but you're a little boy. And the others are grown men."
"Maybe I'm just different," The boy pouted back at Hook. "I'm not like them."
"What do you have in that box?" Hook flicked the barrel of the gun towards the very thing the boy was clinging to so desperately.
"Nothing."
"You're a terrible liar." Hook stalked forwards, then reached down to take hold of the box.
"Stop it! It's mine! I found it!" The boy tried to hold onto it. Hook holstered his gun to free up his other hand. He grabbed the little boy's wrist and forcefully pried his hands away from the box.
He stepped back with it, quickly opening it to see what he had been trying to escape with so frantically.
Hook was stunned into silence when he saw was what inside.
It was a tiny woman, a fairy with pale, shrunken wings. She was laying on her side, barely moving except to breathe. Her eyes were closed, but she twitched occasionally as if she was in pain.
"Where did you find this?"
"Here. When Peter left me here."
"He left you here?"
"I challenged him to a game and won. He didn't like that, so he left me here when he didn't find any fairies. But I found one and it's mine so give it back!" The pouted nearly cried in a high-pitched wail.
"You've nearly killed it. How long have you had it? Pan's been away from this island for a decade," Hook scowled at the little boy. "This is how you've stayed young. You've kept it locked in your little box."
"I found it!"
"Well I may have the only thing that can save it," Hook grumbled, closing the box again. He held it carefully so as not to rattle the fairy any more than it already was. He pulled his gun from the holster and held it up to the boy again. "Run. Get out of here or I'll really shoot."
The boy didn't hesitate. He lifted himself to his feet with some struggle and limped off into the forest. Hook kept his pistol at his side, then started back towards the spring.
Tala set another honeysuckle inside the cage, then closed the door. Tinkerbell seemed happy anytime she was able to nibble on the petals of a sweet flower, so Tala gave them to her whenever she asked.
She was still a little bitter about being left on the ship, but she knew that Hook only wanted to do what was best for her. Her leg was still a little sore, so maybe it was best not to do all of that walking anyways.
Besides, Smee and Sebastian brought her whatever she wanted whenever she asked. Tala was treated like a princess because of Hook.
She was watching Tinkerbell devour a third petal when Hook's cabin door suddenly burst open.
Hook came rushing in, specifically in the direction of the cage. Confused and concerned, Tala moved away from it, sitting on the bed a couple of feet away.
"What is it?" She asked, noticing the box he held so gingerly in his hands.
Without answering her, Hook quickly opened the cage, then opened the box and shuffled something out of it. When he closed the cage, he tossed the box to the side and stepped back.
Tala rose again, figuring that the rush was over, then stepped up beside him to see what had him in such a panic.
Her heart broke a little when she saw a fairy, not much different from Tinkerbell, lying still at the bottom of the cage. She was pale, lacking all glitter and light that Tinkerbell naturally carried. It looked nearly dead except for it's slight twitches.
"Oh," Tala gasped in a little breath, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "What happened to her?"
"She was being tossed about in that bloody box, locked away for God knows how long," Hook said through gritted teeth. "To treat such a treasure so carelessly... It's why I've always hated those little monsters."
She didn't care to ask what he meant by little monsters. She was too engrossed in watching Tinkerbell kneel down beside the other fairy, shaking her, touching her cheek.
"Will she make it?"
"Fairy dust has healing properties. It's how Pan avoided death all those years. If anything is going to save it, it'll be Tinkerbell."
Hook seemed to be right. Tinkerbell was shaking her own wings now, dropping golden fairy dust all over the sickly creature. Slowly, some color began to return to her face. Her breathing slowed, and the twitching stopped.
"You saved her," Tala looked up at Hook in awe. "I'm so glad you found her."
Hook didn't do it for purely selfless reasons. It was a fairy. It had power. It had uses. He needed it.
But when Tala looked up at him like that, as if he was a hero in her eyes, he suddenly felt a little guilty for rescuing the fairy for his own personal gain. He wanted to be the man she believed he could be.
"Come," Tala tugged on his arm. "Let's go have a meal. Sebastian had been preparing fish for the last hour and a half. Let's leave them be for now."
"Right. Of course."
Hook let her pull him out of the cabin, but not without locking the door behind him first. Even if he could trust most of his crew, immortality was alluring to even the most loyal of men.
Even Hook was willing to sacrifice too much for more years. Perhaps that was his mistake. Maybe it was time to plant his feet in the sand and relinquish the fairies to Pan.
That could be the only way to keep Tala safe, and no treasure, not even the fairies, was worth more than Tala.