Another chapter!
We hope you enjoy! And please let us know what you think. We love hearing theories, wants, ideas, favorite things, and answers to the questions at the end of the chapter. We're doing a writing Marathon today, so taking the time to let us know you're reading this is like a first-rate shot of accomplishment... Maybe adrenalin? Or caffeine? We're not sure, but we get so happy when we hear the notification.
Lots of love fellow Descendants,
Dark
The next day… Again…
(It was a busy weekend…)
"Aye, now ya be ah gettin' it princess." Harry taps Hyades' arm as he grins up at her, "Ya be applyin' too much pressure and ya be sendin' yer victim ta sleep."
Hyades releases Harry, helping him regain his balance as a wave crests to their knees.
"Good job Deez." Gil smiles from where he was standing in the shallows. "You're getting a lot better."
"Aye, and ta be thinkin' she once did'nah like any kind'ah fightin'." Harry chuckles. Their fire princess had come a long way. He supposed it helped that she's gotten control of her fire, and the new clothes certainly helped.
Gil chuckles light-heartedly. "Knowing how to do it, doesn't mean she likes it."
"Oh, this is fun when we do it." Hyades grins before she jumps on Harry's back, attempting to wrap her arms around his neck to get him in a headlock again.
"No fair!" Gil calls out. "It's my turn. You've clearly moved past Harry and into the heavyweights."
"I be ah beggin' yer pardon there lad…" Harry glares as he reaches around and pulls Hyades off him like she was no bigger than Shrimpy trying to lay on his back. He holds her above the water, laughing as she kicks and screams.
Gil has the decency to blush, "Not that Harry's a lightweight." He chuckles. "But seriously my turn." He whines. "She beat you fair and square."
"She be ah beatin' me durin' trainin'." Harry grins as he moves to set Hyades on her feet, only to hold her higher in the air.
"Whatever you have to tell yourself Hook." T snorts from the shore.
Harry lowers Deez once more, chuckling at her screams, "Oh look, our skills be so mighty we be ah gatherin' lookers." He grins as he bites his bottom lip, "Ya care ta be ah joinin' us then?"
Gil smiles at the distraction as he snatches Hyades from an unexpected Harry. "Look, now you can fight someone your size." He teases, sweeping her up bridal style as he runs further west up the shore away from Harry's ire.
"And who ya be plannin' ta be ah fightin'?" Harry teases as he winks at T, "More to the point, who she be ah plannin' ta fight?"
T snorts, "An urchin."
"Great… Short jokes…" Hyades rolls her eyes.
"For days," T assures her.
"You two can knock each other the fuck out." Hyades smiles sweetly as she flips T and Harry off.
T chuckles, with no remorse.
"Deez." Gil reprimands. "Don't drop to their level."
"Apparently it's real easy to slip under that bar at her height." T quips back dryly.
"Don'nah she be needin' ta be reachin' for our level?" Harry snickers.
"Nah, we kicked the posts out a long time ago man." T retorts.
Hyades fake laughs before she starts to run towards them, only to be grabbed up by Gil before she can get very far.
"Aww. Look at how ferocious she is…" T teases as he waves at Deez sweetly.
"Aye, ya be ah teachin' ah girl three moves and suddenly she be attackin' at every turn."
"Eh. Good for her." T smiles, "She needed another outlet."
"Deez, come on, ignore those two, and let's focus on that headlock of yours."
Harry chuckles as he walks towards the shore where T was purposely staying out of the reach of the water. "She be doin' ah mite better." He grins as he stands side by side with T, chuckling at the way she had to jump to get onto Gil's back.
"Use your legs!" T calls out.
Hyades pouts as she falls into the water, having missed cinching her grip around Gil's neck.
"So uh… Ya want ta be ah joinin'?" Harry asks as he pulls at T's elbow, "We be ah havin' fun, and the waves be ah addin' to the difficulty. Aye? Ya be ah lovin' ah good challenge."
T grimaces. "Nah. I already took two dips this month, I'm good." He grumbles even as he falls into step with Harry.
"Pfft." Harry rolls his eyes, "Come on, I be ah dyin' ta see ya wrestling' style." He takes a few more steps, gauging T's reactions to the water as it swirls around his feet.
"Awful. I assure you." T offers easily.
"Yeah? No better way ta be improvin' than by doin'."
"Usually I'd agree with you but-" T blinks as he suddenly looks down. "Damn it." He lets out a sigh. "Daggers are close enough thank you."
"Ya ain'nah bein' real convincin' that ya don'nah be wantin' ta wrestle me here lad." Harry chuckles as he takes a few more steps, still pulling T along with him.
T looks down at his feet beneath the waves in betrayal. "Yeah… I could see why you think that…"
"Oh good." Harry chuckles as he looks over his shoulder at another scream from Hyades.
T looks over in concern with a frown.
"She be with Gil lad, he ain'nah goin' ta be lettin' her get hurt." Harry rubs his thumb soothingly along T's sleeved arm.
"It's Hyades, she knows things and causes trouble, that's what she does."
Harry shrugs, "She be havin' fun. We should be ah followin' suit." He grins mischievously before he twists and pushes T even further into the shallows.
T shivers as a crave crests up to his waist, "I swear Hook I will fuck you-" A wave crashes against him, making him pull a face at the nasty saltwater in his mouth.
"Oh aye?!" Harry raises one eyebrow as he claps his hands together, "Yes please, I be ah waiting for ya ta be admittin' ya be findin' me charmin'-"
"Up!" T growls after spitting out his mouthful, "I will fuck you up." He glares through his blush.
"Now now, there ain'nah bein' no need ta be teasin' me like that." Harry scolds with a wicked grin.
T rolls his eyes, "Oh. Fuck you Hook."
"There ya be ah goin' again." Harry bites his bottom lip as he eyes the other boy up hungrily, "I be tellin' ya, mixed signals…"
T growls again before he launches at Harry. "Oh shut up." He jumps up and lands his weight on Harry's shoulders before he kicks off releasing his shoulders.
Harry laughs deeply before he lands face first in the waves, only because he managed to wrap his fingers around T's wrist, pulling the boy back into the shallows with him. He pushes himself up against the pressure of another wave rolling over them. "Ya did'nah be expecting that ta be workin' now did ya?" He grins.
T glowers, "Told you I was awful." He wrings out his hood. "Fucker."
Harry blinks and wipes at his eyes, knowing his eyeliner must be running like crazy. He didn't care, in fact, he kind of enjoyed the aura of crazy the look gave him. "There be only one way ta be gettin' better." Harry reminds T with a wink.
"No thanks." T rolls his eyes as he reaches up and squeezes his bun out with a squish.
Harry chuckles at the other boy's looks of disgust, "Oh come on now, we both be ah takin' the sea face first, might as well be gettin' ah practice out of it."
T groans. "It's just not my treasure chest, ya know?"
"Oh aye… I be likin' the sound o' that." Harry chuckles. He hears another scream from behind him, but this time he was too interested in the boy standing in front of him like a half-drowned rat, glaring daggers at him. "Ya ain'nah even interested in pulling another pinnin' like ya be doing back on me lady ship?"
T tilts his head to the side, before he drops his head with furrowed brows, "I guess it-"
"DEEZ!"
T lets out a relieved sigh before he turns with concern. "What about Deez?"
Harry narrows his eyes at the panic in Gil's voice as he turns around. He spots Gil instantly, but couldn't see Hyades anywhere. Then Gil dives under the water and he takes off running.
"Something pulled her under!" Gil explains once he pulls back up, taking a breath of air before diving back under.
Without another word, Harry and T both dive under the water towards Gil.
Gil ignores the way the saltwater and sand burns his eyes as he looks around under the water wildly. Where had Hyades gone so quickly? There was no way they'd missed Ursula, but there was a good chance they could've missed one of her eels. The thought makes his search even more frantic.
"Imma swim out further," Harry shouts when he comes back up for air.
T frowns in confusion after his head breaks water and he sees no one, with another gulp of air before diving back under in search for Hyades.
Gil startles when he feels something slimy slither over the back of his arm, but it was the frantic smacking of a hand against his leg that made him dive deeper. In the murky water, he could just make out Deez near a thick seaweed bed on the floor of the ocean. Her arms were wildly flailing around her in desperation. With determination swelling in his chest, he propels himself forward, his strokes strengthening with his resolve as he cut her loose of the weeds before he grabs her with one arm. Once he's sure of his grip he kicks off the sandy ocean floor to swim towards the slight amount of light overhead.
They both gasp when they break the water, though Deez's is quickly followed by an ear-splitting scream.
"Deez!" Harry calls out. "Gil!" He wades out to them.
Gil strokes his way closer to the shore, struggling to keep Hyades from disappearing back into the water. "It's okay Deez. I got you. I got you baby girl." He attempts to soothe her.
"She's got my legs! She's got my legs!" Deez screams, still kicking as she clings tightly to Gil.
T dives back under the water, taking a kick to his chin as he yanks seaweed from around her legs, letting the second kick send him backward.
"She be gone lass!" Harry calls out. "She be gone." He assures her after watching T fling the pieces of seaweed away from him. "Here lad, be giving her to me." He holds his arms out once he reaches them.
"I got her." Gil shakes his head as he holds Hyades to him closer. She'd finally stopped kicking and screaming. He felt stupid for not thinking about the seaweed sooner. But he had been so busy worrying about her drowning it hadn't even occurred to him.
Harry holds his hands up as he steps out of Gil's way.
T paddles back to the shore.
Harry follows after Gil, helping him get to his feet once he could stand and hold Hyades out of the water. "She's okay yeah?"
"Yeah…" T assures him. "I mean… As much as you can be when you get caught in that shitty loop." He shrugs.
"Aye." Harry sighs.
Gil drops to his knees once he reaches the dry sand, "Deez," He uses one hand to push the strands of her hair out of her face, "We're back on the beach now. It's okay…" He reassures her as he sits her in the dry sand. "See." He holds her to his chest protectively. "You're safe."
Hyades shakes her head as she stiffly clings to Gil's vest, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She sobs.
"Nothing to be sorry bout." Gil nuzzles her hair. "Nothing ta be ashamed of. I mean even T's been there…"
"I didn't mean to break it." Hyades screams in terror, "I'm sorry."
T frowns as he plops down on his knees and starts pushing the sand towards her lap, quickly creating a mound on top of the girl's lap.
Harry doesn't even question it, just drops to his knees and does the same.
Gil frowns, as he watches his two friends bury them. "Um-"
"Cover her eyes for me?"
"Eh uh, what?" Gil questions.
"Just be ah doin' it lad." Harry nods as he continues to bury them.
Gil doesn't argue further, he takes his bandana off and wraps it around Deez's head.
"Keep talking to her..." T suggests, "That was helping…" He keeps piling the sand up.
"Deez, baby girl. You're okay." Gil soothes as he rubs her arms up and down in an attempt to warm them. He was concerned with how cold she was. Usually, her temperature would start to dry them off by now. But she felt as cold as the stone she wrote on. He swallows hard. "You will be okay." He whispers to her temple, peppering her hair with light kisses.
"Aye, the lad be right princess. We be here for yah… Me, Gil, and T. We ain'nah goin' nowhere." He rubs the sand over her thighs comfortingly. "It's okay."
T stays silent as he continues working on cover Deez's legs with sand.
Gil lets out a sigh of relief when she slowly begins to relax into him.
After several long moments, she pulls her hand from under the sand and shakily grabs the bandana off her face. She blinks up at the three over her before her cheeks flush. "I-" She pulls her other hand up and covers her face with both hands.
T sits back and wipes his hands.
"It's okay Deez." Gil nuzzles into the crook of her shoulder as he holds her even tighter. "We've got you."
"Aye, ya be safe from the big ol' seaweed now." He teases her gently.
"I haven't-" Hyades shudders as she shakes her head, "I haven't had that- that nightmare in a long time." She sobs behind her hands.
T pats her shin, awkwardly.
"Aye. It be ah long time since that be ah happenin' ta ya princess."
"And you've done such a good job of working on it." Gil quickly adds. "We're proud of you. You've come a long way since then."
"I freaked out over seaweed." Hyades growls, still hiding her face.
"Better than it actually being Ursula." T points out bluntly.
Gil shoots T a dirty look, "Seriously how is that helping?"
"Because it could have been what she was afraid of? And it wasn't. Thank fucking christ for that."
Hyades shakes her head again before she starts to struggle, she pulls her hands away from her face and pushes against the ground.
T quickly starts helping to free her, removing the sand in large sweeping motions, "My bad." He frowns, moving quicker. "I'd want out too."
Hyades nods without looking at them as she frees one leg.
Gil frowns as he easily pulls Hyades free, "Thought that was s'pose to help." he accuses as he places Deez back on the ground. His eyes bounce between Harry and T.
Hyades pushes herself up before she turns and runs.
Gil sighs before he takes off after her.
T tackling Harry before he had the chance to grab her.
"What the fuck, T, be releasin' me right the fuck now mate."
"I tripped man." T rolls off him.
"Oh aye," Harry growls before he jumps to his feet to run after Gil and Hyades.
Well, he had tried. T kicks a pile of sand as Gil catches Hyades and falls to his knees with her. And this was where he exits.
"Mate, I be glad ya be quick on yer feet." Harry shakes his head as he finally catches up.
"No kidding." Gil presses Hyades to his chest tightly. "You can't keep running to be alone anymore Hyades." He holds her more securely. "You're coming home with us tonight. Where we can help you if shit happens… You just had a day terror. They usually lead to the night ones."
"Aye lass." Harry whispers sternly, but somehow also softly as he kneels behind her, wrapping his arms around her and Gil to form a barrier for her, "Ya be safe with us."
"I'm not a pirate! I thought, maybe, if I tried really hard. But I can't do this." Hyades blurts out as she slams her fists against the sand under them.
"You're not a pirate, yet." Gil shakes his head. "But none of us were, till we became friends with Harry. I mean I used ta be afraid too, til Harry came along with Uma and made me see that it was okay as long as they were with me…"
"It was just seaweed!" Hyades sobs, "I can't- I'm not good enough to be with you all-"
Gil frowns as his hand comes up to cup her face. "Don't be stupid." He shakes his head. "We know we're not worth you picking us over Mal's group. We're okay with that. We just want you to know that we love you anyways and that we'll be there for you when you need us, whether you want it or not."
"That's not it!" Hyades screams as she struggles against their hold on her, "I'm not. I'm not enough- Seaweed! Water! I'm such a fucking coward."
"So seaweed wrapping around my arm startled me too, and Ursula never even drowned me." Gil points out. "The only thing that stopped me from freaking about it was that we couldn't find you."
"Aye. I be havin' plenty o' thoughts that be keepin' me up at night." Harry admits with a shrug, "There ain'nah bein' nothin wrong with bein' ah feared."
"Yes, there is!" Hyades fights back, nearly freeing herself from Gil's hold before Harry tightens his arms over her.
"No there ain't." Gil shakes his head, as he tightens his grip on her. "You're not a coward, or weak, or anything."
"I dropped you!" Hyades cries as she tries to back away from Gil, only to end up pinned face up and unable to cover her face.
"So? You're a girl that's what your suppose to do. Let me take care of you. Uma won't."
"I dropped you…" Hyades repeats, her voice broken and more sedated than before, "I didn't push you closer to shore... I didn't warn you… I dropped you and- and-"
"And I shouldn't have ever let you go." Gil frowns.
"It's not your fault… I'm just- I'm nothing like Uma…" Hyades cries, her breath catching roughly in her throat as she tries to breath around her heaving and sobbing.
"Aye- Yeh be like Deez." Harry peppers her crown with kisses.
"And there is nothing wrong with that. There's only room for one captain on our ship." Gil kisses her temple tenderly. "Not that she's a bad one for you to be looking up too- Just know you two are different people, just like Harry and me are different. None of us are the same and that's okay."
"Aye me lad be makin' great points. Ain'nah one of us the same. We all be ah hearin' our own beat and be playin' our part." Harry reaches down and pulls her hair from her face again, "Now, ya be wantin' ta be stayin' on the ground like that, or ya be wantin' ta sit up again?" He offered her his hand.
Gil nods as he nuzzles into Hyades one last time before she could make her decision.
Hyades hiccups as she tries to slow her breathing, but she slowly reaches up and takes Harry's hand.
"Good girl." Harry smiles as he gently pulls her up to sit between him and Gil again.
Gil smiles he moves to close the distance between them. "We're not gonna let you face this alone."
"Whether ya be ah likein' it or not." Harry explains sternly, "We ain'nah gonna make ya talk if ya don'nah be wantin' to, but I can be ah tellin' ya from 'spereince it be helpin' a fuck ton more than when ya be ah keepin' it in."
Gil nods slowly, "He's right. We won't make you talk, but it does help Deez. How do you think the three of us got this close?"
Hyades shakes her head as she clings to the two of them tightly. She bites down on her lip, telling herself to stop, to get herself under control. She was worrying them. Hurting them. Fucking seaweed. Just when she'd been feeling so confident, so sure of where she belonged. Seaweed. Her place in the world was so easily disrupted. "I was so happy…" She whispers, her voice barely a breath.
"And you will be again. We promise." Gil assures her.
"Why don'nah we be takin' this back to the comfort of the cabin?" Harry offers as he cups the back of Deez's head, pressing his cheek to hers.
"I'm sure you'd feel better tucked between us in bed." Gil agrees, waiting a moment before he sweeps Hyades up into his arms, "Let's go home."
So what did you think?
Did you enjoy getting to see Harry, Gil, and Deez being the kids they are? Playing in the shallows and just having fun, (Even though they are seriously working on a survival skill with her.)
Did it remind you of any time you were making progress on a problem, and then something as simple as seaweed made you backslide several steps?
Deez was doing so well facing her fear of the water right? Did it hurt to see her regress?
What about Harry and Gil trying to comfort her? Do you think they were doing a good job? Or do you think T was right to step in and give Deez a chance to escape?
What approach would you have preferred in this situation? Gil and Harry's, or T's?
We hope that you all enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks again for all the love and support!
Much love and appreciation,
Dark and Twisted
