How arguments work in Uma's crew
A hand slammed down on the old wooden table as rowdy pirates cheered in victory as an arm wrestling match finished. Each of the boys celebrated in their own way, congratulating the victor, throwing things across the room, starting fights with each other, and general destructive behavior.
Uma watched the crew from behind the bar in the fish shop. She let herself indulge in a bit of laughter as she saw their silly antics. Though she did feel that familial bond as she always did, her face dropped as she realized this crew was practically unrecognizable to the one she knew back in the day. So many members have died or left or were taken by other gangs and over time members begin to be replaced by strangers. There was a bit of melancholy that came with getting older, she came to the conclusion, there was so much change she didn't even know could happen. Even now, she's scared off Gil, and Harry's off doing god knows what. She gave her crew the freedom to do whatever they wanted, but at the same time she was shackled to this shop. This job. This legacy. She'd never thought about leaving until this moment.
That whole train of thought was interrupted as a hush fell over the shop, and she heard a pair of boots strutting their way towards the back of the shop. Uma straightened her stance and saw Harry come through the parted crowd. He pushed one of the pirates over playfully as he looked up to see Uma.
"Thought you'd never come back." Uma said with an eyebrow raised.
"Eh, had a bit of a hiccup at the Hook household," he said with a spark of sadness in his voice, "but I have returned! To my gracious captain."
"I can see that." Uma narrowed her eyes with suspicion. There was something about him that didn't seem right.
"So where's the food at? I didn't come all this way to come up empty handed." Harry tried to reach over the bar and grab something but he met with Uma's hand instead.
"How'd your… meeting with the Queen go?" Uma looked around the room to see her whole crew still watching the scene before them.
"It went fine." Harry yanked his hand away from her. He scratched his forehead with his hook, causing his hat to raise up and down.
"Fine?" Uma raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the left slightly.
"Yes, fine, what's it to you?" He turned back around to lazily make his way over to one of the tables where he stood over it absentmindedly grinding into the wood with his hook.
"I was looking for some details." Her frustration showed in her voice.
"What's there to tell?" He swished back around to face her.
Uma's frustration only grew, "was she convinced?"
"I think so," He then started aimlessly walking around the shop, becoming distracted by various things, "she didn't kick me out of the castle or anything."
"Harry, I need you to take this seriously." The emphasis on the word 'need' made her shutter.
"I am takin' this seriously!" He sounded appalled by the accusation, but Uma knew he was trying to hide something. She didn't care for that at all. She stepped out from behind the bar.
"What did she say?" She was less interested in the answer and more interested in what he would respond with.
"Why does it matter?"
"Why don't you answer me?"
"Do I have to?"
"Do you want your head cut off?"
Both hadn't realized it but they were each getting steps closer to each other. They're faces were about six inches apart. The restaurant was stricken with an eerie silence. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for who would strike again.
"You're really gonna cut my head off?" He said with a mocking tone. Uma didn't like being challenged like this.
A ring of metal could be heard as she unsheathed her cutlass, "if it comes to that."
Harry didn't wait a moment before drawing his blade as well. The crew erupted in a sea of whispers and gasps. They both held their swords at their sides, proving to each other they were armed and ready for anything.
"What's this new spunk in you, Captain?" Harry inquired, "what's got you in such a twist?"
"You've got no right asking questions around here," Uma barred her teeth, "you're hiding something I can tell. What is it? You slept with the Queen? Killed her? Exposed our plan?"
"You've got a lot of nerve talkin' to me like that." He then lifted his blade up and pointed it towards her neck.
She backed up a few steps and mirrored his actions, both their blades crossing each other.
"Don't tell me you've fallen for her." Uma dared ask. They began to circle each other, like sharks. They never once took their eyes off each other.
"Captain, you know the only woman I've got eyes for is you." Harry gave her a generous smile, though his face dropped when she tapped his blade with her sword and took a step forward, causing him to take a step back. The crew let out another gasp, all of them watching the fight with great interest.
"I knew it!" She sneered, "you've fallen for that brat!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Captain, I got no interest in courting the queen of the Isle."
"You best stop lying to me before this gets serious." Another tap of the blade and another step forward, but this time Harry rescinded her and hit her blade with a slash. Uma took another step back.
"You got some nerve testing me." She spoke with an underlying threat in her voice.
"And you've got some nerve holding this interrogation," he told her, "we're on the same side, Uma, a captain and a first mate do not cross swords."
"They do if there is a mutiny brewing." Uma then scanned the room, looking at the faces of each of the boys there. They were all watching the scene with captivating interest, and strangely they looked excited.
"I don't want to cross blades with you, and that's the cold hard truth." he took off his hat with his hook and put it on his heart.
"Where've you been this past week?" Uma questioned further.
"You know, around." Harry replied, putting his hat back on. Both pirates refused to put their blades down.
"We both know that's not good enough." Uma narrowed her eyes and analyzed his face. It was hard to read, especially since she also had to concentrate on his sword as well.
"What d'you want me to say, Captain?" he pleaded, "I've been avoiding you? I've been conspiring against you?"
"Have you?"
"No! Captain, let's just calm down and talk this out."
"We're talking. Just making some extra precautions." She set her blade on his, making them match up, and he responded by flicking it away.
"Her majesty is convinced I'm miserably infatuated with her," he responded, "I gave her a silver chain I stole and then she started cryin', there! Is that what you want to hear?"
Uma looked off into the distance with a small smirk on her face, "crying?"
"I'd appreciate it if ya put yer sword back now." Harry motioned for her to sheath her blade.
"Why was she crying?" Uma asked, she didn't sheath her sword but she did lower it. Harry then followed suit.
"Hell if I know, I got outta there soon as I could." He explained.
"Oh, you idiot!" She hit his sword once again with a grand slash, but rather than provoke further conflict she turned and walked away from him, back towards the bar. An audible relief could be heard from the rest of the crew. After the argument they all went back to their own devices, but they were still looking out for any sign of a fight.
"What's the matter now?" Harry sighed in exasperation. Almost like he knew he could never win.
"She was crying!" She screamed at him as she walked back behind the bar. Harry sheathed his sword and made his way over to the bar.
"What's the big deal?"
"Harry," she grabbed either side of his face, "when a girl is crying, then she is willing to release more information if you comfort her. How do you not know this?"
"Well how was I supposed to know?" he put his arms up, at a loss.
"Do I have to do everything around here?" she let out a deep sigh and hit his face with both her hands, not enough to hurt him too much but enough to send a message.
"I'm sorry, alright." He rubbed his cheek with his hand.
"You're seeing her again, tonight." she ordered, pointing a finger at him.
"Tonight?"
"Yes, tonight, is there a problem with that?" she inquired, trying to get answers out of him.
"No, not at all, Captain." Harry then looked away from her as he spoke. First sign of a liar.
"Hey," she snapped her fingers, making him look back at her, "you keep anything from me? And that hand's gonna need a hook on it."
He looked around the room, like someone was watching him, and then leaned in close to her to speak in a whisper, "I may have been helping out Gil since ya scared him away."
"I see." Uma's voice had a low, venomous tone.
"I'm not… forming a mutiny, Uma, you know I ride the tide with you through any waters," he took off his hat and put it on the bar, "he's like a brother to me."
Uma wasn't mad. She's thought about that afternoon of torture ever since it happened. She didn't regret what she did, she wouldn't even know what that felt like, but there was something she was missing.
"That's what you've been doing when you're not here?" She questioned further.
"Honest."
Uma looked down for a moment. Her rage granted her a lot of useful abilities. Striking fear into the hearts of her enemies, commanding a hearty crew, but her rage does get in the way sometimes. When it blinds her into crossing swords with her first mate.
"Harry I need this plan to succeed, it has to." She told him.
"I know, Captain."
"Not just for our crew but for everyone on the Isle," Uma continued speaking in a low voice so her crew might not notice even the slightest bit of compassion, "these people don't need another power hungry monarch. Any queen that so willingly casts off her subjects like her deserves her head on a spike."
"At the center of town." Harry elaborated.
"For the rats to chew at." She finished with a wicked smile creeping on her face. Harry laughed devilishly.
He turned to face the rest of the crew, "I shall make my way to her majesty's castle." He spoke to them.
"Awe, I thought you an' the captain were gonna have a fight!" One whined.
"Yeah, where's the action at?" Another piped up.
"Oh you want action?" Harry grinned with the sight of an opportunity and then unsheathed his blade and pointed it at him all in one swift motion, "then, my boy, it is action you will get."
The boy was tossed a sword from across the restaurant and he stood to his feet. He was ready, but also terrified, to cross blades with the infamous Harry Hook. Harry responded with a light chuckle as he stood their slouching back and playfully tapping his sword.
The boy didn't know restraint as much as Uma did and he went in for a full slash against him, bad move. Harry parried his strike and then hit him in the face with the hilt of his sword. Everyone in the shop cheered, and Uma even smiled at her crew. That poor boy didn't stand a chance.
"How is she?" Carlos spoke as he came down the hallway to Evie's quarters as fast as he could, Jay was not far behind him.
The doctor, who was coming out of the room, sighed, "she's alive and awake, but we don't entirely know what this poison has done to her."
"But she's awake," Jay stated, "that's good."
"I'm afraid it's much more complicated than that, Lieutenant," the doctor told him, "we don't have any way of knowing what's going to happen to her or how long we have until the poison takes full effect."
"I'm going in to see her." Carlos barged past the doctor and into her room.
He and Jay were both greeted with about five or six servants that were around the room assisting their queen. A few were fluffing pillows, others were opening curtains, some were talking to another doctor who was still in the room. Most importantly, though, they saw Evie in her bed. She was incredibly pale, sweating, and the same blue coloration was around her eyes and lips.
"Evie!" Carlos let out a sigh of relief and concern. He and Jay rushed over to her bedside where she looked up at them.
"Carlos, Jay." Her voice was a faint, raspy whisper.
Carlos knelt down next to her and took her hand, "I'll get her back for this, okay? She's hurt us for the last time."
Jay put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, "how are you feeling?"
"My stomach hurts like hell," she stated bluntly, "I can't feel my whole body."
Carlos almost couldn't handle it, he squeezed her hand for comfort, "you're gonna be alright. We're gonna fix this. And everything will go back to how it should be."
She gave him a small smile, "I trust you," then looked up at Jay, "both of you."
"I told you not to go down there," Carlos said, "why did you go down there?"
Evie let out a deep breath and looked away, "I don't know. I wanted answers. Just like everyone else."
"You should have let me take care of that." Carlos bowed his head to collect himself.
Jay looked at the other doctor, "how much do we know?"
"We do know that the queen has been poisoned, and we know that the knife wound was how the toxin got in her bloodstream," he explained, then went over to the queen and lifted up the bed sheets, exposing her lower stomach and the bloodied bandages that were wrapped around her. What was more concerning, however, were the dark blue, almost black, veins that were beginning to protrude from the wound, "the cut was relatively insignificant, it only went about an inch into her skin. What is considered deadly at this point is the poison that is now making its way through her body, as you can see here."
"My god…" Evie put a hand on her head as she began to panic.
"It's going to be okay." Carlos comforted her, squeezing her hand again.
"Man, you really gotta work on your bedside manner." Jay told the doctor bluntly.
"I'm just stating the facts," he told them, "as of right now, her majesty cannot leave her bed. All operations in the palace must stop."
"This is what she wanted." Evie spoke up, again panic rising in her voice, "she wanted the throne to be weak so she could take it again."
"All due respect, your majesty, but you've got bigger things to worry about other than your crown." The doctor told her.
"That's just it," Evie began to breathe heavily, "she's going to enact her revenge at the perfect moment. The perfect moment she orchestrated."
"Evie, I won't let that happen." Carlos assured her firmly.
"Again, man, bedside manner is a major concern right now." Jay told him and he only shrugged in response.
"We need to find out everything about this toxin." Carlos turned to look at Jay.
"We don't even know what it is." He replied.
"I bet that she-devil in the dungeons knows," he said, "and I bet there's still traces of the poison still on the knife."
"Do you think Mal took this poison or made it?"
"Hard to tell," Carlos thought for a moment, "the doctor's don't know anything about it. But Mal couldn't make a poison all on her own."
"Her mother's spells." Evie piped up. By this point she had collected herself.
Carlos turned his head to look at her again, "those are just magic words. Spells that don't work here."
"There's a section in one of her books that talks about potions and poisons," Evie explained, "that must've been where she got it. If there's someone who could rival my mother in poison brewing, it's Maleficent."
"Bargain Castle." Jay said.
"It's too fortified, we'd have to break in," Carlos explained, "Maleficent isn't ignorant to what we did to her daughter. Her only heir."
"Break into the Mistress of Evil's castle, easy." Jay said sarcastically.
"I'll analyze the poison in my workshop," Carlos told both of them, "try to find an antidote."
"Someone needs to run the Isle." Evie piped up.
Carlos and Jay both looked at each other.
"I don't know who that would be," Carlos admitted, "it's usually the royal advisor that takes over but…"
"I was the royal advisor." Evie sighed in frustration.
"This whole thing really works better when there's four of us." Jay said dimly.
"Well there isn't, Jay," Carlos snapped at him, "I can try to multitask and hold meetings with allies."
"Let me help," Evie pleaded, "I can sign paperwork or read letters or something."
"You really need your rest." Carlos said in a worried tone.
"This is the only way it's gonna work," Jay folded his arms, "I'll get those books from Maleficent but you two have to do the rest."
"We need to work fast," Carlos said, "we don't know how long we have."
"We'll get it done," Jay paused before saying his next statement, like he almost didn't want to say it, "I promise."
Evie nodded understandingly, "I really do love you both."
"We're gonna do everything we can," Carlos assured her, "that witch won't get away with this."
The busy streets of the Isle were only accompanied by dull weather and violence. People being gutted in alleyways, shops getting ransacked, and homes being destroyed. There was a curious amount of beauty that came from such chaos. At least Dizzy always thought so. The broken windows, makeshift homes, and graffiti on every wall had a spark of the human touch to it. No machine could build what the people of the Isle have built.
Dizzy was pretending to shop in the marketplace. A typically dangerous place but she had grown acquaintance with many of the powerful gang leaders of the Isle by doing their hair. People really should watch what they say to their hairdresser. Though Dizzy wasn't there for the moldy food or bent silverware, she was there for a very particular reason. Just one stall over there was a boy with olive skin, ruffled brown hair, and a Queen's servant's uniform collecting fruit in a basket for her majesty. Evie had found out he was an errand boy for the castle's supplies.
She was so excited she could hardly contain herself. Her true love was right before her eyes. He didn't notice her, but she was going to make a second first impression.
As she watched him pay the attendant and leave the stand, Dizzy grabbed onto her basket she had beside her. She waited for him to walk behind her before quickly turning around and running right into him. Both of their baskets were flung from their hands and the contents spilled out onto the ground.
"Look at what you've done!" The boy says with frustration as he quickly kneels down and begins collecting what he can, people have already started nicking the items off the floor.
"I'm sorry let me help you with that." Dizzy says and kneels down with him, picking up his fruits and puts them back in his basket.
"What a mess, I hope you're happy." He didn't even look at her as he spoke. The cold tone in his voice stung Dizzy like a whip. But she wasn't giving up.
She waited for him to grab a fruit and she quickly pounced onto his hand, pretending like she was reaching for the same fruit. That's what made him look up at her and she saw the scowl on his face as he yanked the fruit away.
"Thanks for nothing." He replied coldly, then stood and left Dizzy there alone on the street.
It all happened so fast. She couldn't believe it. How could her plan have failed so miserably. He didn't even recognize her from the ball. All these thoughts started swarming in her head. Does he even know her? Was he really that callous before? Is this not true love?
Dizzy had never known love before now. Evie made it seem like a paradise. She'd never felt so empty and alone in her whole life. She didn't know what to call this feeling anymore. All she could do was pick up her belongings off the street, and walk home.