The sack was removed, forcing Syrena to see she was inside a ship's crew quarters. She was bound to a post, and now in her standard white-coated Hill Unicorn form. Oh, what a dreadful turn of events! And worse, she was with a group of pirate unicorns who would rather ransom her off, then waste time thinking about anything else.
She stared at the pirate unicorns standing next to her and away from her, all chattering amongst themselves. A single tear shed down Syrena's face. It was a horrid turn of events indeed, one she hoped to never experience again.
She looked up at one of the pirate unicorns, a female Unicorn with a dark purple coat and black arrow tattoos strewn on her face and body. She noticed this Unicorn wasn't speaking to her. Did she miss something?
"Excuse me, but where are we going?" Syrena asked the female, dark purple Unicorn, curiously.
"Shut up!" a male Unicorn, with a Palomino coat, hoofed Syrena in the face, forcing her to be silent. Her right eye ached, a reddish scar left behind from the Palomino Unicorn's hoof nearly impaling her.
Syrena nearly burst into tears. This was awful! Oh, where was Aslan when she needed him?
"We're here!" a pirate unicorn stated above deck. The other pirate unicorns bellowed in triumph, taking their prize, Syrena, from her post and onto the ship's deck.
To her surprise, Syrena was taken to a boat, sailing towards the white sandy shore. There were human pirates with their own campsite nestled along the beach. Syrena watched them as the pirate unicorns took her to shore. She looked up, spotting a golden-brown light enveloped in an area, almost like a large bubble.
"This must be a Pocket World," Syrena murmured, having heard of other worlds connecting to the second Seven Realms, but she hadn't experienced something like it before, up until now. These Pocket Worlds were locked to a certain part of time. So, she had no idea which world or which time she had landed in. Just that she was here and now, and that was all that mattered to her at the present time.
At last, the boat reached shore, causing the pirate unicorns to take their prize, Syrena, off the boat and onto shore. Much to Syrena's disgruntlement, she wasn't looking forward to meeting the human pirate captain, who had shoulder length grey hair, and was donned in a black pirate captain's hat and grey pirate attire. He kept his sword strapped to his belt, which made Syrena nervous.
Would this pirate captain attack her, with all these other pirates around? She hoped that was not the case. But then again, who knew?
However, something wasn't right about this place. What happened to these human pirates' boat? And why did the pirate unicorns' boat disappear out at sea?
Syrena looked at the human pirate captain, the man, asking him in confusion, "Can I ask something? Where's your boat? Surely, you have a ship around here!"
"Shut up!" the blue-coated Sea Unicorn pirate stated, bashing Syrena on the side of her face with his rifle.
Syrena did her best to calm down. However, she received a splitting headache. She felt her right eye, discovering she might have more of a scar there from the cuts she received from the Sea Unicorn's hilt and the other pirate unicorn's hoof.
"That's enough! Don't damage her!" the human pirate captain stated, causing the Sea Unicorn and the other pirate unicorns to retract from bashing Syrena anymore. "She'll make a hefty price, once we're done with her."
"Don't worry, love. We shapeshifters' wounds heal overtime," the Sea Unicorn told Syrena, right as her cuts healed and her right eye relaxed.
"Yes, yes. Wounds like that leave scars. It shouldn't take you too long, lass," the human pirate captain stated with a smile. "My name is Peter the Pillager, but you may call me the Pirate King."
"Pirate King, where's your boat?" Syrena asked, feeling her right eye again, finding no scar and no cuts there. Her skin was back to normal, as was her right eye, but the pain resided for a good couple of minutes.
"Oh, it got stuck on shore, but that's the least of your worries," Peter the Pillager stated. "You're here to give blood and lots of it!"
"We need Unicorn's blood, particularly from shapeshifters, and you're one of them!" a second pirate, one of Peter's crew, stated with a great, big, "Argh!"
Syrena looked at the Pirate King in confusion. "Um… you have other shapeshifters! Why do you need my blood?"
"It's revenge for you giving free access to those portals, back in the Land of Unicorns!" one pirate unicorn, another blue-coated Sea Unicorn one, stated in arrogance. "What? Did you think we'd let you go? You're wrong!"
"You can let her go now! No need to damage her any further, mates!" Peter the Pillager said, approaching Syrena and poking her arm with a sharp needle.
"Ow!" Syrena winced in pain, staring at the needle now covered in her blood. She watched as her own arm wound healed quickly. It was amazing! Shapeshifters could heal a lot faster than Unicorns! She smiled, grateful that was over and the pirate unicorns released her, freeing her from her bonds. She looked at the human pirates, as the pirate unicorns made towards their boat, ditching her. "Wait. You're not taking me with you?" She ran towards the pirate unicorns in haste. Surely, they would take her with them! Oh please? Take her with them! "Don't we need to return to the Land of Unicorns?"
"Sorry love, you're on your own," the second pirate Sea Unicorn stated with glee. He chuckled, as he and the rest of the pirate unicorns sailed away, abandoning Syrena to the human pirates.
Syrena lowered her arms in shame, reminding the pirate unicorns, "No, that's okay! Go on without me! I'll find my own way back!"
"This blood is priceless. Have you seen blood glow like that?" the same pirate crew member from Peter's group announced in interest. Syrena looked back, noticing her blood was in a vial and glowing gold.
"This is valuable," Peter the Pillager said, turning his gaze to her. "You may prove yourself after all." He stared at Syrena, curiously. "How much do you want for it? We haven't had unicorn blood glow like this before. It's not that bright, but it will do. So, how much do you want for it?"
"How about my blood for a way off this shore? I need to get back to the Land of Unicorns… now. Someone's out there, looking for me! I'm sure of it!" Syrena asked with a warm-hearted smile.
Peter gave it some thought, deciding, "Fair enough. We'll take your blood and you find your way back to your homeland."
"Wait," Syrena was confused, "you mean you don't know how to get me back home?"
"You're a Unicorn. Fate will guide you home. Have a nice day, miss!" Peter the Pillager said, as he and his other human pirate crew observed the vial, with Syrena's blood in it, for themselves.
Syrena looked around in angst. This was not what she had in mind! "Right. How do I get back?" She asked, searching for a portal home, wherever she could find one. So far, she was out of luck.
.
Syrena made camp a few meters away from Peter the Pillager's pirate campsite. Her campfire glowed, sending a signal to the other human pirates to assist her, should she need their help. She was offered the choice to stay at Peter's campsite, but refused him a few times. By the third time, he left her alone, deciding she was much more valuable alone.
So far, Syrena doused her campfire by accident, using her Unicorn magic to blow out water from her sparkly, pearly spiral horn. Something spooked her. It was midday and so far, she hadn't figured a way off this Pocket World. What was she supposed to do? Where could she go now? She looked this way and that, as the sun started going down. So far, there wasn't any sign of anyone around her, except for her and the human pirates. Her stomach grumbled. She really wanted food, some nourishment to ease her mind.
At last, she looked up as one of the human pirates gave her some vegetables and shrimp to eat. She smiled, grateful for the assistance.
"Thank you," Syrena said, digging into her meal.
"Don't mention it. The captain's offering for you to join us, whenever you're ready," the human pirate suggested. Syrena glared at him, deciding it was out of the question. The human pirate shrugged, telling her, "Just saying. Come back whenever you're ready." He wandered off, leaving her to her light meal of vegetables and shrimp.
To Syrena's delight, the food wasn't poisoned. It just was so good having something in her belly. She looked up, as a Dark Unicorn, with a sleek black coat and a spiral black horn, approached her. She stared up at him in defense, only to see him beckon her to follow him through a portal. It was a portal leading to a white sandy beach and a starry night sky, like the one she saw in the painting.
Wait! Did that mean she would have to do battle against this Dark Unicorn? She finished eating her meal, darting after the Dark Unicorn, only to land in the white sandy beach a moment later. She made it through the portal, which vanished behind her seconds later. Realizing she was on the ground and in the tall yellow grass, she stood up, finding herself face to face with the muscular, masculine Dark Unicorn, who stood before her with a shrewd look on his face.
"Who are you?" Syrena asked him, quite convinced that this unicorn meant to harm her. Whatever the case, she knew she was in trouble now.
*.*.*
References:
Peter the Pillager, also known as the Pirate King, comes from the ABC television show, "Galavant".