Chapter 4: Loathe at First Sight
Mindy was vexed in every way, shape, and form.
She hated Captain Hook… no, hate wasn't a strong enough word to describe how she felt about him…. She loathed him with every fiber of her being. She'd never thought that it would be possible for her to meet someone, and dislike them immediately after encountering them.
It was like love at first sight, only in Mindy's case it was loathe at first sight.
Despite how vexed she was, she couldn't help but feel uneasy about her current situation. Although, uneasy was a bit of an understatement… utterly terrified out of her mind was a more accurate depiction.
She was entirely convinced that she was sailing straight to her death, and there was nothing anyone could do to prevent the inevitable. Well… this is it kid… you've lived a good one… Granted, you never did get the chance to star in a Disney movie, or make amends with your mentally disabled father… but at least mom's gonna be on the other side… so at least there's that.
Salty tears blurred Mindy's vision as she lingered on that last thought.
Some sick part of her soul secretly wished for the pirates to just get it over with; to leave her to drown so she could be united with her deceased mother. At least then she could have a parental figure who would love her unconditionally. She would give almost anything to meet her in person so that she could understand what was it about her that had causedher dad to never pay attention to their daughter.
Mindy hastily concealed her face when she caught Hook glancing down at her.
She rapidly blinked away her tears, and bit the handkerchief tightly to restrain a childlike whimper. The last thing that she wanted to do was let the man that she despised more than anything else in the world see her show an ounce of weakness.
Whatever you do, don't cry…just continue to smile as if nothing is wrong, and you'll be fine…you'll be fine…you'll be fine…
Just then, the picturesque robin-egg sky turned shadowy and foreboding. Her eyes widened as gloomy storm clouds replaced the fluffy white clouds that had been there mere seconds ago. She picked up the sounds of seagulls cawing overhead, and gelid blustery winds sweeping across the ocean. Her heartbeat began to accelerate as they passed underneath a massive stone arch.
Mindy felt like she was riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyworld, except she had been forced into the boat, and she was about to be killed by real pirates. She was frustrated that she couldn't see anything other than the ceiling of the hollow cavern, but she was also dreading the moment when she would be viewing the bottom of it later. She shivered involuntarily… she wasn't sure if it was from thinking about her death or from the constant chill that hung in the air. Either way, being inside of Skull Rock made her extremely uncomfortable for so many different reasons.
The dingy came to an abrupt halt, and caused Mindy to jerk dizzily from side-to-side. She wanted to vomit so that Hook and Smee would have no choice but to smell it all the way back to the Jolly Rodger after they had finished killing them off.
Sadly, fate had other plans.
The boat continued to wobble as Smee carried Tiger Lily out, and tied her to a rusty anchor in the middle of the grotto. Once he had removed her gag, he shifted his attention to Mindy and gave her a bright bubbly smile before doing the same to her.
"You know, this reminds me of the days back when you were just a tiny tot." There was a reminiscent twinkle in Mister Smee's eye as he patted her fondly on the head (much to Mindy's chagrin). "We used to always use you as bait to trap Peter Pan! Of course the Sea Pup would always fight the Cap'n, you would always find some way to escape, and both of you would always emerge happy and victorious!" He giggled a bit before continuing. "It makes me wonder if things will be much more interesting this time around now that you've officially grown up and all!"
The minute the first mate removed the handkerchief from her mouth she tilted her head, "I know that I've been quiet (well, granted that was because I was, you know- forced to keep my mouth shut the entire trip here!) but I have GOT to get this off of my chest before I'm killed and/or tortured…how do you know who I am? Why did you refer to me as a princess earlier? (That was a little weird) and what the curse word is a Sea Pup?"
When Mindy glanced up, she was taken aback when she caught both Smee and Hook donning equally shell-shocked expressions on their faces. Then, after a few seconds of awkward silence, the captain's lips parted into undeniably frivolous laughter.
"I'll admit!" Hook's eyes lit up with mirth, "You had me going for a moment…but I'm afraid that your childish pranks will work on me no longer Melinda!"
"Childish prank?!" She burst out, "Dude, this isn't a game! I'm LITERALLY about to die! The least you could do is explain why you've been talking to me as if we've gone to hell and back together!"
"I suppose old habits die hard." He sighed in aggravation, "Very well, I'll play along if you're going to commit to this foolish little act."
"It's not an act! I'll have you know that this is a plea for clarification as to what the frick is going on!"
Rolling his eyes at the now overly-dramatic teenager, he leered forward with his signature cunning smirk to address Tiger Lily. "And now me dear princess, this is me proposition… you tell me the hiding place of Peter Pan, and I shall set you free."
Mindy tilted her head.
"Am I not a man of me word Mister Smee?"
"Oh, yes." She was quick to notice the little man crossing his fingers before putting them behind his back. "Always Cap'n."
"You'd better talk me dear." Luckily, Hook was too busy threatening the princess to notice Mindy mouthing his next words in perfect unison with him. "For soon the tide will be in… and then it will be too late… remember, there is no path through water to the happy hunting ground."
Tiger Lily lifted her chin defiantly in response.
Hook's face glowed crimson as he lost his temper, as well as his patience.
Three… two… one.
He reached out, and lifted the princess with his hook hand before screaming in her face: "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TIGER LILY!"
"Um, yeah hi, I'm sorry… I think I'm missing something here." Mindy piped up. "Why are you doing that?"
Hook narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, "Doing what?"
"Why are you saying your lines from the film?"
"What are you getting at girl?"
"Hasn't all of this happened before?"
Before he could respond, an all-too-familiar voice echoed throughout the vast cavern: "Manatoa, great spirit of mighty seawater speak…Beware Captain Hook! Beware…beware…"
Smee glanced around in fright.
His knees buckled as he hid behind the captain.
"Did you hear that Smee?"
Smee's lip trembled as his eyes continued to dart back-and-forth, "It's an evil spirit Cap'n!"
"Stand by Smee while I take a look around." Hook unsheathed his sword before muttering: "Spirit of the great seawater is it?" and without another word, he disappeared to search for the source of that voice.
"Good riddance." Mindy growled under her breath before shouting after him, "You unforgiving tergiversator! Damn it! I should've used that one earlier!"
"Mister Smee…"
"Yes Captain?" The first mate inquired.
"Release the princess, and take her back to her people." The impostor ordered. "And while you're at it, release the other girl as well."
A flutter of hope swelled up in Mindy's chest.
She recognized that voice anywhere… she tried to catch a glimpse of Peter Pan, but the high-flying trickster was nowhere to be seen. Wherever he was hidden, he had taken extra precautions to make sure that the darkness concealed him completely from sight.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Smee saluted before making his way to the anchor, "Release the girls… but…" His eyes suddenly widened in realization, "But captain-!"
"-Those are me orders, Mister Smee!"
"Aye, aye sir." The little man whimpered before untying them from the rock, and placing them back into the dingy.
As he rowed back towards the entrance, he babbled on about how he knew that the "Indians would never betray Peter Pan", but Mindy was hardly listening to him until he started to address her, "I somewhat understand why he would want to set Tiger Lily free, but I haven't the faintest idea why he would want to release you. I mean, you're the bloomin' princess of the-"
"-And just what do you think you're doing Mister Smee?"
Princess of the what?
"Just what you told me captain!" Smee chirped as he continued to row, even though Hook's foot stopped the boat from moving altogether. "Just carrying out your orders!"
PRINCESS OF THE WHAT?!
The villain's mustache twitched. "My orders?"
"Yes Captain." Smee turned to give him a puzzled look. "Didn't you just say to-"
"-PUT THEM BACK! YOU BLUBBERING IDIOT!" Hook kicked the dingy so hard that it zoomed across the water at supersonic speed.
The little man's eyes widened as he struggled to regain control of the boat. Mindy and Tiger Lily ducked their heads as it spun in a nauseating circle before eventually slowing down and stopping completely. The waves crashed against the dingy and splashed directly into Mindy's face.
"So much for being set free." She grumbled.
"Mister Smee…" The same voice from above decided to make its presence known, "Just exactly what do you think you are doing?"
"Putting them back like you said Captain." Smee answered as he reattached Tiger Lily to the anchor.
"I said nothing of the sort!"
"B-b-but c-c-c-cap-c-c-capta-"
"-For the last time Mister Smee… release the princess and take her back to her people… and release the other girl as well…UNDERSTAND?!"
Smee jumped three feet in the air as the voice bounced off of the cave walls and caused a few rocks to rain down on the trio. Mindy tried her best to avoid them, but it proved to be difficult since she was stuck in one spot.
Mister Smee raised a shaking hand in a salute. "Aye, aye, sir."
Mindy spotted something move in her peripheral vision… Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of a sinister shadow creeping up one of the many cliffs… It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who the shadow belonged to… which meant… She cast her eyes downward, and her lips formed into a thin smile. Mindy could faintly see his silhouette lounging on the plateau beneath the cliff.
It's him!
"Oh, and one more thing Smee…Tell the whole crew to help themselves to me best grog…"
Mindy's face fell when Hook pulled himself onto the cliff and raised his arm dramatically over his head. "Peter, look out!"
Luckily, Peter had heard her warning, and ducked seconds before the hook impaled the rock where his head was supposed to be.
"Here's your spirit Smee!" Captain Hook lifted what he thought was Peter's lifeless body, and was taken aback to discover his iconic pointy green hat instead.
The boy swooped down from his hiding place and circled the boat with a mischievous sunny grin.
"Why, it's Peter Pan!" Smee chuckled as he pointed at the high-flying trickster.
That was when Mindy laid eyes on her childhood hero for the first time…
He was an average-looking Caucasian boy with flaming red hair, and bright honey-colored eyes. Freckles dotted his nose, and he had elf-like ears on either side of his round head. He wore a leafy green tunic with contrasting evergreen tights. On his feet were sandy-brown shoes that were slightly pointed at the ends.
Peter abruptly froze in mid-air when his eyes locked on Mindy…
She could've sworn she caught him searching through his vast ocean of memory, just by staring directly into his eyes, but she figured that it must've been her overactive imagination playing tricks on her.
The trance was broken when Peter shook his head.
He then soared upwards and snatched his hat from Hook.
"Scurvy brat!"
Peter bowed mockingly. "Thank you captain!"
"Come down boy, if you want a taste of cold steel!"
"Watch this Wendy!" Peter exclaimed as he dove back to the vengeful captain.
It was then that Mindy noticed a young blue-eyed girl kneeling over the side of another cliff high above them. She had light peach-colored skin and curly strawberry blonde hair that was pulled up in a tight ponytail with a sky-blue ribbon. She wore a cyan nightgown with black slippers on her feet.
"Oh Peter, do be careful!" She called out to him.
Mindy knew that he fully intended to ignore her warning.
She watched as he stepped on Hook's sword with a playful smirk before lifting his foot off; causing both him and the weapon to wobble dangerously. Peter then ran down the side of the cavern, and pulled Mister Smee's cap over his face. Next, he flew all the way up to Hook's level, and taunted him by waving his hands childishly above his head. He took the bait, and swung his sword only for Peter to swerve around him, and steal his pistol from his pocket. The boy then flew back down to Smee, and handed him the weapon.
"Try your luck Mister Smee?"
"Let him have it!"
The little pirate fumbled with the gun, but couldn't aim at Peter. He darted around the cliffs faster than the speed of light while making funny faces at Smee. Mindy chortled as he continued with his antics… this kid was just plain ridiculous.
"Blast him you idiot! BLAST HIM!" Hook yelled in frustration.
Peter hovered directly in front of the captain. "Right here Mister Smee!"
"Hold it you fool!"
Smee covered his eyes as he shakily got ready to pull the trigger.
"No! NO!"
BANG!
Mindy winced as a loud gunshot filled the air, and Peter narrowly missed the bullet's mark; resulting in it hitting Captain Hook instead. She gasped in shock as he toppled off of the cliff. She had memorized this entire scene by heart, so she knew what was going to happen next… but watching it in real life and watching it on her television were two entirely different experiences for her.
"Captain?" Smee dropped the weapon into the water as the realization of what he had done sunk in.
"What a pity Mister Smee." Peter lamented with a proud smile as he descended onto the cliff. "I'm afraid we've lost our dear captain."
He then proceeded to put Hook's hat over his heart as a sign of mock respect. Unbeknownst to him, the captain had survived the fall and was sneaking up behind the boy with a devilish smile. Just as he was about to stab him, Smee clapped his hands joyously.
"Cap'n!"
Peter whirled around and pointed a finger at him in a reprimanding manner. "In the back, Captain?"
That was when the real swordfight began.
Mindy tore her eyes away from the battle, and focused on escaping at all costs.
She took an innocent glance over her shoulder and suppressed a roll of her eyes. Her captor was too engrossed in the fight to pay any attention to his captives. "Give it to him Cap'n! Cleeve him to the briskets!"
Turning back to her current situation, she rotated her wrists back and forth in hopes of wriggling free. To her surprise, the ropes immediately fell at her feet. She then proceeded to make the stupidest mistake of her life.
"YES!" Mindy whooped. "Now all that's left to do is-"
"-How the blazes did you manage to untie those ropes?"
Her heart sank when she heard Smee's buoyant voice from behind her. Frick.
Before she knew what was happening, he was retying her wrists.
"There, that should do it!" He gave one final tug to secure the knot, "Now do try to stay in one place Miss Singh. Don't want to make the captain upset after all!" He once again patted her lightly on the head before departing the boat with a cheerful grin.
Mindy stuck out her lip in a pout. "No, we wouldn't want that now would we?"
Once she was sure that Smee's back was turned, she tried twisting her wrists again. Unfortunately, he had triple knotted it, so she wasn't able to loosen them as easily as she had done before.
That guy sure knows how to tie one heck of a knot. Mindy groaned. Ugh, why does Smee even work for Captain Hook? He's way too nice to be taken seriously as a pirate and…
Then, the lightbulb lit up above her head…
"OW! FRICK ALL OF THE CURSE WORDS IN THE DICTIONARY!"
Smee was up and by her side in ten seconds flat. "Miss Singh? Are you alright?"
Mindy scrunched her face up in pain. "I think these ropes are cutting off the circulation of my bloodstream!"
"Oh dear, perhaps I did tie them a bit too tight." The first mate scratched his head guiltily. "Would you like me to loosen them for you?"
"Will you?"
"Of course I will!" Smee scurried behind her without a moment's hesitation.
Mindy feigned a look of gratitude as he untied two out of the three knots. "Oh thank you!"
"It's really no trouble at all." When he had finished, he tilted his head at her. "Better?"
"I'm really sorry about this." She head-butted him before he had the chance to reply.
It took a couple of tries, but she managed to pull her wrists through the loops of the ropes. Her knees trembled as she carefully stood up in the dingy, and turned to check up on Peter and Hook. To her amusement, they were sword fighting while backing up over the edge of the cliff thanks to the magic of cartoon logic.
"I've got you this time, Pan." Hook seethed.
Peter floated in the air, and sat crisscross applesauce.
The captain glanced downwards, and screamed like a little girl once he realized how high up they were. He scrambled back to the cliff but dropped right as he was about to step foot onto the landing. However, he was somehow able to grip the edge with his hook to keep himself from falling. Peter laughed in delight as he stood on the brink of the plateau.
"Well, well." He smirked. "A codfish on a hook!"
"I'll get you for this Pan! If it's the last thing I do!" The captain shrieked.
Mindy caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye.
Puzzled, she whirled around and immediately gasped in shock. The water had reached Tiger Lily's neck, and she was struggling to break free of her restraints. Her eyes pleaded for Mindy to save her, as the tide steadily increased.
"Hold on!" She called out to her. "I'm coming!"
Mindy didn't hesitate to leap into the murky water.
Her teeth chattered as she pushed herself against the current to get to the princess. Once she reached the rock, she sucked in a deep breath before diving underwater. She popped open her eyes and waded over to the ropes behind the anchor. Her hands fumbled as she attempted to untie her as fast as humanly possible.
She had never dealt with sailors' knots before this point, so she settled for digging her nails into the rope and tugging as hard as she could for a start. Mindy couldn't hold her breath much longer, so she rapidly swam to the surface. She was horrified to discover that the water had risen up to Tiger Lily's chin while she had been gone. Mindy inhaled sharply before plunging back into the depths and attempting to untie her again. After a minute, she stopped and weighed her options.
Obviously, using her hands was getting her nowhere. She could feel the ropes loosening, but it wasn't happening fast enough to free Tiger Lily before the water submerged her completely. She scanned her surroundings for some sort of tool to assist her… then she spotted a jagged piece of coral at the bottom of the cove. Wasting no time, she paddled as fast as she could towards it. Once she grabbed it, she pushed her feet off of the sandy floor, and frantically swam back to the surface.
Mindy's eyes bulged out of their sockets when she noticed that the water now sloshed around Tiger Lily's mouth.
She took in as much oxygen as she could before she dove beneath the waves, and roughly began to saw the princess's restraints. At first, it didn't seem to be working and she accidently cut herself, but she refused to give up. She forced herself to ignore the searing pain, and continued hacking away. After working it for a minute or two, the ropes were actually loosening much quicker than she had been anticipating. The restraints practically started falling apart, and she eagerly kept tugging until she used her hands to untie the last bit.
As soon as she had finished, Mindy grabbed Tiger Lily by her waist and hoisted her to the surface. Both of them wheezed for air and waded to the nearest rocky ledge. The princess gave Mindy a grateful smile as she wrung out her pigtails.
"You're… you're welcome." Mindy rasped.
Her hand trembled as she held it in front of her face, and winced at the amount of blood dripping from her palm. Tiger Lily noticed her wound, and tore off a portion of her dress to create a make-shift bandage. She gestured for her hand, and Mindy complied. The princess then wrapped the cloth tightly around the cut; making sure to triple-knot it in order to keep it in place.
"Th-thanks."
Mindy felt extremely light-headed and she wanted nothing more than to pass out from exhaustion. However, her body didn't give in to her demands. She had so grown accustomed to the adrenaline pumping through her veins that it managed to keep her awake as she laid there next to Tiger Lily. She was ecstatic at the thought of having saved someone's life in that stressful of a situation.
Under any other circumstances, she would have shut down and retreated into her ball of anxiety and cowardice. But for some reason or another, she wasn't feeling like herself this particular evening. In fact, it felt like this was just a regular Friday for her, which was a preposterous thought all by itself.
It was almost as preposterous as her current train of thought. For the first time in my life…something feels right. Something about this place, these people, this…this sensation feels normal. But why can't I place my finger on why that is?
A thunderous crow yanked Mindy back to the present.
It was then that she comprehended that she had missed the crocodile showing up and chasing Captain Hook all the way back to the Jolly Rodger. A sigh of disappointment escaped her lips. She wished that she could go back in time and watch the codfish skittering around the water trying to evade the crocodile's grasp in flawless comedic slapstick. However, she knew that if she had she would've never saved Tiger Lily and she wouldn't trade that moment for the world.
"Peter! What about the girls?" Wendy's voice echoed across the cavern.
"The girls?" Peter questioned before snapping his fingers in realization. "Oh! The girls!"
The immortal boy soared in to save the day, only to discover that the anchor was deserted. His eyes grew wide with panic as he searched for the damsels in distress that he was supposed to be saving.
"We're over here!"
Peter whirled around and was taken aback by the sight before him. "How… how did you both escape?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Mindy admitted as she helped Tiger Lily to her feet, "All I can say is you should never underestimate the power of adrenaline, determination, and...some sort of third thing." He opened his mouth to respond when she beat him to it. "Well, this has been quite the adventure, but we gotta return this princess to the village ASAP."
"Yeah, yeah I know." Peter ran his fingers through his fiery red hair as he stared at her in puzzlement. "Hey, do we…know each other?"
"I don't think so…why do you ask?"
"Peter?" Before he could form a response, Wendy flew in and landed next to him on the rock. "What is taking so…oh, who is this?"
"Hi." Mindy held out her hand to shake. "My name is-"
"-Wait, don't tell me." Peter scrunched his face up in thought, "I wanna figure it out by myself…I feel like I should know who you are, but I just can't remember for some reason." When he noticed that she was giving him a look of concern, he offered a smile of reassurance, "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll think of it eventually, but for now, we need to go back to the village and celebrate!"
Without waiting for a reply, Peter scooped Tiger Lily into his arms and left the others marooned on the small island. Wendy let out a deflated sigh as she watched them soar off into the sunset.
She eyed the girl next to her inquisitively. "Can you fly?"
"Unlike other people who flew into Neverland, I fell into Neverland." Mindy laughed a bit, "It was traumatizing."
"Goodness! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." The teenager waved it off dismissively. "Somehow, I miraculously survived that and I still have no idea how."
"Oh dear." Wendy held out her hand. "Here, let me help you."
Hesitantly, Mindy accepted it.
"Now, hold on tight."
"Wait I'm afraid of-Heeeeeeeights!" Mindy released an unholy screech as they swooped out of the eye of Skull Rock, above the glittering ocean, and towards the Native Camp…
