5.
Captain James Hook stood rigidly on his ship as the day became night. The water moved slowly, the men on his ship were tense, and the moon was frozen. They were ready for the possible mermaid attack, and all men would stay awake for this.
For hours they waited, and the Captain did not move. He was stone, but his mind was working furiously.
Wendy.
It was lucky the men knew what to do at a time like this, in all this peace the girl was all he could think about.
Wendy.
Three days here and she had already consumed him! Three! She would become Red Handed Jill once again, and for that he could not wait. He felt a thrill in corrupting her. She was his to corrupt. His. Wendy Moira Angela Darling was his. And he loved every bit of it.
Of course once he got her to hate Peter Pan things might go a lot smoother. He would have to work on that. His plan was flawless, train her, make her hate Peter, and send her off to find him. She will gain Pan's trust and defeat him. Capture him maybe, he liked that, Wendy coming back with a captured Peter Pan, and then he, the captain, would finish him off.
Wendy.
Suddenly a violent thrust hit the ship, and the men all made loud grunts of surprise. Except for Hook. He was good at this. He was ready.
When the ship lurched Wendy was thrown back against the wall harshly. She had been looking for something to help her find her way out. Again, she had failed. She felt the weight of everything settle on her shoulders. She didn't know why she was on this damned ship, just that the moment she entered it she had become a failure. Then again, she thought sadly, things might have started to fall apart long before then.
The ship gave another frightful lurch and Wendy sank to the floor, defeated. Once she had felt strong in Neverland, she never thought she could lay down so easily.
"I'm done fighting," she sighed, and as she uttered this something scraped against the floor and into her foot, the boat moving once again.
Her hand snatched at the object, only to cut her palm. She hissed in pain, but continued to puck up the knife. She felt the blood on her hand pulse from where the Captain had just kissed her, and she felt that this was her excuse to leave, a sign telling her to run.
She shoved the knife blade in the crack on the ceiling and after what seemed like hours, pulled open the trapped door. She nearly squealed with pleasure as she lifted herself out, ran to the skinny door and opened the thankfully unlocked door. She continued to run to the cabin door, this one being unlocked as well, since no one had thought she would escape. She felt a surge of pride and excitement that she had proved them wrong. She was doing something she wasn't allowed too, and it thrilled her. Opening the door slowly, she peered out and saw the pirates moving hurriedly, all of them yelling and doing something she assumed important. It was then that a high pitched scream echoed out in the dark. Screeching erupted from the water, and scaly mermaids flew onto the boat, hissing and baring their sharp teeth, their yellow eyes scanning around the boat.
Wendy gasped, and felt the urge to run back into her hole. But her hand just curled tighter around the knife and she was about to take a step forward when a mermaid hurled itself at her. She screamed and did the only thing she could think of and thrust the knife forward. The mermaid yelped and fell to the floor, its fin thrashing. Wendy was horrified; she had never actually hurt something before. She hardly had time to thing about it for the thing lunged at her again, though less forcefully. It was complete chaos around her, and nobody noticed the small figure fighting one of the many mermaids that had climbed their way onto the ship.
The claws of the mermaid scratched at her, Wendy searched for the knife she had stabbed the over large fish with. The mermaid was weakening and Wendy was able to kick it off of her quickly and pull out the knife. She felt now was a perfect time to punch the thing, so she did and felt a little thrill when it reeled back.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said angrily, "But I will if I have to."
The mermaid watched Wendy with a steady gaze and then let out a loud shriek. It crawled to the main mast and began to say things in a harsh high pitch.
"My childreeeeeeen! We leeeeeeave now! Swim baaaack to our hooooooome!"
The mermaids began to jump into the water without a second glance, the dead ones staying behind. The mermaid Wendy had just fought jumped from the mast and grabbed her, pulling her with it onto the deck.
"What are you doing?" Wendy cried and tried to push it away.
"Miiiiiiine."
A loud gunshot tore through the air, "Let the girl go!"
Hook took a step foreword, his gaze meeting the mermaids. His eyes were full of hate and anger, he was ready to kill.
"Miiiiiiiiine," it repeated.
"I believe what you have is mine," Hook growled.
The crew was scattered around them, no one moved. The wind brushed through the heavy air of fish, all the crew members had survived, but many were not counting Wendy in the tally.
"I belong to no one!" Wendy cried and with a sharp thrust, dug the knife into the mermaids stomach and twisted. The mermaid screamed, but not in any way Wendy had ever heard before. It was as if all the pain in the world had been contained into one pitch.
The grip became slack, and the mermaid fell from around her. Its eyes rolled back, and blood poured from its mouth. Wendy gasped as its chest heaved, and then slowly the mermaid died.
She had never killed anything before.
The crew was quiet for a few moments. Then as if inspiration had hit them, they started cheering, their cries echoed into the night, guns and swords raised proudly in the air. Wendy took a horrified step back from the corpse, not realizing the cheering was for her. Suddenly she heard her name being cheered, and looked up to see Charlie grinning widely at her. Though the guilt of killing something consumed her, there was a small part that felt exhilarated by the applause. She hadn't failed. She had won.
A strong hand grabbed her upper arm, but not forcefully, more as if he was just trying to get his own view of her, and gently walked her back to the cabin. She didn't notice, she was in a complete stupor, the mermaid's claws still gripping her mind. It was dead. She killed it. It was on the deck dead because of her.
When she was set safely on the bed, the cabin door locked, only then did she realize more was going on around her when Hook spoke.
"Proud of yourself are you Wendy?" Hook said with steel in his voice.
Not once had he called her Wendy.
She looked at him, her eyes were worn, blood splattered her face and arms, all down her dress. Her face was scratched and bleeding, and she felt her leg throbbing. Her dress was ruined completely with the stains and tears. She was a mess. She just wanted to lay down, but something told her Hook was in the way of that dream.
"No," she said softly, surprising Hook.
He relaxed himself a bit and slowly looked her over. His face softened and he sighed.
"Miss Darling," he said concerned, "However did you get out of the room?"
She closed her eyes and lifted her palm to show him the cut.
He tried not to show his confusion but nodded, "Ah."
She tried to lay down but Hook pulled her up carefully, "You're filthy," he said gently, "You're not laying in my bed like that."
Her energy had left her but she nodded and went to lay back down.
"No, no," he said, either amused or annoyed, "Come with me."
He pulled her up, and carrying her around the waist to the chair sat her down on it.
He stepped out the door half way and called for Smee, "Bring me a basin of water and a towel for our little hero."
"Ay Captain," Smee said cheerfully, "The crew has taken quiet a shine to her."
Hook slammed the door and Smee went off to get the water.
"You're a foolish girl Miss Darling."
"Mhm," she muttered.
"You shouldn't have done that," he added.
"Okay," she said drowsily, the events of what had happened made her want to hide in her sleep and Hook was denying her such a right.
"Though as Captain of this ship," Hook said trying to sound reluctant, "I must thank you for rushing the procedure. I've never lost a man to a mermaid threat and now I never will. You killed their leader."
"Oh," she said and was about to rub her palm from the pain but he pulled her hand away.
"You'll infect it," he said as if she were a child, "What is taking Smee so long?"
He stood up to go get his boatswain but Smee was already opening the door, water and towel in hand, a bar of soap balanced on his arm.
"Miss Wendy you did marvelously!" Smee said happily.
"If you don't mind Mr Smee, Miss Darling is very tired."
"Of course Captain," Smee said still smiling, "Goodnight Miss Wendy."
"Night Smee," her voice said through sleep.
Hook bent down and wiped the blood from her face, watching as the blood vanished, showing the beautiful young lady underneath.
"That was very childish," he added, "I thought you had grown up."
"I won," she said defensively, though only half heartedly.
"I told you to stay, and you didn't listen to me," he wasn't angry, but his voice seemed weary.
"I tried to let it go," she mumbled, her head resting in his hand, her eyes closed, "I don't understand…"
"Mermaids like rare things," Hook said watching her face rest in his hand, wondering what he should do next, "It must have thought you were a rare find indeed to risk its life to keep you."
"Average," she sighed, and then fell to sleep in his palm.
"Anything but, Miss Darling," he sighed, and very carefully picked her up and laid her down on the bed, continuing to clean the blood off of her.
She had almost been killed, he thought and the anger crushed him. He didn't even kill the thing that was threatening her; she had to do it herself! If she had stayed but her life wouldn't have been risked. How dare she think she could fight mermaids? Look what its already done to her!
But…
He couldn't help but feel pride for his subject. Not only pride. More.
He wasn't sure what.
He remembered that anger had taken over him when the mermaid clutched Wendy to itself. But there had been more. Fear. He couldn't stand the thought of her dying, or leaving him. She was his. His and his alone.
The redness had flashed in his eyes.
It was those words that caused her to kill the creature, and he wasn't sure if that was good or not. She was defiant, that was clear enough, and yet she seemed so placid, so breakable. To feel her cheek in his hand had warmed him inside more than he ever thought possible. If she didn't think she was his now, he would soon make her see the truth. She belonged to him, and no one else.
There was blood seeping through her dress just above her knee and he felt as if he were violating her privacy by lifting her dress that high. He was a pirate, he told himself, and this is something very innocent indeed. He wiped the blood away from the gash, and couldn't help but run his hand down her calf to her ankle. It was nothing, he told himself, compared to what he usually did with other girls.
Finding the bandages, he wrapped the girl's leg in the bandage, then her palm and elbow, which was badly torn up.
"Miss Darling," he sighed shaking his head, "Foolish girl."
What he did next seemed like it was instinctive. He kissed her forehead softly, and brushed his hand through her hair. She smelled of seaweed. He would make sure Smee brought in a bath for the morning.