Chapter Five: The Halloween Costume Ball: Part Two
Merida awoke, groggy. Something was wrong, and she could feel it in the pit of her stomach.
It was night and there were stars above her. She must be outside. Something in her mind was telling her not to move, to let them think that she was still asleep. Them? Who?
She tried to focus. She was sitting against the bottom of something and her hands were tied in front of her. She was sitting on… sand? And something about her clothing was wrong. It was too tight… it was… it was her costume.
Suddenly, everything came back to her. The costume. The ball. The pirate men. Jim. She stifled a gasp. What had he done to her?
Suddenly, she heard feet shuffling. She looked up to see two men on the beach with their backs to her.
"…until I get my money." She heard someone say. Not just someone. Jim.
"No way, kid, we want the girl first." The girl? Merida's breath caught in her chest. They must have been talking about her. Buy why?
Suddenly, both of their heads turned to her. She held as still as possible, trying to look asleep.
"Look," said the other man. "I've got to go to the captain and see what he wants. You don't let her leave, or we'll have a problem." Jim nodded, tight, and the other man walked away.
It was then that Merida realized where she was: Against the bottom of the cliff from her first date with Jim. She felt a sharp pain in her chest. What was wrong with this guy? She should have listened to Peter's warning, she thought. Peter… Peter! He was probably looking for her.
"Sorry it had to go this way, Mer." Jim said when he approached her.
"Don't call me that, you ass hole." Merida said. She had always been taught not to cuss, but at this moment, it didn't matter. She was angry.
Merida looked at him. He had a knife in the left side of his pants and he was leaning a few feet away from her. If she could just get that knife…
"Oh, come on, I was hoping there would be no hard feelings between us." No hard feelings?
"No hard feelings? What the hell is going on?"
"Wow, Merida, I never took you as the cussing type." Jim said, flashing a smile at her.
"I swear, when I get out of here…" But all Jim did was laugh.
Well, there wasn't much she could do, so Merida stayed silent and tried to form a plan.
Jim had only tied her hands, so her feet were free. She needed to get her hands free, which would require a sharp edge…
There was a noise in the distance, and Jim whipped his head toward it. He looked at her, and then looked toward where the sound was, deciding what to do.
"You stay right here. If you get up… Well, let's just say it won't be pretty." He said, turning to give her a better look of his knife. Merida made an angry noise, but pressed herself against the rock.
When he was a safe distance away, she looked around for something sharp. A few feet to her left, a jut from the cliff was pointed. She squirmed towards it and began to rub the rope against it.
There was a noise above her, and she froze. Next to her something heavy dropped down, and she tried to roll away from it.
"Merida, it's okay. It's okay, it's me." She had never been so glad to hear his voice.
"Peter! How did you know I was here?" He was still dressed in his costume, and he was out of breath.
"No time to explain." He looked down at her hands. "Oh, let me get that." He said. He pulled out a small knife and cut her bonds. Merida tried to control her breathing. She looked up at him. She knew that there was danger ahead, and these people still hadn't seen Peter.
"Peter, Peter you have to leave." He looked at her.
"No way, Mer, it's not safe." He cut through the last bit of rope.
"That's why you have to leave." Peter looked her straight in the eye.
"Merida, I am not going anywhere." He said, and then reached in his bag. "Here, you might need this." He pulled out her bow and handed it to her. She grabbed some arrows. He got his bow and handed his knife to her.
She looked down at what she was wearing. There was no way she was going to be able to run in that. She sighed. Tiana would probably understand.
Merida leaned against the rock, cutting the fabric of the dress off a few inches above her knee. The dress was still too tight to move quickly. She cut slits around the new bottom. Peter looked at her.
"Good thinking." He said, standing up. He pulled a sword out of his bag and stuck it in his pants, then helped her off of the ground.
"So, what now?" Merida asked in a low voice.
"Well, the way I see it, we need to go over there and stop whatevers happening." Peter said, making plans out loud. Merida was going to suggest that they run, but she knew that that would only be a temporary solution. Of course they had to stop this. She looked up at Peter.
"Do you know whose doing this?" She asked. Surely he had to have some idea.
"Well, not for sure, but I'm almost positive it's Hook." Merida pulled her eyebrows together. During her first days in Wonderland, she had been introduced to everyone, but this name was unfamiliar.
"Hook?"
"Yeah, he and I go way back. He's called hook because he has a hook hand. He's a terrible guy, he's always trying to ruin my life."
Merida looked at Peter. She wasn't sure what to think, but it was evident that she didn't know Peter quite as well as she had thought.
"Okay," Peter said. "okay, here's the plan." He leaned in close to Merida. "There's going to be a ship around the corner with about ten guys on it, plus Jim. Take out anyone who shoots at you."
"Take them out? As in, kill them?" A small smile was playing on his face.
"No, not kill them. Those arrows you have are tipped with a sleeping potion. I borrowed them from Hawk Eye."
Merida nodded. Yes, they wouldn't kill these people, no matter what they were planning to do to her.
"What are you going to be doing?" Peter looked towards their destination.
"Me, I'm going for Hook."
Merida took a deep breath. She knew that she didn't have much time, but she needed to get herself focused. Just around that corner were people who could kill her. Peter had already flown off to find this Hook person, and it was her job to stop the crew from leaving port. What had she gotten herself into?
She took another deep breath and then ran around the corner.
There were three people there, and when she was within their eyesight, they lifted their weapons. One of the men shot and Merida ducked. The bullet hit where her arm would have been. Another shot, another dodge.
Either these guys were horrible shots, or they weren't trying to kill her. She shot her bow three times, and all three of the men dropped, like she knew they would. If these people didn't want her dead, what did they want to do with her? She shuddered and moved closer to the ship.
Against the ladder to climb on deck, there were two men who looked like they were arguing. She shot an arrow and one of them fell.
She ducked behind a large rock. There was a shot, and then there were footsteps. She took a breath, closed her eyes, and fired in the direction of the sound.
At first there was nothing, and she thought she may have missed, but then she heard something heavy fall to the ground.
Merida jogged up to the ladder. Peter hadn't brought her bow strap, so she had to climb with one hand. She grabbed her bow with her left hand and began to scale the ladder with her right.
About halfway up, she looked down and saw three people running towards her. Hooking her right arm around the ladder to steady herself, she held her bow with her left so that she could fire with her right. She shot three times and the three men fell.
Maybe Peter was wrong, maybe there were more than ten. Merida tried not to shake and checked her bow supply. She only had two arrows left. If there were more than two guys up there, as was likely, she'd have to switch to the knife. She took a few deep breaths before continuing to climb.
When she hauled herself up to the deck, she immediately felt like something was wrong.
She looked around, but there was no one in sight. She looked down on the floor she was standing on which was littered with rocks. Slowly, she bent down, picked one up, and threw it at the other side of the deck.
As soon the rock landed, men rushed jumped on deck from the sides and the sails. Merida ran and took shelter behind a support beam. She grabbed her last two arrows and shot into the crowd. Somehow, she managed to take out three people, but now there were ten men on deck, and all Merida had left for protection was a knife.
Suddenly, there was a popping noise. A few men on the deck fell. The others looked around, confused. Merida twisted, trying to get a better look.
A man on a rope swung down onto the deck, and the remaining crew members rushed at him. Merida wanted so badly to see what was happening, but she didn't want to be seen. After a few minutes, there was a loud thump, and the deck went silent.
"You can come out now, mate." Merida was shocked, but she walked out. She knew this voice, but it wasn't one that she had been expecting.
"Captain Jack?" Jack smiled at her, proud.
"I heard some commotion, and thought that you kids were having a ruckus without me." Merida smiled at him. She had been under the impression that Jack Sparrow was a just man who spun tall tales and drank much more than necessary, but he was actually an adventurer.
"All right," Jack said, "so what now?" Merida opened her mouth to speak, but a shot went off. Jack grabbed his arm. "Ugh!" He raised his gun and shot up in the air. A man fell out of the ropes above them.
"Jack!" Merida gasped. He tried to wave her off, wincing.
"Happens all the time, mate." Merida ignored him, ripping off a piece of her dress and rapping his wound. By the condition of his skin, it was possible that Jack got himself hurt quite often. Merida wouldn't really be surprised.
After she was done, they both looked at each other. There was a door a few feet away from them which probably led to the captain's room, and it seemed to be the only other place they could go. Merida tried to open the door, but it was locked. Jack pulled out his gun.
"I've got this one." He shot a hole through the lock. Jack tried to push the door open, but it was stuck. Merida kicked it and it fell to the ground. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, aren't you just full of surprises?"
Merida ignored him and ran inside. It was dark, damp, and smelly. The two froze, listening for sounds of fighting. Instead, they heard talking.
"What are we going to do about this?" she heard a man say. That must be Hook. There was grunting and moving. Then something was kicked. Hard. Peter.
Merida moved to get a better look. When she stuck her head around the corner, she could see Hook and Jim talking. Peter was tied to the floor, and he looked angry.
"Looks like we're going to have to shoot him." Jim said. He pushed his face a few inches from Peter's. "Too bad you couldn't save your little girlfriend."
Peter's face was contorted with rage. He spat in Jim's face, and Jim slapped him. Merida tried to stifle her gasp of horror, but failed. Hook and Jim whipped their heads around, and Jim smiled wickedly.
"Come out, come out, little Merida." he sang, advancing to Merida.
Suddenly, Jack dropped from the ceiling on top of Hook, knocking him out. Merida didn't have time to wonder how in the world he got over there.
She pulled out her knife as Jim ran past her, but she only managed to wound his leg. He grunted but ran out the door. Jack looked at Merida's face, probably seeing how desperate she was.
"You get the boy, and I'll take care of him." He said, and then ran after Jim.
Merida ran to Peter. She wiped the blood off her knife and cut his hands free. When he was sitting up, she threw her arms around him and apologized for everything.
"Hey now, Mer, it's not your fault." Peter told her. She looked him over to make sure that he wasn't too damaged, and to her relief, his only injuries were minor. Peter gave her a small smile. "I bet that'll make a nasty bruise. Don't girls like that kind of thing?"
Merida laughed at him and helped him to his feet. He had just been tied up and beaten trying to save her, yet he still found it within his power to make a joke.
They both looked down at Hook, knowing that he wasn't going to stay knocked out forever.
"Help me get him up to the deck." Peter looked at her.
"What?" She smiled at him.
"Just trust me."
Merida grabbed some rope, and Peter single-handedly carried Hook to the deck. She tied him tightly to one of the support beams, patted him down, and took his weapons. Peter smiled at her. He looked at Captain Hook, took his hat, and put it on his own head.
When Hook came to, Merida and Peter were standing above him.
"Oh, great." Hook mumbled, leaning his head against the pole. Peter looked at him with a smug expression and straightened his hat.
"Good morning, Hookey. This is my friend Merida. Merida, this is Captain Hook, but I think he already knows you." Peter leaned closer to him. "Don't you, captain?" Hook looked down, angry.
Merida stabbed a knife into the deck, and both Peter and Hook looked at her with surprise.
"What's going on?" She said through her teeth. Hook looked genuinely scared of her, but stared at her. She leaned into his face. "Tell me right now, or I will throw you into the ocean." Peter smiled.
"Yeah, Hook, I bet that crocodile is still swimmin' around here." Hook looked like he might soil himself.
"Fine, Fine! I'll tell you, just don't throw me in there again." Merida looked at Peter. Again? Peter smiled at her and shrugged. She'd have to ask him to explain that later.
"Okay," Hook said, looking down "so we've… We've been kinda low on crew lately…" Merida and Peter exchanged glances; Clearly this was not what either of them was expecting. "and me first mate, he… he said he knew a girl who was crazy with a bow…"
"Jim" Merida said. How could she be so stupid? Hook just nodded.
"And, not many of the guys will choose this life. Most of them were… captured…" Peter stared, his eyes wide. Merida looked at Hook with disgust.
"You were going to capture me and make me part of the crew." Hook looked up at her, almost as if it say, "How else would we have gotten you?" Merida squared her jaw.
Just then, Jack jumped onto the deck. He was out of breath, but he jogged up to them.
"He's gone, kids. I couldn't find him."
Merida froze. If Jack couldn't find him, then he's still out there.
"Thanks anyway, Jack." Peter said, carefully looking at Merida.
"Of course he got away. He's crafty, that one. Wouldn't you say, Merida?" Hook smiled at her, and she could see that he was missing teeth. Merida decided that a few more gone wouldn't hurt. She punched him in the jaw, and he made a low sound. Jack's attention was suddenly on Hook.
"You let him live?" Peter shot Jack a look, and he raised his hands. Peter stared at Hook, and then looked at Merida.
"Come on, Merida, we have to go." Peter looked at Jack, his face was hard.
"Do whatever you want with him, just make sure we're a safe distance away." Merida was going to protest, but Peter grabbed her. "Are you afraid of heights?" She looked at him, confused.
"No…"
"Then hold on." He put his arms around her waist so that they were both facing the same direction, then he ran and jumped off the side of the ship.
Merida would have screamed, but they weren't going down. They were going… up. "Oh," she thought, "so that's what he meant about heights."
Merida looked down. They were flying above the trees, but not much higher than their tops. She looked at them, glad that she could appreciate their beauty despite the evening's events. Merida wanted to see what expression Peter was wearing on his face, but they were both facing down, her head below his chin. They flew in silence.
No matter what she thought about, Merida couldn't shake the feeling that they were still in trouble.