A/N: Here's my fourth installment, and this also marks where I began to put the stories together into a collection. Enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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The Captain scowled at the quivering man before him. Incompetent imbecile! He'd have to gut someone now to regain order. He found himself mentally cataloguing the list of men he'd hired purely for the sake of killing or tossing overboard in a display of power.
Ah well, perhaps it would return balance to his life; he'd been having disturbing dreams for the last week. To be honest, they had been rather more snatches of moments in time than a cohesive thought sequence.
The first night had simply paraded images of an impish mouth with a hidden kiss and crystalline blue eyes, gleeful and innocent, before his eyes. He'd come awake instantly, certain that she had broken through to his world. He'd paced his room for a half hour, debating whether he should act on his waking dream or not. He'd been surprised at the strength of his reaction to the knowledge that she was here. If confronted with the girl, what would he do? What did he want from her? He took a healthy swallow of whiskey and continued pacing. He only knew that his soul was drawn to her.
He resolved to ignore the situation, and wait for it to play out. After all, while anything was possible in this world-between-worlds, there was no plausible notion behind his certainty, no concrete testimony that she had indeed arrived. And while James Hook had always been one to believe his instincts, when women were involved, he had learned to tread carefully. He was especially wary of those who had the power of Story behind them.
The second night, he'd been unable to sleep due to the hunger-pains that wracked his body. No matter what he ate, he still felt ravenous. After consuming an entire cooked chicken, he gave up and resorted to a technique he'd employed upon first finding himself in this place-between-places: he drank until he passed out. He dreamed again, but this time the eyes were not laughing, but worried, and the mouth-with-a-kiss was drawn tight with fear.
Finally, on the previous night he had woken repeatedly, freezing cold. No matter how many heated bricks he demanded, it made no difference. Finally, he admitted defeat... and proceeded to get absolutely sloshed once more. He'd dreamed that he held someone as he slept, someone whose toes were frozen, but her hair smelled of violets and sunshine, and she turned into his body for warmth and comfort, and did not shrink away from his stump of an arm. He woke with a curious ache in his chest, but refused to explore it any further.
Smee, the obnoxious busybody, forced him to go see Chief Tiger-Lily for help. He stood while his men made growling faces at the natives and they, in turn, threatened with their weapons, but in the end, the chief directed him to their tribe's healer with her blessing. He suspected the cheerful chief knew more than she let on, but did not pry further. He grudgingly left his hat and sword with a widely-grinning Smee as he entered the healer's tent.
After sitting through several hours of questioning and chanting rituals, he was given an answer. The healer declared that he was mysteriously linked to a Totem, and that it was external to their medicine; they couldn't help him. It was suggested, with a poorly hidden smile, that he take a vacation. He growled as he rose to leave, but did not tear a new window in her tent with his hook.
He paused, just before he left the tent, and asked silkily, "By the way, you haven't noticed any… new… additions to the island, have you?"
The healer feigned ignorance. "There have been no more children. The Boy has lost interest in new converts." The unspoken since She left lingered in the air between the speakers.
His jaw tightened, but he replied calmly, "I was enquiring after any new additions, not children."
Her chin drew up, and she simply said, "No."
The Captain left their camp in a worse mood than he'd been in when he'd arrived, unaware that from the sea of dark eyes watching his departure, a pair of blue eyes lit with recognition.
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A/N: So?