A/N: This chapter is long! As always thank you to my reviewers. Please review, I do love to hear your thoughts and they do inspire my writing so please let me know what you think! Thanks!
Chapter 16
And so it came to be, that as the ever expanding darkness continued to consume the night sky, both sides of a rather momentous war found themselves marching slowly and ominously towards the battlefront. For the first time in the history of Neverland, there was no game to play, no fun to be had: innocence had given way to emotion, and the struggle to regain it had only just begun.
For the meantime however, the two sides found themselves anxiously awaiting orders, their leaders, and a few others besides, momentarily absent from the battlefield. The mermaids waited in anticipation as Hook and Peter stood, one either end of the lagoon, staring each other down. Neither spoke a word, not that they needed to: the mermaids were more than efficient at reading their thoughts.
"Wendy must not be harmed," one of the creatures whispered to Peter. "You must take her home immediately."
A short exchange of rapid clicking and hissing ensued.
"Her brothers will collect her. Keep her safe until then." Another hissed towards the Captain.
Hook nodded, and the exchange was over. In almost perfect harmony the mermaids took their leave, diving into the water with such precision and elegance that one could easily forget they were, in fact, deadly creatures. That is, of course, until you got too close, and they pulled you to your watery grave before you could even beg for mercy.
The two enemies paused momentarily, catching each other's gaze in a strong stare. Hook was the first to break, turning on his heel and marching back over to the longboat, where Smee was waiting.
"Go."
"But Cap'n…" Smee protested, realising just how easy a target Peter currently was.
Hook growled, thunder lacing his voice. "Go!"
"Yes Cap'n!"
Peter watching solemnly as Smee began to row away. Hook had been such as easy target yet, for some reason, he had been simply unable to strike. He arrogantly pushed the thought away, knowing he would have more than enough chances once the battle had begun. Taking once last glance towards the spot where Hook had stood, Peter rose from the ground and turned to home; ready to fight: ready to win.
By the time Hook returned, now alone, to the Jolly Roger, the sky had darkened considerably more and the moon was now struggling for supremacy in the rising gloom. Wendy nervously met the Captain as he appeared over the railings.
"Where's Smee?" she instantly enquired, peering over the rails to see if he was at the rear.
"He'll be back," came the reply, before its owner stalked back towards his quarters, Wendy only ever a few steps behind.
"Wendy?"
"Yes?"
James signed, closing the cabin door behind them before continuing.
"I need you to promise me something."
"James?"
The Captain sighed again, knowing Wendy would never adhere to his request.
"I need you to remain here."
Wendy smiled. "Of course, do you have another errand to run?"
"No," James answered, taking a hold of Wendy's hands, "I need you to remain here until the battle is won. I cannot risk…"
Wendy pulled away sharply, her mouth agape in anger.
"It is my risk to take James. I swore I would not leave your side, and I will stand by my word until the end."
"But if you were to be harmed…"
"Again, that is my burden to bear! Look at me; I would hardly describe my current wellbeing as 'perfectly healthy'. I'm sure I can withstand a few more bumps and bruises."
"Wendy," James snapped, holding the woman before him sternly by the shoulders, "you must leave Neverland."
"No, I shall not!"
"You have no choice. Obey me or you will be banished."
"I will not be banished! And I will not take orders from you. I'm trying to help, James. Is that why Smee didn't return: did you banish him too?"
"Wendy…"
Before another word could be uttered, Wendy had flung open the cabin door and raced out onto the deck, James only footsteps behind. There was no one around to witness as Wendy hurried down into the brig of the ship, desperate to find a place where she could be along with her thoughts, nor to notice the single tear that formed at the corner of James' eye as he watched her go. However, by the time he had carefully and quietly locked the trapdoor behind her, knowing that Wendy's emotions would keep her safe for a while, at least, it is with great certainly that Hook was no longer unwatched, although at the time, he was yet to know just who had intruded upon this exceedingly private moment.
"I'm sorry, my dear."
"How… pathetic."
Hooked turned on his heel, a growl rumbling in his throat as he came face to face with his greatest enemy once more.
"Pan."
"You look surprised to see me, Hook. You're starting to lose your memory, old man," Peter smirked, landing on the deck so softly that one could have mistaken his descent for that of a feather, "there is a fight to be had, remember?"
Hook chuckled darkly. "I was merely astounded that you finally plucked up the courage to come and fight me face to face. It's far less fun when I am forced to spill the blood of others before I can get to you."
The corner of Peter's lip twitched at Hook's words, but otherwise, his comment was ignored. Drawing his dagger, Peter began to circle Hook, the older man watching along in amusement.
"Where are the rest of the crew, Hook? Did they abandon you because they knew you were going to fall?"
"I could say the same for you, Pan. Have you finally grown up and decided to fight your own battles?"
Peter grinned, his baby teeth glowing white in the remainder of the moonlight.
"Never."
Before James could react, Peter had soared into the air, his dagger held high. As is some kind of signal, an arrow suddenly whizzed past Hook, skimming his shoulder by the tiniest of margins. The Captain hissed, spinning around to see where the weapon had originated from, only to find himself confronted by half a dozen Indians, each armed with crossbows and spears, the former of which were aimed directly at Hook's heart.
As quick as a flash, Hook felt a breath at his ear. Peter smirked, giggling childishly as he hovered mere inches from the Captain's shoulder.
"Surprise!"
Under the deck, and quite oblivious to what was going on above her, Wendy Darling was sulking, her mind racing furiously as she attempted to comprehend James' stubbornness. Of course, looking back on the moment, it was clear to see that she was, in fact, the stubborn one, but at the time, nothing could have persuaded her otherwise.
"I do not want to go home," she whispered irately, pacing up and down the brig, only stopping upon the realisation that she had somehow adopted James' form of stress relief.
After a moment or two, Wendy collapsed onto the spare topsail with a sigh. Her mind was racing, thoughts and emotions flying around erratically as she attempted to organise them into a coherent stream of consciousness. Despite the fact that Neverland operated on a far slower time frame than that she was accustomed to, the days had simply flown by, each one reforming a part of her: her wit; her strength; her beliefs. She would not, nor could she, return to London without James, particularly as in his absence she would have to get engaged, and marry, another. Wendy shook her head in disbelief: even the thought offended her. She had made her choice; either James would return with her, or she would remain in Neverland forever.
Wendy stood confidently, her decision final. If her brothers truly were on the island she would take to them and explain everything. It was unlikely they would understand, Michael particularly, but she would try her best. There was no better resolve to be offered besides that: she was determined to remain by James' side for all eternity.
Suddenly, and without the slightest warning, Wendy was flung from her position, her small body catapulted across the brig as the ship lurched to the side. With reflexes faster than even she knew she possessed, Wendy had ducked behind the stairwell, narrowly avoiding a barrel of rum as it came hurtling past her, disintegrating into shrapnel as it hit the side of the ship. With great difficultly, Wendy found herself climbing the stairs to escape, wondering aloud what had happened to make the ship pitch so violently. Upon realising, she froze, her hand absentmindedly reaching out to push the door open.
"It has begun."
Wendy looked up, a sense of vigour and excitement overwhelming her. For a split second, all thoughts of the ship's pitching disappeared from her mind, her imagination instead conjuring up pictures of the danger above her; just as she had witnessed a few days ago but, now, with far greater intensity.
The sound of heavy footsteps above her suddenly drew Wendy out of her subconscious. Se waiting for them to clear, just in case they were standing directly on the hatch she was due to exit via, took a deep breath to steady herself, and then pushed.
Nothing happened.
Wendy scowled, believing her strength to be the reason for the hatch's failure to open. Steadying herself, she tried once more, this time with all the power she could muster. Despite her best efforts, the door refused to budge.
"It's locked."
Before she could begin to wonder who, or what, had trapped her, the ship pitched once more, hauling Wendy to the ground. She arose as fast as she could, stopping only as a loud, ominous echo of thunder rumbled through the sky, joined by the howling of the wind and, in turn, a crash of waves as the brewing storm began to wreak its fury upon the Jolly Roger. A cry echoed above her, then another, and another, each followed by either a loud splash or the sound of something heavy hitting something soft and flesh-like as each of the poor souls met their rather unfortunate ends. Another cry suddenly arose from the drone of the storm, its tone both familiar and distant at the same time. Clambering up the stairwell as fast as she could, Wendy leant up, pressing her ear against the hatch in an attempt to hear the voice a little better.
"Wendy!" it cried, the wind trying hard to blow the sound away from the girl it was searching for.
"Michael," she whispered in response, a mix of joy, wonder and worry filling her mind. Her brothers were here; they had come to rescue her, and by doing so they had walked into unfathomable danger. Wendy shivered at the thought.
The cry came again, louder this time, as if Michael was nearing her location.
"Michael, I'm here!" Wendy shouted, her hands curling into fists as she began to bang loudly on the door. For a moment, the call stopped, and Wendy feared her brother had not heard her. Then, suddenly, footsteps began to make their way towards Wendy's position, stopping just as quickly as they had begun.
"Wendy?" Michael called through the hatch, his hands already scrambling to open it.
"I'm here," the damsel called once more, "The door won't open from this side: it's locked."
As if he was testing her words, Michael pulled at the latch that was holding the door shut. In his haste he neglected to notice a dent in the mechanism, most likely caused by a rogue cannonball, and before he knew it, the lock had jammed.
"Wendy, there's something wrong with the lock, it won't budge."
Wendy exhaled a groan, pushing back against the door as if their combined strength would somehow force it open.
"Get James!"
"Pardon?"
"Get Hook, he'll know what to do."
"But…"
"Michael, go!"
And with that, Michael was gone, not to find Hook as Wendy had instructed, but instead to locate John: older brothers always knew what to do in these situations.
"Where's Wendy?" John queried as Michael reached him, splitting his focus as a pirate launched himself towards him.
"She's below deck," Michael explained, "But the lock on the door is broken. It won't open."
"I'll be there shortly. Is she safe for now?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now get back to the boat."
Michael disappeared into the throng of fighting pirates, Indians and child. John watched him leave before refocusing his efforts on defeating the pirate before him. Wendy was safe for now; she could wait a few moments more.
Wendy Darling however, was anything but safe. As she waited for her brother to return, a soft splashing sound slowly filtered to her ears. Listening closely, Wendy followed the sound, soon happening upon a small but worrying breach in the lower part of the brig, which was rapidly spraying sea water into Wendy's hiding place.
"My word." She whispered, staring at the water as it spilled across the floor, pooling at her ankles.
As Wendy stood, transfixed, she swiftly became aware of a faint clicking noise which, incredulously, appeared to be originating from the other side of the hole. Stumbling towards it, she pressed her ear against the side of the ship, listening closely to the mysterious noise. For a moment or two, nothing more happened, and then, slowly at first and then rapidly gaining momentum, the clicking intensified.
Wendy jumped back, and not a moment too soon, for as she did something strong smashed into the already weakened wall. Another crash followed almost instantly, this one cracking the breach open further, water now spilling into the brig at an alarming rate.
As she watched, frozen in terror, a female's hand carefully reached through the hole, the skin that adorned it pale and tender and, most notably, webbed. Without even realising it, Wendy found herself reaching out towards it, her mind simply telling to take it, but offering no reason as to why.
"Oh, how sweet," she smiled. Peter turned his gaze to her, a serious look adorning his face.
Wendy frowned. "Are mermaids not sweet?"
"They'll sweetly drown you if you get too close."
Wendy broke from her subconscious with a gasp, fiercely pulling away from what would have been a rather unpleasant demise. Sprinting as far away from the breach, and the mermaid, as she could, Wendy found herself at the locked door once more and, wasting no time, she began to hit it loudly and heavily, praying that someone, anyone, would hear.
"Hello!" she screamed, but her efforts were to no avail. The wind had risen and the storm had increased in severity. No one could hear her now.
Except the mermaids.
A loud crash emanated from the back of the brig. The breach had widened, and the ghostly hand had been joined by two more. Wendy panicked; there was no hope of filling the hole now: the water was spilling out at such a rate that she would be swept off her feet if she got too close. She had to escape, and fast.
All of a sudden, Wendy knew what she had to do. Wasting no time, she clambered up onto the upper brig, peering cautiously along the row of cannons that faced her. Selecting the largest, Wendy raced around to its front and began to push, using all of her strength to remove the cannon from its holding place. Thankfully the object was wheel mounted and, after a short struggle, released itself and rolled backwards, leaving just enough room for a small person to clamber through. Wendy turned towards the porthole the cannon had occupied, breathing heavily as she looked down into the raging sea below. Just as she had anticipated, the longboat floated to her left, the tope ladder that Hook had previously climbed still in place.
She prepared herself to jump, smiling as a memory from a few days previous sprung to mind.
"If I'm going to take another impromptu swim today, I'd rather not be at risk of drowning simply because a dress would have been more appropriate attire for a lady such as myself."
Wendy had been more than correct in her words: if she had been wearing the heavy attire she was expected to wear, her chances of survival would have greatly decreased. Glancing down at the waters below, Wendy took a large breath. She entered the water as gracefully as she could, swiftly making her way towards the longboat.
Just as she was about to clamber to safety, a hand suddenly clamped itself firmly around Wendy's ankle, the impact almost pulling her back under water. She gasped, her immediate response to kick furiously, praying that the mermaid, for what else could it be, would let go.
Luckily, fate was on Wendy Darling's side.
After a short struggle a loud hiss emanated from the water, the mermaid letting go of Wendy to clutch her face where it had been struck. If she hadn't been about to die, Wendy would have felt remorse for her actions, however inside she knew that by the end of the day, she would have far greater things to feel guilty over.
Not wanting to waste another second, Wendy took a hold of the rope ladder, swinging herself onto it and climbing, finally, into the midst of battle. She landed on the deck with a wet thump, gazing up at the devastation before her, the sight something that would haunt her for a lifetime.