Chapter 4

Jake, Izzy, Cubby, Skully, Sharky and Bones made their way to Pirate Island onboard Bucky to get supplies before they went back to Neverland to start their adventure. Out of respect for the sea pups, Sharky and Bones stayed aboard Bucky along with Skully while the others went around the hideout collecting whatever they felt they would need. Izzy found a tote bag with a strap long enough to go across her shoulders that she felt might be perfect, both for carrying her first aid kit and the containers and sacks that would hold the ingredients they hoped to gather. To Cubby fell the task of getting enough gloves, earmuffs, and scarves for everyone for when they reached Ch-ch-chilly Canyon. Jake was going through their collection of gifts from Peter Pan that he had sent them over time, including games, knickknacks, and books on unusual subjects. In fact, Jake had one particular book in his hand and as he was perusing the title, he had to wonder what had drawn him to this one. It wasn't as though the subject was useful; certainly not for the tasks they were facing. Still, though, the urge to take the book with him was powerful and if there was one thing Peter stressed to his pirate crew, it was always follow your gut. So with that, Jake pocketed the book and continued with his sweep of the room.

Once the crew finished with their packing, they boarded Bucky again and headed back towards Neverland to the spot closest to Never Peak Mountain, on the other side of which lay Ch-ch-chilly Canyon, where they hoped to find Crystal Ice Tea leaves, the first ingredient of the curative tea for Hook. Though it seemed like quite the hike, the entire walk actually took only an hour and a half. While this was mainly due to the fact that they had all gone to the canyon plenty of times before, it did not escape any of the pirates big and small that there seemed to be a sense of urgency. Even though both Nanny Nell and Mama Hook assured both crews that a Neverland Flu Bug bite was non-fatal and that Hook was not dying by any means, all felt that careful speed was of the upmost importance, as the faster they gathered the ingredients the quicker Hook would be cured.

As they reached the top of Never Peak Mountain and started their descent on the other side, the hikers could feel the temperature drop, until it finally got cold enough to don the winter accessories. Soon they reached Ch-ch-chilly Canyon, where they immediately began heading for the village of igloos where the penguin colony dwelled.

"Mateys, ahoy! I see them!" Skully, flying high above, pointed out the igloos down below. "And I think I see Percy!"

Sure enough, they made out one lone penguin outside his igloo, looking like he was engaging in a round of the penguins' favorite board game. Lying on his stomach with brows furrowed, he appeared to be concentrating on moving an ice cube around what looked like a pinball machine carved out of ice. He would just stare at the board, occasionally moving the ice in a pattern of sorts. So entranced he was in the game that he did not seem to hear the snow crunch loudly as the group approached him from the front.

Moments of watching the game-playing passed, then Sharky, shuffling his feet both from the cold and impatience, cleared his throat and leaned down to whisper to Jake, "Um, shouldn't one of us be sayin' somethin' now?"

"Shh," Jake turned to face Sharky with his finger to his lips. "Easy, Sharky. I know you want to help your captain, we all do. But when Percy plays Ice Maze, you can't get him to stop even if you fired cannons right next to him. It's best if we let him finish this round."

"Amazin'," Bones softly spoke. In spite of himself, he was highly interested in the maze. "How does it go?"

"Easy. You see those pieces of ice sticking up from the board?" Izzy pointed to the game. "The object of the game is to get the ice cube to the other side of the board, but the catch is that once you slide that cube, it won't stop until something else stops it, like those ice pieces or even those holes on the board. If the cube falls in the hole, you would need to start over. The trick is to find the right pattern so that the cube can reach the other side without falling into the hole."

"The cool part is that once you beat the game, you shake the board to change the positions of the pieces so that they come up in a different pattern on the board," Cubby added. "This way, the correct path is different each time."

The pirates continued watching, and in a short amount of time, the ice cube made it to the other end of the board, causing Percy to let out a big whoop and leap in the air.

"And another high score for me!" He shouted. "Let's see my Arctic Pearl beat that! Or better yet, let's see me beat that!"

Percy picked up the board and was just about to give it a shake to start a new game when Jake cleared his throat to get his friend's attention while he was not so occupied. Percy looked up at the sound and, realizing for the first time that he was not alone, gave a huge smile when he recognized who was there.

"Well, hi mates!" He waved. "I hope I didn't have to make you wait too long to finish."

"Hey Percy and don't worry," Jake assured his penguin buddy. "We only just got here."

"Oh good," Percy sighed in relief. "My Arctic Pearl's always telling me that's my problem: I get so focused on the maze that I don't pay attention to anything else around me. I can make a penguin or person wait for hours if they wanted to." Percy chuckled to himself and shook his head. He then looked up and noticed Sharky and Bones standing behind his friends. His smile froze on his face.

"Er, don't mean to alarm you," Percy said with uncertainty, pointing to the two older pirates. "But are you aware that Captain Hook's pirate lackeys are right behind you?"

"It's ok, Percy. They're with us," Jake explained. "In fact, it's kinda why we're here. We need your help to find something."

"Always happy to help my mates out," Percy assured his friends. "What can I do for you?"

"We need to find ingredients for a tea for ol' Featherhat," Skully explained. "He was bitten by an insect called the Neverland Flu Bug and unless we get this tea for him, he's stuck having the flu forever."

"Huh! Well being sick at all is no fun, but being sick forever?" Percy looked thoughtful as he contemplated the news. "Not even the ol' codfish deserves that mess. Alright, then. Where should we start first?"

"Well, there's one ingredient we need to find for this tea that's supposed to be here," Cubby pointed to the top of the list that Nanny Nell had given them. "It's called a Crystal Ice Tea Plant. Do you know about it?"

"Hmm, well," Percy looked thoughtful. "To be honest, mates, except for the pine trees, I've never seen any plants growing around here. Although, there is something I've heard about.."

"What is it, Percy?" Jake said.

"Well, my colony and I," Percy explained. "It was when we heard stories about Ch-ch-chilly Canyon, before we came here. One of them was about a cave where plants grow in. It's supposed to be just a legend, though."

"Even if it's only as such, they do say that legends have a basis of truth," Izzy pointed out. "Do you know where this cave is supposed to be?"

"I know like I know where to find the best fish," Percy assured them. "It's quite a way there, though, so you'll have to take your sleds."

With Percy sliding on his belly and leading the way, the pirates followed their friend through hills and trees, past streams and canyons, the cold wind whipping their faces, until finally they could see Percy slowing down and followed suit. Shortly afterwards, Percy came to a full stop in front of a small cavern. There would have been nothing significant about it, except that there was a sign with an arrow seeming to point the way in. Also on that sign was a picture of a plant that looked incredibly familiar.

"Blimey! That be lookin' like the tea plant picture in Nanny Nell's book," Sharky pointed out.

"You're right, Sharky!" Cubby said. "I recognize it, too!"

"Yay hey! That means we're in the right direction!" Jake exclaimed. "C'mon, mateys, let's go in and find the plant."

The group walked into the cavern, a little nervous as to what could be in there, especially since Percy admitted that none of the colony had ever gone in there before. Since they didn't use plants, they had never needed to.

After walking a ways in the cave, the small tunnel they were traversing through suddenly opened up into a large room. There was a small ledge which they could easily jump down from, which led onto an unusual setup. The floor itself looked slick and shiny, having an almost mirror-like quality. There were rocks of various sizes sticking up from the floor, the tallest one positioned in the back of the room. Also scattered throughout the floor were holes, all of them just about the same size as the giant block of ice that was stationed in front of the room, at the edge of the floor facing opposite from the tallest stone.

"Crackers! What is this room?" Skully asked as he flew around the room, looking at every stone and trying to peer down every square-shaped hole.

"I don't know, Skully," Jake answered. "It might be a puzzle, or a trap, so everyone be careful."

As the others cautiously walked around, mindful of any triggers and the holes on the floor, Skully continued his sweep of the room. He flew around examining the top of every stone. And when he reached the tallest stone on the other side...

"Mateys! I see it!" Skully screeched at the top of his lungs, forgetting about the echo in the room that made his voice seem louder. "I see the tea plant!"

Everyone looked to see where Skully was pointing at. Bones, the tallest of the group, was the only one on the ground to make out the plant on the stone.

"He's right!" Bones confirmed. "There it is!"

Sure enough, at the very top of the stone was a plant that seemed to be growing from the rock itself. It was so shiny it appeared to be carved from crystal, or ice, and sparkled like a diamond. The plant had leaves sprouting from the stem and at the top was a flower consisting of six petals shaped like hearts.

"Great!" Jake exclaimed. "Skully, see if you can fly up there and gather the leaves."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Skully!" Izzy, who had been standing with Percy by a sign that no one else had noticed, announced in a loud voice before Skully could move a feather.

"She's right, mates," Percy added, pointing to the sign. "Have a gander at this."

Izzy read the sign as soon as all pirates had gathered around it.

"Welcome to the Ice Cavern, where here grows the only Crystal Ice Tea Plant. To be worthy of gathering the plant, you must first prove to be worthy of the game. Simply follow the rules and beat the game, no more, no less. Failure to follow the rules or attempts to cheat the game will cause the plant to be destroyed forever. Win the game, you win the plant. And one more thing: there are no second chances."

"Wait. That's it?" Bones asked. "But what be the game?"

"And what are the rules?" Cubby chimed in.

Jake looked around for another sign and even looked behind the sign they had just read, but there was no other writing anywhere. As he looked out at the floor, his shoulders slumped and he gave a slightly frustrated sigh.

"I'm afraid that might also be part of the puzzle, mateys," he said. "We need to figure out what game to play to get the tea plant."

"Why do we hafta figure it out?" Sharky asked. "Can't we just have Skully fly up ta get it like he was gonna do?"

"Yeah, I mean, who's gonna know?" Bones put in. "I'm not seein' anyone else here watchin' us."

"I don't think that's something we should take a chance with," Izzy answered. "If this is the only Crystal Ice Tea Plant in existence, we can't risk losing it."

"She has a point, there," Percy said. "I don't think this sign would be placed here if there was no chance the plant would be lost if we tried to take it without trying to beat the game, whatever it is."

"Then how do we find out what the game is?" Cubby asked. "There's nothing anywhere that gives us a clue."

Nothing, that is, except the floor, Jake thought as he continued to look over the layout. He took in every factor he could see: the slick floor, the giant ice block, the stones sticking up from the floor, and the square-shaped holes. He was beginning to get an idea, but he needed help to confirm it.

"Hmm. Hey Skully, Percy! Could you come here for a minute?"

"Right here, Jake!" Skully flew down and landed on his friend's shoulder.

"Sure thing, mate," Percy came waddling up tp Jake.

"Listen," Jake knelt down closer to Percy. "Skully, I need you to fly Percy up high and..."

No one else was able to hear what Jake said next, because he then leaned in and whispered the rest of his request into the birds' ears. As soon as he was done whispering, Skully and Percy nodded their heads and without further ado, Percy held his flippers out to his sides, allowing Skully to gently grab them with his feet.

"Ready to become a flying penguin again, Percy?" Skully asked.

"Flap away, Skully!" the penguin answered. At those words, Skully flew Percy high, high up above the floor, close to the ceiling. As he went up, Percy stared at the layout, concentrating, studying it as hard as Jake had done. It was only until he had the entire layout in his vision was he able to see it all clearly. And when he did, his face lit up and his eyes went wide in excitement.

"You're right, Jake!" Everyone heard Percy call down. "It looks just like a giant Ice Maze game!"

"Crackers!" Skully exclaimed as he looked down and saw the same thing. "I see it too!"

"Then that's gotta be it," Jake said to the others. "Ice Maze must be the game we have to play and beat to get the plant!"

"Shiver me timbers!" Izzy said. "It looks like it's going to take all of us to push this block around."

"Aw, coconuts!" Cubby exclaimed in dismay as he noticed something. "This floor's not tilted like Percy's board game is. That means if we make a mistake..."

"There won't be any do-overs for us." Sharky finished for Cubby. "Just like the sign be sayin'."

"Then Percy can make sure you guys won't make any mistakes," Skully spoke as he lowered the penguin back on the ground and perched on his head. "I can fly him back up to the top so he can see the whole floor and be able to tell you where to push the cube."

"Blimey, are you sure you can hold me that long, Skully?" Percy asked with uncertainty. "In case you didn't notice earlier, I'm not exactly light as a feather."

"Well then," Skully answered. "You'll just have to try to beat your high score, won't you?"

"It's up to you, Percy," Jake said. "But I think it's the best idea we might have to beat this."

Percy gave it some thought, then gave a smile as he held out his flippers again.

"Alright then," he declared. "Take me back up, Skully."

While Skully took Percy back up, everyone else gathered in front of the ice block and waited for directions from Percy. Luckily they didn't have to wait that long, as the penguin only took less than a minute to figuratively make the first move.

"Alright!" he shouted. "Start by pushing the block straight ahead, towards the stone in front of you!"

They did so, then looked back up.

"Ok!" they heard next. "Now push the block all the way to the right, until it hits the next stone!"

The block slid until it hit the next stone.

"Then push the stone down, towards the front of the floor!"

The stone slid past one of the holes as it made its way towards the small stone.

"Next, push the block to the left. It needs to hit that stone all the way on the other side!"

The block took a little while to reach the other side. It took the pirates longer to catch up.

"Now, push the block up!"

This time it took a second for the block to stop.

"Push the block to the right, until it hits the stone in the middle of the floor!"

The block was pushed and everyone caught up to it with excitement, as they could see they were almost there.

"I think you know what to do next! Push the block up!"

Finally, the block hit the goal: the tall stone with the Crystal Plant. Everyone cheered, then helped Jake and Bones, who were each the tallest of their respective crews, climb on the block. Jake then stood on Bones' shoulders and, without further ado, picked all the leaves from the tea plant. The rest of the plant he left as is, so that it would have a chance to grow more leaves, in case they were ever needed in the future.

"Yo ho, way to go!" Jake cheered after he and Bones had climbed down from the block and had given the leaves to Izzy to put in her bag. "We found and collected the tea leaves, and we got seven gold doubloons! Let's grab them and go get the rest of the ingredients."

After the group left the cavern, they boarded their sleds and took off back to the colony, Percy sliding besides them. As they rode in the snow, Izzy turned her head towards her friend.

"Thank you so much for your help, Percy," she said. "We couldn't have done this without you."

"I have a feeling you would have, but you're welcome anyway," he responded. "Anyway, in all actuality, I should be thanking you for the best Ice Maze game ever!"

"Crackers, Percy," Skully spoke from where he was perched on Jake's shoulder. "I think that may have been your fastest time yet! Too bad you could only play that game once, though."

"Yeah, I know," Percy looked a little down at the thought. "But I can't think of a better way for me to have beaten my own high score. I only wish you could stay and help me tell my Arctic Pearl all about it when she gets back from her trip."

"I wish we could too, Percy, but we can't," Cubby said. "We need to get to Deep Dark Valley and find the Drip Drop Milkweeds. Their nectar is the next ingredient on the list."

"Well, good luck with your quest, then," the penguin said. "And give my regards to that sick sneaky snook, will you?"

" We will, Percy," Jake promised.

As they continued back towards the igloo village, Cubby kept feeling a chill on the back of his neck and snaking down his back. It was a feeling he had before, but it was usually of foreboding. He shook his head, dismissing the feeling as nothing more than the cold. Though Cubby couldn't quite shake the feeling that this was more than a chilled neck.

Author's note: I do apologize for the wait. I didn't forget this story, but with the holidays and New Year's it was hard to find time to work on this chapter. Plus, I ran into some trouble because my original plot for this chapter had so many holes it could have rivaled Swiss cheese, so I had to scrap it and start again. I hope the wait and the rewrite made this chapter worth it.

To answer your questions, unfortunately, I don't plan on having Peter Pan making a guest or even a cameo appearance. However, he will be mentioned several times throughout the story, as you have already noticed. And Percy will not be the only guest character in this story. I have a few other appearances in mind as well. And I'm so glad someone pointed out what Mama Hook said about hunting the Flu Bugs. Remember that, she hunted them. I never said anything about her killing them. Keep that in mind, because this will be brought up again in a future chapter.

PS: In case some of you guys don't realize it, my inspiration (and in fact, the name) for the Ice Cavern came from the video game Ocarina of Time. Even the solution for pushing the ice block and the solution for beating the Ice Maze are very similar.