(Present Night)

Jake POV

"The… the treasure i-i-is gone?" I stuttered, eyes wide. Cubby silently nodded, still glaring at the ground. His hands were folded, and he was leaning forward on the chair, his sunburnt skin contrasting deeply with his platinum hair.

"Yes," he said bluntly, his blue eyes meeting mine briefly before returning to the floor.

"But—"

"And before you ask me how, I don't know! We don't know who looted it or when. But all we do know is that we sold ourselves to Hook to protect it, and it was only broken into in the end anyway," he ran his fingers through his blonde locks in the dim light, and got up, taking the candle with him. "Now I rest my case." he said, blowing out the flame, casting the room into near darkness.

"Hey, wait just a minute there, Cubby!" I said as I stood up and followed after him, my tall figure towering over his scrawny frame. "So Izzy's crazy now. But that doesn't explain why she's disappeared!"

"So what?"

"So what!? You promised you'd tell me everything!" I whined.

"I changed my mind!" he said, organizing his hammock with restless energy and then eventually collapsing into it, his frail form sinking into the pile of fabrics. "A guy needs his sleep, Jake. And so do you."

"What do you need to sleep for? To dream about rotten fruit!? That's all you do all day!" I protested, my voice tinged with frustration.

"I survive, Jake. Believe it or not, that's a big accomplishment. This isn't Pirate island anymore. We don't stand together as a team. It's every man for himself and only the strong survive," he paused and shot me a death glare, his blue eyes flashing with a mix of anger. "So, in other words, you're a goner." I couldn't resist firing back.

"Well, excuse me for expecting a little hospitality from my fellow pirate! It's good to know you'll turn on a friend in a crisis. Last time I checked, we were a crew, not a bunch of hermits."

"And the last time I checked, the captain doesn't abandon his crew. So I really don't think you are in any position to talk," he snapped viscously while crossing his arms. The tween let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his teal eyes. "And hospitality? You'll find a unicorn on this island before you find any of that," he adjusted himself into a better sleeping position. "Now go to bed and shut up." I crossed my arms, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Cubby, I tell you I won't go to sleep until I get my answer." I stated.

"Fine. Have it your way." he said, closing his eyes, but not looking sleepy in the slightest.

"Are you going to tell me why she isnt't here, or should I start searching on my own?" He lifted his head up from the pillow and glared at me.

"Would you please?" he asked, sarcastically. "At least you won't come back to bug me if you did."

"Huh? Wha—-Oh Cubby for the last time tell me where she is!"

"First you beg for twelve hours just to know what happened to her. Now it's about where she is." he declared, putting his pillow over his face.

"Are you gonna tell me?"

"No!" he exclaimed, muffled by his pillow. I sighed and submitted to defeat. It was nearly midnight and I was tired. Maybe I should get to bed. I untied the red bandana that wrapped around my forehead and threw it randomly. Whatever. I'd find it in the morning. I lay down in the hammock and it wobbled like crazy at first, but eventually evened out. I looked over at Cubby, to see he still had his battered, dirty pillow glued to his face.

"Get that thing off your face Cubby," I ordered. "You're gonna suffocate yourself."

"That's what I'm trying to do."

Cubby didn't really fall asleep until about twenty minutes after he pretended to. I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep a wink. There were far too many questions running through my head. Questions like where was Izzy hiding? Why didn't anybody try to cure her? What was in that yellow box that was so important? Where was Bucky? And since when did Cubby decide to rock it bleach blonde?

I was so deep in thought that I had forgotten how small my hammock actually was and ended up rolling off of it.

"Oof!" I let out as I hit the hardwood floor. I hit it hard, but felt no pain. There was already too much pain on the inside. I sighed and just lay there on my back, not even bothering to get up, while just staring at the ceiling even though the room was pitched black. What was I going to do? Maybe I should just go. Cubby obviously wasn't going to tell me anything more than what he already had so what was the point in even asking again? I had to face it: I was never gonna see Izzy or Skully again and Cubby was going to stay a little blonde jerk for the rest of his life. I might as well just stay out of the picture and go back to exploring the other worlds (on my own this time) until I was beyond beyond. I slowly felt around for my red bandana, something the "psycho" herself had given me when I first got here. I continued to feel around the room but still, I just couldn't find it and I didn't know where exactly I threw it. But I wasn't gonna leave without it. After a couple minutes of me just sliding my hand around the floor, I felt something, but it was not my iconic red headwear. No…it was some sort of boxy wooden object. I felt for the edges before getting a firm grip on it and pulling it over into my sight. I gasped when I brought it into the small circle of moonlight that beamed into the hideout. It was the yellow box that had Izzy's symbol on it. It must have fallen out of Cubbys hammock. For a moment I forgot about my bandana and escape plan as I looked up at Cubby to see him in a deep sleep before bringing my attention back to the box. I opened it.

As I carefully lifted the lid of the yellow box, the creaking of the hinge frightened me a bit but I pressed on. The pale moonlight fell right into the box, revealing the items it had been hiding. The first thing that caught my eye was Izzy's pixie dust pouch. Uh oh. This was bad. Izzy never went anywhere without this thing. For it to not be around her neck and instead just locked in a box wasn't a good sign. It had lost its beautiful golden glow and was now an ugly stained white. The pouch was empty and dried, as if it had been soaked in water and then left to dry out in the sun. Beneath the pixie pouch lay her old faded pink shirt and matching pink bandanna. They were both neatly folded and looked like they hadn't been touched in decades. I gently took the bandanna in my hand and made sure to be extra careful, as if it would turn to dust if I dropped it. I slowly caressed it and it seemed to be giving off a faint scent of ocean breeze, carrying with them memories of our adventures on the sea. Scattered around the pouch and clothing were a few little seashells. Every day or so she would be down by the beach, picking shells up one by one, her eyes full of delight as she added each unique shell to her collection. Then, I saw something unexpected. A doll? It was rubbery and had long tan legs, blondish white hair and bright blue eyes. Where in Neverland did Izzy get...oh. Now I remember. Christmas one year, Peter Pan had given it to her as a gift. He said he got it from the real world and thought she'd like it. What did he say it was called again? Bearbie? Barbie? Something like that. I think the doll originally had a pink dress but Izzy had fidgeted with it to make her look more like a pirate, giving her a miniature bandana, a purple skirt and a white blouse. It seemed out of place in our magical rugged world of Neverland, but the fact that it was a gift from Peter himself made it special. I guess it was a token of their friendship, a reminder that they were in Neverland together so so long ago. Last but not least, there was an old piece of paper underneath all this stuff. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a diary entry. It was dated….the summer of two years ago. The page itself was all stained yellow and the writing was a bit smeared but I was still able to make it out. And what I read made me want to cry. But it was what I heard that truly scared me. It was the sound of a match being struck to a surface and a flame starting to eat away at its head. Cubby seemed to have chosen this as the right moment to suddenly wake up from his deep slumber and catch me breaking into the box. But interestingly enough, he didn't look like he wanted to kill me this time. He merely looked disappointed that I had uncovered the box's secret. He blankly stared at me while the small flame he was holding created a golden mask on the side of his face. I swallowed hard and looked back down at the diary entry in my hands and read its heartbreaking message once again, before eventually looking back at Cubby. I haven't a clue how, but I got the grit to repeat what I had just read on the paper.

"B-bucky...sank?" I trembled. I felt a silent tear fall from my eye and it splattered on the paper. But Cubby didn't answer. He just remained as still as a statue. For a moment I wondered if he was even breathing. The crickets outside had stopped chirping and the waves seemed to have stopped crashing on the shore. The night stood still.

To Be Continued...

This chapter was a bit short and boring, nothing really happened ik. But next chapter is pretty sad and the ball will be rolling come chapter 11 or 12. Just hang in there. :) Also I'm pretty good at digital art, not to toot my own horn so I might make a cover for this story.