A/N: I want to apologize for the time gap in posting between this chapter and the last. August has been a very busy month, plus I got writer's block while fleshing out this chapter. O_o I hope you enjoy it and I hope to post more frequently after this one!
Jim couldn't believe what he was seeing. Surely he was hallucinating! There he stood, clear as day; his old friend and teacher.
"Now is t'at any way t' greet an old friend, Jimbo?" the cyborg jeered.
"Silver, you ol' scallywag!" Jim ran to greet him, dropping the dagger in the sand. The two met in a bear hug of flesh and metal before Silver finally patted him on the shoulder. Jim stood back, still not willing to believe that he was truly there. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"
"Let's jus' say ah was in the neighborhood when ah picked up yer distress signal. Of c'arse ah couldn't pass up an opportunity to see me ol' mate!" Silver smiled mischievously, then realized Jim said 'us'. "Who else is here then, Jimbo? Ah know me eyes ain't what dey used t' be, but ah don't believe ah saw another soul in t'is here cove," with that he scanned the immediate area with his robotic eye as if to prove his point.
"Ah," Jim scratched the back of his neck, wondering how much he should divulge about his mission. "Well ya see, that's a long story. Much of it I'm not at liberty to share, but suffice to say, I'm currently employed as a bodyguard as part of my final test with the Academy before graduation." Jim couldn't help but smile outwardly as Silver beamed with pride.
"Dat's me boy! Ah always knew ye had greatness in ya! Couldn't be any prouder of ya Jimbo," he clapped him on the shoulder to show his approval, then immediately changed his demeanor to one of concern when Jim nearly tumbled over. Silver quickly grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him. "Whoa - easy there, lad! Guess ah don't know me own strength."
"It's not your fault, Silver. It's been a long couple of days," Jim rolled his neck and stretched carefully, working out the stiffness in his body. "We were marooned during a storm two nights ago."
"Well lucky fer ye, ah just so happen to have a way off t'is island. But first tings first, ain't ye gonna introduce me to your lady friend?" he gestured over Jim's shoulder. Jim visibly blushed at his terminology. Melody's curiosity must have gotten the better of her, prompting her to reveal herself in order to get a better view.
"Yeah, about that, she's really shy, and she's never met an alien before, so take it easy, alright?" Jim's forehead creased in concern for how Melody was going to react to seeing a cyborg for the first time.
"Jimbo, you've cut me t' the quick! As if ah ain't knowin' how t' conduct me'self around a lass," he shook his head. "T'is as if ye didn't know me at all."
Jim simply shook his head in mild amusement, before leading Silver to the shoreline.
Melody watched the exchange from the safety of the water. While at first scared, she soon realized that this stranger seemed to be a good friend of Jim's, and her nerves started to calm. Could this be the friend that Jim had spoken so fondly of? By his own admission, he did not have many friends, so the odds were good that this man was one and the same. Still, she couldn't help but become nervous when he looked in her direction and started to follow Jim closer to the pool.
She submerged herself and allowed the weight of her tail to drag her down to the bottom as the two approached. She didn't like the idea of revealing her tail to a stranger, but what choice did she have? She had overheard him say that he could provide a way off the island. She could see Jim's form approach and kneel down close to the water, with the man standing at a respectful distance.
"Hey Mel, you can come out now! This is a friend. He means no harm, " Jim explained patiently.
Melody breathed in and huffed out a few bubbles, determined not to let her nervousness control her. She took another deep gulp of water and rose to the surface, parting her dripping hair away from her face so she could see better.
The strange man's jaw dropped open before he remembered his manners and quickly regained composure. It made Melody smirk to think that she must be as foreign a sight to him as he was to her. He certainly was very odd, with his metal limbs and eyeball. Finally Jim spoke to break the silence.
"Melody, meet my oldest friend, Long John Silver. And Silver, meet Melody." It was not lost on her that Jim had purposefully forgone her title. Perhaps he didn't fully trust his friend with all the details of their current situation. Or maybe he was simply following protocol in order to protect her. The man Jim called Silver slowly extended a metal hand toward her, and she tentatively took it in a firm grasp, shaking it politely.
"How do you do, Silver?"
"Pleased to make yer acquaintance lass!" Silver's brogue accent intrigued her. He sounded like some merchants from Ireland that had visited some time ago to trade copper and iron for their kingdom's cloth and cattle. Although Silver was clearly not from around here, his manner of clothing reminded her of the two men they had fled from the day prior. Could they belong to his crew?
"Forgive my blunt question Silver, but you wouldn't happen to be a pirate, would you?" she asked suspiciously. He took a step back, looking slightly offended.
"Why, I be but a gentleman of fortune!" he responded defensively. Jim started to laugh.
"That's the same thing!" he stage whispered to Melody, pretending that Silver couldn't hear.
"How d'ye like dat, me own pal givin' away me secrets! Ain't nothin' sacred," he crossed his arms, but his eyes creased with a smile.
"So I take it that your ship is nearby?" Jim redirected the conversation.
"Aye, lad. 'Tis hidden in de jungle not more than fifty paces from here," confirmed Silver. "Shall we get a move on?"
"Yeah, actually, give us a minute? We'll catch up if you want to start heading over the ridge."
"Don't be too long Jimbo, somet'in about t'is place ain't settin' right wit' me," he glanced around suspiciously before lumbering up the sandy hill.
Once he was out of sight, Melody asked Jim, "What do you think that was all about? Do you think we can trust him? He is a pirate after all."
"I trust Silver with my life," Jim said gravely. "He may have made questionable life choices in the past, but he's my friend. And he's proven himself more than once."
"I hope you're right, Jim. In my experience, people don't change. They are either good or bad from the start." Melody liked Silver, but she wasn't convinced that he didn't have ulterior motives. She doubted that he had shown up from sheer coincidence.
"I'm really sorry you feel that way," Jim glanced back to where Silver had disappeared. "People aren't so black and white, though. Sometimes good people do really terrible things. And sometimes, the 'bad guys' are capable of doing some good, or they at least have their reasons for doing what they do."
"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one," Melody did not wish to argue with Jim. She understood his point, but she wouldn't believe it unless she saw it for herself. None of the people she knew would ever do anything 'bad'. Really, the only evil person she had ever encountered was Morgana, and had her grandfather not imprisoned her in ice, she seriously doubted that she would ever change her ways.
"Well, we had better take Silver's advice and get out of here, before our 'friends' from yesterday track us down."
"Ha, that's much easier said than done! I'm kind of stuck here for the time being," Melody propped herself up on the sand by her elbows and swished her tail overhead as if to emphasize her point. "I can't just take off my locket this time; it's like the Sea Stone has a mind of its own now that it's inside me."
"Remind me again why you had to go and swallow it?" Jim's brow creased in... annoyance? She had a hard time reading him.
"Look, if this stone is truly as powerful as you say it is, then it's my responsibility to protect it at all costs. I couldn't risk it being taken from me by those pirates!" Melody explained impatiently.
"Okay, okay, you win!" Jim held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, we'll figure this out. Do you think you can try changing back?"
"I suppose it's worth a shot, but..." she trailed off, her face turning pink. Jim knelt down and put a strong hand on her shoulder.
"I know it was painful last time, but I'll be right here," he gave her a gentle squeeze.
"I-It's not that," she stammered, feeling her cheeks flush. "It's just that...well, I'm not dressed properly..." Thankfully, Jim caught on to her meaning, and now both of their faces were tinged with crimson. Jim looked around at the scraps of her dress that lay scattered on the shore. Locating the largest piece of fabric, he picked it up and brought it to Melody.
"Will this work?" he was avoiding eye contact with her.
"Yes, I think this will do, thank you," she proceeded to wrap the cloth around her waist and tie it securely in place. "Now let me concentrate..." she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her tail. She thought hard about having legs, attempting to relive the transformation on the beach from yesterday. She imagined her tail pulling apart into two legs, but nothing seemed to be happening.
"Any luck?" Jim asked after a few moments.
Melody shook her head. "It's no use, I can't figure out how to control it, or if I even can control it. If I just had more time..." she felt her frustration rise. Why did she have to swallow the darn thing? What on earth could she have been thinking?
"Hey, it's okay! We'll figure this out later, but for now, we really need to move." And with that, Jim swiftly scooped her up into his arms and out of the water, surprising her. She clasped her arms around his neck for support, and fought to keep from blushing. She had never been this close to him before, and he was so strong, for she knew very well how heavy the deadweight of her tail was. He smelled so nice too...despite having been tossed about by the ocean and being marooned for a couple of days, he had a spicy, oaky scent to him. Stop it! she chastised herself. Don't think about him, and certainly don't smell him! She could not help but notice, however, that Jim was blushing too.
Jim marched steadily up the hill, following Silver's tracks. He couldn't move too quickly; not with the extra weight that he was carrying. Boy, was her tail heavy! Especially when her upper half felt so small in comparison. And her tiny hands clasped around his neck seemed to be burning his very skin. He subconsciously held her tighter to his chest and marched on.
As her bodyguard, of course he felt protective over her - that was his job, after all. But was that all he felt toward her? Women were not something that he had experience with, and these new feelings that he was fighting to keep in check made him all the more anxious.
He did feel sorry for Melody. As a princess, she had surely lived a sheltered life and had little interaction with the outside world. So little that she had a very naive outlook on people in general. He knew all too well that some people could indeed do terrible things and never, ever change. He had his estranged father to thank for that example. But Silver had proven to him that even someone who lived outside the law could have a good heart, they just needed to be given a chance. He did wonder what his old friend had been up to for the past 4 years however. He wanted to believe that he had turned his life around and taken advantage of his second chance. Something inside him was telling him that that was not the case, however.
Jim was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Silver's tracks had ended abruptly a few yards back. A snap of a twig made him whirl around towards the trees, and he saw two large, yellow eyes staring back at him. He firmly planted his feet in the sand, bracing for what danger might be lurking.
"Whoever is in there, come out right now!" he shouted. He could feel Melody's hands tighten around his neck as the mysterious creature emerged from the foliage. Jim's heart felt as if it had jumped into his throat as he instantly recognized the alien. "No, that's impossible..." he took a step back, tightening his grip on Melody.
"We meet again...cabin boy..." the spider-like alien sneered.
"Jim?" Melody was shaking in his arms. What was that thing? It looked like a monster from her old story books; half crab, and half spider. Was he from another planet like Jim? He did not look at all friendly. Jim couldn't possibly outrun him while holding her, and he had no weapons. Glancing over Jim's shoulder, she noticed how close they were to the ocean, which gave her an idea.
"Bait him into the water. Trust me," she whispered into Jim's ear. He nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Long time, no see, Bright Eyes. Did you have a nice fall?" he taunted the monster. Melody envied how confident and brave he sounded.
"Insssolent boy! You won't essscape thisss time!" With that, the creature lunged at the two of them, but Jim quickly dodged to the side. Melody stretched out both of her arms and summoned a wave to roll over the creature, knocking him off of all six of his feet. She focused hard and was able to bring another wave crashing into it for good measure. Jim took the opportunity to bolt into the jungle, using the trees for cover. The sound of hissing and sputtering faded into the distance as they went deeper into the jungle.
"What was that thing?" Melody was still horrified over the ghastly sight of the monster who had attacked them.
"Long story!" Jim huffed in between shallow breaths. "His name's Scroop - thought he was dead!"
"Dead?" her eyes widened in horror, glancing over Jim's shoulder every few seconds to assure that they were not being followed.
Suddenly, they heard Silver's voice shout out from somewhere in the jungle. Somewhere close. Jim turned on his heel to follow his voice. They soon came to a clearing that opened up to the beach once again. Melody's eyes grew wider. A small, rickety looking ship with the name "Odyssey" inscribed in the side of the hull was waiting for them. That wasn't what had caught Melody's attention, however. It was the fact that the ship was floating above the sand!
"Jimbo! Lassie! Hop aboard!" Silver called down from the helm. A rope ladder dangled from the side, which Jim carried Melody to, clearly trying to figure out how he was going to climb up while holding her.
"I can pull myself up, Jim. That way you can have your hands free," she grasped the ladder and started to pull herself up and out of his arms.
"You sure? It's a long way up," he asked dubiously.
"Definitely. I have more upper body strength when I'm in this form," she winked and continued climbing at a steady pace. Jim gave up and followed after her.
Once they reached the railing, Melody swung her tail over the side with some effort and landed on the deck in a less than graceful manner. Hoping that Jim hadn't seen, she rubbed her hip, which felt a bit tender from the impact. Jim swung himself onto the deck right after and reached out to help her, but she held her hand up to stop him.
"I'm alright, see if Silver needs help first. As far as I can tell, he's got no crew to prepare for..." she was searching for the proper terminology.
"Launch," Jim smiled. "At least allow me to bring you up to the helm; you'll need to hang onto something when we take off. Trust me," he winked at her, only this time it made her heart flutter, for some reason. Melody ignored it and acquiesced to his offer. He gently scooped her up and carried her up the flight of stairs to place her on a crate near Silver. She tried to hide her discomfort as her hip protested against the hard material. She was definitely going to bruise.
"What can I help with, Silver?" Jim shouted over the roar of the engines. He had already taken note that the solar sails were wide open and charging from the sunlight.
"Ah've already started de engines, an' we won't be goin high enough to warrant artificial gravity, so jus' brace yerselves!" Silver ordered, to which Jim nodded.
Melody grabbed the railing in front of her and immediately felt heat rise in her chest as she realized that Jim was holding her firmly by the shoulders. She didn't have long to dwell on it though, as the ship suddenly lurched upward and zoomed through the sky at breakneck speed. She would have been thrown right off the crate had it not been for Jim's iron like grip.
After a few minutes, they were high above the ocean and the island was nothing more than a little sandy dot on the horizon. Melody looked about her in amazement. She had always loved the mystery of the deep seas, but she never could have imagined that the skies could also hold such wonder. It was so beautiful...
"it's really somethin', isn't it?" Jim whispered, his breath tickling her neck. She felt her face flush again and self-consciously began to play with her hair.
"It's amazing..." she murmured, gazing at the many shades of blue and flinching slightly when they flew through a cloud.
"So, where to, lad?" Silver interrupted.
"We need to find our ship, the Rising Tide. It shouldn't be too far from here. They probably strayed off course to search for us after the storm blew over," Jim responded.
"If it's nearby, me scanner'll pick it up fer sure. Why don' ye take the lassie down to the galley and rustle up a bite to eat? You two must be famished."
Melody's stomach grumbled loudly in response in a most unladylike manner. Jim laughed in amusement.
"I guess that's a yes," he grinned. "May I?" He held out his arms to her. She smiled shyly and stretched out her own arms as he lifted her off the crate. Suddenly, she felt a pit form in her stomach, and her body broke out in a cold sweat. Her tail went numb and she grabbed a hold of Jim.
"What's wrong?" Jim held her tighter, unsure of what else to do.
"It's...nnngh...happening again!" she managed to convey to him.
"Silver, do you have any bunks below deck?" he asked quickly.
"Aye, lad, two doors down from me captain's quarters!"
Jim nodded and raced downstairs as fast as he could carry Melody. He located the room and kicked the door open, bringing her to one of the empty beds.
"I'll go grab some water," he turned to head down to the galley, but her hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist.
"W-wait, don't leave me! Please..." she curled up into a ball, convulsing in pain as her tail began to rip apart. Jim sat on the bed beside her and cradled her in his arms, smoothing strands of hair from her face. It pained him to see the tears streaming from her eyes, shut tightly in pain. All he could do was hold her until it was over.
Her body finally gave out, overcome with exhaustion. She was out cold, just like the last time she transformed back into a human. He glanced down and saw that her legs were indeed back, but there was blood trickling from her foot. He had forgotten about her injury from the previous day. He carefully got up and went to look for a medical supplies kit to bandage up her foot before she lost too much blood.
It didn't take long to search the small room before he found the necessary supplies in a cabinet near the door. Working quickly, he cleaned up the blood, applied some ointment, and wrapped some gauze around her foot. She didn't stir the whole time, and he figured she would sleep it off. He laid a blanket over her sleeping form, lingering in the doorway before finally heading back up to the deck.
Jim dragged himself up the stairs, feeling quite exhausted himself. His muscles were feeling taxed and he knew he needed to rest, but he had to talk to Silver first. Upon reaching the deck, Silver turned at the sound of Jim's boots clunking across the wooden boards.
"How is yer lass?" he asked with concern.
"She's not my lass, Silver," Jim shook his head wearily. "But she'll be alright. She's a human again, at least."
"Ye sure do attract some interesting people, eh Jimbo?"
"Heh, you could say that again," he gave a half-smile. "Speaking of which, we ran into a couple of pirates back on the island. They were human, probably from here on Earth, but there was someone else we ran into while following you back to your ship."
"Is dat right? Ah wondered what took ya so long!" Silver scratched his chin, turning the wheel slightly.
"Yeah, and you won't believe who." Jim watched Silver's expression carefully. "Someone I thought was long dead."
"An' who might dat 'ave been?" Silver's face registered no perceptible change at this information, besides mild curiosity.
"You really don't know?" Jim folded his arms and leaned against the railing in front of Silver, his eyes creased.
"Ye know ah don't have the patience for mind games, Jimbo. Jus' ask me straight out what you want to know."
"Alright, first of all, what is Scroop doing on Earth, alive nonetheless? And secondly, what are you really doing here? I know it's not a coincidence, so don't give me some crap about 'being in the area' when we both know that this sector is way beyond your normal travel radius," Jim hadn't intended to come off so heated, but he was worried that Melody might have been right not to trust him. After a few unbearable minutes of strained silence, Silver sighed and finally spoke.
"Very well, lad. You've got me. But it's not what ye tink!" he said defensively.
"Then enlighten me," Jim held his gaze with narrow eyes.
"Where do I begin?" Silver scratched the back of his neck. "Ah suppose tis all started many years ago. Ah was hired by a pirate captain to help 'im round up some sort o' stones he was after. Ah located one o' dem, but shortly afterwards, ah realized dat de man was insane! So ah double crossed 'im in an attempt to keep the stone out of 'is clutches."
The Elemental Stones, thought Jim.
"So what happened then?" Jim pressed him.
"How do ye tink ah lost me arm an' leg, boy?" Silver held up his mechanical arm for emphasis, causing Jim's eyes to widen.
"Who was this pirate captain?"
"He went by the name o' Captain Ironbeard. An' he's back, Jimbo. He wants de rest o' de stones. He's been trackin' me longer than ah'd like to admit. He followed us to Treasure Planet, hopin to nab me and get the other locations out o' me. Instead he got Mr Scroop. When ah heard talk dat Ironbeard was sniffin' around, ah figured ah oughta find the stones 'fore he did. He's already got de Fire Stone, so ah was hopin to find the Sea Stone next. He prob'ly had Mr Scroop track me to report back. Ah swear it's de truth!"
Jim raked his hands through his hair, processing everything. So there was an insane space pirate, already in possession of the Fire Stone, who was tracking down the rest of the stones. He didn't doubt that Scroop could still potentially be tracking them at this very moment, so they needed to come up with a plan, or Melody would be in grave danger.
"Once we reach the Rising Tide, you need to ditch your ship," Jim said decisively. "Set it on auto pilot and abandon it, we'll send Scroop on a wild goose chase. That should give us time to reach land and call in reinforcements."
"But what about de Sea Stone lad? De only way to make sure Ironbeard doesn't get his rusty hands on it is if we find it first an' destroy it!"
"Trust me, Silver, it's safe," Jim answered vaguely.
"Wait a second, ye know where it is, dontcha?" Silver pointed at Jim.
"I do, and I'm telling you, it's safe. So drop it," he warned.
"Whatever ye say, lad. Ah jus' hope ye know what yer doin..." Silver glanced down at his radar scanner, which suddenly blipped. "Ah tink ah've found yer ship!"
"Great, take us there as fast as you can!" Jim set his jaw as he considered what their next actions would be. He had to call this in, the Academy needed to know that his test was about to get a lot more complicated.