In a land somewhere far away, in the oceans surrounding the land, was a large ship known as the Red Florrum. It was home to a crew of Weequayan Pirates, whose idea of fun was plundering for treasure, sword throwing, and drinking fizzy-dizzy drinks.
Ooh! A pirate's life is a wonderful life
A-rovin' over the sea
Give me a career as a buccaneer
As the life of a pirate for me
Ooh! The life of a pirate for me
Ooh! A pirate's life is a wonderful life
They never bury your bones
For when it's all over, a jolly sea rover
Drops in on his friend, Davey Jones
Ooh! His very good friend, Davey Jones
While some of the pirates were competing in a game of sword throwing, out from the door where they'd drawn the target came the captain's first mate Turk Falso came out with a tray of drinks, which the pirates were quick to wrestle each other for.
Despite being some of few adults in the land, these pirates definitely did not cease from behaving like children.
"Good morning, shipmates," said Turk.
"And what's so good about it, Turk?" said one of the brawny pirates, tossing Turk aside into another pirate who threatened him with his sword.
"Here we are, collecting barnacles on this miserable island," said the sword holder.
"While his nibs plays Ring Around the Rosy with the Dream Fairy." said another, aiming a blaster at Turk.
"Be careful with that! It might go off."
Then another big pirate picked Turk up and said,
"We ought to be tending to the business of looting ships."
"Why, I've almost forgotten how to slit a throat." said another pirate.
"Better hop it. And tell the captain we wants to put to sea, see?"
All the pirates threw swords at Turk, just barely missing him, and tearing a hole in his pants with one, everyone laughing at him. But Turk just stuck out his tongue and spat at the others and went to speak with Captain Hondo.
The Captain himself, the only one wearing red. His name was Hondo Onaka. And if one thing peeved him more than anything else, it was the Dream Fairy. After she made him sleepwalk into the ocean and he became a play toy for the dolphins and then nearly became shark chow when he escaped, he really had it out for her.
"Blast that Dream Fairy!" Hondo slammed his fist against the map on his desk. "If I could only find her hideout, I'd trap her in her lair. But where is it?"
There were so many places in Never Land. Mermaid Lagoon, Werewolf Watch, and Mare Meadow, they'd already checked… Butterfly Bay, however….
"Here! No. No, no, no!" Hondo said. "But wait…. Those big bugs know this island better than I do my own ship. Ah… I wonder."
And that was when Hondo got an idea.
"Good morning, Captain," said Turk, bringing the captain his drink.
"I've got it! Princess Goldie, Turk!" Hondo exclaimed, grabbing his first mate.
"P-Princess Goldie, Captain?"
"The queen's daughter. She'll know where the Dream Fairy is hiding."
"B..but…. But will she talk, Captain?"
"Oh, a little persuasion might be in order. Now let me see…. Keelhauling, marooning, starvation? No… That won't do at all."
But Hondo's concentration was broken when one of his drunken crew members was on the mast, playing a little accordion and singing a song.
Ohh, a pirate's life is a wonderful life
You'll find adventure and sport
But live every minute for all that's in it
The life of a pirate is short
Ohh, the life…
But, annoyed, Hondo got out his blaster, and shot the drunk singer into the water.
"Why, Captain…" said Turk. "Shooting a man in the middle of his cadenza. Not good form, you know."
"'Good form' Turk?" Hondo said, getting up. And he grabbed Turk, practically hanging him over the edge of the ship. "Good form?! Did the Dream Fair show good form when I nearly was devoured by a shark?!"
"Why, Captain, sending you sleepwalking into the sea was only a childish prank, you might say." said Turk.
"Aye! But those dolphins throwing me like a beach ball! And then their shark friend found me so tasty-looking, he's followed me ever since, licking his chops for a real taste of me."
Mr. Turk got Hondo to take off his jacket and sit down.
"And he'd have had you by now, captain… if he hadn't swallowed that record player. But now when he's about, he warns ya, as ya might say, with his little song."
But then, pretty soon, there was more music, and it wasn't from Turk humming.
(Cue: Jaws theme music)
Hondo began to hear it, and when he looked at the water, there came a giant shark fin! And out from the water jumped a huge shark that nearly chomped Hondo's head off!
"Turk! Save me, Turk!" Hondo screamed, jumping into Turk's arms. Please, don't let him get me, Turk!"
Turk went over to the side of the boat where the shark was.
"Here, now, sharky. Shame on you. Upsetting poor Captain Hondo." Mr. Turk told the shark as it swam around in circles. "There'll be no handouts today. Shoo now, shoo!"
Reluctantly, the shark began to swim away.
Meanwhile, Hondo was hiding under a blanket with his Captain Cuddly Bear.
"Is he gone, Turk?" Hondo whimpered like a scared child.
"Aye, captain, all clear." Turk said.
Sighing with relief, Hondo came out from the blanket and sat in his chair on the other side of the ship.
"Oh, Turk. I can't stand it any longer. I tell you, I can't."
Mr. Turk told Hondo to simply relax. He just needed a nice, soothing break. A nice relaxing sit in the sun. So, Turk got Hondo to relax in a nice spot in the sun, while he prepared a cool drink for him.
"I say, Captain. Might it be nice to put to sea, see? Leave Never Land. Forget Dream Fairy. There now! We'd all be a lot happier, not to mention a lot healthier."
But before Hondo could say anything, one of the crew shouted, "Dream Fairy, ahoy!"
"What? What? Where away?" Hondo demanded.
"Three points off the starboard bow!"
Hondo looked through his telescope, and couldn't believe his eyes.
"Swoggle me eyes, it is the Dream Fairy! Headed this way with some more of those scurvy brats! Mr. Turk, pipe up the crew! Mr. Turk! Get all hands on deck!"
So, Mr. Turk blew the whistle and called for all hands on deck.
"Look alive, bilge rats!" Hondo ordered.
As Turk put his jacket back on, Hondo told him how he knew for sure they had the dream fairy within their grasp.
"That we have, Captain." Turk said.
"Man the Long Tom, you bilge rats!" Hondo shouted. He adjusted his jacket. "I've waited years for this."
"Not countin' holidays either." Turk said.
"Double the power, shorten the fuse!" Hondo ordered.
"Shorten the power, double the fuse."
Hondo looked through his telescope again.
"A pretty sight, Turk, my friend. We'll pot them like sitting ducks."
At that moment, Lamenta had everyone sitting on a cloud to look at the sights below.
"All right, men! Range 42."
"Range 42." Turk repeated.
"Elevation 65."
That, Turk repeated too.
"Three degrees west. Steady now! Steady!"
Turk and everyone else near the cannon covered their ears to prepare for a loud blast.
Myra couldn't believe how beautiful the sights down below were.
"Oh, Lamenta. It's even more beautiful than I ever dreamed it would be." Then she spotted something. "Look, boys, there's Mermaid Lagoon."
"Wow!" Rhett said. "And a camp of big butterflies."
"That's Butterfly Bay. The people there are called maricambas," said Lamenta. "They're very magical."
"Oh, look," said Kade. "There's Captain Hondo and the pirates."
Strawberry's ears shot up at that moment.
"Everyone down!" the pegasus shouted.
And everyone ducked for cover as the cannonball just barely missed them!
"Whoa, that was too close!" Myra said.
"Lammy, take everyone to the island." Lamenta ordered. "I'll stay here and draw Hondo's fire."
Lamenta whistled loudly to get Hondo's attention.
"Hey, Hondo! You codfish! Here!" Lamenta taunted.
Hondo kept firing at Lamenta, while the others kept trying to keep up with the speedy Lammy.
"Lammy, wait! We can't keep up!" Myra shouted, but the lamb didn't seem to be listening. "Lammy!"
Lammy kept on flying down into the forest below until she came to a big hollow tree, where there were several people inside, all of them kids and dressed like forest critters. There were a couple sets of twins, one pair identical eleven-year-old boys with sandy blonde hair dressed as raccoons, the other four-year-old twins, a boy with brown hair and a girl with blonde hair tied in two pigtails dressed like rabbits, and the four older boys and the other girl appeared about Myra's age, each of them dressed as bears.
Lammy started bleating, trying to wake them all up, but no one did. So, Lammy came up with the idea to hit one of them with a stick like a piñata.
"Ouch!" exclaimed one of the boys, the biggest and brawniest of his brothers.
And Lammy dropped the stick so it fell into the arms of the boy with a red bandana around his head.
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" Wrecker said, and he kicked his brother in the rear, and got him knocking everyone else into the wall!
"Agh! Hey!" exclaimed the older twins. "Hey, who ya shovin'?"
"You, that's who!" said the boy with the bandana.
Before they knew it, all the boys were roughhousing with each other.
"Oh boy! Dogpile!" Wrecker shouted, jumping up and piling on top of the other boys.
"Oh for crying out loud!" said the oldest girl.
Lammy bleated again, the two girls being the only ones who paid attention.
"What's that?" Kara, the oldest girl, said. "Orders from Dream Fairy?"
"Hey, boys!" Shouted the blonde girl. "Orders from the Dream Fairy!"
That got all the boys to stop fighting.
"What's the orders, Lammy?" asked one of the older twins, the one without glasses.
Lammy bleated again.
"Dream Fairy brought in some new kids and needs them escorted to safety?"
Lammy bleated as if to say yes.
Quickly, all the kids rushed out, and in the air were Myra, Strawberry, and the boys. The kids figured they had to find a way to get their attention.
"Hey! Down here!" Wrecker shouted, jumping up and down and waving his arms.
But, Lammy had a better idea. Fly back up and show them the way.
"Lammy! There you are!" Myra said.
"Baa!" Lammy motioned in the direction of the other kids.
"You want us to go that way?"
Lammy bleated again and guided the kids a little more slowly this time, and they landed near where the kids were gathered, but when Myra, Kade, and Rhett landed, they were surprised to see how many kids were there. Luckily for them, Lamenta came by, a little shaken up though from her battle with Hondo.
"Great job, Lammy. You got them here to safety." Lamenta said, fixing her hair. "And I see you found the Lost Kids."
"These are the Lost Kids you told us about?" Rhett asked.
"Yes. Everyone, meet our newest islanders."
Lamenta introduced the Windu children to the Lost Kids. Oldest to youngest, their names were Kara, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, Echo, Anakin, Carmine, Boba, and Omega.
"Well, now that everyone's been introduced," said Lamenta. "Come on, Myra. I'll show you the island."
"Oh, the mermaids."
"I wanna go look for werewolves!" Wrecker said.
"Nuh-uh! I wanna play with the butterflies." Omega said.
"I wanna see animals!" Kade said.
"And the maricambas too." Rhett said.
Lamenta figured all those things would be great to do. She told Rhett he could be the leader as they marched on to Butterfly Bay to meet the maricambas.
"I shall try to be worthy of my post," saluted Rhett. "Forward! March!"
Kade hopped along with his plush kangaroo.
"Come on, kangaroo!" Kade said, rushing along.
"Kade, be careful!" Myra said.
"I'll look after them." Strawberry said, going after the boys.
Lamenta took Myra's hand and took her in the direction of Mermaid Lagoon.
The Lost Kids went through the forest, passing many obstacles as they sang a song to march along.
Following the leader, the leader, the leader
We're following the leader
Wherever he may go
Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day
Tee dum, tee dee, it's part of the game we play
Tee dum, tee dee, the words are easy to say
Just a teedle ee dum, a teedle ee do tee day
Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee dum
We're one for all, and all of us out for fun
We march in line and follow the other one
With a teedle ee do, a teedle ee do tee dum
Following the leader, the leader, the leader
We're following the leader
Wherever he may go
Marching through the woods was so much fun, climbing trees, swinging across vines, hopping across rocks across the rivers.
We're out to find adventure, adventure, adventure
We're out to find adventure
Because she told us so
Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day
We march along and these are the words we say
Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle teedle ee
Oh, a teedle ee dum, a teedl ee dum tee day
Oh, a teedle ee dum a teedl ee dum tee day
Eventually, the kids arrived at a part of the forest that was filled with lots of beautiful flowers growing all around.
"Now, remember, everyone." said Rhett. "Maricambas are beautiful creatures, but I hear tell they are spooked easily and highly defensive. Now, if we approach with care, we should be just fine."
"Um, we've known them longer than you have." Kara said. "But you are right, they can be defensive. However, they are actually good friends and would never do anything to-"
Suddenly, the kids screamed as they were flashed by a colorful something that looked like a monster with big eyes!
Before anyone knew it, the Lost Kids and their new friends were all roped and taken before a woman in blue with beautiful blue wings and a crown of flowers, and a man who wore a crown of leaves and wore the symbol of the werewolves on his jacket.
Seeing as these two must have been the leaders of this tribe, Strawberry took that as a cue to bow.
"Who's the hairy guy?" Rhett asked quietly.
"That's Prince Garrett of the werewolves, Queen Mariposa's husband." Kara whispered.
"Children…." said the queen. "Normally, when you come to visit, it is all good fun, but today it is not because something is missing."
"What have you kids done with Princess Goldie?" said Garrett.
"Princess Goldie?" Hunter said. "We haven't seen her."
"We don't have her," said Carmine. "Honest, we don't."
"We didn't even know she was missing until you told us just now." Anakin said.
"I've certainly never seen her." Rhett said. "I just got here."
Garrett, being a werewolf, took a whiff of the new kids, and the Lost Kids. He wasn't picking up any sign that Goldie was with them recently.
"Why do you think we did anything?" Strawberry asked. "We don't even know your daughter. At least, not my boys and I."
According to Queen Mariposa, Goldie suddenly vanished. She sent out scouts to look for her, and the werewolves searched too, but so far none of the who'd gone in the opposite direction returned as of yet. But those who came from the Lost Kids' direction reported they saw some new folks entering the land, and thought maybe they had something to do with the princess' disappearance.
"Hmm… they appear to be telling the truth." Garrett said. "But whoever has taken our daughter must be found… and when I do find them, I will personally rip them to shreds!"
Meanwhile, Myra and Lamenta arrived at Mermaid Lagoon, where there were lots of beautiful mermaids swimming and playing in the water.
"Wow! Imagine… real-live mermaids." Myra gasped.
"Would you like to meet 'em?" Lamenta asked.
"Can I?"
"Sure. Come on!" Lamenta played a happy song on her violin to signal the mermaids that she was flying down.
"Oh, look! It's Lamenta!" said one mermaid, whose name was Aqualia. "Lamenta! Over here!"
Myra simply climbed down while all the mermaids were happily greeting their friend.
"Where have you been? We've missed you." said another mermaid. "Tell us one of your adventures. Something exciting."
"Want to hear about the time I made Hondo sleepwalk into the water and he became the dolphins' beach ball?"
The mermaids laughed at the memory of that funny story.
"Oh, that one is always hilarious." said Coralia.
"Me too," said Aqualia.
Lammy bleated in agreement.
"It all began on a night like any other in Never Land…."
Myra hopped from rock to rock, trying not to fall in the water.
"Oh, Lamenta! Wait for me!" Myra called.
That was when the mermaids caught a glimpse of Myra.
"Lamenta, who's she?" Aqualia asked.
"Huh? Her? Oh, that's Myra."
"A new girl, eh?" Aqualia swam closer to Myra. "Nice pajamas. Care to join us for a swim? The water's great."
"Oh, I'm really not dressed for it."
And then Aqualia and a couple other mermaids splashed her.
"Guess you don't have to worry about getting wet now." teased another mermaid.
"Oh, that is it!" Myra said angrily. And then she jumped in the water and engaged in a game of Splash Tag with the mermaids.
Lamenta laughed seeing Myra playing with the mermaids, and then Myra splashed her too.
"Hey!" Lamenta whined. Then she used her wand to make a big wave. That sent everyone onto the sand, where there were lots of pretty seashells.
"Talk about making waves." Myra chuckled.
Suddenly, it got dark, and Lamenta motioned for everyone to be quiet. The mermaids quickly hid under the water and got Myra to hide behind a big rock while Lamenta made herself invisible.
"So that's why not everyone sees her." Myra whispered in realization.
Invisible, Lamenta took a peek out into the ocean, and saw Hondo and his first mate Turk in a row boat, and they had a prisoner.
"Yep. It's Hondo." Lamenta confirmed.
"Hondo?!" the mermaids gasped, and they hid again.
But, Lamenta was even more worried when she realized who precisely the pirates' prisoner was. It was none other than Goldie, princess of the maricambas and the werewolves. And… Hondo didn't seem to notice a shark fin following the boat close by.
Lamenta looked in the direction the boat was headed.
"Looks like they're heading for Skull Rock. Come on, Myra. Let's see what they're up to."
So, Myra began to fly again, but was having a little trouble. So, Lamenta took her hand, and she, Lammy, and Myra continued on to find Hondo and what he planned to do with Princess Goldie.
