Warnings;
. Angst.
. Swearing.
. Bloody Games? I don't know.
For a small moment, everything was deathly quiet. Cassie didn't move—not that she could have if she wanted to; her hands were still bound together after all. But even then, a tiny fraction of her kept her feet firmly planted against the floor. She could only assume it was her reigning stubbornness that kept her there, but she also put it down to the risk of Harry killing her if she even attempted to run. There was also the fact that Gil was perched just outside, and Cassie knew full well that if Harry gave the demand, the blonde-haired pirate would toss her over his shoulder and bring her right back into the diner.
Her terms were still being processed, it seemed. Harry hadn't said a word since she made her offer, and she knew he was thinking it over. Truthfully, she thought it a little stupid to willingly surrender herself and her secrets, all over a small game of 'Red Hands'. But she had to remind herself that this was more than that. If he did win, he'd have her and all of the issues she had securely tied to her shoulders. And though she hated the idea of relinquishing her truths to him, her abilities and 'secrets' couldn't be of much use to any of the pirates, much less Harry himself.
But if she won this game, then she had her freedom back. She'd be able to home to her den, and she wouldn't be forced to spend another minute in their dreadful cells. Plus, the idea of her winning something he was so good at—well, it'd surely piss him off, and that idea was much too tempting for her to give it up.
"Ye' hear that, Uma?!" Harry called loudly, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth as he eyed the girl in front of him.
"Oh, I heard."
Cassie frowned, her dark eyes wandering across the room to see the captain walking in. She must have been hiding back there all this time, and the worst thing of all was that she most likely heard everything between Cassie and Harry only a few minutes ago.
"I tried to do it yer way," Harry said with a small shrug, turning to face his Captain.
"Oh, I heard," Uma replied, a small flicker of disgust crossing her features, and Cassie couldn't help but blush at that.
"So," the little cat spoke up, the overwhelming urge to sway them away from the earlier 'occurrence' growing larger with each passing second. "Do you accept?" She looked directly at Harry, though her gaze occasionally flickered toward the smaller girl beside him.
Uma and Harry turned to face each other, the two pirates having some kind of silent conversation that Cassie could barely stand to watch. She felt uncomfortable in some way, like she'd just walked in on the two doing something much more intimate. But it didn't last long, and soon enough Uma gave Harry a small nod, though the disapproval and annoyance the captain expressed wasn't lost on the little cat.
"I accept," Harry agreed. He swayed on his feet and walked towards the table he'd been sat against earlier, falling into the chair. Uma went the same way, though she stayed on her feet and hopped up to sit on the table next to Harry's.
Since they hadn't told her otherwise, Cassie followed the two. But when she was close enough, a harsh 'screech' echoed through the diner, and she was quick to intercept the chair Harry had kicked towards her legs, a small growl forming in her throat as she moved to sit down on the opposite side of him.
"Ye' got good reflexes, little kitty," he said with a smirk, shuffling his chair closer to the table. "But are they good enough?"
Cassie rolled her eyes and moved her chair, resting her elbows atop the table as soon as she was settled in.
"Okay, rules," Uma huffed. "You flinch, Harry wins. You move your hands when he hasn't moved his, Harry wins. And no tricks either, you move or you don't. Got it?" Cassie gave a small nod. "Good. Now, terms."
"When I win," Harry said pointedly, his light eyes meeting Cassie's dark ones. "Ye're mine. I ask ye' a question, ye' answer. I say jump, ye' say how high? Ye' belong ta me, an' only me." His dark words had their desired effect, because the moment he finished, Cassie was truly debating on whether or not she'd made the right choice in challenging him. If he did win, then he held her freedom in his hands until he said otherwise, and Cassie couldn't stomach the thought of what he might do to her when he had free reign.
"Cassie, your terms," Uma told the little cat, her eyes rolling at Harry's over-dramatic words.
"If I win, you let me leave here alive and unharmed. You don't send the pirates to follow me. You go your way, and I go mine." Cassie's terms were short and simple, and from what she could see, the pirates seemed to accept her terms without a problem. But she also had something else in mind. "And," she stressed, a small smirk twitching at the corners of her lips when the two gave her curious glances. "I get your necklace."
Their reactions were rather comical. Uma's eyes widened in either surprise or outrage—Cassie wasn't too sure—and she turned to Harry, her right hand fiddling with the aforementioned pendant as if Cassie was about to take it right then and there. Meanwhile, Harry, much to Cassie's amusement, seemed rather torn between comforting his Captain and slitting Cassie's throat.
"So," Cassie said perkily, resting her chin on her unwounded palm, her eyes bouncing from captain to hooked pirate. "Do we have a deal?" She could see the hesitation clear in their eyes, so she decided to speak up again. "I mean, you could say no. I can go back to my cell, and eventually I'm gonna turn back into a cat, and believe me when I say I'll be gone the minute it happens. You take my deal, I'll tell you who spelled my daddy."
"Deal." It was Uma who cemented the challenge, and Cassie found herself rather astounded to see a flicker of sympathy in Harry's blue eyes when he looked at his captain.
"Quick question though," Cassie said quickly. "How do I know you'll stick to your side of the deal? I'm a little outnumbered here, and there's no guarantee you'll pay up if I win."
"This isn' just a game, love," Harry snapped. "We're pirates, but we've got honour an' code. Somethin' ye' wouldn' know about." She couldn't help but frown at that small shot. "If ye' win, ye'll get what ye' want."
All in all, it seemed a little too risky to simply take their word for it; especially Harry's. But Cassie had so much more at stake here than a stupid necklace, and she really had no choice but to play and just hope that if she did win they'd stick to their word.
"Alright," Cassie muttered with a shrug. She held up her tied wrists, pointedly eyeing the rope restricting her movements. "Some help?" The captain rolled her eyes and tugged a sharp blade from her belt, swiftly cutting through the binds.
"Harry, glove off," Uma demanded gently, and the hooked pirate obeyed, removing the black fingerless glove from his right hand. "Hands down." Harry lowered his right hand to the table, his fingers stretched out against the wood, and Cassie copied his motions. "Hands over."
When Cassie lifted her left and wounded hand an inch above Harry's right, her brows immediately furrowed when, instead of his normal left hand, the red pirate held his hook near her right palm.
"Oh, Gilly didn' tell ye'?" Harry wondered with feigned surprise. "I play this game a little differently, love." The dark and manic grin stretching his lips made a small tremor flash through Cassie's small form, and a startling nausea stirred in the back of her throat.
'Harry's not fun to play with.' Gil's earlier ominous words rang loud and clear in Cassie's mind, and suddenly everything made sense. He'd been so adamant earlier when she suggested the idea of challenging Harry to this game, firmly warning her not to do that very thing.
"That reminds me," Uma muttered, quickly fumbling for whatever it was she had in one of her pockets. "Here." Cassie lifted her hand and caught the object, opening up her hand to fully inspect whatever it was.
In appearance, it seemed like an oddly fashioned ring. The band was silver and small, and should easily slot onto Cassie's middle finger. But in the centre was a sharp and thin needle of sorts, sticking outwards.
"Allow me, love," The little cat didn't have any time at all to fight against Harry, since he quickly snatched the 'ring' from her grasp and took hold of her left hand.
Cassie held her breath and swallowed down the bile in her throat, taking this moment to gain better control of her anxiety while Harry slid the ring into place.
He kept steady contact with her as he took great and unneeded care in slipping the 'ring' onto her middle finger. His gaze was unsettling enough, but the odd sensation of something cool and deadly against her skin only added to it; the weight of how dangerous her situation was becoming slowly came down on her shoulders.
"There ye' go," he said, planting yet another soft kiss on her, but this time against the back of her knuckles.
Cassie ripped her hand away the moment he released her, as though his very touch burned her skin, and scowled when he merely chuckled at the action. She looked down at the 'ring' before holding her hand out above Harry's, now realising that this odd weapon was just a way to make this challenge fair. If she won, then the small needle sticking out from her 'ring' would be embedded in Harry's palm. And if she lost, Harry's hook would be firmly implanted in hers. This wasn't the game she'd played with Gil earlier, this was a true challenge.
Despite her current hatred for the hooked pirate, she didn't want to hurt him. Cassie had no sick or violent intentions floating around her brain that gave her enjoyment at the expense of others. She'd only scratched Harry earlier because she was scared and cornered, and a little part of her wanted to get that smug expression off of his face. But this was a little much for her.
"You both ready?" Uma asked, glancing between the pirate and the little cat. Harry gave a firm nod in response, but Cassie said nothing. "Cassie?" The girl in question could hear Uma calling her, but the sound of her voice was fuzzy and muddled. Cassie's entire focus was locked onto the needle centimetres away from Harry's hand.
The teal-haired captain came to the realisation quicker than Harry did, but it didn't surprise her any less. The simple fact was that even though Harry had been chasing and tormenting this girl all morning, Cassie was somewhat reluctant to cause any unnecessary pain.
Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes, and he quickly ran his tongue across his lips before doing the thing he did best: pushing. "Kitty," he sang, dragging out the word until he eventually caught her attention. "If ye' don' wanna do this, we understan'." He quickly nodded towards Uma with a flick of his head. "Ye're mine no matter what, ye' know. I'm gonna win this game. In fact, I might get ye' a nice little red collar to go around yer neck, jus' to show everyone who ye' belong to."
The rumble of a growl was clear to everyone, and it served as a wonderful announcement that Cassie's mind was back where it should be.
"I'm ready," the little cat declared firmly, lowering her right hand to the table once more. She pushed her humanity to the back of her mind for now, assuring herself that this was the only way for her to get out. As long as she kept that fact firmly rooted in her mind, there was a good chance she'd beat him at this game.
"Alright, game on."
As soon as Uma gave them the go-ahead to begin, the tension in the air grew thick and overbearing. Cassie kept her eyes focused on Harry's hook, her gaze eagerly awaiting a twitch or movement of some form. Meanwhile, Harry stared at Cassie's face, feeling great amusement to see how hard she was concentrating.
"So, jus' outta simple curiosity, why are ye' so dead-set on keepin' yer daddy's curser from us?" the hooked pirate inquired.
"Because it's none of your business," Cassie replied simply, continuously staring at the hook above her right hand. "Whoever put the curse on my dad is no concern of yours."
Since she was currently playing judge, Uma was unable to voice her thoughts on the matter at hand, but a quick twitch of her head in Cassie's direction was enough to urge Harry to keep going.
"Oh, I don't know about that," he chuckled. "If someone on the Isle has magic, don't ye' think we should know about it?"
Cassie's eyes flickered away from his hook, the bewilderment on her face utterly obvious. She didn't know exactly who put the curse on her dad since he despised discussing it with her and she'd given up on finding out well before he left her, but she knew with certainty that it wasn't anyone on the Isle who'd done so.
When she came to the great conclusion of why they'd kept her alive for so long, Cassie couldn't help but giggle. They thought that someone on the Isle had spelled her dad, and that this 'someone' had magic powerful enough to break down the barrier locking them in. It was entirely amusing to the little cat that they thought that, but she couldn't quite judge them for it either. After all, her dad had stuck to the shadows just as she did now, and as far as she knew, he'd never spoken to anyone else on the Isle. No one but her mother, anyway. The details of her father's curse were hazy, he'd only given her the basics of it all, but she had a great feeling she was the only one who knew about their little 'problem'.
"What's so funny?" Harry pressed.
Cassie lessened her amusement, and her giggles faded into a small and knowing smirk. She could easily tell them the truth and put the pirates out of their misery, but why would she? For the time being, her father's 'curser' was the only reason Harry hadn't killed her yet, and she wasn't about to give that up until she was safely out of harm's way.
"Nothing, nothing," she assured the two. "But I guess you do deserve to know. I guess you just better hope you win."
With the abrupt and rather hilarious realisation of why the two pirates had kept her alive securely implanted in her brain, Cassie now had more incentive to win this game. If she won, she didn't have to tell them a damn thing, and chances were she'd be left unharmed purely because they thought she knew something they could use. She could walk right out of this diner and not have to fear for her life again—not from Uma or Harry anyway. The little cat had something against them now, and she loved it.
But first, she had to win.
Cassie kept her eyes on Harry's hook and made small attempts to wrack her brain for something—anything—that could make Harry act first. She recounted their earlier moment in the cells, and she knew he was just as good at pushing as she was. But her 'chat' with him on the ship was a clear example of how quick he was to act on his anger, especially if she found the right switch.
"So I'm kind'a curious about something," she began, quickly lifting her eyes to Harry's face.
"Curiosity killed the cat, ye' know," he retorted, and Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Well I'm still here, so it didn't do a very good job."
"Aye, but for how long?" His threat was said rather playfully, but Cassie could still sense the truth to his words, and she had to fight against the oncoming anxiety once more.
"Your hook," she said, deciding to continue her earlier inquiry instead of firing back with another retort, as she was sure he'd expected. "Why do you wear it? I mean, looks like your hand works just fine. Seems a little... pointless." Cassie knew full well he most likely only wore the hook to pay homage to his father. But she had to push him somehow, and this seemed like the best way to do it.
Harry seemed to know exactly what she was up to, but he answered nonetheless. "It represents the family name, love." His smirk widened as his gaze roamed above her head. "Why do ye' wear kitty ears if ye' don' need 'em?"
Cassie rolled her eyes. He had here there.
The story of why she wore her 'cat ears' was rather simple. While she was growing up, her father made sure she knew what was wrong with him, and why he could only take her for 'walks' during the evening. And when she was only nine years old, she remembered mentioning to him that she loved how he was as a cat and that she wished she had more in common with him sometimes. On her tenth birthday, he'd gift-wrapped a small package, and after some rather violent unwrapping on her part, she'd been utterly overjoyed to find a thin and black headband in the box, with two beautifully crafted cat ears attached to the top. She never knew where he had it made, and she never asked, but she's worn them every day since.
When he'd left her, she'd been conflicted on whether or not to keep them. But in the end, she found that trying to throw them away was more painful than wearing them. So they stayed.
"So your dad gave it to you?" Cassie wondered, swallowing down her sadness as memories of her father drifted into her mind.
The hooked pirate chuckled and tilted his head. "Do ye' really wanna speak about our dads, love?" It wasn't a question. He was subtly letting her know that if she continued asking about his dad, and possibly the only weakness he had, then he had no problem discussing hers. And even though Cassie needed to push him, she couldn't risk losing her temper in this situation. She had to find another way.
"Guess not," she muttered in reply, her lips forming a small pout.
"So, this curse o' yers, what's it like?"
Cassie frowned, a small sigh of exasperation passing through her lips. "What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes coming back to his hook once more. He was going to push, and she had to be ready for it.
"When ye' change, what does it feel like?"
The little cat quickly looked up at him and found that he seemed genuinely curious about her 'problem. And after a swift glance at Uma, it appeared the captain was also just as interested.
For a moment or two, Cassie had an inward debate on whether or not to tell them exactly how it felt when she changed. But when she realised that it affected them in no way whatsoever, and it was hardly a danger to her if they knew since they had no idea what time the transformation took place, she decided to tell.
"Changing into a cat is easy-ish," she said quietly, her eyes glazing over as she stared at the hook above her palm. "It's like when you're walking and you get nervous, and you swear something bad is about to happen. That's how it starts."
"At first, I don't feel anything, just... numb, I guess. I feel like I'm floating. Then I can't breathe, and it's like someone sucked all the air out of the room, which is more uncomfortable than anything because it lasts, like, a few seconds. After that, I don't feel anything, and I don't see anything. It just gets a bit hazy, and then I'm a cat." She finished her explanation with a long-winded sigh, an odd sensation of relief buzzing through her body.
'This must be why people have friends,' she thought. She wouldn't dare talk about her dad, or her time limits, but talking about how it felt when she changed was, in some way, kind of a relief. As if speaking about it out loud and with someone else could take away some of her lingering pain.
"An' when ye' change back?" Harry asked, pulling the little cat from her thoughts.
"There's a reason it's called a 'curse', Harry," Cassie said firmly, her suddenly irritated tone letting him know that she wasn't going to tell them anything else about it.
Transforming into a cat was, as she'd told them, easy-ish. It happened rather quickly, and she hardly ever had to deal with any lingering after-effects when it was done. But changing into a human was, to put it simply, hell. She dreaded the moment every single time she watched the sun go down, her fear greatly conflicting with the joy she experienced just knowing she was about to be human again. And though she could easily blame her father for her torment, she didn't. After all, it wasn't his fault she'd been cursed, as he'd been just as surprised as she was when it happened. So no, she didn't blame him for that. She blamed the Auradon bastard who'd put the spell on him in the first place—whoever they were.
"Well," Cassie breathed, attempting to shake away the awkwardness clinging to her back. "That got personal." She lifted her eyes and glanced between Harry and Uma, both pirates unbothered by her earlier explanation. "So, you two, not a thing, huh?"
"I told ye', love, it's a line ye' don' cross," Harry said, repeating his words from down in the cells.
"Yeah, I remember. But I don't know, it sure looks like something," she admitted with a raised brow. Truthfully, she was curious about the nature of their relationship. He said they were best friends, and Uma practically confirmed that notion, but now that Cassie was in a room with both of them together, well, she couldn't help but feel like there was more to it.
"I reckon a lot o' people are thinkin' that, love, but we're mates. Nothin' more."
Cassie nodded. "Hmm, okay. But are you friends-friends, or Isle friends?" she wondered, and when both pirates gave her questioning glances, she decided to elaborate further. "Are you friends because you like spending time with each other? Or are you friends for the sake of 'power'."
"Bit o' both, I s'pose," Harry said thoughtfully. "Son of Captain Hook, daughter of Ursula," Cassie noticed the small smile shared between the two, and she quickly stored it in her mind. "An' son of Gaston out there," he said, nodding towards the doors. "Our dads and mum were great villains back in the day, and' we're jus' as good—or bad, I guess. Maybe worse."
The little cat couldn't help but feel a slight happiness when Harry made sure to mention Gil, as she knew the blonde-haired pirate would be immensely pleased to know they included him in this partnership. However, the glint of praise Harry held when speaking about Uma, no matter how small, gave Cassie a wonderful, if not slightly suicidal, plan of action.
Cassie knew she couldn't talk about his dad anymore. If she even tried, he'd do the same, and she was just as sensitive to the topic as him. But Uma? She was fair game. The little cat didn't have friends or acquaintances for him to target, so she was good to go on that front. All she had to do was find a way to slide the subject into their conversation.
"Yah know, I asked Gil to let me go earlier, and he didn't have to think twice about saying no. I don't get this 'friendship' thing, but he seems quite the loyal pirate," she told them. "To both of you. It doesn't seem like he has a bad bone in his body." She sucked in a quiet breath, her nerves on complete edge, as she prepared herself to fire—what she hoped was—an anger-inducing shot. "But are you that loyal, Harry?"
Just as hoped, her ballsy question had its desired effect. Uma didn't say one word, but Cassie hadn't heard her speak since the game started so she simply assumed the 'judge' wasn't allowed to disrupt the game. But Harry... well, the way his brows dropped and he bit down on his bottom lip, it was a clear sign he'd taken great offence in her inquiry.
"O' course I am," he said firmly.
"I'm only asking because I'm curious, you see. On the ship yesterday, you told me it was yours, but if Uma's captain wouldn't the ship be hers?" Cassie eyed his hook, her assumption that talking about Uma was the best way to get to Harry was cemented when she saw his fingers tighten around the handle. "Did you want me to think you were Captain instead?" Her feigned obliviousness to what she was trying to accuse him of worked well with Harry, but Uma seemed to notice what she was doing right away.
Harry didn't look at Uma once, and maybe if he had, he'd have noticed her wide-eyed stare, or how she was practically begging him with her expression alone to not take the bait Cassie was throwing out. Harry's entire being was focused on the little cat, his anger locking him in on her and her alone. Cassie had all his attention, ss long as she kept pushing.
"Don't get me wrong, it makes sense. Your dad's a captain; of course people would assume you're one too." Cassie wrinkled her nose to give him the impression she was thinking. "Huh, I wonder how he felt about that. Yah know, you not being a captain like him, I mean."
The hooked pirate was practically trembling by the end of her sentence, his lips twisting as he ground his teeth together. Her plan was working, but it wasn't working well enough. She had to find something to truly make him snap.
"It explains a lot about you, yah know. You walk around with your hook, acting like people should worship the ground you walk on and be scared to death of having to go against you. When you're just a scared little boy playing pirate. Tic-Toc wouldn't give you the time of day like he did your dad, and you're following your best friend's orders." Cassie licked her lips and lowered her voice, a tauntingly sympathetic smile playing at her lips. "Face it, Harry, you'll always be second best."
Things had been moving slowly before, but the moment she finally twisted her knife and played on the insecurities she only guessed he had, everything kicked into high gear.
Harry was fast, and he was good. If Cassie hadn't been paying extra attention to his left hand and hadn't seen the noticeable movement of his fingers before he gripped the handle tighter, she wouldn't have moved her hand in time. But she had seen it, and her right hand was retracted a mere second before Harry's hook came down on the table.
The deafening 'bang' shocked all three of them. Uma's eyes grew even wider than before, her jaw dropping the moment his hook dug firmly into the table. Harry's expression of overwhelming rage remained, his breaths loud and strained as he stared at the spot Cassie's hand should have been. And Cassie, despite being tremendously shaken by the fact she'd almost been pinned to the table, took her moment the second she saw an opening.
With a strength she didn't know she had, Cassie quickly lifted her left hand and brought it down onto Harry's palm. She could feel the disgusting pressure against her fingers as the needle penetrated his skin, sinking further into him until it met the wood of the table.
The sickness in her stomach was instantaneous, a grimace crossing her features as she ripped her eyes away from the damage she'd done. Instead, she looked at Uma, the devastation on the teal-haired captain's face almost too much for Cassie to bear. But the little cat didn't dare face Harry.
"I win."
The walk home was quiet and slow, Cassie's movements sluggish from everything she'd endured that day. Instead of taking the path, she climbed up onto the rooftops, her distracted mind entirely focused on getting home as quickly as possible.
The little cat sniffled and raised her arm, using the sleeve of her dress to rub away the tears falling from her eyes. She didn't know exactly why she was so emotional, a part of her assumed it was mainly due to relief. After all, there had been a very slim chance of her winning against Harry and leaving pirate territory, and maybe the very fact she'd done so was much too overwhelming. But she knew deep, deep down there was something else. Something she hadn't ever felt before and didn't know how to deal with now.
Guilt was an odd thing on the Isle. It was barely ever felt, since the majority of the villains locked up on the island prison held no sympathy for all the people they'd tormented in Auradon, and in true villainous fashion they taught their children the same thing. Everyone was proud of their accomplished deeds, though some more than others, and the only thing people thought twice about was the violent acts that led to their capture and eventual arrest. Cassie had heard it more than she cared for, usually by a raging Maleficent screaming about all the things she could have done to kill Sleeping Beauty and all the ways she could have avoided being subdued.
For Cassie, guilt had never been a reigning problem. She never gave a second thought about all the Isle-dwellers she'd taken things from since she always assumed the worst of others. And the minute she arrived home, she'd forget all about them, her mind entirely occupied by the beautiful thing she'd managed to bring back to her 'den'. But leaving Ursula's diner tonight had been quite the task. An awful and unsettling sensation wound its way through the little cat's entire form when she walked out with her 'special thing'. She didn't know why, since Harry and Uma didn't give two shits about her, but she felt it anyway. And she hated it.
When Bargain Castle eventually came into her sights, Cassie sighed in audible relief. She carefully climbed down from the roof she'd been on, her feet and hands following their familiar path until she firmly landed on the ground.
She made the exhausted trek up the metal stairs and towards Mal's balcony, taking great caution as she shimmied along the thick piece of wood up to her 'perch'.
For a small moment, she stayed in place, her legs swinging lightly through the air as she overlooked the darkness of the Isle. It was still early in the morning, and usually she'd still be running around looking for her 'special thing'. But she already had what she needed, and the fear of almost having her freedom ripped away was still lingering in the pit of her stomach.
Cassie inhaled and exhaled slow and reassuring breaths, her eyes gently closing as she made small attempts to calm her frazzled nerves.
'You're home. You're safe. You're alive.' She repeated the mantra in her head until it firmly stuck, but even then, the awful sensation and thoughts of what might have happened wouldn't leave her. If Harry had won, she'd most likely be in the cells right now. She'd have given up the answer he and his captain longed to know, and that very answer might have led to her demise the moment they realised they had no use for her. Either that, or Harry would have kept her alive, tormenting and torturing her in every way he wanted until he got bored.
But she'd won. By some miracle, her pushing had worked, and she'd gotten away with everything they promised her.
'Barely,' her mind reminded her, and Cassie grimaced, her fingers immediately smoothing over the skin of her neck. It was still so sore, and she had no doubts she'd be bruised by tomorrow night—a painful reminder of just how horrible things could have gone.
"I win." Her voice was barely audible, and her words were nothing more than a whisper. But in that moment, with all three still coming to terms with exactly what had happened, her statement seemed like more of a shout.
Cassie's voice broke Harry out of whatever state of astonishment he'd been in. In mere seconds, he tore his eyes away from his hook, still embedded in the wood of the table, and his furious gaze moved to her. His left hand released the death grip he'd had on the handle of the weapon, his arm surging forward and his fingers gripping her throat.
The little cat went into a state of panic almost instantly, the hand that wasn't still somehow attached to his grasping at his left wrist. Her fingernails dug into his skin, thick red droplets of blood coating her nails and his arm. But it didn't bother him in the slightest; he didn't seem to feel it, and that truly terrified her.
"Harry!" Uma yelled, jumping down from the table she'd been sitting on to take hold of the pirate's arm. "She won, okay? The challenge is done." Even though the captain was far from content at the fact Cassie had won the game, they lived by the pirate code, and she knew full well that, even though his rage was all he could see right now, Harry would be kicking himself all night if he got too carried away with Cassie.
"I don't give a shite," the first mate spat, his digits tightening painfully around the little cat's throat.
"You live by the code, Harry. You taught me everything about it, remember?" Uma pointed out, taking great note of the way Cassie's breaths began to slow. "As your Captain, I'm telling you to stand down. Now!"
Harry stared back at Uma, his mind greatly conflicted. Cassie had pushed him with things she really shouldn't have, and for that, she had to go. But Uma was right, they lived by their codes, and prided themselves on following them. If he killed the little cat now he'd never forgive himself for it.
With his mind made up, Harry reluctantly released Cassie, her wheezing breaths and coughs practically music to his sadistic ears.
"I should let him kill you, y'know," Uma said to Cassie, her palms holding onto the edge of the table as she leaned down to stare into the little cat's eyes. "You deserve it," she spat, eyeing Cassie with as much disdain as she could summon. "But we made a deal. And that's the only reason you're going home tonight."
Cassie nodded her head, her right hand gently soothing her currently aching and sore throat. "Got it," she breathed, her voice scratchy and painful.
"Now, get. Out. And don't let me catch you around these parts again," Uma whispered darkly, slowly leaning back from Cassie to instead stand behind Harry, her fingers gently kneading his left shoulder.
With another nod, Cassie quickly removed her left hand, pulling the needle out of Harry's palm before she ripped the ring from her finger and threw the bloody tool on top of the table.
She would have gone straight out the door, and she would have gone straight home. But a small recollection of her terms before the start of the game sneakily floated back into her head. " There was another part of our deal," she announced, her arms crossing beneath her breasts as she faced the two pirates.
At their stares of confusion, Cassie eyed Uma's pendant pointedly, her brows raising.
'Suicidal bitch,' her mind muttered disapprovingly, and Cassie ignored it. It was obvious enough that they took their word seriously, and she was going home whether they liked it or not. But she hadn't forgotten about the very thing that landed her in this mess in the first place, and despite her earlier fear of nearly being strangled to death, her apparently life-threatening itch won over. She hadn't forgotten why she'd been thrown head-first into deep shit, and there was no way in Hades she was going home empty-handed again.
"Deal's a deal," the teal-haired captain muttered sadly, her hesitant fingers moving to undo the clasp behind her neck. It was almost painful to watch, and Cassie had to truly refrain from speaking up and letting Uma keep her treasure. After all, the captain hadn't hurt her at all. Harry had. But from the obvious glimmer of guilt and sympathy in his blue eyes, Cassie could tell this was as hard for him as it was for Uma, and somehow this made taking the captain's necklace all the more easier.
"Ye' can't take it," Harry cried out, slamming his fist against the table as he stared at the little cat. "Uma didn' do fuck all to ye'."
Cassie frowned. He made a very good point there. She didn't know pirates, but she'd seen how cruel people on the Isle were. They prayed on weakness and 'feelings', and she could only assume these pirates were the same. She had to go against her nature and follow through with this because if she didn't they'd know. They'd know how scared she was, they'd know that she wasn't as 'evil' as everyone else and that she had, if just a little, kindness in her heart. Kindness was a weakness on the Isle, and she couldn't afford to show them any more of her weaknesses.
"Deal's a deal, remember?" Cassie told him, her voice so cold and indifferent that it worried even her. But it had to be done.
"Ye're a right bitch, Cassie. An' it's a wonder yer daddy didn' leave ye' sooner," he spat.
Cassie released a small and humourless giggle. "You wanna know what the worst part is?" He didn't answer, but she kept going anyway. "If you hadn't snapped and put your hands on me like that, I might have let her keep it." It wasn't true, obviously. She would've walked out with her 'special thing' either way, but the urge to hurt him was too great.
"You're the one that took me to the cells, Harry. And you're the one who accepted my challenge when you didn't have to. This isn't my fault," she said with a small shake of her head. "This is your fault."
If looks could well and truly kill, Cassie knew she'd be at the bottom of the ocean by now. Harry stared at her with so much hatred and outrage, and if she didn't have their word, she'd be terrified. But he couldn't do anything to her, and he knew it.
"Here." Cassie turned away from the pirate, who was attempting to murder her with his eyes, and instead faced the captain. "Just...take it," Uma pleaded, the beautiful charm held out in her hand, her head turned away to avoid seeing the pendant in Cassie's possession.
The little cat quickly took the necklace in her hands. Partly because a selfish part of her wanted to see just how pretty this 'special thing' was, but a smaller part of her knew it'd only cause the captain more pain if she took her time.
"Guess I should be headin' out," Cassie muttered as a half-assed goodbye, the pendant firmly clasped between her fingers as she turned towards the door. "Later."
"Wait!"
The little cat swiftly turned and faced the pirate who'd called her. "Yes?" she wondered with slight impatience, her body practically begging her to just go home and sleep.
Harry got to his feet, kicking his chair back as he went, and yanked his hook from the table with a loud grunt. He stormed towards the little cat, somehow oblivious to the obvious and dripping wound she'd caused him, a look of fierce determination on his features.
Cassie backed away instantly, the shadowy sensation of his hand around her throat still as strong as it had been when he'd tried to kill her. She didn't trust him, and she had to be careful.
"Ye' liked this, didn't ye'?" he asked her breathlessly, his wounded hand pulling at the pocket watch around his neck. "I'll trade ye'. Uma's necklace, for my watch." It was a strange thing to see Harry begging her, and if Cassie was being honest with herself, she kind of enjoyed it.
The idea of taking the pocket watch again was tempting. After all, it had been the thing to get her into this mess, and a tiny fraction of her longed to take it home. But she had a point to prove now. If Harry wanted to fuck around with her emotions and taunt her so freely, then she'd do the same.
"Hmm," she sounded, her eyes narrowing in on the beautiful object around his neck. She took a rather courageous step forward and fingered the pretty charm, the beautiful golden shine now somewhat dampened by Harry's blood. "Nah." She turned away from him again, determined that that was her final word, and headed towards the doors.
"Cassie," Harry growled loudly, and she paused, once again turning around to face him. "Ye' can't take the necklace, love."
Cassie sighed and looked back at Uma. The teal-haired Captain sat down in the space Harry had once occupied, her face hidden in her hands. The necklace Cassie now holds must have been of great importance for Uma to be so free in showing her devastation when it was taken away, but just as the little cat always thought, the pretty and personal things were always the most special to her.
She couldn't withhold the small flicker of pity, and neither could she ignore the sudden and unwelcome pang of sadness. There was a very good reason she loathed sticking around after she'd taken her 'special things', and that was purely because of the reactions some had when parted with their beloved objects. Some got angry, though that was an obvious reaction to realising you'd had something taken from you, but sadness was always a risk with her 'targets', and it always played with her understanding side. So she took and she left, her mind always far more occupied in returning to Bargain Castle and playing with her 'special thing' than worrying over the pain of others.
Harry saw the moment as soon as she gave it, and he was quick to grasp the opportunity. "Cassie, ye' don't have to do this."
"Of course I do," she snapped. "You brought me here, and you locked me in that cage. You could have let me go with your little watch, and if you had, then none of this would've happened. You made me do this. And now you get to stay here and watch what happens when you fuck up."
"If ye' want the watch, then fuckin' take it," he bellowed.
"I. Don't. Want. It," Cassie said firmly. "This," she lifted the necklace in her hands for him to see, "means something to her. I take this, I hurt her. I hurt her, I hurt you. Get it?"
Harry huffed and glowered down at the little cat, and Cassie knew he finally understood exactly why she was being so cruel to Uma. "There has to be somethin' ye' want more, somethin' o' mine. Whatever it is, take it. But give 'er the necklace back," Harry pleaded.
The little cat could only shake her head in response. She had no desire to take the watch from him anymore, not now that she had something much more meaningful. There was nothing Harry had on him right now that could make her hand over the necklace, and the word 'no' was right on the tip of her tongue. But her eyes, which had been thoughtfully flickering about the room, found a target—one that would cause just as much pain if she took it rather than Uma's necklace.
"There is one thing," Cassie whispered hesitantly, two sides warring in her mind over whether or not she should take the object she'd spotted.
"Anythin'," Harry sighed with obvious relief, his shoulders drooping as he looked down at the little cat.
"Anything?" she repeated loudly, and he nodded his head. "Something of hers for something of yours, deal?" By now, it was more than obvious these pirates took their deals seriously, and if she was going to do this again, she had to be sure Harry gave her his word.
"Aye, deal," he said hurriedly, holding out his right hand for Uma's pendant.
A small and faint smirk tugged at Cassie's mouth, and she hovered the necklace an inch above Harry's hand. But at the same moment, she held out her right hand, her index finger pointing to the very object she desired.
"Hand it over, Hook."
Cassie gnawed at her bottom lip and slowly lifted her left hand, her dark eyes carefully analysing the pain-inflicting object she now had in her 'collection'. She gently smoothed her fingers over the silver and gleaming body of the hook, a small hiss passing through her lips as she accidentally caught the tip of her middle finger on its point. It might not be the prettiest thing she had, and Uma's necklace had won by a mile in physical appearance, but the hook meant so much more to Harry, and now she knew with certainty that she'd well and truly hurt him.
"I win."
Uma made her way back into the dining area of her mom's shoppe, a large glass bottle of rum held firmly in her right hand. She decided to forgo the cups for tonight, knowing full well that her first mate would much rather drink this straight from the bottle. She didn't agree with it, and if she could, she'd order him to go home and sleep everything off, but that just wasn't an option tonight. Tonight, he deserved this. It was the least she could do for him.
When the teal-haired Captain strolled into the dining area, she found Harry in the same place she'd left him. He sat at the same table where his and Cassie's challenge took place, his head resting on his right palm while the fingernails of his left hand carved messy lines into the wood. He didn't speak, and he didn't move, his face utterly void of any emotion she could think of as his eyes glazed over with thought.
Uma liked to think she could deal with a lot of things from Harry. Blind rage, where he yelled and destroyed anything or anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way. Rare vulnerability, where he shared way too much with her while drowning in a drunken stupor of some form. If he had it in him, she could deal with it with a clear head. But this Harry, the one who gave nothing to her and instead chose to wallow himself in whatever emotion he was feeling at the time, she found the hardest.
With a small grumble of dejection, Uma warily dropped down into the chair beside him and lowered the bottle onto the table. And it wasn't too surprising when he, instead of muttering a small 'thanks', snatched the bottle from the table and sucked down large gulps of fiery liquid.
"Say something, Harry," Uma pleaded, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair.
The first mate inhaled a large breath as he pulled the rim away from his lips, his tongue swiftly cleaning up any trace of the alcohol as he lowered his head to face her. "What d'ye wan't me to say? Ye' got yer necklace back, didn't ya?" he said gruffly, his fingers tightening around the neck of the bottle.
"Yeah, I did," she whispered, gently smoothing the shell-shaped charm now back in its rightful place. "But it cost you."
"Deal's a deal, Uma," he pointed out with a humourless chuckle.
"She's not gonna get away with this," Uma stated firmly, a painful sting of slight helplessness washing through her as she eyed his left, now empty, hand. The rest of him was still, but his usually-hooked hand was constantly moving—his digits were so used to having their familiar handle within arms reach. He wasn't feeling anything right now, but he would tomorrow, and Uma knew full well what was coming when he woke up in the morning.
"An' how do we do that, eh?" Harry wondered with clear doubt. "We don't know where the fuck she lives, an' she hasn't got any friends for us to talk to either. She's a shadow, Uma. A sneaky, slippery little shadow." He raised the bottle to his lips again, swallowing a few more large gulps.
"You're right, she doesn't have any friends. But we do, Harry. With the traitors gone, we own the Isle now, and everyone who lives on it." She leaned forward and held his wrist, her eyes meeting his own. "We'll find her, Harry, I promise."
"An' when we do?" he inquired, also moving until their faces were centimetres apart. He wasn't just asking what they were going to do with Cassie; he was asking if they still needed her anymore. After all, she'd gotten away with the answers they needed, and those particular answers were somewhat beneficial to Uma getting them all off the Isle.
"She made this personal, Harry. When we find her, and trust me, we will, you'll get your hook back. And you can do whatever you want with her. We'll find another way out of this fucking prison." At her approval, Harry's familiar grin of madness stretched back onto his face.
"We ride with the tide, Captain."
AN;
Hello wonderful readers!
Okay, so, this chapter was kind of dark, I guess. But Cassie won! Not that it's a good thing of course. And I do feel like Harry was a little OOC in regards to Cassie taking Uma's necklace, but it's kind of obvious in the movies he adores Uma, and I feel like there's a good chance he'd do anything for her.
Review Acknowledgement Time!
StrawberryNeko7; I've actually never played the 'Red Hands' game before, but I heard it somewhere and I thought it would be a good idea to introduce it into the story. It kind of shows how twisted things are on the Isle, even when it comes to a children's game, but obviously in this chapter Harry plays it a little differently. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Arkytior's Song; Honestly, I love Gil. He's such a little puppy, and seriously innocent when compared to everyone else on the Isle. And I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Lola Vegas; :D :D
mollichine; It's not a bad thing to want Harry to win. This game was going to go one of two ways, and I genuinely considered the idea of Harry winning this game. But I decided to do something else and make things a little more interesting.
Anyway, please leave me a review or PM to let me know what you think about this chapter. And much love to everyone who've favourited and followed!
Thanks!
(Any typos or misspells will be removed once I've had a proper read-through.)