Chapter Two
"Yay hey outta the way!" Izzy yelled, clinging to the rope connected to the Buccaneer, her crew's trusty ship, dragged her through the teal green waters of the Neversea at breakneck speed. "Bucky! Slow-it-down!" she shouted. Her brown pigtails and the tails of her rosy bandana flapped wildly in the wind. The sea sprayed over her, soaking her pink shirt and purple tights, and the ship's rudder splashed water everywhere. The sunlight reflected off the water onto her tanned, most likely sunburnt skin, while her shiny red boots left white bubbly trails in the water behind her. From afar, it looked as if she was having a water skiing adventure, but that was far from the truth.
Bucky, affectionately named by the young pirate crew, had developed a case of barnacles, a ship's equivalent of chickenpox, driving him haywire. Izzy, Jake's first mate and unofficial leader in his absence, had just been trying to scrape the barnacles off Bucky's hull, starting at the back near the rudder. The plan was simple: dangle over the side on a rope and scrape away. However, Bucky had other ideas and took off at an almost electric speed, dragging the eleven-year-old pirate girl behind him.
After spitting out another mouthful of seawater, Izzy glanced up at the quarterdeck, though her view was mostly blocked by the wooden wall adorned with a carved sword, map, and pixie dust pouch symbol.
"Hey Cubby!" she yelled, sputtering out more water.
The eight-year-old boy with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and a blue bandana that wrapped around his head similar to the way Izzy's did, leaned over the railing. His pale, pudgy face showed concern as he saw his friend being dragged behind the ship.
"Yeah!?"
"You wanna tell me how to get us out of this mess, matey!?" Izzy called.
"Sure thing Izzy! Just gimme a minute!" Cubby replied, grabbing a sliding book from the deck, he frantically flipped through it.
"Crackers!" squawked their green pet parrot, Skully, flapping above and trying to keep up. "I don't know if you've got a minute, Cubby! Bucky's gone crackers!"
"You can say that again!" Cubby said, his eyes scanning the pages.
Izzy used all her strength to stay upright, leaning back as Bucky pulled her along. A little mermaid with short brown pigtails and starfish earrings, popped out of the water, swimming alongside her. She had been following the crazed ship for quite some time now.
"Uh, you sure you don't need a little help, matey?" the mermaid, Stormy, asked.
"Don't worry, Stormy!" Izzy said with a confident smile. "I've got everything under control here!"
"Izzy, look out!" Stormy suddenly called.
Izzy's eyes widened as a huge wave loomed ahead. Panicking, she watched as Bucky gathered momentum and leaped over the wave, Izzy clinging to the rope for dear life. Cubby gripped the wooden railing with one hand and the book with the other, and Skully soared high to avoid the splash.
The little ship then landed with a massive splash, drenching Izzy and knocking her onto her belly. She still held the rope, now being dragged along like a penguin.
"Yay hey no way!" the girl let out. She forced her head out of the water, spitting some out and letting out a small giggle despite the situation. "Sometimes, I really wish you didn't have a mind of your own, Bucky!" she says, shaking the water from her hair again. "Cubby!" Izzy called out. "Any chance you've found something in that book yet?"
Cubby, looking even more panicked as he frantically flipped through the pages, glanced up.
"I-I'm working on it!"
"Well, could you work a little faster!? I'm not exactly having a spa day back here!" she retorted, spitting out another mouthful of seawater.
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Izzy's head.
"Cubby! What if we get him to drop anchor!? Maybe that'll slow him down!"
Cubby looked up, his eyes wide with hope.
"Drop the anchor!? That could work!"
Bucky seemed to understand, giving a cheerful ding of his bell in agreement.
"You heard her Bucky boy, now try and drop that anchor of yours!" Cubby shouted.
With a loud ring of his bell, Bucky tried to drop anchor. But instead of falling straight down, it shot out diagonally with a loud whoosh. Izzy's eyes widened as she watched the anchor sail through the air. To make matters worse, the anchor crashed right into the hull of the ship they were sailing by, putting a giant hole in it. And to top that all off that ship just happened to be the Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship. Izzy winced at the sight.
"Oops." she muttered under her breath.
Hook, who had been enjoying a quiet moment on his deck, spun around at the sound of splintering wood. His face turned beet red as he saw the gaping hole.
"Why you pathetic, puny, pirate, pipsqueak, PESTS! Keep your blasted anchor to yourselves!!!" he roared, shaking his hook furiously in their direction. "I shall make shrunken heads out of you for this!"
"C-coconuts!" Cubby exclaimed, his face pale with fear. "Sorry, Captain Hook!" he exclaims, clutching the blue bandana on his head out of nervousness.
Before Hook could react further, Bucky, seemingly oblivious to the chaos he had caused, sailed away at full speed again.
A short, elderly man in a red nightcap approached Captain Hook, gently patting him on the back.
"Oh there, there, Cap'n. It was clearly an accident. I'll get Sharky and Bones and I'm sure they'll have it fixed up in no time," he consoled. "But may I say, the sea pups sure are having a lot of trouble with their little ship lately."
"Indeed, Mr. Smee. If only they'd keep all their troubles to themselves instead of ruining me own glorious ship with their pathetic little toy watercraft!" Hook roared. "I cannot believe that I am saying this, but I wish that blasted bilge rat Jake would come back and deal with all the trouble his little squad has been causing around here so that I, a real pirate, may sail the Nevasea in peace!"
"Bu-but sir, you were thrilled when Jake went on that mission with Peter Pan," Mr. Smee reminded him. "Almost as happy as you were when he left with Peter after finishing that Forever Quest mission."
"Only because I thought I could try and steal their treasure chest for meself again while his two popinjays for crewmates watched, dangling in a cage from a tree! Only this time, I held me hook back, not wanting history to repeat itself!" Hook declared. "Only of course he leaves and never returns this time." he grumbles to himself.
"Well, if I must say, Cap'n, I was very proud of you for controlling yourself and not bothering the sea pups."
"Yes, I'm sure you were," Hook sneered, leaning in close to his elderly first mate. Straightening up, he looked out at the Neversea, watching Bucky zip around at full speed. "Now if only they'd return the favor."
Izzy finally managed to stand again, though she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep being dragged around while trying to balance herself.
"Well, so much for getting Bucky to stop—woah!" she bellowed as another wave toppled her.
"Stop!? Izzy, it didn't even slow him down!" Cubby exclaimed.
"I know that! We gotta find a way to make Bucky cool it before he crashes and before I drown back here! Woah!" Izzy shouted before being submerged by another wave.
"I'm looking! I'm looking!" Cubby said, frantically flipping through the book.
Izzy bobbed out of the water, taking a massive gulp of air.
"No problem, Cubster. *cough* Just take your sweet time!" she shouted while trying to get back on her feet.
"Let's see," Cubby said, tracing the words with his finger as quickly as he could. It was hard to read when the ship was moving so fast. "Torn sails. Cannon blockage. Yard rot. Kelp in the rudder. Aha! I found it!" he exclaimed, holding up the book. "Barnacles on the hull—" Before Cubby could read any further, Bucky made a swift and sharp turn, causing the boy to wobble and causing the book to slip out of his hands and fall into the sea.
"A-aw coconuts! The book!" the blonde boy exclaimed, his eyes wide with worry as he watched the book disappear into the water.
The splash of the thick book hit Izzy as it landed in the sea, quickly sinking due to its weight. Izzy shook the loose strands of hair from her face and took a deep breath.
"Crackers! I wish Jake were here!" exclaimed the now wet parrot, flapping above. "He'd know what to do!"
"Don't worry Skully!" Izzy says. "We'll think of something….probably!"
"Oh, I hope so! Or else we're all sitting ducks–woah!" Cubby exclaimed as the rocking ship slid him across the deck. He tumbled into the exact spot where the wooden red slide was, and before he could react, he was sliding down it and off the ship. "Matey overboard!" he exclaimed, flying through the air. Before Bucky could zip ahead and leave him behind, Izzy reached out and grabbed his chubby hand mid-air.
"Gotcha!" she said, gripping his hand with her right while still holding onto the rope with her left. Now they were both being dragged by their wild ship. "Cubby, hold onto me!" Izzy ordered, gripping the rope with both hands again.
"Phew! Thanks, Izzy!" the blonde pirate said, wrapping both arms around her waist. He was now also getting drenched by the splashing of Bucky's rudder, struggling to stay upright as he was dragged along in the water, creating a white wake behind him.
"Well, at least we're not bored, right?" Izzy asked.
Cubby's face twisted in a look of horror.
"I'd take bored over this ANY day!"
"Alright this is bad, but you gotta admit, matey, it is kinda fun!" Izzy shouted back, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
Cubby opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything, Izzy let go of the rope with one hand, causing Cubby to tighten his grip on her waist even more. His face paled as he watched her now holding on with only one hand.
"Izzy, what are you doing!?" he shouted, his voice full of panic.
The lass ignored his question and used her free hand to pull her pink bandana off her head, letting her loose brown locks blow wildly in the wind.
"Yaaaaay heeeey!" she shouted, waving the bandana around in the air with reckless abandon.
"Would you focus!?" Cubby yelled, his voice cracking with fear.
Realizing she might have pushed her luck too far, the young pirate lass quickly clamped the bandana back onto her head and gripped the rope with both hands again. Bucky kept sailing aimlessly at full speed, dragging Izzy and Cubby along while Skully flew behind, flapping frantically to keep up.
Skully squawked in alarm as he noticed a ship up ahead. Despite the artistic mess made on its hull, it was magnificent. It's light brown wood gleaming and its crimson, gold, and olive striped sails billowing in the wind.
"Uh oh!" the parrot screeched, panicked. "Look alive me hearties! Bucky's about to run into the Delta!" the bird exclaimed, his eyes widening in terror as he recognized the ship.
"Oh nonononono! Not that!" Izzy exclaimed, knowing full well the trouble they'd be in if they damaged another ship. "Bucky, listen to me! You can crash into any ship on the Neversea, but not this one!"
Miraculously, Bucky seemed to understand. With a cheerful ding of his bell, the small ship made a sharp turn away from the larger more exquisite looking ship, causing Izzy and Cubby to scream as they were swiftly dragged along.
"You little weasels!" came an angry voice from the Delta.
"You have a nice day too matey!" Izzy shouted back at the ship.
"That was a close one!" Cubby said.
"You know it!" Skully said, flapping away from the ship they had almost hit.
Cubby tapped his matey on the shoulder, his voice trembling.
"U-u-um Izzy…you might want to look ahead."
Izzy reluctantly turned her head, her heart sinking as she saw an enormous, monster-sized wave about to crash into them. Her eyes widened in horror.
The giant wave loomed over them, casting a dark shadow across the teal waters of the Neversea. It was far too big for their little ship to sail through, so they could only hope he'd turn in a different direction and paddle away at crazy fast speed. Izzy's eyes widened in horror, but her instincts kicked in.
"Bucky, turn around! Bucky, turn around! Bucky, TURN AROUND!" she ordered at the top of her lungs. But Bucky, with his hull tickled endlessly by the barnacles, had no control over his actions. Instead, he sailed straight into the wave.
"AAAAHHH!" Izzy and Cubby screamed in unison. Cubby's grip on Izzy's waist was suffocating, while Izzy clung to the rope as if she wanted her fingers to become one with it. The wave crashed down on them, threatening to separate them from their ship and leave them lost in the middle of the Neversea. The overwhelming force of the water tossed them around, their world a chaotic swirl of bubbles and sea spray. But they held on, refusing to let go. Eventually, the wave died down, and they quickly emerged, sputtering and spitting out water. Izzy laughed nervously.
"Hey….that wasn't so bad." she said, her voice shaky.
Cubby, drenched and wide-eyed with fear, didn't share her sentiment.
"Speak for yourself! I thought we were goners!"
Izzy glanced around and noticed that Bucky had finally stopped and was drifting peacefully in the middle of the sea. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey, look! Bucky's finally calmed down!" But her moment of relief was short-lived. She saw Cubby's eyes widen again in sheer terror. "Cubby, what's the matter now?"
Cubby pointed behind her, his hand shaking.
"That!"
Izzy turned her head and her heart sank. A much, much bigger wave, about fifty feet high, was heading straight towards them. Bucky dinged his bell frantically, sensing the danger.
"SH-SH-SHIVER ME TIMBERS!"
The massive wave surged forward, towering over them like a watery giant ready to swallow them whole. Izzy tightened her grip on the rope, feeling Cubby's arms around her waist.
"Izzy I'm gonna kill you if we don't die!" the pale boy squealed before burying his face in Izzy's back.
The wave crashed down with a deafening roar, engulfing them in a torrent of water.
To Be Continued….
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