A Tale That Could Not Be

Selvina Whitier opened her opal eyes to find herself in the captain’s cabin of a sailing ship. Pillows, blankets, chairs, a few tables, a desk, and cupboards made up the furnishings within the large room and sleeping about in various places were four other women. The oldest, in her late twenties, was named Wendy and she lay curled about beside Selvina, a thick blanket covering her. She had caramel-coloured hair cut in a bob and beneath those closed lids were brown eyes full of strength and courage. Across the room, sprawled on a large pile of colourful pillows, was a younger woman, about Selvina’s age of sixteen years, named Goldilocks. As her named suggested, she had curly blonde hair and blue eyes, though they were closed at the moment. Lying beside her was a woman with dark brown eyes and extremely long black hair that lay curled in a pile beside her. She was awake but staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Rapunzel appeared the most nervous of the five women but she did well at keeping herself composed. Snow White, the shortest woman, lay on the ground, curled in the fetal position. She had white hair and round green eyes which were staring at nothing in particular. Selvina worried for Snow White as she had been the only one of the five women to truly experience the hardships and tortures of being on the ship.

They were not there on their own volition and were reminded of that every day. A young man named Eric, perhaps two or three years older than Selvina, came into their room several times a day to give them food or clean. He was nice to them but showed signs of physical abuse and said very little, his courage and spirit crushed to dangerous levels. The true reminder, however, was the ship’s captain, Peter Pan. He was a short man with wild, orange hair, pointed ears, icy blue eyes, a childish disposition and always wore a red and white doublet and tight pants. For the most part he left the girls alone but whenever he visited Selvina could feel a chill crawl up her spine. He was ruthless, merciless, unpredictable, and completely bereft of empathy. What he wanted to do with the women Selvina did not know but what she did know was that he was taking them somewhere to see someone.

She had hoped to wake up back home in Toronto but this was the third day on the ship and every time she woke up it was the same scene before her. To her right, at the very back of the ship, the entire wall was windows and she could see the ocean glittering in the early morning light. It was a beautiful sight but it was lost on the homesick blonde. Selvina was stuck on the ship and there was nothing she could do to change that. She couldn’t fight and she couldn’t swim well enough to jump through the window and into the ocean. Rapunzel and Snow White didn’t know how to swim at all and she wasn’t about to abandon them. Selvina did not abandon people she cared about and she had quickly grown to care about the four women she shared the room with.

“Up already?” Wendy asked as she turned over on her back and stretched her arms. “Did you not sleep well?”

“I can’t sleep here,” Selvina replied, her eyes on the sparkling ocean. “I don’t understand how you can. I feel so uncomfortable on this ship. I just want to go home…”

“We all do, Selvina. You won’t be going anywhere if you don’t get some rest, though.”

“I tried, Wendy. I just…can’t.”

Wendy said nothing for a while and eventually sat up and curled her knees against her chest. “You wish you weren’t here, don’t you?”

“I just said that…”

“I mean in this world, with us. You wish you were home and that you were never brought here, right?”

Selvina took a deep breath before replying. “Yes…”

Wendy looked at the floor and rested her chin on the top of her knees. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through but we will get through this, Selvina, and you will go back home. I don’t know why you’re here in the first place and I’d like to think it’s for a reason but I really don’t know. Don’t you think it’s for something, though?”

“If I was brought here for a reason you’d think I’d know what it was by now.”

“I guess so. Just…don’t lose hope, ok? Snow White doesn’t make it easy to see hope and Rapunzel isn’t the most optimistic person either. Goldilocks just doesn’t seem to care too much what happens but you’re here and you want to go home so I need you to stay strong. I want to get out of here as much as you do.”

“To Captain Hook?”

Wendy’s hazel eyes looked straight ahead into a world of memories. “I’d like that, yes.” She blinked and then gazed at Selvina curiously. “Do you have someone back home?”

Selvina’s face immediately flushed as memories of Jack flooded her mind. He was a young man with thick and wild brown hair, brown eyes, a mischievous grin, and a firm hold on her heart. She longed for his confidence, his wittiness, his crude humour, and his ability to make her feel completely safe in the direst of situations. Mostly, though, she just wanted him there with his arms wrapped around her. She did not know what had happened to him as the last time she had seen him was at Belle’s castle when she, Red, and Cindy had been in pursuit of Artemian and Beast.

Red’s death still brought a cold stabbing pain to her heart whenever she thought of it. Red Riding Hood had been the first friend she had made upon arriving to the strange world of Faeryum and had been by her side ever since. She was always accompanied by Bigbad, a huge, horse-sized, black wolf that was smart, obviously powerful, and fiercely loyal. Both of them had fallen to Artemian, a ruthless bounty hunter tasked with killing Beast, Belle’s lover, and Selvina had every reason to believe that he had accomplished the task.

Cindy had been a street girl Selvina and Red had encountered in the grim and snowy city of Kenmard. She had lived a rough life, finding solace in visions she saw in the flames of matches, and Selvina had wished to give her a better one. With some convincing, she had managed to take her aboard Captain Hook’s vessel, Jolly Roger, with a promise to find her a wonderful home. She had been a good friend with more power and courage than Selvina could ever wish for. She was gone too, though, taken by the very flames in which she had once found comfort.

“Selvina?” Wendy asked, snapping her back to attention.

“No one at home, no,” Selvina replied, shaking her head in a futile attempt to chase away the painful memories of her lost friends. She stood up, wanting to busy her mind on something else, and walked to the windows. There was nothing but sky and water and her faint reflection on the glass. She eyed herself, surprised at how tangled her hair was and how despicable she looked. She hadn’t eaten anything since her capture and the lack of sleep was apparent on her face. Her body was beginning to itch but from underneath the skin, where she couldn’t reach. Selvina knew she needed to sleep but she couldn’t, not with Pan somewhere beyond the door. She could hear him laughing sometimes and it frightened her. His visits, though gratefully brief, were always dreaded. In the three days she had been on the ship she had seen him come into the room four times to haul Snow White outside for a few minutes and then toss her back in, her hair disheveled, her clothes mostly removed, and her skin sporting a few new bruises. On the third time Selvina had tried to stop him but had received a boot in the face for her efforts. On the fourth she had received aid from the other women and had nearly saved Snow White from more torture until large, burly sailors had come in and subdued them. Snow White told them to just leave him be when he came for her but Selvina wouldn’t stand for it.

Now, however, she was almost too weak to stand. Her eyes drooped, closed for several seconds, and she wobbled backwards as they snapped open. She regained her footing but only barely.

“Selvina,” Wendy said from behind her, draping a blanket over the tired girl’s shoulders. “Get some rest. I’ll be right beside you. I promise nothing will happen to you.”

“I…I can’t…”

“You need to.”

A long yawn escaped Selvina’s mouth and, unlike all the others, she didn’t fight it. She fell back, into Wendy’s arms, and the older woman gently lay her down on the carpeted floor. Selvina wanted to open her eyes and stand up again. She didn’t want to give in to slumber. She couldn’t.

But she did anyway.

“Then there shouldn’t be a damned reason you don’t have all your sails unfurled!” Captain Hook boomed, his blue eyes blazing. As had been the case for the entire journey, Captain Hook, now only Hook, argued with the captain of the merchant vessel he sailed on. Jack, loyal to Captain Hook, stood nearby and watched the taller man clench his hands into fists angrily. His right hand, hidden behind a black leather glove, was made of wood, metal, and gears, Jack knew, and could kill a man with a single punch to the head. Hook wouldn’t do that to an innocent merchant ship captain but Jack assumed he probably felt like it at the moment.

“I told you,” the pudgy captain replied, “if I arrive too early the customer will think that I am desperate for business and he’ll try to haggle for the price of the wares. I will arrive on time, or slightly later, and that is final.”

Hook grabbed the captain by the scruff of his jacket and lifted him up, bringing his face very near to his. “I have business of my own, captain, and it is extremely time sensitive. I would appreciate it if you understood the severity of the situation. There are lives at stake here!”

The captain, though rotund and no physical match for the muscled and bulky Hook, managed to work up some courage and frowned. “That is none of my concern, Hook! You knew the risk when you came aboard my ship. I run by my own schedule and if you don’t like it then I suggest you find yourself a different vessel.”

“Aye, if only it were so easy.” Hook let the captain go and stormed off, his black boots stomping furiously. Jack watched him walk to the bow on the ship and stare forward, his back hunched and his arms rigid as his hands clenched the gunwale.

Red Riding Hood walked up to Jack’s position on the main deck and sat on a nearby crate. She nodded to Hook in the distance. “He gets angrier every day. I worry for him, Jack. He seems lost.”

Jack sighed sadly. “He is lost, Red. He’s a captain without a ship or a crew. You, me, Cindy, and Sinbad are all that’s left. The others all left him as soon as they found out he’d be a passenger on a merchant ship. I don’t completely blame them but a lot of them were good people and I will miss them. I wish they had stayed.”

“So do I, but he’s not a captain anymore and they probably didn’t trust this thrifty bastard of one to pay them well enough for their services. I’m rather upset that they left too but they do have lives on their own and you’re damned in this world if you don’t have even a few coppers.”

Jack nodded. “How is Bigbad?”

Red pursed her lips. “He hates being stuck in the cargo hold. He wants to roam and to run and to swim. He’s chewed up a few ropes and quite a few spare beams in his anxiousness. I’d rather have him chew that than people’s arms or legs, though. He doesn’t like confinement very much. At least on Jolly Roger he could walk around the deck and Captain Hook would stop at islands to let him do his business and run. I asked this captain if he’d do that but he just laughed at me.”

“That jerk. Maybe we should get Beast to ask him.”

Red chuckled. “Yeah, that might change his mind. I haven’t seen much of Belle or Beast either. They found a small room belowdecks and have been there for pretty much the whole journey.”

Jack watched some of the ship’s crewmen going about their chores and noticed how they’d often glance in Red’s direction, eyeing her slim yet buxom form, her long legs, and her flowing red hair. He didn’t trust a single one of these men and was quite certain he knew the exact reason Belle locked herself belowdecks. If one of these fools tried anything Beast would take over and slaughter them all. As despicable as the men were they had their uses, at least until the ship reached port.

“Where’s Cindy?” Jack asked. “I haven’t seen her all morning.”

“She’s keeping Bigbad company,” Red answered. “He’s grown really fond of her, as well as cap—well, Hook. He always appreciates a visit from those two.”

Jack smiled, remembering a time on Jolly Roger when Hook, then a captain, was teaching Bigbad some manners by taking meat from his hand. If the wolf acted too quickly or eagerly he would receive a smack on the nose and would only be given the meat when he reached for it gently. The memory warmed his heart for though the wolf was large enough to rip the captain’s arm off in a single bite he had shown obedience, respect, and a great deal of patience. That time seemed like so long ago, despite it only having passed a few weeks in the past.

Sinbad, once Captain Hook’s quartermaster, approached the two and offered them a smile and a nod. He was dressed in green silk and the red turban he usually had wrapped over his head was instead a bandana. He gazed at the ocean behind Jack’s back and sighed deeply. “This ship handles like a limp whale. It is too large, too slow, and simply not to my liking. How I miss the swiftness and agility of Jolly Roger. At this rate Selvina will die of old age before we ever get back to her.”

“The stupid captain won’t even unfurl all the sails for more speed,” Jack said to him. “It’s something about not wanting to look desperate for money or whatnot.”

Sinbad shook his head and frowned, his dark eyes narrowing. “He is a fool, this captain. Was I a more sinister man I’d kill him and replace him with Hook but I like this crew about as much as the ship. They’d likely take my head and you all need me to speak with my cousin in Sauradia thus I fear we are stuck.”

“At least we’ll get our own ship once we get there,” Red reminded. “Your cousin has fine ships, does he not?”

“Some of the finest,” Sinbad replied with a nod. “Sauradia’s navy is famous for its sleek and nimble vessels and I am confident Captain Hook will find one to his liking.”

“Nothing will replace Jolly Roger, though,” Jack said forlornly. “That girl had a lot of history with the captain.”

“Aye, that she did. Her loss still breaks my heart. I’ve sailed many ships, Jack, and she had to be one of the best I’ve ever had the privilege of setting foot on.”

“Damn Pan,” Red snarled. “I hope I get a chance to plant a bolt in his eye.” She patted the two small crossbows hanging at her side emphatically. “I cannot wait to see him again…”

A commotion at the front of the ship averted their attention and Jack gazed there to see Hook jabbing a finger at one of the ship’s crewmen. He was angry again and surrounded by five men, each larger than the next. Jack glanced at the captain, standing beside his quartermaster at the wheel, and noticed that he was watching everything unfold with a smirk on his jowls. He was going to be of no help, Jack knew. With a nod at Red, the two immediately went to Hook’s aid.

Sinbad’s arm swung out in front of them and barred their path. “Leave him be,” he ordered. “Five men is nothing but a warm-up for our shipless captain.”

The tallest crewman swung first but Hook ducked under the huge fist and in turn got his tricorn hat knocked off. His own right fist pounded into the tall man’s gut with such force that it made him exhale and stumble back, eyes wide. A second man swung a wooden club at Hook’s back but the former captain swept his right arm back, parrying the blow. With his artificial hand he grabbed the club, wrenched it out of the man’s grasp, and then tossed it overboard. When the disarmed man tried to tackle Hook he received a falling elbow in his back. It put a stop to his tackle but did not take him out of the fight.

The metal and wood enforced fist to the face did that well enough.

Hook raised his left arm, blocking a cross to his jaw, and jabbed his right hand’s fingers into the attacker’s throat, crushing his windpipe. The man gasped and wheezed, struggling to breathe, and Hook ignored him for now, focusing on the last two unharmed fighters. They were on either side of him and both had knives out, wanting to end this fight quickly.

Jack tried to rush to his captain’s aid but once again was stopped by Sinbad. Frowning, he looked up at his former quartermaster. “They have knives!”

Sinbad gave Jack a wink. “So does our captain.”

As if in response to Sinbad’s statement, Hook raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and suddenly extended four curved claws from their tips. They were long and thin and the fact that they resembled hooks was not lost on Jack. He relaxed slightly and decided to see how the fight would play out.

Hook slashed his claws at the man on his right but the crewman leapt back, out of harm. The man on Hook’s left took the opening and charged fiercely. Once in range he shot his arm out, knife leading, and managed a shallow stab into Hook’s side. The captain without a ship winced from the pain and spun around, swinging his left elbow back, scoring a solid hit with the man’s jaw. The man stumbled back a few steps and then received four deep gashes across his face as Hook’s right hand came slashing by. The last man attacked with fervor, stabbing and slashing and swinging and thrusting with abandon. Hook backed away, blocking and parrying with his right hand as much as he could. The man attacked furiously for a few minutes and scored a few slashes and cuts on Hook’s arm but nothing fatal yet. Hook walked in a circle, backing away steadily, his eyes on the attacker and his weapon, with his face composed and calm. Blood dripped from his arm and the wound in his side but he didn’t seem to notice.

Eventually, the crewman’s attacks slowed and weakened. Hook wasted no time slashing across the man’s weapon arm and then slamming his left fist into his face as he cried out in agony. The man stumbled back and Hook aided him by kicking his chest. The crewman was sent soaring and he hit the deck hard. With a pool of blood quickly gathering around his ravaged arm he hurriedly scurried away, his thirst for battle fully quenched. Hook eyed the first man he had hit, the tallest one, with steady eyes and a straight back. The man had recovered from the punch and was ready to fight again but instead he turned away and returned to his chores, apparently unwilling to take his chances with the ferocious Hook. The man with the injured throat, once falling under Hook’s piercing gaze, did the same.

When the situation had calmed down, Sinbad, Red, and Jack rushed to Hook’s side. He had a hand on his stab wound as droplets of blood fell from his arm and made little dots on the ship’s deck. Hook waved them off and leaned against the nearby gunwale as he caught his breath through clenched teeth.

“Must you always get yourself cut?” Sinbad asked as he brushed aside Hook’s hand to examine the stab wound. “I tend to avoid getting injured as I fight.”

“Aye, I’ve seen you fight, Sinbad,” Hook grunted. “It is more of a dance for you and I’m no dancer. Besides, I’m a generous man and I like to give a little for every bit I take.”

Jack smiled, confident that his beloved captain would survive the ordeal well enough. He had suffered far greater injuries and seemed almost invincible. “That was one hell of a fight, captain.”

Hook gave him a wink and a grin. “Aye, lad, it was. Those wastes of breath are lucky I had left my sword belowdecks or there’d be much more blood to mop up.”

“We’re about to have company,” Red said, nodding to ship’s quarterdeck where the fat captain was waddling down the steps to the main deck, his face red with fury. Apparently the battle had not gone as he had hoped. He was halfway across the main deck when a shout from above stopped him in his tracks and made everyone’s spines freeze.

“Black sails!” the man in the crow’s nest called out. “Starboard at five hundred meters and closing in fast!”

Everyone’s eyes veered west and settled upon a brig with gold-coloured sails speeding toward them. From a pocket within his coat, Hook pulled out a spyglass and gazed through it. His jaw was tight and he gulped.

“What is it, captain?” Jack asked him. “Is it pirates?”

“Aye,” Hook replied, still peering through the spyglass. “It’s a pirate ship all right.”

“Pan?” Red asked, a palpable note of hope in her voice.

To both her and Jack’s dismay, Hook shook his head. “This pirate isn’t as twisted as Pan but he’s far more clever and cunning. I had thought he was locked up but it appears that he has escaped or was set free.”

Jack watched the golden-sailed brig steadily grow larger and noticed a wicked-looking ram slicing the water at its bow as well as dozens of cannons on either side of it. It was a ship outfitted to deliver devastating damage in rapid succession before its victim had the chance to react. Looking back at Hook, he asked, “Who is it?”

Hook’s reply was a hard gaze and a firm jaw.