A Tale That Could Not Be

Selvina examined the piece of bread in her hand closely. Her stomach ached for sustenance and growled loudly. Her mouth was salivating for the food and she had a powerful urge to eat it but her mind whispered at her not to. If she accepted the food she would be surrendering to Peter Pan and she’d rather die. She would never let him win.

Seated in a semi-circle around the young man named Eric, who had delivered the food, the other young women were eating without a fuss. Selvina felt betrayed and a tiny flame of anger burned within her soul. How could they give in to him like that? How could they just give up?

“The bread’s a little tough but not bad,” Goldilocks said before taking a bite out of her piece. She was sitting on Selvina’s right side and she gave her a nudge. “Eat up, girl. It’s not poison.”

“I will not give Pan the satisfaction,” Selvina replied through clenched teeth.

Wendy, seated on Selvina’s left side, sighed. “It’s not giving up if you eat the food, Selvina. What good are you to anyone if you starve yourself?”

“I won’t take anything from that monster!”

“I felt the same way at first but the body needs food to survive, Selvina. If you die you’ll never get back home and then Pan really wins.”

Selvina threw the piece of bread aside and folded her arms over her chest. “I won’t do it.”

“You’re hungry, you bloody, pig-headed dolt,” Goldilocks said with a frown. “Shove some food into your body or I’ll jam it down your hole myself!”

“Selvina,” Eric said before she lashed out at Goldilocks. He was seated cross-legged before the women and though he was gaunt and malnourished his bright blue eyes showed hints of handsomeness. Selvina found him decent enough company and she decided to hear him out. “Pan would feed you less if I didn’t bring you the food myself. Think of it as me feeding you instead, if it helps. You do need to eat, though, so please just do. If I come into this room to find you dead of starvation Pan will whip my back raw and maybe finally kill me.”

Selvina took a deep breath and reconsidered her thoughts. She didn’t want Eric to get abused more than he already was. If he was the one really feeding her was it giving up to Pan if she accepted the nourishment? She didn’t think so yet a small part of her still felt as if she was. Regardless of the matter, she did need to eat. It had taken her long enough to sleep and if she kept denying her body its most basic needs she’d end up killing herself. As much as it would deny Pan the pleasure of doing whatever it was he had planned for her, Selvina didn’t want to die. She had to see Jack again. She simply had to.

With a sigh she picked up her discarded piece of bread and placed her lips and teeth over it. Her tongue touched the hard crust and little explosions of delight alighted in her head. Her body was celebrating and as she bit down and began to chew she could feel her stomach demanding more. She ate the whole piece of bread and then began munching on some dried fruit. After she had eaten for a few minutes she looked at Eric and asked, “What did you mean when you said ‘finally kill me’? Don’t you want to live?”

Eric shrugged his scrawny shoulders. “I have nothing left for me. My family hates me for becoming a sailor like a filthy commoner, as they put it, and there’s no way for me to leave Pan’s ship anyway. I tried a few times already and he always finds me and beats me to the edge of death. I have thought of taking my own life but that would be giving up to him and like you, Selvina, I don’t want to give him that satisfaction. I just want all the pain to end…”

The door suddenly swung open and a short, orange-haired man with a childish face and pointed ears walked in. A great grin was etched on his face but it disappeared quickly when the man’s eyes settled on Eric. In a voice befitting that of a boy’s, he said, “What are you doing sitting on the job, Eric?”

Eric stood up as quickly as he could but it was not fast enough for the man and he received a boot in the back for his efforts. “Get out of here and get that deck scrubbed! I said you could feed the girls, not converse with them!” Eric rushed out of the room and the man, Peter Pan, turned his attention back to the women. His grin returned and as it did frowns appeared in each woman’s face. “Oh, did I do something to anger you all? Have you grown fond of Eric? He’s like a disobedient dog, that one, haha, a very filthy and skinny dog.”

“You’re a vile piece of shite, Pan,” Goldilocks spat.

“You make me yawn, Goldi. Go back to eating your porridge and shut that mouth of yours.”

“Shove it!”

“I plan to, but not yet.” He glanced at each woman in turn and stopped when his eyes settled on Rapunzel. He shook his head and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “That hair of yours is just so repulsive, ’Punzel. I made it clear that I want you to brush it every hour! I can see the split ends from here. She’ll never give me anything for you if you look like that.”

Rapunzel paled and quickly reached for a brush. She looked away and began hurriedly brushing her hair. “I…I’m sorry…”

“What do you want, Pan?” Selvina growled. “And who is this girl you keep talking about?”

Pan grinned widely. “You will find out soon! We’re only a day away from our destination and then all your questions will be answered and I’ll be a rich little man!”

“You’re selling us off?” Wendy asked.

“Ummmmmm…..sort of. As much as she knows that’s what I’m doing, hahahaha!”

“Who’s she?” Selvina tried once more.

“Someone very special.”

“What does she want from us?”

“What did I just say about the questions? You’ll get your answers when we get there!”

“Which is where?!”

“No more questions!”

“Why not?!”

“ARE YOU DEAF?!”

“I thought you said no more questions!”

Pan opened his mouth for another retort but caught himself in time and then burst into a fit of laughter. He began hovering in the air and rolled about, giggling with glee. When he finally calmed down he backed out of the door and put a hand on the handle. “You almost got me, pretty Selly. You almost did but nope you didn’t! Hahaha! I’m going to miss you when I give you away. I might have to steal you again.”

“Wherever I go is going to be better than here.”

“You won’t say that when we get there.” Pan then shut the door and locked it.

Selvina’s body was hot with rage and she simply wanted to break through that door and strangle the orange-haired devil. Minutes later she eventually calmed down and began eating furiously. If she wanted to strangle him she’d need her strength. She didn’t care anymore if Eric or Pan fed her. She wanted to be ready when it came time to get revenge on Pan. He would pay dearly for all the atrocities he committed. Selvina glanced at Snow White, who sat quietly with her eyes in a daze, and swore to herself that she’d fight for her too. Snow White might have given up on resisting but Selvina certainly had not. She would never give up. She’d never let Pan win.

Hook and Captain John Silver stood at the wheel and surveyed the deck of The Hispaniola together, the latter grinning proudly. Flintlock the crow sat on his shoulder and appeared to be sleeping. The pirates were a motley crew of old, young, tall, short, wide, thin, strong, and weak but they all had their parts to play and from what Hook could tell, they played them well. The sails were tattered, some of the ropes were frayed, the shrouds were missing a few links, a few cannons were on the verge of breaking apart, and even the captain’s wheel was missing a few handles. The ship wasn’t in the greatest shape but it sliced through the water cleanly and handled well and Hook knew that if Captain Silver had the means to, he’d have it in the best shape as it possibly could be.

It dawned on him that he was a part of the reason that a pirate’s life was rougher than usual these days. Since he had started hunting them down and made a name of himself there had been a small rise in the number of pirate hunters and, with war on the horizon, sea patrols had also increased. There were few places a pirate could set anchor and thus any damages sustained while at sea had to be fixed with materials acquired by pirating. It was a never-ending cycle of fighting to survive to fight to survive. Hook knew that despite Captain’s Silver less than honourable lifestyle that he was a decent human being and he almost wished he could make his life easier somehow.

“Have you ever thought of sailing a more legal ocean in life?” he asked the captain.

“Oi, ya’ mean give up bein’ a pirate?” Captain Silver replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Aye.”

“Bah! Never! It’s always been a pirate’s life for me, lad, and it’ll be that way ’till I die.”

“John, I’m serious.”

Captain Silver raised a finger and frowned, his eyes flaring. “We may have had some good times together, Jimbo, but you’re on MY ship and you’ll address me as captain, ya’ hear? I’ll be havin’ none of this John business…”

Hook sighed and nodded. “All right, captain, but you didn’t answer my question.”

Sinbad and Jack were among the crew now, helping keep the ship afloat and ensure that life on its deck was as comfortable as possible. Sinbad at the moment was testing the combat skills of the ship’s so-called best fighters. As Hook waited for an answer he watched his quartermaster duel three men at once and in a series of fluid and acrobatic maneuvers had them all on their knees, weary and beaten. Jack was mopping the deck with several of The Hispaniola’s younger crewmen and was talking among them. If Hook had to judge the crew’s condition he’d have to admit that it appeared content and at ease. Captain Silver captained a good ship with fine men. It made Hook miss Jolly Roger and his old crew even more.

“I’ve given it some thought, lad,” Captain Silver finally answered. “There’s no chance for me to be anythin’ but a pirate, though. I’ve been one too long. It’s in me blood, Jim. Ya’ could give me a fancy new suit and a new flag to fly on my ship but you could never change who I am. I’m too old anyways.”

“You’re never too old to change, captain.”

Captain Silver smirked. “I appreciate the support, lad, but no one would trust a pirate and I’d make more enemies than friends if I tried to pursue a legal life. Ya’ would think that I’d have ya’ down in the cells, locked up and chained for all the pirate lives you’ve ruined and I’d be a liar if I said none on my crew’d like the idea but you needn’t worry. I can’t do that to ya’. You might be a thorn in any good pirate’s side but you’ve always been yer own man, Jim, and I always liked that about ya’. You’ve the skills and talent to be a fierce pirate or a powerful admiral but instead ya’ sail yer own seas. I’d be likin’ it more if ya’ left us pirates alone but I know some of us are less than likeable.”

Hook and Captain Silver heard a loud crack and a sudden cry for help and looked up to see the man in the crown’s nest hanging for his life by one hand. His other arm hung limply at his side and the topsail was flapping wildly. It appeared to have ripped where ropes kept it attached to the yard and was now mostly unsecured, threatening to tear apart.

“By thunder, someone grab Morty and secure that thrice-damned topsail!” Captain Silver shouted. He gave Hook the wheel, grabbed his cannon crutch, and hobbled down to the main deck. Sinbad and several of the more wiry pirates were climbing up the shrouds and mast in haste toward the dangling man and flapping sail. Hook watched the scene with a calm mind and a barely quickened heartbeat. He was not worried for the injured man. He would not die this day for there, climbing higher and much faster than anyone else around him, was Jack. With grace, agility, and speed he nearly ran straight up the mast. Jack found handholds where Hook would have never guessed and leapt and swung like an ape from the southern jungles. The boy was up on the crow’s nest within seconds and pulling the man back up onto it. When the man was back on the flat platform, Jack tended to the sail. He fastened it to the yard and by the time he was finished, Sinbad and the pirates finally reached him. They took the injured man and carried him down to the deck. Jack was about to follow when Captain Silver announced that he would be taking over his position. The young man glanced at Hook and the two shared a smile and nod.

“Great work, Jack,” Hook said quietly.

Captain Silver was soon back at the wheel and Hook stepped aside to let him take it. “Damned topsail keeps rippin’ apart,” he grumbled as he gripped the wheel’s handles. “Whipped Marty so hard it dislocated his shoulder. That’s bein’ three times it does that and the poor lad’s shoulder can only be popped back in so many times. If I don’t get me ship new canvas soon I’ll be lackin’ a topsail before long.”

“At least you have a ship, captain,” Hook said, glancing up at Jack to see him settling down in the crow’s nest, familiar and comfortable in his surroundings.

“Aye, that be true for now, Jim, but I be doubtin’ it stay that way for long. Every time I board a ship to get meself some supplies I gain a few extra chips in the hull and holes in the sails. I remember the days when Tortug was a shinin’ beacon of piracy, full of sin and debauchery and places a pirate could settle down for a few drinks while his ship gets repaired by the finest and most expensive carpenters about. Then that bumble-headed fool King Midas had to take that away from us. Tortug was the last pirate city, Jim, and now we’ve nowhere else to go.”

“It’s a shame, captain, but you are criminals after all. You needn’t live this kind of life.”

“Still goin’ on about me bein’ a good man, eh?”

“I know you are one, captain. You just need to see that too.”

“Oh I be knowin’ I’m a fine fellow, lad, but you need to lay it to rest. I’m a pirate and I’ll be one always.” Captain Silver looked up at the crow’s nest and gave Hook a nudge. “Where’d you find him? He climbs faster than a monkey with its tail on fire.”

Hook watched Jack survey the ocean around him and smiled. “I didn’t. He found me.”

Captain Silver glanced from Hook to Jack and back at Hook and smiled warmly. “Aye, now why is that soundin’ familiar?”

Selvina regretted eating as much as she could handle. She was clenching one of the legs of the largest table in the room with her life as her stomach tumbled, twisted, and turned. Outside, heavy rain pounded against the windowpanes with such force Selvina feared they’d shatter. Massive waves the size of mountains rose up and tossed the ship about, throwing it every which way. Goldilocks and Snow White hugged Rapunzel as her long hair, secured to the large table, wrapped around them protectively. Wendy held on to the same table leg as Selvina and she too appeared green in the face.

“This hurricane came out of nowhere,” she said before trying to smile in a futile attempt to lighten the situation.

Selvina trembled with fear. She hated Pan but she hated more the thought of being stranded at sea with him as her only savior. He could always fly away to safety but Selvina would be at the sea’s mercy and it felt anything but merciful at the moment.

“How long do they last?” Selvina managed to ask after working up enough strength to.

“Hours, I think,” was Wendy’s less than wonderful reply. “I’ve never been caught in one at sea before.”

The ship rocked to the side suddenly and Selvina screamed as her body was swung with it. She still held on to the table leg, which was bolted to the floor, but her legs and lower body flailed about. The sound of shouting was heard from beyond the door as the pirates did what they could to ensure the ship kept sailing. When the situation calmed, ever so slightly, lightning flashed with white light and Selvina heard maniacal laughter, as if someone was enjoying every minute of the fierce storm.

Pan, Selvina thought with growing fear.

If a devastating hurricane didn’t scare him, did she have any real hope of defeating him?

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, silencing Selvina’s thoughts and filling her ears with the sound of her rapidly thumping heart.

Like the rainwater creeping into the room via cracks in the windowsills, doubt began to fester in Selvina’s mind, quickly followed by hopelessness and dread.