(Josie
Sayz: This is a story that I began working on several years ago. I am finally
reading through it/editing it. This is a fanfiction piece of what would happen
if two of my favourite characters Peter Pan (from J M Barrie’s book) and Jack
Frost (from ‘Rise of the Guardians’) met, why and what adventure would they go
on. I originally wrote this story as a present for a friend. I have decided to
dig it out and plan to release each chapter as I edit it. This is Chapter One:
‘Just Keep Reading’.
Note:
I do not own Peter Pan or any of the relating characters or places to the
story; these are all owned by J M Barrie and ‘Disney’. I do not own Jack Frost
or any of the relating characters or places to the story; these are all owned
by William Joyce and ‘DreamWorks’.
Chapter One: ‘Just Keep Reading’
can be found here: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2019/06/saving-neverland-just-keep-reading.html
Chapter Two: ‘Meeting and
Greeting’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2019/08/saving-neverland-meeting-and-greeting.html
Chapter Three: ‘I Still
Believe…’:https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2019/08/saving-neverland-i-still-believe.html
Chapter Four: ‘Only In My
Dreams’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2019/08/saving-neverland-only-in-my-dreams.html
Chapter Five: ‘Chasing Rainbows’:
https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/04/saving-neverland-chasing-rainbows.html
Chapter Six: ‘A smile can make a
big difference’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/04/saving-neverland-smile-can-make-big.html
Chapter Seven: ‘Feast, Fight,
Farewell’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/04/saving-neverland-feast-fight-farewell.html
Chapter Eight: ‘What are friends
for?’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/05/saving-neverland-what-are-friends-for.html
Chapter Nine: ‘The Black Castle’:
https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/05/saving-neverland-black-castle.html
Chapter Ten: ‘Life can by cruel
if you’re a dreamer’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/05/saving-neverland-life-can-be-cruel-if.html
Chapter Eleven: ‘In
Hook do we trust?’: https://josiesayz.blogspot.com/2020/05/saving-neverland-in-hook-do-we-trust.html.)
Whose
side are you on?
She
held her breath. Leaning against the door to the captain’s quarters, Izz
pressed her ear to the wood. Captain Hook and Pitch Black had not been in there
long, but their raised muffled voices could be heard almost anywhere on the
ship. “What were you thinking bringing the girl aboard then?” she heard Pitch
bellow. “I thought we agreed, only if you can convince her-”
“I have,” Hook reassured him. “She trusts me.”
“Well she seems to be the only one.” Izz imagined Pitch
rolling his eyes, his arms folded, as he turned his face away from Captain
Hook.
“Nonsense,” the pirate roared. A hollowed thump followed. Izz
was certain that Captain Hook had just slammed his fist down onto a table. “You
know she’s too loyal t’ the boys t’ destroy the island. That girl ‘as a heart
of gold. You c’n see through people better than anyone, Pitch, surely you knew that.” She imagined Captain
Hook stepping up close behind Pitch, breathing down the Boogeyman’s neck.
“Then why bring her?” Pitch demanded. The air swooshed.
‘Pitch must have spun around to face him,’ she realised.
“It’s like you said,” came Captain Hook’s reply. “Rallyin’
‘em against one another makes it easier to rip
‘em apart.” Their voices rumbled into a bellow of laughter.
Izz stepped away from the door and shuddered. Folding her
arms, she rubbed her hands up and down her biceps. She
exhaled, her breath a cloud in front of her. Tapping her foot against the ligneous
boards below, she shook her head. ‘I can do this,’ she told herself. The charms
of her bracelet clattered against the back of her palm. Gazing down at the
wooden charms she smirked.
“And the Stone?” she heard Pitch enquire. Izz gasped and
pressed her head back against the door.
“All taken care of my friend, all taken care of,” came
Captain Hook’s calm reply.
Footsteps drew closer. Izz flinched, pushing herself away
from the door. She stepped to the side of the captain quarter’s door and pulled
out her hair bobble. As the footsteps advanced towards her, the drum inside of
her chest began thudding. She shook her head, her hair flying across her face.
Tilting her head to the right, her hair dropped at her sides and she clawed her
nails through it. The footsteps stopped before her. She swallowed, glancing
down at the brown, leathered boots in front of her. Her eyes trailed up the
figure. His tightfitting, dark trousers held a loop of ragged calico at his
waist. A baggy, teal shirt hung over his trousers rim and a beige waist jacket
hung over his frame from his shoulders as he stood up straight. His shirt’s low
neckline revealed a curl of dark hair at his chest. His black hair had been
combed back tight. She gazed at his face, his tanned skin glowing. His eyes
burnt into hers. “I’m sorry for the way that I mistreated you early, me lady,”
he told her.
“Starkey…?” she breathed.
“Yes,” he said and bowed his head. “Had I known, Miss, that
you were to become one of us, then I would never have been so rough.” He lifted
his head and gazed at her. “If you could find it in yourself to forgive me…”
Her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth. She tried to pull her eyes
away from his, but they refused to budge.
“I,” she found herself saying, hypnotised by his eyes. “I
forgive you.” Lifting his chin, a smile spread across his face, as he exhaled
through his nose.
“Thank you, me lady,” he said, as he took the fingers of her
right hand and cupped them around his own. Bringing her hand up to his face, he
bent over it and placed his lips upon her skin. Feeling her stomach tingle, she
breathed in slow. He lowered her hand and bowed his head. “Thank you,” he said
once again, smirking at the pink in her cheeks.
“You’re welcome,” she replied. He gave a nod and then turned
to face the way he came.
“I bid you farewell maiden,” he said and then marched back up
the corridor.
Her eyebrows arched high and her mouth parted wide. Izz
watched as Starkey’s figure disappeared around the corner at the end of the
corridor. She rubbed her thumb and forefinger across her eyes and pinched the
bridge of her nose. ‘Why, he really is a gentleman’ she mused.
Something banged on the other side of the wall behind her.
She jumped. Leaning her ear towards the door of the captain’s quarters once
more, she scraped her nails through her scalp and tired her band of black elastic
back around her hair. “While the crew and your nightmares keep the islanders
busy, I’ll sneak off to the waterfall cave and swipe it,” she heard the pirate
captain reveal.
“But what if it’s guarded?” asked Pitch.
“A pirate is never
unprepared…” Pressing her face closer against the door, Izz heard a tapping,
then a scraping of metal. She wriggled her shoulders, shaking her head and
pressed the weight into the door.
“And what about the bomb?” asked Pitch. There was a deep
dragging sound.
‘A drawer opening, perhaps?’ she wondered. Then there was a
clicking, followed by another scraping, this one lighter and more swift than
the previous.
“Again,” she heard Captain Hook say. “All taken care of,
never you worry.” Her brow furrowed, as she heard a distant tick-tock-tick-tock.
“We’ll throw it in the mouth of the waterfall. That’s close enough to the
island’s core without jeopardising the lives of any of our men.”
“Our men?” Izz
whispered aloud. ‘They must really be taking this partnership seriously.’
“Or risk havin’ one of Pan’s nosy brats find it,” Hook growled. “This should give me long enough to
locate the stone and get out again.” There was another clicking noise, followed
by a mechanical scrape.
‘He’s winding something,’ Izz realised. ‘A clock or a-’
“I’ll have Smee swing the ship ‘round when we’re ready,” the
captain barked, his boots pounding against the floorboards.
“Good,” added Pitch with a humming laugh.
“An’ once it goes off… boom.
Neverland will be history.” The pair broke into a bellowing cackle.
Upon hearing their plans, Izz curled a finger up to her mouth
and bit against her fist. She pinched her eyes shut. Images flashed across the
front of her mind: Jack and Peter in her bedroom, flying over her village, her
first sight of Neverland, the Lost Boys fighting over food, the glimmering
waters of the Babbling Brook, the terrible storm they face and the cannibals
they encountered on their search for the Black Castle, Pitch battling Jack over
the poisoned water, Peter tricking Captain Hook in Waterfall Cave, Peter’s
anger on the Jolly Roger, Jack flying away leaving her alone with Captain Hook
and Starkey pressing his lips to her hand. She shook her head. Turning to the
door of Captain Hook’s office, she took in a deep breath and then thumped her
knuckles three times against the wood. She heard a gasp. A murmur of voices.
There was a dragging, clonking and more dragging, then, a clearing of a throat.
“Come in,” called the captain. Izz twisted the brass doorknob and pushed the
door open.
As she stepped inside, the first thing that Izz noticed was
Captain Hook and Pitch Black standing stiff, with their arms at their sides,
watching her. She let the door fall to behind her. With their eyes staring at
her, she licked her lips. “Can I come with you?” Izz asked the captain,
gripping her right elbow with her left hand. “When you go back to your hideout,
that is. I’ve always wondered what it looks like.”
“Now, now dearest Isabelle,” said the pirate with a pout as
he passed Pitch to near her. Stopping at her feet he stroked his hand through
her hair and down the side of her face. Izz felt her skin tingle at his touch.
A shudder raced up her spine, as he ran his finger along her bottom jawbone. Curling
his finger under her chin, he lifted her head up. “I need you to stay ‘ere an’
guard me ship while we’re gone. I ‘aven’t told me crew yet ‘bout our new plan.”
He winked at her. “I wouldn’t want ‘em to mutiny. You understand, don’t you?”
He stroked his thumb across the bottom of her lip. Arching his head up, he stared
down at her. As he slid his hand away, she nodded. “Good girl,” he said curling
the end of moustache around his finger.
Pitch uttered a disgusted, “Ugh,” as he swept past them. “If
you need me,” he said to Hook over his shoulder, “I’ll be on deck.” Captain
Hook gave a grunt and Pitch stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Izz
jumped.
“Don’t worry about him,” Hook told her, as he wandered back
to his desk, perching himself on its nearest corner. “Pitch’s just hot
tempered, ‘cause I told him we won’t be destroyin’ Neverland like ‘e’d hoped.”
Izz hummed in reply and edged towards him. As she stepped forwards, Captain
Hook leant back and rattled open a drawer on his desk’s far side. Then he swept
a hand over the desk’s surface, gathering together all of his paperwork, ink
pots, quills and his spyglass, sliding them into the drawer.
As Captain Hook closed his desk’s drawer, Izz asked him,
“What’s that noise?”
“What noise?” he replied, shrugging his shoulders as his head
shuddered.
“That ticking
noise…” she said, pointing out a finger. Although she had noticed the distant
tick-tock-tick-tock (that she had heard from the other side of the door) when
she walked in, when Captain Hook opened the drawer, the ticking grew louder.
Hook blew out a breath, vibrating his lips and gave a vigorous shake to his
head.
“Why, I ‘ave no idea what you mean,” he told her, leaning
back with his elbow on the desk and his chin on his fist. “I don’t ‘ear any mysterious ticking noise.” Scrunching
her mouth up to the side, Izz folded her arms. “My dear,” Hook said bouncing up
from his desk. “Why it must be the nerves, you know,” he told her. “Makin’ a
new start. A new life. Me an’ you, facin’ the world together.”
Throwing his left arm around her shoulder, the captain guided
her away from his desk and towards a column of five wooden shelves on the
opposite side of the room. The top and middle shelves were crammed full of
brown and black, leather backed books. The second shelf held stacks of paper
and a few books towards the edges, while an old sketch of a map, depicting the
world’s six continents and the seven seas sat on the shelf’s centre. In front
of the map, a brass picture frame lay face down. Skimming her eyes over it, Izz
glanced down at the lower two shelves. The fourth lay full of clutter: dusty
old tankards, a smashed jewelled wine glass, a torn boot, a collection of
shells, a pile of matted quills and a stack of empty ink pots. The ends of the
bottom shelf were similar to that of the one above. In its centre however,
there lay a chest. Izz’s eyes widened. “Wow,” she breathed. “What’s in there?”
Gripping his elbow tighter around the back of Izz’s neck, Hook led her away
from his treasure cabinet and back towards the door.
“That,” he said.
“Will before another time.” Her eyes shifted towards him. She held her stare.
Lifting his arm from her neck, Hook came around to face her and placed his hand
on her shoulder. “For another time, I promise… an’ Captain Hook always keeps his word…”
There was a click. The deadbolt snapped in as the doorknob
cranked. “Oh Izz,” sang Pitch, as the door swung open. “You have visitors.” Izz
gasped, as Jack and Peter stepped into the doorframe. She noticed the boys’
eyes widen, as they saw her standing with Captain Hook. Seeing Hook with his
hand clutched to Izz’s shoulder, Pitch laughed. “Oh Hook, can’t you keep your
hands to yourself?” he joked. “We have company, you know.” As Hook removed his
hand from Izz and pattered out the creased in his coat, Izz stared at the
ground. She pinched her lips in, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Come on Hook,”
said Pitch, holding an arm out to his companion. “Let’s leave these three
alone.” A smile grew across Hook’s face, as he towered over Peter. Passing the
boys, he turned back to Izz as he stood in the doorway.
“Don’t forget, me dear,” he called over to her. “I kept my half of the bargain.” Looking
up at Captain Hook a smile stretched across Izz’s face. He gave a nod back and
closed the door behind himself and Pitch.
Once the door closed, Izz’s smile faded. Her sight lowered to
the floor. She swallowed, hearing Peter’s feet cross the room. She shifted her
eyes to her right and watched him perch on the edge of Captain Hook’s desk. She
felt Jack’s eyes etching into her face. Although she had not met his gaze, she
knew his eyes were daggers. “Can anyone hear that ticking noise?” Peter asked,
jerking his head over his left shoulder. Inhaling through her nose, Izz
swallowed and turned to him. She shook her head.
“No,” she told him. “I don’t hear anything.” Peter gave a hum
in reply and shrugged. She turned her head from Peter to the one whose stare
made her want to shudder. “Can I help you?” she asked him.
“Help me?” Jack repeated, raising his voice. His eyebrows narrowed
and the veins bulged out on his right hand, as it trembled, the grip on his
staff tightening. “You can start be telling me what on earth’s goin’ on? When I
left you…” As Jack inhaled, his chest trembled. He ran a hand through his hair,
and blew air out through his lips as they vibrated. “When I left you, you were…”
She looked at him and his eyes softened. The creased on his face faded. He
swallowed, gestured a hand at her then let it flop at his side. “And now
you’re… now you’re siding with them?”
“Are you sure you can’t hear that ticking?” Peter asked, as
he jumped from the table to Jack’s side.
“Not now,” he growled. “Why Izz?” he breathed, his eyebrows
pointing up together.
Izz snarled her nose up at them and laughed. “Why did I team
up with Hook? It’s obvious, isn’t it?” She lifted her chin and looked down her
nose at them. “He’s smart, kind and he really cares for me.”
“Hook?” Peter laughed, tossing a hand across his face. “He
couldn’t care for an egg.”
“Don’t you dare say
that about him in front of me,” Izz yelled, as she pushed the boys into separation
and barged past them. Nearing the door, she held her breath. Shuffling sounded
from the other side. She smiled and spun herself back around to face her two
former friends, who themselves had turned around to face her.
Stepping towards Jack, she sneered, “Hook’s twice the man
you’ll ever be,” and prodded a finger in his chest. Jack jerked his shoulder
back.
“Well maybe I don’t want to be a man,” he retorted.
“That’s your problem, both of you,” she snarled, looking from
Jack to Peter. “You’re just children playing your pathetic little games. You
both need to grow up.”
Clasping his hands to his ears, Peter screamed, “No!” Moving
his hands from his ears, he placed them on Izz’s shoulders and shook her. “What’s
the matter with you, Izz?” She rolled her shoulders back, shoving his hands
away. “You can’t side with Hook,” he told her. “You’re our friend.”
“Friend?” she repeated, as her brow rose. Holding a hand to
her stomach she laughed. “Ha! You were never friends with me,” she shouted,
slitting her eyes at Peter. “Neither of you were,” she exclaimed, as she turned
to Jack. “You were just using me to help you find the Black Castle and explain
to you both what the other’s villain was like, because you both too busy
bickering to listen to each other.” She put a hand to both of their chests and
pushed them aside. Folding her arms, she stared at the wall. “Hook and Pitch
are better friends to me that you two ever were.”
“So, what now then?” Jack exploded. “Are you gonna let ‘em
destroy Neverland, after you tried so hard to save it.”
“Save it?” she repeated, her voice high pitched. “Aww, you
must be mistaken…” she said with a pout, as she spun around to face them “I was
only using you… just the same as you were using me.” She stepped towards Jack,
her grin growing on her face. “I was keeping your spirits high and merry, so
when the time came to destroying Neverland, I could crush your little souls,
making it impossible for the two of you to fight back.”
Beside her, Peter sniffed. He scrunched up his face and wiped
a hand across his nose. “I trusted you,” Peter cried jabbing a finger at her.
“Aww, I know,” said Izz, curling out her bottom lip. She
raised her left hand and with a shake of her wrist lowered Peter’s pointing
finger. “And besides,” she hissed. Folding her arms, she jangled her bracelet
as she cupped her left hand into her right elbow. Bending at the waist, she
leant towards them and whispered, “You two are too dumb to figure out how to
disarm the bomb that Hook’ll be planting at the top of the waterfall when we arrive
back in Neverland.” She scowled at them, as she straightened her back. The
right corner of her mouth curled into a smile. “All Hook has to do,” Izz told
them raising her voice. “Is steal the island’s core and once he steps foot back
on the ship, it’s bye-bye Neverland.” She waved a hand at them and smirked. She
noticed Jack lower his eyes down to the charm bracelet that hung from her
wrist. She glanced down at it too, before flickering her eyes back up at them.
“No!” Peter yelled, leaping towards her. Jack gripped his
hands around Peter’s upper arms and pulled him back.
“Forget her,” he snarled. “She’s not worth it.” Peter stopped
struggling in Jack’s grip and lowered his head. Jack tugged on Peter’s left
shoulder, trying to arch Peter around towards the door. “Come on,” Jack
muttered. “Let’s go.”
“But Izz-” Peter cried. Jack shook his head. He tapped Peter
on the shoulder and led him to the door. As Peter placed his hand on the
doorknob, Jack looked back over his shoulder.
“What’re you starin’ at?” she snarled, her arms folded. Jack
swallowed and turned to follow Peter out. “That’s right,” she called after him.
“Clear off!” Once Peter and Jack had left, Izz dropped her hands to her sides
and gazed at the floor. Her heart hammered inside of her. Her fingers tingled,
her pulse raging through her body. She stuttered an inhale.
Hearing two pairs of feet enter the room, her back stiffened.
Her nails pierced into her palms. “Good show, girl,” praised Pitch, patting a
hand on her shoulder.
“Yes,”
came the captain’s gruff remark. “I didn’t doubt her for a second.”
- Josie -
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