Peter Pan Imagines (Once Upon a Time)

Shipwrecked (Part One)

In all honesty, your crew probably should have known better than to sail past the island. You'd heard the stories of the boys that roamed there, the strange storms that left more ships wrecked and landlocked than in any other place. Every self-respecting pirate knew that, although finding a self-respecting pirate may have been a harder task than anything else. Regardless of this, the captain, the crew, all on board that battered barrel lost at sea known as the Mad Man's Queen had heard of the island, and should have known better than to approach it.

However, pirates rarely lack the discipline to follow the rules, even when those rules are set up by other pirates to stop themselves from getting killed. So, your captain announced that your ship would not be changing its path near Neverland, and so it came as no surprise that something went terribly wrong. It started with a storm, one with thunder crashing and lightning crackling, then sent your ship spiraling inland. Things only went worse from there.

The seas were more wild than any you'd ever seen before. The sky was a sickly sort of green, constantly lit by lightning that was wont to tear the entire earth in two. The water roiled, and it seemed as if more water was being washed up on deck than would ever remain in the sea. You could see the regret boiling behind the captain's eyes, but even he could do no more to stop this. All anyone could do was find some piece of rope or wood to cling to, and pray to all the gods you'd ever heard of to make it out alive. You'd passed through countless ports in countless countries, at least the mention of one of their many deities could do some good.

When you first saw a tail flickering in and out of the stormy seas, you thought you might be going mad. Of all the times to meet a mermaid, it had to be the one instance where you were so thoroughly entranced by not drowning that you couldn't spare them more than a second glance. Pirates love to speak of mermaids, enchanting spirits with the tail of an aquatic serpent that would surely only bring luck to those who caught them. However, these mermaids do not appear to have the time or energy for helping pirates- instead, they surface one after another, putting their eerily scaly arms to good use as they tear and wail upon the sides of the ship. You watch with horror as they rip off chunks of wood, allowing water to enter the ship even faster.

Your captain cries out with anger beside you, and hurls down pieces of metal or empty barrels down at the toothily grinning girls beneath you. Even these attempts to convince the mermaids to back off do nothing; instead, they attack the ship with renewed vigor. They claw at the sides of the ship, climbing up it as far as they can as the waves lurch up the curved wood. The figurehead is ransacked, even the portholes are punched through. Your captain gives up one last shout to the crew, although it is quickly swallowed up by the roar of the storm: "Abandon ship! Save yourselves!"

As it turns out, this final direction is given perhaps a moment or two late. A bolt of lightning pierces down from the sky mere moments after the captain's shout, cutting through the main mast with a blinding flash. You can feel your body launched from the ship, feel the air soaring past you as pieces of the ship collide with you on your way down. You remember to straighten your limbs at the last minute and slice through the water seconds later.

The impact alone nearly kills you. You can't tell what way is up or down, only that the relentless surging of the water combines with the almost rhythmic splashes of wood and men sinking next to you to render the scene nearly impossible to understand. All you can do is swim in the rough direction of the sky, praying your lungs don't give out before you make it to the surface. However, you've forgotten that you aren't alone in the water- a few mermaids catch sight of you, cutting through the water as if it is nothing more than air to them.

They pull at your clothes and hair, doing their best to drag you back down to the depths to rot next to the bones of their other victims. One of your hands finds a knife strapped to your boot. You pull it out and slash at the mermaids, although the water makes your movements languid. However, after a few attempts at fending back the sirens, your blade makes contact with one of the throats of the mermaids, sending ribbons of blood so dark it almost looks black floating through the water.