This balance in Neverland, after all the inhabitants of the island danced without ever noticing the beguiling melody with their ears, was as fragile and fragile as the petite lost man in front of Hook. All this... Pan and Hook... Peter and James - attack after attack, revenge for a raid, a dead lost man for a murdered pirate. Hook lived in this world long enough to understand certain things. The raid today had been foreseeable, he could almost taste it in the air, in the salt of the sea and the roar of the waves. And so would the consequences of the boys once again invading the deck and claiming the lives of his men to prove themselves. Only a few of the keel rats had been able to injure them, but for today he had to concede them victory in this skirmish. Dead and wounded... this was not good news and there was a rumble of displeasure in Hook's chest when he heard this from the second mate before he turned away and tightened his grip on the fabric of his cloak over the prisoner's shoulder.
Oh yes, the terror of the Neverseas was angry - but he rarely actually let his anger blind him. Perhaps that was what made him so dangerous? James was a very controlled strategist and he was able to push his own feelings into the background to think logically. This fellow was different from the children Peter had brought to Neverland so far - at least something glimmered in his eyes that betrayed him in such an unmistakable way and Hook simply had to get to the bottom of it. The Captain was curious, there wasn't much variety between the fights, brief moments of rest, and the responsibility on his shoulders.
He too had learned to seize the moment by the collar, and unlike Luke, he had no intention of letting his opportunity pass. Now was perhaps the moment to infect Peter's little nest of rats with the disease of knowledge... when they began to think that their sacred leader might be sacrificing them senselessly? Hrm - stories and food for thought were such beautiful tools, so exceedingly practical. A battle wasn't always fought with just steel and blood, but how were children supposed to understand that?
They were still children, and their attention (in James' experience) was only ever focused on what interested them at that exact moment. Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Or yesterday? Who cared about that? One would come soon enough anyway, the other had already passed. Why bother with things you couldn't influence? Why not enjoy the moment as it came? Yes, it was easy to avoid the responsibility of tomorrow. James knew that there must have been a time in his life when he thought like that... every man was born with the ease that was taken away from him bit by bit each additional year of life. For that same duty, conscience... Growing up brought one moral. Something Peter shied away from like many a pirate shies away from the soap.
Well... this boy wasn't Pan. Maybe Hook could still sow the seeds of doubt in time? And if not, he just spent a relatively interesting evening with a... somewhat unusual 'guest'.
With these thoughts in mind, he pushed Luke ahead of him across the deck and toward the imposing staircase that rose on either side of two large double doors (which led down to the crew quarters, storerooms, kitchen, and all other rooms). The captain pulled Luke up the first flight of stairs, where they passed the helm, and finally reached an elaborately decorated wooden door. Handsome ornaments, made to shine only by makeshift polish, snaked around the solid wood of the doorway. Tendrils and carvings reminiscent of underwater plants, still shaded by meager, partially chipped gold paint, curled in impressive detail around a small shield. In sweeping, surprisingly elegant letters, the inscription proclaimed in stylish gold letters whose cabin one was venturing into.
Everything about this door matched Hook. It had that extraordinary kind of style, almost lost in Neverland, that was reflected in the captain of the Jolly Roger in his every move. The way he kept his head up, his shoulders always straight, and most of all you could see it in his fighting style. Anyone who had ever been lucky enough to see Hook fight without getting killed... knew why his crew hadn't even tried to mutiny against him. Oh yes - the lost might call him a stockfish, old and slow - but he was far from that. James Hook possessed the strength and skill of a skilled fighter, he knew how to swing his saber like no other... or maybe one?
YOU ARE READING
A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)
Fantasy** Only one thing can still prevent Neverland's downfall: In the dark times when a star's light perishes, a new one must be found! ** Neverland - a world in which simply everything was possible as long as you could dream it. But behind a shining lig...
