A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)

Chapter 5.6 - Capt. J. Hook

This cabin was a place that belonged only to the captain - his retreat, the birthplace of so many crude and deadly beautiful plans. Every detail might tell a trained observer little things about the man behind the horror. He was well-read, knew every book that graced his shelves and he used them too. What was knowledge if you couldn't use it? But not only that, the smaller, handwritten volumes were not only penned by long-dead captains, ship's doctors, and finds he had snatched from Dagger and Blackbeard... but also contained his transcripts. James Hook was smart enough to notice his forgetfulness, he felt important things slipping away from him - details that others had surely forgotten in the blink of an eye.

For example, when the boys called out to each other during an attack something like 'Meet me at the big rock...' A casual call that many didn't even care to hear in the heat of the moment. But James gathered the clues until his enemies had probably given him enough clues as to where they were or what their next move was. Oh, they were still children - changeable, forgetful, pliable under the one that reached out to them. More than once it had happened that Hook's perceptiveness alone had divined at what rendezvous point the boys were meeting after an escape - and then he was there with his men. Hrm, the reputation of terror, of a monster... more of a legendary figure than a man of flesh and blood did not come by chance, after all.

In the maritime city, some people said he could take on the form of an animal and spy on his enemies. Wiser heads only laughed at such humbug, but even they could not be sure if the next seagull would not tell him about their mockery. Fear and uncertainty were valuable weapons in the hands of a pirate captain like James Hook. If the name alone commanded respect, if many attackers didn't even try to board because they knew of their defeat before the fight even began... then that was an incredibly exhilarating feeling. One that James Hook didn't indulge in too often because he knew how quickly it could paralyze. In Neverland, you weren't allowed to wallow in euphoria over small successes for long, because the island dethroned you again too quickly. As infinite as all their lives felt, they were ended effortlessly or turned from a flight of fancy into the worst nightmare.

This lost boy had just met a similar fate. Just a moment ago, he was running through the safe forest with a blood-red captain's cloak that protected the boy like his own vest pocket and put the pirates at a disadvantage. But before he knew it, a sparkling hook slowed his escape...and now? They had told him 'Get the coat! Get the coat and Peter will be mightily impressed!' Recognition, the feeling when the whole horde greeted you, hooting with pride and euphoria - James could imagine it, how bitter it all must taste to Luke. He had been so close... but he had underestimated who he was trying to steal from.

"I'm... sorry." (...) "I had other things to worry about at that moment.... Not getting cut open, crocodiles, a pirate captain..." (Luke)

Other worries - that was harmlessly put. James almost caught him at the window, that had been his missed chance. But in the end, no one escaped an angry Hook, especially not a newcomer who was still green behind the ears. However, he noticed how the lad tucked his chin a little ruefully and lowered his gaze. So he seemed to be really sorry? Hook carefully placed this note among the other inconsistencies Luke brought with him and did not elaborate. They weren't here just for the flowers, though the scattered sea of soft leaves and rich green stems contorted his features in a regretful mine. He didn't often have the opportunity to go ashore himself and pluck from the nearby forest those that most closely matched his idea of an acceptable bouquet. Sending the men was... nerve-wracking, not least because James could smell their lack of understanding of his particular obsession.