Happily Ever After

Chapter Twenty-Three-Knox

"Wake up, love"

My eyes darted open, staring at the ceiling of wooden planks that lay before me. Scrunching my face from the light, I sleepily sat up. The sight of Hook in the doorway awakened me and I suddenly remembered where I was. I looked over at the window and the sun was just making it's way over the skyline, the world erupting hesitantly in color. 

"Here." 

He came over and placed a plate of food on my lap with some clothes next to me. "I asked around for some spare clothes and hopefully these'll do. Eat, change, and meet Knox on deck. Today you start training." Then he walked out, almost as fast as he entered, the thud of his boots on the wood fading as he closed my door that he opened.

Sighing, I picked up a piece of toast off the plate of a random assortment of food and bit into it.

~~~~~~~~

I left my room and walked out onto the deck of the ship, squinting slightly with the sudden light. The clothes Hook brought me were as random as the food. A dirty, dark green shirt with sleeves that reached my elbow along with baggy, brown pants and a pair of black shoes that were a bit too big for me. Along with the clothes there was a light brown belt, which I didn't really need at the moment since the pants somehow fit me, and a blue cloth that I assumed was supposed to be used as a sort of bandana. But as I started walking down the steps of the quarterdeck down, I used the cloth to tie my ever-growing black hair back in a ponytail, instead of a bandana. 

Very few men were out and about on this early morning, some manning stations or some just eating some grub and talking. My eyes wandered around till I spotted him: Knox. He was standing in the middle of the deck, for all to see, with his hands on his hips, wearing an expression of dignity. 

I walked quickly towards him, my neck itching from the many eyes that watched me make my way across the deck. Once I finally reached him, I just awkwardly stood there as he just stared down at me. My eyes stayed down, feeling already subordinate to him. 

"Look up." His voice rang, sharp but soft at the same time. 

Obeying, I gazed up into his brown orbs. He smiled. "There you are." He walked over to a chest by one of the masts and opened it. Piling his arms with a variety of weapons, he said, "Don't be scared of me, there are a lot more terrifying thing out there, trust me. I'm just your trainer, I guess you could say, hardly worth something to cast your eyes from." 

He started placing the weapons in a circle, slowly inching himself around me. "So tell me Wendy, what would  you like to be called?" 

I creased my eyebrows. "What?' 

"I'm sure you go by Wendy, but every pirate on this ship has another name than the one they were born with, even Hook. Then again, this is all just a story to replace our memories so those names might not even be real." He mused.

"Wait, you know about the curse?"

He looked over at me, smiling as he placed a sword on the ground. "Of course. Although I think I might be the only one who does, other than Hook recently. Did he not tell you that I, myself, practice magic?"

"Well, he did mention you knew about magic but that's about it." I turned, following him as he went behind me with the weapons. 

Chuckling, he replied, "Yeah, I guess that's more or less accurate. I know there's a curse since I can feel the magical energy it radiates and I can see its affects more than the others can. Soon you will be able to as well. Anyway, what would you like to be called?"