Bɾυιʂҽԃ, Bαƚƚҽɾҽԃ, αɳԃ HҽαɾƚႦɾσƙҽɳ | 𝐅𝐓𝐑𝐒

Skulls and Crossbones

Plunging among the distant stars of the light blue sea, Hayley gripped my arm with unspoken strength. She swiftly danced through the bubbles, pushing through the current with her glistening tail. I pedaled my legs as well for an extra boost. In the distance, I could see another dark figure swimming as well, murky through the bubbles, but the firm body of Jack could still be seen. 

Hayley was going in an unknown direction, till white spots danced in my eyes and I finally turned upright, only to be blinded by the glittering lights of...

Well. The sky. 

We broke the surface as I gasped for air, as Hayley removed a starfish-like creature from the back of my neck, cradling it in her palm. 

"Say thank you, Jax." 

"What-?"

"I said to say thank you." Hayley glared at me, as the starfish wormed around sadly. 

"Thank you...?"

It jumped with a satisfying plop and began its descent back to the bottom of the ocean. 

A few moments later, Jack broke the surface as well and looked around. 

"Well?" he asked, barely able to keep his chin above the overlapping waves. 

"They're supposed to be here by now..." Hayley murmured under her breath, looking up and down from her watch to the horizon. Suddenly, a big figurine arose from the fog, shaped like a ship.

I sighed in relief, "I'm glad you were able to contact my men. I thought we'd never get reception out here." 

That was until I saw the black flag and white skull and crossbones. 

"Pirates?!" Jack and Jax yelped in surprise. 

"Not just any pirates-"

"Ahoy matey's, seems the lads needed a bit of help didn't they?" Harry Hook exclaimed from above, hoisting his foot on the frame of the ship. 

"Uma's crew?"

"What? Got a problem with it, pretty boy?" Uma came into view, dressed in her glittery wear as if she had just emerged from the shiny depths of gold and diamonds. Gil came into the view behind, placing in the hand of Harry's shoulder. 

"Yeah, pretty boy!" He echoed, and both Uma and Harry glared at Gil, making him gulp and remove his hand from Harry's shoulder. He muttered a quick 'sorry' at the other two pirates. 

"Um, Uma, if you could-?"

"Right, right..." She yelled off at the ship, and a single life ring was thrown out, and the three deserters frowned. 

"We'll take turns." Jack leaped on top of it, sighing in relaxation, "Finally." The pirates yanked back the rope with a quick speed that Jack almost fell off and he yelped. One by one, each of the friends climbed up on the life ring and was yanked back up by the pirates. They all arrived on the deck, dripping wet to the pirate's (and their own's) disgust. 

"Ah, the wind'll blow ya dry." Harry shrugged and went back up to man the ship. Uma held out her hand, shooting a smirk in Hayley's direction, and Hayley dropped a brown bag in Uma's hand. Uma ripped it open and started counting the gold. 

"You're one less." Hayley sighed and pulled out one more, placing it in Uma's hand, who grinned mischievously. 

"So now you're gonna tell us." Hayley deadpanned. 

"Tell you what."

"What you saw and where you saw it," Hayley said through gritted teeth, her patience being tested. 

"Oh. Gather your arses boys, we're gonna-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR SONGS!" Hayley shrieked, and there was a moment of silence on the boat where nothing could be heard but the creaking of the boat and the overlapping waves. 

"Fine." One of the crew brought up a few barrels, setting them down and Uma took her seat, "Black."

"That's descriptive," Jack muttered under his breath. 

"Swarming black ribbons of magic. For sure. It was coming from an island. The only inhabitants from there, were, well Captain Hook and his crew. And they're long gone, somewhere off on the Isle."

"Neverland?"

"Yup. Coming from inside the skull on Skull Rock. It seeped out of its eyes and teeth. We only saw it from a distance though." Uma shuddered, "It was creepy." She waved off a pirate coming to serve them drinks, and Jack frowned.

"I'll take you there, but don't expect a ride back,"  Uma said. 

Jack, Hayley, and I looked at each other and nodded, "We'll take it."

"All righty! Also, I believe this belongs to you." Uma pulled out Wilson from her breast pocket and he took several audible gasps of air, "Quite an annoying rat of yours." 

Wilson squeaked as she set him down in Jax's palms, "I am not a rat! I am a mouse!" The rest of the words jumbled into squeaks until they finally stopped. 

"I started squeaking again, didn't I?"

"Gilly's magic is growing weaker." Hayley gasped. 

"Why though?" Jack asked, studying Wilson to see if anything was wrong with him. 

"I don't know, but we better hurry up if we want it to stop."

Deep inside of Jax, he could feel an uncertainty rising, that something was about to go wrong on his side and the other side of his soul. 

And he was right.

---

Kayla fluttered around the castle, her glitter sprinkling around her as she tried to calm down the crying queen. 

"It's been 4 months Kayla! What if he doesn't come back!" Gilly sobbed into Kayla's newly tailored dress, as Kayla winced, watching the tears fall onto her gilded golden gown, 

"I believe Jax will come back. He would never leave you without notice. He's not that kind of guy. We both know that." Kayla stroked Gilly's hair. Gilly looked up, her eyeballs were red from crying. 

"But he would never do it for this long." She whispered, her voice hollow, "Kayla do you think-"

Kayla stayed silent. 

"What if he's dead?"

There was an unspoken answer lies between the two friends. 

"I'm sorry Gilly." Kayla held out her arms as Gilly lost balance and fell into them. No tears streaked down her face, just eyes wide open and a raspy voice was left of her. 

"He's gone." She whispered to herself. Gilly rose, as if in a trance. 

"Gone."

And the queen collapsed. 

---

Just getting juicy, but I'm going to tell you now, this is either going to have shorter chapters or just a shorter story in general. 

A new FTRS Oneshot will be coming out soon regarding BBH, so make sure to stay tuned!