⇢˚⋆ ✎ ˎˊ- Author's Note!
Oh my gosh y'all, 100 reads! You guys are amazing :') Thank you all so much! AHHHH!
I managed to finish this chapter today, so I think I'll get started on the next one tomorrow since I am tired. Anyways, enjoy!
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Y/N's POV
I glance around in awe, watching several ships of different shapes and sizes fly overhead. Jim keeps his arm wrapped around my shoulder as we depart the ship.
"Jim! Y/N! Oh, wait for me!" I hear Delbert call from inside the ship.
I look back, to see Delbert in a yellow astronaut-like suit, as he looks around with some kind of worry plastered on his face. Jim sighs before chuckling and shaking his head.
"Well, Jim and Y/N, I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for the three of us to get to know one another. You know what they say, familiarity breeds, uhm, well, contemplate, but in our case-"
Jim interrupts Delbert, sighing.
"Look, let's just find the ship, okay?"
I let Jim walk off, releasing myself from his grip and walk back to Delbert.
"Don't mind him, Delbert," I say, placing my hand on his shoulder, looking at him with empathy.
He frowns, watching me as I catch up with Jim.
~~~
"Second berth on your right!" a robot calls down to us from a ladder.
"You can't miss it," another alien adds.
Jim and I thank the two for their assistance, and wait for Delbert to catch up.
"It's the suit isn't it?" Delbert sighs. "I should never have listened to that pushy two-headed saleswoman. This one said it fit, that one said it was my colour. I didn't know what to do. I get so flustered- Ooh!"
He bumps into Jim and I, Jim glaring at him with an annoyed expression.
Delbert looks up, and exclaims, "Oh! Jim and Y/N! This is our ship! The R.L.S Legacy!"
Delbert extends his hand to show the ship that we were to fly on. My jaw drops in awe, as I see a magnificent ship floating ahead of us.
"Woah!" Jim exclaims, examining the ship with a wide smile.
Aliens jump all over the ship, getting all the preparations ready.
"Stow those casts forward!" a man who looks as if he is made of rocks calls out. "Heave together now!"
The man wore a bright red coat with golden plates on the shoulders, and a formal pirate hat sat upon his head. Jim and I jump up the rail and onto the ship, bursting with excitement.
"How cool is this?" he asks me, placing his hand on my shoulder and looking around once more.
He bumps into another alien, as the alien grunts with a farting noise.
"Sorry about that! I didn't mean-"
The alien brings out his fist, farting excessively. Air comes out of the alien's mouth, making me and Jim's hair stick up in a ridiculous manner. I flatten my hair, watching with curiosity as Delbert starts blowing raspberries and farting noises with his armpit. I look back at the alien, and his tense face softens, and it seems that he begins laughing, face-palming himself.
"I'm fluent in Flatula, Jim and Y/N," Delbert explains proudly. "Took two years of it in highschool."
He walks off, making one more fart noise as Jim and I glance at each other with a smirk on our faces.
"Flatula... cool," Jim states, finally flattening his hair and wrapping his arm around my shoulder, walking off with me.
"How many times are you going to do that?" I ask him, chuckling.
"Do what?" Jim tilts his head.
"Placing your arm on my shoulder."
"I'll do it how many times I want," he smirks.
"Good morning, Captain! Everything shipshape?" Delbert asks the rock man (A/N: I don't know how else to describe him SDSKDS).
Jim and I appear behind Delbert, awaiting the captain's answer.
"Shipshape it is, sir, but I'm not the captain," he responds. "The captain's aloft."
I tilt my head, wondering who the captain is. I look upwards and notice a feline-human hybrid grabbing ahold of each rope, flipping and tumbling onto the different poles and landing on the ground gracefully. I grin to myself, thinking, Wow, she's cool. I glance over at Jim and Delbert, and by the looks of their faces, it seems to me that they're thinking the exact same thing. The captain walks over to Mr. Arrow, her hands behind her back. Mr. Arrow places his arms next to him as she approaches.
"Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable ship from stem to stem, and, as usual," she says firmly, "it's spot on!"
Her expression and voice softens, forming an 'OK' sign with her fingers.
"Can you get nothing wrong?" she asks, quite impressed with Mr. Arrow.
Mr. Arrow smiles down at the captain, taking off his hat.
"You flatter me, captain," he says, placing his hat back on as he finishes his sentence.
The captain winks at Mr. Arrow, before approaching Jim, Delbert and I, her expression firm once again. She stops right in front of Delbert, smiling.
"Ah, Dr. Doppler, I presume?" she asks.
"Uh, um, yes, I-" Delbert stutters.
"Hello! Can you hear me?" the captain asks louder, tapping the top of Delbert's helmet repeatedly.
"Yes, I can! Stop that banging!" Delbert cries.
"If I may, Doctor," the captain grabs the red button in the middle of Delbert's suit, "this works so much better when it's right-way up and plugged in!"
She rotates the button, grabs the plug on the side and spins Delbert around, plugging the cord at the back of the suit as Delbert exclaims at the sudden movement.
"Lovely, there you go."
Delbert takes off his helmet and looks back at the captain with an irritated expression.
"If you don't mind, I can manage my own plugging!" he chides, taking off the plug and waving it in the captain's face.
"I'm Captain Amelia," the captain says, shaking Delbert's hand, "late of a few run-ins with Protean Armada. Nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars." She looks back at Mr. Arrow, motioning her hand toward him. "You've met my first officer, Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave and true."
"Please, Captain," Mr. Arrow sighs with a smile.
"Shut up, Arrow, you know I don't mean a word of it."
Delbert clears his throat. "Excuse me, I hate to interrupt this lovely banter, but may I introduce to you Jim Hawkins and Y/N L/N?"
I nudge Jim, making him stop admiring the ship and look at the captain. I smile, shaking my head softly.
"Jim, you see, is the boy who found the treasure-"
Amelia's eyes widen, before covering Delbert's mouth.
"Doctor, please!" she growls, glancing back at the crewmates. "I'd like a word with you in my stateroom."
~~~
I lean against the Captain's desk, watching her lock the door to stop anyone from entering.
"Doctor, she explains, approaching us slowly, "to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic, and I mean that in a very caring way."
"Imbecilic, did you say? Foolishness, I've g-"
"May I see the map, please?" Amelia asks, interrupting Delbert's speech.
Delbert looks back at Jim and I with a raised brow, Jim shrugging. Delbert sighs and nods, motioning his hand toward Amelia as to give us permission to give it to her. Jim places the map in my hand, and I walk over to the captain and throw it to her carefully.
"Here," I say as she catches it.
She examines the map with admiration.
"Hmm," she hums. "Fascinating."
She looks back at us, narrowing her eyes.
"Mr. Hawkins, Ms. L/N," she states, opening up a cupboard and placing the map into a chest, "you will address me as 'Captain' or 'Ma'am', is that clear?"
Jim rolls his eyes, making an 'ugh' sound. I punch his shoulder, irritated.
"Yes, ma'am," I respond, avoiding eye-contact with Jim.
"Splendid. Mr. Hawkins?" Amelia snarls.
"... Yes, ma'am," he says.
"That'll do," she mumbles, shutting the cupboard and locking it. "Gentlemen, lady, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use. And, Doctor, again, with the greatest possible respect, zip your howling screamer."
"Captain, I assure you I-" Delbert began.
"Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible," Amelia interjects for the hundredth time, "I don't care for this crew you hired."
Delbert looks around in shock, throwing his hands up into the air. He places his hands on his hips, listening to what Amelia has to say.
"They're... how did I describe them Mr. Arrow? I said something rather good this morning before coffee."
"'A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots', ma'am," Mr. Arrow reminds her.
"There you go. Poetry," Amelia smiles.
Delbert slams his hands on the table. "Now, see here-!"
"Doctor, I'd love to chat, tea, cake, the whole shebang, but I have a ship to launch and you've got your outfit to buff up. Mr. Arrow, please escort these three neophytes down the galley straightaway. Young Hawkins and L/N will be working for our cook, Mr. Silver."
Me and Jim's eyes widen.
"What? The cook?" Jim asks.
"Seriously? I thought I'd take a break from cooking on this journey..." I sigh, face-palming myself.
Back to phase one, I suppose.
~~~
Delbert, Jim, Mr. Arrow and I march down the stairs, Delbert stomping his feet loudly.
"That woman! That feline!" Delbert scowls, throwing his hands up in the air.
I wince, given that Mr. Arrow was right behind us.
"Who does she think is working for whom?" Delbert finishes.
"It's my map, and she's got me bussin' tables?" Jim sighs.
"C'mon guys, we could be in a worse situation!" I try to calm them down, while also trying to get on Mr. Arrow's good side.
"I'll not tolerate a cross word about our captain!" Mr. Arrow growls, grabbing Delbert and Jim's shoulders as I shake my head in disappointment. "There's no finer officer in this or any galaxy."
He pushes them off, a person whistling a few metres ahead of us.
"Mr. Silver!" Mr. Arrow calls out.
"Why, Mr. Arrow, sir," Silver smiles, wrapping his apron around his hands. "Bringin' in such fine and distinguished fellows to grace my humble galley. Had I known, I'd have tucked in me shirt." He chuckles, tucking in his apron.
I look up and down Mr. Silver, and notice that he's a cyborg. My eyes widen, remembering what the turtle-armadillo had said to Jim and I back at the Benbow Inn. His voice lingers in my ears, "Beware the cyborg!"
"A cyborg-!" I hear Jim gasp under his breath.
I nudge him to let him know that I realized the same thing. He grabs my shoulder, making me stumble a few centimetres behind him. He sets his arm in front of me, keeping me away from Silver. I push his arm down and glare up at him, my expression saying, "You don't need to protect me, Jim, I'm fine." He sighs, placing his hands in his pockets once again.
"May I introduce Dr. Doppler, the financier of our voyage," Mr. Arrow states, pushing Delbert toward Silver.
"Love the outfit, Doc," Silver says, a red light emitting from his robot eye.
"Well, thank you! Um, love the eye," Delbert stammers, blocking himself using his arms. "Um, these young children are Jim Hawkins and Y/N L/N."
He grabs our shoulders and pushes us toward Silver.
Huh, guess it's our turn for the introduction, I think, sighing to myself.
"Jimbo! Y/N!" he smiles, putting out his robot hand for a handshake.
I slightly step backwards, noticing that his fingers are still knives from when he was cutting up vegetables. He chuckles lightly to himself, changing his hand back to normal. Jim takes a step in front of me, glaring up at Silver. Silver raises a brow, and turns away.
"Ah, now don't be too put off by this hunk of hardware," he says, walking to the counter and chopping off some weird-looking shrimp.
He hums, slicing the shrimp in half as they fall into a pan one by one. He changes his robotic hand to a butcher's knife, cutting up some more things. His hand disappears, making him exclaim in shock. He stares back at us with a smug look, revealing his hand. I roll my eyes, cringing at his attempt to amuse us.
"These gears have been tough getting used to," he explains, the gears of his hand changing repeatedly, "but they do come in mighty handy from time to time."
He cracks three eggs into the pan, picking it up and holding it above his robot hand. The gears change into a flamethrower, heating up whatever was in the pan. He pours the contents of the pan into a pot, and sprinkles salt into it. I have to admit, it was fun watching him dance around the kitchen and cook. It was amazing how fast he did it. He grabs a ladle and scoops up some of the soup, having a taste of his masterpiece. He looks back at us with a satisfied smile.
"Mmm!" he hums, letting us know that the soup is delicious.
He pours some soup into some bowls, and walks toward us.
"Here, now, have a taste of me famous bonzabeast stew."
Delbert takes a bowl from Silver and sniffs it, licking the top of it.
"Mmm! Delightfully tangy, yet robust," he says.
"Old family recipe," Silver says.
An eye pops out of Delbert's soup, making him cry out in surprise.
"In fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver laughs heartily.
He wipes a fake tear from his eyes, taking the eye out.
"I'm just kidding, Doc," he continues laughing, throwing the eye into his mouth and gulping it.
I cover my mouth, stopping myself from gagging.
"Yeah, I'm nothin' if I ain't a kidder," Silver says, nudging me. "Go on, Y/N, have a swig."
I take a bit of soup using my spoon, and stare at it with caution. The spoon I was holding suddenly turns pink, swallowing the soup and turning into some kind of blob. I gasp, watching with wide eyes.
"Morph!" Silver exclaims. "You jiggle-headed blob of mischief!"
Morph turns into a straw, and jumps into my bowl, sucking up all of the soup that was in it.
"So that's where you was hiding," Silver chortles.
Morph sticks his head up from my bowl, belching. He flies in front of Jim and I, rubbing himself against my cheek. I chuckle, stroking him softly.
"What is that thing?" Jim asks.
"'What is that thing?'" Morph parrots, turning into a bunch of blob bits as Jim touches him.
"He's a morph," Silver says, as I watch Morph turn into a mini version of Jim. "I rescued the little shape-shifter on Proteus 1."
Morph licks Jim's cheek, flying back to Silver.
"He's adorable," I smile.
"Aw, he took a shine to me," Silver sighs happily, "we've been together ever since. Right? Yeah, nice boy."
Silver walks off, Morph rubbing himself against his face. I turn to face Mr. Arrow as he begins to speak.
"We're about to get underway. Would you like to observe the launch, Doctor?" he asks, pointing his hand to the exit of the kitchen.
"Would I?" Delbert beams. "Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets? I'll follow you."
Delbert walks off, Mr. Arrow staying behind.
"Mr. Hawkins and Ms. L/N will stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver," he adds on.
I open my mouth to speak, until I hear Silver choke on whatever he was eating.
"Beggin' your pardon, sir, but uh-" Silver went to say.
"Captain's orders! See to it the new cabin boy and girl's kept busy," Mr. Arrow demands, walking off with his hands behind his back.
"But, no, but-" Silver stammers.
"No you can't-" Jim stutters.
"Please, Mr. Arrow, but-" I splutter.
We all sigh, shaking our heads in disbelief. Jim and I look up at Silver.
"So, Captain's put you two with me, eh?" Silver asks, walking around us.
"Whatever," Jim scoffs, walking around him as well, keeping me close.
"Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue with a captain?" Silver sighs with a smug look.
Jim rubs his chin, staring at a pile of purple fruits.
"Yeah..." he says, picking one up. "You know, these purps, they're kind of like the ones back home on Montressor. You ever been there?"
He tosses the purp from hand to hand, as I walk behind him.
"I can't say as I have, Jimbo," Silver replies.
Jim takes a bite of the purp, sitting down. I sit down beside him.
"Come to think of it, just before we left, we met this old guy who was, um..." I play along. "He was kind of looking for a cyborg buddy of his."
"Is that so?" Silver quizzes.
"Yeah," I answer.
"What was that old salamander's name?" Jim pretends to remember, rubbing his forehead. "Oh yeah. Bones. Billy Bones?"
"Bones? Bones?" Silver repeats, picking up a pot and walking past Jim and I. "T'ain't ringin' any bells. Must have been a different cyborg. There's a slew of cyborgs roamin' this port."
Suddenly, we hear a voice calling from the deck.
"Prepare to cast off!" Mr. Arrow shouts.
"Off with ya, lads, and watch the launch," Silver tells us, pushing us toward the exit of the kitchen. "There'll be plenty work a-waitin' for yous afterward."
Jim wraps his arm around my shoulder, walking up the stairs.
~~~
Silver's POV
I watch them exit the kitchen, Jimbo's arm wrapped around Y/N's shoulder. I smile to myself, then look over at Morph.
"We best be keepin' a sharp eye on those two, eh, Morph?" I say, passing a biscuit over to Morph as he happily munches on it. "We wouldn't want them strayin' into things they shouldn't."