we will grow up

[lost_boy]

On the coast of Peter's Island was a dock and at the dock was a ship. The Jolly Roger. A boy named Jamie would captain it one day, though he didn't know it now. And he was far away this morning, waking under the roots of a tree he hadn't seen in over a year, a tree that had once been home.

The pirates had no captain. A boy named Jamie had killed their last captain and none had been willing to take his place, because that boy always killed their captains and always took the right hand of the first mate. None of the pirates wanted to die. They wanted to go home, to sail the Jolly Roger away from these shores and find a new place to be, but every time they tried, they would return here instead.

They didn't know, like Jamie, they were cursed. They were playthings for a boy named Peter.

As the sun came over the horizon, the pirates began to wake. They grunted and groaned and cursed. Spit over the side of the ship, relieved themselves where they could. They ate what they had plundered and what animals they caught. They didn't realize at first that not everyone waking up aboard the Jolly Roger this morning was a pirate.

What Peter didn't know was that sometimes his lost boys came to join the pirates when they began to grow up. When they couldn't stand Peter any longer. The pirates were used to new faces. It wasn't surprising to find strangers among their number. Sometimes they welcomed the newcomers. Sometimes they liked to give them a hard time. It depended on how they were feeling that day.

Most of the pirates weren't sure how they were feeling just yet.

[And the post for everyone over 18 plus Eddie. XD This can be used for figuring stuff out, confrontations with pirates, running into the crocodile or mermaids or the Many-Eyed. Hopefully someone can work out where they are and what the connection is.]

Comments

[high_warlock]

Magnus' eyes widened briefly at the attention of the pirate, who he had yet to determine were the rape-and-pillage type or the simply smelly-and-gruff type. So he straightened up with a snappy "Fuck off" for the pirate and reached out to grab Ellie's hand. Properly this time. And tug her back. Hopefully without resistance.

[and_survive]

She went, because there was no point being where she was if the knife was now firmly out of grabbing distance. The pirate likewise backed up, keeping a weary eye on them but not, as yet, appearing to decide they were people he had to do anything about.

She did yank her arm free, though, even as she went. "I would've had that," she said. "Now if they turn out to be psychos I'm gonna be fighting with jack and shit."

[high_warlock]

"No, you're going to be fighting with my magic and your wits," Magnus hisses back. He's only spoken to Ellie a few times, definitely not enough to realize that she comes armed. But he knows by now that she's smart as a whip and not about to take anything lying down.

And, now, she's got Magnus at her side.

"And you can't go about killing or threatening people when you don't know the situation."

[and_survive]

"Can you magic me a knife," Ellie hissed, which started as an aggravated question, and while it still was by the end of it, she was also actually wondering. She'd been to the parties. He could magic a fucking lot. If it came to it maybe she wouldn't need one.

"The situation is we're on a pirate ship and I don't have shit on me."

[high_warlock]

Magnus rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers. The knife that was in the pirate's possession is now in his hand, with the pirate none the wiser. Magic has a much defter hand than even Ellie.

He twirls the blade and hands it to her, handle first.

"Teens and their toys, honestly. Promise me you won't go killing anyone without at least asking questions first. We might need them."

[and_survive]

She gave it an experimental heft, then tucked it away. She felt immediately better. She didn't know what was going on or where they were, but at least she wasn't completely fucking defenceless.

"I was gonna ask questions," she said. "Of course I'm going to ask questions, I don't know what the fuck is going on. Do you know what's going on?"

[high_warlock]

"Hmm, Darrow magic has brought us to some kind of pirate ship and, more than likely, will send us back home once it's done with us." It's as safe a theory as any, and Magnus doesn't see anything wrong with it. Darrow is unpredictable at best and it wouldn't be the first time he or someone he knows has been transported to another place briefly.

"So I say we just lay low. And look for more obvious hints like, say, who else is here."

[and_survive]

"Assuming we don't get shanked by pirates in the meantime," Ellie said.

She paused. "Maybe even if we get shanked by pirates in the meantime." That was how it worked sometimes, right? She'd known people who this had happened to. It was just the first time it had happened to her, and it had thrown her for a loop. She hadn't been thinking it through. She wasn't going to fucking say that, of course. "But without knowing for sure I'm just going to try and not get shanked."

[high_warlock]

"Say 'shanked' one more time," Magnus replies in a distracted, easy tone. He's listening, of course, but he's also focused on the space around them and picking up important notes from what Ellie's saying, not everything.

"But that's probably a wise course of action. Helped by not drawing a knife on others. Unless they want a fight, in which case, show off so they respect you."

[and_survive]

"Shanked," Ellie said, without hesitation. It crossed her mind he could probably turn her into a toad or something. She refused to regret it. "We should search the ship before we ditch, right?"

There might be more clues on the island, but there might also be people tied up in the hold or something. The pirates might not be attacking, even to prove their strength or whatever, but she was still pretty suspicious of the whole thing.

[high_warlock]

He doesn't turn her into a toad or anything. Instead he sticks out his tongue at her.

"Yeah, let's search. Maybe we can find someone else or some answers. That don't involve threatening anyone!" He adds this last bit hurriedly, before Ellie gets any ideas.

[and_survive]

"Unless we have to," Ellie said, because she felt this was an important clarification to have on there. She stuck her tongue out in return, because if he could do it, she could do it. Which she liked, actually. She did also hold her hands up, though, to emphasise that she'd put the knife away.

For now.

[high_warlock]

Magnus gives it half a second's consideration before sighing and nodding.

"Unless we have to," he agrees, and cracks his knuckles pointedly. She's not the only one who can be threatening. Magnus still has it, thanks.

"Come on. Let's go."