Ally drinks the tea of Wonderland (wonderlandtea) wrote in riftlogs, @ 2019-02-05 17:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | disney: ally, disney: harry hook |
Who: Harry Hook and Ally
What: Meeting
When: Bendy. Let's say last week some time.
Warnings: None.
Status: Complete
There may have been solid ground beneath his feet, but it felt like a tumultuous sea. He had been yanked from one prison and hurled into another where barely anything made sense. It didn't bloody help he had no memories of being in this place before. Harry scowled as he jumped off the rock he had climbed up. Boots hit dirt and the young pirate didn't pause as he took off hiking. The days felt colder thanks to the everlasting darkness. That meant he needed to see and Gil needed to see. He ground his teeth as he thought of Mal's offer.
She wanted help.
Just what had he done when he was here before? “Damn it,” he grumbled as he ducked under some low hanging branches. The smell of salt water was starting to call to him, but that wasn't what stopped his steps. No, what made him stop was the sound of someone else walking near him. Harry didn't pause as he gripped his hook.
What tumbled out of the shrubs had his eyes growing wide in honest surprise. Harry moved before thinking and wrapped his hand around Ally's upper arm. “Are you daft,” he hissed out. “You can't go wandering around right now!”
It almost seemed like the pirate was worried.
Ally actually squeaked a little when Harry grabbed her, not through any fear of him though. Maybe it was dumb, but she wasn’t scared of the pirate. Part of it came from her nature, the same wide eyed innocent curiosity that had lead her mother into Wonderland. And part of it came from the fact she knew that, despite the Auradon propaganda, the Isle kids were not evil. So her squeak was from the surprise and the slight loss of balance where she was being held.
“I’m not wandering,” she insisted. “I am walking with a purpose, and I have a sword.” Twisting her hip, she showed the gleam of metal hanging from her belt. Definitely a sword. That was still sheathed and given her inexperience, not in the easiest place to draw swiftly.
“Anyway, I wanted to see if you and Gil were okay.” Hence why she was walking between the Rock and the place Harry had settled. Apparently some sort of tomb, which was very scary. Ally paused before her eyes widened again. “Harriet doesn’t know, please don’t tell her, she’ll be so mad.” The pirate girl had been distracted talking to Evie about traps. Fiercely protective of the crew though she was, she hardly did it with a smile and a soft manner. More like a scowl and exasperation. If she knew Ally had snuck out, Ally would be on fish gutting duty for a week.
Harry's gaze went to the sword and he gave the girl a look that clearly said he didn't buy what she was selling. He gave her a slight shake to show his annoyance before letting go of her arm. “I believe there was a rule about traveling in pairs that my sister has.” Not a lie. Harry had supposedly set the rule up and when he had vanished, well, the new captain kept the same rule. It was a smart rule. Safety in numbers and all of that.
The pirate was stuck staring at the waif of a girl before he threw his head back and laughed. It was the type of laughter that came from deep inside of him and bubbled madly out of his lips. The idiot had not only wandered off alone, but she hadn't even told her captain?
“I won't have to tell my sister anything,” he pointed out after he stopped laughing. “She is going to notice that you've gone missing. Sword and all.”
He clipped his hook to his belt and settled on crossing his arms over his chest. His features took on a stern look as he glared down at her.
“Do ye even know how to fight with that sword? There is a reason my sister wants her crew traveling in pairs! Someone to watch the other’s back. Damn it, Ducks, you can't just pop off to see me and Gil like this. I'm not the worst thing out here. There are things that would just love to peel that flesh from your bones.” Anger seeped into his words, but so did something else. An emotion he wasn't going to admit to.
“Come on, I'll walk you back to the boundary of the Rock and hopefully your captain won't toss ye to the sharks.” Ally may have been from Auradon, but that hardly meant he could let her get killed. The bonnie lass, while infuriating, did not deserve death for the mere mistake of being born in the wrong place.
Oh, she hadn’t thought of that. Harriet was bound to notice. Ally pulled a face as she realised just how much trouble she was going to be in. “I was thinking I was using initiative to check on you guys so she wouldn’t have to worry,” she muttered, with a slight wince on her face. It had been an attempt to be helpful. With Mal and Ben gone, numbers at the Rock were limited.
“I can fight with the sword a bit,” her look became more earnest. “Gil’s been teaching me, and Durin, and Harriet too sometimes. I’m not entirely helpless.” She could hear the anger in his voice, and yet still wasn’t scared. Not of him, not any fear of him hurting her. There was a darkness in Harry Hook, she knew that, but he wasn’t evil. “Those same things would peel the flesh from your bones too so why are you out here on your own?” She arched her eyebrow slightly as she turned the question back onto him.
“She won’t toss me to the sharks, but I’m going to have to gut and clean the fish for days, it’s going to smell so bad.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought. “Or she’ll make me untangle all the nets.” Which would take forever every day. Ally’s head tilted as she looked at Harry curiously. “Why only to the boundary? You know you’re allowed in.”
Harry had to bit back a laugh at Ally's sudden realization that Harriet would notice. His sister was a cunning one and not much got past her. He almost felt a little bad for the Auradon kid. “She may give you some leniency, but I doubt it.”
His brows knitted together slightly when she mentioned the sword lessons. He barely knew the old man Durin, had no clue if his skills with a blade were enough, but he did trust Gil and Harriet. “You need to train everyday. Doesn't hurt to find a blade that is a wee bit heavy for you. Builds up stamina and strength.” A snort escaped him as he leveled a look at her. “Aye, they might want my flesh, but I've survived longer using a sword than you.”
Double standard. Harry didn't want anyone going out on their own, but he had no qualms about solo excursions for himself.
He pursed his lips together for a moment. “Tie a cloth over your lower face if you do get fish duty. Helps to have mint or some shit, to mask the smell.” He cast a look as he pushed some branches aside so she could walk in front of him. “And I know. Harriet made it clear I'm always welcome, but I was doing other things before a little rabbit stumbled across my path. What's it matter to you?”
Ally sighed a little, knowing that any leniency would be a blessing. Rules were rules and she had broken them. She could practically see Evie’s disappointed look already. “Well. I suppose I can use the fish gutting practice.” She would take the punishment with her head held high and only feeling slightly squeamish about it.
“I train most days.” And she wasn’t exaggerating, it really was only the rare day she missed practicing swinging the sword. Even if the others weren’t available to spar with her, she worked on her movements, practicing how to balance the sword in her fingers. She had been told she had to start feeling it almost as an extension of herself, become as familiar with it as her own limbs. Which was a work in progress considering she was the kind of girl who sometimes got so distracted she fell over her own feet.
And she matched his look with one of her own. “You may be better with a sword and stronger in general, but you can get hurt like anyone else and do you have any idea the rage Harriet will feel if anything happened to you?” It would be terrifying to behold.
The hints about the mint did make her smile a little, nodding her head. It was a nice gesture for him to make. “It matters because I care about you. You might not remember it, but I do. It’s not just that you’re my captain’s brother, you’re someone who has looked out for me in the past.” She tilted her head with a faint smirk toying over her lips. “Things like finding me alone in the dark, and giving me tips about covering fish gut smells.”
A laugh escaped him. “No one could use fish gutting practice. Its vile.” That wasn’t entirely true. A person did need to know how to gut a fish properly or there could be some serious injuries that could occur. “But, aye, just don’t end up nicking yerself. Fish guts lead to nasty infections.” There wasn’t exactly the means to take care of an infection like that. On the Isle they hadn’t really had doctors, but there had been poultices and such. Of course, if an infection was bad enough they just removed the limb. Ally wouldn’t like that idea at all.
The bubbly girl with a hook was an amusing idea. By Evil, she’d hurt herself if she had a hook. The lass looked like she could trip over air.
Harry’s brows knit together slightly as she stood up to him. Well, was that standing up to him? “Harriet would drag me from the depths so she could yell at me,” he admitted. His sister would probably burn this island to the ground if he got injured. Naturally, he would do the same if either of his sisters got injured. It was still strange to hear people say he had done stuff for them. Mal had been pretty abrasive when she spelled out everything he had done for her. “I’m not a caring person, Ducks. You would do well to remember that.” Despite the harshness of the words, there was no actual venom in his voice. The youngsters on the Isle had known Harry was a bully, but he never actually harmed a young one. No, he broke anyone that laid a hand on kids. Ally, while not a child, had that innocence about her.
“Look, I don’t remember being here. I’m not going to be the same, I’m sure.” Which was an ironic thing to say since he had told Mal he was still the same person. The truth was Harry was a bit confused about a lot of things and he didn’t have Uma to talk with.
Growing up, Ally had always been taught that the villain kids cared for no one but themselves, but she had quickly learned how untrue that was. First when she had met Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos and seen how close they were to each other. And now meeting the Hook siblings. Who had a lot of anger in them, but were also devoted to each other in a way that made Ally wish she’d had siblings. “I never said you were a caring person,” she pointed out with a small smirk. “I said I cared about you, and that you’d done stuff to help me.” Which to her said he was a caring one deep down, but she wasn’t about to actually say that to him.
Her head tilted to the side and a faintly dreamy look came into her eyes. “Are any of us actually the same from day to day? I am quite sure I both am and am not the same person I was yesterday and will both be and not be the same tomorrow. And contrary wise, the differences will both exist and not, you see?” It was moments like this when Audrey would have looked faintly disturbed and dismissed her as mad. But from her perspective it was true, and not just because she was of Wonderland blood. People changed every day, every experience and choice leading to different results, while other parts of themselves remained the same.
His mouth opened to snap at her about him knowing what she said when the girl went off on a wee bit of a lark. His mouth snapped shut with a clinking of his teeth. A slow, almost seductive smile appeared on his face. Now, that was an interesting turn of events. This side of Ally was one he wanted to pull closer to the surface. Most people would be disturbed by words like that, but not Harry.
“Come on, let's get you back in one piece and I'll mull yer words over, aye?”
The pirate had a bit to think about. The idea of moving back to the Rock was already rocking about in his skull, but now he had something else drawing him there. He was going to have to think this over and not act rashly. Which, to be honest, wasn't exactly his strong suit. The boy loved to leap in first and solve the situation on the fly.
“And no sneaking off again. Next time message me.”
Ally’s smile lit up her face. What she was used to was someone like Audrey looking confused or making a snide remark when she actually voiced her thoughts out loud. Much of the time it didn’t bother her, but occasionally it did sting that she was often looked down on for not being a princess. Alice had deposed the Queen of Hearts and taken over ruling Wonderland, but was not of royal blood so Ally wasn’t a princess. Which in the eyes of people like Audrey and Chad made her less important.
“Thank you, Harry.” Not only listening to her, but saying he would think about what she said. Sure, the pirate was a little on the rough and wild side, but he was still the best for the way he spoke to her.
“Okay, I promise, no sneaking off, messages all the way.”