Chapter 1

“Wake up! Wake up!” A few happy chattering noises followed. I heard a groan from beside me.

 

“How do you strangle protoplasm?” my husband of two months muttered. I chuckled quietly before sitting up and stretching. I took the protoplasm in question in my hands and cuddled him to my cheek.

 

“It’s impossible. I’ve tried and given up long ago,” I answered.

 

The man beside me turned onto his side and covered his head with a pillow. The transparent, pink blob in my hands flew over to him and turned into an alarm clock, buzzing loudly. I covered my ears and started laughing as Jim sat up and tried swatting at Morph.

 

“Alright, I’m awake!” he yelled before slumping forward and groaning again.

 

Feeling pleased with himself, Morph darted across the room while I draped my arms over Jim’s shoulders, hugging him from behind. I gently kissed the nape of his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. Morph then floated aback over to us, but he now had a fist-sized, silver sphere in his mouth. My eyes widened and I gasped as I recognized the sphere as the one my father had given me the last time I’d seen him. It was the only thing I had from him and I always kept it on the top of my dresser, where it would be safe.

 

“Morph, put that down!” I ordered. He did so, but not in the way I had hoped. Morph dropped the metal orb and it landed with an unpleasant thud. I scrambled off the bed, nearly falling off in the process, and grabbed the sphere. Upon inspection, I found that a piece of it had come loose and was sticking out. “Oh, no!”

 

“Did it break?” Jim asked, coming up from behind me.

 

“I hope not.” I carefully pressed the loose, circular part into place, only to hear clicking coming from with in the sphere. The top of it opened and a blue light flooded out.

 

“Well… this is new.” I nodded slowly in agreement as I stared around me in awe. A rid of light surrounded us, as well as holographic planets, and I immediately recognized it as a map.

 

“Whoa,” I breathed.

 

This certainly was different from what I had seen the last time the sphere had been opened. Last time, I’d gotten a message from my father, telling me how proud he as of me. I took a step forward and tapped the holographic image of Montressor, the planet Jim and I called home. The map shifted and I glanced around to see a few planets pass by. It soon came to a stop at a planet that appeared to be only a two-week long voyage away. I was extremely surprised by how close the destination of this map was.

 

“Looks like ya finally found the map, Em,” my father’s voice said and I jumped in surprise, only to realize it was a recording. “I put this in my gift to ya, just in case you and Jimbo ever wanted to find me. Ya both are adventure-seekers. Ya can find me on the planet Ethrum. Just follow the map. And Em, I got a little surprise for ya, if ya want to come.”

 

The blue light retracted into the sphere in my hands. I stared ahead in complete and utter shock. I considered slapping myself to make sure I was awake. Jim rested a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face him, my eyes still wide.

 

“Ember, you okay?” he asked. I smiled at him and nodded.

 

“I think we should go,” I answered. Jim blinked a few times in surprise and Morph chattered excitedly. “Just to see Dad again. Besides, he tempted me with this hidden surprise.” My husband chuckled and shook his head.

 

“You can’t resist any challenge, can you?”

 

“I’m a pirate, Jim. Always will be.”

 

“I know. You realize this could take a little while, right?”

 

“I have faith in you, Captain Hawkins,” I answered and kissed him gently.

---

 

Not even a month later, Jim and I had landed on the planet Ethrum, where my fathers’ map had led us. I looked over at Jim and smiled as he motioned for me to step off the longboat first. He was dressed in a pair of loose blue jeans, brown boots and a loose tan shirt. His outfit reminded me of our voyage on the RLS Legacy, when we met. The biggest difference was in his physical appearance, though not much had changed. Jim had long since gotten rid of his earring and cut his hair to be shorter. He was also more muscular, from working on a ship so much. My own appearance hadn’t changed all that much. I still had the same slender form and long brown hair. I merely grew more mature. My outfit was very much like the one I had been seen in when I was first mate of my father’s ship. I now wore a pair of loose black pants, brown boots, a red V-neck shirt with only the slightest of sleeves, and a black belt just under my bust-line. I also wore the black jacket I owned that was very much like my father’s.

 

“After you,” Jim said, moving to allow me off first. I jumped off the boat and he followed right behind me as we began walking into the town we had been led to.

 

“Well, this certainly seems like the kind of place Dad would go to lie low for a while,” I muttered.

 

The town was almost completely empty. The few people on the streets didn’t seem particularly friendly either. In fact, they reminded me of pirates themselves. Morph floated so he was right beside my head and I could tell he was a bit uneasy because of these men. Jim and I walked into a building named the Zeerover Inn, where we’d been instructed to go. Every head turned to stare at us, but I didn’t care. I’d been accustomed to such things since childhood.

 

“We’re looking for John Silver,” Jim said, a tone of authority in his voice.

 

Someone by the wall stood up and I turned my head to look at him. He appeared to be my age, nineteen. He had thick silver hair that reached to about the middle of his ear, blood red eyes and looked as though he could be very flexible, based on how lean he was. The young man wore a pair of dark blue jeans, black boots, a red shirt, a black jacket that was left unzipped and had an army-green scarf wrapped around his neck. He looked vaguely familiar to me, as if I’d seen him before, but I didn’t know where.

 

“What do you want with my father?” he demanded.

 

“What?!” I asked in shock.

Author's Note

Gale Hollow is not my character. He was created by a good friend of mine and I was given permission to use him. Gale Hollow belongs to a friend of mine from Fanfiction.net, Solaris Prime