Trap Door

A moment ago, Jim had felt the air shift as tiny bits of Treasure Planet blew up around him. A moment ago, he had been dodging debris exploding under him, flames climbing up immediately after the pieces of planet barely missed his flesh. A moment ago, his eyes had been trained on the triangular portal, its yellow glow standing out amongst the grey smoke quickly enveloping the landscape.

But now? Now his vision was focused solely on the dingy metal walls of the canyon he was currently falling into.

Panicking, Jim stomped on the ignition to hopefully restart his ride. He could feel the metal click together as it spun around, but the rocket was clearly not catching. Gritting his teeth, Jim forced himself to think and looked away from the useless metal under his feet for a moment.

That's when he saw the metal wall whooshing by him as he plummeted down. Great material to make something like what he was currently riding, yet better, as this invention comprised of ship scraps had obviously failed him.

And now, with this hunk of metal under his feet, he was going to splash into the lava below. No, not splash. This wasn't some pool filled with harmless water. This he would smack into, and burn. Burn, burn, burn and die in all the pain that being burned included. And all because this crap wouldn't catch. Oh sure, it was trying, with sparks flying every time he-

And that's when he thought of it.

Twisting and throwing himself at the wall with a desperate yell, Jim jammed the rocket against the metal, furiously slamming his foot down on the ignition bar. Metal crashed against metal with a screech, like nails on a chalkboard, and for a second Jim thought the rocket would fall apart all together.

Relief flooded him when he felt the thing spin of its own accord, a heat warming the backs of his legs. It was lit.

Crouching, Jim grabbed the front of the board and yanked back, tipping the thing to launch straight up, firing him out of the canyon and away from the latest of his many near death experiences. But the small glee his escape had given him diminished as he watched The Legacy fly over and pass him. At this rate, the ship would reach the portal first and enter a golden death trap.

With renewed fervor, Jim repeatedly clicked the bar under his back heel, the quick bursts of flame from the rocket propelling him forward and ahead of the larger ship. Stretching his hand out as he approached the sphere, his metal board beneath him angled sideways, giving him the reach to jab the map, his finger hitting some place for the portal to reopen to.

The door blinked, and suddenly the destination had changed from a deadly treasure room to the familiar spaceport this whole journey had started from. Allowing a grin to crack his frown, Jim slowed a touch, planning to jump into the Legacy as it left Treasure Planet. He for one didn't want ride his crappy invention for any longer than he needed to, lest it fail him for good next time.

Slowly rising to the ship's deck, Jim never saw the bit of metal flying at him, but he certainly felt the impact as it hit, propelling him off his board to smack against the side of the Legacy and fall to the chaotic ground below. He landed with an "Umph" on the hot ground, his arm whacking the spherical map as his elbow hit the floor and involuntarily jerked back.

Dazed, he felt his heart hammering in his ears, his eyes blinking slowly as he realized the Legacy was no longer here, headed for the portal. It was gone. It had gone through. Adrenaline seized Jim as he realized he must only have seconds, and he bolted for the portal. He half-ran, half-threw himself into the doorway, never expecting to feel the terrible sensation of falling immediately after he had cleared it.

Or the color blue.

Blue…

A sky blue.

Like, his home planet blue.

…Blue.

It was all he could think of as he dropped through the sky – the very blue sky - with deafening cracks and booms of Treasure Planet's last attempts on his life sounding after him. Jim, however – falling further and further away from the threat – could care less. Instead, he was trying to understand why there was blue. It should be black, with stars and a moon-shaped space station right before him.

But it wasn't. It was blue.

Blue behind him, blue beside him, blue in front of him. So completely confused by the blue was Jim that he couldn't make out where one shade ended and another began. So, when he suddenly made contact with the blue ocean, head first, he gasped. Water swiftly filled his throat, making the poor boy scramble to claw his way back to the other blue – the sky, air friendly, blue.

Finally emerging, Jim hacked until he vomited, the water around him turning a disgusting color. But Jim didn't care – it wasn't blue anymore, that's for sure.

Recklessly kicking his feet in an effort to stay afloat, Jim gulped down air, even turning his head upward in an attempt to get more. Letting his eyes wander, Jim noticed that there was more not-blue way up there. After a moment, realization struck him that the disruption in color was smoke – smoke from the portal he'd just nosedived out of.

Squinting, he tried to make out the door. But, even as the smoke cleared, he couldn't see a yellow glow. Expected, he supposed. After all, the control panel was on the planet. It'd no doubt been blown up with the rest of it.

Scanning for any stray debris that may be falling towards him, Jim reluctantly closed his eyes, exhaustion catching up with him. It wasn't every day you blow up a planet, even in the life of Jim Hawkins. Tilting his head further back, he let his sweaty scalp dip in the cool water. It felt nice – calming, really, as the water's movements slowly washed him back and forth…

Jim passed out in the gentle caress. He was dead to the world, even when a passing ship spotted him bobbing up and down on the surface of the water and pulled up alongside. The sailors quickly put their years of experience to use and maneuvered to drag the youth aboard.

One seaman made the joke that this was Triton's gift to their prince.

-0o0-

Ariel couldn't help her smile as she swam to the surface. The sun was gleaming ahead, warming the waters. With an added flick of her tail, she gave herself the kick to smoothly break the surface, her red hair spreading out around her like a halo. Flounder was not so graceful, clumsily crashing his head above the water, only to dunk once more before he had the proper balance to stay up.

Lazily swinging her tail underwater, Ariel and Flounder made their way to Scuttle's crow's nest.

-0o0-

"Lad. Lad."

Jim woke to the urgent sound of a gravelly voice. Blinking his eyes open, he narrowed them just as fast, the sun blinding him.

"Ah, 'e be awake!"

Suddenly a crowd of voices began chattering near the first one. Geez, how many were there?

"C'mon lad," someone said. Before Jim could respond, he felt arms hook around his waist and pull up, lifting him to his tired feet.

"There ya go," a higher tone praised him, patting a hand on his shoulder.

With the sun out of his immediate line of sight, Jim blinked away the spots marring his vision and took in his surroundings.

He was surrounded quite heavily. There must have been 30 men just standing there, staring at him, caging him in with their bodies. As the ground rocked beneath his feet, Jim glanced passed them – he was in a large space, the wooden edges fitted with canons and stairs in the back leading to a cabin-

Recognition clicked into place.

He was on a ship.

A ship.

Hope blossomed in his chest – was this a rescue party? Had his friends sent it out?

But all thoughts of "space station" and "the Legacy" died when he made one startling discovery:

This craft was grounded.

Snapping his head up to check the rigging, he furrowed his brow at the pathetic cloth-sailings. Where were the solar powered sails? And there, passed the crow's nest, was the blue. That blue-blue-blue that had engulfed him when he fell from the portal.

Blue.

"Ya got 'e name, sonny?" One man asked.

Jim turned his head slightly to get a look at him. The old seaman had dirty red hair, most tucked under a simple black cap. His shirt, a little grimy from work, was white and black with a sailor's tie flaring at the bottom of his neck. His tan pants were of the same flimsy material as his top, with a black belt securing it at his waist.

Taking all this in, Jim glanced about, realizing that all the other men were wearing identical outfits. A far cry from Jim's own heavy duty jacket, brown shirt and pants – not to mention his golden earring and giant black boots.

Jim obviously stood out.

"Boy? Ye name?" Another demanded impatiently.

"Jim," he answered, standing tall. If there was anything he had learned from his voyage on The Legacy, it was to stand confident.

"Jim," a gentle voice piped up. Turning, Jim frowned at this new man – he was very different from the others, though Jim wasn't sure it was in a good way. He wore a breezy white shirt, sleeves rolled up but not for work (if the spotless clothes were anything to go by). His legs were clad in a tough, blue material, leading down to his snug black boots. An expensive looking red sash closed around his abdomen.

The guy's face was also odd compared to the others. No dirt smudged his skin, and his hair kept in place even with all the winds rushing by – probably some kind of hair gel.

Definitely a rich prat.

Despite the annoyed look Jim fixed on his face, the man happily advanced, holding out his hand in offering. "Welcome aboard, Jim," he smiled. Hmph, okay, maybe not a prat. At least, not a rich one. They didn't usually have the habit of shaking hands with a man assumedly below themselves.

"…Thanks," Jim clasped his hand in his own, giving two firm shakes before parting.

"Ah, kid, ye'r jest in time," the sailor with his hand on Jim's back grinned. "Te'day is the Prince's birthday."

Prince, huh? Figures.

"Please," the royal laughed. "Call me Eric. Especially you, Jim."

Jim gave a nod. After all, if princey-boy could call him by his first name, he should have the same right.

"All right then, 'Eric'," Jim said seriously. "Where is your heading?"

"Heading?" Eric frowned.

"Ah, this voyage ain't a fruitful one," a sailor interjected. "We're jest on a peaceful tour before the castle," he pointed to the right, "To celebrate his majesty's day."

Jim followed the sailor's finger, finding himself staring at an impressive white structure. The tops were red, and the architecture reminded Jim of a lighthouse from a human town his mother and he had once visited. Of course, that was before his father had left them, taking his money with him. Jim and his mother hadn't been able to enjoy any sort of vacation since.

Shrugging the thoughts away, Jim gave Eric a small grin. "Cool," he acknowledged.

Eric shrugged with a sarcastic smug on his face, not sharing Jim's excitement in the least. While he did love the time he spent on his ships, Grim always took his birthdays as a chance to rub his prince's wealth in everyone's faces. Guess he hoped it would inspire Eric to be more regal.

"Prince Eric!" A nasal voice yelled in slight panic from the back of the crowd.

Speak of the devil…

Eric chuckled at his old friend's distress. "Grim! Have you met Jim?" He clapped Jim on the back.

Worming his way through the crowd, Eric's guardian, Grimsby, made his way to Eric and Jim. "Prince Eric," Grimsby scolded haughtily, adjusting his pink handkerchief. "It is terribly rude to leave without announcing so first."

"Ah, sorry Grim. But, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be out in the open air than in those stuffy captain's quarters."

Grimsby scoffed, adding a sniff for emphasis as he literally upturned his nose at the idea.

Jim, softly elbowing Eric, mouthed Grim in question. Eric's eyes shot up, and, pushing Jim forward, he introduced them.

"A pleasure," was all Grimsby said, causing Jim to immediately dislike him. Just what he needed, another authority figure to decide he was a troublemaker and, ergo, wasn't worth his time.

"Same here," Jim muttered grudgingly, earning a raised brow from Eric. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

-0o0-

Ariel added the dingle hopper to her display, content with how it finished off another piece of her collection. Content, but not happy. Oh no, that had all been swept away when her father had yelled at her again. Why couldn't he just try? Try to understand, even a little? He obviously didn't know what humans were like by his own experience; he would never let himself get close enough.

Sighing, Ariel turned to Flounder, giving him a small smile. He wasn't fooled, and softly asked if she was okay. Ariel shrugged, floating over to some of her other treasures. She remembered the details about every piece – where it was, when she finally added it to her grotto, if it was an easy find or not. But, beyond the nostalgia they all held, they also captured wonder for Ariel. Who had used this particular piece? Why did it end up in the ocean, here with her?

Sometimes she would create scenarios for hours on end, imagining anything from crazy romances to brutal tragedies. She preferred the romances best. But, better than any of the stories, she favored her ideas of meetings humans. They'd be so impressed with her when she revealed how much she knew. And then they'd teach her more, giving her new items that she could only dream of.

A sudden crash threw Ariel from her creative thoughts as she jumped up and dashed to the smashed pieces littering her floor. It wasn't till she was hovering over the damage that she saw him.

"S-Sebastian!"

The crab fixed her with a furious glare before firing away. "Ariel, what are you- How could you- What is all this?"

Ariel bit her lip and shrugged innocently. "It's, uh…just my…collection."

Sebastian's jaw dropped at her audacity before he straightened, a fake smile on his face. "Oh I see, your collection…" Suddenly he narrowed his eyes, yelling, "If your father knew about this place, he'd-"

That's when Flounder zipped over, getting in Sebastian's face. "You're not gonna tell him, are you?" he pleaded.

Ariel's eyes widened in fear. "Oh Sebastian, please! He would never understand!"

Sebastian shook his head. Really, this was too much for an old crab like him. But, first things first, he needed to get her out of here. These things were poisoning her mind. "Ariel," he said calmly. "You are under a lot of pressure here. Look, come with me, I'll take you home-" He'd no sooner taken hold of her hand than her attention moved on.

"Now what do you suppose…?" she whispered, looking up. Something large was riding the waves above, casting a shadow across her grotto. And if it was above water…

Gently shaking Sebastian off, Ariel twisted and swam upward, easily slipping out of her private cave and continuing up to the surface. Behind her, Flounder hesitantly followed, unsure of this moving shadow. Sebastian was barely able to keep up with the yellow fish as he yelled after the headstrong teenager.

Ariel lifted her head from the water slowly, allowing only her eyes to rise above the surface. What she saw quickly convinced her to straighten till she was waist high.

Sebastian sputtered as he breached the surface, immediately starting in on another lecture. Ariel's face, however, silenced him. Her eyes, widened in delight, were not on him, but above. Following her gaze, the crab craned his head, shocked at what was before him.

"Jumping jellyfish!" he gasped.

Beyond the human vessel, far higher than he'd ever seen a mortal reach, were balls of colors. But as quickly as they came they would vanish, spreading out to disappear, leaving a smoky trail in their wake. Almost as soon as one died, however, another replaced it, and the cycle continued.

How were mere humans able to do this?

In his fearful musings, he didn't notice the youngest of Triton's daughters slip away.

-0o0-

"Jim, please-"

"No, Eric. Your…'friend' is right. I'm grateful to have been helped," Jim couldn't make himself say rescued. He wasn't a whimpering coward, he just needed some assistance. "But I can't just freeload. Don't worry, I've worked on a ship before. I know how it goes."

Eric sighed dramatically, frustrated at his new friend's reasoning. Okay, so maybe Grim had been a bit rough when he had scolded Jim, but for the kid to grab a mop and just start working… And now of all times. Now, when the fireworks were starting and the celebration was beginning. It wasn't time to work, no one else was – but Jim didn't care. It's like he wanted to prove himself or something.

"Go enjoy your party, man." Jim said, never looking up from the deck he was running the mop across. "It only comes once a year, yeah?"

Eric frowned, but eventually just shrugged in agreement. If Jim wanted to make a point, so be it. He'd offered him a way out, Jim could take it any time he wished. "You're welcome to join in whenever you-"

"I know. Thanks."

With that, Eric walked away from the empty corner and rejoined the crew. They were having a grand time, lighting this and that and watching them take to the air. Eric grabbed his pipe and added a bit of music to the party, his sheepdog Max bounding over to the giddy sound.

-0o0-

Ariel eased herself onto one of the blocks sticking out of the side of the boat. She could only guess that it was some kind of step, so as to give the humans a means to get higher. They didn't have the luxury of being weightless as she did in her environment.

Carefully, Ariel moved her hands onto some kind of ledge, gripping the edge and slowly bringing her head up to look into it. Her blue eyes danced in the light emitted by the human fire, and she quickly scanned the scene splayed out before her.

Many of the humans were moving to the unusual music – dancing! They were dancing! She giggled quietly, her giddiness causing her to fidget in her seat on the step. She continued observing, noticing that many were wearing a uniform, not unlike her father's guards. But a few were not.

An old man with white elder hair was wearing something like that she'd seen in a few human paintings. He was important, she supposed. Maybe the king? But he wasn't joining in on the fun – looked quite upset about it, honestly. Why would a king let something go on if he hated it? No, he wasn't in charge.

And then there was the man playing the music. He had something like what she'd picked up today - a snarfblack - only straighter, and not so bulky as hers. He played it beautifully.

She started, however, when a hairy creature jumped at the man, causing him to stop the song. But the human didn't mind, and even encouraged it to jump up. After a few minutes, it stopped, trotting over to some other humans instead.

Halfway, it stopped short, snapping its head to look in her direction. Ariel jumped back, plastering her back out of sight against the side of the boat. After a moment or so, she gathered the courage to look again, only to find herself nose to nose with the thing.

It breathed on her for a moment, and she worried it might tell the humans. Her surprise was frightening when it merely licked her face, staring at her.

"Hey, what'cha doin?"

Ariel froze.

Just above her, someone had spoken. A human had spoken.

"You like the water, huh? Is that it?"

The hairy thing turned its head, giving a sort of yip in return.

"Yeah, I guess you would. Being a pet in a port city and all." A hand entered Ariel's limited vision, gently reaching down and scratching the 'pet' behind the ears.

"Hey, Max! C'mere boy!" The pet suddenly jumped around, scampering over to the musical human. The human that just been talking to it, though, stayed put. Ariel heard a sigh, then a small thud, as if something had been set against the ship.

"I miss Morph…" She heard the human mumble. Still hiding, Ariel tilted her head, a smile on her face as she strained to hear what else this unusual human had to say.

-0o0-

Jim shook his head at himself. He really was being ridiculous, wasn't he? He was alone, in some kind of primitive planet that strangely reflected his own - luckily, he supposed. But really, this place had no thought of anything but itself. Heck, from what he'd heard from the crew, they seemed to think worlds were flat and that the solar system was centered on them. He wasn't exactly Mr. A+ and even he knew otherwise.

"I need to get out of here," he sighed. But not with a craft like this, oh no. He needed to create a space worthy vessel, equip with the proper power – solar energy. He had always been good with his gadgets, but this would undoubtedly take long to build as he didn't have the proper resources at his fingertips.

Jim quietly began murmuring a list of materials under his breath, his gaze on the mop next to him as he drew it back for a moment, only to let it go again to hit the wood with a clack. He did this a few more times, pathetically glad that he had control over something – over anything, at this point. He was almost feeling better, when a terrible squawk ruined the comfortable background noise.

Jim looked around for the maker of the sound, his eyes darting back and forth across the sky. What kind of bird had the gall to brave fireworks?

"-uttle! Be quiet!"

Jim's eyebrows sprung up in surprise, and he whirled around to see who had spoken.

No one was there. Everyone was at least 15 steps away, so who-

And then that squawk came again, that terrible noise that sounded like a cat being strangled. But, funnily enough, it sounded like it had come from below.

"Shhh!"

Jim, ever the curious one, raised an eyebrow and – slowly, so slowly – bent over the railing to look down.

He didn't see anything at first. It was just that blue, blue ocean, calmly rocking the ship in the moonlight. But mother moon was bright tonight, and he just barely caught sight of a wisp of red, blowing in the wind.

Muscles clenched and ready to spring into action, Jim moved himself back away from the rail to bend down and crouch. He held his breath as he tried to listen.

"Human…never…so close…"

Jim, exhaling softly, drew in another breath to steady himself, and moved his head to look out into the darkness.

There, inches from his face, was a girl. Her eyes were what he noticed first – blue and big and innocent, blinking rapidly at him. They were a pretty color – the best blue he'd seen all day. Red entered his vision when a few strands fell over her left eye, the silky hair wet from the sea and gleaming like satin in the moonlight. Her little nose moved as she opened her mouth, her jaw slightly dropping.

Ah.

He'd caught her completely by surprise.

"I…I…" he tried, but was cut off as a blur of white flew up between them, creating that hideous squawk.

A seagull.

Of course.

Scrambling away from the old bird, Jim batted at it with his arms, trying to keep the thing off him. But it proved relentless; it kept going for his face, scratching with its feet and pecking with its sharp beak.

Jim, distracted as he was, didn't pick up on the yells in the background as the crewmen ran over to help. All he knew was that one minute, he was under attack, and the next, the bird was being yanked off of him and tossed overboard.

"Stupid ball 'e feathers!" One of them proclaimed, watching as the bird flew off in a crooked line.

"Jim, are you okay?" Eric asked, suddenly at Jim's side.

"Y-yeah, just a little surprised."

"I tell ye' boy," a sailor laughed. "Ye've got the worst luck I ever did see e' man victim te'."

"You don't know the half of it," he agreed.

"Dim creature," Grim sniffed. "Flying around when the noise should be warning enough."

Jim ignored the old man, and instead turned his attention back to the spot he'd seen the girl. He had already guessed it, but his heart still sunk a little when he saw she wasn't there, but had fled in the confusion. Or...was it a distraction? Had she been…talking to that bird?

Allowing Eric to pull him up and lead him over to the food, Jim shrugged it off, telling himself that it must be all the blue getting to him. Perhaps he hadn't seen the girl at all.