Izzy

                There were pirates, and then there were PIRATES. I suppose that’s like most anything though. There are good people, and then there are GOOD people. We like to qualify things like that. Izzy fit nicely into both the pirate and GOOD people categories though which made her a bit of an oddity. Pirates aren't good people, or at least they aren't supposed to be. Pirates steal, kill and destroy. Izzy didn't do any of those things… but she did wear boots an ear ring, and had a bandana around her head. Somehow that was enough to get her into the pirate crew even though she never participated or condoned the normal raping and pillaging that the crew enjoyed. But why even become a pirate if you’re not into that kind of thing? I mean, if you’re a good person, making people walk the plank doesn't normally fit into your plan for the day. And yet, there’s Izzy, standing with the other pirates, smiling like the little kid that she is while they run off to burn down another village and steal their gold.

                

Maybe she was brainwashed! Maybe she was the daughter of the mayor of some sea-side town that the pirates came upon and they kidnapped her to use her for ransom, but somehow things didn't work out and they had to keep the girl and raise her on the ship. The only moral compass left to her was a locket her father had given her that held a picture of her mother and father.

See, that would make for a good story. A girl out of place, trying to do good in a world of corruption, perhaps waiting for the right time to escape, or the right swashbuckled buccaneer to come and rescue her and take her away on their own adventures.

That’s when Jake came along.

The pirates that held Izzy came through a storm to an island they’d never seen and couldn't find on their maps. They saw a village and decided to do what came naturally, but this time they were stopped by a small band of children. Some said they seemed to fly, others claimed there were fairies aiding them, but whatever it was, the pirates were rebutted.

For the first time Izzy saw someone like herself, dressed as a pirate, fighting like a pirate, but protecting the innocent rather than taking whatever he could just because he could. Jake confronted the captain himself, and they fought for what seemed forever. Swords flashing back and forth, sparks flying, the two of them leaping and ducking swords. Jake fought bravely but the captain was more than twice his size. Before the boy escaped the captain left him with a gash in his left arm.

Izzy looked at the captain standing tall on the deck of his ship, yelling at his men to push these children back into the water. Then she looked down and saw the trail of blood leading to the shore and the now small boy pulling with one arm trying to reach the shallows. She made her decision and jumped in after him. The captain called after her, he swore and screamed, his men fired at her but their aim was weak at range and she was a fast swimmer. She caught up to the boy as he reached a sandbar, only a hundred yards or so from the safety of the beach and the forests beyond. The gash on his arm stretched almost from his shoulder to his elbow. She’d seen men cut like this before, having grown up on a pirate ship, and knew he would either die soon or lose his arm.

His eyes focused on her and he smiled, “You rescued me.”

“I don’t know if I've rescued you, you’re bleeding pretty badly, and we’re still a long way from safety.” She said.

“I’m not worried.” He grunted, and tried to turn over to keep swimming. She stopped him from swimming away, and held him close. Drowning would be much worse than bleeding to death.

“Call the fairies, they’ll fix me up, if YOU ask them to. They can’t do anything for you personally, their laws only let them help when someone asks for someone else.”

She called to them, she yelled and yelled but nothing happened. The water around her was turning darker as Jake was turning paler.

“No, not like that. Clap your hands.”

She clapped. A little light appeared on the beach.
                She clapped again. Now there were two.
                She clapped until there were a host of them on the beach, they seemed to be swarming at the edge of the water now. She pulled Jake’s good arm around her shoulder, his blood now staining her clothes, and drug him to the shore where the fairies were waiting.

She looked down at him, the boy she’d seen stand up to a ship of bloodthirsty pirates, now laying near death on the beach, his breath was ragged, his face pale, and his eyes closed. She couldn't let it end this way. 

She simply said, “Please.” The rest of the words caught in her throat as she looked around at the now glowing swarm of fairies.

They began to glow brighter, and brighter until Izzy could see nothing but light around her and Jake. His arm seemed to close up, and the color returned to his face!

Jake’s eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at Izzy, her own face now stained with tears. He said, “I knew you’d rescue me.”