Gilligan's Second Home

Summary: Hoping to find rescue from the island, Gilligan and Skipper take a raft out onto the ocean. They happen upon what seems to be a functioning pirate ship and are forced to join the crew.

NOTE: Okay... I accidentally wrote an eight-chapter Gilligan's Island story. I honestly didn't mean to. No... I'm serious. I did not mean to. This has happened to me before. I always start stories just for myself, because I'm bored and just want to write about various characters doing whatever. Oftentimes my writings are unfinished, a chapter or two of disjointed scenes, and they never see the light of day. They are kind of just messy experiments... But this one accidentally became a full story, so I figured I'd publish it here. I know not very many people are into Gilligan's Island these days, so I don't even expect many - or possibly any - reviews... but I had fun writing it anyway. I'm mostly posing it here so I can come back and read it later in the event that my computer crashes and the story is lost. That's why I publish most of my fanfiction stories - for my own reference - to have all my stories in one place in case they get deleted off my computer.

Anyway, if you want to read it, here it is. I had a lot of fun writing it. It does contain a little bit of violence, but nothing too disturbing. I don't have the heart to put any Gilligan's Island characters into any situations that are exceptionally harsh, but there are a couple moments that are a little more rough than what would happen in the show... These characters are resilient though, so don't fret.

Also, if you've read my other Gilligan's Island stories, I can't promise you this, but I can claim it's my opinion that this one is a lot better than my others. My genie one was pretty good, actually, in theory... But in this one, I tried to keep the characters more true to themselves. I have a great deal more respect for Skipper now too. Hopefully someone out there will read and enjoy this.

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Chapter 1

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Gilligan sighed as he stared up at the passing clouds. He and Skipper had taken a raft out to sea two days ago, hoping to find their way back to Hawaii or happen upon a ship. So far, they'd found nothing. Gilligan had somehow lost track of their food supply sometime yesterday morning... At least, Skipper seemed to blame him for the food's disappearance. Gilligan was supposed to be keeping an eye open on the raft, watching for ships or land and keeping all their supplies secured while Skipper took a nap. Gilligan didn't really know what happened to the food, but assumed it must have drifted off somehow while he wasn't paying attention.

He wasn't paying attention now either. Skipper told him to keep watch, as they were taking turns napping or watching for anything useful to come about. Gilligan was tired of watching the same waves for hours on end, so he had decided to watch the clouds instead. At least they were different shapes now and then.

Gilligan glanced next to himself where his captain was sleeping. Skipper was snoring. Gilligan reached over and put his fingers on Skipper's cheek. Sometimes if he poked the older man, his snoring would stop.

Though still asleep, Skipper raised his hand and swatted at Gilligan's fingers. He also stopped snoring, for the moment anyway.

Gilligan turned back over onto his back and watched the sky again. The sky was, fortunately, very cloudy today. That meant he wouldn't get burned by the sun. At least there was that. He was thirsty, hungry, tired, and kind of scared, but at least his skin wouldn't get sunburnt.

He wondered if they were ever going to find a boat or another island. Taking a raft aimlessly out into the ocean hadn't been a good idea. It was too big of a risk, and the island they'd left wasn't really so bad. It had become like a second home to him. He really didn't mind living there. Each of the individual people on the island had family, friends, and homes they missed from back where they'd come from, but the group had kind of become a family rather quickly, and the island itself made a pretty comfortable home. They had huts and hammocks and fresh fruit and fish. It could have easily been a lot worse. The Minnow could have crashed on a volcanic island with no plants... But it hadn't. They'd landed in a paradise.

It didn't seem worth the risk to Gilligan to potentially starve to death or be eaten by sharks just so they might find their way home. They could have just made a new home on the island. There was food there, fresh water, shelter, and the people there were great. It seemed a shame to throw all that away just so they could end up dying at sea.

Just when Gilligan was beginning to contemplate taking a nap himself, he noticed something moving out of the corner of his eye. He shot up into a sitting position in time to see a large ship in the distance.

With a gasp, Gilligan jumped to his feet. "Skipper!" He called out, turning around and nearly tripping over himself as he went to wake his friend.

"Gilligan!" Skipper groaned. "Could you please try to stay still? I can't get even a minute of sleep with you constantly bouncing around." The captain turned over onto his side.

"No, Skipper..." Gilligan knelt down next to him and gripped his arm. "There's a boat. A ship!"

"Huh?" Skipper quickly sat up as well, climbing to his feet and looking out into the distance. "Little Buddy! We're saved!"

"Yeah!" Gilligan jumped up and down, causing the raft to rock a bit.

"Gilligan, stop that!" Skipper grabbed his arms and held him still. "You're going to tip the whole raft over!"

"Sorry, Skipper," Gilligan forced himself to calm down.

"Well, let's paddle over to it before it gets too far away," Skipper ordered.

Gilligan nodded and grabbed an oar. He paddled on one side while Skipper paddled on the other.

As they drew near the ship, Gilligan frowned. It looked kind of scary. It didn't look like a clean, friendly, modern ship. It looked like the kind of ships he'd heard about in stories about pirates. It seemed to be wooden, and even had a black flag flying on it.

"Skipper, maybe we should go back," Gilligan suggested as he stopped paddling.

"What?" Skipper scoffed. "Keep paddling, Gilligan. Why would we go back? We've been trying to get off that island for months."

"I don't feel good about that ship, Skipper," Gilligan persisted. "It looks like a pirate ship."

Skipper rolled his eyes and shook his head. "There aren't pirates anywhere near Hawaii," Skipper assured his first mate. "It's probably some kind of tourist ship."

"Oh," Gilligan looked back at the ship, which was drawing nearer and nearer. "So they're all just pretending to be pirates..."

"Could be," Skipper continued paddling.

They continued paddling closer as the ship drifted toward them. The closer the ship got, the more Gilligan could observe it, and the more nervous he felt. Printed in thick letters across the front of the ship were the words 'The Valiant Serpent.' That sounded like a pirate ship to him.

When they were near enough, one of the sailors from the ship called down to them.

"You men need help?"

Gilligan looked at Skipper. He still wasn't sure about these people. The guy even looked kinda like a pirate. He had long hair, a bandana, and his clothes looked dirty... Just like the pirates from stories.

"We were shipwrecked on a nearby island," Skipper called up to the man. "We're trying to get back to Hawaii!"

Gilligan looked from his captain to the stranger on the ship. He wished they could just go back home... to their island home. This was scary.

"Come on up," The guy called back as he tossed down a rope ladder.

"Skipper, I don't think we should-" Gilligan started in a quiet voice, gripping Skipper's arm with his hands and pulling him slightly back away from the ladder.

"Will you stop that, Gilligan?" Skipper shoved his hands away. "We were looking for help... Well, we found it. They might not be the most formal-looking folks, but I'll take what I can get. They don't all need to be dressed like the Howells."

"It's not just that," Gilligan started. "They can dress however they want... but they seem like pirates. Pirates aren't friendly, Skipper."

"They're not pirates, Gilligan," Skipper scoffed.

"But they might be," Gilligan frowned as he began to accept that he was not going to be able to talk Skipper out of this. His shoulders slumped as he looked back up at the man on the ship's deck.

"We'll play it safe, Gilligan," Skipper promised. "You're right that we shouldn't just completely trust these people. But we've got to give it a chance, or we'll end up lost at sea forever."

"Okay," Gilligan frowned.

"Let me do the talking," Skipper ordered in a low voice as he gripped the ladder. "And don't say anything about the others back on the island. Not yet. Just in case."

Gilligan frowned and grabbed the back of Skipper's shirt. "You said they weren't pirates... Even if they aren't, do you think they're dangerous?"

"I don't know, Gilligan," Skipper shrugged. "We'll find out soon."

Gilligan felt his shoulders slump again as he watched his captain make his way up the ladder. He had no choice but to follow.

When they reached the top, the man who had talked to them before was there to welcome them aboard. He took Skipper's arm and helped him climb over the side and then offered the same for Gilligan, who tripped over the railing anyway.

The sailor laughed and held onto Gilligan firmly so he didn't fall. Gilligan frowned, as he felt like he was being made fun of. "Watch your step, there, little fella."

Gilligan shrugged out of his grip and took a step back so he was close to Skipper.

"I'm Christopher Silver," The man introduced himself. He had dark skin, long dark hair under a red bandana, and tattered, dirty clothing. He even had a few gold teeth which were visible when he smiled.

"Jonas Grumby," Skipper offered his hand to the man and shook it.

Silver looked to Gilligan next. Not wanting to be rude, Gilligan reluctantly reached out and shook the man's hand. "Gilligan," He introduced himself with a small, uncertain voice.

"Pleased to meet you both," Mr. Silver grinned. "You say you were shipwrecked nearby? Can I ask what happened?"

"We got caught in a storm," Skipper explained. "Our ship was beyond repair." Gilligan was glad Skipper didn't mention that the glue the first mate created was the reason the ship was beyond repair. It had probably been salvageable before that incident.

"Let me take you to see the captain," Silver offered with a half-smile. He looked somewhat conflicted.

Gilligan looked toward Skipper, silently trying to convey to him that he didn't like this, and that he wanted to climb back down onto the raft and get out of here.

Skipper shrugged and put his hand on Gilligan's back as he dragged him along after the very pirate-looking sailor.

"Captain!" Mr. Silver called out as he walked along the deck.

"You pick up those men, Silver?" A gruff-sounding voice called out before a man stepped into Gilligan's line of view. This man looked even more like a pirate than the first guy. He wore a large hat, slightly less tattered clothing, and a long coat. Though he wasn't wearing an eye patch, he did have a large scar stretching over his right eye. He'd probably worn one once.

"Yes, Captain," Mr. Silver answered. "This is Mr. Jonas Grumby and Mr. uh-" He hesitated as he seemed to be searching his memory. He probably thought he'd forgotten Gilligan's first name... but Gilligan hadn't ever given it to him. "Mr. Gilligan... They lost their ship on an island nearby."

"I'm Captain O'Neil," The captain introduced himself.

Skipper reached out and shook the other captain's hand. "We're wondering if you're going in the direction of Hawaii. If not, that's fine. We just need to get somewhere where we can make arrangements to sail or fly back there."

"I've got to be honest with you guys," O'Neil spoke as he stared from Skipper to Gilligan. "We're not really in the business of escorting shipwrecked sailors back home."

"We can pay you," Skipper offered. "I don't have money on me at the moment, but I've got a bank account back home. I can pay you when we get back."

O'Neil laughed. "As I said... Not in the business. Though we are recruiting new members to join The Valiant Serpent's crew."

Gilligan glanced nervously in Skipper's direction. He didn't want to work on this ship, under this captain. He wanted to work on Skipper's ship... even if he didn't have one right now.

"No, thanks," Skipper declined. "We're just trying to get home."

"Well," O'Neil grinned. "I wasn't really asking you... The two of you seem to be pretty much stuck here on my ship... and I don't let people get away with free passage here. If you're on my ship, you're going to work for me."

Gilligan frowned. "That's not fair!" He finally spoke up. "We'll just go back to our raft. Come on, Skipper," He grabbed Skipper's arm and turned around, but Skipper didn't budge. Gilligan pouted and turned toward his friend.

Gilligan was feeling smaller and smaller as he observed the other sailors on the ship. The longer they stood here, the more attention was drawn to the conversation. They had an audience of twelve or so pirate-looking sailors by now. He noticed some of them had swords or knives on their belts. It didn't seem like Gilligan and Skipper had much of a choice in this.

"He's kidding, Gilligan," Skipper assured him, raising an eyebrow toward the other captain. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all," O'Neil answered. "And you are most certainly not free to return to your flimsy little raft... which I'm sure my ship has decimated by now anyway. You're stuck on my ship, so you're going to work to earn your keep."

Gilligan shook his head. "For how long? Just until we make it to land?" He supposed that was fair.

The captain shrugged but didn't answer. "Thomas, find something for Mr. Grumby to work on. Make sure his abilities aren't wasted. Everyone here needs to earn their keep."

Skipper glanced toward Gilligan. He looked nervous.

"Come along," One of the sailors stepped forward and gestured for Skipper to follow him.

Skipper took a few steps forward, following the other man. Gilligan walked after him, stumbling over some ropes that were lying on the deck and tripping up, falling into Skipper's back. He caught himself, just barely, on Skipper's shirt, holding himself up long enough for Skipper to turn back and grab onto him.

"Not you," Captain O'Neil shook his head and reached toward Gilligan's arm. "Mr. Silver will show you around."

Gilligan looked from Skipper, to O'Neil, and then to Mr. Silver. He didn't want to go a separate way from his Skipper. Shaking his head, Gilligan spoke up, "Why can't I help Skipper?"

"I can't risk having the two of you plotting anything together, or sabotaging my ship. You'll see each other at the end of your work shifts. For now, you'll each do separate jobs. I doubt you and Mr. Grumby would excel in the same line of work. He's clearly capable of heavy lifting... You are not," The captain explained.

Gilligan frowned, but couldn't deny that the captain was right. He wasn't strong like Skipper.

"This way," Mr. Silver ordered, reaching his hand out toward Gilligan.

"Don't give him anything too difficult," Captain O'Neil suggested with a small smirk, before turning away.

Gilligan glanced in Skipper's direction one last time before he and the older man were led off in opposite directions. He didn't like this one bit. He didn't trust these sailors, didn't like the idea of working for them, and was honestly pretty scared of how this was going to turn out. Were these guys ever going to let them go? Or were Skipper and Gilligan meant to be the crew of this ship for the rest of their lives?

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