"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us search for more…"

I stood on the deck of the Raven, looking out at the never-ending expanse of stars and galaxies. I sighed as I turned away and dunked the mop I had been holding into the bucket of water nearby. I thought that I would have gotten a better job than just cabin boy again. The Royal Academy had assigned me to the Raven because Ambassador Clarence had asked for me specifically, which I thought meant that I would be in charge of piloting or navigation, but instead I got the same job I got on the RLS Legacy: mopping, dishes and other odd jobs that nobody else wanted to do.

"Hey, Jim, what's with the long face, huh?" Ryker, the son of the Ambassador asked as he bounded up to me. At the awkward age of fourteen, he was only a year younger than me, and apparently idolized me ever since he heard about my adventures on the RLS Legacy. Ever since we set off to Procyon about a month ago the boy had been following me around like a lost sheep, offering to help me with even the simple chores (although they were few and far between). After so many years of being ignored and pushed aside it was nice to have someone look up to me and want to be like me, even when his clinginess got annoying sometimes.

"It's nothing," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I mopped the deck.

"Oh come on, you can tell me!" One look at his eager expression and pleading eyes and I gave in.

"It's just that I thought I would be doing a more important job than just swabbing the deck and bussin' tables when the Academy told me the Ambassador asked for me specifically," I told him as I angrily scrubbed the wooden floor with the mop.

"That's not why you're here," Ryker said, and I looked up in surprise.

"What? Well then why-" I started to ask, but he cut me off.

"My dad heard about how you saved the Legacy all by yourself, and he wanted to here in case anything bad happened because he heard how good you are at quick thinking," he explained, "He wanted you here in case there was an emergency since we were on a dangerous peace mission to Procyon." I thought about it for a minute, and realized it made sense. Our domain, Etherium, and the Procyon's had been at war for centuries, when the Queen recently decided it was time to stop the war once and for all, so she sent the Ambassador of Etherium to Procyon to make a peace agreement. Needless to say, things didn't go according to plan. The Procyon's weren't interested in talking peace, and quickly sent us away with the order that we were not to enter their territory again. They escorted us back to the farthest point away from Etherium where the Procyon territory ends, leaving us to navigate our way around their territory to get back home. I had a feeling they did that just to tick us off and show their dislike for us.

I turned back to the boy on my right and smiled. "Well I'm glad to hear I'm wanted for more than just my handy work in the kitchen." Ryker laughed as he took a step closer.

"Hey Jim, do you need any help wi-" Ryker was suddenly cut off when something rocked the ship. We were both standing so close to the edge that it sent us both flying. Luckily, I was able to grab onto a nearby post and hold on. I looked up and saw a shower of meteors coming straight at us. One of them must have hit the ship.

"Jim, help!" I heard Ryker scream. I looked around, but couldn't spot the boy. Suddenly I saw a pair of hands hanging off the side of the ship for dear life. I quickly grabbed both his hands as they started to slip and pulled him back inside. We both fell back onto the deck and Ryker suddenly hugged me.

"Jim, you saved my life!" he exclaimed in admiration.

"Yeah, yeah, it was nothing," I said with a shrug. I didn't like being touched, it was something that always annoyed me. Suddenly the ship tilted to the side and I grabbed Ryker around the shoulders and held onto the nearby post so neither of us would fall over. Suddenly a meteor struck the mast, snapping it in half; it made a sickening crunch as it fell onto the deck. Then a shower of fiery meteors hit the ship, making holes in the deck and the solar sails.

"Captain, thruster's capacity at only 15%!" the navigator yelled. The captain's big green eyes widened even more in surprise. Suddenly two engineers ran up on deck.

"Captain, the engine is failing!" one of them yelled.

"A meteor struck it and none of my men can fix it without the proper parts!" the other yelled over the commotion on the deck.

"Jim, what's going to happen?" Ryker asked fearfully.

"Don't worry, worst case scenario we'll have to board the longboats and land on the nearest planet," I explained. Ryker's face suddenly went pale with fear.

"But…but that's…Earth," he choked out. I walked over to the edge and saw that he was right. A small blue and green planet was no more than a hundred miles away, and we were losing momentum fast, being sucked in by the planet's gravitational pull.

"I-I'm sure all those stories about Earth aren't true," I said nervously, but I couldn't let it show. "I'm sure they aren't all bloodthirsty barbarians."

"I meant the stories about them killing anyone who isn't from their own planet that lands there."

"Captain, we're losing power fast, and we're being pulled in by the planet's gravity. What are your orders?" the first mate yelled.

"Get more men down to the engine to fix it!" he yelled back.

"But Captain, the engineer's said-"

"I know what they said!" the captain snapped, cutting him off, "And I just gave you an order, follow it!"

The first mate just stood there for a second, and then finally sighed. "Yes, Sir."

I looked up at the Captain with irritation. Didn't he see that they didn't have time to repair the engines, even if they could? Had he gone completely mad? I threw my mop down on the floor and ran up the deck to the helm.

"Captain, we're not gonna be able to avoid a crash. Even if they manage to fix the engines it'll be too late, we need to get to the longboats!" I yelled over all the confusion.

"No, keep the sails down, we'll need them when the engine is fixed!" The Captain yelled to the crew who was trying to secure the sails, and then he turned to me. "Mr. Hawkins, I am the Captain of this ship, you are just the cabin boy, now do as you are told and let me handle this or you'll be thrown in the brig until we get back to the Spaceport." I could feel my temper rising.

"We're not gonna make it to the spaceport, sir," I said indignantly. "And we're not gonna survive if you don't evacuate the ship!" Ryker appeared at my side.

"He saved the crew of Legacy when Treasure Planet blew up, he knows what he's doing!" he defended me, but his tone was softer than mine. The Captain's eyes narrowed at him.

"And you, you weren't even supposed to be here. Just because your father is the Ambassador doesn't mean a thing! You better learn your place fast, boy! You're just a passenger on this ship!" The Captain spat at him. He was quickly losing his temper, which was something the Academy always told us you can never lose. You have to remain calm at all times, even in an emergency. I sent him a dirty look before grabbing Ryker's hand and pulling him down to the stairs to the holding area where the longboats were kept.

"Jim, what about everyone else? We have to do something!" Ryker exclaimed as I pressed the button to open the hatch. I sighed. He was right, we couldn't just leave them here to die.

"Alright, I'll get as many people as I can and be back in five minutes, you stay in the boat!" I ordered him as I ran back up on deck.

"Listen up, everybody. We're not gonna be able to save the ship, we need to get out of here while we can. Everybody follow me to the longboats," I yelled so everyone could hear. Everybody stopped what they were doing for a second to turn and look at me. A few took a step forward before the Captain's voice stopped them.

"Everybody get back to work!" the Captain yelled. I turned to look at him in disgust.

"How can you stand here and fool yourself into thinking everything is alright? Are you just gonna let all these people die?" I yelled at him. I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. I turned around and ran right into Ambassador Clarence.

"Jim, what's all this commotion?" he asked me, looking around at all the destruction above deck.

"We only have 15% capacity left in our thrusters and our engine has failed, but the Captain refuses to evacuate the ship!" I explained. Clarence looked past me at the Captain.

"Ah, well I'll take care of that," he said, walking up to the helm. "Excuse me, Captain…"

I looked around at the crew. Their faces were indifferent, but I could see fear in their eyes, but they knew they had to obey their Captain. They were all like programmed little robots, only following one person's instructions, never fighting back, even when it was needed. I would never be like them, not even if it meant flunking out of the Academy.

"Alright, yes, I understand," I heard the Captain say. "Ok, but just give my engineers five minutes to at least try and fix the problem. Landing on earth is a last resort, you know all those stories about spacers landing there; very few make it out alive to tell the tale." So that was what made the Captain reluctant to leave the ship, the stories about Earth. I'd always been one to believe stories, especially the one's my mom read to me about Treasure Planet when I was little, but these were more like rumors, they couldn't be true, could they?

"Men, head to the longboats, abandon ship!" the Captain's voice rang out. Finally, I thought in my head.

The men didn't need to be told twice; they raced down to the longboats below the deck and piled in them. I rushed back to the crew's quarters and grabbed my solar surfer from where I had hidden it behind two large barrels, since they never got moved. I'd built one in my spare time when I was at home on vacation from the Academy, and had smuggled it aboard the Raven. You never know when a solar surfer might come in handy, it certainly did when escaping from Treasure Planet. Suddenly something cool and smooth hit the side of my face. I didn't even jump, I was used to it already.

"There you are, Morph! Come on, we have to get out of here before the ship burns up!" I yelled as I slipped my surfer under one arm. Morph zoomed past me and was already waiting for me on Ryker's shoulder when I arrived. I jumped in the boat and stashed my surfer under the seats as the boat was lowered from the quickly descending ship. Our boat was the last one to be launched out of the two on the ship. Since the other boat had already been launched that left Ryker and I with the only boat left.

"Ryker, where's your dad?" I asked as the boat lowered itself. I couldn't believe the Ambassador had left his son all by himself in the only other boat.

"He left on the first boat. He tried to get me to come with him, but I told him I had to wait for you to come back," he explained. As soon as our boat was dropped I took control and quickly got us out of the way of the ship, then hovered for a moment, looking for the other ship. I saw it descending into gray storm clouds. I looked around and saw that they extended for miles. It was never a good idea to land in the middle of a storm, but we couldn't really just hover up here indefinitely, we didn't have any other choice.

"Ryker, close the solar sails, we can't risk them being damaged." With no sail we had to reply only on the thrusters, which made flying more difficult, but it was better that risking the solar sails being hit by lightning and catching fire. As soon as we flew into the clouds rain pelted us from every side, soaking us as thunder rumbled loudly in our ears.

"Hang on tight!" I yelled to Ryker over the noise. Ryker laid down low in the boat and held onto Morph and my solar surfer while I steered the boat. I shielded my eyes from the rain and made out the outline of the other boat, overloaded with people. I guess none of them wanted to wait for the second boat. Suddenly a streak of lightning lit up the sky and struck the middle of the boat. I heard piercing screams before the boat smashed down to the ground below in a fiery blaze, which was quickly put out by the downpour.

Ryker, hearing the noise tried to sit up, but I pushed his head back down. "What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing," I lied. I couldn't tell the boy his father had just died, and I didn't want him to see the remains of the ship either, I knew that if he did it would haunt him for the rest of his life. I glanced at the ship for a brief second to see if anyone had miraculously survived, but there was nothing left but black, burned wood and ashes. I looked back up and yelled in surprise.

Our boat smashed into a tree that I hadn't seen and flipped over, sending us tumbling from the boat. I was sent flying from the boat right into the branches of shorter trees. I felt the sharp twigs and branches scratch me as I fell through the trees, until I managed to grab onto a branch and pull myself up. I climbed up to the top of the tree and looked around for Ryker, but it was hard to see much of anything in the rain.

I climbed down and set off in the direction where the boat flipped over. I found Ryker lying about twenty feet away from the boat, which was now a pile of broken, soaked wood. My solar surfer was lying nearby looking a little banged up, but other than that unscathed. Ryker was lying on his back, his face twisted in pain and his leg bent at an unnatural angle. Morph was sitting on his chest, cooing softly. When he saw me he squeaked in delight and nuzzled my face. Then he pulled back and made tiny nervous squeaks, glancing back at Ryker. I ran over to him and shook his shoulder.

"Ryker, can you hear me?" I asked. Ryker opened his eyes and groaned in pain.

"Everything hurts, especially my leg," he complained softly. I noticed he was holding his side with both hands. I took both his hands in mine and moved them away, revealing a dark red stain on his shirt. Oh no, I thought to myself, this is really not good.

"Ryker, I need you to sit up, and stand if you can, so I can move you over to that tree," I told him as I put an arm behind his back and helped push him into a sitting position. He cried out in pain when I tried to make him stand, so I finally just lifted him and carried him over to the tree. I sat him up against the tree and tore off the shirt around the wound, and then wrapped it around his waist.

"Jim, where is my dad? He should be here with the crew by now! I'm scared!" he cried.

"You're going to be Ok," I told him with a pat on the shoulder. I was just as scared as him, but one of us needed to be strong. After I tied the bandage around his waist I was stumped. I wasn't a doctor, what was I supposed to do now? The rest of the crew was dead, and without a communication device or any way to tell anyone back at home where we were, we were basically stuck here for who knows how long. As far as the Academy or the queen knew we would be heading back the way we came, they had no way of knowing we were taking a longer way home because of the Procyon's demands. Even if they found out that we had taken a different way home help wouldn't come for a long time. We weren't expected home for another month or two at the most, so by the time they arrived, if they even arrived at all, we might all be dead…unless. Suddenly an idea struck me. Unless we could blend in until help arrived. With the others it might be harder because they looked so much like the Earthlings stereotypical view of what they called 'aliens', but Ryker and I looked like normal Earthlings, we could even pass as one of them. But first we needed to find somewhere to go where Ryker could get the help he needed. I walked over to my surfer and brought it over to Ryker, who was leaning against the tree, resting. I powered it up and it started to hover. I picked the sleeping boy up and put him on the board, then tied my belt around it and pulled it along while Morph rode on my shoulder. Night came quickly and soon it was hard just to see a foot in front of me, with the rain mixing well with the darkness and no moonlight shining through the storm clouds.

Suddenly I heard wolves howl in the distance and fear spread through me. Morph cooed fearfully and flew in my pocket. I reached down and patted him on the head.

"It'll be alright, Morph, I won't let anything to happen to either of you," I said quietly, straining to hear how far away the wolves were. I scanned our surrounding and spotted a small cave up ahead, barely big enough for two people, but we didn't have any other options. I pulled the solar surfer to the entrance and pushed it in then crawled inside myself. I tried making a small fire but only managed to make one big enough for Morph to warm himself a little. While we had shelter from the storm I took my shirt off and rung it out, then rung out my pants and left my boots near the fire to dry. I moved over to Ryker and shook his shoulder. He rolled over and opened his eyes a fraction of an inch. His cheeks were an unnatural light blue color and his eyes had a haze over them. He mumbled something that I couldn't understand then closed his eyes again. I managed to get his shirt off and wring it out, then tore a strip of cloth his shirt and replaced the bloody rag I'd tied around his waist earlier. After I wrung out his shirt and managed to get his pants off and wring them out I hung them over the fire I'd been able to make a little bigger. It wasn't important if my clothes were dry or not, but it was imperative that Ryker's were. After fifteen minutes they were dry and I put them back on him, and then drifted off to sleep with the sound of wolves howling in the distance.

When I woke up the next morning I found Morph cooing sadly, sitting by Ryker's side. I scooted over to Ryker and shook his shoulder.

"Ryker, wake up, we have to keep moving," I said softly. Suddenly I noticed how ghostly pale he was. I put a hand on his cheek and it was icy cold to the touch, despite the fire smoldering next to him.

"Ryker?" I asked, already knowing what had happened. My heart raced as I bent over him and listened for any signs of a heartbeat. After a minute of not hearing anything my eyes filled with tears and I buried my face in Ryker's shirt. I could have saved him; there must have been something I could have done! Ryker was dead, and it was all my fault. There was nobody else to blame like there had been when Mr. Arrow had been lost. I'd thought it was all my fault, when it had been Scroop's doing all along, but now there was nobody else to take the blame; Ryker was dead because of me! Something cold touched my cheek that burned with guilt. He cooed softly in my ear, trying to comfort me. I pushed him away.

"No, Morph, don't you get it? It's my fault he's dead! If I'd been paying attention to where we were going, I wouldn't have crashed into that tree and he would be alive now!" I yelled at him. Morph made sad cooing sounds that sounded strangely like 'not your fault'. I picked Ryker up and walked outside, laying him on the ground, then went back inside and powered down my solar surfer, dragging it outside and tying it to a tree.

I knelt down beside Ryker's body and started to dig a small hole in the dirt with my hands, but it wasn't working very well since the ground was wet and cold. Suddenly Morph appeared beside me and turned into a small shovel. I took it and began to dig a grave and within a couple hours I'd dug a hole the size of Ryker's body that was about two feet deep. I gently picked up his small body and placed it in the shallow grave, then pushed the dirt back into the hole, covering his body. I looked around and found various stones I used to cover the dirt to mark his grave, then stood up as Morph turned back into his original form and shook the dirt off himself.

I untied the solar surfer then looped my belt back around my waist and carried my surfer under one arm as I trudged through the woods. Dusk came too soon and as soon as the sun set the sound of wolves filled the woods once again, only this time they sounded closer…much closer. Their piercing howls almost scared me as much as when I looked down at my arm earlier and saw that it was starting to get infected. I looked up at the sky and sighed in relief to see that there wasn't a cloud in sight anymore. At least I would be able to walk by the moonlight. The further the moon rose in the sky the louder the wolves' howls became, and Morph was starting to whimper fearfully. I stroked his head as I hurried along. I had to be getting near a village or something!

I suddenly spotted a tall building in the distance, covered by a light fog. I was stopped suddenly by the crunching of something behind me and a low growling sound. I spun around and saw a big gray wolf standing no more than ten feet away, bearing its long, sharp fangs at me. A moment later more wolves appeared behind it, their yellow eyes glistening with hunger. I took a cautious step back when the wolves suddenly lunged. I spun on my heel and took off for the castle in the distance. When I heard a wolf snap its teeth behind me I hopped on my surfer, stomping down on the thruster and raising the sail when I remembered that the sun wasn't out, and since I'd been hiding it behind a barrel for weeks it hadn't gathered enough energy to fly, only hover a foot or two above the ground.

I kept stomping on the thruster, trying to get it to go faster, but it used a lot of what stored energy it had on carrying Ryker through the woods. The surfer was definitely faster than me running, but it could go a lot faster if the sun was out, and could fly a lot higher too. The wolves were surprised by my sudden increase in speed, but quickly compensated by running faster themselves. Within two minutes they had caught up, and I was so close to the castle now…only a little farther. I hopped off my surfer and threw myself at the gate, but I quickly found out it was locked when I hit the bars and it knocked me back, leaving me dazed for a second. I glanced behind me to see the wolves only a few feet behind me. I tugged and kicked at the gates with all my might, but they wouldn't budge. I was about to give up all hope and accept my fate when the gate opened and I fell inside. I swiftly grabbed both gates and slammed them closed, stumbling back from the wolves snapping angrily at the gates. I growled at them in return and glared at them, even though I knew they didn't know what it meant. I turned to my left to see Morph had melted into a puddle of pink goo next to me, shaking. I picked him up and turned to look at the castle behind me. There must be someone in there that could help me.

It rose at least five stories high, maybe even taller with the spiraled towers that rose up to the skies, and looked gloomy from all the fog surrounding it. There were no lights on side, and no smoke from any chimneys, making me think for a second that maybe it was abandoned. But I couldn't take any chances, I would need to hide my surfer just in case; they couldn't know I was from another planet. I walked over to the wall surrounding the front of the castle and moved the dead leaves away, then hid my surfer among them, pushing the leaves back over it. I might need it later.

I looked down at Morph in my hands. What could I do about him? One look at him and they would know something was strange about me.

"Morph, I need you to change into something I can wear," I told him. I needed a way to keep him close to me, but something that wouldn't give away that I was different. Morph thought for a moment then turned into a gold earring, resembling the one I used to wear before I joined the Academy. I picked him up and put it in my ear, then walked up to the big door at the entrance. I knocked on the door and waited. After a few minutes I knocked again and pushed the door open. I glanced inside, but didn't see anyone. I slipped inside and shut the door behind me.

"Hello, is anyone here?" I called out. No response. "Hellooooo?" I took a step further and looked around. It looked deserted, but it was too clean to have been deserted for very long. Suddenly I heard something clatter to my left. I turned, but didn't see anything move.

"Hey, don't hide. I just need somewhere to stay for a while," I explained.

"Who's in my castle?" a loud voice roared from somewhere in the castle. I jumped a bit, but remained calm. "My name is Jim…Jim Hawkins. My, uh…ship crashed and I'm the only survivor, and I'm very far away from home. I was wondering if I could stay here for a while until-"

"I'm not running a charity!" the voice roared back, cutting me off.

"Look, I don't have anywhere else to go! I have no way of getting home, and there are wolves right outside the castle, where else am I supposed to go?" I yelled back.

"Why should I let you stay here? What will you do for me in return?" the voice growled; it sounded closer now.

"I can cook, clean, mop and do just about any chore. I'll do all of that if you let me stay here," I pleaded. The voice was quiet for a minute, and then I saw a shadow run down the stairs in the middle of the room. He looked like a large, overgrown wolf, only different somehow. I stumbled back in surprise. Standing before me was a large beast with brown fur all over his body with long, sharp claws and teeth, but the eyes looked human. He was wearing a red cloak with a pair of ripped pants. When he saw me staring him he roared at me.

"What are you staring at?" he yelled.

I snorted. "Maybe I would have been better off with the wolves," I muttered.

"You will be my servant here in exchange for room and board until you decide to leave. Do we have a deal or not?" he snapped.

"Yeah, whatever," I said with an indifferent shrug. I was used to dealing with arrogant jerks, especially after Scroop.

"Lumière, Cogsworth, show my servant to his room!" he yelled before storming off.

"Somebody has a temper," I mumbled to myself. Suddenly a candle stick and a clock ran up to me. I looked at them strangely. Maybe I wasn't the only alien living here.

The whole way to my room the candlestick tried to make small-talk, but I just ignored each attempt. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to get to my room and rest.

"Well here we are, monsieur," the candlestick said when we reached a door. I walked in then slammed the door. I would need my rest, tomorrow was going to be a long day, and so was the rest of my life…

Sorry this is so long, but it is the prologue and there was a lot of backstory to cover before I really get the story going, but to keep everyone entertained I added a lot of adventure and action. The next chapter will introduce Belle and start the story, and most of the rest will be told from her POV.

Just so everyone knows, I don't actually own the plot. There is some stuff I made up, but the plot comes from a fan-video on youtube made by LoveAndHeartbreak. Just type in 'Belle/Jim Everything You Want' and you'll find it, or just follow the link on my profile. It'll give away the ending, so may you might wanna wait until the story is over to watch it if you don't like spoilers.

So, anyways, leave a review, tell me what you think, all that stuff. =)