Disclaimer: I do not own the once upon a time series.*sniff*
Peter Pan
" James! Hurry up! The games are starting!" I shouted to my right hand man. As the leader of the Lost Boys, I made sure that there was fun all the time. Sure, it wasn't like when Wendy, John, and Michael were here, but we managed. I used to think I had a crush on Wendy, simply because she is kind and sweet, but she was very demanding. John and Michael were spoiled. I honestly didn't feel a thing. She was here, she did things, then she was gone. Life couldn't be better.
"Peter, you got a brooding face on. What's going on?" James said to me. He didn't understand. I guess I don't know why I had a brooding face on, either.
"Don't be silly! And it's almost midnight! The rest of the Lost Boys would be waiting for us. It would be bad if we made them bored." I replied with a smirk. My games would always start with "search the island for new boys" then we would go do other things.
The Lost Boys, you see, used to start with seven of us, me, James, and five others. More and more boys came along and soon there were 40 of us, all orphans and all free. When the first new arrivals came, we didn't know about it until they stumbled onto our hunting practice. When we became 20, I started the game so others would not meet us with an arrow pointing right at their face. The only thing that convinced them to joining us is that they could hunt and live free and happy like the Lost Boys.
Enough of the stupid and sad past. Ever since we hit the 30 mark, it's been harder to find kids to join because of the great Captain Hook.
Captain Hook. What is to say about him? Selfish, serious, and always out to prove that a little demon like me can follow orders to a pirate like him. Like that would ever happen. Wendy left with her brothers long ago. The Lost Boys follow my lead, and I am happy. Well, mostly happy.
"Peter! We were wondering if you would show tonight." Ted called out to me. Everyone else nodded in agreement. All I did was smirk.
"Ted, The moon is not yet at midnight, so don't be complaining about how I was 'nearly' late. Now, down to business. You know what is coming." They groaned. We still had to get the boring stuff out of the way.
" Ted, take a few and look along the northern perimeter. James will take the south. Conner will take the east, and Sam will take the west. I'll search the caves by the sea because only I can fly." Everyone groaned while Ted, James, Conner, and Sam took some kids and left. I took the pixie dust that my fairy gave me (it's not Tinker-belle, I don't know why everyone thinks that!) and took to the caves.
Flying. All one needed was the biggest amount of belief. I should know, I was so close to having the heart of the truest believer. I did once, but when Wendy came along, the power went to someone else. Don't know where, and I didn't care. I can still fly.
Moving on. I flew down to the most treacherous caves known to Neverland, my home. We almost lost a Lost Boy because it had sharp rocks and it could stab someone with Dream-lace venom. The vines that leek the venom drip onto the rocks and make them extra deadly, because I was the only one who could fly, only I could go to the caves and look. The caves are not the worst part. Getting into them is.
I reached to the first cave, the one I call Leaf Cave, simply because it was shaped like a leaf. There were six caves in all. Bumblebee cave, Treasure cave, Tree cave, and Echo cave were empty. My favorite cave, the cat's eye, however, was not.
A hammock made out of only leaves and vines stretched across the medium-sized niche in the east wall. A little pit just enough to make a fire stood near the middle of the cave. A bow and arrow set was resting against the back wall behind the hammock, so well hidden, I never saw it until something used it to attack me.
Yeah, I said something. I saw a shadow (I was facing the interior of the cave, the lights were to my back).I jumped at the last second before something hit the ground. I watched the cave ground shudder and grow still. Like its magic was destroyed.
I grew very angry. Neverland was my home, and no one would destroy it. Not me, not the Lost Boys, and not this intruder.
I attacked it. The weapon it used nearly hit me. I could feel the magic where it swiped grow still. I grabbed my dagger(courtesy of one Captain Hook) and threw it at my attacker. It hit it's arm, and I heard a shriek of pain, and it dropped its weapon. It was near its hammock. I watched it grab a bow and arrow, notch it, and drop it. I could finally look at it better.
The attacker was human. By the state of his clothing, he had been here for a really long time, like a year or so. He was clutching his arm, taking deep breaths to calm himself, then panicked and screamed. He tilted his head to scream, and I finally got a good look at him.
Only, he wasn't a he. He was a she.
The Girl
I screamed as his dagger hit my arm. I thought it would just be it, a dagger. I've explored this land for a year, and seen its inhabitants. I could tell that this was Neverland, and the cute blond haired boy was Peter Pan. I watched when Wendy came and broke his heart. I didn't show myself. I couldn't. What would you do if you watched a really cute boy who you like who was always happy get so sad and serious? I wanted to make myself known to him, that I really liked him, ever since I first laid my eyes on him. I knew he put poison on his arrows, that he was a little demon (who I thought was perfect), and that he would always come to the caves every night. I never thought that the magic I put up as a defense would fail, but it did. I should have known.
10 years ago, I was in the castle that belonged to Snow White. Her father liked me as his personal slave and often used me for his dirty work. Stealing drinks, foods, even killing for fun were some of the tasks I was assigned. I whispered "I believe" one night because I remembered a story my mother told me before I was the king's prisoner. Second star to the right and straight until morning is Neverland, where the Lost Boys lived. My mother told me to say I believe when I was in my darkest hour. She died when the king killed her and took me to be his slave. I said the words when I was 12, and a shadow grabbed my arm. I was scared, but the shadow hugged me to it. I felt safe. It brought me to Neverland, brought me to this cave. I heard its voice say, "You cannot show yourself, not yet, for my other half, Peter Pan, must know some sort of misery. Another girl will come, and she will leave. 6 months after that, the shield of this cave, the cat's eye, will collapse. He will find you, and you may die." I admit it. I freaked, shouting at it to leave me. It disappeared in a poof. I stared until the night brought hoots. Human hoots.
I snuck out of my cave to see, and I saw Peter Pan for the first time.
I held my breath the entire night, watching the leader laugh, play tricks, and have a good time. The shadow came to me again, repeating it's words, and I watched from afar. Peter never knew I was there.
6 months ago, Wendy came. I watched with jealousy as she captured peter's heart. When she left, she didn't see Peter's heart. She had shattered it. Peter didn't have the biggest crush on her, so I saw his heart heal, then harden. He would not be carefree. Not now, and not ever.
Which brings us to today. I was napping when I heard Peter's annual sweep of the caves. He saw that my cave was no longer empty, and went to explore. I snuck around, grabbing my staff that paralyzed magic for some time. The stronger the magic is, the longer it stays paralyzed. I guess I wasn't careful with my approach, because Peter rolled to the side right before I hit the ground. I felt the magic where I hit freeze, and I guess that he thought it died. He jumped me, and I swung my staff. The air froze where I swung it, and all I could think was that Peter is going to kill me. I was right.
Peter drew out something shiny and threw it. I didn't move fast enough. It gave a cut to my arm. I was near my hammock and I drew my bow and arrow, my favorite weapon, and notched it. I felt poison run in my blood and dropped it. I didn't realize that Peter put poison on his dagger. That must have been what he threw at me. I ducked my head to see the damage, taking calm breaths, until I saw it.
The poison was already visible through my skin. I tilted my head back and screamed. That was a mistake.
For the very first time, Peter saw me.
And he did not look happy.
