Yeah, you all know that I didn't think up Peter Pan although I wish that I had… Renae is mine… I don't have a betareader for this so if anyone is interested please contact me.
A young girl whose past is unknown awakes on the never land's shady shore. She doesn't know where she is or who she is. There is no one around. No one anywhere on the whole island as far as she cam see. All she knows is that she is trapped in a land she doesn't know…
In the shadows a face that all recognize and love watches, he is not as we remember but an older and wiser Peter.
A young girl lay on the shore just a few feet away from the waves. A boy of seventeen or so stands over her, watching the slow rise and fall of her breathing. The clothing she wore consisted of breaches like that of a man and a long sleeved shirt unlike any he had seen on previous Wendy's. Oh yes, she was indeed a Wendy though he knows not where the girl has come from only that she is here. The newest in a succession of girls that he has known and forgotten over the long years. He can't remember any of them not even their names, just the title each bared in his mind. Each new girl, no matter her personality, was his Wendy. He watched as she stirred on the sand and took to the air retreating into the cover of the tree's to study her. After all each Wendy had been chosen by him and brought to the Never land, this girl had shown up by herself. She may be a trap left by Andrew James, Captain of the Jolly Roger to lure him to his death. He knew she was not one of the Indians for she was pale and they had long since died out, killed by the Pirates and eaten by the wild animals of the forests. It was a miracle really that the animals had not found the Wendy before he had.
He watched the girl closely as she sat up and looked around. She had a blank confused look upon her face as she studied her surroundings. She stood up a little shakily and turned around slowly to get a better look at her surroundings. After a moment of what seemed to be contemplation she nodded to herself and scratched a big 'X' into the ground with her foot before setting off down the beach.
Peter followed the girl as she took most of the day walking the half way around the island; night had almost fallen by time she reached the place where the Indians had made giant fire circles of the beach. She looked curiously at them for a moment before calling out, "Hello? Is anybody here?"
Her voice was melodic and he almost called back to her but stopped himself. He hadn't yet seen all that he wished to about the girl. She sighed in a resigned way that told him she had hoped there was someone nearby. After a minute she trudged into the leafy cover, Peter watched her as she gathered fallen sticks and handfuls of dried leaves. He knew she was going to try to start a fire to protect against the dark that was quickly falling. She piled the sticks into a teepee style structure and then grabbed two rocks from the ground; she slammed them together and looked closely for sparks. None appeared so she tried once more, still noting. She grabbed another pair of rocks and tried again to no avail. With a disheartened sigh she picked up two of the sticks and began rubbing them together briskly. She continued this for about a half an hour, the sun was down by then and the girl cast the sticks away with annoyance. After a few minutes of sitting there she sighed and looking around nervously she drew her legs to herself and wrapped her arms around them. She lay her head on her knees and Peter wondered if she was going to fall asleep, in the never land it was dangerous to sleep in the open, especially without fire. After a while he flew to another tree where he could see her face, a few strands of silvery white hair had fallen across her face but he could see that her eyes were open and sparkling in the moonlight. There were trails of tears running horizontally across her face and into her hair looking like mystical war paint as she stared straight ahead. He frowned and wondered why the girl would be crying, it was not yet cold and the sand was sure to hold the sun's warmth for a while longer. After a while her eyes closed and her breathing slowed, it was getting cold out here.
Peter held back a curse as a small bell like voice appeared next to his head along with the shimmering light that the small fairy gave off. "Tink," Peter said angrily though softly so that the girl didn't hear and wake up, "What if she wakes up and notices you? I am hiding for a reason."
The bells came again and Peter scowled, "Of course I am going to start her a fire once I am sure she's asleep. She'll freeze if I don't."
He paused and listened to the smug tone of the small fairy then shook his head, "No I am not going to let her die just because she doesn't know how to light a fire." He thought for a moment and then said, "You keep watch and be prepared to tell me anything you see I am going to go and get a blanket from the hollow." The fairy made a face but Peter waved it off and flew towards the deepest part of the never land's forest.
He reached the hollow quickly and after briefing the lost boys he found a warm blanket left behind by the last Wendy and headed back to where Tinkerbell waited. He wouldn't put it past her to leave the girl alone for the wild animals to get.
He knew she would be asleep and quite cold by time he returned so he'd grabbed a small container and placed burning sticks from the lost boys' fire, as he flew along he grabbed small twigs from the tree's and fed them into the fire so that it would keep until he could start the girls fire. Once that was done it would be okay for him to leave her until the morning.
Once he returned to where Tinkerbell was stationed he consulted her and it was decided that once in the open it would be quicker if he were to cover her while Tink started the fire. They went cautiously making no sound; Peter left the bowl by the fire for Tink to use to start and he unfolded the blanket and carefully draped it around her small form. When he had finished Tink had gotten most of the kindling lit for the Wendy's fire and was beckoning to him that they should get out of sight until they knew for sure that they hadn't woken her up.
They raced back to their hiding place in the tree's and watched. The girl stirred but did not awaken. Peter smiled they had done their job well, no detections. He was a little worried about the threat of Pirates seeing the fire and trying to steal his Wendy but knew that they were currently anchored near the mermaid lagoon which was far enough away that he needn't worry.
Still he was reluctant to leave her to return to the warmth and relative safety of the hollow. A fire didn't guarantee that the animals would leave her be, if they were hungry enough they would go through anything to get their quarry. So stay Peter did, he watched over her with Tink perched on his shoulder complaining the night away.
He knew, as the sun went up, that the girl would awaken soon so he demolished the fire and painstakingly covered all traces of his assistance. He dug a hole and buried the coals in it, covered the remaining ashes with fresh sand, and then gathered new fuel which he built into a teepee. Last but not least he carefully removed the blanket hoping not to wake her up. As he did this last he studied the girls face which was partially hidden by her hair.
She had pale skin and full round lips that were tilted downwards as if she were not having the most pleasant dreams, which he had already guessed for she had been restless in the night. She had silvery hair that shone gold in the rising sun; he wished she would open her eyes so that he could have a complete view of her face. He quickly retracted this reverie however because then she would see him hovering just above the sand only half a foot from her.
His eyes widened as she stirred and he quickly retreated into the tree's as she straightened up. He knew she couldn't feel very comfortable having slept upright; he smiled as she stretched and grimaced in pain. She sighed and stood up looking around as if she wondered what she should do next. She frowned and knelt down next to the fire, she touched the branches and frowned. Peter bit his lip; maybe she had been awake sometime in the night after all. Then she plucked a piece of something from her hair, he groaned inwardly guessing that it was ash from the fire. She dropped the ash and looked around before shaking her head and setting down the beach once again.
It was noon before she stopped looking down at her stomach. The Wendy frowned and looked warily towards the tree's as if wondering if she dare go into the forest to search for food as she had done the night before for the wood. She bit her lip and looked around again before making up her mind. He figured she could see one of the mango tree's that grew close to the beach. He was near it himself and could smell its juicy fruit.
She walked confidently up to the tree line all uncertainty gone and approached the tree. It was a tall tree with many fruits on the lower and higher limbs but instead of grabbing one of the lower hanging fruits she pulled herself into the tree with practiced ease. Once in the tree she pulled herself to one of the topmost forks and settled herself there within reaching distance of a clump of ripe mangos. He watched carefully ready to catch her if she were to fall, after all he could not let his new Wendy hurt herself climbing tree's. None of the other Wendy's had bothered doing any of the activities that he and the other lost boy's enjoyed such as climbing tree's and he wasn't going to let the only one that seemed to hurt herself doing it.
He knew that he would have to reveal himself soon to her or risk the Pirates finding her as she wandered the beach but decided to wait until the following morning to do so. He would know for sure if she was a spy by then, and he would leave her to her own devices if indeed she was. There had only been one Wendy who had turned out to be Captain Andrew's spy and she had reported to him every other day, she had been suspicious from the first day though. This Wendy from the sea didn't seem like that Wendy at all.
Night came and once again Peter readied to prepare a fire for her and cover her with a blanket. He had spent the day hours watching her actions which were much the same as the day before. She had done everything much the same as the day before and had finally come full circle around the island stopping where she had begun the morning before. She stared angrily at the large 'X' and then kicked it out with her foot stubbing her toe on a hidden rock. He laughed silently as she plopped down on the sand to nurse her hurt toe. This time she didn't bother trying to light a fire she simply stared off into the horizon until she tired and then she curled up on her side with her arm tucked under her head as a pillow until sleep overtook her. Peter was extra careful when covering her and then went about starting the fire; Tink had gone back to the hollow with an update for the boy's and had yet to return. She had probably forgotten that she was supposed to return; she was weary from her long vigil the night before. Peter himself was not tired in the least. He never tired unlike the fairy's and lost boy's he slept because he enjoyed it, he never dreamed anyways the way that the others did. He had never questioned his lack of dreams or sleeplessness, just as he never questioned the fact that he didn't age like the people in the real world, in the many years he'd been in the never land he had seen countless new generations of Wendy's and seen them age. The original Wendy had aged and died long ago and he had accepted that his momentary friends would eventually leave and die.
Once sure that the fire would not gutter he went to leave, he was only hovering a few inches above the sand and on the opposite side of the fire when the Wendy opened her eyes. They were a clear blue and he stared into them transfixed for a moment before he got his thoughts back together and landed on the sand, he didn't want to frighten her.
The girl stared at him with her eyes wide and a little frightened for a minute before slowly sitting up, she noticed the blanket as it slid off her shoulders and jumped a little. She opened her mouth and said in a lovely voice, "Who are you?"
Peter glanced at the tree's wondering if he should take off in the hope that she would thing she had been dreaming when she awoke in the morning. "Peter," he answered truthfully. The girl looked him up and down as if trying to figure out if he was real or not. He looked down at his cloths; roughly made pants in dark brown tones and dirtied by the days of mischief he got into. He was wearing a belt around his waist with a long, sharp dagger hanging in a makeshift sheath hanging from it. His shirt was a dark deerskin vest made for him by the Indians before they disappeared years ago, it was ragged and he knew he must look like a wild man in this lighting with his blond hair hanging around his face and partially obscuring his eyes.
The girl frowned as she looked at the place where his bare feet stood on the ground. "Where are your foot prints?" She asked looking up into his face.
"Under my feet," Peter said lifting each foot up, making a great show of making sure she saw the foot prints there.
The girl sensed the evasion and didn't press it though she looked puzzled. "Did you do this?" She asked gesturing to the blanket and fire.
Peter nodded and said, "I did," she tilted her head questioningly, "Last night as well," he added.
"Why did you?" she asked looking into the fire.
"I wanted to," Peter said indignantly. He had been nice enough to keep her from freezing and she was questioning him like he had done something wrong. "I do whatever I want," he added for good measure.
"Thank you Peter," she said with a small grin in his direction.
Peter nodded and said, "What is your name?" he asked.
The girl opened her mouth to answer and then closed it with a frown, "I-I don't know… I can not remember," she said with a sigh.
"You do not have a name?" He asked the incredulity obvious in his voice.
"I don't know if I have one," She said haltingly. "All I remember is a storm and a small sail boat… then water, nothing else…" She furrowed her brow in concentration for a few moments as she stared into the fire before looking up at Peter again.
Peter looked at the Wendy for a few minutes not believing his luck. Finally, a Wendy with no family to remember, no one to look after back in the real world. He walked over lightly and sat next to her but facing her with one side to the fire. "Do you know where you are?" He asked intently.
"No? I thought I was…" she trailed off looking embarrassed.
Peter looked at her curiously, "Where did you think you are?"
"Dead," She said simply looking him in the face. "And I am not so sure I was wrong," she added with an incredulous smile.
He looked at her quizzically and she added.
"I thought I drowned in the ocean, and that I was in my own personal purgatory waiting to be let into heaven…" She paused once more which irritated Peter, "I thought you might be an Angel come to get me." After admitting this she blushed, she'd obviously gathered that he was not an Angel and he was not coming to take her to Heaven.
"I'm no Angel," Peter said with a smirk. He wondered not for the first time how she'd gotten to the never land, and now with this new information he was even more confused… He didn't know how she had drifted through the barrier of space without knowing it. Or how she'd managed it without flying here.
"I figured as much but there are no foot prints in the sand except for where you were standing and where you walked around the fire…" She said explanatorily, "It seems as if you dropped from the sky or flew here."
Peter smiled she'd gotten the nail right on the head with that guess. He looked at her face wondering what she would say to being called Wendy. All the other girls had been annoyed at being called Wendy by accident when he wasn't paying attention but she didn't have a name. He smiled as he said, "So what do you think I should call you?"
"The girl bit her lip in concentration before shrugging, "I don't care, you choose. People aren't supposed to choose their own names."
Peter grinned wider as she said this but then as he went to say that her new name could be Wendy the words froze in his throat. He opened his mouth and out came the words, "Renae, your name can be Renae."
The newly named Renae nodded and said, "I like it Peter, thanks."
Peter was glad she liked it but confused as to why he hadn't just told Wendy, in his mind that was who she'd be… Just another Wendy here for now but soon away she would fly leaving the never land and him behind like all the others had done before her. The thought brought with it a fleeting sadness left behind from the original Wendy's departure, when she had taken all of the first lost boys with her.
He had been alone for a while, that is until he found the first of his new lost boy's, Andrew… Andrew had seen the never land as the perfect opportunity to live out his dream, a conqueror, he became Peter's new adversary and brought from his old hometown a bunch of ruffians and they set camp on the Jolly Roger. He wiped out all of the Indians on the island, every last one. Captain Andrew James was the Hook of the first Wendy's time only ten times worse. Captain Andrew showed no mercy to anyone, took no time explaining his cunning plans. It was a blow to Peter to be betrayed and it was the reason for his suspicions about the new Wendy, about Renae.
Peter looked at Renae thoughtfully for a minute before saying, "Would you rather stay here tonight or would you rather spend the night in a nice warm house, hidden from all the wild things?"
Trust me on this when I say there is more to come. Read and Review that's all I'm asking for!