An Awfully Big Adventure

Part 1: To Die

Chapter 1

Requiem for a Lost Boy

The interior of the captain's cabin of the Jolly Roger was very dark, considering that it was nearly three in the afternoon. The lamps had long been extinguished and the portals had been covered by thick coats to block out any sunlight that dared to filter into the room.

In truth, the room gave the impression of a prison cell.

For that is what it was to thirteen-year-old Wendy Darling, as she sat huddled in a corner, her hands and feet bound tightly by thick rope. She could feel the coarse rope cut into her skin and she bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes.

But it was nothing compared to her companion.

Near her, Peter Pan lay motionless on the floor, his arms and legs spread out around him, where he had landed after being flung roughly into the cabin. One hand rested on the hilt of a sword whose blade was nearly as long as Wendy's arm. His eyes were closed and his breathing was long and labored as if it pained him. His golden brown hair was matted with dried blood and a long jagged gash ran across his shoulder blades, bleeding slowly.

Tentatively, Wendy moved closer to him, stretched out one of her hands and shook his shoulder gently.

"Peter," she whispered. "Peter, please…please wake up."

His eyelids fluttered and slowly he opened his eyes and gazed up at her.

"Wendy?" he moaned.

"Yes, Peter," she said, softly.

He groaned and tried to sit up. With Wendy's help, he managed it and blinked furiously in the darkness.

"We're in Hook's cabin," she told him. "He hit you on the head when you fell after he cut your back."

"How long was I asleep?" he asked, fingering the back of his head gingerly.

"About an hour."

"And…and you've been in here all this time?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Wendy!" he cried, burying his face in his hands. "Why didn't you try to escape? Hook will kill you the minute after he kills me!"

"What do you mean kill you?!" she cried in a loud whisper. "No one's going to kill you, Peter Pan! As soon as your head feels better, we'll squeeze though the portals and fly away!"

Peter shook his head. "No, Wendy. He will kill me as soon as he opens that door. He has waited a long time to lock me up and he won't waste a chance to do away with me after I've taunted him for so long."

"He wants to kill you just because you cut off his hand?" Wendy asked.

Peter laughed darkly and Wendy was not comforted by this. "This feud of ours has lasted a long time," he said, "since I first came to Neverland. I provoked Hook's hatred of me when I cut off his hand. When the crocodile ate it and then the clock, his hatred grew. And now he has finally caught me." He finished softly.

"So, does that mean you're giving up?"

He glared at her and said, sharply, "I am not giving up! Not until there is no more breath in my lungs! It is Hook or me this time and I will not let you stay to witness either of our deaths!"

With that, he stood up and reached for his sword, but cried out in pain from his back and collapsed onto the floor. He lay there in a crumpled heap, moaning softly.

Wendy was about to move over to him, when his eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly, listening hard.

"Peter, what is it?" she whispered.

"Shhhh," he hissed.

She listened and heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps and they were coming closer.

"You have to escape, Wendy!" he whispered. He drew his knife from his belt and quickly cut the ropes that bound her hands and feet.

"Once you get back to the House Under the Ground, stay there and wait for me. If I don't return within two hours, you'll know my fate," he instructed, hurriedly.

Wendy was about to protest, when without warning he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. He took one of her hands in his and said, "Please, Wendy if I die in this battle, will you promise me to stay on Neverland and take my place?"

"Oh, Peter, please don't say that! You're not going to die, please!" Wendy cried.

But before he could reply, the door of the cabin was flung open and the two turned to see Captain James Hook standing in the doorway.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of Peter and he smiled maliciously. His heavy boots thudded loudly on the wooden floorboards as he strode into the room. A long sword hung on his belt and it clinked ominously as he moved. Peter quickly let go of Wendy's hand and looked up into the face of his nemesis.

"It appears that I have killed two birds with one stone, or in the near future anyway," said Hook as his smile widened. "I have waited a long time for this, Pan," he added, staring at Peter. "Shall it be you or your Wendy who meets the edge of my sword first?"

"Leave her out of this, codfish." said Peter, coolly. "This battle is between you and me, not her."

"Might I remind you, foolish boy, that I do not take kindly to insults," Hook said in a strangely soft voice. He drew his sword from its sheath, pointed it at Peter's throat and barked, "Rise, proud and insolent youth and prepare to meet thy doom!"

Peter rose shakily to his feet, wincing as he straightened his back as best he could. He gripped his sword in one hand and his face was as hard as stone.

"Let Wendy go and then I will fight you," he said in a low voice.

In reply, Hook hit him hard across the cheek with the heavy hilt of his sword. The force of the blow sent Peter sprawling to the ground. Wendy yelled in fright but she did not go to him. She knew there was nothing she could do.

Peter lay dazed on the floor for what seemed like an eternity before he groaned and pushed himself off the floor, his arms trembling with the effort. He was on his knees when Hook snarled "Now, Peter Pan, let's see how well you can fight when there is no where to fly or Lost Boys to come to your aid and only your Wendy to watch as you die!"

"To die will be an awfully big adventure," said Peter, valiantly.

Hook smiled as he raised his sword high and hissed, "Then, allow me to see you off on that big adventure!"

He brought the sword swinging around to the side, it whistled though the air as it sped closer and closer toward Peter's neck.

CLANG!

At the last second, Peter brought up his own sword to meet that of his enemy's. The force of the two blades nearly sent Hook stumbling backward, but this pause gave Peter time to get his feet, his sword held at the ready. Ready to strike. Ready to kill.

"Dark and sinister man," Peter snarled, raising his sword. "HAVE AT THEE!" he roared and lunged at Hook, swinging his sword viciously above his head. Hook steadied himself and easily parried him. The sound of the clanging swords filled the whole room and Wendy witnessed it all from the dark corner where she huddled.

Both were expert swordsmen, she observed. Peter easily deflected Hook's hard blows, his blue eyes blazing brightly in the dim light. He seemed to be oblivious to the pain in his back as he lashed out at the pirate captain.

But pure rage and hatred seemed to be driving Hook. His swings came more quickly and more fiercely until Peter was forced to fly into the air and pin himself against the ceiling to avoid an oncoming swing.

He dropped quickly, landing cat like on the floor and easily blocked Hook's sword with amazing speed.

And thus, the battle progressed. Neither one slowed or showed signs of weakness and both knew that it was a battle to the death.

After a time, Wendy noticed a change come over Peter. Although he had fought fiercely for what seemed like hours, his swings gradually became slower and less certain. His breath was coming in short gasps and it seemed a great struggle for him to lift his sword.

Seeing Peter's apparent fatigue, Hook swung his sword hard against Peter's, causing the weapon to fall from his grasp as he fell to the floor in exhaustion.

All was quiet in the cabin, except for Peter's deep breathing as he struggled to regain his breath. Wendy's heart quickened and she knew what would happen next, but prayed that it would not.

Hook lowered his sword and stared at his fallen enemy, as he took a few steps forward. Then, to Wendy's horror, he raised the sword high above his head. The tip poised above Peter's heart and roared, "BAD FORM, PAN!"

In one smooth movement, he brought the blade down and plunged it deep into Peter's chest.

Peter's scream was drowned out by Wendy's own cry of terror. She buried her face in her hands and turned to face the wall, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Then, quite suddenly, all was quiet.

Slowly, she lowered her hands from her face and turned to look at Peter. Hook had left the room, certain for the last time that he had killed the great Peter Pan.

He was lying slumped against the wall, his face was a mixture of shock and surprise and his eyes were wide and vacant. Dark red blood drenched his costume of leaves and flowed endlessly out of the fatal wound near his heart, forming a small pool around his body.

Peter Pan was dead.

Fighting back the tears, Wendy crawled forward and grasped one of Peter's cold hands in hers. She kissed it softly as the tears began to fall and she whispered, "Oh, Peter why did you have to die? What is Neverland without you."

Then as the tears came more quickly, Wendy rested her head against Peter's shoulder and wept.

When the sun had sank low over the horizon, and hues of orange and red were spreading across the evening sky, Wendy silently made her way off of the Jolly Roger. She carried nothing but Peter's sword and his dagger. She had left his body behind knowing that she could not carry him all the way to the House Under the Ground.

As she made her way across the deserted deck, she could hear the distant sounds of music and drunken laugher below her. Hook had obviously told his crew of his final battle with Peter Pan and now they were celebrating the death of a boy who would never again fly though another child's window and take him off to the mystic island called Neverland.

No one stopped her as she descended the rope ladder and landed lightly in the white sand of the beach. She turned and strode into the forest, disappearing from sight.

The forest was much darker as dusk fell over the island but Wendy was not afraid of the dark. She was afraid of what would happen when she reached the House Under the Ground. How would she break the awful news to the Lost Boys? Would she have nightmares about his death months afterward? She had heard of such things, people going though terrible traumas and having to relive every awful moment in their dreams, making the reality seem ten times worse.

She made her way though the forest, lost in her own thoughts as she tried not to relive the past few hours. She did not shed a single tear. Her grief had been replaced by numbing shock. It seemed so unreal that Peter was dead. She kept hoping that he would appear out of the trees, with a wide smile plastered across his face and ask her if she wanted to go flying around the island as he had done many times before.

She jumped nearly a foot in the air when she heard a twig snap and a figure stepped out from the trees and onto the path, blocking her way. Wendy relaxed when she saw who it was. It was Tiger Lily, the Indian princess.

Wendy opened her mouth to speak, but Tiger Lily quickly cut her off.

"Pan is dead?" she asked softly.

Wendy nodded, sadly. "Yes, Hook---"

Tiger Lily held up her hand as three men appeared out of the dark trees and surrounded Tiger Lily. They carried spears and knives and gazed at Wendy, their faces expressionless.

The princess turned swiftly to them and ordered, "Fetch Pan's body and take him to the village. Kill any who stand in your way."

The three men nodded and hurried off toward the beach, slipping though the trees like shadows.

Tiger Lily drew her own knife and said, "Go to the Lost Boys. Pan will be safe at our village."

Without another word she hurried off into the forest, following the warriors and Wendy continued on down the path.