The sun sat lazily on the west horizon, giving off a warm, orange glow to the city below. Clouds that consisted the colours of pale blue and purple lingered high in the sky, making various shapes that you could decipher as animals or objects if you were to take a moment to watch them pass and move.
A girl with red hair and a freckled face walks down a street, a slight smile pulling at her pink lips. She slid her fingers into the pocket of a passerby, pulling out a wallet and hiding it away into her own coat.
This girls name was Riley Müller, thirteen years old and the leader of a pickpocket group. Her bright blue eyes shone brightly under the setting sun after she pulled her black cap off, scratching the top of her head while scanning the street for her next unlucky victim. Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, a short, fat man taking off his top hat caught her attention.
He was balding and a bit sweaty even though the air was chilled, but he was wearing the most popular of attire with a long coat, meaning he most likely had some valuables in his pockets. Riley slapped her cap back on before moving quickly, slipping passed him in the crowd after lifting a silver pocket watch off of the man. She hid it away and walked a bit faster, putting her head down to create a shadow over her eyes.
"Du! Stopp!" yelled a large voice, it echoing through the street. Riley glanced back to see the man, red in the face, pointing at her. She only chuckled and took off running, pushing through people to get away.
"Riley, what's wrong?" One of her pickpockets asked with a heavy German accent when she started dragging him along when passing him. The redhead didn't answer, she only whistled out a short tune that was repeated by a few children in the street. The whistle was then echoed again by other pickpockets nearby and atop of roofs.
Riley smiled softly again, for she was proud of the group she had taught well. Each tune had to be repeated and different tunes had different meanings. This particular one meant that they were to evacuate the area and meet up at Harrison Street. Darkness had finally settled in when seven kids ranging from ages six to eleven met up with Riley on a street corner, all laughing and beaming with delight.
"What goods did you all get?" Riley questioned in German, enthusiasm in her tone as she pulled out the leather wallets, silk handkerchiefs and golden watches that she had stolen. Her group showed each other similar items that they had lifted, which made each other laugh and say how easy it was today. But then their happiness faded away from their eyes when the sound of sirens went off, indicating that bomber planes were flying overhead.
"Run!" Riley screamed when a bomb exploded close by, perhaps many streets away. The redheaded leader and her group of thieves started running to take cover in their bunker, but it was too far away, they would never make it without running straight into their death. The sounds of explosions and plane engines was drowning out the sirens and screams, the only noise Riley could focus on was the sound of the whistling the bombs made before they collided with the city.
"Lauf, lauf, la-!" Riley yelled again, though she quickly ran in front of her group to turn them around before a bomb fell in front of them. Thankfully, it was too far to do any serious damage to any of the kids, but Riley could feel the heat hit the back of her coat and burn the back of her exposed neck.
"Over here!" Someone yelled from under a metal covering, waving the group over to safety. Riley quickly started pushing her kids over to the makeshift shelter. They slid down into a dugout, all huddling together, breathing heavily.
"Danke sehr." Riley said after swallowing hard, adjusting her cap, looking over to the boy who had saved them. Since it was dark, she could not see his face very well, but she could tell he had to be around her age due to the pitch of his voice. The sirens wailed on, sounds of explosions and the crackling of fire the only noise filling their ears.
"What?" The boy questioned in an accent that definitely wasn't German.
"Ahh, it just means thank you." Riley yelled over the noise, counting her pickpockets heads, making sure they were all there. Sighing shakily, she pulled her small group closer, all of them whimpering or crying.
Riley was quiet for a bit, closing her eyes and biting the inside of her cheek but then she started murmuring happy things to her kids; reassuring them that they were safe, that when they went back to their bunker they would have some desert and a special story. But then she went silent once more when the redhead heard another whistle. Looking up, she of course couldn't see anything due to the metal sheet above them, but she knew they were right under where a bomb would land.
"Get out!" She screamed, trying to push her kids out of the dugout so they could start running away.
But it was too late, the bomb that had been dropped sent the area into destruction as soon as it hit the stone road. Two of her kids had been blown back against the building and burned to a crisp. The child that was in the process of climbing out of the ditch had been crushed when the building toppled over and Riley and the others had been scraped and cut up due to debris when the metal awning shattered.
Everything was dark then. Silence was the only thing that was alive.
Riley opened her eyes, the morning sun about to rise on the rubble of the city. She let out a harsh cough and wiped the grogginess away from her eye with the back of her hand. Blinking, she sat up with some complaints, looking around. Her group of pickpockets were all laying around her, some snuggled up with others, and some sprawled out on top, making a pile. Riley shook one of the boys lightly, the pickpocket groaning softly and looking up with his baby blues and a sigh escaped from between her lips.
"You're up, good!" A voice said. Riley looked over to a boy she had not seen before. Perhaps it was the one who had saved them from the bomb?
The boy had lovely green eyes that shone with life and youth under the dawn sky. His hair was a bit messy, it having a few curls and kinks of blonde and his face was absolutely admirable. Though he wore something a bit strange. The young boy wore baggy, brown leggings that had to be held up by an unidentifiable animal skin. There seemed to be an array of holes and tears in the fabric along with leaves, cobwebs and vines that I assumed was a part of his attire. His shirt was dark green, ripped and covered in plant life like his bottoms, sleeves seeming to have been torn off to reduce any restricting.
"Thank you so much for saving us." Riley told the blonde boy, her heavy German accent seeming a bit louder in the dugout. She shook each of her pickpockets awake, all of them wriggling around and stepping on each other when they tried to get to their feet. She counted heads and saw three were missing. Instantly, the redheaded girl started panicking when remembering that she had pushed them out of the shelter so they could try and run.
"Oh gott, nein, nein, what have I done!" She repeated to herself as she climbed out of the ditch, scrambling over to the remains of the fallen building, shoving away boards and blocks of cement.
"Emil! Emil!" She screamed, spotting a body in the rubble. Huffing, Riley shook the young thief lightly and he coughed roughly, his brown hair layered with dust, chocolate eyes squinting open. She sighed with relief, hugging him close. But then she stood and ran off else where, calling out two more names.
"Alice! Leon!" She yelled, looking around, her heart beating in her throat, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, her palms becoming clammy.
"Over here!" Someone answered out weakly. Going over to the two kids that lay by the crater the bomb had created, she helped them up and checked them both for injuries.
"Thank you again." Riley told the young man who had saved her group when walking back over, carrying one of the pickpockets on her back, watching the two others climb out from the dugout. "If there is anything, anything we can do to repay you, just tell us." The redhead said, offering a slight, tired smile.
"Anything?" The boy answered, tapping his chin. He thought for a moment before a big grin appeared on his lips, eyes lighting up with delight. "Oh, how clever of me! Come to Neverland to have an adventure with the Lost Boys and I!" He answered, leaping off the ground, taking into the air. "That's the only way you can repay me!"
"Neverland..?" Riley questioned, sliding Emil off of her back, her eyes a bit wide. This boy.. he was.. flying.. like it was practically no big deal! She swallowed hard, stepping back some. "Lost boys?"
"The Lost Boys!" The blonde corrected, beaming with delight. Though his smile quickly faded and he swooped down to Riley. "By the way, my name is Peter, Peter Pan, and I shall be your humble guide to Neverland!" He flashed his pearly whites and his eyes lit up with excitement.
"R-Riley Müller." She replied, holding out her hand to shake hands though he only looked at her hand in confusion. She slid her hand back into her coat pocket, cocking a brow. "And Neverland we shall go. How do we get there?"
"You fly, of course!" Peter said with a laugh as he flipped to float on his back, drifting through the air. "Tink, help them out, why don't you?"
A soft twinkling of bells sounded off and a light no bigger than your fist floated over to the group of pickpockets. They all gasped and clamoured when a silver dust made them begin floating. The little light then flew over to Riley, soft bells chiming again. Peter then laughed, seeming to understand the melodic sound. Riley's feet then started to lift away from the ground, making her wriggle around in the air, struggling to stay upright.
"C'mon, let's go!" The blonde boy said as the light he had referred to as 'Tink' returned to his side.
Peter then took off into the sky, his elated laugh echoing through the air and, of course, the group of pickpockets followed after him, screaming with delight. Riley wanted to stop her group, to get them back to their bunker. She didn't trust this Peter boy, who spoke of this Neverland and who had a light that could make a person defy gravity. But then again, Riley has always dreamed of flying, of touching the clouds and not having to care about a thing in this world. Kicking her feet a bit, the redheaded girl caught up with her younger friends.
"So where is this place?" Riley yelled, being that Peter was up ahead quite aways, eager to get back to his home, to show the group everything about Neverland. He fell back, grinning wide before pointing up.
"Just keep heading towards that star; the second one, there on the right!" Peter called out, grinning broadly as he looked back at the group following him. They neared the star Pan had pointed to and suddenly, there was colour all around, causing a short gasp to escape passed Riley's lips. It was like they were being shot through a tunnel full of a thousand rainbows. And it was breathtakingly amazing.
Only a few moments later, the tunnel the group had gone through seemed to completely disappear around them and what she saw below was an island, sitting in the middle of the bluest and clearest of all seas. Riley just had to swoop down so she could drag her fingers through the chilled liquid due to the fact that she had never seen an ocean in person. Though she only ended up spraying the salty water into her own face, which made her cringe slightly, it did not put a damper on her mood.
Her group of pickpockets were squealing with thrill, causing her to laugh, for she had not seen them this happy since she last had enough money to buy everyone in the group cinnamon buns. The island looked somewhat mountainous, perfect for an adventure of some sort. Off to the left side there was a lagoon; Peter explained how mermaids were inhabited there when he caught the ginger studying the area, curiosity shining bright in her eyes. The blonde boy pointed out a few more things before we landed, one being a pirate ship that rocked lightly in the bright blue waves.
It was completely made up of forest, the trees and bushes an emerald colour and the flowers that grew in the area were sporting beautiful shades of peach and turquoise. The ground was almost completely dirt, though there were patches of moss, grass and weeds in spots where the sun snuck through the canopy overhead.
"Peter, this place looks amazing!" One of her pickpockets shouted, taking the words right out of her mouth.
Riley couldn't do anything but laugh. Everything just seemed so unreal; the dust that made a person defy gravity, the island, and this boy named Peter. Possibly it was a dream? No, this wasn't a dream; I could tell it was real. She glanced over to the blonde boy and beamed happily, beaming with delight, smiling so brightly you might've mistaken it for a sun.
"Peter!" Young voices screamed from elsewhere, causing everyone to look over from where they came from. A small group of boys, wearing animal skins and vines over clothes consisting of brown and green, identical to Pan, came out from behind some trees and ran up to tackle the blonde boy with hugs, all of them beaming with joy. "Tink!" They all screamed in sync when the noise of lovely bells sounded off, the group of young boys looking up to the small ball of light that hung around in the air. Peter laughed and rolled around with he boys until one of them stopped, staring up at Riley and her group.
"Who's that?" The boy questioned, causing the boys to all look up, curiosity filling their expression when getting back up to their feet.
"Ahh! This is.. is.."
"Riley." The redhead answered.
"Riley!" Peter exclaimed, gesturing towards her like he was showing the girl off. "And she will be your new mother!"
"What?" Her pickpockets yelled.
Before she could protest, the Lost Boys started to crowd around her, yelling excitedly and taking ahold of her hands, which seemed to make some of the pickpockets jealous. Riley had taken care of them all like her own, but it was undeniable that a few of the thieves had little crushes on the redhead.
"I'm Nibs!"
"We're the twins!"
"I'm Cubby!"
"Slightly!"
"I'm Tootles!"
"I'm not going to be anyones mother!" Riley shouted, anger and annoyance starting to boil in her veins and show in her expression. The Lost Boys looked up at her, a bit of sadness tinting their eyes as she explained, "I'm just here to repay Peter."
Looking over to the blonde boy, he hesitantly nodded, confirming that Riley was only there to repay him. A bit of a sullen look shone in his eye, for the boy was hoping that she would accept the sudden request to motherhood.
"But we just want you to tell us stories." One of the twins said, fidgeting with one of the vines that was wrapped around his waist.
"That's it?"
"Yeah!" The Lost Boys said in sync.
"Well I can do that."
"Then you're our mother!"
"That's not - "
One of her pickpockets, Alice, took her hand, a sign to not argue, for it seemed clear that the boys wouldn't listen anyway. Looking down to the only other female member in the band, the ginger offered a tired smile as the Lost Boys ran back over to Peter, laughing and squealing due to the amazing idea of Neverland's new storyteller. And that was the beginning of their greatest adventure.
Neverlands Pickpockets Trailer: Glitter Isn't Gold