Chapter One - Neverland
"Are you dead, or are you just gonna lay there?" There was a light tap on my side. I can hear a slight crashing of waves, a calming sound that lulls me into a numb mind state. "Get up," the voice says again. "I see you breathing." Maybe...maybe if I just laid here for a little longer, this person would go away. "There's a wave coming."
Cold water splashed over my head, dragging me back on the sand an inch at the most. Salt water enters my lungs, burning my windpipe and I can feel a flame erupting at the back of my nose, stinging my nose. My eyes snap open as the water recedes, shifting rapidly trying to find the person who was talking to me not moments before.
I hear a slight giggle to my left, and I open my mouth to say something, but it's covered before a sound comes out of my mouth. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" It's apparent that the voice belongs to a girl, the pitch is too high to be a male. She uncovers my mouth slowly, and grabs me by the collar of my white shirt.
I can't see anything except a burry mess of what seems to be a beach. "Stay quiet until we get to the cove." she continues dragging me along until she pauses. "Shit," the woman curses. "We messed up. Try to step where I have, lightly though. Try not to make very big indents. We're trying to seem like there's only one person walking here."
I clumsily try to follow steps that I can't really see from the salt water. I follow the smudge-like feet, trying to walk on the foot steps.
By the time my eyes start to work properly once more, we're in front of a huge boulder. This is the cove? It stood taller than two of me stacked on top of the other. It was built into a mountain, in a forest that was ten minutes from the beach.
"I'm going to need your help with this." She said leaning against the boulder. "We need to push it to the side."
I scuffle over, my stance rather awkward from the leather vest and leather pants I wore constricting me, shrinking from the water. "Go!" I wasn't much help, the girl is much stronger, her feet were kept planted, whilst mine slid against the forest floor.
There was a screech as rock clashed with rock, and there was enough room for us to wiggle in one at a time. I rub my eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness, the only light available disappearing as the woman closed the door.
There's a bit on clanking and soft footsteps as she walks around the cave. There's a scratch, and the sound of a flame being started on a match. A tiny flicker of light starts and grows as she lights lanterns around the room.
It's a rather small cave, scratches on the walls, marking in tallies. There's a tiny table near the far wall, four logs forming a circle (perhaps a place to sit) outside of a fire pit, and a tiny pool of water in the corner, possibly leading from a stream or the ocean. There wasn't much to this place, but it becomes apparent that this cave was once occupied.
Finally, I look at the woman who brought me here. Her green clothes were ragged and torn, her hair was up, but it was knotted and greasy. "I'm Tink," she says. Tink? What kind of name is that?
"Remi," I respond as I move over to the logs. Tink put a finger over her mouth, signaling for me to be quiet.
"If you're ever going to survive this island, you're going to need to stay silent." Tink said harshly. She sighs, and tosses me a ratty blanket that smelled of mothballs."Get some sleep, you're gonna need it." My nose scrunched up in disgust, but I was too tired to do anything about the smell.
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"Let's go," Tink yells in my ear. I sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes as Tink throws clothes at me. "Get dressed, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself today. If you can learn quickly, you'll be of use to Pan, so he won't get rid of you...immediately." Tink exits the cave so I have privacy as I change. The clothes were close to the ones I had been wearing overnight. There was a white shirt, not quite as puffy as the one I had on. She had set out a leather corset, with pants made of the same material that clung to my legs. Tink put leather boots that came up mid-shin next to my head, and a rather long cloak with a large hood on the log.
After getting changed, I head out of the cave and help Tink close the door entirely. She steps back, and I lean my head on the wall. I hear a slight whoosh of wind speeding past my ear as a knife lodges itself in a rock, nearly nicking it.
What the hell? I jump in the air and turn. I nearly shout at her, but I remember that I need to stay silent.
"C'mon, let's go! You have to learn sometime, and the boys aren't going to give you this chance to recover. You're going to need to be here," she raises her hand above her head. "in physical fitness or you'll be here." She points to the ground. I understand what she means, she says that I'm going to be six feet under unless I take this time to prepare wisely.
She drops a sword on the ground. Tink waits for me to pick it up, which I do. It registers in my mind, and quickly the familiar weight switched between my hands as I toss the blade back and forth. "Don't get cocky, here."
Tink starts moving slowly, agile and light on her feet. She paces back and forth, drawing another sword from a sheath on her waist.
She lunges at me, dirt spitting up into the air, and moves her sword up an inch.
It takes only moments for me to register what to do next. My feet move to the left, my body ducking down as Tink swings the sword over my head. She stumbles as she attempts to catch her footing.
Tink swings again, and my arms lift up the sword, and they clash, sparks flying. Tink moves back before she lunges forward again.
In truth, I surprised myself in this short battle. It's been four years since I last trained for a fight, since one of my father's old girlfriends decided I needed to be more of a girl, less of a pirate. My body works on it's own, I don't even need to think of what to do next, I know.
The fight lasts only ten minutes before i grab my opponent's sword, one pressed against the nape of her next, and the other facing her throat. Tink looks at me, her eyes narrowed. "How did you...?" she trails off.
Tink leads me back inside of the cave, closing the opening as we pass through. She quickly grabs a torch and sits me down as she relights the dying fire.
"Who taught you to fight like that?" She asks, placing the torch in its holder on the wall. I have no idea what she wants from me, first she doesn't want me to talk, but now she's asking me questions?
I walk over to Tink, and using my finger, I wrote out two words:
My father.