Dahlia blinked as she tried to get the sleep out of her eyes. She looked around then remembered that she wasn't in her apartment. Nope, she was far from it. She was somewhere that wasn't even on a map that she had seen. She was on the second star from the right and straight on till morning.
She couldn't believe she was with Peter Pan. Growing up she always wanted to get away, but this was ridiculous. Neverland wasn't supposed to be real. Neither was Peter Pan. But here she was right in the middle of both. She looked around at her new dwelling. It was vine covered and secluded. It made her feel as if she had her own place. Back home she shared a room with Kayla. This felt like she was on her own.
She looked at the clothes they had given her. She was happy she had been too lazy to take off her bra when she went to bed. She slipped out of her shorts and pulled on the pants. She frowned when she realized she had forgotten to ask for shoes. Running around barefoot could be dangerous. She pulled on the vest and, after a few minutes of fumbling, had it firmly tied in place.
The smell of food had her coming out to face the world. She paid attention to where she was walking. If she had to be here another night, she wanted to know where she was sleeping. As she came around the last bend, she saw Peter emerging from another hole in the wall. They looked at each other for the longest. Dahlia could even remember the spark that had jumped between them the first time she had touched him. What did it mean?
He motioned to the path. She walked past him and felt him fall in behind her. Why was she in Neverland? It didn't make any sense. She had never really believed in fairy tales. Disney movies were a good release and she loved Aladdin, but she knew the harder side of life. How was this going to be any different?
The camp was alive. The Lost Boys were running and jumping already. One was sitting by the fire cooking breakfast. Felix stood off to the side. His head came up when they emerged into the site. Dahlia felt like she was unwanted as the second in command stared at her. Not to be outdone, she lifted her chin in outright defiance. Behind her, she heard Peter laugh. He brushed by her and once again she felt the heat.
Peter walked over to another chest and pulled out some shoes. He tossed them to her then walked over to his second in command. He had better try to ease the tension between the two. Dahlia didn't know what she had started by dropping into this world but it was something. She sat down to put her shoes on and to spy. To her amazement, the shoes fit and they were comfortable.
One of the Lost Boys jumped up and ran over to her. She was slightly surprised when he grabbed her hands and jerked her to her feet. Over his shoulder, she saw Peter narrow his eyes. She ignored him and followed the boy over to the fire. When she saw what they were doing, she nudged them over and took over cooking. They crowded around and watched as she did it right. One draped himself across her back as he watched a little too closely. She caught his leg with a stick and knocked him backwards.
"Don't ever lean on me again," she ordered. The boy scooted backwards until his back hit the rock behind him. It didn't take very long to finish breakfast. "It's ready."
She stood up and moved away from them. They were like ravenous beasts as they swooped into the middle to snatch at the food. Dahlia moved into the trees, happy to sit on a log that was in between the boys stuffing their faces and the two boys watching over them. She looked around as they ate. There were a few coves right in the middle of the little glade. There were about fourteen boys. Each cove probably held maybe two boys. With Peter and Felix living in their own places, there were two less to house.
How she got here was still a mystery but she was certain she was going to find a way home. She had to. Kayla was going to flip her lid if she woke up and found out that her roommate wasn't home. It was usually Kayla who stayed out all night, not her. She was going to call the police and everyone was going to be looking for her. Going home was going to be a real cake walk.
Peter left Felix's side and walked in the middle of the ravaging boys. He snatched some breakfast for himself and the other boy standing outside the circle. What was so special about him that made her skin spark when she touched him? It made no sense. There wasn't any carpet around for her to rub her feet against so there wasn't any static electricity. What was causing the electricity between them?
Sticking her feet out in front of her, she stared at her boots. They were made of soft leather that molded to her feet. She hated that she didn't have any socks but that was neither here nor there. She was just happy her feet didn't freeze. Come to think of it, every piece of clothing was warm and they fit very well. Her arms were bare, but that was okay. She could handle that.
Dahlia stood and casually walked around the campsite. It was large enough for the sixteen of them, well seventeen now. She was here whether she liked it or not. There was a weapons store. Bows, quivers, spears, staffs and other sorts of wooden weapons were around. She ran her fingers along a bow, reveling in the way the wood felt under her fingers.
"Do you know how to use any of these?"
She turned around to see Peter leaning against the lean-to. "Not a bow, but I'm trained in fencing. I can wield a sword. I might be able to use a staff. Gymnastics helps with agility so it's possible."
When he smiled, it was a little crooked and his eyes lit up. He shoved off the pole and came towards her. She dropped her eyes in hopes he wouldn't want to look into them. He didn't touch her as he walked by. He followed the pattern of movement she did when she touched the weapons. It was like she had left a heat signature that he could follow.
She watched him turn around and look at her again. Without warning he hurled a spear at her. She moved just in time before it impaled her. The spear buried itself in the tree across the way. She turned to look at it then looked back at him.
"You're such an ass. That's no way to treat your guests," she scolded before she turned on her heel and walked away from him.
Peter was left dumbfounded as the woman walked away. She brushed past Felix on her way out of his sight. No one had called him a jerk in a very long time. The Lost Boys were too loyal to him to call him a jerk. He also had the reputation of being the law when it came to Neverland. If someone made him angry, he could just kill them or bind him or her to the place, never able to leave. But Dahlia was different. He had no inclination to harm her.
Felix watched his boss watch the fleeing girl. Dahlia was going to be the fall of them. Peter knew it but he was too dumbfounded by the girl to see how bad the affects were going to be. He was already showing signs of being an idiot boy infatuated with a girl. Peter should understand. He'd already gone through it before with Wendy. He had thought she would be perfect to watch over the Lost Boys but she wasn't. She couldn't handle this life. It had almost crushed the immortal boy. Felix wasn't going to watch the same thing happen again.
"Leave her alone, Felix," Peter said behind him.
Felix swung around. "You're going to protect her when she's going to be the downfall of us all?"
"We're still working on the other thing. If we can get magic back in Neverland, we will be all right. The girl is of no importance."
"Do you listen to yourself? You've gone through this before, with Wendy. It didn't work out last time. Why would it work out now?"
"Wendy had a family. A mother, father and two little brothers. Dahlia has no one."
"You are going to get us killed. Deal with this or I will."
Peter turned on him and got in his face. "Lay one hand on her and you will find yourself in the Echo Caves."
Felix watched him walk away to join the rest of the boys around the fire. He was allowing his old human ways to corrupt his thoughts of the Lost Boys. He protected those boys but whenever a woman came into the picture, he lost his mind. He saw the bushes shutter out of the corner of his eye. Dahlia emerged with no shoes on. It made him laugh. She was going to step on something and get killed. She could be that stupid he wasn't going to stop her.
He held his breath when she leapt up on the nearest boulder. She jumped, grabbed the nearest tree limb and swung up on it. She landed on the arch of her feet then reached for the next limb and repeated the same technique. Before anyone else realized it, she was halfway up the tree. He must have walked forward to get a better view because he was right beside Peter. The other boy looked at him then followed his gaze. There was evident shock on his face as he watched the girl sitting on a branch looking down at them.
"How did she get up there?" he asked.
"She jumped then flipped," Felix replied.
"Why did she take her boots off?"
"No clue."
"Someone that agile is bound to be trainable." Peter looked at him. "That's where you come in."
Felix shook his head. He was being relegated to babysitter. The Lost Boys had been here for years. They were able to handle themselves. This girl was not one of them. She was not going to be able to keep up with them. She may be able to slide through the trees with ease, but training was a completely different thing.
He looked up and met her gaze. It was like she knew what he was thinking. He hadn't been very quiet about where he stood when it came to her. She was quiet but he knew she was able to bring down this whole thing. He liked Neverland. He could do what he wanted. He was second in command of the Lost Boys. He hunted whenever he wanted. He had power as Pan's right hand. He wasn't going to let a female mess that up.
He lifted his chin. He watched her narrow her eyes at him then turn her gaze towards the fire. The boys were dumping the uneaten portions of breakfast in the fire, which wasn't much since they had pretty much devoured it. They started rough housing almost immediately but no one was hurting each other. It was something they did to keep their strength up.
"Boys!" Peter called after several minutes. "Let's go hunting!"
Felix smiled up at Dahlia. He knew she wasn't coming down to go with them. More for them then. He took off with a hoot, following the boys out of the camp.
