chapter three
Pan had been gone the entire day, and Lily was just about to go to sleep, when he sneaked his way back into camp.
»Lily», he said, surprised she was still up. It was late, but like mentioned, time flew so unevenly in Never Never Land, that it was impossible to tell time.
»Pan», Lily replied flatly. He crouched beside her animal skin bed, looking at her.
»You really hate me, don't you?» he said and she was surprised he said that. Not so much what he said, but how he said it, he sounded – sincere and gentle.
»I—» Lily began, unsure what to say. She didn't particularly like him, but she didn't hate him either. »Don't.»
»We terrorized your village for decades, yes you do», he insisted, sitting down next to her.
»Don't tell me how to feel», she said, scooting away from him so far her bottom touched the cold surface of the campground. He tried to hold back a smile and looked at her.
»Okay», he said.
»Just tell me where I can find Hook», said Lily, reluctantly turning her eyes on him.
»I can't let you go off alone», he said.
»Why not?», she asked, shacking her head and looking away.
»Believe it or not, we were really friends once. I care about you», he said, keeping eyes on her.
»Bullshit», she scoffed. He rolled his eyes.
»Fine. Don't believe me, but it's the truth», he said, getting up. Lily couldn't help but to feel bad for the boy. He clearly did care for her, but one thing didn't match up. Why he attacked her village all those times. Maybe it was to keep up his reputation as the boy king of Never Never Land. He was arrogant that way. She felt like she knew him through and through.
»Okay», she heard herself say. She was surprised and she wanted to take it back.
»Okay what?» he said, taking a few careful steps toward her, like she was going to start throwing punches.
»Okay you can help me», she said with a sigh. The boy smirked and she looked up at his tall figure. »But, I'm the boss.»
»Fine.»
»That means you can't get all boy king on me, it's my revenge», she said strictly, standing up. Maybe he was a little older than her; he was significantly taller and otherwise larger than her. With his arms, long and thin yet muscled, and long legs. She was a very tiny girl, only sixteen years old, but strong and independent. So was he.
»Sure thing, darling», he said. She hated and loved it when he caller her pet names. It made her feel like a child, but like she was important to him.
»Great», she said. »We leave at dawn», she announced, and Pan gave a faint smirk.
Lily laid back down on her bed and rolled over, her back facing him. Pan looked for a minute, until Lily could feel his eyes burning holes in her back. She turned around and he backed up, slowly toward his own tent.
Lily had a terrible dream. She was back in the village with her family. The children were dancing and singing around the bonfire while the adults and teenagers sat beside it, talking. Lily was standing outside of the village, unable to enter it. Whenever she took a step toward it, she seemed to the further than she was before.
Then, the fire began to spread. It set the tents on fire, the children were screaming. Lily screamed too, trying to warn them, but the adults didn't notice the fire. Their children were lit on fire like torches, and Lily couldn't stop it.
She woke up sweaty and panting. She looked down, seeing her chest heaving with speed. Her heart was pounding violently in her chest and she wanted to throw up.
It was still dark, but she saw the faint shine of the sun in the horizon, that was barely visible through the trees. She saw Pan's figure in his tent, sleeping soundly.
Lily stood up from her bed, and followed the sunrise. The forest was Lily's favourite place in the world. That Pan or the pirates couldn't take away from her. She loved the feeling of the warm wind in her long hair, the sound of its soft humming as it made its way along the path with her.
She reached the beach that surrounded the forest and saw the sun. It was shining a soft light on her, warm on her honey skin. She sat on the sand, feeling the warmth of it below her feet, and just watched the sunrise.
She'd never really watched the sunrise before, she never got up that early. But now, she didn't see a reason why one wouldn't get up just to see that.
Then, she saw a dark figure emerging the beach in the horizon, a large bird? No, a ship? She stood up, and walked closer, but it made no difference, the ship was too far away. It was big, even from this far away and it had black sails, that much Lily could make out of it.
Pirates.