Chapter 5: The Beast

Pan was still unsure how Martyn had any idea where he was going. He had the natural grace of a forest sprite of legend, his legs never becoming caught on roots and his clothes never snagged by thorns, as if the forest moved aside for him and him alone. Pan was not so fortunate, however, as she stumbled through the forest with the grace of an ogre, clothes ripping and muttered curses streaming from her in a constant flow of frustration.

"We're here."
Pan tugged her jacket free of a bush of thorns which captured a slice of leather as a souvenir. She managed to stop cursing to examine the area. A small fire sat in the centre of the grove, the smoke from the dying embers creating a thin line which was blocked by the trees canopy. At the far side was a green tent containing two beds with leaves covering the sides that had almost turned it camouflaged. To the left were two wooden cubicles which looked deliberately unimportant. The early morning light slithered through the gaps in the olive leaves, creating a disco light effect which Martyn bathed in. He was home.

"Welcome to IntheLittleCorp, Pan. I wonder if my sword is still where I left it…" he muttered, heading over to the tent and crawling under the bed, pushing away piles of dirt in his path. Pan followed him with a kind of innocent curiosity, a position usually reserved for Toby, watching the boy of the forest with awe in her eyes. He reappeared with a scowl on his face. In his hand was a sword. The blade itself was emerald with a gold hilt which looked like vines were gripping his hand. When Pan really listened, she could hear it singing with power.

Martyn swung the blade in a wide arc, getting a feel for the weight and balance,
"It's not the same one, but it's a very good attempt at a copy." He muttered, holding the sword up to his face for inspection. He almost went to hand Pan the sword but seemed to change his mind, mistrust flickering in his eyes, and sheathed it.

"The Sapling Blade." He muttered, "I hoped I'd never need to use it in a place like this." His eyes darkened and he sighed, "Shall we see if there's any food around, then we'll part ways. I can see Duncan's castle from here." Pan looked up at the sky line and sure enough, the looming but familiar silhouette of the Castle she now called home had an ominous presence in the line of trees.
"All right then, it's down here I presume." She replied, heading towards the wooden doors. Sure enough, if she looked through the gaps, she could see the underground complex. The Sapling King nodded and began walking over to join her.

Pandora opened the door, the cold of the underground hitting her like a wall of ice, and took a step forwards. There was a terrifying snap of string breaking and Pan felt a weight against her boot give.
"Oh, shit!" she yelled, waving off Martyn with her left hand before attempting to dive forwards. There was the sound of pistons activating. The doors burst outwards, one nearly hitting Martyn, as the walls either side of them were pushed inwards. Pan's torso missed the trap, but her arm was not so fortunate. There was a sickening crunch of bone and a scream that surely echoed through the entire arena.

The impact itself was not as painful as when the pistons pulled away. Matyn ran to where she had collapsed on the floor. There was no blood, but her arm just seemed flattened, as if they'd taken all the muscles away and just left skin hanging from bone or in this case, a very shattered bone. The Sapling King scavenged the caverns and eventually came across some bandages and painkillers. Using this, plus some sticks to create a sort of splint, he wrapped her arm tenderly in a sling and gave her the painkillers which she swallowed down with a little water.

"Some use I'll be when I find my gun..." Pan muttered with a horse voice, her eyes red from tears, "That's my aiming arm."

Martn shook his head and attempted a reassuring smile,

"It will be fine. You can stay here! Lalna and Toby will turn up, then he can look after you!"

A half laugh, half sob racked her body and she looked up at the slots in the door,

"Looking after me..." she repeated, "He's always looking after me. Though this time he cannot afford too."

The Sapling King hid the pain from his eyes in a curtain and sat on the stairs beside where she had fallen.

"Are you and him..." he left the question open for any kind of interpretation. Pan shook her head solemnly. She wasn't going to tell him that since she'd moved in, she'd liked something new about him every day, and something else annoyed her. On her third day, she'd loved the way his eyes sparked whenever he was in the process of learning something, like a child surrounded by chocolate. On the same day she'd become infuriated by the way he'd begin something dangerous, then loose interest at the most important stage and hurt himself. On the seventh day, she'd learned to love the little niche in his hair that was left whenever he took his goggles off to sleep. When she really thought about it, she couldn't even remember what she hadn't liked that day.

"No..." she replied, "We're just friends."

Martyn gave a little half smile,

"Yeah, I used to say that about Toby too..." he chuckled, "People stopped believing me pretty quickly."

Pandora and Martyn sat in silence for a moment and she didn't notice she'd fallen asleep until she woke up. The sun was just setting and the Sapling King had fallen asleep beside her, snoring loudly. The painkillers had reduced the pain to a dull throb. She still kicked herself for falling for such a blatantly obvious trap. Ridge had even warned them that nowhere in this arena was safe. She noted Martyn had left out an stone sword for her and she managed to somehow tie the belt around her waist. She needed air, night or day.

She noticed suddenly that the doors had been placed back on their hinges. Similar to when an artist brushes off rubber shavings off a sketch, Ridge couldn't stand to see his masterpiece spoiled, even if it was entirely his fault. The crisp night air created a very different atmosphere to the clearing. She felt exposed and alone in comparison to when the warm day had created opalescent fairy lights that danced along the branches and made her feel at home. She couldn't decide if it was the absence of light or Martyn that had caused this difference.

"That trap caught you, did it?"

The voice shocked Pan. She reached for a pouch of ammo that wasn't there for a gun she didn't have. She looked up and met hazel eyes. She wasn't sure if Ridge carried some sort of light source or if he just had an internal light that made him glow in the dark, like a firefly. Either was possible. Pan didn't respond to his question so he shook his head and turned his back on her, his hands folded neatly behind him.

"Lalna heard you scream." he said, with a voice of ice, "I watched the terror in his face,"

He turned to her shocked expression with a smirk. His eyes concealed inner wickedness with an exterior of decorum.

"So what's the plan Pan? Wait for your knight-in-shining-armour to show up? Because, let's face it..." he was suddenly inches from her face, his breath hitting her cheek, "We all know your role in this story."

She wasn't exactly sure what part of her brain thought her next move was a good idea but she went with it anyway. Using her good hand she pulled the sword from the sheath on her belt. Ridge heard the noise and while Pan was occupied blinking, he moved back. She held the blade flat towards him, her storm cloud eyes hardening,

"I am not a Damsel." she retorted. A few raindrops shattered against the blade of the sword. She'd almost expected Ridge to be amused but he clearly wasn't. Shadows collected in the corners of his eyes and his finger pointed up.

"Listen, I know full well who you were up there, but let me tell you something, that doesn't matter at all," the finger turned downwards, "Down here. You are the damsel. If you refuse, I will make you one. You have no dictatorship here." His hands returned to his back and the smirk appeared. Pan's mouth tried to form words but none came, the sword became too heavy to lift and the arm fell to her side.

"It's not like you have any power up there any more either. Reminds me very much of my own story..." he continued.

"There is a difference between being stuck and being exiled." she spat the last word, her voice harbouring venom it hadn't required in a long time.

"And there is a difference between being exiled and being stuck." he grinned, the raindrops now hammering down around them but none seemed to graze Ridge, "She's all yours."

Pan spun quicker than her eyes could create images. She was faced with a figure emerging from the forest. The beast wore the remains of a red jacket, wielding a musket that should have been hers, blue light shone from his eyes. Behind the glow she could see a man hammering at the lenses, trapped. The beast growled. Pan turned to confront Ridge to find he had vanished, in his place a small felt pouch. On impulse alone, she ran for the bag, her arm protesting loudly. She heard Xephos run toward her from the forest and her heartbeat at least doubled. She grabbed the bag, foolishly dropping her sword to achieve this, glad to feel the familiar weight of a pouch of musket ammo. She really wanted her gun.

She turned to see Xephos had stopped. He regarded her with the amusement of a puppy toying with its meat before it is eaten. Slowly, she took fearful steps towards the sword lying on the ground,

"Listen, Xephos, I don't know what Ridgedog did to you..." she muttered, her eyes fluttering from the sword then back up, "But I didn't kill Hannah, Teep did." At the mention of Lomadia, the glow stopped. A familiar wisdom and warmth spread across his eyes. They grew wide and frightened,

"Help...Me..." came the voice, choked and fighting for words. Then the glow came back, this time brighter, and he lunged. Pan grabbed the sword, bringing it up so the barrel hit the flat blade and not her. In her crouched state, it knocked her backwards so she was lying on the water logged earth and the blade left her hand again. She had never been one for swordplay.

"Martyn!" she yelled, but she was certain the noise would be drowned out by the Sapling King's own snores. There was a loud gunshot that rang loudly in her ears accompanying the patter of raindrops and Pan noticed Xephos had misfired the gun. She was the only one who had ever used her musket before. No one had many ideas on how to use one. The explosion had left her ears wringing ominously and the painkillers decided now was a good time to wear off. Xephos used this time to reload and Pan found herself in a situation she never thought she'd end up in. She was staring down the barrel of her own gun. She didn't want it to end like this. Her eyes closed, not wanting to see the ball that would kill her. Mud was absorbed into her hair and the raindrops knocked on the entrance to her eyes. Silently, she awaited the click of the trigger.

The explosion sounded again, but it didn't hit her head. She could feel her heart beating. She wasn't dead. Pandora forced her eyes open to see Martyn standing over her, he had knocked the gun from Xephos' grasp and it was lying temptingly on the floor. The beast looked surprised for a moment before pixel by pixel a diamond sword appeared in his hand. It met the Sapling Blade with a crash of metal.

"Run, Pan! Find the others!" Martyn ordered. Pan scrambled across the mud and filth, grabbing her gun as she went. Blindly, through the pouring rain and thorns, Pan threw herself at the mercy of the forest muttering over and over again,

"Martyn, I'm so sorry..."

Note: I don't even know where this chapter came form. This was never went to be here, or written this early...Hmmm..

A bit of foreshadowing in here for a future FF hopefully!

Also, anyone here catch my Lord of the Flies references? No? Maybe my dad?

Anyway, be glad, I ignored 2 possible cliffhanger points here. Be grateful for my mercy!