The Lost Boys had come back the previous night raving with excited tales of besting their opponents. They laughed triumphantly while sharing dinner over the fire; even the smallest of the boys seemed to have a story to brag about. Meanwhile Elizabeth sat there and begrudgingly listened. Though at first Peter was amused by her adorably tenacious fury with him for not allowing her out of camp, he eventually felt the discomfort of her relentless icy gaze.
The next morning started off early. Now that the boys had the freedom to set off into hunting parties, the camp emptied out at the crack of dawn. Elizabeth, to no one's surprise, was the first out of her bed and dressed. By the time the boys came downstairs to retrieve their weapons; she had already sharpened her knife and fetched one of the leftover swords.
As part of the established morning routine, the boys gathered outside to split off into the groups. Elizabeth pushed through the crowd to find Peter contently watching from an idle distance behind the four older Lost Boys picking their teams. Peter immediately caught sight of her, fully dressed and armed, and let out a bemused laugh. "Are you going somewhere, Princess?"
"I told you yesterday," she protested. "My parents are out on the island. If I can't see them, then at least let me make their lives a little easier."
A few of the boys chuckled behind her. She ignored them and kept focus on Peter, "The fewer enemies they have to face, the better."
Peter cocked his head to the side in deliberation. She sighed with dropped shoulders, "C'mon Peter. You can't keep me here like some caged animal." He frowned in contemplation for a minute longer before dropping his head with resolve.
Peter looked back up at her with a crooked smile. "I guess it's only fair that you start to learn the island on your own," he muttered. Elizabeth beamed brightly, restraining the strange urge she suddenly had to run over to him. Peter inwardly indulged in seeing her smile; it had been nearly two days. Silence followed their exchange before he turned back to Felix. "Well, go on."
Felix looked out into the crowd with a newfound conflict. He gripped the handle of his club before nodding at Elizabeth, "I want her."
She looked at him with a skeptical smile, "Wait, really?"
"I crossed you once, girl, and learned a quick lesson from it," Felix calmly swung his club over his shoulder. "Only the best fighters go to the Southern parts of the island with me. Lost girl or not, you most certainly fall in that category."
Under orders of the ship's Captain, the crew of the final vessel reluctantly stayed behind while the Captain took a small party to the island. King George, still headstrong despite his churning stomach, stubbornly ventured out with the Captain. The small rowboat glided onto the soft shores; the waves seemingly pulled the group to the island as if under orders. The two lieutenants, as well as a few of the other hooded soldiers heaved the small boat up the beach with ease.
"God," one of the lieutenants groaned after dropping the heavy weight down. He straightened out his back, leaning onto the tips of his toes to stretch his calves before looking around. "So this is it... Neverland."
King George stiffly marched up the beach. The Captain warily followed his settled footsteps in the sand. "Alright men," the old king began, "we must find a way to regroup with the remaining regiments. Surely there must be some way we can establish contact with another area of the island."
"To what, phone a militia camp?" The lieutenant with shaggy black hair grumbled. "The regiments are gone by now. You'll be lucky if you can gather a single force of men, my lord."
"You'd do well with some manners, boy," George snapped. Beneath the sagging skin of his eyelids, the king's gaze heated.
"Don't pay him any attention, Highness" the Captain spoke up and shot the young lieutenant a warning glare. "The uneasiness of his stomach from the seas often gets the better of his reservations. He'll prove his worth in battle, I assure you."
The king gave the lieutenant a skeptical look before turning to the Captain. "Do we have a plan of action, then? I don't like to be kept waiting for too long." Behind the king, both lieutenants silently rolled their eyes in bitter scorn.
The Captain nodded up at the dark, threatening forest ahead of them. Slowly, he drew his sword out from his sheath. "Believe me, staying in one place for too long is the worst mistake someone could make in Neverland. If we are to have any chance, we have to keep moving."
The group of soldiers drew out their swords in obedience. King George frowned suspiciously, "You seem to know quite a bit about this land, Captain."
"Yeah," he nodded uncomfortably. "You'll be thankful that I do." Inwardly, the Captain was considering himself grateful that he at least had the fabric mask to shield his identity. Of course, in Neverland, he knew it wouldn't protect him for too long.
The party advanced forwards into the dark woods. While the soldiers kept their attention on the woods that surrounded them, the Captain kept his eyes fixed to the sky. He knew that if they were to be ambushed, which was inevitable, it wouldn't be by the Lost Boys. The Captain turned and beckoned for the younger brunette lieutenant to come by his side.
"Did you bring what I asked?" The Captain muttered lowly under his breath.
The lieutenant frowned and pulled a single black leather glove out from his pocket. "Are you going to tell me why you need my father's glove?"
The Captain took the glove in his hand and studied it. He ran the rough cushion of his bare thumb over the worn ridges of the leather. "There's only one way to get Elizabeth home," the Captain mumbled with a strange melancholy tone, "and with this I can make it happen."
The lieutenant looked into the man's heavy eyes with concern. Something in the Captain's narrow hazel brown eyes spoke resolution. "Why do I get the feeling that you're planning to go rogue on us?"
The Captain shrugged his tired shoulders. "I'll do whatever it takes to to get her out of this mess. If that means we do end up splitting up, then so be it." The Captain suddenly paused with a startled gasp. His steps froze as he rigidly raised a hand in the air to stop the group.
He could see it floating there, watching them from the canopy of the trees far up ahead. Though its darkness was impressively camouflaged in the disarray of branches, the Captain had no trouble distinguishing those threatening eyes from the sparkling of stars poking through the leaves.
Pan's shadow.
"In fact, now would be a good time to do so," the Captain mumbled quietly with a furious fixed glare on the dark figure. "Lieutenant," he growled the name bitterly. The lieutenant snapped out of the fear which paralyzed him. His bright blue eyes spoke apprehension when he looked over at the Captain. "All of you need to split up into groups no larger than two." The shadow suddenly made its quick decent towards them with his arms extended out.
The Captain pushed the young lieutenant behind him. "Now!" he shouted urgently, sending the small group into a frenzied scatter in different directions. No one thought to offer the king assistance despite his angry demands. George had no chance of escaping on his own given his slow handicapped state.
Instead of going for the armed Captain, the shadow whipped around to gather the king in its clutches. It flew upwards and knocked the old king against the rough bark of a tree. The Captain lowered his sword and pulled the ragged fabric down from his face.
"Hey!" He shouted angrily and opened his arms out to the shadow. The dark figure turned, immediately recognizing the aged features of the Captain's face. It apathetically dropped the king fifteen feet to the ground and made its slow approach to its newfound prey. The Captain took a tentative step back, though knew well-enough that there was no way to escape. He gritted his teeth and tensed his footing to the ground. No more running.
The shadow suddenly halted and looked over beyond the Captain's shoulder. It hesitated before flying off into the night sky. The Captain sighed and felt the new presence lurking behind him.
"A hooded cloak and a mask? Dressing a little under our station now, wouldn't you say, Prince?" Peter strutted out of the cover of darkness. The Captain turned with his sword still casually lowered. Peter grinned and crossed his arms. "Then again, you always were one for the dramatics."
"I did what I had to do to get here," the Captain murmured.
"How valiant," Peter nodded amusingly.
The Captain frustratingly slid his sword back into its sheath. "I didn't come here for games. I want my sister back."
"Yes of course, Lizzie...-"
"Elizabeth," the Captain snapped. "You don't get to call her that."
"Actually, I'll call her what I like. As of right now," Peter's eyes darkened possessively, "she belongs to me."
"Yeah, well I've come to fix that." The Captain pulled out the black leather glove. "Let's not dance around the subject. You want one thing, something only I can provide. I've come to give that to you."
Peter's eyes narrowed with a mischievous smile. "Well, look who showed up to play."
"I'm done running from you," the Captain shoved the glove back into his cloak's inner pocket, "Let's end this, here and now."
"As appealing as that sounds, I'm afraid that's just not possible. Not here anyways," Peter gestured to the dark forest. He stepped closer to the weary Captain, bowing his head close beside his ear while hushing his voice down to a threatening whisper. "If you really want to save your sister you know where to find me." Peter took a step back with a malicious grin before looking over the Captain's shoulder to the king who was struggling to stand.
Before the Captain could make a move to obstruct Pan, the shadow flew up from behind and firmly restrained him against a nearby tree. Peter calmly sauntered over to the king still curled on the ground and offered out his hand. George looked at the hand suspiciously, though disregarded his nervousness to get back his footing. Peter pulled the old man to his feet with a sly grin. "And who would you be?"
"George, King to the realm of the Enchanted Wood," he grumbled.
Peter raised a mischievous eyebrow. "Are you, now?"
"Yes," he answered while wrapping a hand around his sore neck. "I assume you're one of the Lost Boys. That thing," he looked up gullibly to the sky, "that was Peter Pan."
"You're referring to the shadow?" Peter nodded with mock-sincerity, "I'm afraid Peter's a bit temperamental. He doesn't take kindly to uninvited guests in Neverland."
"I'm a King," George growled. "I don't need invitation from a child. My men came here with a mission. I'm in need of the princess being held captive here. Tell me where she is, boy, and I'll help you off this godforsaken spit of land."
Peter beamed widely and nodded, "I don't suppose you're aware that your men already poisoned your precious princess." George frowned with misunderstanding. "Oh? You didn't know?" Peter's eyes widened. "She's had her dose of the island's enchanted waters, no thanks to the order you so humbly gave your men." Peter's grin twisted maliciously, "Dead or alive, was it?"
George felt his legs weaken. He glared up at the Peter with confusion. "Who are you, boy?"
"Of course, where are my manners?" Peter casually closed the distance between him and the king, "I'm Peter, Peter Pan." Before George could make a move, Peter pushed him back against the tree. His eyes grew somber, revealing the traces of anger swelling beneath his composure, "I'm afraid it's too late for that, highness. You see, the only king on this island is me." George felt Peter's fingers tighten around his trembling shoulder. Peter leaned in closer with a menacing scowl. "Suffice to say, you're no more a king here than you ever were in your realm."
The Captain growled under the pressure that the shadow had him pinned against the tree. "Oh and there's something else," Peter unmercifully shoved his hand into the king's chest. "You would have done well to find yourself another princess, seeing as Elizabeth is mine."
With a swift tug, Peter ripped George's heart out of his chest and slowly crushed it, relishing in the old man's pained expression. George sank to the ground; his wide-eyed gaze glossed over as the life drained out of him. Once all had turned to gray ash in his hand, Peter casually wiped his grimy hands over the thighs of his pants.
The shadow took off, letting the Captain fall to the ground and catch his breath. "You... are a monster," he gritted through his teeth. "What did you gain from that?"
"A good laugh," the boy muttered and turned on the balls of his feet. "Believe in me what you will, as long as you mean it." At that, Peter began to calmly retreat back into the darkness of the forest. "And I doubt even you will miss that disillusioned geezer."
"Hey!" the Captain yelled angrily, "Let's be clear about something. If I go through with this, you must honor your end of the bargain."
"I've already agreed to ...-"
"I'm not just looking for a return," the Captain shook his head solemnly. "Once she's handed over, that's it. You won't see her again, you won't talk to her again, and you won't plague her dreams. Hell, I don't want you in the same realm as her. If I am to give my life over to you for good, at least give me the assurance she'll be safe away from you."
Peter pressed his lips in a firm line while grinding the backs of his teeth. After a hard moment of silence, the boy gravely nodded. He turned back away and continued off into the trees. Peter hesitated before he was fully out of sight and looked back over his shoulders to the Captain still warily watching him. "It's good to see you again, Henry... even if you are all grown up."
