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"Well, that was....awkward, to say the least," groaned Sirus.

The three of them stood on the path that had led to the rock near Redbone Cove's eye. John was chuckling to himself, and Wendy was shaking her head, grimacing.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to meet this guy who saved me," moaned Wendy. She shuddered. "Isn't he a bit young though...? EeEugh!" she shuddered again.

"A bit young...?" asked Sirus. He had a look of embarassed unhappiness on his face.

"Wendy, luv, ain't no one on this island that AIN'T young," chuckled John. He shook his head. "I am gonna get laid so much," he muttered.

" >Ahem !" coughed Sirus, as he stood up as striaght as he could, arms at his sides. Wendy and John looked at each other and shrugged, until they heard a noise.

The two of them spun around. Two young people were walking casually along the path from the rocky skull's open maw. The male person, looking about 17 or 18, was wearing baggy pine-green pants and brown leather boots. He was pulling on a darker green short-sleeved coat that flowed down to mid-thigh, overtop of a light green ripped t-shirt. He had tousled orange hair, which was tied behind him in a red band. He wore strange bracelets with sharp fangs tied to strings attatched. He was Pan, the ruler of Neverland.

His companion was Princess Tigerlily, a pretty girl of about 16, was wearing a faded tan dress of leather, with ornate orange and brown designs across the shoulders and bottom of the dress, which came down to her knees. A slit ran up the side of the dress, going all the way up to above her hips. She had a brown headband on with jewels in the centre and two eagle feathers in the back.

"Sirus," called Pan in a strong voice, with a mild Australian accent, "these are the outlanders, then, eh?" Sirus nodded to Pan, who was still on the path beneath them. He took Tigerlily's hand, and lept high into the air, carrying her with him. He hung in the air for a few seconds, then slowly settled to the rocky ground in front of Sirus. He let go of Tigerlily's hand, and turned to Wendy and John. He looked them over, giving a "hmmph", and then turned to Tigerlily.

Wendy stammered, "I'm s-sorry, your honor...uh, excellence...? Ah, we-- ah, we didn't m-mean to intrude..."

Pan looked back to her and put a finger to his lips, "shh!". He turned away from the stunned Wendy to Tigerlily and spoke to her in some Indian tongue. She nodded after a bit, and kissed him on the cheek with faint enthusiasm. She glared at Wendy, than started running for the rocky hill that they had climbed down earlier. She jumped high into the air and grabbed hold of the rocks. She quickly shimmied and scurried up the face of the rocks, making her way to the top in a third of the time it had taken them. She stood at the top of the hill now, looking down at them.

John whispered to himself, "blimey... she's fast. Nice arse, too." Wendy slapped him across the arm, and looked back to Pan. He was about 6 inches taller than her, about 6'3", with sharp, angular features. Wendy took in a small breath, and blinked sweetly at him. He turned to Sirus, leaving Wendy's gaze with minimal interest. He started tucking in an off-white strip of cloth into his belt. It looked like part of a flag or banner.

"I will escort 'er back to her tribe. I told you I wasn't to be disturbed tonight, mate," he snickered at Sirus. Sirus shrugged, and blushed a little. Pan let out a laugh, a hearty, loud laugh. "I'll meet you three at Jungendstadt and we can be formally introduced."

With that, he jumped into the air again, and sailed up towards the top of the hill, coat fluttering in the moonlight. He landed at the top, patted one of the wolves, and started walking into the dark of night with Tigerlily, out of the trio's sight.

Wendy tried to say something, something about his rude behaviour, but it just wasn't coming out. She flapped her lips unsuccessfully, and looked at Sirus. Sirus shrugged, and motioned for the rocky hill. "Please tell me I won't have to carry you again."

***

They were riding on their wolves through the forest again. She had tried her hand at scaling the rocks earlier, but ended up riding upon Sirus's back yet again. They had mounted their wolves, and began riding, Wendy still stewing about their encounter with Pan.

Sirus nudged her with his arm, and she turned her head to him. "He was just a little distracted!" Sirus yelled over the wolves panting and the whizzing sound of leaves and trees speeding past.

Wendy nodded, and groaned as their wolf jumped over a large tree stump and landed with a solid thump. The wolves ran, ran through the dark, and Wendy frowned...

***

Sirus patted his wolf's flank as it pawwed into it's stall. He closed the bamboo gate, and looked at his companions. "So which one of you wants to go back up first?" Wendy and John both groaned at the thought of the never-ending winding stairwell inside the tree. Sirus shrugged, then furrowed his brow, thinking. "I suppose we could take the Levy.

"The 'Levy'?" asked Wendy. Sirus began walking, and motioned for them to follow him. He walked around a series of trees, and pushed a fallen tree out of the way. The tree was cut in half and hollowed, its leaves still looking fresh. Camoflauge.

Behind the tree's secret passage was a large raft inside another carved out tree, going all the way up to Jungendstadt. It had two rails on either side of it's wooden-plank floor, and a long, thick vine on the tree side. Sirus stepped up onto it, and motioned for Wendy and John to join him. They got on, and he put his hands on the vine. He moved his head, motioning for them to do the same. Wendy and John slowly grabbed ahold of the vine, and Sirus let out a few quick breaths. "One, two, three, HEAVE!!"

He pulled on the vine with all his might, and the raft left the ground maybe an inch or two before falling again. Sirus let out a groan, and let go of the vine. "You're supposed to PULL!" he shouted exhasperatedly at them, his face flushed from exertion.

"Ohh," Wendy laughed a little. Sirus glared at her, and she giggled. He shook his head, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"We all pull once on the count of three, and the Levy'll do the rest. Ok? One, two, THREE!!"

The three of them pulled on the vine, and the elevator-raft lifted up quickly. Wendy let go of the vine after Sirus pulled his hands free and nodded for her and John to do the same. The 'Levy' moved upwards at a medium pace, of it's own volition it seemed.

"All it needs is a little momentum to get it going," panted Sirus, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. He sat down on the planks, watching the wooden elevator ascend. Glowing moss hugged the sides of the tree, and as they passed it cast strange shadows across the three.

"Why's it got those floater things on th' bottom? Like on a raft?" asked John. Sirus thought for a second, then clued in to what he meant.

"Sometimes, when the tides come up high, the bathing lagoon floods and the forest gets a little deep with water. That just keeps this thing topside at all times," he explained. "We use this for moving wood or food up to Jungendstadt."

"Huh...so what kind of food do you usually move on these things?" asked Wendy, staring at the peculiar stains in the wood. She saw faint traces of reds, blues, and blacks.

"Mostly dead animals. Either deer or bear. Sometimes vampire when the sun stays high longer," replied Sirus casually. Wendy gave a sick look, and backed away from the blood stains.

"When the sun stays up higher... you mean summer?" she asked. Sirus gave a questioning look. "You know, hot, the days are longer.... opposite of winter...? Hello?"

"Winter... we don't have winter here. Sorry, took me a while to remember there," he chuckled. "We don't have any kind of winter here. The only way to tell the seasons apart here is how long the sun stays out. At least, around here. Near Quarkstokes Mountain, it gets colder there some years."

"Okay," said Wendy slowly, thinking about what he had just said. With a shake and a bang, the Levy came to a stop.

"We're here," said Sirus. He opened a wooded stick gate to a huge wooden floor. Boys of various ages walked and jumped and did business here, but not a single adult was to be seen in the moon light, probably the whole city. Wendy had come out early in the night, when most of the kids had been out doing other things. Now, as the night went on, they were out, partying and frollicking about. Branches could be seen poking through the floor here and there, decorated with glowing moss and hanging lanterns. Strange tribal-meets-metal music floated across the small city, coming from seashells hooked up to the occasional branch and wooden wall. Vines ran between the seashells, and Wendy realized they were impromptu speakers.

"Oh my God, this place is amazing..." she gasped. She looked around. Some of the boys had girls with them, dancing or kissing or... "oh!" Wendy giggled, embarassed, and turned around. She looked at Sirus and he shrugged. Jungendstadt city was in the midst of a late night rave.

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