Miku sat on a fallen log, shuffling her feet in the dirt. She wasn't sure if Oliver was still in the den, but if he was, she wasn't going to head back there. Oliver's dark warning lingered in her mind – the promise that he wouldn't treat her as kindly the next time he ran into her.
Well, she wouldn't allow him any opportunity to fulfil that promise, then. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. The darkness of the forest was almost suffocating, but she paid it no heed for now – she had not gone very far from the den, so she didn't feel like she was in danger. She was still near the forest path, so she ought to be relatively safe. And besides, the Lost Boys were all awake and carrying out their nightly activities, so even if she did run into any trouble, she could call for help. The rough wood of the log felt warm and reassuring against her legs. What could she do tonight? She wasn't too sure herself.
"Miku?" she looked up at the sound of the name, recognising the soft-spoken voice. Piko pushed his way through the shrubbery, silver hair glistening faintly in the dim moonlight. "Oh, there you are. I was looking for you," the Lost Boy hesitated, then slowly walked over to her. Miku scooted over on her log, giving him space to sit – she was thankful for the unexpected company, though she didn't say so aloud. Piko glanced at her before he sat, and she wondered what he was thinking. "I noticed you ran out the moment you saw Oliver."
"Yeah," she mumbled, unsure how to explain why she did such a thing. She felt like what Oliver showed her was a secret – it wasn't something that she could just go around telling other people. The dark shadows which haunted both her and him weren't something that just anyone could find out about. They nearly drove her crazy back on Earth, and she was afraid that if she told anyone about the shadows, she would spread her curse and drive another person mad as well. "Something happened between us once, and it's just really, really awkward to be in the same room as him right now. I'd rather leave him alone."
She half-expected Piko to ask her what that 'something' which happened between her and Oliver was, but to her surprise, he didn't probe further. Instead, the silver haired craftsman sighed and tilted his head up, perhaps searching the night sky for the moon. Miku did the same, looking upwards as well, but she couldn't see anything beyond the dense canopy of leaves. "Given what happened between you and Oliver, that time when you visited their pirate ship, I can easily imagine why you would find it awkward to be around him now. I won't ask," Piko promised, much to her relief. It was to her advantage if he assumed that it was because of that incident – though it was kind of related, since Oliver wouldn't have told her about the shadows and revealed the true extent of his abilities if she hadn't gambled with him on the pirate ship and caused him to lose his temper. He really was…very strange.
"What does he want, anyway?" she changed the subject, trying to divert attention away from her reluctance to spend time around Oliver. Piko shrugged, still looking up at the night sky, and Miku turned her gaze away from the canopy, glancing over at the Lost Boy. Here, Piko truly looked like…a boy. He had always been the youngest-looking among all the Lost Children, but right now he seemed so thoughtful and aloof, the striking image of a young adolescent wondering about life and all kinds of other things. It was easy to forget what he could be like if he wasn't being dead serious, though Miku thought that nowadays, Piko was flirting with her less and less. Perhaps he was distracted by other, more urgent matters?
"Who knows? Certainly not I. Oliver was looking for Len, so only Len would know what the pirate could possibly want from us…" he shrugged his thin shoulders again, but there was a certain tension in his tone that made her think Piko wasn't quite as blasé as he sounded. "I just hope that Len can settle the fire kararehe soon. It's getting close, we have maybe two weeks or so left to the attack, and if we haven't found any allies by then we might have to consider moving to someplace safer," the Lost Boy mused, his tone becoming bleak.
"I'm sure that Len is working on it," she answered, reaching forward to pick up a branch from the ground. Piko didn't answer, and she used the tip of the branch to draw useless patterns in the dirt, wondering how long she had to stay outside the den. She snuck another peek at the boy, and saw that Piko had finally looked down from the sky, his gaze fixed on the ground ahead of him. He looked like he was thinking about something – what they would do if Len couldn't save them, perhaps? All the Lost Boys were worried. None of them knew what Len was doing, and Miku couldn't honestly say that she knew that much either.
She suspected that Len's plan had something to do with the sirens Oliver was talking about, but Len did not explain how the sirens and that hydra the pirate spoke of were related to the fire kararehe. She wanted to ask, but Len had fallen asleep shortly after they returned to the den and even when she left, he still had not woken up, so she didn't really get a chance to ask him anything. She definitely wanted to know why he trusted the words of someone like Oliver, but…well, she hoped that Len knew what he was doing. The pirate was full of secrets, and she had the sneaking suspicion that he was just manipulating all of them like chess pieces in some grand plan known only to himself. What could that master plan be?
"You have a lot of faith in Len, don't you, Miku?" Piko suddenly asked, the unexpected words startling her. She looked up from the dirt, the branch hanging loosely from her fingertips, and saw that the craftsman was staring intently at her, expression unreadable. "Of course, we all believe in Len, but you seem to be…extremely loyal to him. No, perhaps loyal isn't the right word to use, but…you get my drift," he tilted his head, studying her closely. "I'm just very curious to know why you're able to trust him to such an extent? You were the last one to join us, after all. You'd have the most reason to be suspicious of him."
She hesitated. This sounded like an interrogation of some sort. She didn't think Piko was trying to get any information out of her or anything – what could she tell him that he would find useful, anyway? – but it still made her feel a little uneasy. Clearly, there was something important going through Piko's mind. Both Neverland and the Lost Boys were withdrawn, mysterious entities. There was Rei and his strange reluctance to spend time around her, Len with the secretive plans he wouldn't share with anyone else, and now Piko and the strange, capricious questions he asked, which all seemed to have so little link with each other.
"Well, I went with him to visit the Red Indians. There were a few times where he could have easily abandoned me to finish the journey on his own, but he didn't, so I guess…I just began to really, really trust him after that," she mumbled. The explanation didn't quite seem to cut it – was it really that simple? She personally didn't know if this was the real answer, either.
Piko raised an eyebrow. "Then you trust easily?" he questioned. She had to stop and think about that. Did she? She didn't think she was someone who often trusted quickly. Miku did not view herself as particularly gullible, and she was often wary of strangers. She had always been this way, since she was hardly shown any parental care or affection after her father passed away, and given the experiences she suffered when she was still schooling, it was perfectly understandable why she was reluctant to believe the words of others. Especially if those others happened to be men. She shrugged, unwilling to give a concrete answer, and Piko exhaled, looking up towards the sky again. Miku found that she was unable to relax.
"Did you ever wonder about our pasts?" he changed the topic. Miku turned to look at him, wondering why he was bringing this up, and Piko flashed her a small, humourless smile. "I'm just really curious about yours. Why did you choose to come to Neverland, hmm?" he held out his hand, taking the branch away from her, and began to tap the broken branch against the old, rough wood of the log they were sitting on. "No one comes to Neverland without a reason. And you…you're not as young as the rest of us when we got here. So why, Miku?"
She hesitated. Was it really okay for her to just talk about her past here, so openly, and with Piko, of all people? She didn't imagine that he would be the first person she ever spoke to about her background. Len already knew of her shadows, and she figured he knew that her family background was far from perfect – he was the one who had seen her back on Earth, after all. And she was terrified of others finding out that she was abnormal. But these boys were far from normal themselves. Perhaps they would be the first group of people who would truly understand what it felt like to be…different. Or was that mere wishful thinking?
"I didn't have a happy childhood," she finally answered. As she spoke, she decided not to bring up the shadows. That would remain her secret for now. Besides, it wasn't like Piko would know what those dark beings were anyway. "My father died when I was a child. My mother raised me alone, and she was not a kind woman. Not after she took to alcohol, at least," she shrugged her thin shoulders, feeling a little self-conscious. She wasn't used to talking about herself. No one had asked her for her story before, not really. And she wasn't sure if she would have told most people even if they asked, anyway. "My grandfather helped to raise me, and I think he is where my mother got her cruelty from…" she paused, trying to gather her thoughts and not break down into an incoherent mess. This whole topic was sensitive, and just talking about it brought up wounds she had thought long healed.
Piko seemed to sense her anxiety. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to," he reassured her, placing one slender hand on her back comfortingly. The other hand held loosely on to the branch, his thumb unconsciously rubbing circles against the wood. "If you want, I can tell you a little more about myself…which you should see as an honour really, because I don't reveal my tragic backstory very often," he added, a small smirk on his face.
Miku smiled a little and nodded, gladly taking up on his offer. It would be interesting to find out more about one of the Lost Boys, and it would also be an excuse for her to stop talking about herself. Piko cleared his throat, removing his hand from her back. "I belonged to a family of four. Me, my darling sister, a mother and a father. We were happy," he paused. "Or as happy as one could be when you're going through a famine, I suppose. There was rarely any food to fill our bellies, but I think that at the end of the day, we were relatively happy."
She frowned at what he said. A famine? Then he must be from some region of the world that was not as developed or well-off as her own. For all her mother's neglect and stark indifference, the woman had at least never starved her. Piko continued, his gaze becoming dreamy and unfocused, as though he was staring at something far off in the distance. "My father was skilled at our family trade, I would say one of the best in the country. So it came as no surprise to anyone when he was forced into service by the…well, he had to work on a project somewhere far away. He never returned," Piko glanced at her, his gaze hardening.
"What happened to him?" Miku spoke up quietly, almost afraid to ask. Piko smiled, a small humourless smile, and shrugged, dropping his branch onto the forest ground. He clasped his pale hands together, and at the same time the moonlight shifted, shining through a gap in the dense canopy and landing softly upon him. He suddenly looked distant and cold, a lonely sentinel standing guard over some long-lost secret. She almost thought he wouldn't answer.
"He died," Piko's words came out as softly as her own, and she blinked, startled by his answer. "None of us were surprised, really…when he left our home, some sixth sense told me that it would be the last time we ever saw him. I ignored it, of course. Maybe I should have said something, maybe I should have spoken up – but I didn't, and I never saw my father again. My mother fell apart when news came of his demise," he shook his head. "I was only fourteen. My sister was eight. My mother lost her mind. I had no other choice but to take over my father's trade, and try to earn enough to support the family. But it was very difficult. I was the head of the house, yet at the same time, I was no more than a child," he smiled. "Thinking about it now, I'm surprised that I could last as long as I did back then."
"What was the family trade?" she asked, still shocked by what he revealed. She had figured that he had some kind of difficult past – there would be no other reason for him to come to Neverland, right? And admittedly, it wasn't extremely surprising to hear that someone from his family had died – it was sad, but entirely possible, and her own father had passed away when she was little as well. No, Piko's father's death by itself wasn't surprising – what was shocking was how neutral Piko sounded while he was talking about it. There was no emotion in his words, and his gaze was devoid of any sadness…of any feeling at all, actually. Piko's smile widened.
"Woodwork. I thought you should know that by now," he raised one of his slender hands, slowly flexing his fingers. "My father was a carpenter by trade. He taught me everything he knew when I was a child, and I spent most of my youth in my father's workshop, watching him work. My parents always told me I had a natural affinity for wood, and my father…he expected me to far surpass him one day. And perhaps I really have," he stared down at his hand for a while, and she waited patiently for him to continue, knowing that he was most likely lost in his own thoughts. She didn't think now would be a good time to ask more questions.
Piko suddenly glanced up again, meeting her gaze once more. That strange, humourless smile on his face had disappeared. "Enough about me. I'm in an odd mood tonight – the moonlight makes me feel like talking about our pasts. You can ask me about one other Lost Boy, and I might tell you something regarding his background. Choose wisely, you can only ask about one other person – Len included," Piko added, tilting his head and studying her.
She swallowed. Of course, she was extremely tempted to ask about Len. She knew hardly anything about him, after all, and he was truly so mysterious – he was the first child to set foot on the shores of Neverland, and she had barely even scratched the surface when it came to his past. But then there was another Lost Boy she was becoming more and more curious about, and she wanted to know why he kept avoiding her…perhaps finding out more about his past would provide a clue, since no one seemed willing to tell her the answer.
"Rei," she finally decided, and when she spoke his name her voice trembled. She cleared her throat and spoke again, this time forcing herself to sound firm. "I want you to tell me about Rei," she repeated, and Piko blinked at her, something almost like surprise flitting across his face. But he caught himself, his expression quickly smoothening into a look of neutrality, and he nodded, pressing his fingertips together and placing his hands beneath his chin.
"That's really interesting, you know. Asking about Rei, I mean," he looked away from her again, staring out into the forest beyond. His voice was languid and ponderous, almost a drawl but not quite. "I can't blame you for wanting to find out more about him, though. He is quite an enigma, isn't he? And it doesn't help that he never wants to spend any time around you," he laughed quietly. "Of course I'll tell you whatever you want to know about Kagene Rei, Miku. But keep in mind that you may just end up regretting your curiosity."
"Are you all right?" Gumo yelled, shaking his shoulder as the raven-haired boy stumbled against the tree, his other hand clutching desperately on to his forehead. His fingers fisted at his dark hair, his eyes squeezed shut in a combination of pain and terror. He moaned.
Rei couldn't see. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel, he couldn't even breathe. All he could sense was the foreign presence attacking him, attacking his brain, trying to invade his head – and all he could do was gasp helplessly, running through the forest as though that would bring him further away from the invisible aggressors. Gumo struggled to keep up with the older boy as Rei howled, a sound that was halfway between human and animal, already beginning to shift into his animal form in an attempt to block out the agony. "Rei!" Gumo shouted again, wondering whether he ought to shift into his own animal form as well.
He and the older boy had simply been walking through the forest, having a private talk about Len's possible plans and what they would do if the kararehe ended up torching their territory – they wandered all the way to the edge of their land, near the place where the carcass of the dead Flame Wolf had been the other time they were here. Gumo didn't even realise where they were until Rei suddenly collapsed, writhing in pain, and now the dark boy was stumbling through the forest, blind to his surroundings. The last time they were here, some other entity had spoken through Rei's body – was the exact same thing happening now? Maybe Rei was trying to fight it off. Gumo didn't know if he was winning.
With a deep, mournful howl that seemed to become more animalistic the longer it went on, Rei shifted, his human clothes dropping from his heaving flank onto the forest ground. The wolf was almost screaming as it tore away into the trees, crossing the border into the dark heart of the forest where none of them were supposed to go. Gumo hesitated for a split second, but he knew that he couldn't leave Rei alone in such a state, so taking in a deep breath he changed into his bear form as well, chasing after Rei. He was much slower when he took on his animal skin, but he was also a lot stronger than when he was in his human body, and he'd feel safer going through the heart of Neverland in his animal shape.
The bear lumbered after the enraged wolf, Gumo sniffing the air and trying to track his fleeing companion as the wolf sped through the dark, the tall trees becoming denser and more menacing the deeper they went into the heart of the forest. They really shouldn't be here. He had heard plenty of stories from Len about how dangerous this part of the forest was, and why none of the other ethnic groups ever tried to claim this territory for themselves. The forest here was harsh and unforgiving, and many an unsuspecting soul had lost their way in the night, doomed to wander through the ghostly forest for the rest of eternity, lost spirits who shed their corporeal forms and eventually became will-o'-the-wisps. He shuddered.
Rei was still running blindly through the forest, unable to comprehend where he was or where he was headed. In his current state, he had no concept of direction or location, and he just knew that he wanted to get as far away from the pain as possible. But no matter how far he ran or how quickly he went, the mental stabbing continued, hundreds of razor-sharp claws digging into his skull and spitting into his eyes. Whatever the hostile presence was, it wanted him vacated from his own brain – it wanted to speak through him, to use his tongue and mind the same way it did the first time. But Rei recognised the presence now, and this time, he fought as hard as he could, determined not to relinquish any control.
It's just a dream, everything is a dream – when you wake up, when you open your eyes, you won't be dreaming anymore. He continued to sprint, some strange, detached part of his mind wondering if the agony would ever stop. Or maybe he was just getting used to it. His legs were getting tired, but his eyes were watering. He skidded to a stop, panting as his tongue lolled out from his mouth, shaking his head. A low whimper of pain escaped him, but for once the mental assault had let up enough for him to observe his surroundings. And when he finally noticed where he was, he tensed, hackles rising. This wasn't…it wasn't good.
He was in the heart of the forest. He hadn't realised that he ran all the way here in a bid to escape the pain, and self-consciously he stepped back – he had heard enough stories to have an instinctive aversion to this place. Even through the steady, throbbing pain in his head, he still knew that he shouldn't be here. He gazed around, narrowing his golden eyes in an attempt to resist the foreign presence – where was he? He had never come so deep into the heart of the forest before. It almost seemed colder here compared to the rest of Neverland, and the wolf in him, roused by his agitation, seemed to recoil and growl in frustration. The animal half of him wanted to get the hell out of here, and for once, he was inclined to follow suit.
He heard a familiar roar and turned slightly to see Gumo stomping down the path through the trees, clearly concerned about him. He huffed, trying to gather his thoughts. The pain in his head was all but gone now – it had left as quickly as it came upon his realisation that he was in forbidden territory. The forest was cold here, and mist wreathed the branches, shrouding everything in shadows and darkness. The damp mist made his fur stand on end. He waited for Gumo as the large bear lumbered over to his side, and immediately felt much better about their situation now that he was no longer alone. They had to get out of here.
The bear stared at him, the younger Lost Boy waiting for Rei to start leading the way out. Rei didn't need Gumo to speak to know that he was probably nervous. He remembered going through the heart of the forest with Len a few times before in the past, when they needed to get to another ethnic group's territory as quickly as possible, but Gumo hadn't set foot here ever since he first arrived in Neverland, and Len told them so many stories about this place that none of them would willingly spend time here without any important reason.
Hopefully, being in this place would make Gumo forget about Rei's…relapse earlier. He didn't want to call it a relapse, but what else could he call it? He was old enough to protect himself – no foreign entity was supposed to be able to invade his mind. Whatever it was which tried to take over his head, it didn't succeed this time, but it had put him through a lot of anguish, and that was enough to make him afraid. He was rarely ever afraid, but there was so much changing about Neverland and himself that he couldn't help but feel nervous. Jerking his head to one side, he pointed with his nose, indicating the way they had come. The bear nodded, and Rei led the way, Gumo walking as quietly as possible behind him. He wasn't very quiet since the bear was pretty big, but Rei respected his efforts nevertheless.
The mist shrouded everything around them, making it extremely difficult to see through the darkness. It was like going through the Lost Valley of Souls in the middle of the night – Rei was reminded of the last time he encountered the zombies, and he shook himself sharply, trying not to think about that. His head was pounding, and recalling memories like those would probably just make his headache worse. He had a horrible suspicion now about what had invaded his mind the previous time – he fought back enough to sense what the other presence was, and he knew it was a bad sign. What on earth did they want? Wasn't it bad enough that they were already planning to attack their home? Why try to speak through him? Were they trying to give them a warning of some kind? What were their intentions?
He heard something crack in the darkness behind them, a loud crack that sounded like a gunshot. He whipped around, hackles rising at the noise, and saw Gumo stiffen next to him as he registered what had happened. The two animals exchanged a look – in the end, Rei turned back to the path and carried on, hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake by ignoring the unexpected sound. Gumo didn't protest his decision, and both the bear and wolf hurried through the forest as quickly as they could. They could talk about their experiences when they were finally out of the heart of the forest. This was probably the most dangerous area in the whole of Neverland, and he didn't want to spend another minute more inside it.
Hopefully they would make their way out without any further mishap. If anything, anything at all, happened to either one of them, especially Gumo…he knew it would be entirely his fault. He was the one who had lost control of himself and ran headfirst into dangerous territory. This place was forbidden for a reason. He bared his teeth, padding quietly through the woods, his footsteps soft and silent. If there was anything moving through the trees beyond, he definitely didn't want to capture their attention. Given his luck, they would end up running into one of the kararehe and bring even more trouble upon themselves. He didn't know where the elemental beasts lived, but he wouldn't be surprised if they all lived in the heart of the forest. The dark heart was where Neverland's magic was strongest.
Suddenly, the loud crack sounded again, this time significantly closer than it was the first time. Rei and Gumo both tensed at the sound – the first time they heard it, it could have been passed off as mere coincidence, nothing to be concerned about, but a second time was suspicious. Rei didn't really want to go nosing around since there was no guarantee for their safety here, but it would be even worse if they were caught off-guard by whatever was making that cracking sound. Maybe there was something following them, and it had stepped on a fallen branch or something. If so, Rei hoped whatever was following them didn't wish them any harm.
Gumo bumped his muzzle against his flank, and Rei stumbled, the bear's greater strength catching him unawares. He stared at his companion, and Gumo jerked his head in the direction of the cracking sound, letting out a low, quiet moan of nervousness. Rei wished he could shush the bear, but he couldn't do that while he was a wolf, so he settled for nuzzling his head against the bear's shoulder. Gumo relaxed slightly, and Rei withdrew, baring his sharp teeth, a soft growl rumbling in his throat. There was nothing for him to be afraid of. He wasn't alone here, after all – the two of them should be able to handle anything this cursed forest could throw at them. If it really did turn out to be kararehe, they would just get the hell out of here. There was ultimately nothing to worry about then, was there?
The loud crack rang out through the trees again, this time right next to them. He turned his head sharply, and saw the shrubbery nearby rustling. He tensed, hackles rising, and the bear beside him growled loudly, trying to warn off any would-be attackers. The leaves continued to tremble, and the two Lost Boys held their breaths, preparing to face the newcomer. Then a few seconds later, the leaves parted and whatever had been following them stepped out into the open, meeting their startled gazes defiantly, head raised, back proudly arched. It was a position of dominance and superiority, and Rei instantly felt the urge to defer to it, averting his gaze and pressing himself down against the ground. Gumo backed away slightly.
"And so, the wolf arrives…" Rei lifted his gaze and stared straight at the newcomer, who had spoken within his mind – the newcomer, whose eyes were mere gaping holes in its skull, yet those empty eyes held far more intensity than even Rei himself was capable of. "I've been trying to reach you for a long, long time, Kagene Rei. Why don't you and your friend first make yourselves comfortable? I'm afraid that you'll be kept in the dark heart for a while."