Just in case any of you missed my message on my profile:
In regards to Forget-Me-Not, now with the installment of chapter 2 it will take 1-2 more chapters before we get a time skip to where Maggie is 16. I need to lay down the foundation for the future plot and character development to make sense and be meaningful.
- Rampant Id
I dedicate this chapter to my most dedicated follower (AKA only reviewer):
crissy145
Chapter 2:
"Fins and Glares"
"We're here,"
I started upon hearing a sudden voice coming from right in front of me. I had been half-dozing in a semi trance-like state as the teenager who had saved me from the pirate ship continued to run through a forest at incredible speed. It was as if he knew exactly where every shrub and rock was placed, never once tripping or pausing in his mad dash to God-knew-where.
Suddenly the forest came to an end and a large body of water lay before us. Several large outcroppings of rocks could be seen scattered around in the midst of it, in the semblance of mini islands.
Without slowing down the teenager took a running leap and landed on the nearest of the rocks, making his way to a larger one located in the centre of the water. He then got down on one knee and pointed several meters ahead to the edge of the rock we were currently standing on.
"Over there near the bottom of this rock is a ledge sticking out from the side. If you climb down and crouch you'll be able to keep yourself hidden. It stops just above the water, so you should be dry."
I scrambled down from his back and almost fell over as my legs nearly folded in on themselves. He waited for me to right myself and then turned back toward the mainland. Before he could take more than a step away from me, I desperately gripped his clothes in a tight fist.
He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow looking surprised and somewhat confused.
"You're leaving me?" I asked, my wavering voice revealing the panic that this realization brought on.
"Just for a short while, I need to deal with those who've managed to track us this far. I'll be back as soon as I take care of them. You'll be safer hiding here." Believing the matter to be settled the teenager tried to pull away, but my vice-like grip had not loosened it's hold. He sighed with impatience.
"What is it now?"
"He left us - my father. When we were caught... he was too scared to stay and help. And now he's gone forever," I couldn't keep back the sniffle that interrupted my explanation. "What if you don't come back?"
"I promise that I'll come back for you." Rather than the reply, what reassured me the most was the determined look in his eyes as he looked down at me. There was no hint of any hesitation there. It was as if he were simply stating a fact, rather than a possibility.
My fingers slowly loosened and I pulled my hand back gripping the side of my nightgown instead.
"What's your name?" I asked as he turned toward the rock that led back to the mainland.
With a quick glance over his shoulder he replied, "Rufio", and then jumped over the water separating the two rock outcroppings, back in the direction we had come from.
I approached the edge and looked down. My eyes widened when I saw just how far down the ledge actually was. This was not a distance I could easily jump down, partly because it was nearly twice my height, and partly because the ledge itself was pretty narrow. If I was not careful I would slip off the ledge and take a dunk in the water. Not only did I not want to fall into the water because it was surely cold, but also it lacked that nice clear blue colour that one tended to expect from an untouched island. Instead, for some unfathomable reason the water surrounding my large rock was pretty dark and murky looking; it was impossible to guess what hid within its depths.
Steeling my nerves I got to my knees and slowly lowered a leg, feeling around for some kind of groove in the stone to help me get a surer footing for my climb down. Thankfully my bare toes were able to feel around and find a slight dip in the stone that otherwise would have been missed. I lowered my other leg down and proceeded to search for other such grooves. The sudden sounds of swords clashing and voices shouting reached my ears, and that moment of inattention proved to be my undoing. The toes that had been gripping the dip in the stone lost their hold, and next thing I knew my feet were scrambling frantically against the smooth surface of the stone as my arms strained to hold my entire body-weight suspended over the edge.
A whimper escaped me as I felt my fingers slowly start to slip. A few pebbles rained down and plopped into the water a split second before I lost my grip and my fingers slipped off the edge. To my surprise I did not drop as far down as I thought I would. Apparently the ledge had been only about three feet below my hanging feet. However, the landing did jar me unpleasantly, and my left foot dipped into the freezing, dark water. I immediately pulled it out, but unfortunately the shivering set in instantly. It felt as if pure ice was spreading from my foot up my leg. I looked down, fearfull at what I would find, but other than slightly bluer skin I could not see anything unusual. I crouched down to keep out of sight as I had been told, and tried to warm my foot with what body heat I still had left.
Suddenly, I felt a shiver creep down my spine. Something was watching me... where precisely that menacing aura was coming from I did not know, but it was most definitely coming from somewhere in the water.
A distance away light caught on an object in the water... some kind of fin? As suddenly as it had appeared it was gone once more, only to reappear several meters closer to where I huddled on the ledge. Could it be that these waters were full of sharks? That thought filled me with such terror that made it difficult to breathe.
Movement beneath the surface caused some water to slosh over the edge of my narrow perch and onto my bare toes, soaking the parts of the nightgown that lay closest to the edge.
Unexpectedly, the colour of the water right in front of me changed. Without being told I knew that something was waiting for me there, just below the surface. Despite the terror that gripped my throat, I still found myself kneeling at the edge and leaning hesitantly forward to look into the water.
There, glaring straight up at me, I was shocked to see bright green eyes belonging to a very pale face, framed by floating dark blond hair.
Before I could react in any way the face surfaced, water streaming down the head in rivulets. Hair slicked back, the older girl's eyes seemed to almost burn with their intensity of emotion as they pierced my own startled gaze.
"You have some nerve! How dare you come here to our home to spy for Hook, despite the deal we made?" She spat out accusingly.
"I didn't - I'm not with Hook. I ran away from him!" I exclaimed, too surprised to do much more than try to explain.
A green scaled tail slapped the water angrily, and I felt my eyes widening in shock as I realized that the tail was actually a part of the girl. Unfortunately, the slap on the water's surface was powerful enough to cause a fairly large wave to hit the edge of the ledge soaking both of my legs and arms with frigid water. Caught off guard I let out a surprised yelp and fell back, managing to catch myself with my hands before my head could hit the solid rock at my back.
"Don't try to spew your lies pirate, there are more of your kind running around here. I can hear their noisy fighting coming from the forest." The mermaid pointed angrily from the direction that I had come with Rufio.
I held a hand up before me as if to ward her off. "Yes, they are pirates, but I'm just a little girl. I'm trying to get away from them!"
The mermaid, because that's what she must have been, scoffed in response.
"You look all the same to me; some shorter, some taller - but always causing trouble," Her eyes narrowed as she finished ominously with, "Neverland would be better off without your kind."
Without warning something pale shot out of the water and clamped around my ankle in a cold vice-like grip. I only managed to register that her cold smooth hand had wrapped around my ankle before I felt her firmly yank me off balance and toward the water. Crying out in fear I scrabbled for purchase on the smooth stone, to no avail. Panic had taken me over completely. Somehow I knew that if I fell into that water I would not be coming back out. My free leg flailed about and luckily managed to strike the mermaid in the face, causing her to loosen the grip she had around my ankle enough, so that I was able to scoot more securely back onto the stone ledge.
With a growl of rage the mermaid made another wild grab at my unprotected legs. Just as she made to yank me back toward the water I felt someone grab my flailing arm and try to pull me up. For a second I felt like a rope from a very competitive tug-of-war, being pulled in two completely opposite directions. I glanced up to see Rufio gripping my wrist tightly, and glaring down at the equally determined mermaid.
"Let go of her, this girl is under my protection!" Rufio shouted down at my green-eyed adversary.
Ignoring him, perhaps out of spite, she did not let up. Rufio's eyes narrowed in response.
"Don't make me use my sword on you..." he threatened.
"You would dare harm one of Neverland's own and betray all that you and your lost boys stand for?" She hissed in rage and disbelief.
"I made Pan a promise to protect her, and nothing will make me break that vow," his tone brooked no argument.
For a brief moment the mermaid held his determined gaze, and then reluctantly she let go of my foot and sullenly slipped back into the water, disappearing into its murky depths.
By the time that Rufio pulled me up, my teeth were chattering so loudly together that anything I tried to say came out sounding unintelligible.
"Don't try to speak, you're going to bite your tongue," he reprimanded as he pulled off his black coat and wrapped me in it. The coat enveloped me so completely that only my head stuck out. The bones and claws that had been adorning it were jabbing into me, but I was too tired to care. At least it was warm.
By now the shock of what had happened was setting in, from seeing my father killed, to being chased by pirates, and finally nearly being drowned – by a mermaid no less. I didn't like this place. It was dangerous - full of cruelty and violence. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare and find myself back in my own bed. I wanted to go home.
That's it for chapter two. Tell me what you guys think so far.
Reviews encourage me to update sooner. This is no secret. Ask any of the writers on here.
- Rampant Id