Trigger Warnings
Mentions of knives and sword fighting are included in this chapter. If these topics are distressing to you, I would recommend that you skip to the end of the chapter for a chapter summary.
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The sun peaked over the horizons, ripples of its rays surfing over the water in the silent anticipation of the morning. A light breeze blew over the sands of Neverland's beaches, brushing light strokes across the sand. Grains of sand roughly brushed along the Lost Boys, who stood at the edge of the water with squinted, focused eyes. All of them looked at the Jolly Roger intently, waiting for the first attack.
Peter hung behind in the jungle, his back to the beach. He reached out a hand to the ground and brushed his fingers along the dirt. Peter massaged some of it in his hand, trying to ground himself in the rough texture. He closed his eyes to try and focus himself on his current surroundings. Images of Margaret curled up on the floor flickered across his vision. He clutched the dirt harder. They stopped.
Peter opened his eyes and stood up. He heard the sound of a wave growing behind him before a loud crash rippled against something. The Jolly Roger. Peter turned his head and looked at the unsteady ship, which jostled around like a drunken sailor attempting to walk.
Flashes of mermaid tails popped above the water before disappearing entirely. Larissa popped up above the waves briefly and waved, signaling the group. Peter gave a nod of acknowledgement before Slightly whistled loudly, resulting in the army of fairies showing themselves from their previous hiding places.
A few fairies remained to sprinkle the Lost Boys with fairy dust. The rest, however, charged from the beach to the Jolly Roger. They swirled in a flurry of different formations as they approached the Roger. The pirates were obviously panicked, based on how quickly they darted around on the deck. The appearance of the fairies only resulted in the pirates moving around more sporadically.
As each Lost Boy was sufficiently sprinkled, they took off and charged into battle with the appropriate whoops and hollers. Peter kept his gaze on the Roger, seemingly unable to recognize the energy around him. Slightly walked in front of Peter after being sprinkled, clutching a stick of dynamite.
"Peter?"
Peter allowed his eyes to fall on Slightly. Slightly looked at his friend and leader with a thoughtful gaze. "When I throw the dynamite, you'll need to be there."
"I know."
"Still, just…don't mess up, ok? We wouldn't want you to come out of this dead."
"I don't plan on dying," Peter said with a ghost of his trademark smirk.
"Yeah, but still. Margaret wouldn't want to find out you—"
"I won't die," Peter stated finally. Slightly pursed his lips and nodded.
Tinkerbell flew to the two, looking at both with a wrinkled forehead and wide eyes. Her expression was grim, and her countenance even more nervous. It's time.
"Alrighty," Slightly said, turning to face the Roger before giving lift off.
Peter hung back momentarily as Tinkerbell flew to him. Please, stay safe. Don't do anything stupid.
"I promise Tink that I won't take unnecessary risks, alright?"
Tink nodded, finally giving her blessing for Peter to leave. Peter gave Tink one last lingering smile before he looked at the Roger and allowed himself to rise from the ground. With one last glance back to the beach, Peter bolted to the Jolly Roger.
!
Margaret curled herself into a fetal position on the floor, nearly every part of her body swollen and aching. Silent, stoic tears slipped down Margaret's face. Her vision was blurry from a black eye, and her head ached horribly from the few blows the pirates gave to her head. She was certain that the blood from the cuts on her face had dried, although she couldn't be certain if her injuries were infected or not…
Everything hurt so much. Margaret breathed deeply, trying to push away the tears of pain that threatened to sully her face further. She couldn't let them win. She couldn't. They'd said that she needed to wait just a bit longer…
"Oi, ye going to laze around there or what?" a pirate barked through the bars. Margaret turned her head to look at him with an unamused expression. The pirate grinned, sporting his yellowed, rotting teeth for Margaret to stare at.
Margaret attempted to sit up, but immediately felt the fire, stinging, and ungodly amounts of pain hit her. She gave out and hit the ground again. The pirate cackled, his laugh raspy and venomous as he stared at Margaret's struggle in glee.
The pirate lost balance and slammed into a wall. Margaret felt her body throw itself to her left and slide. The Roger tipped to the side with a mighty creak. Margaret managed to raise her head as she stared through the bars. The pirate ran away from the cell as he was slammed between the walls in the corridor.
Margaret's body slid between the left and right walls in her cell as she attempted to start crawling. Now was her chance to maybe get free. These couldn't be freak waves-a massive jolt threw Margaret across the cell with a resounding thump. Margaret groaned and trembled as her bodied shuddered under the weight of the fire that blasted her muscles. She bit her lower lip, trying to ground herself enough so that she could gather a feel for her surroundings and focus on crawling as much as she could.
The ship seemed to steady itself once more, allowing Margaret to finally resume her attempts to crawl to the cell door—
Boom!
The sound of a loud explosion made Margaret jump, thus resulting in another fit of groaning as she attempted to weather the pain. She bit her bottom lip once more, taking quick breaths to try and reduce the pain. Anything, so that she might escape.
Margaret didn't even care if it wasn't Peter causing the chaos. She didn't care that she could barely stand. She just wanted out. Out of the hellhole. Out of this horrid, abusive place.
Margaret's breathing grew labored as she crawled inch by inch to the door. Her body stung and burned. Everything hurt and pounded within her. Margaret didn't care. She was going to get out, whatever it took.
Even if it meant death.
!
Peter fell through the smoking hole on the deck of the Jolly Roger as the entire deck swarmed with pirates. The smoke in combination with the chaos that the explosion had caused allowed Peter to enter into the underbelly of the Jolly Roger without much (if any) attention drawn to him.
Upon landing, Peter pulled out his dagger, his eyes narrowed and his ears perked. The sounds of shouting and swords clanging from above settled as the background noise to Peter's quiet sneaking. He inched through the corridor, flying slowly and soundlessly.
As Peter ventured forward, the chaos above grew quieter. Each thump made Peter grow more focused, more aware of his surroundings. The ship creaked occasionally, sending Peter into a frozen state. The hair would raise on his body as he waited in anticipation. Nothing would happen. Peter would venture forward once more.
Peter couldn't know which cell Margaret was in this time, meaning he would have to keep his ears and eyes sharp for anything amiss. And so, Peter made sure to investigate every nook and cranny as he floated, feeling his heart sink as the moments ticked by. The chaos above was faint, but still noticeable considering the amount of thumps and shouts he heard. Time was ticking…
Suddenly, Peter heard a faint groan. He hurried over to a cell where the sound came from, peering in through the door. A familiar silhouette was strewn across the ground. Peter felt his soul flood with relief.
"Margaret!" he cried excitedly, his eyes blurring. Peter's breath left his body.
Margaret was curled up on the ground, far worse for wear than he could ever imagine. Margaret looked up at him with puffy eyes, her face pleading, relieved, and broken. She had to have been savagely beaten recently, or else Tinkerbell's descriptions hardly covered just how badly she had been hurt.
Peter clutched the door with so much force that his knuckles were deathly white. "Margaret," he repeated more softly.
Margaret broke down completely. She attempted to bring a hand to her mouth to silence the sobs, but her body heaved with every sob as if she had been holding back years upon years of emotions. Margaret managed to quiet herself slightly with the small bit of her brain that wasn't dedicated to completely absolving her of the pent-up fear, anxiety, and pain that had built up during her stay.
Peter pulled out a lockpick, frantically picking at the lock so that he could hold Margaret as soon as possible. He tried to keep his eyes away from Margaret, as each time he looked at her, the water began to uncontrollably mingle in his eyes. Peter couldn't afford to become sentimental now. That would have to wait till later.
Margaret kept a hand clamped to her mouth as she cried. Every bit of her mind attempted to claw at her throat, demanding that she silence her useless wailing. That only exasperated her emotions further, making the crying more uncontrollable. More painful. Margaret could scarcely catch a breath with all the tears and cries that she let out.
Peter's hands shook as he finally managed to open the cell. Without hesitation, he opened the door and dove onto the floor toward Margaret. His arms immediately wrapped around Margaret and held her close as she cried into his chest.
Nothing could describe the feeling Margaret had upon being pulled into Peter's embrace. The warmth, security, and promise of something good overwhelmed her greatly. She managed to fend away the flood of tears that came with these realizations and the sudden feeling of complete safety. Her crying wasn't doing anything, and adding onto it would only prove disastrous.
Margaret steadied her breathing somewhat as she managed to refrain from sobbing. Tears mingled with the dirt on her cheeks. Peter pulled back and wiped his thumbs over them, looking at her brokenhearted. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking.
Margaret shook her head at him and simply lunged for another hug. Peter stroked Margaret's hair, trying to keep his tears at bay. Not now.
"Can you walk?"
Margaret hesitated. "If you need me to…" she said quietly. Peter immediately knew the true meaning of her statement. When he prepared to stand, he reached over and hooked his arms around Margaret to begin carrying. She was far too light for what she should feel like. Peter looked at Margaret in alarm. Her exhaustion warned him away from asking any questions.
He ensured that his grip was nothing but gentle as he carried her out. Margaret struggled to keep her arms hooked around Peter's neck, the soreness in her arms proving to be a greater nemesis than she wanted to admit. Peter seemed to sense this, as could be deduced by him gently nudging Margaret into a position where her arms could more easily encircle his neck.
Peter started floating down the hallway less cautiously this time. His firm priority was to get Margaret out. Being found did not cross his mind. And unfortunately, in this instance, such willful ignorance proved to be faulty.
Upon turning a corner, Peter was met face to face with three pirates, all brandishing swords and all out for blood. Peter immediately turned to fly away, but was met with three pirates running to him and Margaret from the opposite direction. Peter immediately deposited Margaret on the ground by the corridor that split from the main hallway where the pirates were coming from. Margaret immediately began to protest, but Peter wasted not time unsheathing his knife and dueling the pirates with a loud clang. Margaret smothered a scream with her hands as she stumbled backwards.
Clink! Clang! Clink! Clink! Weapons moved in an evolving dance far too quickly for Margaret to make out. Peter started to back into Margaret's hallway, acting as a buffer between him and Margaret. Margaret took a few uneasy steps backward, unable to will herself to run away from Peter.
"Go!" Peter shouted, affording a second to turn his head in Margaret's direction. Margaret continued to tread backwards, wavering unsteadily. "Go!" Peter shouted again.
Panic gripped Margaret's lungs at the demand. She couldn't leave Peter, not after they had just reunited with one another! No…she couldn't…
Margaret closed her eyes, allowing a few more tears to slip from her eyes. Despite her fear, her exhaustion, and her physical pain, Margaret gave into Peter's demand. With a final pleading look in Peter's direction, Margaret turned around. She reached her hands out to the wall, and slowly started to hobble away.
Peter glanced back, seeing Margaret's form grow smaller before turning into a different corridor. He momentarily became distracted by his relief before another shiny swing forced him back to reality. Little did Peter know as he was parrying furiously with the pirate's angry swings, that Margaret was not walking to her safety.
She was walking to her doom.
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A/N: Hello everyone. I'm sorry this chapter wasn't as in time with the other ones. This chapter, considering the subject matter (namely a battle), had a lot of complexity. I had originally though I'd condense the battle into a single chapter, but realized the final product felt rushed. And, with the bit of fighting that did appear, I struggled with trying to write engaging material. Writing out battle sequences is an area I'm trying to improve upon, and so I took a lot of time scrutinizing my work and ultimately burning myself out. Beyond that, I struggled to find a clean place to end…yada yada you get the point.
Basically, I was on the struggle bus a bit for this chapter. But hey, it's out now! And, I've said this a lot, but the end is nigh! I can't guarantee that the next chapter will come out soon, but I do think that the chapters following that one will be relatively smooth sailing.
Chapter Summary
The Lost Boys, mermaids, fairies, and Peter all start executing their rescue plan. Peter finds Margaret severely beaten, and the two share an emotional reunion before Peter tries to take Margaret from the Jolly Roger. Amidst flying Margaret away, Peter runs into some pirates. To protect Margaret, Peter blocks the path that Margaret is in and fights the pirates whilst urging Margaret to leave as quick as she can. Margaret feels panicked and doesn't want to leave Peter, but does so since Peter demanded her to do so.