Levi didn't explore any more that day. She had too much to think about.
She took shelter on a branch of the tallest tree, perched on top of the word from her eyes. She sat there and thought about her situation for several hours, watching as the sun slowly slipped from its zenith to hide behind the horizon, the waters of the ocean going from blue-green to dark blue, reflecting every color of the sunset in between. It was a beautiful sight, but she didn't pay much attention to it.
"This is utterly, totally, completely insane," said Levi, thinking out loud. "But it makes sense... in a weird, crazy, and highly improbably way." She sighed deeply and wound a lock of dark brown hair around her index finger, a habit she'd acquired when she'd permed her hair two years previous.
"I suppose it's a good thing, in several ways," she said suddenly, trying to rationalize. "I'm away from my mom, I can fly of all things, I'm surrounded by other kids who all went through something awful to get here, so we all have loads in common whether or not we know it. I'll never get old, just stay fourteen forever." But try as she might, she couldn't keep all this from sounding terribly depressing.
"You that new girl?"
Levi's head snapped up, a flush instantly staining her cheeks. Hovering in the air some five feet away was the boy from earlier with the crazy clothes- Mab or something.
"What're you doing here?" she asked, startled. She pulled her hair off her finger, blushing furiously. She hated it when an attractive boy caught her doing odd things.
"I always come up here," he replied, rolling his rs beautifully. Levi had always loved foreign accents, and what's-his-name's Arabian accent was doing a number on her brain.
"I'm sorry, what was your name?" asked Levi, trying to cover up her imagined faux pas. The boy sat on the thick branch-compared to the enormous limbs that supported the platforms of the settlement, it was really more of a twig-making it bounce slightly.
"My real name's Omar, but everyone calls me Mad. Something about my clothes, but I don't know what the problem is." He waved vaguely at his outfit, and Levi couldn't help but giggle. Green leggings, pink and blue striped baggy shirt, and a yellow hat, along with the perfunctory boots and knife belt. He looked ridiculous.
"Those colors clash horribly, that's the problem," said Levi mildly.
"See, there's the thing- I can never figure out what that's supposed to mean," said Mad, looking down at his ludicrous clothes. It took Levi only a moment to figure out why.
"You're color blind, aren't you?"
"What's that?" Mad asked curiously, head cocked to one side and making his black curls fall into his eyes.
"I don't really understand it either, but it's when your eyes don't register color properly. Sometimes they can't see certain colors, sometimes they don't see color at all."
Mad looked utterly fascinated. "Really? Odd... I've never had to worry about color before, in the Other World my people all wore black, and there was nothing to see but desert and the odd oasis anyway."
Now it was Levi's turn to be curious. "Where are you from, perchance?"
"Egypt. My tribe were nomads," said Mad immediately. "Since you seem to be full of answers, Miss Levi, why is it everyone here speaks Arabic yet are so pale?"
Now that got Levi thinking.
"Well," Levi said slowly, "to me everyone sounds like they speak English. Maybe it's part of the Fae magic," Levi replied, then mentally pushed it aside for the moment. She could think about that particular flaw in the logic later. She let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I haven't the vaguest idea, you might ask a fairy."
"Hmm," Mad murmured thoughtfully, watching her closely. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but what brings you here? You needn't answer if you don't want to," he added quickly, a slight blush climbing his face. He was painfully polite.
"Not at all," said Levi. She chewed her lip a moment, organizing her rather confused thoughts. "I ran away from home in a rain storm, and I fell off a really big bridge and would have been turned into fish food, but what's-his-name saved me and brought me here." Levi gestured vaguely. "I'm suffering from a form of culture shock, but I'll get over it in time."
Mad nodded. "Pan brought us all here, saved us from some catastrophe. Personally I got lost in the desert and nearly died of dehydration before I was rescued. I've never seen a more welcome sight before or since," he added, grinning crookedly. "Some odd-looking, pale boy floating in the air, holding a waterskin and looking somewhere between laughter and consternation. I thought I was hallucinating, but-" he waved vaguely, encompassing all of Never-Land in his gesture, "I obviously wasn't."
"Obviously," Levi agreed teasingly, growing more comfortable with the odd teenager's presence and various quirks. "So, what were you doing mending clothes?"
Mad looked surprised for a moment, then laughed. "I forget, you haven't been here but a day. We take turns at all tasks, no matter how menial. Except dangerous ones we have no idea of. For example, I would never be allowed in the forge for anything other than bringing supplies or something else of that nature. They'd never let me anywhere near the kitchens either, I'm infamous for burning food."
"You talk a lot," Levi observed, trying not to laugh. "Especially for a boy."
Mad looked to be somewhere between amusement and annoyance. "I speak so much because I oftentimes have a great deal to say, and among my own people I'm considered a man."
Levi had the decency to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mad. I'm afraid I'm rather too American in my thinking."
Mad shrugged. "It's all right. I rather enjoy being able to get away with childish escapades again." He grinned easily, the slight upset instantly forgotten.
"You mentioned something about kitchens- where can I get food around here?" asked Levi. "I haven't eaten anything since- well, lunchtime yesterday, I think, but time is so screwy here I don't know how long it's been."
Mad, with no apparent effort, floated off the branch and gestured for Levi to follow him. "I'll take you to the mess area. It's time for supper anyway."
"Thanks, Omar," Levi replied, grinning as she took to the air, wobbling a bit. Mad smiled in return. "Follow me."
* * *
To say that supper that night was interesting experience would be a gross understatement.
The horde of children and teenagers had separated themselves into groups, each claiming a table as their own. And each table waged war against all the others, with fairies flitting about anxiously, trying to maintain the non-existent order. Fruit and bread flew, and the serving line was crammed with kids looking for more ammunition.
Levi took shelter at the only table on the platform that wasn't crowded with some clique. Here were the odd ones who would rather eat food than throw it.
Levi recognized a few, odd faces out of the crowd. Peter Pan was there, sitting at the head of the table exchanging wisecracks with the other boys. Levi sat at close to him as possible, about three seats away. Mad, taking pity on the confused newcomer, sat with Levi that night rather than join his own circle of friends a few tables over who were arguing over whether or not the hardtack would be more painful ammo than the mammee-apples.
"This place is crazy," Levi said, sitting down and thumping her plate onto the table, making the fruit bounce. "Worse than any school cafeteria."
"Cafeteria?" Mad asked blankly, sitting in the rough-hewn chair to Levi's right.
"Never mind. It's nice of you to sit with me," said Levi, rather uncomfortable with the thought that Mad was going out of his way to be nice to her.
"Don't mention it," said Mad cheerfully. "Anything for a pretty girl, hmm?"
Levi was too busy blushing to answer.
"Mad, what're you doing over here? Oh, wait, never mind." The Australian soprano voice sounded rather embarrassed.
Levi looked up. Knuckles was standing just behind her and Mad, holding her own plate of food. "Hello, Knuckles," said Levi. For half an instant she wondered how Knuckles had received both her nickname and place among the Lost, but shoved the thoughts aside.
"Hullo Levi," said Knuckles brightly, embarrassment vanishing as if with magic. "You and Mad want to come sit with me n' my mates? It'll be loads more fun than this crowd," she said, gesturing vaguely at those seated at the 'non-throwing' table. A few gave Knuckles mock-annoyed looks, but there was laughter in their eyes.
"Not tonight, Knuckles," said Levi, shaking her head and poking at her food with a wooden spoon. "I don't mind if you go, Mad, but I'd rather watch than get drenched in what passes for gravy around here."
Knuckles shrugged indifferently. "Your choice. All right then, Mad?"
Mad glanced at Levi with such a curious expression on his dark face that Levi cocked her head and gave him a questioning look, but he dropped his gaze and stood before Levi could see the thoughts behind his eyes.
"All right. I'll see you later then, Levity," said Mad, picking up his plate and giving Levi a quick grin before vanishing with Knuckles into the crush of teenagers.
Levi sat by herself for several minutes, poking uninterestedly at her food and eating maybe a few bites of the obvious teen-prepared fare. Then a rough hand clapped down on her shoulder and she looked up sharply, startled.
Peter Pan, with those crazily reflective hazel eyes, smiled at her sudden fright. "It's all right, just plain old me. I'm having a talk with the new kids in half an hour at the top platform. You might want to be there."
Levi met his playful eyes, and in the split second that their eyes locked she saw it. Saw the child and the man, caught up in a state of limbo, and she almost felt she understood everything, could see past the exterior of Never-Land and into its very soul.
Then Peter walked away, and Levi felt strangely empty. For the life of her she couldn't remember anything she'd seen in those eery, swirling eyes. All she knew was that she needed to figure out why she felt such odd things in his presence.
She'd never met his gaze, but when she was around Peter she felt odd. It had been that way since the instant she met him. And now things were getting even weirder.
If such a thing were possible.
* * *
Twenty minutes later Levi was landing on the topmost platform of the settlement, brushing twigs and leaves from her clothes and hair. The platform was near the top of the largest tree, and was a large circle, about thirty to forty feet from one side to the other. It was completely bare, save for fallen twigs.
Peter and two other teenagers were already there, sitting on the platform cross-legged. Peter gestured for Levi to join them.
"We've only one other to wait for now. Levi, this is Jasmine and Randy," said Peter, gesturing to the other teens. One was a tall, slim African girl dressed in typical teenage fashions, wearing enough punk-chick jewelry for three girls. The other was a short boy of about thirteen, with carrot-colored cowlicks, freckles, huge blue eyes, and tatty clothing that marked him as dirt-poor.
Levi sat as she took in the appearances of the other two, knowing full well they were doing the same to her. She gave a weak smile, feeling rather intimidated by Jasmine's haughty glare.
Not thirty seconds after Levi sat another teenager came into view, this one a boy of around sixteen. He defined the phrase 'bad-boy'- black jeans, rock band t-shirt, expensive leather jacket, enough ear piercing to make Levi think he kept the body-art shop in business all on his own, and spiky black hair. She couldn't tell his eye color, he wore mirrored sunglasses even though it was dusk.
"Hello, Dean," said Peter cheerfully. "This is Levi, Jasmine, and Randy. Now we can get started."
Dean snorted and stood with his arms folded a few feet away from the others. Peter sighed and shook his head, then started on whatever it was he wanted to talk about.
"Usually I wouldn't do something like this, it's always easier for the new kids to acclimate in their own time frame, rather than me dumping everything in your laps. But I'm afraid we haven't time for such things."
He ran his hand through his hair, obviously thinking on his next words. Levi felt oddly relieved he hadn't sought eye contact with her, she was already freaked out enough.
"In Never-Land, there are five main groups- us, the Lost, the Fae, the Mer-Folk, the Indians, and the pirates. The Fae are, obviously, six-inch people with wings who mostly can't communicate with us. Some can, but not many. The Mer-Folk are the half-human, half-fish people of the sea, our greatest ally next to the Fae. The Indians are sometimes our friends and sometimes our enemy, depending on what suits them. Right now we have a treaty in place, but they are infamous foir violating such and after this newest confrontation is over I'm not certain what will happen.
"The last sub-grouping is that of the pirates. They don't belong here, really- they're basically scoundrels who, when they died, found a way out of going to the Land Beyond. They're bloody hard to kill, only beheading with an iron blade-which will seriously harm any of the Fae who even touches iron-will dispatch them. They're led by some crazy bloke who calls himself Captain Hook- he's the deadliest of the lot. They've plagued us for as long as we've been in Never-Land, and it's gotten too much. As Levi has already discovered, we've been forging weapons and armor at a break-neck pace. We've planned an assault-all of Never-Land's natives-against the pirates at dawn four days from now."
"What's that got to do with us?" Dean said sharply in a deep French-accented voice. "I'm not about to chop a ghost to bits with a medieval sword."
Peter gave Dean what was unmistakably a "shut-up-and-listen-you-great-pollock" look. Levi couldn't help but giggle into her hand- Peter was in appearance a short skinny fourteen-year-old, while Dean was easily over six feet in height and in a normal contest could have turned someone like Peter into a pretzel. But Dean acquiesced to Peter's silent reprimand, albeit grudgingly.
"Unless you happen to have previous training in any sort of fighting, no, you're not going to fight. You'll be staying right here."
"I can fight with a knife," said Randy suddenly, the first time the boy had spoken. His voiced was odd-sounding, he had obviously been caught right in the middle of puberty. "Rather good with it, actually."
"That's not the point," said Peter, not unkindly. "But I need you three to realize we're in a bloody big mess, and you need to either put up or shut up."
"Your meaning?" asked Jasmine in a deep aristocratic voice, so painfully upper-class American that Levi tried not to gag.
"You can pull your weight, or you can refuse to do anything whatsoever and be kicked out."
Levi sucked in a sharp breath at his words. She was reasonably sure what that meant- Peter would remove his protection and the person concerned would pass on to their final destination. Not a pleasant thought.
"You don't mean that," said Levi, looking rather ill.
Peter glanced at her, surprised. "I only meant the Lost, Levi, not Never-Land. I'm not about to do that after going through all the trouble of bringing these silly gooses here."
Levi slumped in relief, the gnawing sensation in her stomach subsiding slightly.
"Now that we've gone over that, I need to know your particular skills so I know where to put you at the moment. Jasmine?"
"Science, history, and wood-working," was her answer. The last one surprised everyone.
"You'll be making shields and arrows, then. Randy?"
"Knife-fighting, boxing, and foraging," said Randy softly. Peter nodded.
"You'll be on the hunting roster for now, but you'll be in training to go in the fight. Dean?"
Dean raised his eyebrows, but answered despite his reservations. "Kick-boxing, climbing, and being a great prat," he said sarcastically. Levi rolled her eyes.
"Levi?"
"Dancing, music, some martial arts, and getting lost," was her prompt reply. Her last statement drew smiles from all but Dean, who seemed immune to good humor in general.
"Tomorrow at wake-up you'll be given your schedule," said Peter. "Now let's go, early day tomorrow. And I've got some house-calls to make." He winked at Levi-she couldn't imagine why-then vanished into the night sky, flying so fast he all but broke the sound barrier.
The four newcomers headed towards their new roosts, each one nervous and wondering what on earth they'd gotten themselves into.