Chapter 2

Awakening hours later, Linia still felt the sting pulsing in her back and she winced. It was best for her not to sit up so she turned her head and found herself in a warm lair. There was not one living being roaming around and she wondered why she was here. The lair was built underground, and had candles on the floor for light. The ceilings had built in hammocks, and many of them for that matter. Linia was lying on a soft bed made of straw on the far wall where there was little light. "Is anyone in here?" she questioned, her voice very weak.

Peter stepped out from behind a bearskin curtain and walked next to Linia's bed, kneeling down. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, but barely," rather sluggishly, Linia turned on her side to face Peter. "What happened to me?"

"That old codfish decided to take his rage on you. I knocked him off the ship before he could do any more harm to pretty girls." Smiling, Peter rested his chin on his hands.

A deep blush ran over her face and Linia looked away from her rescuer. Peter laughed and stood up straight. "If you need anything, just ask me."

Linia nodded slightly and closed her eyes while Peter blew out a candle to make it a bit more darker. He left her to rest and went above ground to think about what to do with her. Tinkerbell, the magical and headstrong pixie, was waiting for him outside. "Ting-a-ling!" she said in her sweet bell language.

"Don't be jealous of her, Tink. I couldn't just leave her on the shoreline, untreated." Peter reasoned, leaning against the tree.

"Ting-a-ling." retorted the pixie, angrily.

Peter sighed, not listening to Tinkerbell's nagging because his mind was fully focused on Linia. A small, content smile came across his face and closed his eyes. "She's amazing... What a girl." he thought to himself.

Early in the morning, Linia opened her eyes to find the dim room once more. Her back didn't feel as bad anymore so she forced herself off of the bed. She crept out of the lair and went up to the surface, finding a golden sun greeting her. The warmth lit up her face and she inhaled the crisp, fresh air. "Mornin'!" Peter said gleefully, who was hanging upside down from a branch.

"Hullo... You're up already?"

"I should ask the same for you. I figured a girl as frail as yourself should still be asleep." he grinned at Linia, jumping off the branch.

"I am not frail! I am just as tough as you are," Linia sneered, "You don't know me well enough."

Suddenly, a dark look came over Peter's face and he looked at her sternly. "Linia, promise that whenever we meet Hook, you'll stay out of the way and let me deal with it."

Linia shook her head. "Never. He's crossed the line and it's my battle now. He is my enemy as he is yours."

"You don't understand," Peter placed his strong hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes, "Innocent people are murdered by him. You shouldn't be another one of his victems."

Linia slightly moved away from him. "I understand perfectly. Now let go, because you are hurting me." she jerked away and began to back up.

"Promise that you'll leave Hook to me!" Peter shouted, grabbing the girl's wrist.

"I can't do that!"

"Linia!"

"No! I won't!"

Pulling her arm away, Linia floated upward and escaped Peter's glare... or so she thought. Through the trees Linia went, shielding her face with her arms. She flew out and over the bay, the water shimmering with it's light blue color. Her eyes shifted forward and she found him in her path, eyes narrowed angrily. Shock spilled like ink onto her face when she saw how quickly he had gotten in front of her. "It can't be!"

Linia slammed into him which caused her to loose her flight balance and she fell down, down, down into the deep water. Staggering slightly from the impact, Peter rubbed his arm and stared down at the waves. "She has to come up for air sometime... But it doesn't take long for someone to drown."

It had only lasted five seconds before he found himself diving into the icy water in search of his newfound friend. His eyes strained to see what was in front of him, for he only saw blurred objects. "Look for something bright green." he continued to tell himself in his mind.

Linia was floating a few feet under the water, her body bent back ever so slightly. Her skin was white as alabaster She had her eyes closed, and was loosing oxygen rather quickly. The water was so cold, and she couldn't make herself move an inch. If she could feel hot tears, she knew she could have been crying. Though, if she wasn't, Linia wanted to sob. Drowning was her worst fear, thus making her never wanting to learn how to swim. "Someone..." her mind whispered.

Then, there was a small bit of warmth and she felt arms wrap around her waist, helping her rise up. Air rushed up against her wet face and she could feel the sun's rays on her eyelids. Still, her body could not move and oxygen could not enter her lungs. Someone was dragging her onto the sand gently but quickly. After a moment of lying still, she began to cough violently and water spilled out of her mouth. A dark shadow was hovered over her, speaking in a soft tone. "Are you all right? Please say something to show that you're still alive."

"Thank you..." was her only response.

Only towards the sunset had Linia gained back her strength from the near death experience. Peter had pulled Linia out of the water just as she was about to pass out and breathe in the salt water. They sat in the lair for a long time, not saying a word to each other. Apparently, the two were still angry about the "promise" conflict. Slowly, Peter cleared his throat and broke the silence. "I've wondered about this since I met you... How did you get to Neverland?"

"I didn't get here... In fact, I was born and raised in Neverland. Somehow, I survived with ease." She spoke in a near silent tone.

"How can that be? You must have been an infant!" Peter cried, jumping to his feet.

Linia pondered his words. "Most people never remember their childhood.

However, I do believe the redskins took care of me until I was old enough to live on my own."

"That explains a bit," Peter sat back down, "But how can you fly without the need of pixie dust?"

"Everything is a blurr to me. Somehow, I feel that I shall never find out the truth of myself," she paused when she saw the boy frown sadly, "Of course, I don't let that bother me one bit… I'm perfectly happy with this life!"

Nothing could be heard between them except the heavy breathing of anxiety. Linia looked down at her scratched, stinging hands to see them fidgeting ever so slightly. They were soon warmed by Peter's soft skin against hers and she trembled at his gentle touch. Tears fell from her brown eyes and Linia leaned forward toward him, their lips about to lock lightly.

"We're back from our hunting, Peter!" A high voice squeaked and young boys dressed in animal suits came rampaging into the lair.

Instantaneously, the two parted and looked always, both blushing furiously. Strutting towards Peter, a teenager with messy light brown hair gave a slight glare to Linia, as if she were protecting the captain of the Lost Boys. Linia only looked away and rolled her eyes at her rival.

"Peter! We nearly caught an indian but he escaped us!" Tootles shouted.

Rising to his feet, Peter grinned at them. "Good try, boys. You'll get them next--"

"Who is that?" the only other girl pointed at Linia.

"Her?" Peter turned around, "Oh, that's Linia! Don't worry, Kaladra, she is one of us now."

Kaladra was the jealous girl that had been "protecting" Peter. She didn't like to have competition for Peter's attention, but it looked like this near twin of her love would be it.

Moments later, Tinkerbell flew in through one of the tree trunks and fluttered onto a toadstool that was used as a table. "Ting-a-ling!"

Peter nodded to the pixie. "Yes, she's very well now."

"If you mean Linia... Then she doesn't need to stay here anymore. We already have enough people to look after and we don't need another." Kaladra said, leaning against the dirt wall.

"Don't worry you're little head off. I wasn't planning on staying." Linia snapped and walked up the wooden stairs that led to the outside world.

Recovering from the shock between the three girls, Peter started to follow after Linia but was stopped when everyone stepped in his path and asked him dozens of questions at the same time. He groaned and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs. "Be quiet, all of you! I don't know much about her either…"

Tinkerbell stomped her foot and boiled with anger. Kaladra wasn't the only one in competition for Peter Pan's attention.