AN – haha! Snow day! I love snow days! I am not sure if this is going to be posted on this snow day, depending on when my BETA reader sends it back to me. But I am writing this on a snow day! I hope you all like it! I am trying to kick the habit of writing short chapters! This is the chapter with the answers!
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Shadows Recede
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Nibs cried out as the fiery pain spread through his body again and again. Hook watched the boy writhe, trying in vain to escape the torture he was experiencing. The slash across Nibs' stomach began to bleed again, for Nibs aggravated the wound with his harsh movements. Hook gave him some time to breathe, as he re-heated his hook over the fire.
Tears leaked from Nibs' eyes, and his screams receded to harsh breathing accompanied by the occasional moan. Never before had he felt such pain. Playtime was over for Hook, and Nibs' was experiencing this first-hand. He barely had time to prepare himself before the hook was placed forcefully just under his left collarbone. The skin it touched sizzled and Hook held it firmly in place against Nibs' attempts to remove it. The screams began anew, though the reprieve had only been mere seconds. The pirates, after the initial shock of seeing their Captain in action, cackled gleefully, reveling in the young boy's screams. Nibs turned tear-filled eyes towards the fire, begging it to stop. The hook descended once more. Nibs screamed once more, but was finally allowed some relief as he blissfully passed out. Hook stopped and turned to the pirates.
"Take him back to the other cave." He commanded. Noodler stepped forward and quickly lifted Nibs, carrying him into a dark side-cave to the right. The captain might be in a good mood after a good torture-fest, but all his pirates knew not to mess with his orders when he gave them out.
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Peter groaned, attempting to sit up, but he was too weak. Wendy and Curly pushed him back using their intertwined hands. It was then that Peter realized his position. He managed to turn enough to look at Wendy, though concentration was the only expression he carried. Curly let go of Peter's hand and turned to Tink. The others looked up also. Tink made a few motions to Wendy and the bowl beside Peter. Peter looked at Wendy puzzled.
"Tink wants you to drink what's left in that bowl." He exclaimed quietly, breathlessly. Wendy's expression mirrored Peter's, but she obeyed. She let go of Peter's hand and leaned over him to reach the bowl. The draft made her feel lightheaded for a moment, but there were no more effects after that. She looked up at Tink, not sure what to expect. Tink chimed away.
Only it wasn't just chimes anymore. Wendy gasped.
"There's a first time for everything Wendy." Tink said lightly. Wendy only stared, mouth open. Peter grinned, as did the other lost boys.
"What I am about to say, no one should be left out of." Tink continued. She half smiled at Wendy. She might not like the girl, but having her around did and would prove useful for aiding Peter. Tink turned to Peter, the merriment receding to melancholy. Peter noticed, and looked up expectantly.
"Peter, do you remember what happened right before you came to Neverland?" Tink asked quietly. They all turned to look at Peter. His visage darkened in thought.
"I ran away," he began, "and…" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "and then I….I came to Neverland." He was not happy with his own answer. Tink smiled sadly at him.
"Peter, I found you after you ran away to Kensington Gardens. You were dreadfully sick, and I saw no other way to save you that bring you to Neverland." She began somewhat hesitantly. Peter looked at her, confused, not quite sure where this topic was heading. Tink sighed, it was now or never.
"Peter you were dying. I brought you to Neverland to save you. The fairy magic that you have inside you is the most potent and powerful magic on the island; it is the magic of Neverland itself. The fairy dust was not given to you because it enabled you to fly. It was given to you because it was the only way to save you." Her voice rose in desperation. This was hard to achieve because she was so small, but it worked. Peter's mouth was agape, as were all the other mouths. Slowly, the words sank in, and Peter turned reluctant eyes up to Tink in silent question.
"Yes." She answered to his question. He sighed and cast his eyes down at his hands, which he had managed to move into his lap. Once again he tried to rise. Wendy held him to her once again, but spoke to Tink before he could protest.
"I don't understand. What do his past magic experiences have to do with our current situation?" she asked, in a businesslike manner. The lost boys nodded, asking for the answer to the same question. Tink shrugged.
"I don't know the entire reason. Neverland is slowly taking back its magic, every time something happens to Nibs-" Curly let out a choked sob, "-and its hurting Peter. I am not sure if Hook realizes just what is going on, but there is something special about this situation, for it is affecting Neverland itself." She looked at each boy and then Wendy in turn, a grave expression on her face. "I can not tell you just how important it is that we find Nibs. We need to find him as soon as possible, for I fear the consequences, should we arrive too late."
Now Tinkerbell was not a serious fairy. Peter and the lost boys could remember few times when she was not laughing. Everyone knew however, from the look on her face, that she was completely serious, and this was no joking matter. Hook had taken the lost boys captive on countless occasions before this; but this was different. This was extremely serious. They needed to find Nibs, before it was too late.
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Peter nodded resolutely and struggled to get up for a third time. Wendy did not stop him this time, and it came as a surprise when he met no resistance from her. He shakily stood, and slowly regained his balance. His brief respite on the ground had lent him enough strength to stand and walk about. Tink told him to fill the bowl with water again and he did so without question. She sprinkled it again and told him to drink it. It was a wonderful sight for Wendy and Curly especially to see Peter drink the solution on his own, when only moments ago they had to do it for him.
Peter seemed to go through the motions almost robotically, and walked as one condemned. He pulled out his pan pipes, and played his iconic melody. All too soon the heads of the mermaids broke the surface of the water. Everyone stayed back, bar Peter, who leaned forward and held a whispered conversation with them. The conversation was short, though unfortunately not sweet at all. Peter turned sullenly to the others when the mermaids swam away.
"They don't know where Hook is. They say that he came onto the island last night, for reasons they don't know, and that the pirates haven't returned to the ship yet. There has been no sign of them since last night." He turned downcast eyes to the ground. The others were silent. Curly clenched his fists to stop the tears from pouring forth again. His breathing quickened, and his nostrils flared.
"This is all your fault." He spoke quietly. Peter looked up from the ground at him, as did the others. Curly kept his eyes on the ground. "If it wasn't for you, this wouldn't be happening. Nibs would be safe with us at home and we would be having fun." He looked up, glaring daggers at Peter. Peter was taken aback by the ferocity in Curly's voice. Curly pointed accusingly at him, and strode forward. Peter backed up, for the first time afraid. The others watched amazed, for this was a sight they had never seen before. But Curly did not stop there. Peter looked behind him, and came to a stop at the edge of the rock they stood on. Curly kept walking purposefully toward him, with no intention of stopping. He poked Peter hard in the center of his chest with the finger he had been pointing.
"How dare you. How dare you be so selfish Peter. This is all your fault! I can't believe you! We all trusted you! We trusted you with our lives, Nibs the most! How could you do something like this!?" His voice raised several octaves, as Curly's pain showed through his anger. It dropped suddenly, as did the finger and Curly's eyes. He looked once more at the ground, and he whispered, almost barely audible, compared to the volume of his voice previously. "I hate you."
Peter gasped, astonished. His eyes widened, and he stepped backward, forgetting that there was no more ground. Fly, he needed to fly. He needed to get away. He couldn't stay here. The ill-fated fall quickly dissipated and he vanished into the afternoon sky. The cry of the other's followed behind him, but he blocked them out. How had things become so chaotic? How had he let it happen? How did he not realize it before it was too late?
His fists clenched. Finding Nibs was the only way that things would go back to normal. He would find Nibs if it took him to his dying breath. Anger lent him the adrenaline to remain in the air, and he quickly flew towards the Black Castle. If he knew anything about Hook, he had most likely gone there. Unbeknownst to him, Tink silently followed at a safe distance, and the others ran in the direction they had last seen Peter fly.
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Wow there is a HUUUGE piece of foreshadowing in that last area. Haha but I am not going to tell you what it is. There are also pieces that might seem like foreshadowing, but really don't matter at all. Haha I love doing that. It's good to look so much into foreshadowing. Because I can normally predict a lot of things, but now I am making it so that you can't predict! Haha! Ok so it's not as long as I hoped to make it. But this is actually longer than I originally would have left it. I am trying to figger out where I want the next chapters to head, so there is only so much I can add to this one, when I don't know what I want for the next ones. I hope you liked this one. There are answers, but it's not all of the answers. Enjoy! Now to the reviews:
Katy – haha yea as you can tell you do find out soon. Uum, yea I feel really bad for Peter and Nibs because it just doesn't stop for either of them. But I am sure that if I am nice enough I will give them a break sometime. Nothing happened to Peter during this chapter because Nibs has been unconscious, if you got that from the beginning there.
Nat – Hey hun! Yay you reviewed! And you liked it! Yay! Haha you're welcome, I love being your BETA reader! And you are mine! Thank you so much for taking on that role for MY fic! Aw shucks thanks! Lol. I hope you like the rest of the fic! Lol, since you will be getting this before everyone because you are my BETA!
Ricky Ticky Tavi – Yea Curly gets really emotional because this has never happened to him before. Like, if they were ever captured, he was still with Nibs and the others. He's really not taking it well, that he isn't there for Nibs, and that Hook is actually not playing any games this time. It really pains him to see his best friend and brother being tortured (he is seeing it through Peter.) So I feel really bad also. But you can tell he isn't reacting well by the end of this chapter. Thanks for the review, of course you are getting shout-outs! Lol. I hope this chapter clears up some of your questions! Thanks for liking the fic! Haha.
The Sadistic Cow – Haha, yea Peter is most certainly feeling Nibs' pain. But don't come down to hard on him. He has his own pain to deal with. As you can tell they are all slowly turning on him, and it's just a lot on his plate. But he will get what's coming to him. Oops I just gave out a little hint. Oh well, if you want to be mad at him now go ahead, but you will be sorry. *wink* I know it's his fault, but I still say poor Peter. I will continue as fast as I can! I am glad you like it!
Pottersweetie – Yay! Haha we are the yay girls! Haha I got a long review! I love long reviews! Yea I like to work on the details. I really started my writing career after reading the Redwall series by Brian Jaques, and he really goes into detail like no other author I have seen. I am updating as soon as I can! I know how it feels to wait. It really sucks! Haha you can keep asking me to update. I do the same thing, and maybe someday it will work! Haha. Yea I like having both points of view also, I just hope that it doesn't get too confusing. Sometimes I will show it from Peter's point of view first, but other times it will be Nibs first, and yet they will be talking about the same moments. So I hope people understand that. Lol, updating ASAP!
Yuki Asao – Haha thanks! I feel bad for Nibs also. It's not completely what is Nibs connection with Peter, rather, what is the connection with Peter. It's supposed to be strange, so that people really don't know what it is, but when you find out it seems so obvious! *bwahaha* Yay! Yea Hook is supposed to be evil, but I never see him evil enough! So he needed to be. I thank you for telling me that I have his character down. Really means a lot to me! It's a great compliment. Thanks!
Ok that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and I will try and update as soon as I can. This coming week is finals for me, so I might not be able to till at least next week. Don't kill me if I find no time. Please! Lol. MLA everyone!
Shauna