Peter and Wendy were eager to begin their adventure as soon as possible, but they quickly reminded themselves that a journey as perilous as the one they were to undertake must be planned carefully. The two children had no idea where to start! Their first idea was to disguise themselves as fairies (Peter's idea, no doubt) but that was quickly thrown out - for how would they become fairy size?
Their second plot was to just go into the Grove. The Fairy Grove is fairy territory - all fairies, by nature, are very vain. Each fairy, down to the most common, believes that his or her job is the most important, and thus hold themselves very high in regard. With that mindset, each one thinks themselves too important with their jobs to guard the Grove. So the Grove is very easily penetrated. Tinkerbell would never admit to being apart of such self-righteous a people, but she nevertheless told them that the Grove was not guarded in the least.
The pair quickly organized their plan. Tinkerbell, begrudgingly it seemed, agreed to help the children in their plan. Really, she was quite delighted at the opportunity to help the children. She, like all fairies, loved a good mischievous deed. They were to do the most obvious of things - walk right into the Grove! How absurd it must have seemed to Wendy, who had always seen the fairies as ethereal beings, not to be disturbed, to waltz right into their haven!
The trio set out at midday, Tinkerbell in the lead. Peter and Tinkerbell, along with the Lost Boys, had played hide-and-seek many times in forest, but Tinkerbell had never let any of the boys or Peter himself drift towards the Fairy Grove. Even Neverland's hero did not know the location of the mystic place. Only fairies knew where the Grove lay, the location being a very well guarded secret. Until Tinkerbell led the children to the grounds, no non-fairy foot had ever stepped upon the magical soil.
It was quite obvious when they arrived in the Grove. Everything became brighter, thicker, and greener. The plants flourished, leaves that were tiny in other parts of the forest had become the size of small children. Everything about the place had blossomed into something more - something magical. Even the air was magical. A sweet scent permeated through the soil, overtaking their senses. Tinkerbell was unaffected by these beauties, but Peter and Wendy were awed. They began to feel lightheaded, the magical powers intoxicating their minds. Tinkerbell had to pull the children's hair many times to get them to come back down from their magical high.
The fairy homes in the trees. Not high above, nestled on branches as one would think, but within the trees. The doors were the caps of large mushrooms, while others were made of leaves and bark. The homes themselves were small, but not too small. The trees were covered with the doors, which led to hollowed spots. Every home had a chimney, as odd as it may sound for fairy homes to have chimneys. They looked like small branches just starting to grow out of the trunk, but only in winter were they revealed to be chimneys. In the center of the Grove, there stood a small structure, whose materials could not be named. It was in fact comprised of many magical artifacts. It was the Fairy Square - the most important building to fairies residing in Neverland.
Tinkerbell explained to them in hushed whispers what the Fairy Square was for. The Prince of Fairies called all of the Fairies there every month to tell them the news of the fairies in the other world. His mother was still the supreme ruler of the fairies, despite what he would like to have them believe.
The Fairy Prince was a most hideous being. While he was physically beautiful, his heart was dark and twisted. He clouded his mind with thoughts of power and control. He had no room in his heart for joy and love! He commanded the fairies of Neverland as a cruel King would - no fairy dare speak against him, for fear of being killed.
Contrary to what most think, there is more than one way to kill a fairy. The Prince killed him victims by coaxing sleeping children to say the most dreaded five words. I do not dare even write them! The Prince would take his captor into the child's room, then whisper the hated words into the child's ear - for the fairy that says it does not die. But his victim's light would most surely perish.
As I said, he was a most hideous creature.
Now, Wendy had seen the Fairy Prince once before, but this was not the same Prince. The Prince she had witnessed dancing gaily with a Fairy Lady was the Heir to the Fairy Throne. He had disappeared shortly after Wendy and the Lost Boys had departed from Neverland. No fairy spoke of it, not even the Queen. She feared her own second-born son more than she had feared anyone before. She knew he was capable of dastardly things. The second son was always called Prince, as if he were the first-born. Before his brother's disappearance, he had been called by his given name, Noble-Song. He was not given a title, being the second-born. He resented that with all of his dark heart. But now his given name was nearly forgotten - he was the Prince.
Peter had to tell Wendy all of this on their journey through the forest. Not even Tinkerbell would whisper the story. She feared the eyes of the forest would tell the Prince of her words, and she would most surely be punished with death.
No fairies seemed present when they ventured into the center of the Grove. Not a single fairy soul fluttered about. This was quite odd, as many thousands of fairies lived in the Grove. For all of them to be gone or sleeping at once was, well, impossible! But all things are possible, and as they soon came to realize, every fairy was in fact sleeping. All except one.
They could not see him, but they could hear him. Unlike other fairies, whose voices were the beautiful tinkling of bells, his voice was a harsh clang, like someone banging a pot over and over again. They winced as his hideous voice became louder. Peter did not know the words he spoke, nor did Tinkerbell. It was not the fairy language.
I know now that he was speaking in an entirely different language - the Elder Fairies had even forgotten it. It was an ancient language, long dead from the Fairy Way, used by the ancient Queens and Kings, to find and punish their enemies. It did not judge by actions, it judged by hearts. The magical portion of the words sought out all those who opposed the speaker in their heart of hearts, and punished them dreadfully. Now, it was considered completely uncivilized. The fairies were not always a peaceful, beautiful race. As any race, it had its years of strife tumult. As barbaric as they may have thought it, He knew it. He was speaking it as they crept upon where he stood, chanting the ghastly words.
Tinkerbell soon realized that they were not in a good situation at all. She quickly tugged at Peter's ear, pleading with him in her high voice to run. Peter paid her no attention, for he was Peter Pan! He believed himself near invincible.
"Tink, do shut up!" Peter told her sternly, in a quick whisper.
But he heard Peter's words. Before any of the trio could blink, a dark light flew out of the Square, angry words spouting from its sick mouth. The form lunged at Peter, aiming for the little boy's heart. Tinkerbell intercepted the blow, the light and dark forming a blur of gray as the powers clashed. Peter stood still, before falling down, still trying to sort through the lightning-quick occurrence. Wendy shrieked, pulling on the shocked Peter to get up.
"Tinkerbell! We have to save her!" Wendy told him, pulling him up.
He soon recovered, standing, before taking Wendy's hand and lifting them both off of the ground. It took a moment before Wendy could pull her own weight, but the two flew nonetheless. They followed the cloudy sphere that was Tinkerbell and the offender. The two fairies - yes, I know the second fairy, and it does not take a scientist to figure out the identity of the evil - fought, taking blows with their tiny fists that would even spur a pirate to call out "Bad form!".
Soon, though, the punches and kicks ceased, and the evil drew back. It was the Prince, as I am sure you have guessed at this point. He muttered four of the five dreadful words, causing Tinkerbell's light to flicker. He only got to word number four because Peter had grabbed him and tossed him into the air.
This infuriated the Prince, who retaliated by attempting to utter those five most hated words again. He was going to kill Tinkerbell! This time, much to her own surprise, Wendy hit the fairy with a limb she had plucked from one of the huge trees! He tumbled backwards, falling until he hit the soft soil of the Grove with a small thud.
Tears sprung to Wendy's eyes.
"I have killed him!" She cried, "I have killed a fairy!"
Peter rushed to her side, holding her hands.
"You saved Tinkerbell! For that you must be proud!" He told her, but her tears still flowed freely.
Tinkerbell, still slightly dizzy from her own near-death experience, fluttered to the two children, very haphazardly I must say, for at the time she was still seeing double.
"Come on, Peter. Let's go home...We are done here." Tinkerbell whispered, before she lay on Peter's shoulder, and fell to sleep.
The trio retreated from the Grove, not defeated, but most surely disheartened. They had not retrieved the book, they had not defeated the evil, and they had heard nothing that would lead them to the location of the book. It was not a successful venture at all! They still did not understand the vile words they had heard before they were attacked.
The trio sadly flew back to the Home Underground, to rest for the night. It had been a most awful day, and they were all very tired. They agreed that the adventure was not over, but had merely just begun. Peter was very curious about the dead language.
"Tink, how can a language be dead?" Peter asked, upon hearing Tink's suspicions of the Prince's words.
"You silly ass!" She said playfully, before telling him what she knew of it. Of course, she explained, she could not understand it, but she had heard of it in fairy myths and legends.
Legends are only exaggerated versions of the truth, but in Neverland, almost all legends and myths were not exaggerated. Neverland had experienced many dark times, before the coming of Peter. Peter was the hero of Neverland for many reasons.
Wendy was still quite shaken, thinking she had killed the Fairy Prince. As they soon found out, he was not dead. He had merely been unconscious when he had plummeted to the ground. He was actually far from death. If a body can retain so many vile things, it can surely last a fall of thirty or so feet.
Peter comforted Wendy, in his own way, reassuring her that if she had not acted he and Tinkerbell would both be dead. That made her sob even harder, thinking of her beloved Peter as dead. Peter was bewildered by all of the emotion she was showing. He had never seen Wendy this way - his boyish mind did not grasp the idea that she feared for him. He didn't think it plausible that she could fear for him as he feared for her. But, alas, she did. She felt fear for him very much - more than she feared for her own brothers. Of course, the fear was quite different, for her brothers had never tried to battle a dark fairy, but it was fear nonetheless.
Peter was experiencing the feelings. He was no longer the numb little boy who cared for nothing but himself. He cared and feared for Wendy, but he did not fear for himself. That was his one of very few flaws. He had no fear for himself. As I said, he thought himself near invincible!
That night, Peter slept as soundly as Wendy. The pair lay curled on the mattress together, their fingers still entwined. Tinkerbell sat watch, her mood alternating from jealous rage to watchful guard, keeping the couple safe as they slept away their fears of the day.
The two had no dreams that night - which was probably a miracle, as many a nightmare could have sprung from their eventful day. Peter regularly had nightmares - when Wendy had stayed with him, she had comforted him in his sleep until the nightmares had faded. He had always treasured that memory since her departure, on nights when his nightmares woke him, sweat drenched and tearful. He was glad that she had returned with him, even if he was helping her return to her family in the end.
The two slept quite peacefully, hands holding tightly to eachother, never to let go.
Their second plot was to just go into the Grove. The Fairy Grove is fairy territory - all fairies, by nature, are very vain. Each fairy, down to the most common, believes that his or her job is the most important, and thus hold themselves very high in regard. With that mindset, each one thinks themselves too important with their jobs to guard the Grove. So the Grove is very easily penetrated. Tinkerbell would never admit to being apart of such self-righteous a people, but she nevertheless told them that the Grove was not guarded in the least.
The pair quickly organized their plan. Tinkerbell, begrudgingly it seemed, agreed to help the children in their plan. Really, she was quite delighted at the opportunity to help the children. She, like all fairies, loved a good mischievous deed. They were to do the most obvious of things - walk right into the Grove! How absurd it must have seemed to Wendy, who had always seen the fairies as ethereal beings, not to be disturbed, to waltz right into their haven!
The trio set out at midday, Tinkerbell in the lead. Peter and Tinkerbell, along with the Lost Boys, had played hide-and-seek many times in forest, but Tinkerbell had never let any of the boys or Peter himself drift towards the Fairy Grove. Even Neverland's hero did not know the location of the mystic place. Only fairies knew where the Grove lay, the location being a very well guarded secret. Until Tinkerbell led the children to the grounds, no non-fairy foot had ever stepped upon the magical soil.
It was quite obvious when they arrived in the Grove. Everything became brighter, thicker, and greener. The plants flourished, leaves that were tiny in other parts of the forest had become the size of small children. Everything about the place had blossomed into something more - something magical. Even the air was magical. A sweet scent permeated through the soil, overtaking their senses. Tinkerbell was unaffected by these beauties, but Peter and Wendy were awed. They began to feel lightheaded, the magical powers intoxicating their minds. Tinkerbell had to pull the children's hair many times to get them to come back down from their magical high.
The fairy homes in the trees. Not high above, nestled on branches as one would think, but within the trees. The doors were the caps of large mushrooms, while others were made of leaves and bark. The homes themselves were small, but not too small. The trees were covered with the doors, which led to hollowed spots. Every home had a chimney, as odd as it may sound for fairy homes to have chimneys. They looked like small branches just starting to grow out of the trunk, but only in winter were they revealed to be chimneys. In the center of the Grove, there stood a small structure, whose materials could not be named. It was in fact comprised of many magical artifacts. It was the Fairy Square - the most important building to fairies residing in Neverland.
Tinkerbell explained to them in hushed whispers what the Fairy Square was for. The Prince of Fairies called all of the Fairies there every month to tell them the news of the fairies in the other world. His mother was still the supreme ruler of the fairies, despite what he would like to have them believe.
The Fairy Prince was a most hideous being. While he was physically beautiful, his heart was dark and twisted. He clouded his mind with thoughts of power and control. He had no room in his heart for joy and love! He commanded the fairies of Neverland as a cruel King would - no fairy dare speak against him, for fear of being killed.
Contrary to what most think, there is more than one way to kill a fairy. The Prince killed him victims by coaxing sleeping children to say the most dreaded five words. I do not dare even write them! The Prince would take his captor into the child's room, then whisper the hated words into the child's ear - for the fairy that says it does not die. But his victim's light would most surely perish.
As I said, he was a most hideous creature.
Now, Wendy had seen the Fairy Prince once before, but this was not the same Prince. The Prince she had witnessed dancing gaily with a Fairy Lady was the Heir to the Fairy Throne. He had disappeared shortly after Wendy and the Lost Boys had departed from Neverland. No fairy spoke of it, not even the Queen. She feared her own second-born son more than she had feared anyone before. She knew he was capable of dastardly things. The second son was always called Prince, as if he were the first-born. Before his brother's disappearance, he had been called by his given name, Noble-Song. He was not given a title, being the second-born. He resented that with all of his dark heart. But now his given name was nearly forgotten - he was the Prince.
Peter had to tell Wendy all of this on their journey through the forest. Not even Tinkerbell would whisper the story. She feared the eyes of the forest would tell the Prince of her words, and she would most surely be punished with death.
No fairies seemed present when they ventured into the center of the Grove. Not a single fairy soul fluttered about. This was quite odd, as many thousands of fairies lived in the Grove. For all of them to be gone or sleeping at once was, well, impossible! But all things are possible, and as they soon came to realize, every fairy was in fact sleeping. All except one.
They could not see him, but they could hear him. Unlike other fairies, whose voices were the beautiful tinkling of bells, his voice was a harsh clang, like someone banging a pot over and over again. They winced as his hideous voice became louder. Peter did not know the words he spoke, nor did Tinkerbell. It was not the fairy language.
I know now that he was speaking in an entirely different language - the Elder Fairies had even forgotten it. It was an ancient language, long dead from the Fairy Way, used by the ancient Queens and Kings, to find and punish their enemies. It did not judge by actions, it judged by hearts. The magical portion of the words sought out all those who opposed the speaker in their heart of hearts, and punished them dreadfully. Now, it was considered completely uncivilized. The fairies were not always a peaceful, beautiful race. As any race, it had its years of strife tumult. As barbaric as they may have thought it, He knew it. He was speaking it as they crept upon where he stood, chanting the ghastly words.
Tinkerbell soon realized that they were not in a good situation at all. She quickly tugged at Peter's ear, pleading with him in her high voice to run. Peter paid her no attention, for he was Peter Pan! He believed himself near invincible.
"Tink, do shut up!" Peter told her sternly, in a quick whisper.
But he heard Peter's words. Before any of the trio could blink, a dark light flew out of the Square, angry words spouting from its sick mouth. The form lunged at Peter, aiming for the little boy's heart. Tinkerbell intercepted the blow, the light and dark forming a blur of gray as the powers clashed. Peter stood still, before falling down, still trying to sort through the lightning-quick occurrence. Wendy shrieked, pulling on the shocked Peter to get up.
"Tinkerbell! We have to save her!" Wendy told him, pulling him up.
He soon recovered, standing, before taking Wendy's hand and lifting them both off of the ground. It took a moment before Wendy could pull her own weight, but the two flew nonetheless. They followed the cloudy sphere that was Tinkerbell and the offender. The two fairies - yes, I know the second fairy, and it does not take a scientist to figure out the identity of the evil - fought, taking blows with their tiny fists that would even spur a pirate to call out "Bad form!".
Soon, though, the punches and kicks ceased, and the evil drew back. It was the Prince, as I am sure you have guessed at this point. He muttered four of the five dreadful words, causing Tinkerbell's light to flicker. He only got to word number four because Peter had grabbed him and tossed him into the air.
This infuriated the Prince, who retaliated by attempting to utter those five most hated words again. He was going to kill Tinkerbell! This time, much to her own surprise, Wendy hit the fairy with a limb she had plucked from one of the huge trees! He tumbled backwards, falling until he hit the soft soil of the Grove with a small thud.
Tears sprung to Wendy's eyes.
"I have killed him!" She cried, "I have killed a fairy!"
Peter rushed to her side, holding her hands.
"You saved Tinkerbell! For that you must be proud!" He told her, but her tears still flowed freely.
Tinkerbell, still slightly dizzy from her own near-death experience, fluttered to the two children, very haphazardly I must say, for at the time she was still seeing double.
"Come on, Peter. Let's go home...We are done here." Tinkerbell whispered, before she lay on Peter's shoulder, and fell to sleep.
The trio retreated from the Grove, not defeated, but most surely disheartened. They had not retrieved the book, they had not defeated the evil, and they had heard nothing that would lead them to the location of the book. It was not a successful venture at all! They still did not understand the vile words they had heard before they were attacked.
The trio sadly flew back to the Home Underground, to rest for the night. It had been a most awful day, and they were all very tired. They agreed that the adventure was not over, but had merely just begun. Peter was very curious about the dead language.
"Tink, how can a language be dead?" Peter asked, upon hearing Tink's suspicions of the Prince's words.
"You silly ass!" She said playfully, before telling him what she knew of it. Of course, she explained, she could not understand it, but she had heard of it in fairy myths and legends.
Legends are only exaggerated versions of the truth, but in Neverland, almost all legends and myths were not exaggerated. Neverland had experienced many dark times, before the coming of Peter. Peter was the hero of Neverland for many reasons.
Wendy was still quite shaken, thinking she had killed the Fairy Prince. As they soon found out, he was not dead. He had merely been unconscious when he had plummeted to the ground. He was actually far from death. If a body can retain so many vile things, it can surely last a fall of thirty or so feet.
Peter comforted Wendy, in his own way, reassuring her that if she had not acted he and Tinkerbell would both be dead. That made her sob even harder, thinking of her beloved Peter as dead. Peter was bewildered by all of the emotion she was showing. He had never seen Wendy this way - his boyish mind did not grasp the idea that she feared for him. He didn't think it plausible that she could fear for him as he feared for her. But, alas, she did. She felt fear for him very much - more than she feared for her own brothers. Of course, the fear was quite different, for her brothers had never tried to battle a dark fairy, but it was fear nonetheless.
Peter was experiencing the feelings. He was no longer the numb little boy who cared for nothing but himself. He cared and feared for Wendy, but he did not fear for himself. That was his one of very few flaws. He had no fear for himself. As I said, he thought himself near invincible!
That night, Peter slept as soundly as Wendy. The pair lay curled on the mattress together, their fingers still entwined. Tinkerbell sat watch, her mood alternating from jealous rage to watchful guard, keeping the couple safe as they slept away their fears of the day.
The two had no dreams that night - which was probably a miracle, as many a nightmare could have sprung from their eventful day. Peter regularly had nightmares - when Wendy had stayed with him, she had comforted him in his sleep until the nightmares had faded. He had always treasured that memory since her departure, on nights when his nightmares woke him, sweat drenched and tearful. He was glad that she had returned with him, even if he was helping her return to her family in the end.
The two slept quite peacefully, hands holding tightly to eachother, never to let go.