Title: To Have and To Hold
Author: Squeezynz
Chapter: Twelve - Traitor
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Peter was the first to wake up, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as he lay warm and relaxed beside Wendy, despite the hard rock beneath him. To his surprise the darkness was a long way from complete, a smattering of bright points appeared suspended above his head. As his vision adjusted he saw more of the pale blue specks, some far away, others surprisingly close above their campsite, some clustered together to make large colony's of glowing lights.
Wendy was still asleep, her body soft and pliant in his arms, her breath puffing out in little sighs as she dreamed. Peter smiled and closed his eyes content to doze, but something nagged at him and he found himself unable to sleep again. Deciding to make a virtue out of necessity he carefully disengaged himself from his sleeping partner and rolled out of the blankets onto his knees. To his amazement he could see that the walls of the cavern they were in were coated with millions upon millions of glow worm colonies, the rocks appearing to radiate with the creatures' biological emissions, casting a bluish light over everything. It wasn't as bright as daylight by any stretch of the imagination, but it was sufficient for Peter to realise that their guide was no longer with them and neither were any of their backpacks.
On his guard, he carefully searched the entire area between the extinguished torches still stuck in the floor. Apart from the clothes that they had slept on which included their coats, the small pack Wendy had used for a pillow and the blankets, all else had disappeared. Even the damp items they'd left out to dry were gone. Cursing under his breath, Peter went beyond the camps small perimeter and walked up the slope to the steam then further around until he came back to where Wendy still slumbered.
Laying down once more beside Wendy he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, willing his fear to subside so that he could think of a plan to get them out of their predicament. Wendy stirred and turned over, her face coming to rest against his neck as she snuggled into his warmth.
"Wendy it's time to wake up," Peter murmured, one hand running up and down her arm to jostle her awake.
"It's still dark..." Wendy slurred, settling against him more comfortably. "This bed is awfully hard..."
"Wendy, we're not in a bed, we're sleeping on a rock floor, and I need you to wake up."
Peter's forceful whisper pulled Wendy from her sleep and made her stiffen in his arms when she noted the hard surface beneath her.
"The cave?"
"That's right, remember?"
She nodded, relaxing her limbs.
"Are you awake now?"
She nodded again.
"We have a problem Wendy...Bart is gone and so are all our belongings except what we're sleeping on."
For a moment Wendy didn't react, then Peter felt her body go tense then start to struggle.
"What?"
He let her go and waited for her to sit up on her knees, Peter sitting up beside her as she stared wildly around, her eyes wide.
"What happened?" She asked reaching out for him, Peter taking her hand and holding it tightly in his.
"I don't know...I haven't been awake very long myself, but he's gone, and so are the spare torches, the food, everything but what we used for our bed."
"Oh Peter! What are we going to do?"
"Well light won't be quite the problem it could have been...look around, we're in a glow worm grotto."
Taking heart from his calm voice and composure, Wendy gulped and tried to still her racing heart. Looking around she noticed the bluish glow surrounding them, the rocks apparently spangled with pin pricks of light. "Oh my...there must be millions of them."
"Hundreds of millions I suspect."
"Peter...why are you so calm? Aren't you worried that we've been stranded here in a cave with no hope of finding the way out?"
"Yes I'm worried...I'm worried that you'll go all girly on me and have a fit of hysterics!"
"Well of all the rotten...horrid things to say! I'll have you know I've never had a fit of hysterics in my life." Wendy retorted, conveniently forgetting her more recent episodes largely in reaction to her visions.
P.
"Just as well because I don't need a vaporous female on my hands right now."
Completely incensed, Wendy could only gasp loudly and scowl furiously at him while she launched herself upwards and on to her feet. Her fear thoroughly routed, Wendy started to gather their bedding together, throwing Peter his coat which he'd used as a pillow.
Peter smiled grimly, his tactic to make Wendy forget her fear all too successful as his coat caught him under the chin. He wasn't prepared to let her know just how worried he was, their predicament quite dire given their lack of food and ability to carry water. Hastily he searched his pockets for anything usable, an assortment of small weapons greeting his questing fingers along with the rusted tinderbox and Wendy's acorn pendant. For safety he slipped it over his own head and tucked it inside his shirt before stamping into his boots and donning the coat. Wendy had found her own coat among the bedding and put that on over her dress, the remainder bundled into the center of one of the blankets which she then knotted to make as small a parcel as possible.
"We can't go back the way we came as we'd easily get lost in that maze of stalagmites back there," He thumbed in the direction of the stone forest. "I suggest we follow the stream as far as it goes and see where it leads."
"Why the stream?" Wendy asked curtly, her tightly reined anger obvious in her voice.
"Follow me and I'll show you."
With their eyes thoroughly accustomed to the half gloom of the glow worms, they made their way up the wide steps of stone to where the stream rushed on its way towards the hole in the wall. The water glowed even more brightly than before with the total absence of light and they could see that it wound it's way some distance before disappearing about a corner. Peter pointed and Wendy stared in the direction of his finger. On the floor someone had splashed a quantity of the water out of the stream leaving a dark stain against the dry rocks surface. The same someone had obviously paddled in the spilled water and soaked their feet because a trail of wet footprints led away from the stream while keeping parallel with it.
"Black Hearted Bart has unwittingly left us a path to follow. If these glow worms extend into the next cave or wherever these footprints lead, we can follow him out of the mountain."
"It's a wonder you don't tire of being so clever all the time." Wendy remarked waspishly, still smarting from his comments about hysterical females.
"Hold onto my coat, I don't want you to get lost in this gloom." Peter instructed her, ignoring her remark and taking hold of the bundle. He had also collected the two former flambeaux and handed them to Wendy to carry under her arm. When he felt her grip tug at his coat tail he set off, his eyes firmly fixed on the trail of wet prints leading them alongside the stream and further into the cave system.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
It seemed that they walked for hours, sometimes in brightly illuminated patches where the glow worms seemed to mass, in others they only had the glow of the water to guide them, groping their way over boulders and around stalagmites that rose out of the ground like ghosts. When the light was at its best they could still make out Bart's footprints, the water getting fainter as his rags obviously started to dry out. They had passed out of the large cavern and into a series of small caves, each linked to the other by the stream which alternately widened and narrowed along stretches of its length. Eventually the footprints ended and Peter stopped, Wendy bumping against him, too hungry and tired to notice he was stationary.
"Why have we stopped?" Wendy asked, her voice husky having barely said a word since they'd set out.
"There's nothing to follow. The trail has ended." Peter told her, keeping his voice neutral.
Wendy stared at him blankly, barely able to make out his features in the gloom, let alone his expression.
"What are we going to do?" Wendy whispered, clutching convulsively at his coat.
"We can still follow the stream, and we'll watch out for anything else that will tell us which way to go."
Wendy didn't speak for a moment, her heart seeming to want to leap out of her chest with the force of its beating. Swallowing down her fear, she tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Okay...let's go then."
Hearing the quaver despite her best efforts, Peter lifted his hand to touch her face but stopped at the last second, somehow knowing that if he showed her any weakness she'd break down and not be able to go on.
Clenching his fist he turned away and continued down the path beside the stream, hoping that their luck would hold out a little longer.
Not much further along the glow worms started to disappear, plunging them into a stygian darkness, the glowing stream their only source of illumination. They traveled more slowly, the water flowing through a narrow fissure which seemed to close in on them the further in they traveled until they could touch each wall with their outstretched hands.
"Peter?" Wendy's voice came to him faintly, terror making it wobble in the darkness.
"We keep going Wendy...Bart came this way, so it must be passable."
"You don't know that, he might have turned off...we might have missed any number of tunnel opening in this place."
"No...I'm sure he came this way...trust me."
"I do...I-I-I just..."
"I know...don't let go Wendy."
"I won't."
They kept going, the walls pressing ever closer until Peter had to bend over or hit his head on the overhang. Pausing, he crouched down beside the narrow channel that continued to flow back the way they'd come, the brightness not dimmed. He could hear Wendy's labored breathing behind him and could feel her hands convulsively clutching at his coat. Fear started to grip him, his heart pounding as he lowered his head and tried to still the tremor shaking his limbs. Sucking in a deep breath he raised his head and stared ahead, straining to pierce the darkness ahead.
"I think I see something...there's a light up ahead!"
"A light? Is it Bart?"
"I don't know...it's steady, not like a flame...and it's green."
"Green?"
"It's going to get very narrow and low, so be prepared to crawl."
"We won't get stuck, will we?"
"Don't know...keep close and follow me."
They pressed onwards, the cave roof lowering until they had to go on their hands and knees, the stream still flowing like a bright ribbon past them while they crawled towards the unknown.
Peter emerged into the next cavern and looked about him incredulously. Behind him Wendy wriggled her way out of the narrow fissure and stood beside him, her own face expressing her surprise.
The cavern surrounding them was bathed in a greenish light that seemed to come from the rock itself, every surface whether flat or rounded emitting a green glow.
"I feel like we're inside an emerald." Wendy whispered, her fingers clutching at Peter's coat sleeve as they stood and stared.
The cavern was not as huge as the one containing the stalagmites, but it was still big, the green light bright enough to show the thickly clustered stalactites hanging from the ceiling, reaching down towards their smaller offspring rising from the floor. The stream that had been their constant companion appeared to originate from this cave, an opening high up on one sheer wall disgorging a steady stream of sparkling water that dropped thirty feet to a huge rock pool below before spilling over and running into the well worn channel they'd followed.
"It's beautiful but so strange." Wendy remarked, walking further into the cavern and turning around, her head tilted up to stare at the ceiling so far above them. Peter was examining a pile of fallen rock not far from where they'd emerged. Crouching down he picked up a section of broken rock and peered at it. On the inside the rock appeared as normal, dark grey shot through with specks of black and streaks of white. On the outside the rock was coated with something that felt soft and almost slimy, no longer green and glowing, but obviously the source of the light surrounding them.
"It must be a moss or fungus of some sort I suppose." Peter suggested, dropping the rock and wiping his fingers on his coat. Looking at the floor he could see that the mat of green was continuous without a hint of a break or separation from the rock. Even the effect of Wendy walking over the verdant carpet didn't seem to bother it, her footprints slowly fading as the crushed vegetation resumed its former untouched state. Wendy had wandered over to the pool, leaning on a rocky ledge to peer into the phosphorescent depths.
"Peter!"
Hurrying to her side, Peter tried to see what had alarmed her.
"What? What's the matter?"
"There's something alive in this pool...I saw a splash...I think I saw...a..a..tail."
"A fish?"
"No...bigger than a fish."
As they turned to look across the wide pool something broke the surface on the far side and Wendy pointed excitedly. "See? I told you, something much bigger than a fish."
Peter narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on the water's surface but the green light made everything look strange, the glittering liquid confusing him. Taking hold of Wendy's arm he started to pull her away from the edge of the pool. Before they had gone half a dozen paces the water at the rim started to boil and seethe, a figure rising up out of the water until it towered almost ten feet above the surface.
"Who presumes to disturb my rest? Speak mortal or suffer the fate of those that would steal from me."
Peter stood his ground, Wendy beside him as he stared up at the amphibian looming over them, its black skin and stiffly fanned spines gleaming menacingly in the strange light.
"We don't want to steal anything...from you or anybody. We're lost and need help finding out way out of the mountain.
Wendy was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. "What is it Peter? What did it say?"
"Didn't you hear it speak?" Peter answered impatiently, never taking his eyes from the half-human figure sitting up on its powerful tail in front of them.
"No. I heard what you said, but all that thing did was make a horrible gargling sound."
Peter stared at Wendy in disbelief but her wide eyes and puzzled expression told him she wasn't lying.
"Well mortal? Are you going to keep me waiting all day? Who are you and what do you want?" The creatures voice snapped him out of his stupor, Wendy shrinking back against him as the gargling rasp rolled over her.
"I am Captain Pan of the Nymph and this is Wendy...we were traveling through the caves to get to the other side of the volcano, but our guide abandoned us, so we followed the stream which led us here."
"A likely tale...I suppose Bart was your guide?" The creature asked, the sharp spines on its shoulders and forearms subsiding.
"You know him?" Peter stared at the creature in surprise.
"Anyone who spends any time among these rocks gets to meet me eventually. I know of Bart."
"Who are you and why are you here, so far from the sea?" Peter asked.
"You think I am of the merfolk?"
"Aren't you?"
"Maybe once, a long time ago...but I have lived here for most of my life and know no other. The sea is a distant memory and I do not long for it anymore."
"Then you are indeed a strange merman," said Peter, staring into the creatures obsidian eyes fearlessly.
"Why does your woman cower so, has she never seen a merman before?"
Wendy had buried her face against Peter's shoulder, the ghastly sounds issuing from the merman's mouth sending shivers down her limbs.
"No, and for that matter neither have I...only your sisters swim in these waters around Neverland, I have never met one of your sex before today."
As if suddenly realizing that he still held a threatening stance, the merman subsided back into the water, submerging half his body but leaving his well muscled torso clear of the sparkling waves and beckoning Peter to approach.
"It is true that the sisterhood outnumber the brethren considerably, but I had thought there a few still calling the sea of Neverland home."
"Then they must be very shy, or held close by their mates." Peter informed him, drawing himself and Wendy closer to the pool.
The merman let out a bark of laughter which echoed around the cavern. Wendy, who had been cautiously peeping from the safety of Peter's arms, instantly quaked and turned away, burrowing into Peter in fear.
"It's alright Wendy, he means us no harm really." Holding her close, Peter tried to sooth her, his eyes meeting those of the merman over her head as he attempted to reason with her.
"A weak and cowardly creature you have for a mate...the sisterhood would rend her to shreds given half a chance," the merman remarked, resting his forearms on the edge of the pool.
"She is anything but cowardly and braver than I am." Peter retorted, defending Wendy hotly, the merman giving him a sardonic look in reply.
"How is it the mate of the once and future King of Neverland does not understand the creatures of your realm? You understand me, yet you say you have never met one of my kind...is she not the chosen?"
"Wendy is not of Neverland...and I don't know why I understand you as you say, I have never met one of your kind, only the mermaids, and they do not speak as you do."
"True...but as the King of Neverland you are expected to know all, see all and judge all in Neverland. If you had not understood me, then you would both have been providing a welcome meal for this empty belly of mine."
"Are you in league with the Keeper?"
"No...but I know of the prophecy, I know that Neverland must be renewed before it can continue as it has done and all within the realm live as they do now."
"...if the two stay safe in good hands, Neverland will prosper, but if the two fall into evil hands, then Neverland will end and a new world come into being...a winter gripped land without ever seeing the sun and all life corrupted within its influence...only darkness takes its place." Wendy's quoted, her usually soft voice harsh and deep, as if the words came from a different throat. Peter and the Merman stared at her, shocked as much by her words as her voice.
"She knows what is written?" Asked the merman leaning forward to peer more closely at Wendy.
"The Oracle showed her." Peter told him, his hands gripping Wendy's shoulders as he shook her to bring her out of her trance.
Wendy blinked rapidly then swiveled her eyes to stare apprehensively at the Merman. "Peter?"
"Are you alright? You seemed to go in to a trance."
"I did?"
Peter nodded, the merman repeating the motion behind him when Wendy looked over Peter's shoulder.
"I-I-I don't remember...what did I do?"
"Nothing..you repeated the prophecy."
"Why?"
"Maybe to remind us why you are here." The merman rumbled, slapping the surface of the water with his tail and sending water swamping over the side. Before it could reach Wendy and Peter it was absorbed instantly into the green substance coating the floor.
"We need to get out of this mountain and back to my ship. Can you give us a map or show us a way out?"
"I am unable to leave this cavern, but I can give you a map, of sorts. Wait here, I will return." With a surge, the merman pushed away from the ledge and dived back into the pool, quickly disappearing into the depths with a flick of his powerful tail.
"I have to sit down." Wendy announced, her legs giving way so that she collapsed rather than sat on the green sward covering the rock floor.
Peter crouched down beside her and peered into her face. "Wendy?"
"I'm sorry Peter but I'm quite possibly going to do something entirely girly and hysterical quite soon."
Peter smiled at her matter of fact announcement of her intentions, his eyes already telling him that Wendy was at the end of her strength. The shocks from that day alone were taking their toll, not to mention the strange force that seemed to take control of her whenever it wanted, as if she were no more than a puppet.
"He's gone to get us a map we can use to get out of these caves."
"I still don't know how you can interpret those horrible noises he makes...they scare the life out of me. And how does it seem that he understands you? You're not speaking his language, thank goodness."
"I'll have to ask him." Peter replied flippantly, trying to raise a smile.
Wendy only managed a ghost of one, her nerves too tightly wound to allow her to relax. An eruption of water in the center of the pool alerted them that the merman was returning. Wendy stayed where she was while Peter rose to meet the creature as he emerged from the water holding something clasped in his webbed hand.
"This is a map of the cave system."
"It's a carving!" Peter exclaimed, taking the heavily ornate rock from the merman's hand. It was roughly shaped like a ball, about the size of a small melon, its surface intricately carved to represent caves and caverns with interconnecting tunnels and fissures.
"It is one of my treasures, so treat it with care..." The merman grumbled, leaning forward to point out how to use it as a map, giving Peter the necessary starting point and indicating the route he suggested they take. To read the ball required one to think three dimensionally, Peter twisting the ball in his hand to follow the merman's instructions as he followed the carvings on and inside the map. When he felt he knew what he needed to know, Peter tucked the rock inside his coat. It was surprisingly light, as rocks go, so apart from creating a lump, it was no problem to carry.
"How is it you know what I say? Usually I speak to your sisters in their tongue, but with you I haven't needed to." Peter asked.
The merman pulled back his lips and grinned toothily. "Have they never told you...we merfolk don't learn the way you mortal's do, we absorb everything we know from our prey...directly."
Peter stared at the creature, his brow furrowed for a moment.
"Do you mean..."
"The lure of treasure has brought many to these caves in search of it. They have all added to my knowledge of this world...as well as feeding my appetite." The merman smacked his lips, his eyes gleaming in the green light.
Peter swallowed hard and took a step back, his eyes flicking to the pool. "Why have you not...absorbed...Bart?"
"Hah! to old and too tough...but one day, if I get hungry enough I might add him to my fund of knowledge."
"You never told me your name?"
"You would not be able to pronounce it...and I have got out of the habit of being addressed as anything other than the emerald guardian. Now look to your mate, future King of Neverland, she is being overcome by my pets."
Peter glanced back at Wendy and let out a cry. Overcome by events, Wendy had laid her head on the soft green ground, not realizing that what they had thought was glowing vegetation, was in fact a living community of closely packed creatures who were now swarming over Wendy and preparing to absorb her into their colony. Using his hands Peter scooped the encroaching green tide away from Wendy before pulling her to her feet, jolting her awake in the process.
"Wh-a-at?"
"We can't stay here Wendy...we have to move on to the next cave."
"But I was comfortable...Peter?"
He held her up with an arm about her waist while he brushed more of the creeping green from her skirts. Wendy looked down and gave a small shriek as she perceived her danger. Together they removed all trace of the green creatures and turned to leave, hurrying across the floor after gathering up their meager belongings. As they prepared to leave the glowing green cavern Peter stopped and turned for one last look at the Emerald Guardian, the merman still at the edge of the pool staring after them. Peter raised his arm and the creature did the same before diving out of sight back into the pool.
After a last look at the glittering water and the green glowing cavern, Peter and Wendy turned their backs and hurried down the passageway, welcoming the blue light of the glow worms who reappeared once they were clear of the guardian's domain.
Peter pictured the rock map in his head as they tramped down one corridor of stone after another, Wendy doggedly keeping up as Peter pushed them to the limits of their endurance.
At last they stumbled into a smallish cavern and Peter gave a glad cry. A shaft of sunlight pierced the gloom of their rocky prison and shone down on the boulder strewn floor. According to the map this cave was close to the outside wall of the volcano and part of the relatively thin crust had caved in at some time, leaving part of the roof of the cavern open to the sky. The hole looked small from their position below but in fact was several meters wide and fringed with small plants. Wendy and Peter stared up at the opening, grateful for even that pitiful light source after the gloom of the tunnels. Finding a cleared space they collapsed and prepared to rest before resuming their journey. They had passed several small cascades of water since leaving the green cave and managed to drink their fill but water did little to help their empty bellies. Wendy pulled over the blanket holding their few possessions and laid her head on it, almost instantly falling asleep despite her griping stomach. Peter, after a cursory check of the cave, crawled over and joined her, sharing the bundle and wrapping himself around her after taking out the stone map and undoing his dusty coat to act as a blanket for them both. The rock floor was gritty and hard but neither were cognizant of the discomfort and slept unhindered and unaware.
Several hours later they stirred, the sun still shining through the hole in the roof. After hastily taking care of their ablutions, they crossed the floor of the cavern and approached what they hoped was their last stage of the journey to the outside. Peter had checked the map and memorized it before tucking it back inside his coat. Wendy stood behind him, one hand tightly clenched in the material of his coat tails, her mind a blank as Peter started down the tunnel, the faint gleam of sunlight left behind as they plunged into the glow worm gloom of the caves again.
The final passage to the outside was littered with rock falls and landslides making their journey that much harder, both becoming mired in rock dust and mud as they scrambled over heaped earth and dusty gravel.
"I can see daylight...we're nearly out Wendy!" Peter shouted from the top of another rock fall. Wendy stood at the base, her legs rubbery as she drew in a deep breath before tackling the rubble mountain before her.
A smattering of pebbles announced Peter's return as he scrabbled down the rock fall to help her up the uneven slope. Together they made their slow progress to the ridge of the scree and looked beyond. Wendy could see what looked like a rough circle some distance away, the light coming through coloured a faint green as the sunlight filtered through the greenery covering the entrance to the cave.
"Only a bit further Wendy...that's sunlight out there...come on, just a bit further."
Rejuvenated, they stumbled forward, Peter supporting Wendy as they negotiated the last of the rocks blocking the tunnel. Small plants had colonized the entrance to the cave system, feathering the walls and ceiling, the hanging leaves of ladder ferns brushing against them as Peter and Wendy finally reached the end of their trek through the mountain.
As they left the mouth of the cave they stopped and stared at the jungle laid out in front of them, the verdant greenery a balm to their gritty, tired eyes. Peter led them forward after a minute or two, away from the tunnel and into the shade of the trees, wading their way through the thick ferns that carpeted the hillside of the volcano.
"We're out and safe Wendy...out and safe.."
"Out and safe..." Wendy whispered, almost too tired and sore to care. Peter stumbled and they almost lost their footing, clutching each other to stay upright, a giggle forcing its way past Wendy's lips as they clung weakly to each other.
"I must look a fright." She gasped in between her giggles, Peter grinning at her, his eyes dancing.
"But a very beautiful fright..." He said gallantly, still grinning widely.
"For once I agree with you Pan...a beautiful fright indeed, but a most welcome sight for these patient eyes."
Wendy felt a cold wave pass over her as Hook's voice boomed out, Peter stiffening against her side as he twisted around to find the source of the voice.
Out of the shadows appeared figures, their eyes fixed on the young couple at their center, each apparently armed and ready for anything. The blades and knives held in each hand glinted wickedly in the shafts of sunlight penetrating the jungle canopy above their heads as the pirates closed the circle around their prey. Wendy stared in horror at the men surrounding them, her body shaking as she struggled to understand what was happening. Peter stood beside her, his body tense as a bowstring, his head turning as he watched the approach of the pirate hoard, his hands clenching into fists at his side.
The pirates halted their approached when they had Peter and Wendy surrounded on all sides in a large circle, their weapons bristling menacingly, all of them grinning at the pair in front of them.
Wendy swallowed on a dry mouth as another figure approached, pushing his way through the cordon to stand just inside the ring formed by his own men.
"Hook!" Peter hissed, his teeth bared as he faced his nemesis without the means to defend himself or Wendy.
"Hook..." Wendy breathed, Hook's pale blue eyes boring into her skull as she stared back, one hand lifting to flutter at her throat while the other reached for Peter. Before either man could react her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted dead away, her world going dark as the circle of pirates closed in on them, Hook's cruel laugh echoing in her head before she slipped free of reality and gave in to the blackness.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
TBC...