The Fight

Em

My head slurs side to side, and I feel nauseous. I keep my eyes firmly closed. I have a pounding headache, and have no energy. I hear the sound of water lapping on the side of something. Something made of wood. I don't think of it too long, it hurts too much. Rough hands grab my body and hurl me over something, a shoulder. I still don't open my eyes, I don't have any energy, and I have the feeling that the sight before me may make me throw up.

I'm put back down again and stumble as the land seems to tip sideways. I fall onto my hands and knees and stay catching my breath. It's not too long before they give up too in exhaustion and my face falls to the ground.

'That's right girl, fall before me,' a raspy voice whispers. And then everything disappears.

Cam

I look at the destruction before me and stand gob smacked. How could this have happened? I stare at the empty bed that used to have Em's unconscious body in it.

I look at the chaos that used to be my home. Things are upturned, dirt scattered in every which way and that.

I look at the tracks, the two Indians I had standing guard put up a good fight, I wonder what became of them. I don't think Hook would have killed them yet; he would have killed no one. He knows they aren't the fair rules, but then again, he's never played by the rules before.

I think of Em, in here state when I last left her.

I had carried her from where she had hit her head to the tree house. A storm had started raging and the fairies had surrounded me to protect me. I had arrived and the fairies went to fetch their healers. Em's head was bleeding badly and it seemed that by the second she paled and grew colder. I stayed while they treated her, holding her hand, thinking of the way she had screamed my name in pain. I shake my head, frustrated. Anger boils inside me.

I give an aggravated sigh and stand up. I pace the room, not bothering to take care. I throw my hands up and kick the chair beside me, hard. Pain shoots up my leg. Then I run, hard and fast, out the door and into the wilderness, I fall towards the ground, but then catch myself and power towards the bay where the Jolly Roger it anchored.

I hear a tinkling behind me. Bella appears beside me. She's angry.

'Don't do it,' her small little voice rings out. I stop and turn to her.

'Why the hell not, for all I know she might be dead!'

'Then if she is, don't put her name in vain and get yourself killed as well!' She places her hand on mine a small gesture for a small creature, but it calms me all the same.

'We might as well be a Romeo and Juliet,' I say bitterly. She shakes her head.

'She's not dead Cam. If she were you would have felt it. You felt the pain she had when she hit her head, yes?' I nod, bewildered by what she knows.

'Well that means that you have a connection, a connection deeper than love and affection, a connection that is even stronger than blood. We do not have a name for it, all we know that it is very powerful.' I nod, well that makes sense, but then my anger grows again.

'But what if that monster hurts her?' I spit venomously. Bella looks shocked for a moment at my emotion.

'Then you will go and save her as you should.' She comes to sit on my shoulder and strokes my ear somewhat reassuringly.

Em

The next time I wake I find myself lying on a bed. The place I am situated on gives a violent jerk just as I stand up, and I find myself falling to the ground. My head still throbs but I realise now that I am on a boat. I look at the room around me. My mind focuses on a particular corner where swords lie on the wall above it. Suddenly another picture melds into the one I am seeing. About half a dozen boys materialize before me. They have been bonded and struggle. Two of them look very familiar. They take no notice of me and focus on getting themselves free, squirming on their knees.

I get up and walk to them but as soon as I take more than a couple of steps they fade into nothingness.

I rub my eyes. I must be seeing things. I give my head one final shake before heading out the door.

'Smee, check if the girl is awake,' a cold voice says. I stand in shock for a moment as I make the connection to the voice, the boat, everything. It's Hook. But he's dead. I frown, nothing makes any sense. Where's Cam? How long have I been here for? Questions bombard my brain, impatient for answers. But before I can think, my feet and mouth disobey my brain.

I step out into the open and face Hook.

'The girl is awake, she wonders if the man knows that she has a name?' I snap. Hook looks shocked for a moment, and then laughs. His ice blue eyes do not get the joke. They stay in they're cold cavern eyeing everything.

'My dear, you are just like your Grandmother, she was quick witted too. But she soon learnt her tongue, as will you. Now go with Smee to your room, there is more to come for you yet.'

Smee walks with me taking me to another part of the boat. I fire questions at him, ignoring the stares and wolf whistles coming form the other pirates.

'How long have I been here?'

'Only three days Miss.' I can't help but think that Wendy described him perfectly as a scared nervous old man.

'Why did you take me?'

'I'm sorry I can't tell you that.' After that he become closed off. The rest of the journey is set in silence and soon he opens a door to show a bedroom.

'The Captain will be for you soon.' Then he backs out the door and leaves me with his echoing footsteps.

I turn. A girl in a white dress slumps on my bed. My breath escapes me. It's Wendy as a child. I stand and my feet grow roots. I can't move, I don't want to ruin her. She fiddles with the hem of her nightgown. Then we hear heavy footsteps. Her eyes darken with hate. I look as the door opens and Hook barges in. I glance back at her, but she has disappeared.

'Who are you?' he demands when my attention is back on him. Spit flick onto my shoulder and I glance briefly at it, disgusted. I stubbornly don't answer him.

'Are you not who he is in love with?' he shouts, blasting me out of my bones.

'He should have come by now, Pan never thinks! He acts. Where is he?' he yells turning on me. I crawl into a little black hole which I do not remove myself from. He realises that he has hurt me. Tears well in my eyes, and I refuse to look him in the eye.

'What's this? A tear. You couldn't have had a fight with your precious Pan? Does he not love you?' That stung. He raises his hand to wipe away the tears but I yank my head away.

With all the strength I can muster I spit in his face.

'Don't talk bout things you don't know about.' Then I turn my heel and don't look back.

'Oh, little princess that is no way to talk to me. Don't worry; I shall loosen your tongue tonight when we dine. You are to wear this gown.'

'I would never wear your clothes.' I call over my shoulder. He chuckles softly.

'It that or nothing my dear,' then he leaves. I loathe him for all eternity.

I enter the room that Hook has sent me to. I'm wearing the dress that he selected for me. As expected it is very low cut, made of a scratchy black material. It has no sleeves, and though it is almost as long as to touch the floor, I feel frozen.

There is one thing I have learnt while waiting in the room that I was locked in. My dreams have become my reality. I can see what happened to Wendy at the same time I see what is happening to me. It's odd staring out a window and seeing on sight fade into another.

I see Hook, he is pacing the room. He sees me, and indicates for me to sit, while he still stands. I am weary of him; I do not know his intentions. He fiddles with things, he can't stand still for a moment. It when he starts pacing again that he finally cracks.

'Why has he not come for you?' he growls.

'What has Cam done to upset you so much?' I ask. He's very angry, he stalks about waving his hook every which way and that. When he is silent I realise that he will not tell me. What ever it is though has really got him into a panic. With a sudden recognition I know what this is about.

'He's training isn't he?' my mouth drops open and my face spreads into a smile. Hook doesn't reply, he doesn't need to. I can see the disapproval on his face.

'He's worrying you, you worried that he may be stronger than you.'

Silence.

'You had the advantage when you took me, you were prepared for him. But now he has had time to prepare. And you are equal. Your afraid!' I challenge.

He storms across the room and hits me across the cheek. I feel white hot pain streak to my cheek and I'm sure there is a hand mark.

'You'll do well not to speak to me like that Emmaline.' He grabs me by the ear and yanks me out of the room. He drags me to a leaky room where everything has been removed. I struggle against him, but his hold is too strong. He chains my legs together and attaches the chain to the wall like a lead. Then he clasps my hands together and locks them to a chain which hangs from the ceiling. The chain is long enough so that when I sit, they are loosely held above my head.

'That should hold your tongue missy.' And then he turned and thundered out the door, locking it behind him.

I thrash about trying to force my way out of the chains. I keep it up for a while, before my energy drains away from me and I fall to the floor with a thump.

Cam

I know the moment when we run out of time. Pinau my trainer in fighting is pushing me to my max. He has been my trainer since this mess started, he's improved me greatly. With the help of him and the others I have become what they say Peter was.

Hook does something to Em. I can feel it. Pain shoots up my face and I feel like I've been smacked.

I feel Pinau's eyes on me and I turn to him. He points silently at my arm, it's glowing brightly.

'It's time,' I say, then go to get ready for the battle.

Em

I sit half awake and half asleep in a state that leaves my mind jumbled. I hear the voices again that woke me.

'He is coming Capn',' I hear the softy murmur of Smee.

'He is, I thought he'd never come.' My heart soars at the thought of Cam coming, then immediately the feeling is replaced with fear. Fear that he will die, leaving me in the hands of Hook.

'Yes Capn', what are your orders?'

'Get the girl and bind her wrists. Then set her on her plank. He will have no prize if he kills me. Ah look the storm comes with him. Good the more chundering waves the more likely she is to die.' Then footsteps disappear into the distance.

Strangely I am not afraid. At least I will have had this adventure. Cam will not have the distraction of me, he will not remember me. All I can think of is mother. She won't react very well. She'd lose all that she loved, Wendy and I. I can't help but wish that I had told her where I have been, then she wouldn't worry. But I can't think of that now.

A pirate, one of the strongest, comes to me. He unlocks the door then steps into the room like he owns the place.

'Don't struggle,' he has as he comes towards me, his voice a low grumble, 'it will hurt less.'

'It may hurt less, but it will be closer to my death,' I say and when he unlocks my legs, I struggle violently. I take a step before kicking right where it hurts.

'You will pay for that little one,' he groans, bending over the injured part. I try to wriggle my hands out but he just laughs at my attempts.

Then he punches me in the stomach. Winded I stop and he uses the opportunity to unlock my wrist, and then bind them together with a piece of rope.

Then he holds up a dirty rag, and soon my vision evaporates. He leads me out the door, and although he is leading me, I still feel completely distorted. I feel like I'm walking on a slant, it doesn't help that he doesn't tell me when to dodge walls.

I arrive at where I am meant to, and he pushes me to a sitting position. I have never felt more abstract in my life. The boat keeps tilting, making me feel sick, and I hear the chatter of the pirates slowly become louder.

I feel the blindfold slip a little, and I put my chin on my chest, and peep through the crack at the top. What I see shocks me. All the men sit on the ground in a muddled order before me. Before I can dawdle to long on it, someone calls out.

'The mask has slipped,' and suddenly everyone is rushing forward to tighten the blindfold. When it is so tight that I fear my head will explode, they let off.

A hand squeezes my shoulder and I feel myself being turned around.

'It will be a real pity to see you go, my lady, but then it will be so fun,' I recognise the cold drawl of Hook and immediately feel sickened. 'Step,' he whispers to me. I glide my foot along the ground til it comes to the bump of wood. I step uncertainly.

'Gentlemen-' I scoff. I can feel the death stare he gives me, and all the other men. 'Gentlemen, I give you Miss Emmaline Darling.' They whoop and cheer, and I feel something sharp poke me on the back of my leg. It's a sword. I stumble forwards feeling whatever ground I am on, unsteady and rock up and down when I finally regain my balance.

I feel the edge of the floor, it doesn't come very far. I do the same to the other side. I swear under my breath. I'm already on the plank, I could have killed Hook, except I'm in an awful position.

I brush my feet over the ground; stopping each time I get to the edge, making sure that I stay right in the middle. I come to the end of the plank and almost loose my balance.

'Hurry up!' I hear a pirate grumble. I feel the poke of the sword again on my back, pushing me forward. I curl my toes under the wood, and give a shriek. But I don't fall. Then two bad things happen at once. A pirate volunteers to do something, I miss what. I hear him stand, then walk to the plank.

Then suddenly a huge gust of wind comes at the same time his foot stamps onto the plank, the end result being me falling.

It is the exact feeling of that when you are almost asleep. And then you fall. Fear panics in you and you feel sick, and then you wake and you find the bed there and everything's alright. Except this time things aren't right, I'm falling towards the sea.

Wind whooshes past my ears. I brace myself for the icy water, but it never comes. Instead I feel myself fall into the arms of someone, we move at a fast speed across instead of downwards. I let out a breath as my blindfold is removed. I see Cam looking down at me, as though checking me for injuries. We come to the side of the boat, and he pushes me against the rimming, leaning against me so we flatten against the boat.

'Did he hurt you?' he asks.

'Captain, there was no splash.'

'No, no splash was heard, how do we know that she made it down?'

Cam swears, then twists, diving into the water.

'Ah, there it is Smee, no one can outsmart Hook.'

Cam resurfaces and shakes his head like a dog. Quietly he flies out of the water back to where I am. He wraps his arms around me in a fierce hug. I don't care that he is freezing cold, I just care that he is here. I nuzzle into his chest and hold him close. He moves the hair covering my ear and whispers into it.

'Did he hurt you?' I smile weakly.

'More my pride than me.'

'Then what about this,' he says in concern, touching my stomach where the pirate had punched me. His cool touch soothes it. I look up confused.

'How di-' he holds a finger to my lips.

'Not now, lets fight Hook.' He hands me a sword. 'Do you know how to use it?'

I smile, I'd never thought I'd be in this situation before. I merely look at him and he gives a little grin.

'Don't worry, just always protect your body, the Indians will come soon.' He takes my hands and we start to float toward the boat deck. He squeezes my hand and turns towards me.

'Just leave Hook to me okay?' I must have looked murderous because he gave a little chuckle. 'I'll give you some of the credit.' Then he plants a swift kiss on my lips then we step lightly on the deck. The pirates have gone on with the work, they don't even notice us.

'Hide behind that,' he whispers pointing to a half open door, 'wait for the Indians to come, I'll distract them.'

And so I wait, glancing at the water every so often. Soon they come. I make sure that the coast is clear before walking over to the window and opening it. The throw up a rope and I tie it strongly over a handle. Then one by one they come up. Whatever Cam is doing must be very distracting, as we hear no word from the pirates. Soon we are ready. They all carry a sword, some also have another type of weapon. One of the leaders takes me aside, and goes through a couple of moves with me. We do it silently, like shadows.

Then we here a very loud crow call. The leader nods at everyone. All up there is only about fifteen of us. There is only the sound of my thumping heart. We move over to the door, and stream out of it, calling war cries. I laugh at the chaos before me. Cam surely does have everything in an uproar. There are pirates running around crazily. Hook stands in the middle, his eye on the skies. Everything stops as they notice us, then we are all fighting. I am singled off by a weedy looking pirate, too thin to be of any proper strength. I knock his sword away with one sweep, and he holds out his hands out in defeat. I give a little laugh, and bind him to a mast pole. I turn away from him laughing, and see Hook staring from the top of the stairs. He doesn't know it but behind him Cam stands. He raises his sword, but I can't see the rest as my pirate, the one who took me to the plank stands before me. I know that this will not be a very fair fight.

Soon I find myself punching and kicking him from a place on the ground. His forearm goes around my throat as he hauls me into a standing position. He pushes my face so that I am staring right at Cam.

'Your pretty little boy isn't doing so well,' his gravely voice tells me. As he mutters these words, I see Cam sink towards the ground. Hook is on a platform, laughing as he watches Cam. With one swift move Cam's sword lies on the ground. With a thump he falls with it.

'No!' I scream.

Cam

I poke him in the back with my sword. Coughing doesn't seem an option.

'Looking for someone?' I ask in all innocence. He growls in response. The fight has begun. I bow to him, as does he, although I never take my eyes of him, he is a sneak, that I know.

The first clash of our swords doesn't do much, but as the fight wears on I can see that we are both tiering. I leap into the air. Time for a bit of taunting.

'Is that all you have old man?' I ask as he tries to swipe at my feet.

'Play fair Pan unlike your precious grandfather,' he says with force. He's panting. I can't help but give myself a pat on the back.

'Have you ever played fair?' I say flying over his head and landing on the ground. He whirls around only to see my sword in his face. I dart around, half in the air and half pacing the ground. He looks stumped at my question.

'Why you… how… you!' he splutters. I quickly tear at him, but he has one more poison against me. I fly to the top of a mast and he quickly follows, scrambling up like an overgrown monkey.

He stops on a little platform and stands up facing me. Our swords quarrel with each other as they move like barbers vigorously clattering, clanking and clashing about. They lock with each other and he pulls me towards him.

'Look at her Pan, can you see her.' Oh I see her all right. She is fighting a loosing battle with a man twice as big as her.

'What are you going to do? You live in separate worlds now, you can't be together.' That hits a spot. He seems to know what my thoughts were as I stood and watched Em in her unconscious state. I had worried that exact thing.

'We'll find a way!' I say yanking my sword from his grip. To make my point I slice at his face. A small slithering snake of blood slinks down his forehead. He grimaces.

'But she will have to go home soon. She belongs in England with her mother. What will you do then Pan? You now belong here in Neverland.'

It's then that I know that I have lost the fight. I sink a little in the air. Happy thoughts, I think desperately, but I now that that won't work. She was my happy thought.

'I'll visit her!' I try desperately. He laughs a little at that.

'But slowly the time away from her will become longer and someone else with replace you.'

'Never!' I say and swing my sword at him. It is way off target.

'Soon she will only think if you as a childhood adventure and want nothing to do with you.'

'No!' I cry out. How could I have fallen into this fatal trap? Any energy I have left seeps through my body and I lower dangerously towards the ground. I catch myself a little before I get too close to the ground.

'Then she'll want nothing to do with you and she'll forget all about you,' he spits venomously. With one fast blow I am falling to the ground. Everything stops as I clumsily clump onto the ground.

'No!' Em screams. My knees give way and I fall to them. I look up at her and see anxiety thrown across her face. The man she had been fighting is holding her. In fact all the Indians have been captured. She struggles against her bond. I feel a searing pain in my cheek and the sound of a sword past my ear. Hook looks triumphant as he raises his sword. He uses the hilt to push me to the ground. I give one last look at Em.

'I'm sorry,' I mouth to her. She whimpers and a tear falls faintly from her cheek. My hand starts burning with energy.

'Prepare to die Pan,' Hook says. And I do prepare. I ready myself. There's no way I can get out of this one. All the things he said about us are true. With that thought I almost sink into the ground further.

I look up at Hook on last time and see him raise his sword. Then my arm moves at its own accord. I look down and see it glowing brightly. Next to it is my sword. I grip it tightly in my hand and once again look over at Em. She has had her mouth covered by her pirate and looks absolutely sick.

Hook cries a scream of joy as he drives his sword downwards. I quickly look up and see his sword coming down. With my last strength I hurl my sword into his chest.

The sword hits, as does his, a bit off target. My arm burns with pain that I am unable to describe. I hear Em gasp and look up. The colour drains from her as she screams, her whole body shaking in pain. She collapses as I see Hook and his crew disappear.

A/N: So another cliffy. Hope you enjoyed and it all made sense. Thankyou to all my precious reviewers you reviewed the last chapter!