Chapter 8:
They were children. Even in the bodies of grown, rugged men, they were still children. All they wanted to do all day was sword fight, hunt, and eat strips of meat glazed with honey. Pan had even stolen some of the captain's rum from the ship when he took her. Unfortunately, when he finally decided to taste the liquor, the normally tolerable Pan became dangerous.
Tala was sitting alone in her little tent. She made it outside in the space she was designated. Pan kept a shackle around her ankle, something else he took from Hook's ship, and the shackle was chained to a nearby tree. She could only travel so far from it before that shackle pulled her back.
Pan ventured over to her tiny teepee, smelling of liquid poison and honey. He dropped down to his knees to crawl into the tent, stopping a foot or so in front of her. Tala pulled her knees up to her chest defensively, her muscles tense all over.
"I don't know much about girls," he muttered, scanning her with his eyes. "I only know that they are softer than us." His hand extended until it made contact with her thigh. Tala was quick to smack it away as hard as she could, which caused him to jerk his hand back to his chest. A frown etched into his lips. "You shouldn't do that."
"Do not touch me, boy," she hissed at him.
"I'm not a child anymore," he scoffed. "I'm much bigger than you, in fact. And stronger." He grabbed her by the ankle, then dragged her legs out from her chest. Tala fell back on her elbows, but she refused to be victimized. Her free leg kicked upright, and her heel slammed into his jaw.
Pan fell back, dropping her leg in the process, then brought a hand up to cup his now throbbing jaw. He let out a groan of pain, then slid back from her in fear of being kicked again.
"I told you that you shouldn't do that. Now I have to punish you." Pan climbed out from her tent, then began to tear it down around her. Tala watched angrily as her safety was torn away and tossed to the ground. It left her exposed.
The other boys began to crowd around, and some of them were hazy with rum just like Pan. Tala lifted herself to her feet, refusing to lose her dignity to a bunch of overgrown children. Her body braced all over for a fight.
"What do we do with her, Peter?" Nibs asked, eyeing her in a way that made her anxious.
"Grab her hands. Hold them against the tree," Pan grumbled, stepping towards her. "Sly, give me the leather strap."
Tala struggled as two of the boys rushed at her. She kicked and growled, but they were so much bigger than she was. Not to mention, the shackle around her ankle put her at a distinct disadvantage.
Her hands were captured, and she was spun around to face the tree that she was chained to. The boys dragged her forwards until they could pin both of her hands against the trunk of the tree. No matter how hard she tried to pull them back, to free herself, they held her in place.
"Here, Peter."
"This is so much fun," Pan sighed. Something snapped behind her, and Tala turned her head back just enough to see him playing with a belt, one like Hook had. As far as she knew, pirates were the only ones that used them. It must have been another thing Pan stole from his ship.
"Can I do it, Peter?"
"No, I want to," he growled at his companion. "Don't argue, or I'll whack you good, too." The other boy remained silent, since Pan was the leader. He couldn't argue. "These are more fun than I thought. I didn't know what they were for, but they hurt when they hit you. The boys have been running around smacking each other all day."
"Nibs really gave me a good whollop," Sly chuckled.
"Take off her fur top," Nibs suggested. "It wont hurt if it hits the furs." Sly stepped in to loosen the string tying her furs together at her back. He pulled them apart, then removed her top entirely.
Tala felt more shame than she could express or process. Her breasts were exposed. She was half-naked, yet they didn't seem even slightly interested. No, they only wanted to see her squirm when they lashed at her with the belt. A woman's breasts were nothing to them.
Pan brought down the leather band with surprising force. It struck her spine, sending waves of pain rippling through her entire torso. Tala bit down on her bottom lip to keep from letting out any noises of pain. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Amazing, she didn't cry."
"Not everyone is a crybaby like you."
She wanted to cry. It was some kind of hell, being trapped with the Lost Boys. They were as violent and invasive as grown men could be, while being ignorant and oblivious like children. While she suffered from shame and pain, they were having fun. They were fascinated.
"Do it harder, Peter," Sly jeered, giggling from behind her.
Tala dropped her head, using her messy raven waves to hide her expressions of agony. Just as Sly told him, Pan lashed at her back even harder with the leather belt. Her back arched away from it, but once again, she stifled her crys by biting down on her own lip.
"She's bleeding," Nibs announced. Tala didn't need to hear him say it to know it was true. She could feel a drop of something warm sliding down along her spine. "She still won't scream."
"What does it sound like when a girl screams? Like Tink?"
"No, she squeaks. Girls don't squeak," Pan snapped at the boy who asked the question. "I'll try one more time. This time, for sure." He couldn't look weak. If she didn't scream, he looked weak. Pan lifted the belt one last time, then hit her with it as hard as he possibly could.
This time, Tala couldn't hold it in. She cried out in a strained sob, then dropped to her knees. Her palms scraped against the tree trunk until the two boys pinning her hands there released her. She didn't bother to stifle the whimpers or hiccups that escaped her lips as she wept softly.
The boys stood around silently for a moment, observing her as she crumpled to the ground, still topless, still exposed and bleeding. Pan tilted his head to the side,
"This is no fun. It's more fun to hit Nibs."
"Hey, it hurts! I don't want to be hit!" The Lost Boys wondered off together, back to their rum and honey flavored meat. They left her there, collapsed by the base of the tree, bloodying dripping from the slash that broke her skin. The rest were likely welts and bruises. There was only one stream of blood dripping down her back. She was sure of that.
Hook had to wait until nightfall. Tink told him where to find the Lost Boys, after he cut off her oxygen for a bit. With enough pressure in the right places, Hook could make any canary sing. Once the moon lifted high in the sky, he decided to make his move.
Silently, he snuck into the Lost Boys' camp. Most of them were asleep in their tree trunk hideaway, or in little tents. A couple were passed out around the fire with his rum bottles half empty beside them. He tried to bite back his boiling rage for the sake of the mission. He wasn't there to kill pan, not this time. He was there for Tala.
It wasn't hard to find her. The Boys didn't even bother to hide her. Then again, they didn't believe they needed to. Pan thought that Hook didn't know where they were, and even if he did, the chain should have kept her in place. Unfortunately for Pan, Hook knew how to pick a lock.
He was angered even more as he approached her. Her top half was bare, and she only had her arms to cover her breasts. She was sitting with her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth slowly. As he got closer, the light of the moon revealed three bright red marks stretching across her back in different directions.
"Say nothing," he whispered as he came up behind her.
The relief that washed over Tala was like no other she ever experienced before. Hook was friendly compared to the wild, reckless Lost Boys. Her chest began to heave as the tear returned to her eyes. She wanted to thank him for coming to get her, but she couldn't. Tala had to stay silent.
Careful not to wake the boys sleeping outside, Hook moved around Tala to work on the lock. It took several minutes, but he finally got it loose with two little thin pieces of iron. They were made specifically to allow him to pick locks.
Once the shackle fell away from her ankle, Hook scooped her up, under her back and legs, then started towards the forest again. Tala buried her face in his chest, inhaling a familiar smell, the scent of a man she had grown to think of as an ally. He was safety in that moment.
"Hold on, little wolf. We will reach the ship soon."
"I want to go home," she whined, clinging to his neck. "Take me home, James."
"I am, Tala. I am."