Emily's POV

I watched intently as Pan walked out of campus and back into the jungle. He was heading in what I only knew to be the direction of the training area. I couldn't help become curious about where and why he would suddenly wonder off when the rest of the boys remained here.

I wanted to follow him, I wanted to see what he was up to but I've known this boy all but a few days and in that time he has done nothing but given me the impression that I should constantly fear for my life. Remembering all that he was done as only brought unwanted thoughts. I can't help but wonder if it's a trap. I know I can't trust Pan even if I tried.

There wasn't much I could do anymore as I watched his figure soon disappear into the jungle.

"Why is it orange?" Ben grumbled mixing the watery substance in his bowl.

He lifted the bowl to his face and smelt the orange lumps only for his face to scrunch in disgust.

"It could be berries...and something else," Ethan suggested as he inspected the orange paste that was on his spoon, "It's hard to tell."

I looked down and then placed the bowl on the ground for what is probably every meal I've had here.

"Or it might be fish and berries," Will continued as he took another mouthful only to struggle and swallow. With a shudder, he spat behind him and I didn't even want to imagine the newly painted grass. I almost gagged with a tiny glance over my shoulder.

Why did I look if I knew it was going to be disgusting-

"Who makes this stuff?!" I exclaimed while watching as Will moved closer towards me trying to dodge the sprinkler of orange that Ethan was trying to get out of his mouth.

"Jamie and a few other boys," Ben said pointing his spoon to the curly brown-haired boy sitting across from us.

He was probably a year younger than me but he looked rather tall for his age.

"Yeah definitely fish," Ethan agreed as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Ben handed him a cup of water which he gladly accepted and drunk down quickly.

Will rubbed Ethan's shoulder, trying to comfort him as Ethan continued to spit on the ground. I looked around at the other boys who were refusing to eat and had their bowls on the ground, except for Jamie who was happily eating away at the orange so-called 'food'.

"Listen up!"

The chatter between the boys fell quite and all of our attention turned to Felix's loud voice.

"There has been a change of plan. Meet at the training area in ten minutes! Don't be late, Pan's orders," Felix yelled already making his way to the path.

Whispers broke out from all of the boys but there weren't many questions to go around. Some of the younger boys got up straight away and started to head towards the training area while others quickly followed.

"Can someone explain?" I said blankly as always beeing the last to know what is going on.

"No idea," Will shrugged as he stretched his arms up over his head and turned to the other two, "We'll meet you guys there."

Ben and Ethan nodded and started to walk with the other boys towards the training area.

"Another one of Pan's games?" I sighed but I couldn't help ignore the uncomfortable twist in my stomach.

"Yeah, probably," Will said quietly, his eyes avoiding mine, "Come on we better get going."

Will began walking, following after the group leaving me confused.

Why was he acting so different?

He would usually get angry or annoyed when Pan did something like this, but now he's acting like the other lost boys.

I remembered earlier this morning. He had woken up in shock, sweat covered his skin and clothes and his hands were shaking.

What did he dream about?

Had Pan done something to make him act like this?

"Emily, hurry up!"

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't realised I'd stopped walking completely. I looked ahead along the path to see Will further ahead already running towards the next corner. I ran around the familiar paths for a couple of minutes until I saw Will walking up to where the gate of skulls was. I caught up to him and we walked through the gate and into the training area.

"Shit." Will snapped looking straight ahead.

"What?" I asked looking up only for my face to fall.

I was shocked to see that the whole training area had changed except for the huge oak tree. All the lost boys were in a large group in front of the giant tree that towered down at them. They were waiting there, their eyes on the two of us until Pan had suddenly walked out of the group with narrowed eyes.

Will and I were completely late.

That meant we're going to be punished...one way or another.

Pan smirked at us as we stood behind the group.

"Glad you could make the show!"

"Welcome to The Tournaments!" Pan shouted over us holding up his knife in the air.

The boys mirrored his excitement as their loud cheers and howls echoed through the training area. Groups were forming and I watched as they riled each other up. Even Ben and Ethan seemed excited enough. Clearly, this was no ordinary training.

I turned to Will who hadn't moved, his expression stiffening as he stared forward ahead to the group. I noticed his jaw clenched shut and his hands were white from being tightened into fists. I could tell he was angry at Pan - he was staring right at him - but he was forcing himself not to show it.

"Each of you will have to survive three days in Neverland's jungle with only one choice of weapon and a map. There is no communication allowed between lost boys. If you do, expect to find your three days a long and painful one," Pan chuckled holding no sympathy at all, "This challenge is a test of strength and power. When you finish and make it back to the training area alive you will be ranked for The Tournaments."

"Any questions? Good." He smirked not giving any one of us a chance to speak as he continued, "You all have five minutes to choose a weapon of choice."

All the boys immediately rushed to the wooden table where the weapons had been kept, Ben holding nothing back as he quickly pushed through even climbing over some of the boys to get to the wooden table.

I wasn't sure how to react. Being alone on Neverland by myself for three days, no communication, nothing but a map and a weapon I had only just managed to use. But that wasn't the worst part. Pan would be watching my every move, testing the strengths I wasn't even sure I had.

I heard a pained groan from Will and I instantly turned only to see that Pan had grabbed him and disappeared. I found them by the edge of the oak tree where Pan had roughly shoved him back to the ground behind the tree and out of my sight. I quickly began to run to the tree, my nostrils flared as I glared at Pan before he too disappeared out of my sight behind the giant oak tree.

Who the hell does he think he is!?

Someone had to stand up to him and if that person is going to me then so be it!

Before I could come face to face with Pan, Felix stood in front of me, blocking my path and grabbing my arm before I could move.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Felix scowled squeezing my arm tighter as I tried to get out of his grip.

"I'm going to talk some sense into that power-hungry maniac that you kiss up to!" I yelled causing some boys to glance towards Felix and I.

"I wouldn't talk too loud if I were you," Felix whispered in my ear.

I glared up at him.

"Why? Is Pan's pet scared of a little consequence?" I spat.

"What did you call me?" Felix growled through gritted teeth.

There was no way he's fooling me again with another trick.

"You heard me, pet," I said looking straight at his scarred face.

Felix laughed dryly and finally let go of my wrist. He dropped his club to the ground and removed his hood causing some of the lost boys to turn in our direction.

"Let's see what you got lost girl."

Will's POV

Pan roughly swung me into the back of the tree before I had a chance to regain my balance. I yelled out as pain shot through my back from the bruises Pan had caused in the dream last night. I wasn't sure if it was real but it felt the exact same. I groaned as my arms failed to catch my fall letting my front smack the ground, hard.

"Get up!" Pan growled.

My muscles throbbed in an attempt to do so and I barely got to my feet when Pan grabbed hold of my shirt and pulled me up only to use his magic to push me flying back against the tree, his grip holding me still even though my body had gone limp. The pain hadn't settled from the last time and I wanted to scream but nothing left my mouth as the wind was knocked out of my lungs. I grabbed ontop of his hand trying to pull them off of me.

"Stop!" I managed to shout at him after inhaling a sharp breath.

His green eyes only sharpened as they stared me straight in the eyes.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you off that easy. Last night was the least of your worries."

My breath hitched as I heard him mention about last night...I thought it was a dream.

"I don't understand."

"Your dream last night about the girl was a wake-up call, continue on with your so-called plan and soon enough those visions you saw will pass. She will no longer be the person you once knew, I'll make sure of it."

I narrowed my eyes at Pan placing my feet against the ground and holding my own weight now as I stared at Pan ignoring the pain.

"Do anything to her and I'll kill you myself," I heaved.

Pan only laughed as he stood back, "Is that so?" He mocked and lifted the hem of my shirt to reveal the huge scar on my stomach, the one he made in my dream.

H-How could he see it?

How was it on my skin now?

"I'd love to see that."

Pan smirked as he looked over the scar his fingers running along the line of the scar, admiring his torment as if it were art. I tried to ignore the pain as he lightly pressed onto the skin making me hunch back.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you got away with it once and I don't make the same mistake twice...except this time you will have a reason not to."

That reason was Emily.

"Punish me not her. What I did before has nothing to do with her."

"Oh, how noble. But why would I do that when I can make both of your lives a living hell when you're out there separated from each other," Pan said through gritted teeth, anger coating his words, "Who knows maybe just one slip up and there goes the lost girl."

I swung my fist up as I tried to punch that smirk off his face but Pan caught my fist before it could reach anywhere near his face. He turned my arm around and pushed me back into the tree.

"Mention anything to anyone and I'll slit her throat before the tournament even begins," Pan threatened before he disappeared.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as the words left Pan's mouth. I had seen it happen in my dream, as real as they seemed, they were only dreams. I couldn't see that to be real. I took a deep breath before walking back around the tree, trying not to show that with these bruises I could hardly stand. I couldn't have any of the boy's thinking I'm a weak target, not in the tournaments anyway. I had to plan this carefully but I also had to help Emily. She was walking blindly into a trap.

"Will!"

I heard Ben yell as I moved from the tree. He ran up to me, his face was somewhat concerned.

"Come quick!" He said before running back up to the huddle of boys.

"Fight, fight, fight!" They chanted.

Oh no...please don't be what I think this is.

I tried to get to the circle of boys as fast as I could and pushed through the boys to see exactly what I hoped not to see. Emily and Felix were fighting each other on the ground, throwing punches and trying to rip each others faces off.

Emily's POV

My blood boiled as Felix pinned me to the ground in front of all the boys causing their chants to get louder. He shifted his weight down so I couldn't move, grabbing my neck with one hand and rested the other along his side as if this was nothing but easy for him. He was laughing along with some of the other boys as they cheered him on so much that he was distracted enough for me to quickly grab his arm and twist it back using its locked position to push him to the ground. I lay my weight on his back and stretched his arm back until a pained groan left his mouth.

The boys erupted at this to see their top lost boy planted against the ground. Their yells were getting louder and I took pleasure in squashing Felix's face into the dirt. I watched as one of the lost boys slid Felix a dagger which he grabbed with his spare hand. That feeling in my stomach shifted once again, the nerves building as I eyes the dagger in his hand. I could hardly hold myself against him but these boys...they were trained to use these weapons and believe me, from what I've seen, they have been trained to kill.

I could see some of the lost boys held out another dagger for me to take but I hesitated. As much as I wanted to make a matching scar across the other side of Felix's face, I wouldn't last a second against him. I felt a pair of hands grab me off of Felix and I was turned to face Will's face, his expression twisted with concern.

"Emily, stop!"

Ben and Ethan pulled me back while the rest of the boys cheered loudly for Felix's win. The other boys tried to help Felix up but he got up himself and his glare remained clearly still as angry as I am.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Will shouted running his hand through his hand frustratedly.

I could see his hand was holding over his stomach and sweat was covering his skin. My breaths had slowed down and I managed to relax a bit but I couldn't ignore the surge of anger that kept trailing up my spine.

"He deserved what he got!" I said angrily.

"Still that was a really stupid thing to do. He had a dagger! You haven't learned to defend yourself yet. Felix won't hold back for anyone, he could have seriously hurt you," Will said and I sighed. I knew he was right.

"Trust me, you'll have enough time to get back at Felix when trials have started," Ethan encouraged.

"Yeah, who would have thought that the lost girl could kick ass!" Ben chimed in, his arms crossed over his chest in disbelief.

"Do you want to be next?" I asked Ben and he shook his head putting his hands up in defense.

"Come on, let's start with the basics," Will said, his expression focused, "First, you'll need a weapon. I'll get the map."

I glanced over at Felix who was now talking with Pan before nodding to the three boys and walking over to the table that had weapons laid out for choosing. There were so many to choose from, everything from small daggers and crossbows to swords, arrows, and axes.

I watched as some of the boys were handling different weapons. One of the boys was swinging a sword back and forth in a rhythm, obviously handling his preferred weapon. The boy turned around and glanced at me for a second before continuing. That's when I realised I had seen that face before during my first couple of nights here when the lost boys had been brainwashed by Pan and had chased me through the jungle, like wild dogs...that boy was the one running after me with the sword.

Thankfully I did find a weapon that was somewhat familiar to me. I found my bow and quiver resting beside the table. There wasn't much point in starting with something new if we only had a few minutes to get ready for this challenge. That's when I stopped and looked around at the boys who were choosing weapons and talking within their groups that I found I didn't even know what these trials are or what they're for.

"Trust me, you'll have enough time to get back at Felix when trials have started..."

We weren't going to attack each other, are we?

Did Pan plan this?

Maybe he's set traps that he is just waiting for me to run into. I didn't even get the chance to ask Will about Pan and what had happened between them. I was too caught up in getting back at Felix that I had ignored the pain Will had been in.

"Did you find a weapon?" Will asked from behind me making me jump a little. I looked down at the bow in my hands and nodded my head.

"This will have to do," I mumbled.

"Okay, come on then, we don't have a lot of time left," Will said pulling me along to where Ben and Ethan were sitting by the outer line of trees.

Emily's POV

"That's good. Just make sure you twist your hands down as well and apply pressure at the same time," Ethan instructed while running his hands down the bottom of the stick. Smoke started to rise and he carefully blew on it making a small fire catch light.

"You make it look so easy," I groaned as I tried to do the same actions as Ethan but failed, again.

"Don't worry about that right now. As long as you know how to make a fire you'll be fine. Have a look at this."

Ethan and I squatted down to see the map Will had made with Ben. Small drawings of symbols and lines had been marked to certain parts of the dirt brown parchment that Will lay on the ground.

"When the trials start, head straight for the river and continue upstream to the caves, make sure you don't go into the mountains."

I watched as Will followed the lines on the paper while explaining what directions to go.

"From the caves, you'll most likely be into your second day. You need to travel back down the caves and into the jungle until you find the beach," Ben said pointing to the right side of the map, "From there you can work your way back to campus using the path at the drop off zone."

"That's if I make it there."

"You will," Will said quickly, "Just stay hidden and please, if you can, avoid getting into any more fights, that would help a lot,"

I chuckled, "Alright."

Will passed me the map and I tucked it safely within the pocket of my cloak, having memorised the first half of the day with the three of them.

"Just remember we'll all be ranked in the end so try to get your days to a minimum of three," Ethan explained.

"Not to mention Pan will be watching all of us," Will groaned.

"And the possible traps," Ethan added.

"Surely he can't see all of us at the same time?!" I asked in frustration hoping that the answer is a definite no.

"It's Pan," Ben said, "His magic rests in his eyebrows, you've seen them move! They cannot be trusted!"

The three of us stared blankly at Ben.

"It's time!" Pan announced.

How is this happening to me. I have barely learned the basics to survive out here and the rest of these boys have been trained for who knows how long. The thought of being alone in the jungle, with Pan watching over us and ranking us...there's no way I'm going to make it out of there alive let alone in three days. I felt my heartbeat thumping loudly in my head as the boys prepared themselves.

Was I nervous?

Of course I am, what kind of question was that?

Ben and Ethan lined up behind the boys that were already in front and Will turned to me.

"Emily, are you alright?"

No of course I'm not.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good," I lied looking down at the ground.

"Emily-"

"Fine, I'm completely terrified!" I blurted out interrupting Will which caused him to laugh.

Confusion instantly washed over my fears as I looked up at him.

Not the pep-talk I was hoping for.

"The Emily I just watched take down Felix should be able to handle some nature race," Will said easily.

"What about Pan-"

Will's smile faded and I waited only to be suddenly pulled into his chest and wrapped in his arms. My eyes widened at first but the comfort was surprisingly nice. I hadn't felt it in a very long time and it felt soothing enough that I was able to focus on something besides the fear riding in my chest. I hesitated at first but then hugged him back just as tight.

"We don't follow Pan's rules, remember?" Will said teasingly making me laugh lightly.

"I'll find you, I promise," Will said pulling away from me.

"But what about the rules?"

"Pan said 'no communication between lost boys' and you're a lost girl so it doesn't really count," Will shrugged his shoulders with a grin.

"Let the trails begin!" Pan yelled over us.

My face fell as I watched all the boys take off into the jungle. I looked at Will who waited by my side and he nodded for me to go. I took off running out of the training area but before I could enter the line of the jungle I heard a yell of pain coming from behind me.

Will's POV

I watched Emily take off running for the jungle but before I could move a firm grip took hold of my arm and threw me back to the ground. I tumbled to the ground hitting the hard surface with my back and rolling to my side. I let out a yell of pain as my head hit the ground at the impact blurring my vision slightly. I opened my eyes wide to see Pan walking after me, his nostrils flared, his expression stiff in anger...he was furious.

Emily was approaching behind him, her face ridden with panic as she watched me lying on the ground. I knew she was going to run back to me but I couldn't risk her getting hurt by Pan, I won't let him do that to her.

"Emily, run!" I yelled while holding into the back of my head.

The worry on her face kept her feet still. I could tell she was hesitating but I couldn't have her stay here, not with Pan the way he is.

"Run!" I yelled louder.

She finally turned around and disappeared into the jungle.

"Smart choice. It's robably better if she doesn't see what I'm about to do to you," Pan growled as he squatted down beside me, his pupils dilating as he grabbed me by my shirt.

Hey everyone!

What did you think of this chapter?

Do you think Emily will survive for three days on her own?

The trials have started and the tournaments are coming...

Thank you for reading!