Chapter Three:
An uncomfortable feeling forces me awake before dawn. For a moment I forget where I am then memories of the night before replace the feeling of panic with feelings of dread. I can make out the dim forms of the Lost Boys around me and the dense woods where we're hidden. I try to push the discomfort away, but it just comes back until I can't handle it.
"Hey Felix," I call.
"Yea?" he calls back.
"Can I like, you know?" I stutter on, unsure how to ask. In the milky predawn light I can just see him raise his eyebrows in confusion.
"Can you what?" he asks.
"I'm feeling the call of nature," I final say. He laughs and several other Lost Boys join in. A hot blush rises to my cheeks and I wish I could just hold it. "Well?" I interrupt their laughing because I really need to go.
"Um yeah sure. You two go with her," he points at two Lost Boys. I freeze from getting off the ground.
"Excuse me?" I glance at him.
"What?" he asks.
"Well I'm not sure I want them to watch me. I mean it's kind of a private thing," the conversation just keeps getting more and more awkward. The Lost Boys are all looking at each other uncomfortably and Felix looks puzzled.
"But I can't very well let you go walking through the forest alone. You might try to escape," Felix says.
"Okay, yea I get that, but I really don't want to have two guys around when I'm," I pause, "yeah." Felix looks thoughtful and I grow impatient. "Okay how about they accompany me part of the way there and then I go a little ways farther?" I suggest.
"Alright, but if you try to escape you lose the privilege," Felix decides.
"Alright, got it," I say quickly before heading into the woods. I can hear to boys following me, but I ignore them, I've really gotta go.
When we return to my camp I feel much better. Sighing I sit back on my bed and glance around. Now that that's over I feel hungry.
"Hey, can I eat something?" I ask.
"Must you always ask for something?" Felix demands. I shrug. "Fine, what do you want?"
"I don't know, what do you have?" I ask. Felix opens the satchel hanging over his shoulder and pulls out a juicy red apple. He tosses it to me and I catch it. "I don't like apples," I stare at the red fruit. Felix sighs in aggravation.
"What do you like?" he asks.
"Bananas, pomegranates, and oranges," I say after thinking about it for a minute. "I would love some bacon and eggs, but something tells me I'm on prisoner rations."
"Yes you are so you should be happy we're giving you food at all," Felix snaps. He turns around to face the woods and I throw the apple at him, letting out some frustration that had been building up since I got there.
Before it connects with his head a hand reaches out and grabs it. I recognize the lean muscled arm immediately and groan inwardly. "Good throw Elley," Peter compliments me. Felix turns around in surprise at hearing his master's voice.
"I wish I had kept it so I could throw it at you," I grumble.
"Is that anyway to treat someone who's just brought you breakfast?" Peter asks. For the first time I notice the sack in one of his hands. "You like pomegranates right?" If he says another fact about me that I didn't tell him I swear I'm going to scream.
"Yes," I answer his question.
"Thought so," Peter grins. He tosses the apple to one of his Lost Boys then reaches into the bag. He pulls out one of the biggest pomegranates I've ever seen. To my empty stomach it looks like heaven. "Here you go," he reaches his hand out to me.
I really want to take the fruit, but I hold back. He might have done something to it. "Aren't you hungry?" he asks.
"Not for what you have," I mutter.
"What, am I not good enough for you?" he smirks. I turn away from him, annoyed with his wit and quick comebacks. "Oh come on, it's a good fruit."
"I don't trust you," I say bluntly, still refusing to look at him.
"Look I'll eat some to prove I haven't done anything to it," he says. I can see him pull out a knife and cute open the fruit from the corner of my eye. He pulls out some of the seeds and plops them in his mouth. "Mmmm," he smiles. My stomach rumbles just slightly and he glances at me. "Now do you want some?" he offers the fruit to me again.
This time I except. The explosion of taste in my mouth is amazing. Pretty soon I've finished off the whole thing. Peter hands me another one. "Can I borrow your knife?" I ask. Without hesitation he hands it over. I cut open the precious fruit then start munching on the seeds.
While I eat Peter sits down next to me and starts eating his own pomegranate. Several of the Lost Boys break into their food storage and nibble on some apples and cheese too. If it wasn't for the annoying creeper next to me it might actually have been peaceful to sit and eat.
"So how are you liking Neverland so far Elley?" Peter asks. I give him a sideways glance.
"I haven't even been here one day," I point out. "And my name is Elizabeth, not Elley," I add. Peter gives me one of his infamous smirks.
"Oh yes, because Emma always stressed that when someone is gifted with such an elegant name they should use the whole thing and not shorten it to save time," Peter chomps on a pomegranate seed. I gape at him.
"How do you know so much about everything?" I demand.
"Well I have a bit of a bad habit of knowing everything," he says, not really answering my question. I roll my eyes and continue to eat my breakfast. After he finishes eating Peter moves over to talk to Felix. I lie back down on my bed of leaves, but sit back up when something pokes my side.
The knife, I gasp inwardly as I realize Peter left his weapon. I glance up, he's still talking to Felix and hasn't noticed. I begin to dig a shallow whole so I can hide it until I need it. As I'm putting the knife in the whole a hand grabs my wrist and I shriek in surprise. I look up into Peter's brown eyes.
"I don't think so Elley," he shakes his head. "Better not give you a weapon you don't know how to use." I narrow my eyes at him and in a split second make a decision not to stand down. I grab the knife with my free hand and hold it against his throat before he can react.
"We'll see about that," I whisper. Peter grins.
"About time you show some spirit. I've been waiting for this," he says. I push the knife harder against his throat and he lets go of my wrist. "Easy there Elley. Wouldn't want to spoil your perfect reputation now would you?"
"Only if it involves you getting hurt," I growl. Besides, I don't have a perfect reputation.
"Oh, temper, temper. But I suppose if you're looking to get into a fight I shouldn't hold you back," Peter slowly backs away and stands up straight. I stand up too, keeping the knife pointed towards him.
"Are you sure you can handle me?" I ask.
"Oh I don't mean for me to fight you. I don't fight girls, that's very ungentlemanlike. However I don't think Felix would mind swinging swords with you," Peter glances at the blonde Lost Boy. "What do you say Felix, up for a fight?"
"I'm always ready to fight," Felix grins.
"Good, it's settled then," Peter smiles and claps his hands. "Now we want this to be fair so Felix you can only use a knife like Elley." Felix drops his crossbow, arrows, and sword. He pulls out a knife of equal length to mine and steps forward.
Peter steps back to join the circle of Lost Boys that are crowded around us, eager to watch the fight. I feel nervous under their watchful eyes, but I push them to the back of my mind and just focus on Felix. I only need to know what he's doing, not them.
For a few moments we both hesitate to strike each other. Felix eyes size me up and I return the favor. Felix is older than me by at least two years. He's tall and muscular with more experience. The odds are most definitely in his favor. As quickly as I can I run over the fighting moves David had taught me when I arrived in Storybrooke. Fighting is like a dance. It's filled with poise and grace, not just random swings like most people think. It's an art.
Before I have time to think about anything else Felix strikes. He keeps his hand level and juts out his arm quickly and efficiently. Even though it was a lazy move I have to move fast to stay out of the way.
My turn. I retaliate with another lazy strike that Felix easily dodges. I wait for him to move again. I still don't know what I'm up against and I prefer to learn what he can do before the battle gets serious.
Felix throws a side punch and I dive down just narrowly missing his hand. Before I can move his knife swings towards my side. Thinking fast I grab a branch from the ground and deflect the blade. Next I duck and roll behind his legs. Using the handle of my knife I roughly hit his legs behind the knee and cause him to fall. He grunts as he hits the ground and I hear some Lost Boys groan in pain.
Before Felix can get back up I kick up some dirt into his face, to blind him. Fast as lightning Felix grabs my ankle and jerks me to the ground. I scream in surprise.
"Well done Felix," some Lost Boy cheers.
"She's got some spark," another one whispers. You've got no idea. Felix is on his feet before me. He wipes the dirt from his eyes while I attempt to stand up. The blonde pins me back down before I can defend myself. He has one arm over my chest and the other is reaching for his knife that he dropped when I made him fall.
I grip my own knife and swing it forward. I feel it connect with skin and Felix gasps. He loosens his hold on me just enough so I can wiggle out. There's blood dripping from a cut on his elbow and it stains my knife.
"Are you sure I don't know how to use a knife?" I spare a glance for Peter. He's smiling at me from where he's leaning against a tree.
"I guess I just had to see it to believe it," he says. I send him a smirk then turn back to Felix who has retrieved his knife and looks less than pleased that I'm still unscathed.
His next swing has more force behind it and I just barley dodge it. Almost immediately he swings again, then again, and again. I'm jumping farther and farther back as he continues to advance. Soon I feel my back against a tree and I realize I'm trapped. As he swings for me I duck just in time.
To my extreme luck his knife gets caught in the tree bark. I spot a tree branch out of the corner of my eye and grab it as Felix struggles to free his knife. Using all the strength I could muster I hit it against Felix's exposed side. He stumbles for a minute and I slash my knife at him after dropping the branch.
He drops below my swing. The next thing I know he's tackled my legs and now I'm on the ground again. Felix holds down my arms and forces my knife from my hands. I spit in his eyes before he can do anything. While he's distracted I kick as hard as I can, not caring what I hit.
"Owe," the Lost Boys groan as Felix rolls off of me, his eyes closed tight in pain. I can guess where I hit him.
"Woops," I giggle. Felix glares at me, but is still in too much pain to do anything. Now that I was without a weapon I glanced around for anything I could use to fight. The only thing I can find is the branch I used before. I grab it and prepare to hit Felix again. To my surprise he swipes his knife while I'm swinging the branch. Sharp pain explodes from my wrist and I drop the branch. Luckily it lands on his chest.
I stumble away from him, grasping my wrist which is now soaked in blood. My whole arm feels like it's burning and I feel like I'm going to be sick. I don't even notice Felix stand back up and approach me. He holds the knife to my throat and I gasp.
"I win," Felix breaths. He's sweating and there's still blood seeping out of the cut I made. His face is twisted in pain and I know that even though he won I had been a worthy opponent.
"Congratulations Felix," Peter claps. The other Lost Boys join in. They run over and congratulate him as he goes to retrieve his weapons. I'm relieved the fight is over, now I can attend to my wrist.
The cut is very long, but not too terribly deep. It still hurts and there's a lot of blood. I start to rip some of my shirt to use as a bandage, but a voice stops me.
"That's no necessary," Peter says. He walks over and reaches out his hand. Reluctantly I let him see my wrist. He grasps it gentler than I expected him to and his eyes look more soft and sympathetic than I've ever seen them. "Sorry about that, sometimes Felix gets carried away."
"I can take it," I lie.
"Yea, sure," Peter chuckles. "I can fix it unless you just wanna 'take it.'" He gives me a look and I feel my frustration rise.
"Whatever," I snap. Peter waves his hand over my wrist and to my shock the blood disappears and the cut heals.
"There you go," he nods at his work.
"Thank you," I smile. He glances at me and for a moment he looks truly happy, not like his normal snobby superior attitude.
"Your welcome," he smiles.
A/N:
So I know I said I would have some of the other characters in this, but I thought it was already too long so yeah. Sorry about that. I'm not sure how good this chapter is because my mom keeps telling me to go to bed so I can't reread it. Sorry if it sucks. Well I better upload it before she gets mad so thanks for reading and reviewing. Love you guys!