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Chapter Four: Exploration
"Aren't you going to speak?" Felix's voice was dead, he didn't truly care about the answer to his question.
Piper didn't answer him, flicking her dark gaze around the central campsite as she cataloged the many different boys and their types. There were the shy ones, huddled out of the group just the slightest bit. There were the rowdy ones, cheering and chanting around the fire. There were the physical ones, wrestling almost too violently as others cheered them on. Then there were the quiet ones, shaving arrows as they watched the going-ons with wary eyes.
Those were the ones that Piper would have to watch out for.
She didn't want to be caught double crossing anyone when the time came. Because if something went wrong, she had to have a place to come back to. The first rule on the streets: never break into a place you can't escape from. If you do, that is your own death on your own hands. Well, whatever spiritual hands you have left.
"Your tent is over here. Luckily for you, the last Lost Boy that slept in here crossed Pan in the worst of ways. It will now be your tent." Felix stood beside what looked like a bush until Piper looked closer. It was hard to see the hidden tent but she could make out the fabric from under the winding vines and bushes surrounding it. Approval thrummed through her, reluctant though it may have been.
Whomever the tent belonged to before, they understood the value of living in plain sight. People see what they want to see, unless they are the clever few that see what is there whether they want to or not but merely for the sake of survival.
"Get a good night's rest, if you don't wake up in time for breakfast, you wait until lunch. No exceptions. After you eat, come and find me. I will direct you to your mentor. He will teach you what it means to be one of us. In time, you will forget about the life you left behind. We are Lost Boys. You will become one in time." With those oh-so-encouraging words, Felix left without a second look back.
"Gee, thanks for the pep talk." Piper muttered lowly, reflexively wincing as remaining pain twinged in her throat. Though Peter Pan had healed her a little, he didn't fix all of the damage, a fact that both irked and relieved her. She didn't want to be caught out so soon because of her voice. Man, if she did and Dolly or Cortez ever found out, her reputation would be ruined forever more- and Piper couldn't stand for that. She was, without a doubt, the fiercest out of all three of them.
Most people looked at their little trio and assumed that the most dangerous would be Cortez but he had the obvious danger and therefore, the weakest. Piper, on the other hand, was the kind of danger that you sensed, ignored because of appearances and then was torn to shreds as a result. It never ceased to please her when people overlooked her in favor of bullying up to Cortez. That left her the chance to slip behind them and rob them for everything they had on them. More than once, that is what saved their group from starving and besides, Piper never feels guilty if she can help it. Guilt always leaves her with this sour taste in her mouth and she prefers slightly spicy-sweet to sour anytime.
Crawling into the tent, Piper scanned the little tent as she moved so she was sideways to the entrance. She never left her back to a possible exit or entrance. There was a worn blanket just large enough to cover her, a reed mat to sleep on and...no pillow. All in all, it is better than some places Piper has had to sleep in, in the past. The only thing that bothers her is the fact there is only one entrance. With just one entrance, that means there is only one exit. And that doesn't sit well with Piper at all.
Slipping the stolen dagger out of her pants, Piper is once more captivated by the intricate design of butterflies perching on flames. Tracing the design delicately with a finger, Piper wondered absently whom the dagger had belonged to originally and why exactly, it had been left out like that. Shrugging to herself and shaking her head, Piper crawled to the back left corner and placed the dagger about halfway high. She half expected it to be a struggle but the razor sharp blade slid through the tent material as easily as if it were not there.
Tugging down, Piper cut a flap about the size of a large doggy door. There. Now if anything were to happen, Piper would have an escape route. Tomorrow, she will check out the space leading through the doggy door hole. She would have to make sure it was a place she could actually escape from. Then she would have to figure out how to hide the exit. She didn't want to be caught out before she even had the chance to escape.
Tucking the dagger back in the sheath, Piper tugs the shirt and sweater down to cover it. She glanced around, looking distastefully at the blanket. Gingerly picking it up, Piper sniffed at it and shrugged. Sure, there was an odor but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Pulling it over herself, Piper curled in the back corner, betting on her minimal body mass to hide the escape door for now.
Shifting restlessly, Piper closed her eyes and somehow managed to fall into a light sleep.
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
The next morning, Piper woke instantly, feeling uneasy as the faint sounds of crowing boys drifted through the tent.
Forcing herself to uncurl, Piper held back a cry of pain as her stiff and sore muscles protested violently to the movement. Her throat flared with more pain as Piper tried to keep the low whimpers locked away. Holding still, Piper panted lightly as she waited for the pain to subside a little as she listened to hear if anyone had heard of her distress. Nothing sounded different outside so Piper reached down, softly but firmly massaging her muscles.
She bit her lip in pain at the actions but forced herself to continue, knowing that it could be the difference between life and death for her. The muscles slowly loosened up and Piper glanced at the entrance to the tent before turning and looking at the backup exit. Face the unknown boys? Or explore a little?
The choice made for her, Piper folded up the blanket, placed it neatly on the mat and then opened the little flap she had created for herself.
The vines were woven thickly in front of her but swiftly and carefully unweaving them, Piper peered through. The gap was just large enough for her starved form to slip through and into a bush. Carefully climbing through, Piper paused under the bush, straining her ears to listen for any sounds. When no alarm was raised, she continued on, moving quietly through the bush and out the other side.
Creeping carefully through the area behind her tent, Piper glanced around, sharp dark eyes seeing small birds hopping on the ground, pecking at insects. The bushes, while shaped like bushes at home, had leaves that felt thick and rubbery and were the oddest color green, one so dark it was almost black. The ground was littered with the leaves, muffling her passage, a fact she was grateful for. The trees were the same as back home but were more like Weeping Willows than anything with their low-hanging branches.
When Piper reached up though, the stuff hanging down felt tough and almost rope-like.
Cutting a piece down with the dagger (she was held spellbound by glitter of the silver handle for moments before she snapped out of it), Piper twisted the vine in her hands and snapped it taut. It held easily and Piper raised a dark eyebrow with approval. Humming low in her sore throat, Piper wrapped it around her wrist and tied a knot, forming a wrist bracer. Cutting down another vine, Piper repeated it on the other wrist. The vines weren't too thick and had this odd, softness to them that belied their strength. The outer layer was a black so deep that it turned dark purple in the light.
Continuing on, Piper knew she reached the edge of the camp when two boys with spears passed by her.
Freezing instantly, Piper melted into the shadows as she trained her eyes on them. One of the boys was the one she'd injured the day before and the other was the large, bully boy that she had cowed with a look alone. From the dark glares on their faces, Piper knew she would have look keep an eye out for any potential danger from them. Waiting until they passed, Piper slipped across the cleared path silently, only relaxing once she had gone a few feet through the thick undergrowth. Circling the camp, Piper glanced in a few of the tents that ringed it. Most still had sleeping boys and the rest were empty. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the boys were in the center of the camp. With the noise alone, it was a wonder that any animals bothered to stick around.
Just as she thought that, she saw one.
A furry cat-like thing stood stock still, staring at Piper. Freezing, she stared back at it. The cat-thing had a spiky looking pelt that was inky black with dashes of silver on the belly, chest, bridge of the nose and tip of the tail. The paws and ears looked like they had also been dipped in silver. Small tuffs of black fur stuck out at the base of the cat-things ears in a way that reminded Piper of a lynx. It was the size of a small/medium dog with dainty small paws and gleaming white fangs that curved down the jaw like a saber tooth tigers. The tail was fluffy but Piper's eyes were drawn to the wide, silver eyes of it as it stared at her.
They stood frozen, staring at each other until the cat-thing flicked an ear back and then vanished into the undergrowth as though it had never been there. A little startled, Piper paused for a few moments before continuing on her way. As she circled the camp, Piper made sure to make a wide detour around the tree where the door looked as though it had grown out of the tree (which it probably had.) She didn't want to run into Peter Pan on her no doubt troublesome jaunt around the camp.
Though the day didn't change, still looking to be either around sunrise or sunset, Piper gathered it was close around morning because the noise from the camp was getting even louder and the tantalizing scent of food was drifting through the air.
Coming back to her tent, Piper crawled through the little escape door and re-wove the vines around so that they covered the outside again. Making a mental note to weave them into a little door that she only had to brush aside instead of weave each time, Piper left her tent and paused, scanning the clearing discreetly from under her lashes. There were boys covering the clearing, many more than she had seen last night and it startled her. If she had to guess, there were about thirty boys in the clearing and more exhausted boys coming in from one of the paths.
"There you are." Felix walked up to Piper and she met his gaze as evenly as she could, considering his hood was still covering his face. He paused and then reached up with a hand, pulling his hood back and revealing the scars on his face. There was a thin, red looking scar going from the inside of his eye from the eyebrow and down to the middle of his cheek, with another scar intersecting it. Tracing the scar with her eyes, Piper returned her gaze to Felix's. Mr. Emotion was watching her with cold blue eyes and blonde eyebrows set in a scowl.
Shrugging, Piper met his eyes but didn't comment.
"I came to your tent and you were gone." Felix said in a monotone, forcing her to hold his gaze. Her skin began itching from the mud caked on her face and arms; hiding her copper skin but Piper refused to soothe the itch. Her short hair was ruffled by a breeze and a few dark, shorn strands fell into her eyes but again, she didn't move. Piper refused to speak with her sore throat and Felix wanted an answer. When she had deemed it long enough that she could look away without seeming guilty, Piper slid her gaze away from his, ducking her head down as she slid her hands behind her back, clenching them into fists at the idea of being submissive again.
It really didn't fit with her nature to be submissive, she was more likely to be loud and wild but for the sake of ever being able to make it back home, Piper was going to have to force herself to as submissive and invisible as possible; something that does come naturally to her after surviving on the streets. On the streets, if you were invisible, you were alive and that was the cold, harsh truth of it. It still irks her to have to revert back to that behaviour but Piper would nurture the burning rage under her mask of apathy until she saw the chance to get back home. Then, nothing would stop her from leaving.
Not even Peter Pan.
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