I own nothing except my characters.
Chapter Ten: The Decision
Pan stared at Piper, for the first time, taking a moment to actually look at her.
Piper was slathered with mud but underneath it, he could see the faintest potential of her as a female. Her eyes were large and dark but tilted on the corners, framed by thick, long curling lashes. That, coupled with her copper skin made her look wild and exotic. Piper was tall and slender, her curls a beautiful deep brown with hints of red and gold that gave it the copper color. She had potential and Pan was feeling very vexed that he had missed something so large and so right in front of him.
No one could ever know that he had been duped so completely and by a girl.
"What would you do to keep this girl safe?" Piper tore her tortured gaze away from Dolly to focus on Pan, a fierce expression sweeping over her mud covered features. There was a wolfish glint to her dark eyes when she locked them with Pan.
"Anything." There was no hesitation, only absolute conviction.
"Murder?" Pan questioned idly and again, no hesitation.
"I've done it before." Piper said, ignoring the way Dolly jerked in Felix's grip, a broken sob escaping her.
"You told me he lived!" Dolly cried and Piper closed her eyes briefly, lowering her head and swallowing deeply before raising her head and opening her eyes.
"He tried to rape you, Dolly." A flat look descended over Piper's expressive eyes, making them cold and savage. "I did what I had to do to keep you alive." Piper said steadily, raising her head proudly, refusing to be ashamed of doing what had to be done. Pan slowly nodded his head, a contemplative expression in his eyes.
"I'm going to have her killed." Pan said confidently, idly twirling his own dagger in his hands. Piper tensed and jerked forward, ignoring the pain in her shoulders when Salazar and Angelo roughly yanked her backwards, going on instinct. Piper shot the two of them deadly looks. It struck them deeply to see the friendly distance gone from her eyes, leaving only the promise of death if they got in her way. "Unless-" Pan said, snaring her attention instantly. Piper froze, a small bit of hope stirring in her until she ruthlessly squashed it.
"Unless what?" Piper asked icily. Pan smirked and flipped his dagger in the air, catching it by the tip and flipping it around, sliding it into his sheath.
"Unless you can...persuade me into not making that decision." Pan said with a smug smirk. Piper stared at him for a moment, letting the words sink in. Then she gave a proud toss of her head, giving him a scornful laugh.
"I hadn't thought that you'd sink so low as to need to blackmail someone into having sex with you." Piper said contemptuously. Pan stiffened and narrowed his emerald eyes but she continued speaking before he could say anything. "But I told you I would do anything for her and I meant it." Piper said, raising her head high.
"That wasn't what I wanted." Pan said derisively. "I have others that sate those needs of mine." He said cockily, swaggering forward. "No, for you, I have a different job in mind." He pointed his dagger at her, having removed it from the case faster than her eyes could follow. "You are going to help me destroy those savages on my island." Pan ordered.
"Done." Piper said with no hesitation and Pan nodded smugly.
"I thought you might say that." His smirking sneer made Piper wish she could just get one jaw hit in so she could leave a pretty little bruise on that ridiculously sharp jawline. "Boys." Pan nodded at Salazar and Angelo. They hesitated for a moment before backing off. Piper spun around and snatched her special dagger from Angelo, tucking it into her boot and shooting a sharp glare at Salazar.
He held out her daggers, trying to be calm but the trembling in his small hands betraying him. Piper plucked the two island daggers from him, tucking them in her belt before turning dismissively away from the two boys.
"What do I do first?" Piper asked Pan coldly and he tilted his head to the side, pursing his lips and surveying her before giving a dismissive shrug.
"Take a bath." He ordered and she stiffened, narrowing her dark eyes.
"I'll take Dolly and scout the savages." Piper replied but Pan shook his head, grinning darkly.
"Do you think I am stupid?" Pan asked sardonically and Piper clenched her jaw. No, she didn't think he was stupid but she did think that was part of the problem. Pan was too smart for her own good or more accurately, too smart for Dolly's own good. "Dolly returns to the place I had her in before." Pan said pointedly to Felix. Piper refused to acknowledge the blonde and walked closer to Dolly, ignoring the way Felix tensed up.
Pan appeared in front of her and Piper came to an immediate halt, just narrowly missing walking right into him. He was close. Too close. Piper could see the faint lines of wear and tear in his green leather vest. She could see the single knot in one of the ties laced in his shirt. She could smell his scent, a mixture of the woods and something spicy.
Piper forced herself not to move and met his eyes defiantly.
"I was just going to say goodbye." Piper told him, forcing her voice to remain blank. Pan narrowed his eyes before disappearing. Piper turned, unwilling to have such a dangerous person at her back. Not that she could do much while she was facing him, considering he has the magic and she doesn't.
"Make it quick." Pan ordered and Piper narrowed her eyes but nodded curtly, whirling around and stalking closer to Dolly. Felix tried to catch Piper's eye but she ignored him, focusing on putting Dolly at ease.
"Hey Dolls, long time no see, am I right?" Piper raised her eyebrows teasingly. Dolly smiled despite herself and stumbled forward, flinging herself at Piper. "Hey, easy there, sweetheart." Piper murmured throatily, bringing her arms up and cradling Dolly close to her chest. "I've got you, Dolls." Piper kept her voice soft, feeling the trembling form of Dolly against her own. Piper gently stroked Dolly's strawberry-blonde hair, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, fortifying herself. "Okay, Dolly." Piper forced herself to harden her voice and push Dolly back until the younger girl was staring at her face to face.
"What are we going to do, Piper?" Dolly asked beseechingly, her big blue eyes wide with fear and tears. Piper gave Dolly a gentle smile that transformed her face into something beautiful and reached out, gently wiping Dolly's tears away.
"You let me worry about that, yeah?" Piper asked and Dolly nodded trustingly, hope shining in her eyes. Piper held back the urge to sigh. No matter how much she has hardened her own heart, she still can't bring herself to scold the younger girl when she looks like that.
"You'll keep me safe, Piper. I know you will." Dolly said confidently, sharing a tremulous smile with Piper.
"You are going to have to go back where you were before, you know that, right Dolls?" Piper asked and Dolly nodded, her confidence faltering a little when the fear crept in.
"Can you come and see me?" Dolly pleaded and Piper nodded without hesitation, ignoring the way Felix started and narrowed his eyes. Piper cupped Dolly's cheek and held her blue eyes.
"I'll find a way, you know I will." Piper said softly. "Can you tell me why the shadow brought you here?" Piper asked and Felix shifted closer, attempting to overhear what they are whispering about. Piper shot him a poisonous glare while Dolly leaned closer and whispered into her ear.
"I called for him." Dolly whispered and Piper stiffened, staring at her friend with shock. Dolly gave her a small, sad smile while Felix walked over and grabbed her arm.
"Time to go." Felix said gruffly.
"Why?" Piper whispered, stunned and shaken to her core. Dolly held her eyes while Felix began to drag her away.
"You didn't think you were the only one who would do almost anything for each other, did you?" Dolly asked, just seconds before Felix dragged her out of sight. Piper stared after her crazy, reckless friend before raking her fingers through her unruly curls, uncaring that some of the mud flaked away from the curls. She stared after where her friend disappeared before whirling around and drawing up short.
Salazar and Angelo were watching her with vaguely betrayed looks but at the moment, she isn't really in the mood for them.
Piper stalked past them and out of the camp, whistling softly for Fiercemoon.
It wasn't long before the feral cat leapt elegantly from the bushes and trotted over to Piper, winding around her ankles with a gentle purr.
"How did everything get so fucked up, so fast, Fiercemoon?" Piper asked, anger whirling through her with nowhere to go. Piper released an explosive sigh, cuddling the feral cat close to her chest and continuing on the path. All of her plans are screwed up now. Her plans only accounted for one thing, getting herself off this island, no matter the cost. For rather obvious reasons, that plan will no longer work because Piper flat-out refuses to do anything to put Dolly in danger.
New plan: get Dolly off of this gods-be-damned island, no matter the cost.
Piper ghosted through the trees, Fiercemoon curled in the crook of one of her arms and her other hand gripping one of the island daggers. Taking deep breaths, Piper let the tension seep from her and continued on her way. It wasn't long before the trees began to change from tall, shadowed and eerie to proud, noble trees that flowers drifted lazily down from. The footing became less treacherous and vibrant green grass cushioned her every footstep.
Piper is on the savages territory right now.
If Pan ever found out that she has been coming here for an unknown but certainly long amount of time, he would go batshit. Piper tucked her dagger in her belt and boosted Fiercemoon into one of the trees, climbing up after her. Confidently, Fiercemoon began to lead the way through the thick, twisting branches, her silver-tipped tail waving jauntily behind her. Piper followed closely behind the feral cat, twisting and climbing through the branches silently.
Then one moment, all was silent, save for animals moving around and the next, Piper passed through some sort of magical bubble and the clearing beyond exploded into sound.
This is the true reason Pan can never find the savages. It's because the island itself is hiding them from him. The magical bubble, for lack of a better term, hides only their main camp and it keeps sound in, smells in, hell it even keeps in smoke from fires. Piper settled on a branch, watching as the brightly colored tribe moved busily around their camp. There was a marked difference between this camp and the Lost Boy's camp.
In this camp, there is a cheerful air with everyone calling out to each other happily. Everyone had their own little job and for the kids that didn't, they were laughing happily and tossing a ball made of leaves around. There was no fighting or animosity that Piper could detect and she is pretty good about sussing out those types of things.
Piper wasted the day away, just sitting on that branch, stroking down Fiercemoon's back. As the day dragged on, Piper began to get restless and finally got up, giving one last glance at the camp before she exited the bubble and traveled back to the Lost Boy's territory.
Piper picked up a branch and began aimlessly sharpening it with her dagger. Her mind was racing with plans but one thing was clear, Piper couldn't show Pan where the tribe's camp was, not yet at least. She isn't stupid and Piper knows that if he finds out she knew where the camp was all along, he would kill Dolly in front of her and then kill her too.
Piper glances down at the sharpened stick and puts one notch in it before sticking it in her belt. One notch for one day Dolly is on the island. Fiercemoon hopped down and Piper paused.
"Could you talk to Tigerstripe about possibly sending out a few scouts to search for Dolly?" Piper asked quietly. Fiercemoon paused and glanced back, slitted silver eyes glowing back at her. Then the spiky little cat turned and trotted daintily over to Piper, winding around her ankles with a gentle purr. Piper smiled, understanding that Fiercemoon would do her best.
Then the feral cat left, disappearing soundlessly into the trees while Piper continued back to the camp.
Guest - Thank you so much for your kind words!
The Striking Storms - I'm happy you liked it!
BookRain - I can tell you are attached to Piper, hopefully in the future, you will still like what I have going on with her!
CRAZYJAMES1- Thank you, I can tell you really do love this story.