Chapter 10 – Burial and Hopelessness
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The air was crisp and the ground slippery beneath their feet. Peter and Leah had been trudging through mud and moist ground cover for what felt like hours, unable to judge the time a day due to the darkness of the woods surrounding them. Peter was tired, his strength had been drained from him a while now, but he continued through the forest, stumbling and falling as he went in order to reach his destination. Ignoring the intense burning in his legs Peter climbed over another fallen tree and landed in a soft pile of leaves, Leah soon following after him. Despite the haze that filled his mind, Peter couldn't help but occasionally letting his mind, and eyes, wander on the girl journeying beside him. He barely knew her, and yet she was doing everything should could to help him. When they paused to rest against a large tree he stole a glance at her, she had her face turned away from him and he could see she had picked up a few leaves and twigs in her thick braid. She pushed a strand of hair out of her face and turned to him.
"Ready?" Peter nodded, and she helped him to his feet. They weren't too far now.
By mid morning, or what she assumed to be mid morning, Leah began to see small glimmers of light flitting in and out of the trees above them. Suddenly, as if appearing by magic, the forest cleared and standing in the middle of the clearing was a huge tree; old and filled with wisdom, shining with the hundreds of pinpoints of light which she realized were the fairies. When they entered the fairy's domain, the excited activity of the inhabitants ceased and all seemed to stare at the two, solemnly aware of Peter's presence. Then, from high in the tree two bright lights swooped down and stopped in front of them. Leah held back her astonishment as she gazed upon the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen. The fairy King and Queen were haloed in a glimmer of light and garbed in gossamer that flowed over them like water. Their features were delicate and the wings that adorned their backs sparkled with the light of a hundred stars. But on their faces, they bore a pained expression, seeming to know already what had taken place. The Queen turned her sad eyes upon Peter and held her small arms out to him. Slowly he opened his hands, which he still clutched tightly to his chest, and revealed to all, Tinkerbell. The Queen gently landed on his hands and knelt beside the fairy, delicately touching the blonde hair, which lay limp against the pale face. The King then landed beside her and placed a hand on the Queen's shoulder, then carefully kneeled and gathered Tinkerbell in to his arms. As he took off, the Queen beckoned Peter and Leah to follow with her melodious voice that Leah couldn't understand. The journey was short, only taking them across the clearing to the other side of the tree where there awaiting them, encircled by an ethereal light, was a large field of flowers that Leah was sure had not been there only moments ago.
The Queen stopped them at the edge of the field, and Leah followed Peter as he kneeled on the ground next to a large white bud. Soon the sky around the fields began to fill with the hundreds of small fluttering lights of the fairies, all gathered to watch, and mourn. The Queen floated next to the King, and with a motion of her hand, the small bud blossomed and opened into a large rose. Gently, the King laid Tinkerbell into the center of the flower and with a motion of his hand, closed the petals around her. All around, the sounds of soft chimes were heard, guiding the small fairy to her new resting place. When the ceremony was complete, the Queen flew over to Peter and lightly kissed his forehead, then along with the King and all the other fairies, flew back into their tree, leaving Peter and Leah alone to watch the field before them slowly fade away.
Peter sat and stared off into space, his eyes glazed over as he watched Tinkerbell leave his life forever. Cautiously, Leah reached out and enclosed one of his hands in her own, being sure not to startle him. Peter continued to stare blankly but he allowed her to pull him off the ground and across the clearing, back into the lush of the forest.
It was about an hour before they reached the river running through the center of the trees, and they followed its path until they hit a waterfall, then cut across, covering their tracks to prevent any unwanted followers. The path continued down a hill, and then flattened out as the waterfall crashed into the ground.
"Stop." It was the first thing that Peter had said to her since burying Tinkerbell. Leah looked around and was unsure why he wanted to stop here; there was no place for them to stay – no cave, no cover but the trees that rose above them. Here they were completely exposed if anyone came along who was looking for them.
"But there's nothing here." She said. But he didn't answer her, he just slowly lowered himself to the edge of the river and splashed the cool water on his face and proceeded in washing off some of the dirt on his arms. "Alright, I'm going to take a look around. Maybe there's something here that can be useful." Slowly Leah walked into the trees, leaving Peter alone to cleanse himself in the river.
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Leah searched for about ten minutes among the trees, but found nothing to her use. There were just trees, trees, trees, and dirt, with maybe some scattered grass and moss. She didn't even see any animals; the forest was so quiet and seemingly lifeless. She decided to abandon her search for a while and head back to Peter.
"Peter, I didn't find anything in there. Are you sure this is a good place to stop?" Leah called out as she exited from the trees. But once at the waters edge there was no sign of him. "Peter?" She called louder and waited.
No answer.
She scanned the soft dirt around her but there was no sign that Peter had walked away from the place that she had left him, nor was there any sign that someone else had come. A sense of dread washed over her as she made her way further up the river towards the waterfall, calling louder for him.
But still there was no answer.
Then suddenly she saw it; in the center of the river close to the crashing waterfall – tiny air bubbles.
"Peter!" Panic coursed through her as she quickly waded into the cold water.
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It's quiet.
Am I…?
Am I dying?
Peter had watched Leah disappear into the forest, leaving him all alone. Just him and the river. Peter stood and stepped into the very tip of the water, avoiding leaving any foot prints, and walked towards the waterfall. The water was so inviting to him, so welcoming, saying to him that it would wash away all of his problems. Peter waded further into the depths of the water; the suction of the waterfall soon dragging him under. For a few moments Peter panicked as the water began to fill his lungs and the sound of the water thundered in his ears. But then it became quiet, and he relaxed.
Yes.
I'm dying.
I deserve to die.
I couldn't protect them.
Hook…
You wi-
Peter!
Who?
Peter!
That voice…
PETER!
Leah.
Suddenly the world around him came crashing into focus – the cold water swirling around him, the lack of oxygen in his lungs.
Then there was something else.
Arms and hands. They were warm, encircling him, dragging him out of the water, out from his darkness onto the soft dirt that lined the riverbank.
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Leah struggled to surface; she could barely hold her own head out of the swirling water let alone Peter's. Beside her, his body was limp and lifeless, and she knew that he was slipping away fast. Close to panic, she tightened her grip around his waist and kicked her feet until they came in contact with solid ground. With a last burst of energy she dragged both of them out of the water and onto the riverbank. Quickly she flipped him onto his back and pressed her ear to his chest. Encouraged that there was a heartbeat, she gently tilted his head back and pressed her mouth over his, praying that he would breath. It took a few minutes, but soon he began to cough up the water in his lungs and gasp in large amounts of air. Relieved, Leah turned him on his side, then sagged onto the sand, and took a deep breath. She watched as he finished coughing up water and took a few cautious breaths, then slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her, but quickly adverted them in shame.
He didn't know what to say, and even if he did, he didn't think he could. Despite all the water that he swallowed, his throat was dry, and the longer he lay on the riverbank, the colder he began to feel. Soon he began to ignore everything around him and what had just happened, and wrapped his arms around himself as he began to shiver, unaware that Leah had been speaking.
"What were you thinking? How dare you try to kill yourself Peter! By doing that, you're letting Hook win! You're letting your boys death be in vain!" Through the haze Peter was swimming in, her last words struck him and threw him out of the state he was in, and into consciousness. And the more he thought about what she was saying, the more he knew she was right. Sinking back into the sand, he became increasingly ashamed of his actions. Looking back on it now, he had no idea what he was thinking. All he wanted was to be released from the pain that was consuming him, and the only solution that he saw at the time was to end his life.
Leah took a deep breath after she finished with her rant. She had no idea that she carried all of these pent up emotions in her. Taking another breath, she looked down at Peter, and immediately forgot about how angry she was with him for giving up. Lying on the sand, Peter was curled up into a fetal position, shivering as his lips began to turn blue. Quickly she began to scan the surrounding area for a place where he could warm up, but became frustrated when she knew that there was nothing out there. Crawling over to him, she rubbed her hand up and down his bare arm, trying to give him back some of he body he that he was quickly losing. Suddenly she heard him mumble something through blue lips.
"T-The tree." Confused, she followed his shaky hand where it pointed to a large tree about a hundred feet away. Unsure but trusting his knowledge of the forest, she pulled his arm over her shoulder and hoisted his shivering form off the ground and slowly began to make their way over to the base of the tree. There she noticed, covered in years of moss, were names carved into the bark in a circle. Wendy, Michael, John, Tootles, Twins, Cubby, Slightly, and Nibs. In the center of the circle there was another name; Peter. Struggling, Peter reached out his finger and pressed a knot in the wood in the center of the 'P' in his name. There was a groaning from deep within the base of the tree, then slowly a crack began to form in the trunk and slide open to reveal a spiral staircase that looked like it wound all the way up to the top of the tree. Cautiously, she and Peter took a step in and began to ascend, the doorway closing behind them.
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Hi! Well we're just moving right along now. We believe that this is our longest chapter yet! This chapter and the next originally were meant to be one, but we decided to make it two, so that means the next one won't be as long.
Thanks to everyone for your support! And we hope to have the next chapter up pretty soon!
-Star and Glade
9-5-05