Ch 5
Kate knew one thing for certain; it was dark, and not a normal dark. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face as she sat there in front of that old tree. She kept seeing glowing sets of eyes lurking in the bushes but they always vanished the instant she looked over at them.
He knee was throbbing where it was torn open and hunger was beginning to gnaw at her stomach. "If I make it out of this I will never get mad at Peter for gloating again" She whispered to herself, burying her head in her arms, tears streaming out of her eyes.
"Now child, why do you cry so?" a terrible voice hissed in her ear, she looked up abruptly but saw nothing. She hoped she hadn't gone mad; hearing voices when there was no one around was a bad sign. "You are tougher than this, why are you letting a little bit of darkness dampen your courage?" it whispered, the voice was dark but it lulled her in like lukewarm water.
"I-I don't know" She stammered, looking around wildly for the source of the voice. It felt close, yet far away, and sounded as though it was coming from all directions. "You are beginning to rely to heavily on the boy" it spat out angrily, seeming very displeased with the thought of Peter.
"I don't rely on him, I just can't see in the dark" Kate snapped, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end "don't question my courage you...whatever you are!" She shouted into the darkness. There was a shuffling noise in the distance and she spotted a faint glow slipping through the trees.
"I have lead them here to you, be grateful child. You will serve me well in the future" The voice said in her ear, oh to sweetly. The feeling of it lingered around her for a moment, holding her trapped and causing her stomach to feel very uneasy. Then Peters voice cut through her stupor and she was able to move again.
"I'm over here!" She shouted, standing up and limping towards the light that was a combination of tinkerbell and some makeshift lanterns. "There you are!" Tootles shouted, completely overjoyed. The other boys shouted joyously as well, surrounding her and helping her back to Peter.
Despite his angry expression Kate could tell that he was relieved to see her. "What were you thinking going into this part of the forest at night?" he said, no anger left in his voice. "I don't know, I was just angry" Kate said, leaning on Slightly for support. Peter sighed heavily and handed Slightly his lantern before scooping Kate up off the ground.
"Hey! Put me down! I can walk on my own" She said, trying to get free. "Well I would rather get out of the forest and back home before morning and I can't exactly do that with you limping all the way" Peter huffed, refusing to let her go. Kate struggled for about a minute more before she gave up. She was hungry, tired, and her knee was killing her.
"Hey Peter?" She said after a while, eyes drooping and her head against his chest. "Yeah?" He said looking down at her and feeling a twinge in his heart that he was not accustomed to. "Tomorrow can you teach me how to fly?" She mumbled, slipping off into the comfort of her dreams.
"If you wish it" Peter responded quietly, the Lost boys surrounding him as they made their way back to their home.
The next morning Kate woke to the sound of the boys fighting over food as always. She looked around and noticed her knee was crudely bandaged, probably the work of Curly. 'As long as it stopped the bleeding' she thought offhandedly. The boys turned around when they noticed her and let out a hearty good morning. She didn't see Peter anywhere and figured he was off doing whatever Peter does.
As she sat at the table, slowly eating her food, she thought of the voice in the dark. Her mind seemed to be unable to fully wrap around what it said now. Confused she tried to remember but only managed to give herself a headache and make herself feel sick to her stomach. She hoped that the voice didn't mean her any ill will.
Peter was always telling her to watch out for black magic, and for once she could understand his reasoning. "Where is Peter?" She finally asked, looking up from her now empty plate to get her mind off of such dark tidings. "I dunno, he woke up real early and flew off somewhere, didn't say a word" Slightly said, shrugging as he wiped his face on his shirtsleeve.
'I hope he isn't still mad' she thought to herself, getting up from the table. "I need a bath" She said looking down at her filthy makeshift outfit. "Why-" Tootles started but Kate put her hand up to stop him, she was in no mood to argue with him over the whole bath thing again.
The boys watched her limp out and then turned back to arguing over food and who was the best at throwing a tomahawk. Kate's knee still throbbed as she took her usual path through the forest to her favorite spring. The water was always the right temperature and the flowers that grew around its rocky edges smelled very sweet. When she crushed them up they made a nice perfume for her to put on.
That was one thing she couldn't stand about being gross, the smell. She could handle being dirty but the smell irked her. She figured it was because she lived in the city where fresh air was uncommon and Neverland was nothing but fresh air. She didn't want it tainted. Though the boys smell was hard to escape so she was forced to cope.
The bath felt great, and her knee felt better as she let it soak in the water. Whatever she had fallen on must have been very sharp, the cut looked horrible. She had also washed her clothes; the stitched together fabric sat on a rock directly in the sunlight. When they dried they would be nice and warm and she would go off and play with the boys feeling refreshed.
By the time the sun had dried her hair her clothes were ready and she slipped them on gratefully, sitting around naked wasn't exactly her favorite thing. You never knew what or who was lurking around the forest. The boys and Peter knew better than to come near here when she was bathing but she always had the thought in the back of her mind that there might be pirates or Indians out there.
She pulled her hair back with a leather strap to keep it out of her face as she trailed her way back to the house, feeling refreshed, the nights events wafting out of her mind the more she thought of what she was going to do today. 'Maybe we can play treasure hunt' she thought, thinking she would make Peter be the victim this time. As she walked her mind was gone, lost in how she would get Peter to let her be a Pirate for once when she slammed face first into a solid body.
She fell backwards, falling hard on the mossy forest floor. She looked up and Peter held out a hand, he looked oddly clean, not a single leaf in his blonde hair.
"Ready to fly?"
||| To those of you that read this, thanks for being patient. I know it's been months since I updated but I go through phases and would rather write when I feel like writing so you don't get absolute crap. Thanks your comments, if you have any questions or just want to post some constructive criticism go right ahead. All comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading. |||