|| This FF uses characters and themes from the original book, the Disney version, and another live action version where Peter was a blonde (not Hook) I do not own any of the characters besides my OC Kate and the general plot||
Ch11
The next day Kate felt as if she was floating on air, and James noticed. At first he thought maybe it was because of him, but his hopes where crushed when Peter took hold of her hand and they went off into the sky.
Feeling very put out, he ventured into the forest and sat between the roots of one of the many gargantuan tree's that covered Neverland. How could he be so stupid? The forest hummed with life around him, his face was resting in his palms when a strange, raspy voice washed over him.
"I didn't take you for much of a pouter boy." It rasped into his ear, sending a cold chill down his spine. "I am not pouting." He responded to the voice, lifting his head up to look around, but as always the speaker was never there.
James was beginning to think he was crazy, he told no one of this voice. This voice that had been speaking to him since he was first trapped on the pirate ship. It told him what to say to the pirates to keep him from getting his throat slit.
"Seems that way to me, the girl is not worth it anyways." It hissed into his ear, like a dying wind through an old tree. "But you told me that she was very important?" James said, growing confused. "She is important, but you should not worry yourself with wooing her. We must use the girl; use her to get to Pan." It forced 'Pan' out as though it hurt.
"I still don't know why you want to get rid of Peter; he isn't bad like the pirates." James said, picking dirt out from under his nails. This voice, it annoyed him from time to time, though he feared it as well. There was power behind the voice.
"This isn't a matter of good and evil boy; this is a matter of power. As you can see, I have no body, Peter is the key to regaining my former self." It whispered. James shivered at the greedy tone in its voice. "What makes you think I would help you get to Pan anyways?" James called out to the open air.
"I can get you back home. Home to where your friends and family waits." It hissed, already knowing the deepest desires of James' mind. For that is where the voice hid, unbeknownst to James. "That is a decent offer, but not enough to turn traitor." He responded, feeling rather proud of himself.
A vision flickered before him; it was Kate, dressed in regular clothes. Her hair was brushed and she was standing in his house, talking with his mother and father. Laughing, smiling, absolutely beautiful, his hand reached out and the vision faded in a waft of mist.
"I can get you the girl." It whispered, so quietly James wouldn't have caught the words if he weren't paying so much attention now. He pretended to mull it over; he could feel the voice growing impatient. "Deal, tell me what I must do."
"Good boy."
-x-x-x-
Kate was having a great day, spent playing games with Peter and the boys again. Today they were on the beach, splashing around in the water and lobbing huge globs of wet sand at one another till Kate was covered head to toe in the small grains.
The sun was bright and the water was clear, but Kate knew someone was missing. James hadn't come to play at all today. The boys said he sulked off into the forest after her and Peter had flown off to practice flying.
Kate did feel bad for James; she had run from him after he showed his feelings for her. She wasn't sure if they were true feelings though. Kate was the only other person in Neverland that had any idea about how it felt.
She figured James just wanted someone to relate to; she was the wrong person to do that with though. She lived, breathed, and slept, Neverland. It was ingrained into her blood now and she wanted nothing more than to forget the place that she had come from.
Sometimes she did, sometimes she actually believed that she had been here her whole life. Living with Peter and going on grand adventures with all the boys. She was just putting the finishing touches on a rather grand sand castle (built over Slightly so he could feel like a turtle with a castle on his back) when Peter called out from the water.
Everyone rushed over to where Peter crouched, looking down into a tide pool with a deep frown on his face. "What's wrong Peter?" Nibs asked, staring into the pool like everyone else was. Peter was quiet for a long time but finally spoke.
"Look at my face…" he said, his voice sounding strained. Everyone turned towards his face and Tootles was the one who spoke out first. "What is that growing on your face Peter?" he asked, reaching out with a small hand to touch the blonde stubble that was forming across his jawline.
"Peter, you're growing a beard?" Kate asked, unsure of why Peter was going through such dramatics about a little facial hair. "What is happening to me!" he said frantically. Kate had noticed that he looked much older than he did the day before.
"It is happening again, like it did last time!" Curly groaned. Kate looked around at them all and gasped in shock. They were all growing at an alarming rate. They all grew still for a moment as it happened, then it finally stopped. Peter's face bristled with the start of a beard and the boys had to wriggle out of their already to small clothes.
"Why is this happening?" Peter said in despair, he was the boy who never grew up, and here he was, six feet tall and growing a beard. Kate was confused as well, the sky was starting to grow dim and the forest seemed to grow sad.
In the distance a wind began to pick up and churned the waves, the white caps slicing across the deep blue. "Something is wrong, very wrong." Peter said slowly, Neverland was his home…Neverland was him. His heart beat in tune with the beat of the earth here.
Just then James burst through the underbrush, face beat red and completely out of breath. "They…took…Tink!" He gasped out, resting his hands on his scraped up knees. His hair was a mess and falling out of its pony tail and deep gash bled on his cheek.
"Who took her?" Peter demanded, his deep voice sounding strange to them all. "Hook and his crew, she was keeping me company and they came out of nowhere. I got away but they snagged her in a bag." He breathed, slowly catching his breath. "They took her to skull rock." He said.
"Get your weapons boys, we are going pirate hunting!" Peter said with a manly growl. All of them charged into the forest, including Kate, despite the fact that Tink didn't like her all that much, she was part of the family and Kate had to help as best she could.
James filed in right next to Kate; she noticed a sharp edge in his eyes, the emerald flecked with blue. It was a strange sight, like another person was in those eyes, but she put it off to the changes that were happening all over the island.
The bustle in the hideout was chaotic but in the end everyone was armed to the teeth and rushing out again, out for blood. Clouds churned in the sky and cold rain began to fall on them as they made their way through the jungle towards skull rock.
What little drops made it through the canopy felt like sharp, cold needles on Kate's face. Her weapon of choice was a short sword, light weight and easy to maneuver. They all quieted down when they reached the appropriately named skull rock.
The huge sea side outcropping was shaped just like a huge skull, its gaping fanged mouth opening up to the sea as if to drink up the whole Neverland ocean. Lightning flickered, lighting up the scene with horrifying brilliance.
Peter put his finger to his lips and motioned for the boys to fan out; he grabbed Kate by her arm and dragged her along with him. He wasn't letting her out of his sight. Kate noted later, after this was all over, that James had vanished then, but she was too focused on the task at hand.
Peter flew them to the top of the left eye of the skull, it led into a small tunnel covered in green moss, feathers, and dripped with water. Kate felt a chill crawl up her spine as a familiar presence made itself known to her mind.
"Welcome back child, hope you don't mind. I need your body for just a tick." The voice whispered into her ear. Kate went stock still for a moment, then the next thing she knew she was walking behind Peter again, but not of her own will.
She could see her body moving, but it was not her that was telling it to do those things. Peter turned to her and motioned for her to be quiet. She wanted nothing more than to scream out loud but her lips made no movement.
"This shall be fun"
|| First off, I am sorry for not updating but life gets ahold of you and sweeps you away sometimes. I totally forgot about this till I checked my e-mail and someone had added it to their favorite stories list. Thanks so much guys, and keep posting reviews and adding it. If you keep my inbox full I might remember to actually finish this. We are getting close to the end now. Also, in response to a review I got about the story. I know Peter can't love (I have watched all the movies and have read the original book ;3), but the magic of their world is breaking and he is growing up which defaults that. All will be resolved in the end. Thanks so much for reading guys, I really appreciate it.||