"There it is," Peter murmured quietly, pointing to a small knife lying on an overturned basket.
Felix surveyed the clearing from where he crouched among the bushes next to Peter. There were several male natives standing among the small teepees talking. One smaller female stood near the knife nodding to a taller man.
"Couldn't you just materialize the knife over here?" Felix murmured in response.
"Now, Felix, where would the fun be in that?" Peter asked with a devilish smirk. "The men should leave soon on their hunting excursion. Once they're gone, I'll distract Tigerlily and you set the trap. She won't be expecting it since I always come here alone. Tinkerbell never wants to help me with these games."
"Tinkerbell?" Felix repeated with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"You'll meet her but first we need to get my knife back. Oh! They're leaving."
Felix looked back out at the clearing just as the last two men disappeared into the underbrush leaving the teenage girl alone.
"You know what to do," Peter whispered with a grin.
The two parted then, each creeping around the clearing in opposite directions. Once Peter was on the girl's right, he casually stood and stepped out of the bushes.
Tigerlily immediately turned her head, her eyes narrowing in suspicion at the slow, casual way Peter walked over to her, hands clasped behind his back as if enjoying a nice stroll.
"Hello, Tigerlily," the boy greeted conversationally, stopping beside her.
Tigerlily eyed him for a moment.
"What are you doing?" She finally asked, her accent thick as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest in front of where the knife lay.
"Whatever do you mean?" Peter asked innocently. "I'm just out for a little stroll through the forest."
"You're happy," Tigerlily accused, her dark eyes still filled with suspicion. "You're never happy."
"What are you talking about? I'm always happy to see you," Peter responded with mock hurt in his eyes. "I consider you one of my dearest friends, Tigerlily."
"You're not getting the knife back," the girl responded firmly. "It belongs to my father. If being nice is some new strategy you're using, it's not going to work."
A sudden twig snap on the girl's right made her frown but she kept her eyes locked on Peter.
"What, is Tinkerbell back there? Is she going to jump out at me?" Tigerlily asked never taking her eyes off the boy. "No. She's too mature for that. Is some dream child helping you now?"
Peter remained silent, a simple smirk plastered to his lips.
Tigerlily watched him for another moment before snatching up the knife and then turning to follow where the sound had come from. Peter couldn't keep himself from grinning as the girl stepped through the bushes and suddenly shrieked. She was instantly snapped into the air by a long rope that had latched around her ankle, hanging upside-down ten feet off the ground. She quickly tugged on her skirt to keep it from falling over her stomach, her eyes wide with surprise.
Peter laughed and stooped down to pick up the knife the girl had dropped as Felix stepped out from around a nearby tree to stand beside him.
"I knew it," Tigerlily declared once her shock had worn off and her eyes fell upon the second male. "There was a dream child helping you."
"Felix is no dream," Peter scoffed in amusement, flipping the knife around in his hand. "And he's certainly no child. He's my new companion."
Even upside-down, Tigerlily didn't miss the soft look that passed between the two boys. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously again as her face began to turn red from all the blood rushing to her head.
"Cut me down," the girl demanded.
Peter squinted a bit as if in thought before shaking his head.
"Actually, I think I quite like you better up there. Come, Felix."
The boys turned and headed back into the forest in the direction they had come, the girl's angry shriek ringing out over the tops of the trees.
"Won't she come after us?" Felix asked once they had walked a good distance away from the native's camp.
"Oh, most certainly," Peter responded unconcerned. "She'll cut herself down in about fifteen minutes and come looking for us. She won't have much luck though."
"That knife is her father's?" Felix questioned, not sure why Peter would even want such a thing.
"WAS her father's," the shorter boy corrected with a mischievous smirk as he angled the handle towards the blonde. "And now it's yours."
Felix actually felt his eyes widen a bit in surprise as he took the gift. He hadn't expected something like that.
"If you're going to be staying here, you need a way to defend yourself after all," Peter continued. "Besides, you were very good today. That snapping twig was right on schedule. You deserve some type of reward for your work."
Felix could think of a couple other things that would have made a nicer reward but the knife was appreciated.
When the two boys stepped into the small clearing deep in the heart of the forest, a woman with blonde hair pulled up into a bun and wearing a dark green dress was just emerging from the other side carrying a small bundle of sticks. The woman's eyes widened a bit at the sight of the two but then narrowed suspiciously.
"Who is this?" She asked, placing the logs down next to the fire.
"Tinkerbell, this is Felix," Peter introduced, motioning to the taller male.
Tinkerbell eyed him for a moment, noticing how Peter had already decked him out in clothing from the island.
"How long is he staying?" She finally continued, still wary.
"As long as he wishes," Peter responded, exchanging a tiny smirk with the boy in question.
Tinkerbell surveyed the two before smirking a little herself in amusement.
"In other words, however long it takes for him to realize what an awful person you are. Two days?"
Peter gave the woman a mockingly pleasant smile when a long, sharp shriek suddenly rang through the forest.
"That sounded like Tigerlily's battle cry," Tinkerbell commented, her brows furrowing a little. She looked back over at the two boys and gave them an unamused expression. "What did you do?"
Peter scoffed.
"Why is it always something I did? You know how females are. She's probably just moody."
Another long shriek flowed through the camp, much closer than the first.
"Although we probably should move a little more that way," Peter remarked, pointing off to the side. "Tink, grab one of the torches. Felix, go get those logs. We can come back for the other things later."
Tinkerbell rolled her eyes and retrieved a makeshift torch from the other side of the clearing, walking over to the fire to set it ablaze.
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," she spoke quietly to Felix as he lifted the bundle of logs.
He merely smirked in amusement and responded simply, "I think I can manage."