Damnation, Salvation, Fire and Steel

Part One: Quickstep

1/3

By: The Sadistic Cow

Eurynome69@yahoo.ca

The sun broke over the horizon that morning with as much splendor and hoo-haw as it always did. Rays of light bounced off the water in the Mermaid's Lagoon to shine brightly in the eyes of a lone figure on the beach. The sky was clear as any summer day, and birds chirped happily as they went about their business. Never Land was at peace, enjoying another sunrise and another day.

On the beach, Slightly had one hand raised over his face to protect his eyes from the sunlight as he continued his hunt for seashells. He already had quite a pouch-full; he only needed a few more to complete the day's ritual search and add to his already numerous collection. He was quite proud of his find that day; there were three shells that were his favourites. One was shaped like a heart, almost; the edges having been worn down by the tides and the sands it was buried in. The other two had a nice glossy feel and pretty swirls in them that appealed to him.

He had even found a clamshell and within it, a large, shiny pearl. That find was a good one too, and he intended to take it home to Wendy and give it to her as a present.

After hunting up the beach one last time, Slightly shrugged; his work was done. He got what he wanted and now it was time to go home and add them to his collection in the small wooden box he kept all this personal things in. So lost in his thoughts about his shells and the pearls, he didn't notice the mermaids swimming rather close in to the beach.

At least, he didn't notice until one of them flicked her tail and sent a wave splashing over him. Slightly yelped in surprise and anger, spinning around to glare balefully at the laughing mermaid. Water dripped from his hair and a few strings of seaweed dangled off the edge of his cap while the rest of his clothes lay plastered to him, also dripping.

"That'll teach you boy to come to our beach alone!" she called.

Slightly only stuck his tongue out at her, which made her gasp and then glare in rage. Without a word, only a "Hmph!" to show his displeasure at her trick, Slightly lifted into the air and flew away. The angry mermaid's insults were left behind as he moved inland, headed for home.

By the time he got there the wind and the warmth of the sun had dried him off a fair bit, though he was still damp. He came to land in the middle of the floor of the Underground House, and was immediately accosted by Wendy, who wondered at his state of wetness.

"Slightly, what happened?" she asked, coming to him immediately and patting at him. "You're soaked!" she exclaimed.

Slightly only rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Some mermaid was slightly angry that I was on 'her' beach,'" he replied, wrinkling his nose. "So she decided to let me know by slightly splashing me." He didn't even hint at the cuss words the mermaid had thrown at him as he left, as he felt it wouldn't be nice for Wendy to hear them. Wendy sighed.

"Those mermaids," she said under her breath. "Why can't they just leave us all alone?" Then, putting her hands on her hips, "You can't stay in those wet clothes all day long, you might catch a cold." With that, she nudged him towards a room to change. "Go, scat, shoo!" Slightly laughed and went to change his wet clothes.

When he was done, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the pearl he had found. He smiled shyly. "I found this on the beach, Wendy," he said. "I slightly thought you might like it."

Her eyes widening, Wendy beamed and took it. "Oh, thank you Slightly. It's beautiful!" She smiled brightly and kissed his cheek; Slightly turned red with embarrassment and scrubbed at his cheek.

"Aw, mother!"

Wendy smiled. "Peter and the other boys are at Small Monday Island, if you want to join them."

Slightly grinned. "Okay! Thanks, Wendy!"

She smiled again and hugged him, and with that the sprightly blonde flew out of the Underground House and headed for Small Monday Island, and his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Slightly reached Small Monday Island, it was nearly noon and the whole place was packed tighter than the lid of a pickle jar. He wandered the streets, eyes casting about for any sign of his friends and having no luck. All he could see were fairies, brownies, gnomes and other such Fay ilk. The bright colours the Fay were wearing were beginning to make his eyes hurt and the shouts of vendors trying to woo customers in made it hard to concentrate.

To say the least, it was a confusing bustle of constant action and he was starting to get a bit of a headache.

Suddenly, Slightly had to jump out of the way of a fairy and his herd of goats as they came thundering around a corner. The fairy shook his fist at the boy and yelled something unintelligible, before he turned another corner and was gone, leaving Slightly coughing in the dust. The boy frowned in the fairy's general direction then continued on his way, narrowly avoiding bustling gnomes and other sprites as they went about their business.

Shaking his head (the fay were a weird bunch, in his opinion), Slightly turned around and came knee-to-face with a brownie standing directly under his feet. He yelped and did a rather strange dance maneuver to avoid actually stepping on the brownie, who stared up at him with wide, hazel eyes.

"Hey! Hey, I'm walking here!!!" he screeched.

Slightly pulled back, wincing. "I'm sorry, I slightly didn't see you," he started, but the brownie cut him off.

"You humans! You're so big you don't see anything that goes on under your noses!" He kicked Slightly's shins and the boy yelped again, stepping back. The brownie scowled at him. "Take that, oaf!"

The blonde chewed his lip. How to proceed? "Um…I am sorry, sir," he began again but was once more cut off from furthering his sentence.

"The name's Pyewacket, boy! I hate being called 'sir', despise it! Makes me feel old." He glared some more, his scowl turning even more ferocious. "And if you're so sorry why don't you offer me something to make up for it?" Pyewacket had his fists on his hips, voice raised so loud the whole island could probably hear him. As it was, all over the place eyes were on them, making Slightly even more uncomfortable.

"Um…what is it I can slightly do for you?" he asked, not sure how to proceed with offering anything to a Fay.

Pyewacket sighed. Humans had no idea of the etiquette exchanged between the Fay. It almost made him sick sometimes. "What you can do for me, boy, is take today off from your stupid human habits and give me a hand in the shop! How's that for punishment, eh? Eh?"

Slightly blinked. That didn't sound so bad. "Okay," he said.

Pyewacket snorted. "You may think it's easy," he said, stomping off. Slightly followed, blinking in confusion and wonderment. For such a little guy he moved pretty fast, the blonde noted with some mirth. Pyewacket glanced back up at Slightly a number of times; the boy's shadow hung over him almost like a cloud. "You might think it's easy to work in a shop. Well let me tell you, boy…what's your name?"

"Slightly."

"Let me tell you, Slightly…what kind of name is that?"

The blonde bristled. "What's it to you?" he demanded. "For that matter, what kind of name is Pyewacket?"

Pyewacket paused, then smirked. "Touchy," he commented. Then, "As I was saying, it's not easy working in a shop. You have to deal with the customers in a really nice, sweet n' silky way, even if they're complete arseholes. After all, you want them to buy your product, right?"

Slightly nodded. He was a little confused but ah well. It was only for one day.

"So, even if the customer is a complete and total prick, you have to act like he or she is a god. Bow at their feet, kiss their ass, ya know." They turned a corner, Pyewacket still talking. Slightly's eyes widened as he saw a rather strange sight; a spindly man walking on his hands with his spine bent at an impossible angle, legs twisted around until they touched the back of his shoulders. Slightly gawked briefly before Pyewacket kicked his shin. "Hey! Pay attention!"

Slightly snapped back to 'reality', looking down at the brownie. Pyewacket grinned. "So anyway kid, you got any skills that could benefit my humble shop of oddities?"

"Your what?"

"My humble shop of oddities." Slightly still looked confused so Pyewacket elaborated. "Kiddo, I work in the biggest pet store Small Monday Island has ever seen. Not only do I have animals you see every day, like Neverbirds and wolves, but I've got creatures from the real world too. Kangaroos, wombats, water buffalo, monkeys, tigers, lynxes, pandas…monkeys are in high demand right now for some reason, but either way. I've even got creatures from mirror dimensions. To sum it up: I've got everything."

Slightly stared at him. He didn't even know what half of these animals were! "Wow, you must be slightly busy," he said in astonishment. Pyewacket nodded.

"Indeed. And I need all the help I can get, which is where you come in!"

Slightly couldn't help but smile. He liked animals, no matter what the species. Pyewacket noticed his smile and grinned himself.

"You like animals, kid?" he asked. Slightly nodded. "Good. Because you're gonna be workin' with them for the rest of today. And maybe, if you're lucky and I like you, you can come back tomorrow."

Slightly shrugged; he doubted it but what did it matter? Maybe if he liked it there he would come back, at least to visit. "What will I slightly be doing?" he questioned as they wove their way through the busy street. Pyewacket didn't answer at first, too busy howling curses at someone who accidentally stepped in his path with their pack mule.

"Hey! Bugger you, you flaming shit-sack! Get stuffed!" He swore again. "Cripes!" After he finished he turned his attention back to Slightly. "Oh, cleaning up the cages, feeding and brushing the beasts down, showing off any that are going to be sold, etc. Lots of stuff to do, and you're bigger than I am so it ought to be easier."

Slightly nodded. "Okay," he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the smell that hit him first.

Slightly almost clamped his hands over his nose as he and Pyewacket crossed through the gate that led into the brownie's 'shop'. A powerful wall of nearly intolerable stench almost knocked the boy flat on his rear as a gust of wind, kicked up by the heavy wooden doors, blew in his face. It was the scent of shit, wet fur and breath tinged with blood (most likely from the carnivorous beasts penned up), and Slightly immediately felt a wave of nausea wash over him as he got his first whiff of it.

It was the sounds that hit him next.

Screeching monkeys, bellowing bulls, howling wolves and the stomping of hoofed animals sent a powerful drum beat through his ears, and Slightly had a hard time choosing whether he was going to cover his nose or his ears. In the end he did neither, as Pyewacket began to direct him in the ways of caring for animals.

"Alright kid, you'll be working in Section A first, which is the smaller animals. Monkeys, rabbits, cats, small dogs, birds and other little things. Part of your duties are to clean out the cages, give the beasts fresh water and food, if they need to be walked then walk 'em, or let them into the exercise pen. Note: monkeys do NOT go into that pen. Neither do any other animal that has five fingers and can climb because we all know what they do."

Slightly blinked. "No…what do they do?"

"They moon the customers, shake the bars and piss all over people's heads from above. Not only that but they throw their own fecal matter at the customers. Then the little buggers have the audacity to laugh at us like we're the inferior beings."

The blonde wrinkled his nose. "Ew. That's slightly disgusting."

Pyewacket nodded. "Tell me about it. If you've never had the displeasure of having to wash monkey poo from your hair then you're not missing anything special."

Slightly shivered in disgust.

As Pyewacket moved on and began to "show him the ropes", Slightly found that the smells and the sounds began to bother him less. He grew used to them, and became more interested in the animals he saw penned up. More often than not he would interrupt the brownie to ask what creature that was, and Pyewacket would oblige him by telling the boy what it was and how to care for it. What it ate, how much it ate, its weight, the usual adult size, how they were born.

The last bit was a little gross, in Slightly's opinion, but it was, in general, interesting.

"And this is a cat," Pyewacket said, pointing to a sleek gray and black striped feline that sat in a cage, cleaning its paws and watching them with one golden eye. It took a double-take for the boy to notice that it really did only have one eye.

Slightly scowled. "I slightly know what a cat is," he grumbled. Pyewacket grinned at him.

"Just playing with ya, kid."

The sprightly blonde rolled his eyes; then blinked as he saw that the cat was watching him, giving him an almost cursory look. They stared at each other for a long moment, boy and cat, until the cat yawned in his face and resumed licking. Slightly made a face. "Same to you," he muttered, following Pyewacket as he walked off, continuing his sermon.

The cat watched Slightly leave, golden eye following his every movement with a careful, intelligent scrutiny found mostly in humans and Fay. It purred quietly.

Maybe, just maybe, he was the one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slightly grunted as he pushed a rather heavy stack of hay into the feeding trough of a huge, black bull. The giant animal snorted at him, pawing the ground; Slightly gazed nervously at it. Red-rimmed eyes rolled around at him while Slightly finished stuffing the hay into the box, then stepped back.

"Take it easy, I'm slightly not going to hurt you," he whispered to the bull in what he hoped was a soothing voice as he closed and latched the window. The bull moaned loudly at him and flicked its tail. The blonde smiled, wiping the sweat from his brow. Five hours into his first day of work and he was tired. Caring for animals wasn't easy, as he had learned.

Sighing tiredly, Slightly patted the bull on the nose one last time and turned away. He had yet to feed the monkeys, sweep up the soiled bedding in their cage and toss it. After that he had to prepare the baby tigers and their mother for pick-up; a high-paying customer was coming in to get them that day and Pyewacket wanted the big cats brushed, fluffed, fed and happy when they arrived.

As he opened the feed storage door he thought he heard the tap-tap-tapping of clawed feet on gravel. When he turned around, however, nothing was there. He frowned, then shrugged. Oh well. Whatever it was, if he couldn't see it then it wasn't his business. He entered the room and looked around for a moment, his brow creasing. Then, "Aha!" as he spotted what he was looking for. Monkey food.

Slightly let out another grunt as he took hold of the bag of feed and dragged it toward the door. It was heavier than it looked, he noted with some irritation. Once again, that strange tap-tap-tapping sound came to his ears. He stopped again, his frown deepening. What was that? He turned slowly, narrowed green eyes scanning the vicinity. Nothing. Not a sign.

A dark scowl crossed his face. "I slightly have work to do, whoever you are!" he hissed. "Now go away!"

The tapping stopped, but he held still a few moments longer. When he was satisfied that it wouldn't appear again, Slightly turned and began to drag the feed bag out the door. He kicked said door shut with his foot and proceeded down the hall to the monkey cage, grunting and breathing heavily as he went.

Upon reaching it, he stopped and fished into his pockets, looking for the keys. Pulling them out, he went to unlock the door and go inside but he was suddenly startled by the abrupt appearance of a monkey as it leaped into the fencing, shrieking.

Slightly yelped and jumped back, eyes wide. He dropped the keys to the floor, the metal ringing almost like a bell before it fell silent. The monkey hissed and spat at him, shaking the bars and howling maniacally. With his heart in his throat and beating a thousand times a minute, the blonde stared at the enraged creature, shocked at the sudden display of complete, unfettered rage it was displaying.

Like a disease, the monkey's fury began to spread to the others. One by one, they began leaping at the fence, shrieking and clinging to it. Soon, a whole mass of furry, angry monkeys were covering the inside of the cage like some kind of strange rug, beady yellow eyes glaring balefully at Slightly as he began to back away, trembling.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. "I slightly didn't do anything wrong!"

The only answer he got was an increase in the intensity of their shrieks. Slightly cried out again, clapping his hands over his ears to try and block the sound. "STOP IT!" he shouted.

"What's going on here?" a small, barely-audible voice yelled through the conundrum. Pyewacket appeared by his side in an instant, his face set in a scowl. "I said, what's going on here?!" he screamed up at Slightly, his own voice rising to try and ride the wave of shrieks already filling the room.

"I'm slightly not sure!" the blonde screamed back, dropping to one knee so Pyewacket could hear him better. "I went to go feed them and they jumped at the cage! I slightly didn't do anything!"

"Huh!" The brownie turned to glare at the screaming horde. "HEY! Hey, you, yes I'm talking to you! Shut your traps! You hear me?! BY THE SEVEN HELLS SHUT UP!!!!!"

His curses were to no avail, however. The furious animals only increased their howls until neither Pyewacket nor Slightly could take it. They fled the scene, tearing outside and into the safety of the open air, or so they hoped.

Outside wasn't much better though. The wind had picked up and was tearing at tent flaps like an angry child trying to get its mother's attention. Thunderclouds rolled overhead in a thick mass, boiling furiously as lightning flickered somewhere within. The temperature dropped; instead of the welcome warmth of the morning it was now bitterly cold. Rain fell in a light sheet that threatened to turn into a raging torrent at any moment.

As they were buffeted by the gales, Slightly raised his hands to keep his hat from being grabbed and blown away.

He turned to Pyewacket, eyes bulging. "What's happening?!" he screamed.

"Damned if I know! Come on! This way!"

The two began a frenzied run through the streets of Small Monday Fair, narrowly avoiding flying objects that threatened to knock them down. Boxes, cloths, and random items of all make were torn from their roots and hurled viciously through shop windows and doors, smashing glass and breaking everything that was breakable. Leaves spun in wild frenzies as wind funnels sliced through the streets; anything that wasn't nailed down was soon in the air, including unfortunate souls who found themselves without shelter.

If anyone was screaming, Slightly couldn't hear them over the roar of the wind. But the wild, frightened eyes of the Fay and visitors to the fair were enough to satisfy the question of whether or not he was the only one who was scared witless. He could see fairies fighting to keep their doors shut, or desperately clinging to ropes or anything that would keep them from being swept away. He wanted to help, but Pyewacket jumped on his shoulder and started screaming in his ear.

"Don't even think about it!" the brownie howled. "Do you want to die with them?! There's nothing you can do anyway; if we stay out here we're just as screwed as they are!" He tugged Slightly's ear painfully and pointed down an alleyway. "Go! NOW!"

Slightly ran. Several times he lost his footing and stumbled; once he was nearly pulled up into a twister that raced into his path, but it was gone too quickly for the gales to drag him inside. With Pyewacket screaming directions into his ear (not to mention clinging somewhat painfully to his hair), Slightly made his way as quickly as he could through the streets until what felt like hours later but was really only minutes, they came to the outskirts of the fair.

Pyewacket nudged Slightly. "That way!" he said, nodding to a path that lay leading into the woods behind the fairgrounds, and Slightly made a mad dash for it. Thunder rumbled above him and lightning cracked again as he bolted beneath the canopy of leaves and into the shadows of the woods. The world was a blur as the blonde tore wildly through the forest, feeling that with every passing second was a second closer to imminent death.

"There's a cabin just down this way, boss!" Pyewacket told him quickly, leaning in close to his ear. "It's secure, made of stone! Head for it, we can hide in there until the storm passes!"

"Since when did I slightly become 'boss'?" Slightly panted.

"Since you became the only thing preventing my unwanted flight to the moon!" the brownie retorted with a snort. "Hey, turn left now!"

Slightly did, not even stopping to look. He crashed through bushes and shrubbery like a wild animal, not even bothering to protect his face. He could hear the wind howling through the woods, branches rubbing against each other in a frightening hiss-hiss sound that sent chills up his spine. The storm was gaining on him, he could feel it.

So intent was he on not tripping, that he didn't notice when the shrubbery cleared into an open space. He yelped loudly as his foot caught on a stone and he tumbled face-first into a think path of stones. Another yelp left his mouth as he skinned his knees, and Pyewacket appeared in his face in less then a heartbeat.

"You alright boss?"

"I'm slightly fine! Just hurt my knees—"

"Good, now come on! The cottage's right there!"

And so it was. Hidden in an alcove surrounded by large, burly trees with a thick layer of leaves to shelter it from weather, a comfortable-sized cabin sat calmly, seemingly unhindered by the storm raging around it. Made of stone blocks and wood for roof tiles, the place looked actually rather cozy. Slightly picked up Pyewacket and hugged the brownie tightly to his chest to protect him from the winds as he made his way down the stone path to the cabin.

At first he thought the door might be locked, but upon pushing it he found that was not the case. It swung open easily, without a creak or the squeal of rusty hinges. Quickly the blonde slipped all the way inside and slammed the door shut, effectively cutting off the wind. Breathing heavily, Slightly stepped back from the door, his chest heaving and hair tangled wildly.

"Well," Pyewacket said as they listened to the wind scream outside and rattle the windows, "that was fun."

Slightly snorted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small, dark shadow sat outside the monkey cage, gazing up at the beasts as they howled and gibbered and beat at the bars. Its one golden eye stared mockingly at them as the gray and black striped cat that Slightly had seen earlier began to lick its paws nonchalantly, still watching the caged ones.

One monkey screeched and began humping the bars, urinating everywhere. The cat gave it a look of disgust.

Have you no manners?

It spat. No.

You won't win.

We'll see.

The cat stood up, stretching languidly. It cast one look back over its shoulder and meowed darkly, tail flicking in an insulting gesture. You'll back off if you know what's good for you.

The monkey horde shrieked. Not on your life.

Seeming to shrug, the cat turned and trotted off, tail high in the air.

It had a boy to find.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where could he be? He shouldn't be out in this kind of weather!"

Back in the Underground House, Wendy was fretting up as big a storm as the one that was raging outside. She paced, wrung her hands and was very nearly in tears. The other Lost Boys watched her worriedly, glancing at each other from time to time.

"Maybe he was mad about something and took off. You know how he is," Nibs offered carefully. Truth be told, he was worried too; the storm had him scared witless and every time the ground rumbled from thunder a chill ran up his spine. There was something unnatural about it.

"No, that can't be!" Wendy replied. "He was happy when he left! I told him you were there and he went to go find you." Then she frowned. "You didn't see him at all?"

Nibs shook his head. "No, we didn't. We were there for a couple hours, up and down through the fair, and he wasn't there."

"Why would he lie?" Wendy was now positively flustered and terrified. "He said he was going there! Why would he—"

"Wendy, don't worry!" Peter said, flying over to her. He grinned cockily. "I'll find him!"

"But it's horrible out! You'll get a cold or—"

"I won't get a cold!" Peter said, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm Peter Pan! I never get sick!"

"I'll go with you," Nibs offered. "If Slightly's missing we should find him. You might not get sick, Peter, but he could." He left unsaid many other things that could happen to the boy: most of which included death at the hands of nature or wild beasts that stalked the night.

Peter grinned. "Alright! Anybody else wanna come?" He looked around for any takers but Wendy stepped up, her arms crossed.

"No, Peter Pan. If you and Nibs want to go that's fine but I won't risk any of my other boys getting sick!" she said crossly. Some of the other boys protested at this, albeit weakly. None of them really wanted to go outside when the weather was so bad. Peter sighed, floating over to her.

"Oh Wendy, you worry too much!" She still looked cross so he added: "Okay, okay. Looks like it's you and me Nibs. Let's go! An adventure awaits us!"

"Be careful!" Wendy called as the two boys prepared to leave. "And bring Slightly back safe and sound!"

"Don't worry, Wendy!" Peter crowed. "We'll find him and be back before you know it!"

Nibs shared a look with the little mother; silently promising he would make sure they would do as promised. She smiled at him. "See you later Wendy!" Nibs shouted, following Peter up and out into the raging storm.

To be continued…