Sorry if this chapter felt a little awkward, it was a little bridge I had to cross to get to the next part of the story. And I felt that the lost boys did not have a large part in the last chapter, so I included them a little more! XD I hope you like it! If you noticed, Peter called 'Kino' Melody in the last chapter. That was completely intentional, as you will sorta see in this chapter! XD
P.S: Margotllama: Which name did I use that you also used? I can't seem to figure out which! I'm sorry. Let me know!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Melody/Kino, Toriko, Luep, Mota and Niko.
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"Hey! Wake up." I heard a voice bark.
I groaned and rolled over, far too tired to even open my eyes.
I heard an annoyed sigh as whoever was addressing me stalked out of the room. Seconds later I felt a splash of cold water hit my face. I screamed and shot out of my make-shift bed. I wiped the water off of my face and looked up at my assailant. There stood Toriko, an amused smile on his face. The nerve of this kid! Before I could yell at him he quickly explained.
"Captain said we had to start training first thing in the morning." Toriko had a smirk on his face.
I sighed, tiptoeing over to my sword so I wouldn't wake Peter. I snatched it up and then followed Toriko to a large, secluded field behind the great tree, Tinker Bell already waiting in her place. Toriko held out his sword, giving me a hasty bow before reading himself.
I smirked, turns out this kid has some manners after all. I bowed, then readied myself.
Toriko waited, his sword pointed towards me. He was waiting for me to make the first move, Being the girl I was, I gladly accepted. Loud clashes of metal rang through the morning air as Toriko and I dueled. Toriko was very skilled, for all I could do was block his attacks as he pressed on. We swung those swords for what felt like hours. Toriko swung his sword as I clumsily dodged, leaving a wide opening on my right side. Toriko went for it, successfully leaving a large nick on my cheek before I could move. I felt the warm blood trickle down the right side of my face. This kid was serious! I hastily wiped the blood off with my arm before unleashing a barrage of attacks on the boy. He skillfully deflected each swing as I tried my best to lure him into a corner. Toriko was not as skilled as Peter, but he was still better than I was. He lifted his sword slightly, attempting to attack. I took this opportunity to hit his side with the blunt side of my sword, determined to get him back, but not really wanting to hurt him. Toriko gasped, jumping back and holding his free hand to his side.
Tinker Bell began to giggle, mocking Toriko for being held off so easily.
He glared at me, breathing heavily, though not nearly as hard as I was breathing. It had been a long time since I had exerted myself like this. Toriko stood up, the pain in his side waning. "Okay, you've passed." he huffed. "We start the real training tomorrow."
I dropped to my knees, exhausted. If this was just the entrance exam I did not even want to think about what the 'real' training was like.
"You are too clumsy when you dodge, that can prove to be a fatal mistake." he said, tapping his right cheek. "If we were fighting the pirates you would have received much more than that."
I wiped my cheek once more, the blood had run down my neck. I wiped that off too, hoping it did not drip on the collar of my shirt.
"You also need to be more aggressive." he continued. "No pirate is going to have any mercy on you, so don't have any on them." he then heaved a heavy sigh and muttered, "I have a lot of work to do." Then, his stomach gave a mighty rumble. "After breakfast, that is." he mumbled, his face turning red.
I wiped the sweat from my brow. I cringed at the feeling of the mixture of blood and sweat on my face. I scanned the area, quickly spotting a small stream. I walked over to rinse my hands and face, cleaning my cut in the process. I wiped my hands on the knees of my jeans. "Well, show me to the food."
Toriko walked back towards the hideout, throwing a look over his shoulder signaling for me to follow him. I walked closely behind him, eventually ending up in a secluded part of the hideout. Toriko stooped down, lifting a large rock revealing a large amount of food from berries to preserved animal meats. How they figured out how to preserve meat was anyone's guess.
I finally figured out that I was to make the breakfast. I sighed as I knelt down to get a look at the contents, Toriko quickly moving aside. I grabbed handfuls of berries, handing them to Toriko when he returned from washing his hands. He grudgingly helped me prepare breakfast which consisted of orange juice, fresh berries and little strips of mystery meat for each of the hungry boys. Yes, I had taken a shine to these boys, even bratty Toriko, so I he and I squeezed and squeezed many oranges for this breakfast. All the while I had a spare rag pressed up against my cheek to try and stop the bleeding. That bugger got me good! I discarded the rag, the blood finally clotting, before strolling over to the remaining boys and stood over them as they slept. So sweet and innocent they looked when they slept, but looks were deceiving. "Atten-tion!" I shouted. The boys shot out of their bed and stood in front of me, still half asleep. "Breakfast." I informed them, walking to the large table in another part of the house, all of them following me in single file. Toriko walked right behind me, Luep and Mota switching places every few seconds, Niko trailing behind. This was the order of command in the Pan household. The boys plopped down and stared at their food, spread out on a large leaf of an unknown tree. I then walked over to Peter's room, pulling back the curtain to see him still asleep. I walked over to the side of his bed and stared down at him. He certainly did not look as old as he did yesterday. Then again, it is said that people look younger in their sleep. I softly blew on his face, leaning over so my hair tickled his nose. He wiggled his nose, then opened his eyes and looked up at me.
"You make funny faces in your sleep." I smiled.
Peter grinned, then shot out of the bed, giving me a quick bow, which I returned with one of my own. "Come on, breakfast is ready." Peter sauntered over to the dining room. It wasn't really a room, but I liked calling it that anyway. When we had reached the dining area, not one of the Lost Boys had taken a single bit of their food. The sat at attention, not daring to even nibble at their food until Peter had taken the first bite. After that, their 'plates' were licked clean in a matter of minutes. I, being a sneaky one, had already eaten my breakfast before having fed the boys. Tinker Bell had prepared her own breakfast and ate in her quarters, denying me the pleasure of seeing the kinds of things fairies eat. When they had finished, they began to roam the hideout while I cleared the table. When I had finished I piling the leaves, after rinsing them off, of course, in the corner next to the food supply.
"How was your training session, Kino?" Niko asked, tugging on my jeans.
I scooped him up in my arms, being the adorable creature he was, "It went fine, Niko. Thank you for asking."
Niko giggled in delight as I poked his sides. "Kino!" he shrieked, noticing the nick on my cheek. He hands flew up to my face, his tiny palms caressing my cheeks. "What happened?"
My eyes wandered over to Toriko. He looked into my eyes, a tinge of worry behind them.
I pressed my forehead against Niko's, "Nothing, little one. I'm just too clumsy for my own good." I sneaked another glance at Toriko. He sighed with relief. Knowing Peter as I did from reading the book so often, I knew that if Toriko was found to be guilty, he would have received a matching cut on his cheek. I couldn't let that happen, could I? Despite the fact that he was a complete brat, he had too pretty a face for a sword to touch it.
Niko giggled as I rubbed my nose against his. Such an affectionate child he was, so adorable. Mota and Luep ran over and each grabbed one of my pant legs. "Kino! Me too!" each cried.
I, feeling that after a meal exercise was needed, gently placed Niko on the floor. "Peter! Come, let's play a game."
Peter, intrigued came over. I squatted down and motioned for one of the twins to jump on my back. Luep gladly obliged. "Peter, now you." I instructed.
Peter did the same I did, and Mota gleefully jumped on his back. "Now what?" Peter asked.
"We race." I chirped.
Peter, always looking for a challenge eagerly accepted. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw little Niko walk up to Toriko, who was leaning against the wall in an attempt to look cool. "Toriko," Niko mumbled, obviously intimidated by the older boy, "Will you be my partner in the race?"
"That's a wonderful idea!" Peter called, "Toriko, come race."
Toriko heaved a sigh and scooped the small boy up, placing him on his shoulders so he could slide down to rest on his back. Niko loosely wrapped his arms around Toriko's neck, Toriko's arms hooking around the back of Niko's knees. I couldn't help but smile at this. Toriko was either just following orders, or was a big softy under that rough exterior. I truly hoped it was the latter.
The goal of the game was to run through an obstacle of chairs, jump over the bed, tap at Tinker Bell's private apartment and be the first to end up back at the starting point. Peter lightly rapped on Tinker Bell's apartment, which was no larger than a bird cage. Tinker Bell pulled back the curtain that hid her domain from the prying eyes of boys. Peter asked if she would like to participate. Tinker Bell indifferently agreed to be the referee.
We all lined up at the starting point, Peter and Mota, Toriko and Niko, and Luep and I. A beautiful ringing of bells was Tinker Bell's signal for us to begin. We ran the obstacle course, weaving through the chairs with ease, but while bounding over the bed, Toriko tripped, falling face down onto the sheets. "Go, Toriko, go!" Niko cheered. Toriko jumped up, trailing behind the other two. Peter tapped Tinker Bell's quarters while my knuckles barely missed, sending me back to tap on it properly. Toriko, Niko, Luep and I were gaining on Peter quickly, but with one jump, Peter flew in the air and over the finish line. Tinker Bell cheered, declaring Peter the winner. Mota pumped his fists in the air and cheered. Peter crowed, as he always did when he was pleased with himself.
Some would say that Peter cheated by flying instead of running in that last part of the race, but even if you told him so, he would not care, and neither did any of the others.
"Again! Again!" the three youngest boys pleaded.
"I don't see why not. But, give me a challenge this time! I know, why don't I carry Melody instead of Mota? Yes, that would be great fun." Peter smiled, pleased with his clever idea.
I giggled and waved my hands in front of me, trying to dismiss the idea. But then, something struck a cord. Peter had told all of the boys to call me 'Kino', my new name. But he had just called me 'Melody.' I quickly banished this thought, dismissing it as a slip of the tongue. "How about we each run the race on our own? Let's see who would win then." I giggled.
And as the six -oh- seven of us, counting Tinker Bell, were coming up with new ways to make my new game more fun, something strange was happening on the other side of Neverland.
A body had washed up on the shores were the Pirates had dropped anchor. He lay on the shore, gasping for breath, barely alive. He reached his left hand to drag him further up the shore, blood staining the white sand. The being made his way half way up the beach before collapsing once again, blood oozing from the stump were his left foot was. His breath became more labored as an iron hook dug into the sand.
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Heehee, cliffhanger, huh? So how was the fight scene? I tried a little harder this time, but I don't know ... let me know what you think! XD Toriko seems to get the most screen time of the Lost Boys, ne? Niko is a close second. I'll try to put more of Luep and Mota in the next chapter! XD I noticed that I have a total of 54 hits on this story so far. I'm glad my story is getting read, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to review and tell me your thoughts on this story. It only takes a moment! XD R&R!