Hmmmm, not much to say about this chapter. It's kind of another bridge, one Kino must cross to become a man -er- Lost Boy -er- you get the idea, right? I myself am against hunting, but things are different in Neverland, ne? I wanted a little bit more ACTION in this story, that's a part of it, too. I hope you like it. I changed the format of things just a bit, since the ruler button ISN'T WORKING! -fume- XD Sorry 'bout that! Also, I upped the rating a bit, from K to K+ since this chapter has a little blood and a little violence.

Disclaimer: Nothing 'cept Melody/ Kino, Toriko, Luep, Mota and Niko.

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After playing our new game over and over again until we were all out of breath I had considered asking Peter about the whole name thing, but he had floated away before I got the chance. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, flopping backwards onto my back as I desperately tried to catch my breath. All around me were the Lost Boys, all of them just as tuckered out as I was.

"Once." Luep panted

"More!" Mota pleaded.

Toriko shook his head, "Not on your life."

Niko crawled over to a pillow that had been thrown to the floor and flopped on top of it. "I'm tired, Kino" he whined.

"Take a nap." I yawned, sitting back up.

Niko immediately shot up, "No, I'm not sleepy." he shouted.

I shook my head. No matter where you live, kids are kids.

Peter, who had floated off after, yet again, being declared the winner had suddenly burst back into the room, a broad smile on his face. "Bears." he whispered.

"Bears!" the twins squealed, running off to a corner of the room.

A devilish smile spread across Toriko's face. It was becoming a trend. He walked over to the corner along with Luep and Mota.

Niko shot up, "Yay!" he squealed.

I looked up at Peter, his eyes were dancing with delight. "Bears?"

He looked down at me, "I found a whole group of bears roaming the forest around here. It is the perfect chance for your first hunting trip."

I cringed. I did not like the sound of that. "Hunting?" I asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, all the Lost Boys hunt." he grinned.

I forced a smile. This was not going to be fun. Peter led me over to the area that they kept their weapons and placed a bow in my hands. I clutched the wooden weapon as I stared uncomfortably at it. He then shoved a quiver of arrows at me, the other boys clamoring for their weapons. Mota held up a tomahawk, no doubt a gift from the Indians. Luep's weapon of choice was a long spear made of a thick tree branch, a sharpened stone tied to the end. Toriko tapped the sword at his side. I chuckled, who was he trying to impress?

Niko skipped over to my side, holding a small blow gun in his tiny hands, a leather pouch slung at his waist. "Are you excited about your first hunt, Kino?"

I stared wide-eyed at this little boy standing before me. He was ten years my junior and he had already been on a hunting trip, hunting wild animals ten times his size. I suddenly dropped down to my knees, wrapping my arms around him. I took a deep breath, backing up and giving Niko my brightest smile. If this small child could stick this out, then so could I.

"Let's go!" Peter shouted gleefully, flying out of the hideout. Each of the boys scrambled out through their individual exits. I had read many times that each tree used for an entry and an exit was specially suited for each boy, and I still had not received one. I followed Toriko, he being the closest to me in size. I squirmed through the tree, Toriko was very close to my size, but he was still smaller. I tumbled out of the exit onto the grass outside of the hideout. I scanned the area, searching for the boys.

"Melody." Peter whispered from behind a bush. He motioned for me to follow as he sneaked his way through the forest. I followed closely, quickly spotting the other boys as they followed. Tinker Bell rested on my shoulder. She had acted as some sort of guardian towards me since I had gotten here. She did not see me as much of a threat, and was serving as my extra eyes and ears while I traveled through this forest. She took pride in knowing more in an area like this than me. I tried to open up all my senses to my surroundings like a good hunter should, but I was much to distracted by the various thoughts running through my head.

'What if I miss?'

'What if I hurt someone?'

'What if the animal attacks me?'

Peter would save me.

'What if he considered me being attacked fun?'

No, he would not do that.

'Why am I doing this?'

Because you can't say 'no' to Peter Pan.

I shook my head, trying to shake these thoughts from my mind. "There." Peter whispered, pointing at a small clearing, a large grizzly bear hunched over something, growls erupting from its throat, the sickening crunch of bones cracking filling the air.

Niko pushed a small dart into his blow gun, raising it to his lips. With a great puff of air, the dart was sent flying through the air, landing square in the bear's rump. The bear let out a deafening roar of pain as it felt the pointed tip pierce its skin.

"Now!" Peter shouted. The dart had served as a distraction. The boys rushed the bear, their weapons held high in the air as the bellowed out war cries. Mota cleaved its right side with his tomahawk, Luep throwing his spear into its left.

The beast roared with pain, trying to shake off the weapons as it swung its paws wildly at the boys. Toriko swung his sword, slashing one of the bear's paws.

I stood behind the bush, my hands trembling with fear as I witnessed what was happening before me.

The bear swung his now bleeding paw, knocking Luep to the floor. Niko, who to my relief had stayed with me in our hiding place after firing that first dart, ran out to defend Luep against the advancing bear. Fear shot through my body like I had been struck my lighting. Without giving it a second thought, I shot out from behind the bush, softly pushing Niko back into it as I readied my bow. Like most girls my age from my era, I had almost no knowledge as to how to properly shoot an arrow but at that moment, I did not care. I let go of the arrow in my bow, the bear lashing out as I did so, knocking me backwards. The beast roared once and then, silence.

(---.:. ADVeNTuRe AWaiTS! .:.---)

" ...no?" I heard a distant voice say.

I tried to open my eyes, a pain throbbing in the back of my head.

"Kino?"

I opened my eyes to see Luep leaning over me. "Kino!" he shouted, diving on top of me in a bear hug. Ugh, don't say bear ... I sat up, Luep still dangling from my neck. I rubbed the back of my head, already feeling the bump forming. "What happened?" I mumbled.

"You killed it." Toriko informed me.

"I what!" I shouted, instantly regretting the action as my head throbbed with pain once more.

Luep let go of me, sitting back and pointing to a lifeless heap on the ground. I slowly crawled over, a pool of blood had formed under it, a lone arrow sticking out from in between the bear's eyes. My arrow. The stench of blood was thick in the air and I suddenly felt sick. I sprung up, staggering over to a bush and emptied the contents of my stomach, which is a prettier way of saying I had up-chucked in the bush. I wiped my mouth and collapsed on the ground at a safe distance from the bush. I had killed the bear. I covered my eyes, feeling that if I looked at the dead beast before me again I would throw up a second time. I heard the tinkling of bells in my ear. Tinker Bell was talking to me, but I couldn't understand a word. I felt a small hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Luep. He stood before me, bowed then got down on on knee, digging his spear into the ground for support.

"You killed the bear before it-" Luep shuddered, his voice shaking.

"It knocked you back into the tree and you stopped moving. We thought-" Mota's voice quivered as he spoke, the near loss of his twin still fresh in his mind.

Luep rested his head against the shaft. "Thank you." he whispered, fighting back tears.

Then it dawned on me. I had saved Luep's life. I had killed the bear for a reason. I smiled down at Luep. I rubbed my cheek, embarrassed at the little scene I had just had. I leaned my forehead against the shaft of his spear so I could look him in the eyes. "Your welcome."

Toriko walked over to the bear, throwing a smirk over his shoulder.

I instantly felt my face flush. What a brat! I bet he thought it was funny. And just when I was beginning to like him!

While I was plotting revenge, he gave me a nod of approval. Saving one of his comrades had earned me some sort of respect. He knelt down before it and began doing whatever it is you do after something is killed. I really did not want to know.

Luep and Mota looked over at Toriko as he began to work. They began to walk over to help him, but not before throwing their arms around me in another hug. I blushed, playfully shooing them away, a large grin plastered on my face.

Niko trotted off after them, humming a happy tune. I had almost lost it when I found out what I had done, but Niko, who was about four-years old, was unfazed by it. Neverland will never cease to amaze me.

I felt a hand on the top of my head. I looked up to see Peter smiling down at me. "Good job, it was a clean kill."

I forced a smile. I really wanted to forget about this little incident.

He gingerly placed his hands under my arms, lifting me to my feet. He pulled me over to the bear and handed me a sword.

I looked at the sword, then back at Peter. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Skin him." he made a motion with his hand, scraping it down his arm.

"Why?" I squeaked.

Peter's face scrunched up in thought. "I don't know. It's just what we do. When you kill an animal, you skin it and make a garment from its fur." he pointed at the Lost Boys. All of them, as I had noticed before, were decked out in various animal skins from head to toe.

I stared at Peter and considered asking him why he did not wear animal fur. I know for a fact he had killed many animals. But then, I remembered that he forbid the boys from dressing like him, which is most likely the reason the Lost Boys dressed in animal fur.

I put the tip of the sword to the animal's back, unsure of what to do. The boys stared at me expectantly as I stood there.

Peter reached out his hand, curling his fingers over mine as he swiftly skinned a portion of fur from the bear. He pointed the sword once again to repeat the action before I shouted, "No, that's enough. I'll make something of that."

Peter gave me a funny look. "Okay." he shrugged, picking the portion of fur from the ground and handing it to me. I gave him back the sword as I looked down at the fur, dried blood coating it. I tried to fight back the urge to vomit again. The boys continued with their work, skinning the rest of the fur off and slicing the flesh for food. I covered my nose, the stench of blood still fresh in the air, and spun around.

Tinker Bell ran her tiny fingers up and down the fur in my hands, telling me how nice it was. Peter shouted the meaning over his shoulder as he supervised the boys as they worked. I'm going to need to learn the Fairy language, it's too much trouble having Peter translate everything. I offered to give it to her a portion for her bed as a blanket once I washed it. She smiled and tinkled a thank you.

When the boys had finished they packed up the meat and the fur in large leaves as we made our way back to our hideout. I wandered off to the tiny stream I had encountered early today during my training session to clean the fur. I stooped down, dipping the fur in the stream, softly rubbing my fingers in it in an attempt to clean the blood off. When I had finally succeeded in picking of all of the crusted blood I picked it up, searching for a sunny patch of grass where I could let it dry. I laid it out on a stray leaf once I had found a suitable spot, plopping down next to it. I swiveled around, pulling an arrow out of my quiver, lifting the fur to eye-level. I cut the piece in half at a suitable length and width for Tinker Bell's bed. I laid the piece that would be used as a blanket back down on the leaf as I examined the remaining piece. "What could I use it for?" I mumbled to myself. As much as I thought that wearing animal fur was wrong, in a way, having this proof of my kill made me a true Lost Boy, well, Lost Person. I flipped it over in my hands, the piece was far to small for any regular garment. I laid the drying fur over my body in various places and styles, trying to discern the best way to wear my prize.

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the sewing needle I had stashed there before this all began. Thread, I needed thread, anything I could use to bind the two ends together would do. A leaf fluttered to my side from the tree I was lying under. I pulled the veins of the leaf out, using the strongest I could find for thread. It would not hold for long, but it would do until I could find something more suitable. I thread the veins through the needle and began to sew. I have expressed many times how much I dislike sewing, and you are about to discover why. I do not know how to use a thimble, and was not interested in learning how. I also did not posses nimble fingers, which often resulted in me receiving many pricks to my fingertips. But, for this particular occasion, I was willing to endure that. I raised my less than perfect work above my head so I could observe my shoddy workmanship in the sun. I slipped my new, furry armband up my arm, adjusting it to rest half-way up my forearm. I smiled, now I was official. I snatched up the extra piece to be used for Tinker Bell's blanket, it was finally fully dried. I trotted back to our hideout to see a leaf attached to the bark of a tree with an arrowhead. The shape of the letter 'K' was cut into the middle of the leaf. I approached the tree, letting my fingers graze the surface. I gave the bark a small push, the tree opening up and swallowing me. I fell head first onto a slide, surrounded by darkness. This felt oddly familiar as a patch of light appeared before me. I tumbled onto the ground of our hideout, the smiling faces of the three youngest boys in my face. It finally hit me, while I was gone, they had hollowed out a tree for me. I now had my own entrance to our hideout, one that fit me like a glove, no more squeezing through Toriko's anymore! I smiled, these boys sure do work fast.

"Welcome back." Peter grinned from across the room.

My smile widened. I was wrong before. Now, I was officially a Lost Boy. Er ... Person. I'll need to get used to that.

(---.:. ADVeNTuRe AWaiTS! .:.---)

Mr. Smee had been happily strolling across the beaches of Neverland, stopping ever once in a while to pick up a shell that had tickled his fancy. He chuckled contentedly when he had found one, tucking it away in a pouch he had brought along with it. As he continued walking, he heard a low moaning. He jumped, started by this sudden noise. He placed his hand on the handle of his cutlass, Johnny Corkscrew. He scanned the area, spotting a lifeless heap on the beach. He slowly and cautiously approached the heap, holding Johnny Corkscrew out in front of him. As he further inspected the heap on the sand, he noticed the sand beneath him was stained red with blood. He poked the heap with the tip of his cutlass.

Nothing.

He poked it again, a little more forcefully this time. The heap stirred, earning a shriek from Mr. Smee.

"Smee ..." the heap croaked, rolling over to face him.

Mr. Smee's face froze in a mixture of surprise and horror. "Cap'n?" he screeched.

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Ooooh, and the plot thickens! XD Not really ... SOME PEOPLE already guessed it! XD But it was pretty obvious. The next chapter will have a little more on our dastardly villain. I was also wondering if you guys would like to help me out! Anyone have any good pirate names? I'll need a few, and it would help me a great deal if you could tell me some! XD Thankies! And how do you think the hunting scene was? Was it obvious I've never been hunting before? XD R&R!