Chapter Eleven

(Songs in this chapter are "I'll try" by Jonatha Brooke, "So To Be One of Us", "Now That You're One of Us" , and "I'll Try Reprise" from the movie "Peter Pan in Return to Neverland")

It was dark by the time I stopped. Still furious with the boys, I made a small fire to try and keep myself warm for the night. Eventually I fell asleep.

"I am not a child now.

I can take care of myself.

I mustn't let them down now.

Mustn't let them see me cry.

I'm fine

I'm fine.

I'm too tired to listen.

I'm too old to believe

All these childish stories.

There is no such

Thing as faith and trust and pixie dust.

I try

But it's so hard to believe.

I try

But I can't see what you see.

I try

I try

I try"

A slight rainstorm woke me up, and abandoning my dead fireplace, I ran beneath a boulder, to take cover. Hugging myself to stay warm, tears welled in my eyes as I thought of my friends in Nesidy. Why is it all these things happen to me? Why did I have to be the savior of Incantationen?

"My whole world is changing

I don't know where to turn

I can't leave you waiting

But I can't stay and watch the city burn (umm)

Watch it burn

Cause I try

But it's so hard to believe.

I try

But I can't see what you see.

I try

I try

I try and try to understand the distance in between

The love I feel, the things I fear and every single dream"

I can finally see it

Now I have to believe

All those precious stories

All the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust

So I'll try

Cause I finally believe

I'll try

Cause I can see what you see

I'll try

I'll try

I will try

I'll try

To fly"

The next morning, Peter and the Lost Boys searched for Aralyne all over Neverland, calling out her name. It almost sounded like an echo had gone all over the island.

"Aralyne, come on back!" Peter yelled as he flew over a river.

I had drifted off back to sleep sometime during the storm, and now woke up once more to hear someone calling out my name. Realizing who it was, I got up and followed the voice. I felt guilty for how I treated the boys and wanted to apologize. Besides, with their help I would be able to fly off this island, and back to Nesidy.

"Peter! Peter Pan!" When there was no answer, I turned to search somewhere else but then nearly collided with him when he dropped down from a tree. We both began speaking at the exact same time.

"Ohh! There you are! I've been looking all over for- I, uh- No, no, no. You."

Peter slapped his hands over my mouth to keep from talking and spoke, "I'm awful sorry for taking your ring. Me and the Lost Boys, we want to do something to make it up to you. We want you to feel like- well, like you're one of us. We'll do anything for you. Honest." He pulled his hands away.

"Anything?" I inquired, an eyebrow arching at his answer.

"Anything at all! You just name it."

I thought for a second, wondering how I was going to gain their trust, then recalled what had happened when I had first met the rest of the Lost Boys, "Well, um, why don't we play a game... like maybe treasure hunt!"

"Treasure hunt? That's a great idea!" Peter exclaimed, "But you'll have to think like a Lost Boy. And have fun like a Lost Boy!"

"Tell me what to do," I said nervously.

"Well, to be one of us," said one Twin appearing by my side.

"Yes?"

"There are some things to know," added the second Twin.

"What's that?" I inquired right as all of the Lost Boys appeared. They then began singing as they showed me around Neverland and how to be like them.

"We like to dream all day

And then at night we play

We swing on limbs of trees

Till we wake up the bees

These are the things

We Lost Boys do

We swing from rope to rope

We have no use for soap

With open mouths we chomp

On mud pies from the swamp

And then we top it off

With pudding from a trough

These are the things

We Lost Boys do

We´re rolling in dirt

And we won´t change our shirt

We´re marching around

To see what makes a sound"

I was sitting on a log on a river with Peter pushing it down stream.

"Dare you to throw that rock!

I'll get a triple skip!

Dare you to explore that cave!

I'll have an overnight trip!

And if you´re feeling scared

I´ll have my friends right there

These are the things

We Lost Boys do"

The log tumbled over a water fall, and Peter flew away while I dove headfirst into the water. After swimming back to the surface, I pulled myself up onto a boulder and followed a whole path of them into a cave. In the very center of the cavern, I found the treasure glinting in a shaft of sunlight.

"The treasure!" I said in delight, "I found it!"

"Hey, Aralyne, you did it!" Peter declared in delight as he flew into the cave, "Lost Boys! Aralyne found the treasure in Dead Man's Cave!"

The rest of the children swung into the cave on a vine and landed in the water, splashing me, and making me laugh.

"Attention!" Peter yelled, putting the crown on his head, "Fall in!" He picked up a sword and used it as if he were knighting me. "In honor of your downright unbelievable skill at finding hidden treasures... I now proclaim you, Aralyne, a Lost Boy! Uh, I mean a Lost Girl."

My eyes widened, not believing what I heard. "Me? The very first Lost Girl?"

"What's the matter? Don't you want to be?" Peter asked, misinterpreting my tone of voice. I suddenly squealed and threw my arms around him in a hug.

"Oh, yes. I'd like that very much, Peter."

"Let's hear it for Aralyne!" one of the boys shouted and they all began singing again as Peter gave me a white animal hat.

"Now that you´re one of us

Feel free to sing along

We are so proud of you

That you can do no wrong"

And we don´t even care

If you pull on our hair

These are the things

That Lost Boys—"

I stopped the song for a brief second winking at Peter as I continued it,

"These are the things

That Lost Girls—"

They created a pyramid with me at the very top as they finished the song.

"These are the things

we love to—"

Hook's pirates suddenly entered the cave with their weapons drawn. Startled, I gasped and my movement caused the whole pyramid to topple over, all of us landing in a heap.

I quickly ducked behind a boulder half submerged in the water, and went below. I could still hear everything, but it was muffled, and my vision was blurry from the water.

"Oh! Hey! Let me go!" Peter yelled as several of the villains tied him up with ropes, and the rest of the Lost Boys were captured as well.

"I could have sworn she was here! Never mind! If she's as good as she claims to be, she'll trade her life for Peter Pan's!" Hook said to the child with an evil sneer. All of the children were thrown into a rowboat nearby and the pirates left.

I popped out of the water gasping for air. Dammit! Hook wasn't wrong! I couldn't just leave the boys to die in my place! Taking off my white cat ears, I tossed them aside, and ran back towards the Lost Boys' hideout.

"I can finally see it

Now I have to believe"

"Oh. Oh, no. This is all my fault," I muttered arriving at the hideout. I found a dagger one of the boys left lying around, and stuck it in the waistband of my shorts.

"All those precious stories

How the world is made of faith

And trust"

"I'm so sorry, boys," I said, finding a bag of Peter's pixie dust, "But I'll save you!"

"And pixie dust

So I´ll try

´Cause I finally believe

I´ll try

´Cause I can see what you see

I´ll try

I´ll try

To fly"

On the Jolly Roger, the pirates had the Lost Boys bound together to a mast and Peter was tied to an anchor that was dangling above the deck. The villains had their swords drawn up towards the flying child and were taunting him.

"Aye. Keel haul the brats!"

"He's fish food now!"

"Hey, he's like a piñata!"

Hook was smiling at what he created and said to his first mate, "Look at him, Smee. He's nothing but a child. And I loathe children. Uh, cut him down." A pirate followed orders, and the anchor crashed onto the deck with a crash, and Peter had to bite back a cry of pain. He sat up as best as he could and glared up at the Captain, "Any last words, boy?"

"Let the Lost Boys go."

"Oh, they'll go," said Hook with an evil grin, "right after you, one by one, off the end of the plank!"

Turning to his friends, Peter said, "Be brave, lads. Don't let 'em see you cry." The rest of the Lost Boys exchanged glances, then moved to the other side of the mast where they couldn't be seen and began sobbing.

"Say your prayers, Peter Pan," Hook sneered.

I had managed to sneak up onto the Jolly Roger and climbed up onto a beam, well out of the pirate's notice. "Not so fast, you old codfish, or you'll have to answer to me," I yelled out. Everyone on the ship looked about until they glanced up to see me giving Hook the evil eye. The Lost Boys began cheering.

"Aralyne?" Peter exclaimed a grin creeping across his face.

"Good heavens! Run! Run for your lives! It's... a little girl," Hook mocked and my face flamed for a moment at the insult. I am NOT a little girl!

I then saw a key hanging around Hook's throat and knew it had to be the one to unlock the chains holding Peter to the anchor. I have to get that key! With the dagger I got from Peter's hideout, I cut a rope, and used it to swing down onto the deck beside the Lost Boys and cut their bindings.

"Don't just stand there, you fools. Get the girl!" Hook cried out when he saw his hostages now free, "Oh! Destroy them young tykes! Smee!"

The Lost Boys and I ran about the ship trying to avoid the pirates who charged after us with weapons. At one point, we had gotten trapped at the highest point of the deck near the treasure. We picked up whatever weapons we could and turned to face the pirates. Tootles sat on top of an open treasure chest with a sling shot and used it to shoot a giant diamond into the sky.

"Gimme!" One pirate shouted chasing after the jewel, "Mine! Mine! Big shiny! Mi—" he fell over the edge of the ship. The children and I exchanged sneaky grins then used sling shots to shoot treasure over the ship. The pirate crew, being as greedy as they were, jumped over board to retrieve the treasure.

Leaving the boys to handle the other pirates, I ran towards Hook and he attacked me with a sword. I dodged every move he made, twirled to the side, and hit him on the head with the butt end of my dagger. He crumpled to the floor. I reached out to grasp the key.

At that moment, Hook's hook clasped around my wrist and he stood up snarling, "I've had just about enough of your childish games!"

"Aralyne, look out!" Peter yelled as Hook swung at me with a sword. I dodged the weapon, managing to pull the key away from Hook and ran for my life. The villain chased me up a mast and onto a beam where I was trapped. I tripped over my own feet, and fell over backwards on the beam, having a slight heart attack when I thought I was going to fall to my death.

"Give up, girl," the Captain snarled, pointing the tip of the sword at my throat.

I gulped in fear, staring at the tip of the sword, then looked around trying to find an escape. My gaze landed upon Peter Pan who stared up at me with worry. I smiled then faced the pirate once again. Pushing the sword aside I said, "Never! Don't you see, Hook? You'll never win. Not as long as there is faith, trust... and pixie dust." I quickly pulled out Peter's bag of pixie dust and dumped it all over myself before falling over backwards off the beam. Everyone watching gasped, knowing that the I could not fly. Then, to their bewilderment, I soared through the sky as if I had known how to fly all along.

"Unbelievable!" Peter exclaimed, his smile wide as I flew up behind him and unlocked his chains.

"Mere child's play," I said smiling as I bowed to him. Hand in hand, we flew through the sky until Hook swung down on a rope and caught me around the throat, pinning me to a mast.

"Gotcha!" he cried out in triumph, "Ha! Looks like I've got the upper hook now."

Glaring at the villain, Peter pulled out his dagger and said, "Game's over, Hook. I win! Ha!" He threw the weapon, and it sliced through the rope Hook held. Now the pirate fell to the deck in a heap, allowing me to escape. Peter Pan picked up the anchor and took it up high. "Hey, Captain, you forgot your anchor." He dropped it on top of Hook, and the pirate and the anchor fell through the floor of the deck and all the way through the ship until they came out in the ocean.

"Abandon ship!" The Lost Boys yelled as the ship began to sink.

Captain Hook then shot up out of the hole, screaming with an orange octopus right behind him. "No! Help me, please!" he begged of Peter and me.

"You know the rules, Hook. A good captain always goes down with his ship," Peter said with a smirk.

Hook was stunned for a moment before wailing, "I don't want to be a good captain!"

The octopus, ship, and Hook all vanished under water.

The Lost Boys had managed to get into their own rowboat and were drifting over to an outcropping of boulders, the lot of them chanting, "Hook is a codfish, a codfish, a codfish, a codfish! Hooray!" Peter and I flew over to them. "Let's hear it for Aralyne! The one and only... Lost Girl!"

I grinned and bowed saying, "Thank you. Thank you." Peter smiled for a moment, but it quickly faded and he sat down, looking depressed. This didn't escape my notice. "What's wrong, Peter?"

"Aw, you can fly now," he replied sadly, "You can go home."

My eyes widened at the realization and sad, "I can go to Nesidy."

The Lost Boys all looked as if they were ready to cry.

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

They suddenly swarmed me in a giant hug.

"We'll miss you," said one Twin.

"Yeah. A lot," the second Twin agreed.

"And I'll miss you. All of you," I said truthfully giving each Lost Boy a hug, "But I have to get back to Nesidy. And besides, now I've got great stories to tell my friends... and they'll all be about Peter Pan and the Lost Boys."

All of the Lost Boys grinned at each other, no longer sad to see me go and Peter stood up saying with an elegant bow, "Hey, in that case... mademoiselle, it would be my pleasure... to escort you back to Nesidy."

"The pleasure will be all mine, good sir," I said then smirked and shoved him off the boulder.

"Whoa! Hey!" he said flying back up and grinned at me.

"Oh wait," said Slightly, "What about the treasure? We should hide it in case more pirates show up."

I could see the thought of another adventure spark in Peter's eyes, and he turned to me as if asking if it were okay to put off their departure for a moment more.

"Go ahead," I said with a nod, "I'll wait for you on the island." The boys grinned and cheered before diving into the sea to go get the treasure once more.

I hopped across the boulders until I reached the shores of Neverland and suddenly out of the trees stepped a giant, a Spanish swordsman, and a short, bald Sicilian

"A word, my lady," said the bald man, "We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?"

I eyed them suspiciously wondering where they came from and said, "There is nothing nearby... other than an Indian village, but it's not for another couple of miles."

An evil grin then crossed the bald man's lips. "Then there will be no one to hear you scream!"

The giant approached me and pinched my neck before I could run or scream.