Hey readers, I AM SSSOOO SORRY ABOUT THE...UM...FOUR MONTH GAP BETWEEN THIS UPDATE AND THE LAST UPDATE!!!! It's been school, that's my excuse. No time whatsoever to work on my story!!!! Frustrating!!!! Plus, I've had this chapter written for a LONG TIME, but I didn't update because I wanted to finish writing the next chapter first, which I have. I want to be one chapter ahead of myself each time I update now, so...yeah. Anyway, I will be updating a LOT MORE now that SCHOOL'S DONE FOR THE YEAR!!!!! YAAAAY!!!! Okay, so here we go. I hope you enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: Yeah, I own nothing of Peter Pan. I only own anything/one you don't recognize.


Chapter Twelve: The Jolly Roger

The sun was warm on my already hot, sweating body as I was tugged through the air. Peter showed no signs of fatigue from our duel, surprise, surprise, causing me to giggle to myself. As for me, I was exhausted as I always am after a good fencing match. For the time being, I just relaxed in the soft breeze, enjoying the sensation of my hair flowing freely behind me. Normally my side-swept bangs (I could never stand having them hanging across my forehead) would have kept moisture tucked into my hairline, but now, due to the wind, my forehead was comfortably dry and cooling down. My eyes scanned the forest, cliffs, and glittering waterfalls of the island as they passed beneath us, and then came up to observe the clear blue sky and finally rest on Peter. The morning sun illuminated his hair and washed it with gold, creating a radiant reddish copper. The red feather in his cap flicked in the wind, and I wondered, not for the first time, how that cap of his was staying on his head, withstanding the air current. His tunic was so very green, the green of the Neverland trees. Then again, it was made from those trees, wasn't it? I glanced at his left hand, gently holding my right hand. I was so content, until my stomach growled and I wished we'd get to food faster.

As if Peter had read my mind, the boy suddenly dipped down, tugging my arm, and I found that we were headed for the deck of that fearfully infamous ship that I had always wanted to explore, the Jolly Roger. Time to prank the pirates or something? What was going through his head? I opened my mouth and cried, "Peter! Wha…" I meant to protest against landing on the ship, but there was no time to say anything more. My heart thumped with adrenaline as Peter brought us upright again and we touched upon the wooden deck. I couldn't help gripping his hand in sudden panic and rapidly searching my surroundings, waiting for Captain James Hook to emerge. The day I met that brutal man face to face…

"Rebecca, it's safe," Peter said, chuckling at the way I was holding his hand. He pulled it free and crossed in front of me, seeming to be headed toward a cabin with small circular windows on my left. "I took over this ship long ago, when I brought Wendy and her brothers back home to London. You won't find pirates on it." I remembered that Lasher had shot cannonballs at us from this very ship the day before.

"But you said that there are pirates around, Peter."

"There are, here and there, but they're not that common. I mean, I know I said you would have run-ins with pirates, but don't get me wrong. It's not like there's a whole crew waiting to attack you. Just a few scattered pirates here and there on the island."

"Oh," I said softly, a tad bit disappointed. I had been looking forward to battling lots and lots of pirates. Peter seemed to sense my small drop in excitement, and he turned around to look at me.

"Heh, don't worry, Rebecca. You'll get your chances to fight pirates. C'mon." He had opened the cabin door and he now held it ajar, like a gentleman, waving me in ahead of him. I smiled and trotted to the entrance, slowing as I entered a dim, dank room containing a piano, a desk with an old dirty map, a dining table, a bunk, and above all, a precarious feel to it that alerted one's senses; I shivered as goose bumps crawled up my arms. The cabin in which Hook had tricked Tinker Bell into telling him Peter's hiding place. Tink!

"Hey, Peter, where's Tinkerbell?" I asked. No answer. "Peter?" Still no answer. I turned to find him gone. "What the? Where is he?" I looked all around me…and no luck. "The ceiling?" I wondered aloud, glancing up to see no one. "Peter, come on, this isn't funny." This room was scary enough as it was…I felt so very…helpless, in grave peril in here. I supposed that Hook or no Hook, his essence of malevolence would always remain. It even smelled of human sweat and toil…slavery to a corrupt pirate captain. I had never thought such things could be recognized by scent. Maybe that's why smell is known as the strongest of the senses.

"Bad things have happened in here," I whispered to myself. The floor creaked behind me. I screamed and whirled around, my pulse racing.

"Hey! What are you screaming for? I told you, you've got nothing to fear!" Peter exclaimed humorously. His hands were held at either side of his face, palms exposed, in that position that generally means surrender, though he was obviously doing it to indicate that there was no need for me to be so scared.

"Peter!" I shrieked, still trembling. "Cripes…don't do that!"

"What?" he laughed in mock ignorance.

"Sneak up on me like that, Pan!"

"But you knew I was behind yah," Peter chuckled. I opened my mouth to protest…and had no ammunition, and I groaned, making him laugh harder.

"That's besides the point," I muttered.

"No, that is the point!" Peter retorted. I scowled at him and he continued to laugh.

"But you surprised me on purpose. You meant to scare me," I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"Aw, come on! You know it was funny!" I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"You are annoying sometimes, Peter," I muttered.

"Hey, being annoying can be fun," he grinned. Admittedly, I couldn't argue with that. All the times I had annoyed my siblings on purpose…well, some of them I had enjoyed anyway. Until I got into trouble, which tended to take the fun out of it. Suddenly realizing with a naughty grin that I could pester any of the Lost Boys here without getting in trouble for it (they might actually find it funny!), I pondered how fascinating it was that Peter and his boys took it for granted that they could taunt each other without getting punished. It was like a far away concept to me. Sure, my brother had gotten away with all sorts of things involving tormenting me, and it had always seemed that I never got away with anything…yet here, I could! I opened my mouth in a toothy smile at this revelation that was somehow incredibly significant to me, and then followed Peter further into the cabin, into a nook I had never seen before.

It was a little room off to the left, darker and damper with an environment that caused me to stop and take a breath to calm myself before I kept going. Peter was softly laughing at my reaction, which I can't say I appreciated, but I let him laugh anyway. There were no windows now, and the entrance provided very little light. The door clanged shut behind us, making me jump. Dark. Just dark. And suddenly I blinked as a lantern lit in front of my eyes.

"Like it in here?" Peter asked me in an obnoxiously creepy deep voice. I rolled my eyes and gently pushed his shoulder. He snorted and sought out an assortment of fruits that were piled together in crates along the wall. He tossed me a couple of bananas, and what looked like peaches. "Will that be enough for yah?" he asked while I caught them, fumbling to keep them all in my arms.

"Yep, these should be fine." I was anxious to get out of there!

"All right. Let's head back out then." I nodded and turned to darkness. Peter laughed again as I stumbled around blindly. "I'll lead the way." I had always found his habit of laughing at others to be childishly adorable, which is probably the only way I was able to brush off his rude behavior so easily. It's what to expect with Peter Pan, and I mean, what can you do? Punish him? Hah!

I felt him take my arm (as my hands were full) and pull me toward the door, blowing out the lantern and hanging it on a nail in the wall. Peter somehow found the door handle and we emerged into the light. Eager to get out of there, I made haste to leave that awful cabin, racing past Peter and onto the deck of the ship. Sounds of amusement trailed in my footsteps.

"That cabin really scares you, huh?" Peter chuckled as he followed me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm not afraid of anything," I claimed, quoting a song that I loved.

"Sure, sure. There's only one person who's not afraid of anything, and that's me," Peter said proudly, resting his right fist on his hip and pointing at himself with his left thumb.

"Ah! You're obnoxious is what you are!" I retorted, plopping down to eat.

"Obnoxious? Me? No, I just tell the truth," Peter said, joining me. I tossed him a peach, which he caught and rolled from one arm to the other. I began to peel a banana. Taking a large bite, I leaned my elbow on my knee and looked up at the sky, spacing out. I wondered what adventures awaited me next.

'More sword fights, of course, but what else? Will the mermaids like me when I meet them, or will they treat me like they treated Wendy? And how much exploring can I do? Caves, perhaps? There are probably plenty of creatures, beings in general, to see which the movie doesn't show…maybe even the book doesn't include them. Maybe…hmmm…'

"Peter?"

"Hmm?" He looked at me sideways, and bit into his already half-eaten peach. I laughed to myself, almost inaudibly.

"It's just so amazing to be here, sitting beside you. Who knew this is where I would be in the next day or so?" 'Sentimentalist,' I thought with a grin. I had always been one. I was gazing back up at the blue sky, feeling luckier than ever before.

"Neverland is pwetty awesome, isn't it? Why do you fink I wive here!" Peter said, his mouth full of peach. I chuckled.

"I can even talk with my mouth full here," I said more to myself in the midst of laughing.

"Who said you couldn't?" Peter asked me curiously, taking another giant bite. I glanced at him and grinned at his expression; it was obviously absurd to him that one would not talk with a full mouth. Shaking my head, I looked at the floor, tracing the knots in the wood with my eyes.

"My mother," I answered after a moment.

"Ah. It figures," Peter commented. I laughed to myself again. He didn't have a very good impression of my mother! I looked at my dirt-stained knee, and started to pick at the now dry crust.

"Well, not just my mother. Really, everyone back home above the age of…I dunno…maybe seven, or even younger. But everyone says not to talk with your mouth full. It's considered rude."

"Why? How else are you supposed to talk when you're eating?"

"That's just it. You're not supposed to talk when you're eating. You're told to wait until you've swallowed," I said.

"Why?"

"'Cause people think it's gross to see food in your mouth. I mean, it is, kinda," I said with a shrug. Seeing food in someone's mouth had honestly never bothered me too much.

"Gwown-ufs," Peter said, rolling his eyes. I laughed at his pronunciation of "grown-ups" with a full mouth.

"Indeed," I agreed, nodding. I took some more bites of my banana, relaxing my mind. On the last bite, I smiled widely. I couldn't help myself. I chomped it into a mush, turned to Peter, opened my mouth wide, and stuck my tongue out with a loud, "Ah!" He had finished his peach, and he rolled back in laughter. I laughed too. I wondered how long it had been since I'd done that in front of someone who actually found it funny. I've gotta say, it felt great! I swallowed, still grinning, and looked at the banana peel in my hand. That's when something else occurred to me…"Peter?"

"Yeah?" He sat up again, still chuckling.

"What do I do with this?" I asked, holding out the banana peel.

"Uh, throw it in the water?" he said with a careless shrug, getting up. 'But isn't that littering?' I wondered. I shrugged, and not knowing what else to do with it, tossed it over the edge of the ship. "You call that a throw?" Peter mocked. "Watch this." He picked up the peach core from the deck where he had left it, wound his arm back, and hurled it into the air. It flew far past the spot where my banana peel had splashed.

"Not bad," I nodded. I wasn't about to challenge him to a throwing contest; I had never had much of an arm. But he took care of the challenging for me.

"Not bad?!" Peter exclaimed, gawking at me. "It was so much farther than your throw!"

"I wasn't competing with you," I pointed out.

"Huh? Well, let's make it a competition, then!" Before I could protest, Peter grabbed my hand and took to the air.

"Where are we going now?" I asked, watching the ship deck shrink under us.

"A place with lots of rocks," he answered. Rocks weren't all that waited for me there.

There yah gooooo!!!! May I ask for reviews (no flames),...PLEASE:D The more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will be up!!!!! Oh, and MORE is happening in that chapter, if that's more motivation for reviews!!!! Bwahaha...