Chapter VIII

"You said you were good with that thing, right?" Bae nodded towards my sword. I hadn't unsheathed it, but I had my hand on the hilt.

"Baelfire, she's 6. You really think she knows how to use a sword? Not to mention that eye is swollen nearly shut; it's a wonder she can see at all with her hair in her face like that." Pan gestured at my face as he talked. I tried to lunge at him but Bae caught my arm and held me back.

"If you can't control your anger you'll never be a good fighter Mar. Save your energy so you can use it right." His arm wrapped around my chest and he spoke softly into my ear. Pan and the Lost boys were laughing at my outburst. It just made me angrier. I breathed heavily through my nose. Slowly Bae let me go.

"Listen Pan, I get that you want to keep her hidden so if Hook does get back onto the island he won't be able to find her, but you don't see what hiding her in the echo caves is necessary. Let her stay with me."

"You always did love a damsel Baelfire. You do know I have your dear Wendy hidden away in there right? Too bad you'll never be able to get to her. I have some very special magic in there. It's a good thing you got a hold of your sister when you did. Too bad I'm going to have to take her from you now."

I turned and looked at Bae. How did Pan know Bae was my brother? Bae was clearly thinking the same thing because he shrugged his shoulders at me.

"You're not taking her. I'll give you whatever you want Pan, but you can't have my sister. She's alright with me."

"Mm, I don't think so. She is my captive, so she is going to be treated as such. Felix, grab her." I pulled my sword as Felix approached me. The other boys drew their weapons when they saw mine. Felix stepped back away from my blade. "Well, well. Looks like we've got ourselves a little stand off. No matter. You're both probably of more use to me dead. Do what you must boys."

He turned and sauntered off into the jungle. The group of boys stood, surrounding us, weapons drawn. Bae and I were horribly out numbered.

"Think you can handle two of these, Mar?" Bae handed me his sword before climbing up two steps on Tink's ladder. I dropped the tip into the soil; it was heavier than the one in my other hand. I lifted it back up and Bae readied his bow. "Don't let any of their weapons touch you. They're all laced with dreamshade."

We all stood still for a moment, holding our breath. Then Bae let loose the first arrow.

Had I only been using one sword I may have fought better, but I was clumsy with the two. My forearms burned from the weight of the swords and my hair mixed with sweat stuck to my face. I was able to fight through many of the boys while Bae was able to take out quite a few from his perch on the ladder. I was fighting two, sometimes 3 at a time. My chest hurt from breathing so hard; there had to have been at least twenty of them but they never seemed to end. Having the second sword may have made me better able to fight the multiple opponents but it did slow me down.

My swords clashed with their daggers and dirks. I was a much better fighter than most of these boys, and I was half of their age. The fighters slowly thinned out and it became easier to see an escape in sight.

Finally the arrows and swords thinned out that there was just Bae, Felix and I. The other boys had retreated leaving Felix to fight Bae and I alone.

"So, it seems you've taken care of my friends, but you still have to deal with me." He started circling around me. Bae jumped down from the ladder and tried to take my second sword from me.

"No, I want to do this myself." I held both swords up in front of me. I was going to finish this so Pan would leave me alone once and for all. My whole body burned from the fighting I had just finished, and the ached with anticipation for the fight to come.

"Mar, I can help you. You can't take him on your own."

I was determined. I was going to show both of them that I didn't need anyone's help. I needed to prove it to myself more than anyone else.

"No. I have it handled."

He stepped back but made sure he had his bow at the ready. Felix lunged at me, his dirk aimed at my jugular. I crossed my swords, catching his and holding it. I pushed it to the right and he stumbled. I took the opportunity to slice his bicep. He grunted and came back up swinging his dirk at my face. I dodged it, ducking and swinging my sword at his leg. I missed and came back up just in time to meet his sword with my two again. I put all of my strength and energy into my swords, pushing them up to his face. Our faces were inches apart. He smiled villainously; his breath was vile.

"Ready to give up little girl?" He looked like a snake when he smiled like this.

"Not in your lifetime." I spit in his eye and he staggered backwards. I took advantage of him being distracted and kicked him in the groin. He fell to his knees. I dropped one of my swords and kicked him in the chest so he fell onto his back. I sat on his chest and put my sword up to his throat.

"I may be young, but I've been through a lot in the last few days. I would like it very much if you left me and my brother alone from now on, okay? Now run along to Pan and tell him he's not to bother us anymore. Do you understand?" He nodded sheepishly. I climbed off of him and he got up. "And if you do bother us again, my brother and I are going to kick your butts right off this stupid island."

He went running down the path, holding his crotch as he went. I turned to Bae who was standing a few feet away from me. He looked scared.

"What?"

"You're kind of scary when you're mad. Remind me to never tick you off." He walked over t slowly and bent down to pick the sword that I had tossed down. "You really are good with this thing, even with two of them. You should practice with the two, you could be a fierce fighter some day."

"Well if we ever get off this island I'll have to find my daddy, so maybe I will. The more swords I can fight with the better." I giggled. I didn't know how to feel about fighting with two swords, it seemed silly to me. Though when I considered how fighting the lost boys with the two swords had felt like maybe I could do it.

"How old did you say she was again, Bae?" The faerie had her head stuck out a window and was looking down at us. "She's quite the fighter for such a young thing."

"She is, and she's going to get even better. Thanks for the stuff Tink, we'll be seeing you around."

We gather our things again and set out back to our camp. A few time along the way we stopped so Bae could do some hunting. He was able to shoot a few small birds out of the trees so we would be able to have meat for a while. The sun was just finishing setting when we returned to our hut. Bae built another fire as the wind began picking up for a second cold night.

While he cooked our birds, I tried to set up a second bed. I tried moving the table over but it was too heavy.

"Just leave it, if I have to I'll sleep on the floor again tonight. I have plenty of time to set up another bed."

"Are you sure? I can sleep on the floor tonight if you want." He got up from the fire, birds in hand. They smelled delicious. He moved over to the bed and sat down, gesturing for me to join him. I skipped over and joined him.

"Do you think Pan will leave us alone?"

"Well, Felix definitely isn't going to bother you anymore. I can't make any promises about Pan, but you nearly single handedly defeated all of the lost boys today, so I doubt we'll be seeing much of them anytime soon." I bit into the bird. It was juicy and tasted delicious; it definite improvement from all of the fruit. We sat in silence while we ate. It started to rain just as we were climbing into our beds.

"Bae?"

"Yeah, Mar?"

"I miss my daddy, but I'm glad I get a brother out of this."

"I'm glad we got each other out of this too, Mar."

For the first time in three nights I fell asleep smiling.