A/N: Hey guys!
Two updates in a day? *le shock*
Here's another one for you, beautiful people. Enjoy! xx
Wendy
Pan was sitting on the roof of his tree house, pointing out the particulars of Neverland to the girl sitting next to him. She had no reason not to trust him, and seemed at ease with the situation. As of yet, she hadn't asked for a change of clothes, but it didn't bother Pan. He wasn't too concerned with her state of dress, but rather with the fact that she was actually here of her own free will.
Someone to finally save Neverland. To finally save him.
He was excited for the world to return to its former glory; for his power to return to his body. And this girl, with her newfound belief in him, would be the one to do it. She would be the one to break Neverland's curse. If only he had the Neverfall Stone…
It was trapped in the other world – his home world. That land they called the Enchanted Forest.
And Ella, Hook and that blasted fairy had all they needed to get out of this world now. He'd spotted the compass in the pocket of Ella's pants, confirming his suspicions and leading him to set her free from their contract. If they had that, some pixie dust and Hook's ship, they could sail out of this world without an issue.
Well, Pan laughed inwardly, if they didn't mind me tagging along.
xxx
Ella took her time dragging her stuff into the bag with the tiara. She had no idea why she was keeping it, but it really was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She didn't have very much that she wanted to keep, but her spare set of clothes would be needed. And she took her pillow just in case. Sliding her daggers into her belt, she had to scrounge around for her sword, but walked out with only one bag and armed to the teeth, her bow and quiver sitting comfortably on her back. Within her bag was also a box, filled to the brim with the most deadly poison known to man. Ella knew what Hook had been searching for for ten years; it was probably time to give it to him.
It was lunch time by the time Ella left. Heading down to the camp, she was back in sneaky assassin mode, jumping amongst the foliage. Ella spotted Pan leading a girl through the forest up towards where an empty cabin sat. It was only about ten metres away from the campsite, which was why Ella had always refused it. But Pan had his nice face on, standing at least thirty centimetres away from the girl with his hands folded behind his back.
The girl's laughter floated up to Ella, and she flinched back in disgust, and a little bit of incredulous jealousy. A) Pan never said things that were remotely funny, and B) Who the hell was she to be laughing at Pan, and him to not make a move on her?
She shook it from her head, and jumped between a few more trees before she saw Pan touch Wendy's hand lightly, their only contact, and leave her in her new home – alone. It was only afternoon, but the girl had undoubtedly been awake for a long time, flying through the night.
Ella felt a cool breeze surrounding her, small flowers that she hadn't seen in a long time floated past her in the wind, falling through the window and swirling around in an image that seems almost magical. For a moment, Ella assumed that it was Pan's magic, but when she saw the flowers and leaves form the shape of a person, she could barely think straight.
A song-like voice spoke to Pan's new girl, but the transparent figure had her back to Ella. Ella was opening and closing her mouth as she tried to figure out what on earth was talking to the girl, but within moments, the person – or whatever it was – had disappeared.
And jumping through the window, Ella waited patiently for the girl to realise she was there.
"Hello?" Wendy craned her head out of the wrong window to try and see what was moving outside. "Peter?"
"Seriously? He lets you call him Peter?"
Wendy turned around finally spotting the girl who had spoken. She was leaning up against the wall casually, weapons slung over her body and a bag across her shoulder. Ella was at ease, trying not to frighten the poor girl too much by her presence.
"I thought I was the only girl here," Wendy frowned, staring into Ella's eyes. "That the rest of them were boys."
"That's what Pan would have you believe." Ella nodded, before asking, "Who was that?"
"The flower thing?" the girl asked. "She said she was the spirit of Neverland. And that I needed to leave Neverland before Pan trapped me here. But…I don't understand what he wants me to do. He says…I'm going to save Neverland."
"Rule number one in Neverland," Ella answered, taking a step forward. "Don't trust Pan."
"But he's…he's been so kind."
"And I'm telling you, as one of Pan's girls to another," Ella said earnestly. "Run now, while you can."
"Who are you?" Wendy demanded.
"My name is Ella," she volunteered the information, desperate to have the girl believe her. "And you have to get out of here before Pan destroys you like he did, me."
"I'm Wendy," the girl replied as she stepped around the bed and murmured, "The thing…the spirit…that was here before, she told me that I needed to go as well. That if I didn't, Peter would corrupt me and change me."
"It's up to you Wendy," Ella offered, knowing that simply taking her was not the way to go. She needed to choose to stay with them or him. And in the end, she looked Ella in the eyes and followed her out of the tree house.
xxx
"What the hell is wrong with you Pan?" Felix said, staring the boy up and down. "You're acting like she's some kind of princess! And I still can't believe you just let the assassin go."
"Get over it Felix," Pan answered, annoyed that he would question his judgement, and annoyed with himself that he had let her go knowing exactly the repercussions of his action. The fact that he was actually glad he'd done it, but missing her at the same time, because he-
Shut up conscience before I kill you.
"I'm not too sure about leaving just yet," Pan continued more smoothly, "I just got Wendy; I can't exactly leave her here."
"Take the new girl with you then. You've obviously got a better hold on her than the assassin."
"Felix," he warned, suddenly met with a desire to protect Ella, even if she was no longer his. "I need Wendy here. She has to fall in love with Neverland; to believe that she can save it."
"And you'll just hightail on the back of Hook's ship to find the Neverfall Stone?" Felix sounded doubtful.
"Who am I, Felix?"
The boy almost rolled his eyes.
"Peter Pan."
Pan looked at him with a wide grin. "And…"
"Peter Pan never fails."
Pan nodded, standing up and stretching. "I'll see you soon I expect. Once we're there I'm not intending to stay long. Get in, get the stone, and get out. Maybe a week at the most?"
"Don't die Pan."
"I'll try not to Felix," he said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder, mocking comfort. "I know you'd miss me so much."
xxx
"So…Ella wasn't it?" Wendy was following the girl the long way round to the beach, not wanting to get within fifty metres of Pan, lest his girl-radar went off.
"Yep," she answered shortly, pushing aside another branch.
"Who are you to Pan?"
Ella bit her tongue, glancing at the girl out of the side of her eyes before deciding that she should probably tell the truth. Lies would get her nowhere.
"I was his slave. I did things for him I'd much rather not talk about," she clarified quickly. "But he's set me free after ten years and I'm not complaining. Just getting out of this place."
Wendy looked over at her, a crease in her smooth skin, "Was…was that what he intended to do with me? Make me his slave?"
"God knows what he intended to do with you," Ella scoffed, before looking over at Wendy curiously. There was a part of the girl that was so innocent; she couldn't be older than fourteen. But Ella thought back to how she had been when Pan first bought her. Bruised, but still innocent – he had taken her.
Would he do the same to Wendy?
"We'll take care of you Wendy," Ella promised as they broke through the trees and onto the sand. She gave Wendy a rare smile that she hesitantly returned when catching sight of the pirate pacing along the shore, his boots touching the incoming tide every so often.
"Hook!"
His face jolted up, blue eyes locking on Ella's as his face broke into a smile.
"And this must be our new guest," Hook assumed, looking from Ella to Wendy. "What's your name, lass?"
"Wendy," she revealed quickly, as though branching it out could be dangerous. Her brown eyes had focused on the attachment to his left arm in fear, and the gaze was not left unnoticed by the pirate. He gave her a small grin and said, "I don't make a habit of using it as a weapon Wendy." He glanced back at Ella as he said the girl's first name, still pushing the idea that he should be calling Ella by hers too.
"We'd better get back to the ship if we intend to leave by nightfall," Ella answered Hook, subtly ordering him to stick to the professional side of things and simply get them back to the Enchanted Forest.
Wendy stuck to Ella's side as they rowed back to the ship, evidently not too keen to get within reach of the pirate. But she did let him help her up onto the deck, hauling her onto the ship with his good hand before letting go.
"Well it's about fucking time," Tink's voice came from above where she was climbing up on the sails, pixie dust in hand. "Honestly, I thought Pan had killed you."
"I told you to wait for me Tink," Hook said huffily, stalking over to where she jumped down onto the deck nimbly. "If you fall you don't have wings to catch you anymore."
"Thank you for that observation Captain Obvious," Tink bantered before realising we had a new arrival.
"Wendy," Ella introduced before Tink could ask. "Wendy, this is Tinkerbell."
"You were a fairy?" Wendy asked softly.
"Note the past tense," Tink sighed, dropping the empty bag of pixie dust upon the floor. "She's ready to fly Captain."
Ella reached into her back pocket and threw the compass into Hook's waiting hands. He took one glance at it and nodded, "Aye. This'll do."
"It doesn't point north," Tink said, glancing over his shoulder.
"This is true Tink," the Captain smiled. "Because its telling us the way to the Enchanted Forest, isn't north. This little beauty, I'm guessing, was devised solely for the purpose of inter-world travel."
"You'd have to ask Pan about that," Ella commented as they shared a knowing glance, "So I guess we'll never find out. I'm going to go and get the map."
And heading into Hook's quarters, she dropped her bag and weapons by the door as a matter of habit before reaching for the open maps of both Neverland and the Enchanted forest on his desk. She thought she was alone in the room, but after feeling a breeze behind her, she realised someone must have entered.
That someone was the spirit that had spoken to Wendy earlier. Her face, or what could be seen of her face, was beautiful. Hair shone in flowers of silvery white into a dress of pale golden leaves.
"Who are you?" Ella breathed in astonishment. And less importantly, how did she get in?
"That crown," she said, lifting her slender floral arm to point at Ella's bag. Within it was the tiara Ella had taken from Dead Man's Cave that she had found so essential to bring with her "Keep it safe. Hidden. Away from Peter Pan."
"But why? What's so important about it?"
"In the hands of one girl, it could make Pan invincible; restore his power…restore his heartless nature. You must let him live and die; love and grieve. Be human."
"That would be best," Ella agreed with a nod, knowing that Neverland was dying, and Pan along with it. "But please, if you are on our side, tell me who you are.
"I'm the spirit of Neverland," the girl began, but was awkwardly cut off by Ella who was jabbing her finger in the direction of the crown.
"But you weren't always," Ella said sharply. "That crown had to belong to someone corporeal."
The spirit sighed – a very human sigh – before muttering 'shit' under her breath. That confirmed Ella's suspicions even before the girl said, "My name is Nevara."
Ella nodded in appreciation as the spirit looked up at her, understanding the connection they had to stop Pan at all costs. "Keep it safe soldier. Let Pan die."
And within a moment, she was gone. Disappearing on the wind, the spirit floated out of the window and into the sunset with glorious abandon. Clearing her head, Ella snatched the maps off the table and headed back out to see Hook at the helm. Wendy was looking distinctly out of place, and after passing on the maps, she led the new girl into the Captain's cabin. His bed was unmade because Tink obviously didn't find the need to clean up after herself when she was hogging his bed and making him sleep out on the deck. But Wendy was grateful for anything at that point, resting her head down upon the pillow and falling asleep almost immediately.
Going outside once more, Ella went to stand by Hook and said to him quietly, "You may be wearied by your search for a way to kill the Dark One, but rest assured it wasn't in vain."
Hook glanced up at her curiously. She inclined her head downwards to where the dreamshade sat in her bag, "It's in your cabin," and returned to watch over Wendy.
But as Hook called out orders to his limited crew and the Jolly Roger began to set sail to the east, soon to be up in the sky, nobody realised that Peter Pan was clutching at the figurehead of the Jolly Roger, settled into the momentum of the ship, and welcoming the freedom that he would have outside of Neverland. The freedom to explore and search for the stone that would save him and all of Neverland…forever.