The next few days fell into a pattern after that. Training days meant that I spent some time in the morning training with one of the boys. Morning practice was followed by a break either for food or to just lounge around the fire pit talking with people which allowed me to practice learning the rest of their names. Then after the break was over there would be a longer training session between me and one of the boys who wasn't picked to go on whatever special missions Peter was taking some of the others on. Pan rarely came and interrupted any of my other training sessions except to throw a piece of advice in which was normally followed by a sarcastic comment.
Training involved more than just the knife I started with on the first day. It ranged from hand to hand combat to stealth techniques to the various weapons that the boys used. Normally the session revolved around whatever strength my partner had. Some of the time was also spent trying to teach me how to fix a weapon if it broke like having to reattach a string to a bow. Having zero experience with anything I used to train, there was a lot of frustration on my end. I quickly realized that knowing when to pick a defensive or offensive move was something I could apply my years of observation practice to. It was all about reading your opponent and predicting how they would act based off their movements. Not that any of it really helped initially. Getting pinned constantly happened no matter who I was training with, although Felix took more pleasure in gloating about it than any of the others.
By far my favorite thing about it all was knowing that when I went to bed after a day of training I would be heading to the beach as soon as I woke up again. It was also a great surprise to know that my iPod still hadn't died even though I had told Pan initially that it should have been dead a few days ago. Thankfully he hadn't asked about it yet, and I was mostly only pleased because I had no idea how to explain that it just wouldn't die. Even on Neverland I doubt he would buy a "I wished it, so it hasn't" explanation.
Waking up for my second beach morning, I quickly threw my shoes on and hair up and headed out the door as quietly as I could. I never bothered to try to find anyone when I left because they knew it was my day off. If they really needed to talk to me, they could always just search me out. Realistically the only one who had done that ever was Pan, and he wasn't exactly my favorite visitor. Do you truly not like him or do you just not like how easily you two can throw insults at each other which are more like jokes? I questioned myself before shaking my head. I tried hard not to think about Pan because I wasn't really sure I was ready to answer that question. Sure he had some of the characteristics that I was used to because of my friends, but was I willing to become something remotely close to friends with him? Brushing off the thought I kept wandering through the trees, but because I was distracted I ran into something.
"Hey! Watch it!" came a female voice. Oops. Not a something, a someone. And a….girl?
"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" I apologized bending down to help pick up the things she had dropped on the ground.
"No," she said batting my hand away when I tried to pick up a bundle of herbs. "You've done enough, don't you think?" Now she turned to glare at me. She looked like she was maybe in her late twenties with a dark forest green dress that had an asymmetrical skirt, dark handkerchief tied around her neck, dark tights, brown ankle boots, and a messy bun put on top of her head. Her accent was somewhat hard for me to place; it sounded like it could be British or Australian.
"I really am sorry," I repeated. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Are you…Are you Tinkerbell?" I asked her curiously, hoping that maybe she was something good ol' Disney had made up for the sake of the movie. I mean, Tinkerbell never spoke in Peter Pan and this person talked.
"Who's asking? Did Pan send you for something?" she glared at me accusingly, standing back up after gathering her different food supplies.
"Please," I said rolling my eyes, "doing Peter Pan a favor is not high on my priority list. This is actually one of the times I get to escape from him and the Lost Boys for a while. I'm Kim, by the way," I added sticking out my hand for a handshake.
She looked at me appraisingly. Checking to see if I'm lying probably, I figured since she seemed to know Pan and clearly his love of games and getting people to do what he wants. Finally after a minute, she shook my hand. "Tinkerbell. You can call me Tink if you like."
"Not to be creepy or anything, but do you mind if I just hang out with you for a little bit? I'll leave after like half an hour, I promise. I've just been stuck at camp crazy for almost a week and haven't had anyone else to talk to," I admitted looking at the ground.
"Fine," Tinkerbell replied. "I was almost home anyway, just follow me."
I think this is the first time since I've gotten here that I've actually been excited to hear those words, I realized. Looking around I saw that we were walking along a semi-permanent trail, probably from the number of times she's walked it. About five minutes later we stopped at the foot a tree house. Tinkerbell headed up the ladder at the base of the tree and I followed up behind her. It was basic looking on the inside, but felt homey. "It's nice," I told her.
"It's nothing special," she replied. "So, you live with them?"
"Yep. Not many other options the way I see it."
"But you're not happy being there?" she asked again.
I couldn't help but laugh at the question earning me a confused look from Tinkerbell. "Let's just say I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, yeah? It's sort of an adjustment." She nodded and went around putting things away. "So can I ask you a slightly personal question?"
"You can ask, but I may not answer it," she admitted.
"Fair enough. Back where I'm from, we have a story about Peter Pan and to make a long story short, it's very different than here. In my story, you're a fairy. Is that still true here?" I asked. She paused putting her things away for a split second before continuing on.
Things were silent for a few minutes while my question hung in the air. Nervous that I may have hit a sore spot, I was about to ask her a less invasive question when she looked me straight in the eye. "No, I'm not a fairy. Not anymore."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry or offend you or anything," I rambled.
"It's fine," she said although her straight face didn't make me feel any better.
"Right. Well," I trailed off when it was clear that was the end of that conversation. "Could I ask you a less invasive question?" That question earned me a blank stare. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra outfit would you?"
Tinkerbell let a bark of a laugh fall out of her mouth before she responded to me. "Are you serious? What's wrong with what you have?"
Looking down at my outfit, I sighed at the mess it had become. My black pants had flecks of sand I was convinced would never come out and my t-shirt had its own fair share of stains forming on it. Not to mention that my running shoes while they had gotten dirtier since coming here still had a fairly bright design of white and lime green. "I don't know if you've noticed, but people like to blend in with the nature around here," I joked earning a half smile. "It'd be nice if I wasn't so much a target because I have a purple shirt and bright colored shoes."
After considering for a moment, Tinkerbell walked over to a corner in her treehouse and pulled out a closed box. I couldn't see what she was rifling through until she turned around and handed me a small pile of clothes. "I'm not sure if the shoes will fit," she told me.
Going through the pile I saw she had given me a pair of dark pants that were either brown or black, an extra-long quarter length sleeved shirt with a slight v-shaped neckline and was jaggedly cut across the hem with had mottled dark green and brown colors throughout, a large belt, and a pair of dark taupe, lace-up boots that I guessed came up to my mid-calf. "Thank you so much! Do you mind if I try them on to see if they fit?"
"Go for it," she said. I went off to a corner of the room and started changing. "What did you mean before when you said today was one of your days of escape from Pan?" Although it was a seemingly innocent question, I could tell there was more information she was looking for.
"It's a compromise the two of us made," I said without elaboration.
"Pan doesn't make compromises," Tinkerbell said like it was a significant fact.
"Well he did this time. I don't take orders very well, personally," I said as I finished tying up the boots. "These fit perfectly by the way. Thank you again," I said while standing up. The pants reminded me of jeggings in a way because of the style and the fact that I could move around easily in them and I loved that the sleeves came down my arm somewhat because I still didn't have a jacket to wear.
"No problem. They were just spare clothes I never planned on using anyway. You should get going and do whatever you're supposed to do," she said walking back over to the ladder. I stuffed my shirt and shoes into the top of my pants and tied it together creating a makeshift bag to carry it. Nodding at Tinkerbell in gratitude once more, I started climbing down the ladder. "Kim," she called when I had almost reached the bottom forcing me to look straight up at her. "Be careful, okay? I know Pan well enough to know not to get involved with him. He's not a good person."
"Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm okay for now. In a way he kind of reminds me of some people I know, so I'm used to his attitude. If you're ever bored, try to find me some time," I called as I headed back on my path toward a beach. As I was leaving her tree house, I was once again forced to reflect on how different everything here was compared to the story I had grown up with. There is totally something up with Tinkerbell. She has a lot more to her story about not being a fairy, I thought as I was walking away.