A/N: Well hear it is after years of revision and what not, I've finally returned to this story. I hope you like this version just as much if not more than the first secret weapon I wrote !
Bebelle had managed to maneuver herself onto the ledge underneath the porthole window, after boredom, and the wooden walls of the lower deck that formed her prison left her with nothing better to do but stare at them.
It was quite the achievement she thought, considering her hands were tied together uncomfortably by a chafing black rope, and her feet the same but marginally looser. Lifting her hands she managed to grip the latch in her fingers and pulled. It took her a few tries- rust having sealed it shut after neglect of use; but eventually she managed to prise it open.
Immediately she was met with the clean freshness of the sea.
Inhaling the salty smell she closed her eyes, imagining just for a moment that she wasn't a prisoner.
A sudden bout of thunder broke through the atmosphere, startling her so much so that she ended up jolting back and falling off the ledge. She braced for impact a little too late as she pushed her hands out infront of her to catch her fall, wincing as the ropes strained against her wrists and the friction bit into her skin.
"Ouch."
She grumbled, inspecting her wounds; a serious case of rope burn and maybe a slight chance of spraining. Bebelle sucked in a breath and frowned, attempting to pull herself up in a way that would allow minimal pain.
Panicked shouting vibrated through the wooden walls of the ship; something was occurring up on deck.
She peered out of the window, seeing that the sky was blackening and there was movement in the now violent waves. She gasped.
It wasn't the storm that was causing the rippling waves; it was actually mermaids causing the storm.
As if realising they had an audience; one of the mermaids leapt up out of the waters, her technicolour scales glittering along with her pearl embellishments. Bebelle's mouth dropped open in awe of the beautiful creature. The sea creature's ocean blue eyes met Bebelle's darker doe ones; then she disappeared back into the sea with a splash.
Bebelle trained her eyes on the mermaids in the waters, curiously watching as they performed in a synchronous pattern. Sudden realisation caused her to start as she realised what they were doing, gripping the base of the ship and rocking it back and forth-they were trying to tip it over- and she wasn't sure how good of a swimmer she was with her hands and feet restricted.
One of the mermaids must have noticed her concern, as she stopped aiding the others, jumping out in front of Bebelle's eyes with a loud splash to get her attention. The girl shook her head, dazzled by the red headed mermaid bobbing out of the water.
She flashed Bebelle a kind smile, one that was reassuring and harmless. The young girl wasn't sure what it was that made her trust the mermaid- hope maybe? Whatever it was she clung to the feeling, decidedly calmer now she knew she wasn't going to be harmed.
"I'm Ariel."
The mermaid sang, introducing herself with excitable eyes and a splash of her tail.
"What's your name?"
She asked and Bebelle opened her mouth to reply. Her pink lips parted, but all that escaped from between them was a shriek. One of her captors tore her away from the window in a rather brutish manner, wrapping a calloused hand in her dark hair and giving a harsh tug.
"Stay away from the window you stupid girl, can't you see there's a storm?"
His voice was gruff and tinged with annoyance as the pirate shook his head at her, not at all remorseful for his mistreatment of the young girl, who he saw as nothing more than an asset that was a nuisance. Bitterly she offered him a false apology, with a frown set on her face.
"Sorry, i'll keep that in mind from now on. Wouldn't want to get whisked away by mermaids when the company here's so delightful."
He gave her a grumble and an irritated glare, and then he disappeared leaving Bebelle alone once more, though this time she was glad for the lack of company.
In less than a few moments everything seemed to erupt, the storm started to evolve. Thunder and lightning crackled, sea spray sloshed through the open port and leaked from the roof above her, the boat was rocking ferociously and she scrambled to seek purchase on something stable.
Left and right, this way and that. She skidded across the floor banging and knocking into crates of molasses, the walls; everything inside the storage room in the deep underbelly of the ship as it tipped one way and the other. Her skirts and sleeves were smudged dirty, and now suffering from a series of rips and tears. And she couldn't prevent it from happening as she was tied at both the hands and feet.
Now she was sure she had sprained a wrist and no doubt she would be covered in bruises and cuts and splinters tomorrow; that was if she made it off the godforsaken ship by then.
Her ears filled with noise, and not the noise of the wailing crew up on deck. No it was a much more enticing sound. It was a soft, almost inaudible whisper with no distinguishing words, the noise touching her ears sounding like one drawn out hum of a melody much like a lullaby. Each mermaid's voice overlapped at different pitches and levels, harmonizing into one tune that made her head dizzy and her vision hazy under their spell. She shook her head trying to break away from it but it was no use, as the mermaids power had already consumed her.
Her limbs fell heavy, and she found herself yawning repeatedly as fatigue suddenly settled upon her. Each blink took more and more effort to pry her eyelids open until eventually they fixed shut and with small slow breaths she fell into a slumber.
Bebelle woke with a start.
The door was pushed open with such ferocity that it trembled on its hinges, slamming into the wall on the opposite side and shaking further. A large bearlike man filled the frame of the door, his gaze settling on the young girl with a scowl. He pushed greasy gold locks away from his face, smearing the black ash and powder staining his hands across his face and streaking it through his hair. Bebelle furrowed her brows at his filthier than usual state, not paying attention when he turned over his shoulder and upwards towards the higher deck, telling whoever that 'the girl was fine' in a deep tenor growl.
He tilted his head higher, listening to whatever reply he was receiving, though it was too muffled for Bebelle's ears to interpret, (the mermaid's song had left her a little groggy and disorientated.)
She took in his appearance with curiosity; he usually was one of the more unkempt members of the ship's crew, but now he was especially more so, his clothing torn at odd angles, splattered with speckles of blood, and his exposed biceps were covered in scratches and fresh cuts.
"What're ye looking at?"
He growled again, bushy brows furrowing as his steely grey eyes narrowed.
"Who did you pick a fight with this time?"
She asked, finishing the sentence with a dimpled smile to frustrate him further. He hated when she smiled.
"Mermaids."
He seethed, and she nodded her head remembering the storm, which had now settled.
"So how many of you have they killed then? Don't tell me you're all that's left."
His eye twitched. Then his mouth curled up into a snarl.
Bebelle had hit a nerve with her words. She regarded him carefully, shuffling herself backwards ever so slightly. She had heard he had quite the temper and now regretted goading him so.
"Shut up!"
He hissed then strode over to her in 2 quick strides, gripping her wrist and yanking her up over his shoulder, snorting at her attempts to kick and punch in protest.
"Oh put me down you bloody brute!"
She squirmed wriggling around in hopes of slipping out of his grasp, but it was painful like a vice, his arm locking around her slender frame and keeping her in place.
"No can do Princess, you're wanted on deck."
On deck? Had she heard right? This made her thrashing come to an end, her thoughts now consumed by a different matter. Why was she wanted? They had never allowed her to leave the small bunk before.
Upon leaving the dim lit room she was met with slightly chill air and drenched in an almost blinding white light. She paid no mind to the bear of a man who had tossed her to the floor and moved to join a group of crew members; she was too busy soaking in her bewildering setting.
The bright white light was emanating from the moon, a large and magnificent shape which stole the attention away from it's darker companion of navy black sky. It was indeed beautiful.
Then she tore her gaze away from up above, finding more wonders in the island they had reached. The beach was a washed out silver under the lunar light, sparkling like it was made from billions of tiny diamonds, and the first thought that entered her mind was that she wanted to feel it against her feet, and leave footprints in the sand.
Equally as enchanting were the trees, only the slightest highlight from the moon giving away the shape of their silhouette in a mass of black. It was kind of creepy, she thought- but that only made her want to explore more.
She stole a glance at the heavily depleted crew which had congregated together; the mermaids had done a real number on them, and the ship too it seemed as it was sitting upon shore at slanted angle that was threatening to tumble. The crew were so deeply engrossed in their loud discussion on what to do next, that it made Bebelle wonder if they would even notice her if she dared sneak away now.
But; as if they had read her thoughts, a trio walked towards Bebelle, reaching her just as she managed to pull herself up into a standing position.
"Don't go too deep into the jungle, just as far enough as you need to get supplies so we can hurry up and fix the ship and get off this godforsaken island. We don't want that one knowing we're here."
The crew's bosun instructed the other two men, which made Bebelle scan all the bodies above deck. No captain, no quartermaster; had they been killed during the mermaid attack? Shaking her head she turned to them, interrupting their conversation.
"When you say, here...where is here exactly?"
The bear like man who had brought her on deck answered with a snort.
"We're in Neverland Princess."
His tone was grim but she couldn't see why, it was a beautiful place, and a magical one, she could feel it.
"Neverland."
She repeated in a soft whisper said with a smile. She liked the way that sounded, full of adventure and possibilities.
"Keep the girl with you. Wouldn't want her running off and getting herself killed by those boys."
Her head darted up, eyes widening and narrowing. What boys? And why would they kill her?
She was about to ask such a thing, but instead let out a yelp, as the bear suddenly gripped her forearm and with a disgruntled mutter whisked her away with the other man, tugging her off the ship.
"Hey you're hurting me!"
She spat out, jabbing his ribcage with her elbow with as much force as she could muster, though it did no good, only irritating him a little and he raised an eyebrow.
"Yer too slow."
She glared spitefully, eyes rolling as she let out a guffaw.
"Well maybe, if you untied my feet, i'd actually be able to move properly!"
Bebelle hissed, her features setting into a stone cold stare. But of course neither of the two even so much as thought to do anything, as the ropes were there to provide more than just a hindrance to her movement. Bebelle muttered incoherently under her breath, and the larger man purposefully yanked hard on her arm, causing her to face plant the sand.
If a stare could kill, then hers would have murdered the man on the spot. Bebelle's dark brown eyes; almost black in colour, suddenly lit with fury, a glare burning like a rising phoenix that would bring the world down into ash.
He averted his eyes from her and scratched his neck uncomfortably, striding ahead whilst the other much thinner man stood midway between the two debating on what to do.
"Get up!"
The former shouted and Bebelle spat dirt, settling herself into a more comfortable seated position and brushing away the sand clinging to the pink skirts of her dress then she shook her arms to get rid of the grains inside her silken sleeves. Both men halted their movements, turning to the inanimate girl.
She lifted her chin in the air defiantly, blowing a stray strand of hair from in front of her face.
"Don't think wer' gon' keep stopping for ya."
Both men folded their arms waiting for her to move.
Bebelle blinked and raised an eyebrow.
The two men shared a look and a nod, and then suddenly two different hands, one on each of her sides, were wrapping around her forearms and forcing her to her feet as she protested profusely. But the two men ignored her yells and angry insults aimed towards them, brushing them off as if they were a harmless but mildly irritating gnat.
Bebelle fell quiet when they entered the jungle. The light the moon was offering them was sparse, the tiniest trickle of silver sneaking through the foliage. But that wasn't what was concerning Bebelle; it was the noise.
A small rustling sound caused her to tilt her head to the side, eyes narrowing and brow puckering as she focused on it; a sort of scrambling sound aided by the movement of leaves brushing against one another.
It was probably just some kind of island animal, like a lemur or something.
A shadow flitted from above, moving from one tree to the next. Not a Lemur.
It was human.
She had suddenly came to a stop, causing the two men with her to grunt and forcefully move her. She winced at the sudden pain of the ropes biting into her flesh, burying it down when she realised the two were looking at her, watching her and waiting for her to speak.
"There's...something out there.."
She whispered lowly, quietly so as not to disturb whatever-whoever was prowling. Bebelle saw more shapes in the trees; more people. Were these the killer boys that they had been warned about? She spared a troubled glance at the two men, who just laughed in her face.
"Is the little Princess afraid o' the dark?"
Bebelle narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips into an annoyed pout. Again with the stupid Princess nickname, she hated how belittling they made it sound, made her sound; like she was some wilting flower. She was not.
The rustling in the tree's grew louder and the laughing smiles on the older men's faces dropped. This made Bebelle smirk.
"Are the pirates afraid of the dark?"
She mimicked, cocking her head to the side as she smiled brightly, not letting them get the better of her.
" 'Course not."
They muttered, and the bear gripped her shoulder spinning her around and nudging her forward to move her.
"Oh but you should be."
A foreign voice called out mockingly, causing his grip on Bebelle to tighten as he and his crew mates drew out their swords. Bebelle hissed, elbowing him and rubbing her shoulder which was probably beginning to bruise.
She had managed to stagger away from their grip leaving a small distance between her and them, just in time for an arrow to fly straight towards her.
Eyes snapping shut she scrunched up her face and squeaked, waiting for the worst. She waited and waited. Nothing.
"Huh?"
Made it's way past her lips as she examined herself finding no injury, and a looseness at her feet. The arrow had cut cleanly through the ropes and freed her? Her head lifted, following the path the arrow originated from, and she could've sworn there was a silhouette of a boy up there for a moment before there was nothing.
The older lankier man moved to investigate, whilst the larger one took watch of their surroundings and Bebelle.
Another arrow, and this time it pierced the lanky crew mate.
Her other captor had sprung back in surprise, now was Bebelle's chance to run, to get away; but shock had caused her to freeze on the spot. She couldn't bring herself to move a muscle, mouth wide open and her body rigid like a statue. She felt something sticky at her feet, seeping into the hem of her skirts and shrieked, refusing to look, knowing fine well what it was.
Now she really had to make herself move before it was her blood painting the ground.
But her chance was slipping, her bearlike captor was heading towards her, deciding the best option was to grab the girl and retreat, and if she let him get her then she knew she would never be free. Screaming at her brain to tell her body to move she could do nothing but helplessly stand there, and it was infuriating.
Then in a blur, she felt a hand wrap around her waist, picking her up and pulling her away behind the trees. Getting her bearings she looked up at her rescuer, coming face to face with a boy around her age, wearing a brown cloak. A jagged scar ran across his face from the top of his nose to the middle of his cheekbone, and his hair fell in front of his face in uneven layers of ash blonde. His cunning blue eyes did nothing to let her know she was safe.
Watching her assess him with frowning features he smirked, ungracefully placing her on the ground as he spoke.
"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look."
His voice was a long lazy drawl tinged with a slight touch of a joke and maybe he was trying to reassure her that he wasn't an enemy, but Bebelle wasn't buying it, her captors had been worried about killer island boys, and then she'd seen one of them get killed by said boys. Instead the sudden sound of his joking voice had startled her, and acting upon impulse a shriek escaped from her lips and she aimed an elbow towards his chin.
He laughed at her and she pouted. Why were they always bloody laughing at her?
"Pan's going to like you."
The boy spoke through a smirk, rubbing his jaw as he looked the girl's petite frame up and down.
"What the-who?"
Bebelle's features scrunched together, and she shook her head, giving the boy a demanding look. But he was ignoring her. And before she could get another word in, his hand clamped around her mouth and he pushed her behind a tree.
"Shut up."
He told her as he removed his hand, only to shove his palm against her lips seconds later as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Stay here and be quiet."
He muttered, and disappeared not even allowing her to ask what or why. Throwing her head back she let out a frustrated sigh and slid down to the base of the tree. What the hell had she got herself into? Stretching out her legs she flexed her toes, burrowing them into the cool earth to soothe her skyrocketing nerves.
Then she glanced down at her wrists and huffed.
"Could have at least took these off for me."
The noise of fighting amplified and Bebelle's curiosity got the better of her so she climbed back to her feet, peering carefully through the trees.
Everything had escalated so quickly, more of the crew members flocking to aid each other in the fight against these boys. But surprisingly they stood no chance against their younger assailants.
The boys were more quicker and adept in accuracy, only having to strike once with a fatal blow. Bebelle should have been appalled, she should have screamed and ran probably, but instead she stood there, more intrigued than anything else.
The boys were also making a game of the fight, she had noticed. They were laughing and playing around, mocking the older men as they stole their weapons and mimicked their sloppy moves before killing them with skill. Then something else caught Bebelle's attention, a flying shadow with eyes like glowing white orbs. That was something she had never seen before. Her dark gaze followed it watching fixedly as it looped through the air, swooping down and plucking away the shadow of the bearlike man she oh so dearly hated.
And his lifeless corpse dropped to the ground, eyes wide open and emptily staring in her direction. She shuddered, and turned away. At this point the boys had dwindled the number of men down to two or three, and they were teasing them. The boy who had told her to wait where she was, and another were pretending to fight each other with the pirate's weapons.
As she watched them, she caught sight of something they had failed to notice, one of the wounded men was slowly crawling across the ground, picking up two daggers which had either been dropped or discarded during the chaos. She saw the man's intentions as soon as he pulled himself to his feet aiming the first dagger, and she couldn't help herself, impulsively breaking through the trees and throwing her arms in front of her, not thinking about what it was she was doing- and then he let go of the daggers.
"Watch out!"
Bebelle cried out, her fingers splayed wide, and suddenly the daggers which were heading towards the boys spun around changing their course. They flew backwards towards the man, then impaled him to the tree through his chest.
Holding her tingling hands in front of her face she blinked rapidly as the hazy orange glow of her magic traveled up her fingers, to the tips and then disappeared. She exhaled a breath and found herself on the floor, as if the weight of what she had done had swept her feet from beneath her. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the dead man and her hands and she shook her head.
"Did I..did I do that?"
Bebelle muttered, panting heavily and shaking from the shock. She caught movement in front of her and tore her attention away from herself to find the boy she had saved heading towards her. Eyes widening she scrambled backwards, not entirely certain she was in control of herself, and not wanting to risk it.
He must have thought she was worried about the opposite, for he raised his hands in mock surrender, a cheeky grin playing across his face.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
Bebelle nodded, though she wasn't entirely sure that was true, these boys were dangerous that was a fact. But strangely she wasn't concerned for her own well being at the moment, as she was rather concerned about theirs after her shocking display just recently..
"That's not what i'm worried about." She murmured under her breath in a whisper that he probably was unable to hear.
She scrutinised the ropes still binding her wrist, noting that they had slackened during the force of her power and were slightly frayed. She tugged her wrists in opposite directions to see if the frayed strands would pull apart, but nothing happened and she huffed.
Bebelle missed the smirk that spread across the boy's face as he watched her attempt to remove the binds, only crouching down beside her when she seemed to give up on getting them off.
Her head jerked up at the sudden approach of his figure and horror set upon her features when he whipped out a shining blade from his boot. This was it she thought, now he was going to kill her just like the pirates had warned.
So why wasn't she running? Or fighting back with her magic or doing something other than just sitting there and waiting for it?
It was because somehow she knew he wasn't going to hurt her, none of them were going to. She could feel it in between the air, strings of reassuring protectiveness, she could almost see the invisible strings of safety that wove in between and around the space surrounding her. And when the black rope around her wrists was sliced open she felt like she could breath properly again, like she was whole again.
She was free.
Stretching her arms in front of her she flexed her wrists rolling the joints with a relieved sigh. Angry pink lines left an uncomfortable imprint around her wrists but she wasn't too bothered about them, they would heal up later.
"Where are my manners?"
The boys suddenly spoke, and she turned to him finding him now stood up and holding a hand out to her. Bebelle hesitated staring at his outstretched fingers for some time before realising that her options were limited, and it seemed that taking the boys side was the best option for survival. Graciously accepting his hand she gingerly wrapped her fingers around his and allowed him to pull her up. Once he had she pulled out of his grip trying to straighten out her appearance, tucking her hair behind her ears, and fixing the ribbon around her waist. She realised after a moment that the effort was for nothing, since the boys obviously had no care whether the girl was dishevelled or not. The boy who had lent her his hand, motioned to himself when she let her eyes rest on him.
"I'm Peter Pan, these are the lost boys.."
He moved his hand in a sweeping gesture and Bebelle followed it, glancing at the cloaked teenagers with a nod, wondering whether she was supposed to bow or wave to greet them. She didn't have much time to dwell on the thought as Peter started to speak again.
"And i'm sure you'll recognize Felix."
Peter Pan said as her eyes landed on the tall teen leaning against a tree, a club swung over his shoulder. It took her a moment to understand what Peter Pan meant, but then she noticed the scar on his cheek, the messy blonde hair and the beginning of a bruise on his jaw.
"You..."
She began to say, recognizing him as the one that had pulled her away from the pirates, but stopped short as he lifted his head and turned to her.
She shook her head and looked back at Peter Pan.
"Bebelle, My names Bebelle."
"Well Bebelle..."
His smirk widened and so did his eyes as an eyebrow arched. It was a dangerous look that reminded her to be cautious.
"Welcome to Neverland."
He held out his hand again for her, though this time when she hesitated he ended up pulling her into his grasp instead of waiting.
"Back to camp boys!"
Peter Pan had ordered, and she was absolutely certain now that this boy was the leader of the ragtag group, and Bebelle watched curiously as the boys leapt over and around bushes, up trees and within moments vanished. From this she could tell that the boys had made the island their home for a long while, they knew it as well as they knew how to breathe, and a part of her wanted that too.
But would they let her stay? Would Peter Pan let her stay? Should she even want to stay?
She wondered.
He had been kind to her so far, so she assumed that for now at least she could trust him and maybe if she got on his good side he'd let her make this magical place her home too.
He must have seen her visibly settle as he began to lead her through the trees, and she followed diligently, only stopping when she had to lift up her skirts to climb over a large fallen branch or when a sudden thought crossed her mind.
Peter Pan looked over his shoulder at her, eyebrow raising.
Bebelle chewed her lip, brow furrowing before she explained.
"Back on the ship, the pirates took some of my belongings and-"
"You want to get them back." He finished for her and she nodded.
"Let's go then."
Bebelle thought they were going to spend the journey to the pirate ship in silence, and the idea didn't bother her as she could distract herself with looking around the island. But it seemed Peter Pan had other ideas and as soon as she started reaching out to the land with probing magic, he interrupted the silence with his voice.
"You knew we were hiding, in the trees."
She nodded, but then thought a verbal reply would be better, to keep up conversation.
"Yeah, I guess I have keen senses."
She shrugged not sure how to explain it any better.
"It was your magic. The island is quite taken with it, it seems."
Bebelle parted her mouth to speak but again couldn't find any words to respond with. Seeing this Peter flashed a crooked grin.
"Pretty powerful magic too, I mean those black ropes were enchanted to bind magic, keep it contained inside you, and considering it didn't work very well i'd say you're packing a lot of fire in that little body of yours."
She found herself blushing and spun away from him. Why was she blushing? Perhaps it was because of the intense way he was looking at her, or the intrigue he had with her magic, with her. It was the first time someone had found out she had great power and not wanted to see her burn for it or sell her off to the highest bidder.
Then she remembered there was a reason why her power had been frowned upon before, it was destructive and volatile at the worst of times and she had no clue how to contain it.
"That's what i'm worried about, I have all of this power and I don't know how to control it."
Peter Pan's grin was a polar opposite of the pout on Bebelle's features.
"Ah but that's part of the fun Bebelle, seeing how magic can take it's own shape."
Bebelle wasn't so sure with his reasoning but she nodded anyway in response.
"So what are we looking for?"
Peter Pan had asked her when they boarded the ship and she explained as they headed to the Captain's Quarters.
"Well two things, a book; it's kind of old and kind of like a journal but it's a spellbook, and a bracelet."
Slipping around the red velvet chair in front of the Captain's Desk she began pawing through the drawers looking for her belongings when Peter called out to her.
"This your bracelet?"
Peter held up the accessory by the woven red thread, allowing the metal filigree encasing a jade green stone to glitter under the firelight as it swayed. Bebelle's eyes widened in elation and she excitedly nodded her head, rushing over to him to retrieve it.
"Allow me."
He insisted, gripping her wrist lightly and pushing up her sleeve to tie the trinket around it. She watched as it slipped into place over her wound, concealing it and at the same time working to heal the damage. Bebelle tilted her head upwards to thank him catching a wink, to which she folded her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at in response.
"Let's find the book."
She said turning to the captain's book shelf and scanning his small library. Of course it wasn't there though, the captain wouldn't have put it anywhere obvious with fear of her finding it.
Trying a different approach she closed her eyes, reaching out to find it. The jade stone sitting at her wrist began glowing and she clasped it in her hands until the light diminished.
Peter Pan leaned against the frame of the bookshelf, watching Bebelle using her magic with deep interest, still watching as she kneeled against the floor and pulled at a loose floorboard. Reaching her hand in the crevice she pulled out a small leather bound book tied with brown string that was knotted in a bow.
Peter Pan was at her side as she began tugging the bow untied and flipped through the mismatched pages of sheets, scribbles, envelopes and drawings of hand gestures that made up the book, and she carefully brushed her fingers over the pages as if they would crumble.
"You weren't kidding when you said that thing was old."
"Yeah most of it is, I spent a lot of time travelling and collecting anything interesting and magic related I could find, I can't read half of it though since it's in languages I don't know, I usually just go by the pictures and improvise."
She cut herself short realising she was babbling and tied the book shut, her cheeks red again.
"Well that's everything of mine."
She said, but then her eyes caught sight of something pink and sparkling in a tray of trinkets and she rushed to her feet and fished out the hairpin that had been confiscated by the pirates upon her capture. It was the only thing she had that gave an indication to the land her parents were from-where she was originally from and she didn't want to forget that. Clutching it and the book tightly she turned to Pan.
"Okay, now that's everything."
He was giving her that amused smirk again, eyes glinting in amusement and she pretended to ignore it.
"Then let's get back to camp."
The two made their way through the heart of the dark jungle, and Bebelle noticed that as they went deeper more torches began to appear, lighting up several paths as they walked. Peter Pan remained quiet this time, watching her as she took in her surroundings and as she looked around she wondered why he hadn't asked her about the pirates reasoning for her capture in the first place.
"Peter?"
She turned her attention away from the pretty flames flickering in the torches and towards the boy watching her with a raised eyebrow.
"Why did you save me?"
Peter Pan's eyes widened a little. This was the part where he had expected her to thank him, thank him from saving her from the pirates and thank him for letting her stay in Neverland. But instead she had asked why he had and that was a surprise he had to admit. He hadn't expected her to be so inquisitive and cautious. He covered his thoughts with a smirk and responded.
"Why? Well it's a hero's job to save a damsel in distress."
The petite girl raised an eyebrow as if to say 'is that so' and smiled.
"Peter Pan the Hero..."
She mused and he let out a chuckle.
"Hmm, doesn't quite have the same ring to it as Peter Pan the bad boy does it?"
Bebelle grinned biting her tongue through her teeth.
"Bad boy?"
Peter Pan's features flashed dangerously and he came to an abrupt stop making Bebelle squeak as she collided with him.
"Don't be fooled by the face love, i'm the devil in disguise."
She giggled as his tone dropped and the flames burned in the reflection of his eyes making him look something sinister. Better to laugh than to show she felt a little uneasy.
He winked at her and the mirth returned to his features, and he led her down a dirt bank and into camp.
The lost boys were settling themselves down for sleep, lazing around a flickering warm campfire.
Peter Pan joined the boys, kicking back on the log bench closest to the fire, motioning for Bebelle to join them, to which she did, slipping between Peter and Felix and gathering the swamp of embroidered silk that pooled out around her.
"So if you have magic what are you?"
One of the lost boys had asked, her small height and wide features probably making them wonder if she were some sort of wingless pixie or a sprite, but her attire-minus the wear and tear-making them wonder if she was some kind of royalty from a far away land.
And though she was certainly not one or the other, she still couldn't answer their question as she didn't know the answer to it herself.
"I don't know, I don't know who or what my birth parents are and my adopted parents weren't exactly fond of magic so they weren't much help. Truth is I have no clue how or why I have my magic, i'm sure i'll find out someday though."
The lost boys had seemed to warm up to her after she had told them that, more had wanted to talk to her, had asked her about where she had lived before and listened to her stories of her many escapes from near death and she had told the boys and their excited smiles that it was nowhere near as fun as it sounded, and if it weren't for her magic spells she would have many scars to prove it.
Peter Pan's plan was working perfectly, her reveal about neglectful parents had struck similarity with many of the lost boys, which made her more relatable to them so they were already starting to accept her as one of them, and she'd start to believe she was one of them too.
Their first Lost girl.