"We flew." He said.
Wendy was sure she had hit her head at some point in her fall. "Flew? Like a bird?"
"No...not like a bird." He sounded offended like she was the irrational one.
Wendy tried to hold in her laughter, but it bubbled up past her lips before she could slap a hand over her mouth. Once one little snicker got out, the rest made their escape. While she thought he was the crazy one, she was sure he believed the reverse as her manic and hysterical laughter reached high and strange pitches before subsiding. "Okay, thank you for breaking the unbearable tension, but I would like to know how we got here so that I can get back." For her brother, she didn't say it out loud, she didn't want this boy to know any more about her than he needed to.
"Why is it so hard to understand my answer?" He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at her.
"Because people don't fly."
Then he was closing the distance between them once more. He bent and scooped her up. She had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck even while she protested vehemently, "Stop, put me down!"
Then they were rising. Rising above the shore, above the palm trees that she now saw lined the sandy beach. She stopped fighting and clung to him tighter, "Oh my god..." she whispered.
His chuckle verberated through his chest and into her cheek, as she pressed closer to him. "See?"
She pressed her face into the crook of his neck and shook her head, "No! I won't look!" her voice muffled by his warm, balmy skin.
She could feel him turn to her, his lips brushed against her temple, "I've got you. I won't let you fall." There was no sneer or disgust in his voice then, only soft sincerity.
Gradually she turned her head and what she saw made her jaw drop. They were rising over a large island surrounded by pristine ocean. An island that was in the midst of a tropical summer, with no towns or cities to be seen. It was beautiful and terrifying.
"Neverland?" she murmured.
"Yes."
"But...but how?" Was she dreaming?
"There are many stories of Neverland's origins. I don't think any of them are true. But how you got here? I took you." They had stopped rising and merely floated above the treetops. The palm trees gave way to actual forest, which then bled up to the peak that rose above the whole island.
"Why did you take me?" Wendy asked, taking in the magnificent sight. The boy didn't respond, instead, they began to drop back to earth. Her stomach rose in her throat and she tightened her grip on him. When they reached the earth he put her down roughly–she almost fell over– then he began walking towards the forest. "Wait! Are you just going to leave me here?"
"Yes." Came his terse reply.
"Hold on!" Wendy chased after him, his mercurial moods were making her dizzy and she could feel anger bubbling to the surface. He was fast, and she was out of breath when she reached him. "Wait, I said!" He ignored her. Finally, she reached out and grabbed his arm. He spun around so fast she ran right into his chest. He hissed as if in pain and his arms came up around her. She pressed her hands against his chest and stared up at him. His mouth was curled in a snarl, his eyes darkening.
"What?" He gritted out.
All her questions disintegrated as her thoughts traveled straight to those sneering lips. For some reason, all she could think of was kissing them. What is wrong with me! Kissing is disgusting and vile and I will never do it again.
Wendy quickly pushed away from him. "What is your name?" She blurted, anything to catch her straying and wicked thoughts.
He raised an eyebrow, "My name?"
"Yes," she huffed and stuck out her hand, "Your name. I'm Gwendylon Moira Angela Darling, but you may call me Wendy. What's yours?"
He looked down at her hand, "Petyr...Pantheon–Petyr Pan." Then he turned and walked away. He didn't bother shaking her hand.
Wendy gripped her opened hand into a fist, "Well what am I supposed to do?" She yelled at him.
He continued walking, but called back over his shoulder, "Follow the leader!" She thought he heard him laugh, but could not be sure.
Wendy hesitated. She had few options. Believe this was all a dream and lay back down on the beach to try and wake up, or go with Petyr. Everything was feeling more and more real and while Petyr seemed a little odd, he had saved her.
"What else are you going to do, Wendy?" She asked herself, then jogged to catch up with him.
When he realized she was following him, he slowed his pace a bit. Wendy was grateful, the heat was getting to her, and her wet, sandy woolen skirt was weighing her down and beginning to chafe. She tried taking smaller steps, but it did nothing. She gritted her teeth and continued, she wasn't going to ask for any more favors from Petyr. He did not seem like the type to be overly kind. There were moments of softness, but overall he had been curt, cold, and indifferent. That was fine with her, she would rather he not take any interest, other than helping her get home. He seemed like he wanted to get rid of her, so hopefully, he would help.
"Can't you walk any faster?" He broke through her barrage of thoughts, exasperation coating his words. They had been trekking along a winding path through the forest, which had gone from palm trees to oddly enough, coniferous trees.
Wendy adjusted her skirt for the hundredth time, "I'm sorry, my skirt is bothering me and my boots are full of sand."
Petyr looked at her skirt and frowned. Then he reached behind him and pulled out a long knife, actually more like a large dagger. He moved towards and bent to grip her thick skirt.
After he had drawn the dagger, Wendy had frozen. Her eyes widened at the glinting blade as it twinkled in the light, moving closer and closer. He pulled her skirt up and lifted the dagger, "Hold still." Then he sliced into the material. A small squeak escaped her throat, but she didn't move. Her fear-soaked brain kept flashing images of Joe above her, grabbing her, hurting her. Petyr cut through her skirt easily and tore it away from her legs so that her skirt only came down to her knees, leaving the rest of her legs exposed. He brushed the sand off her reddened and scratched calves. His touch was light, but she couldn't separate him from her memories. "There, now you won't walk at a snail's pace." He looked up at her. Whatever expression he saw on her face made him put his dagger back in its sheath, that she could now see on his left side, deliberately slow. Then he held both hands up, palms facing her and rose to stand. He took two steps back, "Wendy."
She didn't respond. Her breath became shallow, heartbeat rapid.
"Wendy." He called to her again. "It's done, let's go."
Finally, Wendy acknowledged him with a small nod. Her heart began to return to its normal rhythm. "Okay, let's go," she wheezed. Then she took one step on wobbly legs and almost crumpled to the ground. But, before she could fall, he caught her.
"You are more trouble than I think you're worth," Petyr grumbled. Then he cradled her once again in his arms and took off into the sky. They flew up over the tops of the trees and once they were in the clear blue sky and began flying towards the left side of the mountains at the center of the island. Wendy didn't take his words as an insult, it was the truth, but she was relieved to simply hide her embarrassment from him by looking out over the island.
After some time, Wendy found her voice and asked, "Why didn't we just fly before?"
"It is more conspicuous." Was his terse reply.
"I'm not too heavy am I?" She was less concerned about him, and more concerned about whether he might drop her if he got tired.
"No." His fingers curled into her side and outer thigh. She quivered.
"Well, I'm sorry. About making you carry me." She glanced at his profile from the corner of her eye. She couldn't deny he was handsome, now that she could see him closer, she assumed he was around her age. He adjusted her in his arms and she gripped his neck a little tighter.
He shrugged, "This way is probably better, you were moving so slow we wouldn't have made it to Hangman's tree before nightfall."
"Hangman's Tree?" She turned fully to look at him. He had a thin scar from just below his ear down to his lower jaw.
"There." He jutted his jaw ahead of him. She looked in the direction he had indicated. They were coming around the lower hills of the mountain and she saw more forest, thick and dense, but then in the midst of the forest, she noticed a small clearing with a huge, blackened tree. It was massive, with thick branches that twisted and curved. One large branch stuck out perpendicular to the tree, and if she narrowed her eyes, Wendy thought she could see a knotted rope hanging from it. For hanging people? She hoped not.
"Is that your home?" Wendy asked.
"Of sorts. I live there. With the Lost Boys."
Before Wendy could ask about the Lost Boys, she heard a loud crack and then a high pitched keening sound.
"Oh great," Petyr groaned, "Hang on!"
"What is–" she was halted by a large black ball that suddenly whizzed by them. Petyr darted out of the way just in time, but she could still feel a breeze as it passed. His grip tightened on her. There was another explosion and she saw a ball arch into the sky towards them.
Oh my god, she thought, someone was shooting cannons at them.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
