Peter Pan and the War of Evils

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Kaytee woke to the sound of water sloshing nearby. She blinked through her grogginess and stretched, joints popping. Peter stood at the water basin by the bed, running a towel over his face, skin pink from washing with the cold water of the rainfall reserves above. He smiled sheepishly and set down the towel.

"Sorry to wake you," He grabbed a small wooden cup and turned the tap back on, "I figured you wouldn't want to waste away the day sleeping if we could get more work done on your house." He filled the cup and held it up in offering

She swung her legs around and scooted to the edge of the bed, accepting the water, parched from her deep sleep. "How do you even know it's morning?" The only difference in the room since they had fallen asleep was that two lanterns now hung on either side of the room, casting the room in a brighter yellow light.

He shook out his messy head of curls with both hands, and then patted them into submission, "How do you know to inhale and exhale, or to blink?" He shrugged, arms loose at either side, "I just know. The sun will always rise from the edge of Neverland and I will always know when it does."

Kaytee simply nodded as she sipped her water, mulling that over in her head. I think it's the other way around, she thought rather, that Neverland knows when you wake, and so the sun follows. Just another curious happening with the magic that constantly surrounded Peter. Even now, it seemed like the flames from the lanterns and candles pulled towards him.

After donning her slippers and retying her ponytail, Peter and Kaytee joined the boys at the table, the young ones already up and discussing building strategy for the day. Though they wouldn't be able to put one on for at least another couple days, Peter eagerly joined in the debate of what kind of roof they should make (A-frame? Thatched? Tree bark shingles?). Halfway through breakfast, Tinker Bell flew in, fresh from another night in Pixie Hollow. She perched onto Peter's right shoulder, her tiny hand waving good morning to Kaytee, who returned the gesture.

Canteens refilled with water and tools once again hoisted onto shoulders, they emerged from the Underground Home. Kaytee was relieved to be off Saw Duty, her shoulder sore from the work they did the day before. Instead, she was able to stay up in the actual treehouse (or what there was of it), helping ease the logs they brought up from the ground with Tink's help.

Peter explained that they were essentially building a log cabin suspended in a tree, complete with a small hearth and basin similar to the one he had in his room. Kaytee thought the idea of having a fire in a tree, no matter how well built the hearth, was a very bad idea, but he reassured her he would never approve anything that could harm her or Neverland.

Over and over again, Kaytee was impressed by the boys' craftsmanship. They've obviously had many years to harness the skill of manipulating the natural elements into whatever item they needed in that moment, from their plates and utensils in the Underground Home, to the carved logs which stacked into each other like puzzle pieces, creating the first two walls of her home, a glassless window sat in the middle of each.

She helped them paint the sealing sap onto the freshly fallen wood, savoring the sweet scent it exuded, something between pine and hazelnuts.

"It'll make everything waterproof," Peter explained, running his deer-tail brush along a floor board, "mold proof, fireproof, any kind of proof. Once it dries, it's not sticky, but it'll make everything kind of shiny."

The other two walls would have to wait for tomorrow, the sun already creeping down to the lower edges of the trees, shadows curling around them as they trekked the short distance back home. Halfway there, Nibs yipped and, in a flash, threw his hunting knife into the brush and pulled up a large, mottled brown bird that had been sneaking by.