Potential for Darkness (Peter Pan)//(Robbie Kay)

64 ~ Reunion

Hello again

<<<Day 259>>>

"We've got a few more minutes before we need to be heading back to camp," Sam, the self-appointed leader of their patrol group, announced as he let himself fall butt-first into the sand. "Let's take a break here."

Gabriel followed suit, as did the six other boys. The late morning sun was warm on the young boy's face, yet Gabriel did not feel it. But that wasn't exactly it. He did feel it, yet only distantly, as if there was a wall of cotton between him and the world, dimming sight, blurring sound, lessening touch.

Some buried part of him knew he had already navigated this quiet cold that muffled his contact with the rest of existence.; he knew he had survived and overcome it. Still, Gabriel could not remember what feeling awake felt like, he could not imagine feeling wholly himself again. Numb hands burrowed themselves in the sand, unseeing eyes fixed on an empty horizon.

Grief had become well-acquainted with the child after their numerous meetings over the last year and it seemed to have grown attached. Its icy claws were sunken deep and showed no intention of letting go.

Gabriel, despite the voices registering as nothing more than monotone buzzing to his ears, heard the lost boys talking amongst themselves. They were discussing the latest victims of Pan's impatient rage; three lost boys who had joined their ranks not over three months ago and who had found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ever since Grief had clamped its teeth into Neverland's king, the entire camp was walking on eggshells.

Not Gabriel though. He didn't fear punishment. His aching heart told him day in and day out that ending up in Pan's lethal, punitory clutches would be a reprieve to his pain, a way to escape this life he no longer wanted. He did not have the strength to care that she would have wanted for him to live, and he could not bring himself to try and placate the monster as those around him did.

Yet, it did not seem to matter, for however infuriated the king was, one look at the child seemed to make him recoil and the anger would fizzle into air. Instead of the lashes, the cages, or whatever else Pan usually reserved for those who provoked his displeasure, his jaw would simply clench, once, twice, and then he would leave.

In situations where boys had lost their lives, Gabriel had never even been chastised. He was quite sure Pan was avoiding him.

On and on the voices of his fellow lost boys droned, until Gabriel realized that they had stopped. It was the tense silence that snagged his attention and he looked up to find a dozen pirates on the beach before them, arrows aimed between their eyes.

Gabriel's left hand flew to the dagger strapped to his belt, not to use it - for daggers were quite far from his weapon of choice - but in reflex. That dagger was the single remnant of Adelina he had been able to salvage and he now took it with him wherever he went, touching it to find comfort in the cool metal.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back, we're taking you hostage," growled one of the pirates. Catching the glances between the children, he barked, "No one needs to get hurt if you do as I say, so hands behind your back, now!"

They all knew the lie; pirates never took hostages alive.

With a nod from Sam, the patrol dispersed swiftly and ducked, launching into attack. Arrows flew, yet luckily none found flesh and sand spurted into the air. Swords were drawn on both sides, metal rasping against metal. Gabriel only had time to swipe his own blade at the guts of one man before three others were upon him. Arms grabbed him from behind and immobilized him, leaving his throat and chest open. He was sure for it to be the end then, yet the sting of metal never came.