Worlds Collide

The Arrival.

*Pan's POV*

The boys danced and sang and laughed as I played my flute. The feeling of the music like a heartbeat that pulsed in the fire. It's warm light reaching all of them, making them glow as they dance.

That's when I felt it. I stopped playing.

"Pan? What is it?" Felix asked from my left, I stood up with a smirk. I couldn't quite believe it, we hadn't had a new lost boy in almost a decade.

"There's someone new on the island, they're by the clearing." I explained and tuck the flute in my belt, looking at Felix, the boys had stopped dancing.

"But we haven't had a new boy in years, why now?" Slightly asked, he moved closer, as did they all, filled with curiosity.

"Slightly and Felix, come with me. Tootles, Nibs, Twins and Curly, go to bed. You'll have plenty of time to meet the new recruit tomorrow." I order and the younger boys sigh, making the way to their tents.

"Please can we come Peter?" Nibs pleads, his eyes wide.

"Bed." I instruct, "You'll be knackered tomorrow if you don't go now." I argue and they walk towards their tents.

"No fair." Twins laughs as Curly taps his left shoulder and sneaks behind his back to his right side, making Twins spin around. They chuckle and chase each other into the tent.

"You'll meet him tomorrow." I say again and they're gone. Slightly, Felix and I are left by the side of the still roaring flames.

"Assuming the new kid makes it that far." Slightly mutters which makes Felix chuckle.

"Come on." And the two follow behind me, time to meet our new lost boy.

When we reach the clearing, at first I don't see him. I thought he would be up on his feet, looking around. Panicking, or exploring, but he's on the ground. Seemingly unconscious.

"Is he alright?" Slightly asked, taking a few more steps. Felix puts a hand on his shoulder.

"It could be a trap." he whispers, I say nothing.

"From who? The pirates? He probably fainted from shock, not everyday you're taken by a shadow to a magical island in the middle of nowhere." He laughs and I bend down to the boy.

He's on his side, facing away from us so I can't see his face. He is rather small, I put my hand on his shoulder and all I feel is bone. There's hardly any flesh at all, skin and bone. I pull his shoulder towards us and he rolls on his back.

"Oh my god." Felix mutters, it's not a boy at all. It's a girl.

"She looks bloody awful." Slightly says outright, he always has spoken his mind and he is right. She looks like a ghost, her eyes closed and slightly sunken, her cheeks thin and pale.

"Is she dead Peter?" Felix asks from behind me and I cup her face with my hands, she's cold but not dead. Not quite.

"No, she's alive. Slightly I want you to go back to camp, start the fire in my tent and get a bowl of soup going. She's going to need it when she wakes up. Go, go now." I order, my voice dead and serious.

"On it, Peter." And he's gone.

"Hey, can you hear me? Come on, i need you to wake up." I whisper and I can see her eyes moving behind her closed eyelids.

"Am..." she croaks, "Am I dead?" I hardly hear her, but I chuckle.

"Not just yet." Felix answers and I click my fingers and a bowl of water appears to her side. Felix and I are both kneeling on either side of her.

He passes me the bowel and I rest her head on my lap. Her eyes remain closed.

"Drink." I instruct and tip the water to her pale lips, she does as she's told. She finished the bowel and sighs deeply. She's dehydrated. She looks like she hasn't eaten in days so I doubt she's drunk anything either.

"Can you open your eyes?" I ask softly and she tries, I can see she tries and she manages. They're blue, sad, sorrowful. She looks at me, then Felix, then me again.

"Who- ar-" She tries to speak but the words get caught in her mouth.

"It's okay, your safe now." And her eyes flutter closed again.

"She's exhausted, Pan, let's get her back to camp." I nod and pick her up, my arm around her back and the other under her legs.Her head rests softly on my chest.

"Felix," He begins walking back and I follow, he looks over at me. "She weighs hardly anything."

He doesn't say anything and neither does she. I look down at her relaxed face. She has long hair which is all tangled and would fall down her back. Her lips are full, but incredibly pale and her closed blue eyes her face has no colour in it whatsoever.

I'm sure if it did... She'd be rather beautiful. But looking at her now, lifeless and half dead, it makes me want to kill whoever did this to her. Because whoever could do this to another person doesn't deserve to live.

When Felix, the girl and I get back to camp, the bonfire has died down and I can see the fire Slightly has started in my tent from where we stand.

We walk in and Slightly is sat on the ground, stirring a pot of soup over the fire. Just as I asked.

"How is she? Has she spoken?" He asks, getting up.

"Yeah, she spoke but only a little." Felix answers and I place her on my bed and pull a quilt Curly made up to her chest.

"Asked if she was dead, poor git, wherever she came from... I don't even wanna think about it." Felix answered and Slightly didn't respond. Felix called everyone gits and since we didn't know the first thing about her i didn't scorn him for it. like i might do if he called Nibs a git, he's only 7.

"No wonder she felt so alone, that's the only reason the shadow could have brought her here." Slightly offered and I sat beside the bed.