Again In Neverland

Chapter 35: The Red Morning

I keep my eyes trained on him as I see Alina begin to shower me in more orange pixie dust, and I'm a bit in awe as dozens of fairies come flying out of the woods and cover the Lost Boys in pixie dust, as well.

Within seconds, the lot of us are floating in the air, feet above the white sand.

Peter gives everyone a final grin, before raising his sword, and pointing it toward the pirate ship out in the distance. The boys around me tilt themselves forward, and race off in the direction of the ship.

Peter hangs behind, and allows me to fly side by side with him.

As we fly out to the ship, I feel a ball of something beginning to form in my stomach. Peter must realize my stern face, because he shyly reaches down and takes my hand. When he does, I squeeze it slightly, and hold onto my rapier with greater strength.

"One piece of advice?" Peter offers, as we near the ship.

The sunlight glistens off the calm ocean, making an array of sparkles move across his face. His light blue eyes merging with the serene background, a chuckle brightens his warm cheeks, "Swords are only useful when you use the right end."
I let out a nervous laugh, "Oh really?"
He nods, "It's true. I've learned that lesson the hard way."

I laugh to myself again, imagining a younger Peter trying to stab something with the wrong end of a sword.

"But really," Peter adds, "Don't hesitate with your actions. Even if the pirates seem charming, or promise to surrender. Don't let them free, or they'll just turn around and stab you in the back."

His sudden change from comedic  to dramatic made me sweat a little, but he only smiled again.

After what felt like too short a time, we were flying in the cotton-candy clouds just above above pirate ship. The boys were laying belly down on the clouds, awaiting Peter's orders. He landed us on the cloud beside them, and it felt surprisingly sturdy.

Peter opened his telescope and squinted into it. After a minute, he looked satisfied and moved to put it away. I grabbed his hand, "May I?"
Curiously, he handed it to me. I felt Alina land on my shoulder as I glanced through the telescope.

Sure enough, out on the main deck, were chests overfilling with treasure. Lucky wasn't exaggerating when he spoke about the sheer quantity of the load.

"Where did it all come from?" I asked aloud.

Mudpie chuckled, "Who cares. All that matters is that it'll be in our hands soon enough."
Some boys laughed in agreement.

As I continued to scour the deck of the rather large pirate ship, I noticed something was missing. There was the treasure, there was the anchor, and the cannons, and the wheel, and the barrels of rum... but where were the pirates?

I took the telescope away from my eye and handed it back to Peter.

"There are no pirates." I said, worried.
He shrugged, "Makes it easier for us."
"It looks abandoned." I added, biting my lip.
"Perhaps only the ship made it through?" Alina suggested.

From Peter's side, I saw Tinkerbell jingle something in response that I couldn't understand. But Peter nodded.

"I agree with Tinkerbell. Let's hurry and take it all before they return from wherever they've gone. Boys! Attack!"

In one great huff of flying bodies, the Lost Boys jumped from the low-hanging clouds and floated onto the deck of the pirate ship with loud battle cries, and weapons extended.

I took a deep breath, and looked at Alina once more. She gave me a subtle nod, and with one synchronized shout, we jumped from the pink cloud and landed with a thud on the wooden deck of the ship.