The First Lost Girl

Chapter Twenty-Five: Anything For You Princess

Felix's P.O.V.
Rufio's eyes went dark.
"Kill." She muttered.
I watched as she pulled out an arrow and notched it in her bow.
"Before they kill us."
She loosed the arrow and it flew into the pirate's shoulder. He yelled out in pain and grabbed it, but his attention was off of Devin, who was crawling backward while clutching his side.
Thomas came over to him and called another one of the boys over to help. He was taken care of.
"Stay away from him!" I heard Rufio yelling. The man pulled out his sword but before I could watch what he did I heard someone call my name. I looked up to see a pirate that had been heading this way. He lifted his sword but I was on him before he could do anything with it. I used my mace to slam his sword away and out of his hand. He pulled a knife on me but he was too slow. I kicked him down to the ground. Images of my parents flashed through my mind. Anger began to boil hotter in my blood and I thrusted my knife into his side, twisting it and glaring at him as he cried out in pain. I left him on the ground and went deeper into the mixed group of pirates and Lost Boys. First I looked around to see if anyone needed help. Beau and Tootles had tag teemed on a couple of pirates and seemed to be handling themselves just fine. Pan was paired up with the captain and seemed to be toying around more than fighting. The pirate wasn't amused. I noticed that the amount of fighting pirates had decreased. Whoever wasn't fighting was either injured, dead, or helping the injured off the battle field.
Something caught my eye and I looked over to see a pirate coming up behind Rufio as she fought another one. I came up to the dirty man and slammed him into a tree.
"What do you think you're doing, pirate?" I growled.
He glared at me and struggled but I held him down. "You don't touch her."
I forced the blade of my knife into his chest and let him fall to the ground.
"Retreat!" I heard the captain yell. "Retreat to the ship! Come on men, move! Bring the injured!"
I watched as all of the men seemed to exit the clearing with the lost boys hot on their tail. They all whooped and whistled, yelling cheers and taunting the pirates as they retreated. The pirates responded with curses and yells at the boys but they paid no mind and just continued to laugh at them. I smirked and saw Pan doing the same.
He yelled out a rooster call and all the Lost Boys repeated the same call with grins on their faces.
"Come on boys!" He yelled with his knife raised in the air.
Then he turned and led our victorious group through the jungle.

Rufio's P.O.V.
Everything went by in a blur. Pirate after pirate had crossed my path and every time I had cut him down. I wasn't aware of what was happening until I heard the captain call out a retreat to his men. I looked around at the clearing and slowly my mind began to clear. My monster was retreating after getting its fill of blood and death. My body felt weakened as I looked at what seemed like an endless amount of men lying dead on the ground. My anger was gone and now all that was left was a million painful feelings at once. Sadness, guilt, horror, regret, defeat...the pain was almost unbearable. I held back my tears as I joined the group of boys who were cheering for their victory, but their voices were drowned out by the pain inside me.

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Felix's P.O.V.
I noticed how quiet Rufio was for the rest of the evening. Keeping to herself and looking like she was in another world of thought. Before I could think anymore into it, Pan pulled out his flute and the others brought their instruments out too, then began to play around the fire, celebrating our victory. I watched for a few minutes before looking back over where Rufio had been sitting. But she wasn't there anymore. I looked around the clearing and didn't see her anywhere. She must have gone to bed.

Rufio's P.O.V.
I decided to leave when the boys were distracted with their celebrating. I walked silently though the jungle, back to the familiar clearing surrounded by tall trees. In the dark I couldn't see anything, so I pulled out the wax candle stick that I had brought along with me, along with a chunk of flint and steel. Taking a deep breath, I planted the candle in the ground and struck the flint and steel together. The candle caught the spark in it's wick and began to burn. I set the flint and steel on the ground next to me and lifted the candle, letting it sit in the palm of my hand. The glow of the candle lit up the clearing enough to reveal the lifeless bodies of pirates lying around me.
I covered my mouth as a sickening wave of nausea entered my stomach. I fell to my knees and began to sob. This was too much for me. But I wouldn't leave until I was done. I prayed over the lives of each body, cringing as the hot wax spread over my hand, drop by drop. But I knew I deserved the pain. It was nothing compared to what I had done to these men. My sobbing was increasing and growing louder, but I had nothing to worry about. The Pirates had retreated to their ship for the night and camp was about a mile away. There was no one that could be disturbed by my crying. The wax was burning my hand but I resisted the urge to drop the candle. It was almost burned out. I continued to pray for the men until the light finally fizzled out and left only the smell of smoke in the air. I stood up, wiping my tears from my face and rubbing the now completely melted wax out of my hand. My hand hurt, and it would for a few days. But I deserved it. I had killed men who didn't deserve death. Men who should have been given a second chance.

Felix's P.O.V.
Rufio wasn't in her bed when I entered the tent. I was curious about where she had gone, but I wasn't too worried. The Pirates had retreated for now so they weren't a potential threat at the moment. And I was really tired from the fight earlier today. So I went ahead and changed into a comfortable pair of clothes, then laid in bed, drifting off to sleep quickly.

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I woke up when I heard someone brushing through the tent flaps. I looked up to see Rufio coming in. She started to get undressed, un lacing the corset of her dress and pulling it off so that it was just the soft cloth.
"Rufio?"
She jumped and gasped.
"Felix! I thought you were asleep..." She whispered.
"I was."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
She continued getting undressed, pulling out her night clothes to get dressed. I sat up.
"Where were you?"
She didn't answer at first, but she seemed to be thinking about the question.
"I went for a walk." She finally said, pulling the sleeves of my old shirt up her arms and buttoning the front up.
"Where to?" I asked, getting a bit firm with my voice.
"I..." She trailed off, looking down.
"Rufio."
She sighed quietly, getting up slowly and walking over to the edge of her bed to sit down.
"I went back to the clearing..."
I reached for the candle light and turned it up. The glow spread over both Rufio and I. I noticed she had her left hand tucked away behind her.
"What are you holding?"
"Nothing." She answered, looking down.
"Let me see your hand."
She didn't respond.
"Rufio."
She looked up at me with sadness in her eyes, but obeyed my order. Slowly, she pulled her hand out from behind her. I gently took hold of it and made the palm side face me. My eyes widened at the burn marks that were spread over it.
"Rufio, what did you do?!"
She pulled her hand away and covered it with the other one, keeping her eyes on them.
I sympathized and calmed my voice.
"Rufio?"
"I went back." She said with a shaking voice. "To the clearing, with the tall trees."
"And?"
"I...I lit a candle." She continued. "I saw the bodies." Her lip was trembling now, warning that tears might be coming soon. "There were so many Felix." A tear streamed down her face but she quickly wiped it away. She took a deep breath before continuing, her voice calmer now, only a whisper.
"I prayed for each of them. That they would go to a better place than where they were before...I held onto the candle all the while...I deserved the pain. I killed those men." Her voice quivered and the tears started to fall.
"No one deserves for their life to be taken away from them. They deserved a second chance. And I didn't give it to them. I killed them."
She began to cry. I crawled out of bed and kneeled in front of her, taking her hands from her, careful to not put too much pressure on the one with burns.
"Rufio. They gave you no choice. We may have trapped them, but they did worse. They invaded our land, they're after Pan, they kidnapped you, they hurt you, and they hurt the boys. Even Devin is going to be in bed for a few days with that wound."
"Is he okay?"
I waited a second before answering.
"He's fine."
"I didn't even go check on him when we got back. It's like I fought for nothing. Like I killed for nothing."
"You did fight for something. You fought for us. You fought for the Lost Boys."
She looked up at me with tear filled eyes. And she smiled.
"Thank you Felix."
I smirked back at her and stood up.
"Anything for you, princess."