Greatest challenge/Peter Pan (Completed)

Chapter 10: Bad Form

"Now, what are you doing aboard my ship?" Hook asked, motioning me to sit down. "You're not a lost boy..."He chuckled. "That's for sure, were you kidnapped here?"

"Would you believe me if I came here willingly?" I asked, I still kept my hands raised, but sat down on the bunk bed.

"And you're here because?"

"Well, I wanted to ask the pirate that has faced Peter Pan for generations for maybe some pointer tips," I said and smiled sweetly. "For a price."

"I take it you've met him,"

I nodded. "Met him, fought him, and came out at the sharp end of the stick." I sighed. "Truth is, I walked into Neverland, looking for Pixie dust, got a handful, but Peter Pan has been...complicating things, to put it delicately."

"What's your name?" Hook sat on top of his desk and lowered his gun. I wasn't a threat to him. Which was good. 

"Finley," I said. "So...Captain Hook, you're willing to negotiate?"

Captain Hook laughed, for a moment I caught a glimpse of his hook as he seemed to remove hair from his forehead. "And why would I help you, when I risk facing Peter Pan's wrath?"

"I don't want help, just information," I slowly reached for my pocket, pulled out a blue pearl and tossed it to him. He caught it, and it started glowing quite beautifully.  "That's a pearl given to me by a fairy in the Cursed Island...it has the ability to give you a second chance."

Hook frowned at me, and I carried on explaining. "If you die, you get revived, but only if you carry that thing with you the whole time. That's quite handy."

"Indeed," Captain Hook placed it in his pocket. "And how do I know you're not lying to me, love? People tend to do that a lot."

"Sure, as a pirate I can believe that is quite common," I crossed my arms. "But I don't...the only way for full confirmation is to try it out."

Captain Hook looked me up and down. "What do you want to know?"

"Is Peter Pan truly immortal?"

"Yes."

"Does he have any weaknesses?"

"If I knew that, do you think I wouldn't have tried it?"

"Fair point," I said. I frowned. "Does he truly know everything that goes on in this island?"

"He knows who enters, and he knows who leaves, but the whole bloody island is his trap" Captain Hook took out a metal flask and took a sip. "Rum?"

Normally I would shrug it off, but I took the flask and took a big gulp. The bitter taste of alcohol shook through my core. I passed it back to him. 

"So, you're telling me you actually found pixie dust?" Hook asked.

"Yes, isn't it quite common here?"

Hook laughed as if I was being absurd. "Sorry, Love, but pixie dust here is as rare as gold in the Enchanted Forest. And although it came from the trees, it's stopped growing pixie dust for quite some time"

"Wait...are you telling me..." I whispered. I was sure Quinton had pixie dust, and he found it in the tree...if what Hook said was true, then it had to be planted there, purposefully... And that this quest was doomed before it even started. 

"You look shocked, is it the rum?" Hook asked. 

I felt my heart racing.  Panic was building up in my core, but I forced it down. "No, it's not the rum, it's just...I had thought...nothing about this island is what it seems to be, and don't even get me started about Peter Pan...and people I've trusted...I'm...I'm..."

Hook handed me his flask, and I took another big sip. 

"Thank you,"

"Don't worry, I know the feeling," Hook stood up. "I've been trapped on this island for years. There's no defeating Peter Pan."

"Believe it or not, Peter Pan has just become the least of my concerns," I stated. "Thank you for the answers...and the rum."  

"Any time," Hook said. "Next time, feel free to knock."

I nodded. The moment I saw him, I knew that he was not the villain, at least, not to me.  I needed to find Quinton, and fast. I was about to leave the cabin.

"Just one thing," 

I turned to face Hook.

"If you want to survive long enough to leave this island, don't try and cheat Peter Pan, that's bad form," 

I nodded, "It was nice to meet you, Captain. If I do survive, I might have a way for you off this island, would you be interested?"

I found myself running towards the campsite. I could not stop. If Peter Pan had planted that pixie dust just to toy with us, and that it was as rare as Hook said, then we needed to stop right now. Headquarters wanted enough pixie dust for basically an army. That itself was impossible. We had to find another way out of the island, and I had an answer.

As I arrived, I saw Quinton waiting at the fireplace, standing alert.  No one else was to be seen. He saw me and waved frantically. I thought he was happy to see me, but then...

"Hello, Finley,"

I turned around and gasped. It was Gus.

"So good to see you're still alive!" Gus said and gave me a warm embrace.

Except I felt stone cold. This was going downhill, fast.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"Well, when we saw Maddox's lifeline go flat, we had enough, we gathered our resources, after all, I couldn't risk my best asset to be destroyed," Gus put his hand over his shoulder and motioned me into the forest. I looked at Quinton, and he looked terrified. 

When I saw the campsite, I knew why.

There were at least forty to fifty people, building up tents, cages and armed to the teeth.

"Peter Pan has started a war with the number of lives he took, and a war is what we'll give him," Gus said and patted me on the shoulder. "What do you say? Are you in?"

"You're going to get a massacre..." I stuttered. "Peter Pan is immortal."

"Oh, well, he may be, but his lost boys aren't," he motioned and a troop of guards pulled out a boy from the tent. I gasped. It was Tootles. The boy that removed the arrow, and healed my back. He was also the youngest lost boy in Neverland. 

"So, are you ready to have revenge?" Gus handed me a gun and motioned towards the boy.