¥ 6 - Humiliation ¥

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What Aria came to understand was that her momentary breakdown had handed Pan all the information he needed to break her. It was evident the next morning. They all headed out to the training area and to test Aria's strength she would face the Lost Boys, the strongest first then going down in strength, eventually if she did beat one that would be where her level was set. The humiliation of losing until she won made her sick with nerves and it weakened her before any of the boys could land a hit on her.

Luckily for her, she looked to be the oldest physically, being taller than all the boys, even matching the height of Pan and Felix. She may not have had training in fighting but being the newest recruit meant she still had all the weight on her bones from back home. She hadn't had time to lose it all yet.

First up, Felix. Pan's right-hand man. He had a grin on his face before he even reached for Aria. "I guess you boys don't mind hitting girls," she tried, trying to tease some chivalry out of them. Of course, she didn't care if a guy hit a girl; if she hit a guy she expected him to retaliate as any person would. Unfortunately, Felix only laughed at her, "don't be so old fashioned Aria. Of course we'd hit a girl."

He swung his club and she tried to dodge but the blow hit her directly in the stomach, she was easily winded and kneeled over as she tried to breathe. Her panicking had set in as her brain realised she couldn't breathe. It made it even harder for her to regain a spot of breath, the panicking causing her breathing to be short and erratic. Felix swung again and her legs were swept from under her. She landed on the floor with a thud as the Lost Boys cheered at Felix's victory. He laughed, kicked her side as he stepped over her, allowing for the next Lost Boy to step forward.

Next was the boy who had tripped her when they carried the water. Aria stood from where she had been knocked down and examined her next challenge. He was just below her height but looked strong, he had to be to carry the water the other day without difficulty. "What no clever remark this time?" He jabbed. She took his moment of mocking to swing her fist and it connected with his face, "suck on that asshole," she quipped, a smirk on her face as her inner anger at being humiliated slowly burned.

He retaliated with more anger, annoyed he had taken a hit from the new girl. Aria moved and took it to the shoulder as she moved her face out of the way. He hit hard. This boy was more muscle than he appeared and Aria already knew there'd be bruises in the morning just from this boy alone. She threw another punch, but he caught it, twisted her arm just so, pushing her to her knees and surrendering her victory. Again the boys cheered and Peter Pan watched on from the sidelines, waiting for her to lose hope. Only he didn't realise that though Aria's anger was burning slow and small, it wouldn't go out.

People underestimated her inner strength when they witnessed her outer strength. To any person she was a nervous and quiet person, unable to stand up for herself, shaking from nerves. Inside she was stronger than ever, after all, living with anxiety would make you quite resilient to it would it not? So though they laughed at her and tried to pull her down she still had a fire of determination. Most things they could say to her would already have been said by herself in her down moments. By now she was a professional at getting back up and fighting.

The next lost boy was Edward. Aria was still unsure about him, he had laughed and joined the game for her induction, but had been kind to her when teaching her about the island. She readied herself again, remembering that no matter how much these boys may not want to hit her, they would because he was here. As Edward said, nobody disobeyed Peter Pan. Edward lunged at her and she threw her arm up in defence. He swung again and she dodged to the side, throwing a punch at him this time and quickly pulling back to avoid the same result as the last sparring match. She threw her body weight into her next attack and Edward dodged sideways, closer to her. He quickly moved around behind her and clasped his arms around her neck.

¥ - Lost and Found - Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) - ¥Where stories live. Discover now