Hey,
Thanks for reading! I can't believe I have over 1,000 reads! It's incredible! Thank you so much for your support, I really appreciate it.
I've added a new character, who is taken directly from the TV series, as you can tell from the chapter title. I've tried to keep his personality as close to the character as possible.
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NB: This chapter hasn't been checked for spelling, punctuation and grammar, so please comment if you see any mistakes.
Enjoy,
Annabelle_the_reader
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'Who's the new Lost Boy?' I asked Peter Pan, handing him a bowl of stew I just made. I had heard that there was a new addition to the Lost Boys, which I assumed was the reason why Felix and a few of the Lost Boys had been disappearing so often.
Pan hadn't told me why and I knew him well enough to know when to avoid asking questions. I guessed that this new Lost Boy was important somehow.
'That boy over there, he doesn't seem to want to talk.' Pan said as dismissively as possible, trying hard not to sound too enthusiastic, but I could see that this not was important to him, he was just trying to hide it.
I nodded, my eyes following his pointing finger to a dark haired boy, almost as dark as mine, with chocolate brown eyes, sat alone on a log, looking at the dancing flames and avoiding eye contact with anyone.
'I could try, if you like. I may not be as experienced as most of the other Lost Boys, but I could try to help him realise it isn't dangerous here.' I suggested and Pan paused for a moment, thinking this through carefully, before looking over at the boy.
'Why not.' He shrugged. Grinning in return at the opportunity of meeting new people, which I liked to do, I held back a bowl of stew, for me to give it to him.
I walked over to the boy, his arms wrapped around his body, but not in fear. This new Lost Boy didn't seem as terrified as most of the others had been when they first arrived, in fact he seemed almost angry. I decided I already liked him.
'Hey, you must be the new Lost Boy.' I said sitting down beside him on a log and handing him a bowl of stew. 'Here, you must be hungry.' I offered.
'You're a girl.' The boy said slowly, frowning at me in confusion because even though he had only been there a few hours, he could tell that I was the only Lost Girl. He took the stew from me and sent me a confused look, as if puzzling out whether to trust me or not.
I laughed. 'Well noticed, I suppose you're looking at so far the only exception to the "only boys allowed" rule.' I teased, then crossed my knees the way I had been told was proper when I arrived in Malcolm's realm, the place where I assume Baelfire was from, and put my hands on top of each other on my knees, smiling at him sweetly. 'I'm Tiger Lily, but you can call me Tiger. Who are you?'
Malcolm had told me that, unlike in Neverland, the custom of meeting people was to shake hands: something whereby you grasp the other person's hand and wave it about like a maniac. The natives only touched hands as a sign of affection or if there was a rocky cliff and you could fall off.
'I'm Baelfire, but my friends call me Bae. I suppose what my friends call me doesn't matter anymore.' He said and sent me a small, wavering smile. I smiled back in an attempt to make friends as I spooned some stew into my mouth, to show I hadn't poisoned it or something.
'Pleased to meet you, Bae.' I said, emphasising how I was calling him by his preferred nickname to show our quick friendship.
I watched him shovel spoonfuls of stew into his mouth hungrily and relax at the delicious taste. I took this to mean that he trusted me and I smiled to myself at my expert friend making skills. I remember thinking how it was much easier when I left Neverland to make friends, now that my Father wasn't terrifying everyone.
'You don't have to be pleasant to me.' Baelfire sighed and I frowned, staring into his chocolate eyes with curiousity. I opened my mouth to reply, but he continued, 'If your a Lost Girl then your with Pan and I don't want anything to do with you.'
I chuckled and drew my legs up closer to my body. 'I know that you hate him, but I'm not one of them. I'm different. I take every hing Pan says with a pinch of salt, and so should you. But you can trust me, ok?'
'Ok.' Baelfire agreed and we smiled at one another, realising how our reluctance at joining Pan's Lost Boys gave us something in common.
'Why is your name Tiger Lily?' Baelfire wondered and I smiled at him, because not many people familiar with my background know what it was like and how unusual the names are.
'I was born with it, Bae. I used to call myself just Lily, but I added the "Tiger" part when I became a Lost Girl. It felt like part of me.' I explained, shrugging my shoulders.
'Why do you like tigers so much?' Bae pressed and I thought for a long hard moment about what he said. It was true, I wanted to be exactly like a tiger, but I had absolutely no idea why.
'Because everyone is afraid of tigers.' I shrugged eventually, deciding that this was the most valid reason I could come up with. Then, shifting my body position slightly, I continued, 'Nobody messes with a tiger, Bae.'
~
It didn't take long for the Lost Boys to split in half to form two teams of equal abilities. Baelfire was on the other team. I stood there dumbly, watching them smirk at my ignorance. It annoyed me that no one told me what exactly was happening and just expected me to know, otherwise I was stupid.
'Capture the flag.' Pan cheered and all of the Lost Boys whooped and cheered, shouting abuse at the other team. I just rolled my eyes at their immature game, but at the same time I was slightly excited. The sailors were too serious and old to play games.
Pan took a giant step forwards, his smile widening at their excitement, but as he did so they silenced, he raised an eyebrow and demanded, 'You in, Tiger?'
'Sounds great.' I beamed and Peter smirked, gesturing for me to follow into one of the teams. I slipped into the queue, grinning as a few of the Lost Boys cheered my arrival.
'You don't play, Pan?' I mused, raising an eyebrow.
'I could...' He pondered, then continued, pretending to seem noble, 'But that would give my team an enormous, unfair advantage.' He winked, then stepped forwards, 'The rules are simple, capture the other team's flag to win. Hide them somewhere tactically good, keep them well guarded and hunt the other team's flag.'
Once he had finished, he looked directly upwards and floated into the air, 'I'll be watching.' He mused, glancing at me for a moment. Then I realised it wasn't his skill that would give his team an advantage, it was his easy knowledge of where the flag would be. He knows everything about the island, including where things and people are on the island.
'Good luck, boys.... and girl.' He cheered, hovering in the air to add suspense. The team players all smirked at one another, placing themselves into running stance. Then Pan lowered his voice and shot us a cheeky, excited smile, before yelling, 'Let's play!'
As soon as these words leave his mouth, to signify the beginning of the game, we sprint in opposite directions. The wind whipped through my hair and I laughed at the feeling of freedom, turning to see the Lost Boys running together, each with excited smiles on their faces. In rare times like this, I felt pleased they were here to enjoy a prolonged childhood of fun and games.
In front of us was a sea of twisted, tangled trees, growing in and out of each other, but in a way that didn't obscure our path. It was gone midnight and the trees had an eerie lingering silence, like part of a nightmare.
'Wouldn't it be better if we used candles?' I wondered, turning to face he nearest Lost Boy: Patrick, jogging gently beside me.
He chuckled, 'It could be, but then the other team would be able to see us, don't you think Tiger Lily?' He mused, accelerating slightly to talk next to me, the path being just about wide enough for two people in some places.
It wasn't that though, it was the shared longing among the Lost Boys to not be dependent on anything. They train to shoot with arrows and fight with swords, but also how to do hand-to-hand combat, with no weapons. This makes the Lost Boys completely self sufficient, which I quite like because sometimes, you find yourself in situations without these things, and I want to be ready for it, just like they are.
'Don't call me that.' I objected.
Patrick gave me a mocking salute. 'Aye, aye, Sailor Lily.'
I glared at him and he laughed loudly, a few of the Lost Boys within earshot stifling laughs too, including Felix just ahead of me, leading the way through the dark forest. Deciding to change the subject, I asked, 'Hey, Felix, where exactly are we going?'
'Away from the enemy.' He stated as if it was obvious and stops at a small clearing, allowing the people at the back enough time to catch up, before he continued, 'Where do you think they'll be? The forest? The beach? Mermaid cove? Camp? Ideas, anyone?'
'I think they'll be in the forest.' I stated confidently, pausing to catch my breath. Felix raised an eyebrow, hating my intelligence, particularly as I was a girl. Apparently there is some part of a boy's mind that believes it is embarrassing and foolish to be beaten by a girl, something unthinkable.
'Enlighten us, Tiger Lily, how exactly did you deduce that?' Felix demanded and Patrick shot him a glare at his rudeness. Actually, my involvement was mostly to show them that I was brave enough to handle being a Lost Girl, I wanted to be equal to them.
'Isn't it obvious?' I taunted, then continued quickly before he could reply, 'The mermaid cove is too dangerous and both the camp and the beach are too exposed. We should head higher so we have a better view of where exactly they are. Also higher would be a better place to put our flag.' I concluded and most of the Lost Boys gawped at me, impressed.
'Good plan,' Agreed Patrick, but Felix stayed silent.
We then run further upwards, to gain a view of where exactly they could be. Once we reach half way, a Lost Boy cheers and points into the distance, where you can see the other team's flag. 'Look!' He explained gleefully. 'Just there... in the clearing... there's figures and something that could be a flag. It's got lots of open space, but there are gaps in the camouflage, so we will be able to see 'em easier!'
'Nice one, Spencer.' Patrick cheered, slapping him on the back and turning to Felix, who clearly made most of the decisions.
'We should split up now: Tiger Lily, Patrick, Ben and Daniel, you hide the flag and stay to guard it. We'll go and grab the other team's flag.' Felix declared, stealing the authority from me, but I didn't mind in the slightest.
I nodded in agreement, 'Good idea.'
We continued racing up the hill, only slower this time because it was so steep. This did, however, mean that we would have enough time to rest, but if the other team followed, we could pick them off at the top of the hill and then they would be more tired as they reached us.
The end of the hill was almost a sheer cliff edge. I groaned, but quickly readied myself for the climb. At first I felt successful, but then my throat tightened as I looked down to see the little distance I had covered. My heart pumped faster, the prospect of death loomed over me. Somehow, it excited me more to rely entirely on fate and my own skill.
'So... games like this... you play them a lot?' I asked, short of breath. These games were fun, like a test of teamwork, bravery, skill and intelligence. It wasn't just a game of strategy, it was a game in which everyone could play and enjoy. I suddenly felt like part of the Lost Boys playing capture the flag and helping them.
'Sure.' Patrick mumbled, stopping a third of the way up to look down and check I was ok. 'We love games like this, they're fun. Do you like them?'
'Absolutely.' I agreed, continuing to climb until I reached him. The other boys continued, a little slower than Patrick, but still much faster than me. 'I love anything with a little adventure.'
'I can see why Pan likes you.' He decided finally and continued, leaving me with my thoughts for a moment. Unlike how I anticipated, he didn't comment on the marriage side of our relationship, instead he used a present tense. Could it be that after all this time, Pan still cared for me, or was it part of an act to make me find the owner of the heart of the truest believer? My heart skipped a beat at that prospect, excitement surging through me. Once again, I felt like a proper child.
'You coming, Tiger?' Called Ben from above, dragging me out of my daydream. I nodded enthusiastically, reaching out to climb up faster than the others, with limited success.
'Sure.' I beamed, racing up to catch up with him. We kept climbing in silence, until we reached a flat surface at the top. We all nodded to agree this is the best place to stop, and collapsed onto the ground.
Suddenly a hail of arrows scatter around us, forcing us to duck behind nearby rocks. I edge my way out, to see the rest of our team behind the opposing team. Felix gave me a look and I knew what it meant: we had to defend our flag until he returned. I nodded and placed an arrow in my bow.
I managed to shoot a few of the other team's members, but not before they reach the top. I panicked and jumped behind a bush, using it for camouflage as I pelted arrows at them. A few Lost Boys yelped as the studded arrows hit them, their green tinge staining their clothes and signifying the end of the game for them.
Then a voice arose among the commotion, a cheer from voices I instantly recognised as Lost Boys from our team: 'We've won!'
There was a short silence on both sides, before the four of us whooped and cheered, running up to each other and grinning happily, even Ben who had two different arrow marks on his skin.
I beamed, suddenly laughing at my old memories of people who told me differently back when I lived in Neverland with the natives: games are all about the winning.
'Well done,' Pan said, gliding down beside us as if he had been watching all along. It suddenly made me uncomfortable, that he saw everything with an omniscient eye. 'I was surprised you weren't so cowardly.' Peter mused.
'I'm not a coward.' I disagreed firmly, because it was the one thing about myself I was totally convinced of. 'You call me a tiger, don't you? That is because I would rather be a tiger for a year than a sheep for centuries. I'm not a coward.'
'Something you must learn Tiger Lily is that courage isn't the absence of fear. You can only be brave if you feel afraid, for it is then that you can properly conquer that fear.' Peter Pan agreed and it was like none of the Lost Boys were there, it was just the overly emotional girl and the boy with no emotion. We couldn't be more differently alike.
I looked at him for a long hard moment, beginning to see who he really was. He wasn't Macolm, but that doesn't mean I should hate him for it. Eventually, I realised it was ok for me to like him and to agree with his principles, so I said firmly, 'Indeed. If there was no fear, Pan, there would also be no courage.'