In the morning, Peter Pan announced the Lost Boys and Mara will all have jobs to do today. It was to gather supplies because they were running low. Two groups will join together, there were five groups total in the camp, and one will be left out.
"James and Ace" Pan called, James had his head up and his attention was on Pan, "Your group are up for making medicine"
James exchanged a nod.
"Felix, your group will do the trading"
Felix's group let out disappointment groans which Mara assumed 'trading' must be bad. "Why not James, Pan?" Felix asked, "he's the Native whisperer"
"Well, you and your entire group were all caught in yesterday's game, this is your prize, Boys" Pan told them. He turned to the rest of the boys, "Thomas and Twins, you're up for hunting"
Mara and her group's job was to make medicine, she made medicine before, for the pain, her guardian taught her how to make pain medication.
"Remember, you move quickly, you finish early and you get free time for the rest of the day" Pan reminded.
That sounded good, the quicker they finish making medicine, they're free for the rest of the day. When Pan finished, that's when everyone moved, hunters gather their hunting weapons, traders left the camp already and the makers were gathering tools to make medicine with.
"We'll just get some herbs, mushrooms, any berries and fruits you can find" James said as he grabbed an axe nearby "Ace and his group are heading around Mermaid Lagoon and we're going to the Cannibal Cove"
Mara grabbed a knife from the table and tomahawk that stuck on the tree truck near her tent. She tucked the small weapons into her belt and was ready to leave. Once they did, James lead the way as usual, Curly was behind him and Mara walked behind him and Tootles followed. Even Ace and his group were following them, for now she assumed until they were close to the Lagoon and Cove.
Sometimes during the walk to the Cove and the Lagoon, the two groups exchanged conversations, only Mara didn't say much even when Ace attempted to speak with her, asked her where she was from, what she does for living, what happened to her family. She answered all weakly and with mumble. She didn't hate Ace, she knew what he was trying to do, and she just wasn't interested. It was until James saved her when he told her and the group he needed their help to collect the herbs he spotted meanwhile Ace and his group found mushrooms nearby to pick up.
"He's bothering you, isn't he?" James asked Mara, while they plucked the herbs.
She merely shrugged in response, "Least he's not trying to kill me"
James softly chuckled. "You can't blame him, he hasn't seen a girl besides Tiger Lily for a very long time"
"How am I so different from Lily?" She gave him a funny look.
"Very different" James huffed, "She's a warrior and you're a fighter, she's witty and you're smart, she's something—" he shrugged "but above all, you're prettier in Ace's perspective"
Mara looked at him as she asked, "And you don't think I'm pretty?"
James had his eyes on her with a small smile, he didn't answer at all, he gave a weakest shrug while taking the herbs down and shoved them into his pouch. "Let's keep going, shall we?"
He seemed a little embarrassed for a moment there, Mara let out a small smile as she followed him to join the rest of the their group.
The two groups proceeded to the Cove and the Lagoon, and on the way, they sang the same song about 'Following the Leader' and something about 'Neverland' or 'Lost'.
"C'mon, Mara" Curly patted her back, "sing along!" He continued singing.
She didn't bother, the boy's singing echoed away in the woods...
O' we were lost before Neverland
Now we're found and we are the Lost Boys
Everyday we play games and have fun
We run and hide and hunt and kill for fun
We dance in some nights until we grow weary
Danger come but we fight and win like we always do
Because we never fail
"Remember I told you about the Lost Girl song I would make, Mara?" Curly said loudly.
She quietly groaned and didn't say anything.
"I finished it, see, I have been thinking about it the past couple of days, finding words and all" Curly went on, "Want to hear it?"
"Please no" She muttered.
"Why not?" Curly whined, somehow there was sarcasm in his tone, "It's a very special song!"
Mara chuckled in response, "I don't want to hear it"
"You're gonna want to hear it one of these days, I won't ever forget the words because someday, I'll sing it to you"
"You've got one song about yourself, Curly?" Mara asked.
"Aye, wanna hear it?"
"Oh please, if you don't mind" she was half hearted and mainly mocked.
"O' there's a Lost Boy named Curly
Who is most fierce and most handsome boy on the island"
The boys laughed and scoffed and Mara scoffed and laughed as well.
The two groups finally went separate ways, James's group went to the Cannibal Cove and Ace's group went to Mermaid Lagoon.
Before they arrived the Cove, Mara spotted the small trees and bushes that was familiar to her, one that makes medicine with. "What about those?" Pointing at grey tree with green leafs on them.
"Uhm useless?" Slightly answered.
"No, we can make medicine with those branches, believe me, my guardian taught me about it, it's easy to make, really" Mara explained, "we just have to chop off the branches, peel and carve the skin off, we use the peels to throw them into the water and boil"
James, Curly, Slightly and Tootles exchanged glances and questioning looks.
She sighed almost peevishly, "Never mind, I'll do it myself" she walked toward the small trees and started chopping off the branches and twigs. A moment later, the boys finally give in and joined her.
They went on for a little while until Mara said they had enough to make loads that could last then for few weeks. They continued collecting and picking herbs, mushrooms and berries they could find, meanwhile Slightly and Curly went to the Cove to look for urchins.
It had been an hour since they collected the ingredients at the Cove, that's when James announced it was time to head back to the camp. Mara carried the chopped sticks, James had a small bag of fruits, Tootles had herbs and Slightly and Curly were carrying urchins which they had them in jars.
While they were walking back to the camp, Mara was curious as usual about something, "Hey, when Pan told Felix will do the trading, what did he mean by that?"
None of the boys spoke for moment, as if they were waiting for one of them to speak first. "They're trading with the Natives" James answered, "Mainly we need hides and clean clothes, we don't really like that job because the Natives are easily irritated by us"
Mara said nothing about it but instead she questioned something else. "Pan can make anything, right? Like if we need supplies or essentials or something we need, he can just make them all with magic, can he?"
"That's true" James shifted his bag around his shoulder, "but he intends to make us work hard, he doesn't want make things easier around here, he wants us to learn"
When Mara was looking over at Slightly and Curly, carrying two jars each filled with water and urchins. The little ball things covered with long spikes like hundreds of needles "What did you say we need urchins for?"
"Didn't" Curly replied, "Its the needles we want, they can useful at times, like if we need stitches for the injuries"
She understood, she never thought those spiked things can be that little useful.
"They're not really like needles" Tootles muttered, "those things are still thick and painful to use"
The stroll back to the camp was long, it took an hour to get there, and once they arrived, Pan was already there. Mara and the group were first to arrive. Curly and Slightly placed the jars on the tables, and the rest settled the ingredients down and began to make medicine.
Mara placed a small brown and dirty blanket on the ground near her knees. Using her knife, she started carving off the skin of the branches and Tootles helped her. While James, Slightly and Curly gathered the herbs, fruits, berries and mushrooms, some they combined together in one big bowl before mixing them together.
Once Tootles and Mara carved off all of the sticks' skins, she put them in one big pot while Tootles went to fill a bucket with water. Once he came back with water, he filled the pot with it and she tossed the peels into the pot and started to boil it. The scent from the peels reminded her home, her fingers were coated by the smell as well, it all reminded her of her guardian. She didn't notice that Pan was watching her until he came up to her and Tootles. The clumsy boy was stirring the pot slowly that stood on top of the fire.
"What are you making?" Pan was curious and stood behind Mara, she couldn't think of a time where he's curious about something she does.
The clumsy boy answered, "Mara said it's medicine, her idea"
She shifted her head to her right then glanced up at Pan, "Something my guardian taught me, it relives pain"
He didn't speak, she couldn't tell if he was either impressed or not, he merely turned slowly and walked away. She turned to Tootles, "He likes you a lot now" the boy commented quietly.
"Tshh" she scoffed. Tootles stared at her with a small grin as if teasing her about Pan. "That's enough stirring, why don't you go help James and others"
"Since when you're the boss of me?" The boy laughed softly.
"Just go" she nodded toward where James and others were sitting. Tootles did obey and Mara took over his place.
***
Not the best chapter, I know, I promise it'll get better soon
For those who are still in school, good luck on your exams and those who aren't, have a good summer :)
Stay weird, everyone