Thread: Neverland

Ana lead the way down to the lost children's den, turning around often to make a 'Shh' gesture. "Here we are hands. The Hangman's Tree. Now keep quiet. Elora, on my signal, you go running out there to the tree and run to the door. When you get there, start wailing on them your sob story." Ana whispered, getting down on her knees and crawling to a bush that concealed all of them. "On my signal. One. Two. Three." Ana hissed, then gestured to the crew. Immediately, the crew pulled out their swords and started clanging them against each other, occasionally slashing a nearby tree. Ana let out a yell, trying to mimic a redskins, and clanged her sword with the First Mate, turning to Elora. "Don't let her get away!" Ana yelled, winking at Elora, pointing to the children's den.

"Funny, funny Ana."

Rozalin was flying above the crew, that wee bit higher in the air that she was out of reach by the gruff pirates but close enough that she would be heard. "You really didn't need to go that far, you know?" she chided. "Those stupid, stupid kids wouldn't even pay 2 seconds to listen to the story and they'd just wave her in anyway." She chuckled as she circled around the crew, who spun, following her every motion and ended up stumbling to the ground in their dizziness.

"But, I suppose, being the smart, smart Captain you are, you just had to have a plan, don't you?" she cooed, her eyes twinkling as she did a mock salute in the most serious expression she could muster.

Rozalin glanced to where Elora had ran. "Poor little Elora," she tsk-ed, shaking her head with mock concerned expression. "I wonder how she'll handle herself in there all alone." The pixie flew closer to the pirate's captain, flashing a mischievous grin. "She just might need some help, doncha think?"

As Ana watched in satisfaction, she suddenly heard angry cries and turned to see some of her crew on the ground, obviously dizzy. Ana also saw Rozalin, heard her tease and scold. "Why, you!" Ana hissed, her hand flashing out to try and catch the small pixie. "How dare you insult my hands?" The captain hissed, her other hand reaching for her sword. Just because the pixie could fly didn't mean that Ana couldn't reach her.

The pixie squealed as soon as she caught sight of the long sword, hurriedly flying up a tree, safely out of reach of the Captain and her sword.

"What a temper," she huffed.

Lying on her stomach on a thick branch, Rozalin swung her small legs back and forth in the air. "I was only trying to help and this is what I get?" she pouted, pretending to look hurt. "Well, I guess it couldn't be help. Pirates will be pirates, after all," she sighed dramatically. Eyeing the Captain, the pixie rose an eyebrow questioningly. "Or would it be better if I just help the children instead?"

It was an obvious bluff. Every living creature in Neverland knew her grudge on the lost children. Even the pebbles and the trees laid witness to her malice. "How about," she began slowly, a cat's grin quietly spreading to her face. "You let me join the game, Captain?"

Ana took in a deep breath, calming herself down from her initial bought of anger. "And how were you planning to join the game, Rozalin?" Ana questioned, trying to hide her curiosity. Yes, Rozalin was a little devil that constantly got in the way, but she was a pixie, and she was resourceful. Even proud Ana could see what help the little pixie could be.

As long as she doesn't get in the way, I'll hear her out. Just for a little while. Ana bargained to herself, a little wary of the pixie's grin. She glanced at the crew, who quickly sat up and stopped groaning and hissing at the pixie. Ana went to stand, but noticed the bush wouldn't hide her, and chose to stay sitting down, her legs crossed. "What could I benefit from letting join 'the game', hmm?" Ana questioned, trying to see the whole picture.

Ana knew of Rozalin's hatred for the children, and quite frankly, Ana didn't like their leader, as she felt that the girl was only picked because she was the oldest. Honestly, Ana believed that the only reason she hadn't already captured all the children was not because of the children's 'genius' ideas, but because their pixies constantly got in the way.

The pixie chuckled.

"Why don't you start by telling me the rules?" she lured. "Even though I've never really been one for rules," she drawled, stifling a mock yawn. Rozalin rested her chin on her palms, her eyes wide with anticipation. "But, I'll tolerate it this one time."

"Oh, Captain Ana. Don't you see yet?" she gazed at the pirate with a patronizing look. "I could be your greatest Ace," she paused teasingly, letting her words sink in as the silence loaded with suspense. She giggled. "Or you worst Joker."

Rozalin bounced from the refuge of her branch and flew gracefully in front of the Captain. "It really depends on which card you choose to draw."

She heard the loud battle cry. It came from a voice that she knew all too well.

"Leader!" the pixie squealed in delight.

Abandoning the conversation at hand, Rozalin went to join the action. She glided up a tree, where a small raven croaked with alert at the sound of chaos on land. The mother bird broadened her wings, covering the most part of the straw nest, shielding protectively over her nestlings. "Hello, Blue Wings," the pixie called to the obviously black feathered bird. "Wanna play with Rozalin?"

After a moment of silence, it crowed a reply. "Come, Blue Wings. Yes, yes." The pixie climbed onto it's back, wrapping her arms around the raven's neck. "Go to the oak tree," she whispered, as the bird flapped its wing, departing swiftly from the branch.

Inside a hole up in the dried oak was Rozalin's precious haven. She grabbed her leather sachet and filled it with rotten eggs which she had stolen from the Indian's poultry farm a very, very long time ago. "It is a special occasion, isn't it?" she giggled as she tied the worn out sachet around the raven's body. "Let's go, Blue Wings."

From up high in the sky, Rozalin dropped the rotten eggs blindly onto the crew of pirates. An angry outburst followed her assault as she circled the sky and turned towards the lost children. She seemed to ponder upon a thought momentarily as she hovered over the children. "Well, that wouldn't be fair, would it?" she nodded to herself, a sly grin playing on her lips as an egg cracked open onto a young boy's head, releasing a rotten odor into the air.

Ana smiled as she watched Elora run out. Noticing the Leader and her children run out into the clearing and start throwing things, she turned to her crew, her sword hand twitching when she saw the mess the crew was in. She made a mental note to talk this over with that pixie, and began to run towards the ship, her sword out, slicing things coming her way. "Let's go crew! The girl is gone, we're not getting her! Let's go!" Ana yelled to her crew, gesturing to the First Mate and to the boatswain to stop their banging and swordplay. The two nodded and yelled to the other crew members, and they all began to run to the ship, hands up to protect their heads from the children's objects. As Ana ran, she looked behind her, seeing Elora on the ground, looking at the children. A small shiver ran down her back, and Ana couldn't stop the thought that hit her.

This might not have been one of my best ideas...

Rozalin waved goodbye as the raven returned to her nest carrying a now empty sachet. "Let's play again later, Blue Wings," she called and the bird replied with a crow.

Floating at a lower latitude, Rozalin registered the retreating pirates. She pouted, incapable of piecing together the pirates actions. Captain Ana would've certainly not retreat so early a battle, she pondered. Then, this is part of her plan, yes?

"Ooof!" Rozalin puffed, frustrated that she could not unravel the pirate's plan. She launched into a fast flight and zigzagged among the trees in an almost frantic manner. "No fair, no fair," the pixie whined not unlike a demanding infant, peeved by the fact that she was kept in the shadows from the pirate's schemes.

Tiring herself from her outburst, Rozalin rested on the lush land, spreading her arms and legs into the shape of a star. Less than a few ticks later, the pixie bounced from the ground into a flying position and was back to her enthusiastic self. "I'll go see Captain Ana then," she decided simply as she followed behind in the direction of the cruising ship.

Loki splashed his head with water from the salty sea. He cleaned his dirty blonde hair that had fallen victim to the devilish pixie's prank. "Aw, man," he grunted, sensing the smell of rotten eggs still stubbornly sticking to his scalp. "Bleghh!" Beside him, there were three others who were mirroring his actions, fellow sacrifice of the same tragedy. Two others had flown to Mermaid Lagoon to ask for some magical mermaid service to rid of the stench. "Lucky kids," he muttered, wallowing in self pity because of his pixieless self.

Sliding down the hollow tree, Loki was surprised to see an unfamiliar face. "Heyya!" he greeted cheerfully. "I'm Loki! Whatcha name?"

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mold watching the children with a smug look on her face. "Careful there, Mold. Or you might give the youngins nightmares with a creepy smile like that," he teased. "And by the way, have ya figured out the riddle yet?" he challenged.

Loki was the one who had set the riddle for the Treasure Hunt this time. The kids had been pestering him all week to tell them them the answer but he refused to give in. 'Ayy, what fun is a riddle when ya know the answer?' he'd say. Some had even resorted to mix some mermaid's truth potion in his salad once but Loki had ran into the forest then and hid from everyone until the potion wore off. Since then he had taken precaution to sniff his grub, he could always catch that faint scent of mermaid magic.

To Mold he added with a loop sided grin, "Imma give ya a clue if you do somethin' for me."

Loki scowled and scratched his damp head when Mold had reminded him about his luck—or rather, the lack of it. "Not funny," he pouted and started shaking his hair dry, resulting on spraying anyone within close proximity. "It's serious stuff!"

He grinned when some of the kids started running away from him and made a dramatic show of choking for air. "Why I otta, come 'ere, you!" He pounced on the kids and started nuzzling his head on their faces. They giggled and laughed into his hair, the kind of deep belly laughter that only infants seem to possess—wonder when he started to lose that laugh? "Now ya kids go and play with Elora over there," he said, shooing them with a voice of mock authority. No one ever took him seriously anyway.

He gave a final wave towards Elora when Mold started pulling him out. His eyes twinkled when he saw that the youngins had already started preparing a bed for her. "Whaddaya know," he chuckled. Before Mold came around, when they were still leaderless after the absence of Pan, the kids started looking at him for guidance but that sort of thing was never for him. The children were a storm of disorder under his leadership so he was more than happy to pass the baton to the leafy girl the second she arrived.

"Hold yar horses there, milady," he stalled playfully when Mold had asked for his demands. The skies were darkening, nightfall approaching. Loki made a scene of taking a deep breath and filling his lungs with the cool air. "Ahhh, nothin' like the cool evening air, eh Mold?" Pondering on his request, he tapped his fingers rhythmically against his chin. "Now, what can I do with my one wish?" Grinning, he turned to her, the corners of his eyes crinkling with mischief. "How 'bout ya try taking the Queen's shark out for a ride?" he laid out his dare.

Micah was distressed as ran around the outside of the Hangman's tree, it wasn't often that this boy was in such a state, but it was very clear as to why he was when the pixie that normally was with him was no where to be seen. "TARI!!!!!" he yelled loudly, as he tread carefully and lightly, searching high and low for his companion, not caring who he disturbed. Batari was his first friend, she had always been with him since the moment he became a lost boy 11 years ago.

Loki startled from the sudden noise that had blared into his ears. He raised an eyebrow and turned around in the spot he was standing to try and locate where the sound had originated from. He was never good with approximations. Just as he was about to give up and shrug off the disturbance, he barely caught a brief glimpse of a boy running around the area frantically.

"So, think about it, 'kay, Moldy?" he winked to the leader before he started a slow jog towards the lost boy.

"Heyya, Mike! What're ya doin' runnin' around so late?" he questioned evenly, barely breaking a sweat as he finally caught up with his friend. It took a minute for Loki to came into awareness that something was wrong—well, other than the obviously distressed Micah—and another to realize what it actually was. It was the absence of the soft buzzing of the flying pixie that was always heard whenever he was close to Micah. "Woah, where's Tari?" he said as he halted to a stop.

Loki circled his palms around his eyes and squinted through the 'microscope'. "I don't see her anywhere." Then, the boy put a hand over an ear and leaned to his right for two seconds, before repeating the process on his left. "I don't hear her anywhere."

Putting his hands on his waist and raising a judging eyebrow at Micah, he asked condescendingly. "Don't tell me you lost her."

At this point Micah did not know what to do, his friend, his companion that he had been with so long was gone, for the first time since he was five he wanted to cry and Loki was not helping the situation with his antics. He clenched his fists as he stopped, turning to look at the male that he considered a brother, of course he automatically lashed out physically to him, but it was something often seen between them. "Give her back, Loki!!!! I know you took her!!! You always wanted her for your self but you can't so just give her back!!!!" he yelled at him, not really thinking at the moment as he continued to lash out at the dirty blond.

"OWW!"

Loki pushed Micah's head with his extended arm, so that the boy couldn't get a decent shot at him again. He was a good eight inches taller than the kid which gave a huge advantage on his side. Not to brag, but he did have a winning streak on the odd fights among the lost boys—well even though that would be because his opponents are all smaller than him in size, but, still, a win is a win. "Hold yar horses there, kid."

Loki jumped back and swiftly crawled up a nearby tree. From the safe distance of a thick branch, Loki looked down to angry lost boy. He rubbed the spot where Micah had struck him which would probably leave a tender bruise next morning. "I ain't the one to take yar pixie, ya hear me!" he said, flailing his right arm in a threatening manner, imitating the actions of an old geezer trying to rid of neighborhood kids from his lawn. Loki chuckled at his own private joke.

"Ya listen here closely, ya whippersnapper!" he wheezed, mocking a cough. "I ain't interested in used items, ya see." He sat with one leg crossed over the other and held a solemn expression as he scanned the skies. "Well, what'ver t'is. Ya ain't gonna find her in this light." Or the absence of it, he meant. "Ya might as well head out to Mermaid Lagoon with me and Mold first thing tomorrow." A smirk crossed his lips. "That is if our Mold is game enough to take me on my dare."

"I know you took her!!! I seen how you always look at her!!!" Micah yelled up at him, he had been grunting and trying to fight the taller male, while cursing his height. A serious look was on his face as his fists and jaw clenched even more, the jokes were not lost on him but he was to upset to laugh at him. "Tari said she would be back before sun down.....she always keeps her word. So if you didn't take her then why is she not here?" he said to Loki as he climbed up the tree to get to the male's view point to see what he could. He was still angry but he also knew that Loki was right in what he said, he tried to calm down and even more then that he knew it was pointless to waste his energy. "Why are you both going there? Do you think they took her?" he said to him as he sat next to him, sighing in defeat as his eyes scanned what he could see of the island for any glint of his dear friend.

Loki shrugged as he hung to the branch with one hand, swinging himself a few times before slipping off the tree to land on the ground, adding an unnecessary rolling to his performance. "I donno. But, it's always good to ask mermaids help when ya lose somethin'."

The lost boy grinned at his leader. "So, I take that as ya takin' my challenge, eh Mold?" Loki absolutely loved going to Mermaid Lagoon, especially at the break of dawn when the skies are purple from the mix of night blue and morning red. He'd never tell why though. But just between you and me, it might have something to do with the one mermaid who's always an early riser, lounging alone in the cool water.

"Well, now that that's settled, let's return to the house, shall we?" He said, pretending to shiver. "It's too chilly out here." He skipped inside without waiting for the other two and was invited by a sight of the youngins crowding in a closed circle. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Now, what are ya up to, youngins?"

The circle broke as they all turned to him, their faces lit with glee and concealed giggles at getting caught in the act. He scowled when he had seen what they had done—scribbling on Elora's sleeping face with crayons. He made his way to them with an angry scorn. "Just what're ya think yar doin'!?" he shouted. The kids startled from his outburst, backing away from the scene slowly as they looked at him with a guarded expression. Their faces white as they stammered with excuses.

"W-We were just p-playin'."

"Don't b-be mad, Loki."

"We p-promise we w-won't d-do it, again."

He glowered at them. "For sure ya won't," he said with a solemn expression. In a blink of an eye, the corners of his lips twitched before splitting into a wide grin. "Ya shud'av used paint."

"I ain't interested in riddin' no shark right now Mold. I need Tari......" Micah said to her as he managed to pull on his serious face once more, watching as Loki slip from the tree and head inside, he just snorted before he slipped from the tree also. He looked at Mold before rolling his eyes, he never would accept her as their leader, to him there is only one leader they will ever have and that is Peter Pan. "I didn't lose her.....she was stolen." he mumbled as he looked around, he knew he would not be able to sleep without the tinkling sound of Batari singing him to sleep, so instead of going inside to rest he headed to other parts of the island, planning to find her where ever she was at.

Micah's fist clenched as he turned and looked at Mold, oh how he loathed her, she was just a pain in his butt and she knew it. "I don't want your help." he said to her as he gritted his teeth before he turned and darted off, purposely leaving her and everyone behind. It just made him so angry that they all thought he was careless with Batari, it wasn't that he was careless it was just he let her do as she pleased and she gets into trouble sometimes.

Loki jolted up when he heard Mold's announcement. The children were all fired up and were ready to go—even Loki was feeling quite giddy at the thought of a fight—when Micah hissed his discontent and stormed out.

"Weee~ll," he drawl before letting out a canary's whistle. "This is just a guess, but, it doesn't seem like he wants our help fer this, Leader." Loki shrugged and yawned. "If ya ask me," he started, already walking towards his bunk. He flopped down easily onto the spring mattress which resulted to a few dust flying in the air, for which the boy remained unfazed as he dangled one leg over the other. "It's 'bout time to get some shut eye. The kid'll manage."

Loki's sky blue eyes were already drooping as he rolled onto his side, waving his hands dismissively. "And give that girl a blanket or sumtin'. I ain't want no cold in my cabin." It wasn't long after that Loki was heard snoring into the night.

The Next Day

"Mold, Mold! Wake up! Wake up!"

It was just at the break of dawn and none of the other children were awake yet. It usually takes them until noon before they realize how hungry they were and finally get on their feet, preparing for the day's adventure. But it's the perfect time for him if he wants to carry out his dare with the leader, where the waters were cool and Mermaid Lagoon was bound to be vacated. He grinned at the lost girl, tugging at her arm enthusiastically. "Ya need to get up now if ya wanna play with the fish!"

In his impatience to leave, Loki tripped over the new girl that had been sleeping in the same spot he had left her yesterday. To their credit, the children did cover her with some drapes. Well, close enough.

"You too, Lola! Wake up! We're gonna go play a game now," he whispered, taking care to keep his voice low as to not wake the others but the excitement contained in them was evident. Loki waited by the exit for the girls to get ready, wondering if he was successful with his wake up call. He allowed his mind to wander. It rested on the thought of Micah. Wonder if he found Tari. Well, just hope so. Then, he can join us for the shark ride!

Micah had searched everywhere he could think of but avoiding the places they were not to go to during the night, or the places known to be dangerous. It was nearly sun rise when he finally found the pixie, oh how he was happy to have her with him once more. "Tari.....what happened to you?" he said to her in a relieved voice as he let her stand on his hand, looking her over to make sure she was fine, also seeing how tired she was.

"Oh Mi.....it was horrible." Batari said to him as she begin to tell him what had happen to her. How she was going back from Pixie hallow when a female pirate had caught her, she even told him what she heard while talking with the captain. "I am just glad to be home." she said to him as she hugged his thumb, smiling up at him as she watched him head back to Hangman's tree.

"I am just glad that your safe." he said to her as he sat down outside of the tree, setting her on his shoulder as he gave a yawn before he went on to tell her what had happened when she was gone and how he searched for her, even told her about Mold and how he wish she would just quit being the leader so Peter can have his spot back when he came back from the mainland.