Ok. Calm down. We need to find Big Bear. What can I do? Think of the three rules.
-Always be loyal to Peter Pan.
-Don't look into the Founding.
-Under no circumstances, leave Neverland and grow up.
Rule one, I saw his red feather in the forest! He'll know what to do. I grab my sheath of arrows and bow that I dropped when counting the Lost boys.
Walking into the thick forest, I start tracking Pan. I notice a broken twig here, a footprint there— anything that indicates Pan went through here. After some time, I get worried. Shouldn't I have caught up to him? I about turn back when voices start to reach my ears. I could recognize them anywhere; Big Bear and Peter Pan.
I make a one-eighty and follow their sound. At first I was lost— their voices being my only guide— but then I spotted a rock in the shape of a butterfly.
I've been here before!
I was here earlier with Peter. They must be retrieving the weapons Pan and I stored since we don't need them anymore. My stomach started to form knots for unknown reasons which made me sneak behind them instead of actively catching up.
I slunk after them, keeping enough distance to not be spotted. I don't know why I did this, maybe a part of me knew something was wrong.
A little while later I passed the familiar hum of a wasp nest— the same one that Peter and I walked by. A few minutes later I arrived at the coconut tree. I moved through the bushes until I was behing Big Bear and Peter Pan. Big Bear was getting the weapons I stored out and Pan was watching.
Why wasn't he helping? Big Bear was strong no doubt about it, but surely Peter Pan didn't come to just watch him work. Little did I know how right I was.
Peter sighed and started to fill the air with small talk.
"You know Big Bear, you've been here a long time."
"That I have."
"So much so, that you've even aged a bit." Peter added, crouching by a bush to the side of Big Bear. I don't remember storing anything there.
"It would have to happen eventually; even Neverland is a victim to time." Big Bear said, grabbing the last of the weapons. Oh no, Peter Pan stored a sword under there!
"That it is, which is why is pains me to do this to you." Big Bear whips around to face Pan, only to be met with a sword in the stomach. My world shatters into more than a million pieces. I have to cover my mouth to not let out a scream. I can't take my eyes away from the horrific scene just ten feet away from me. Big Bear locks eyes with me, the life quickly draining from them. He mouths a single word to me that immediately implanted itself permanently into my brain.
Fire.
His body slumps to the ground. My hands slowly fall from my mouth, the ability to scream, gone. A dark, fog-like essence leaves Big Bear's body and Peter Pan inhales it with a dark smile. He hurls Big Bear's body over his shoulder and starts walking away.
I use my hands to prop myself up only to fall back down, just now noticing how my hands are shaking uncontrollably. I try to steady them but that makes them worse. The only thing that gets me to stand up is the need to follow them, like some twisted form of closure.
I start walking in the way Peter went, keeping in mind the tips Quiet Fox gave me.
Remember Arrow, the only way someone knows ya following them, is if ya mess up and let them know. So don't ever be too careful.
I take his words with steady heed. I watch every step I take and am mindful of every tiny thing I do. This consumes my entire thought, blocking everything else out. I refuse to let any other idea come into my head without permission.
I notice Peter Pan is gone. He's not in front of me anymore. I was so enveloped with my own tracks that I didn't even think if I was following Pan. No, I was sure he went this way.
A chill runs down my back. I imagine his creepy smile behind me, covered in lengthy shadows so only his eyes and teeth are visible. He knew I was tailing him! He knew I saw too much! Now he will kill me too!
I hear a thump to my right. My head snaps in that direction. Without thinking, I rush over there. The sight before me makes me collapse in fear and shock.
I spot Peter Pan digging with a shovel, Big Bear's lifeless body crumpled next to him. But this is not what made my legs stop working. It was the sight of not one, not a few, not even tens or hundreds, but thousands of identical sized lumps of previously unearthed dirt. Perfect for a body of any twelve-year-old boy.
Each lump had a rock at the front with a name carved sloppily on it. My eyes brush against each stone, a few names I recognize from long lost heros who disappeared when I was still a new lost boy. The classic tale of Captain Hook capturing them, never to be heard from again circles my brain. My eyes finally rest on the newest lump, with a stone that has the name Lake scratched onto it.
The apprentice before Big Bear, the one that was mysteriously killed by Hook in Big Bear's first week of apprenticeship. My mind gets brought back to reality with the ear-wrenching sound of Pan carving onto a stone.
Big Bear's body is gone, the only thing left is a new lump of dirt and a stone that was slowly being marked for him. Rules, images, and unforgettable moments argue with each other in my brain
Rule one: Always be loyal to Peter Pan.
But he just killed Big Bear!
Remember that one time he saved you from the human-eating tiger.
I took an oath!
Rules were made to be broken.
How could he do this?
But he was always so genuine.
Just trust rule one!
There's got to be a reason . . . right?
Peter Pan smiles at the new grave he made, pats the stone satisfied, and flies away. Once the fear inside me subsides momentarily, I crawl out of my hiding spot and kneel next to the grave. What am I to do?
For the first time, the negative emotions of this evening fill my heart and stomach to the point it hurts. Eventually it reaches my eyes and slowly drops onto the disturbed dirt, one by one until a small patch of mud appears.
Eventually only two things fill my thoughts, like a ring, just going 'round and 'round
Rule one: Always be loyal to Peter Pan.
Fire.
YOU ARE READING
Fairies and Arrows
Adventure"Its funny how time works. You don't really understand it 'til too much has passed." "You sound like an old man." I reply with a scoff. "Old or not, its true. I've spent so much time on this island that every day feels the same. Sure, it's fun at fi...
