Pirate to Lost girl

Chapter seventeen

Did I hear him right? Did he just ask... In all the time I've been here, I don't think I've ever heard ANYONE call him Peter. They have all known him for years. I've only known him for just a short while in comparison. It's been one hell of a ride though and thinking of it, it isn't that odd of a request.

"But... Why?" I ask out of curiosity.

"I don't want you to call me Pan anymore. Personally I don't want anyone to call me Pan really," he says not looking at me. "Having people call me Pan is so formal like answering to a king or some sort of war general. That's not the way Neverland works. I may be known as the 'King of Neverland' but I don't want to be treated that way. There was a time when everyone did call me Peter, but after what happened with Jinx, everyone started calling me Pan. I don't actually know why. Perhaps out of fear." I smile a little and put my hand over his. He looks up at me.

"Peter." I say as if testing it out. His face lights up a little and he smiles at me. I grin at him and I grip his hand softly. "I believe this is the part where you tell me everything." He rolls his eyes at me for being dramatic before he begins telling me about his past.

"I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of the Enchanted Forest," he starts. "I grew up the youngest of 5 boys. We were raised by both of our parents. They had so little money and so many mouths to feed. Many times my parents went to bed with empty stomachs, just so us boys could eat." He pauses and lets out a shaky breath. I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him and he puts his hand over mine and continues.

"My brothers and I were really close. We did everything together. We played together, we hunted together, we fought together. Even though we had so little, we had everything we could want. We lived right next to the forest, which is where we spent most of our time. We made forts, climbed trees, taught ourselves to swim in the river that runs through forest. Anyway, as the years past, we all got older and we all grew closer. We didn't even know about it until the general came around." He stops when he sees my confused look.

"There was a war raging between two kingdom not too far from our farm. Our farm happened to be just inside the border of one of them. The King's General went around and recruited every young man over the age of 18. My oldest brother had just turned 18, so when the general came around, he left with my oldest brother. They took the ages and birth dates of the rest of us. They came around every year on our 18th birthdays and took us away. Every year or so until I was the only one left."

"None of my brothers ever returned. The war finally ended a few months before I turned 18. The general can back and handed my parents four small pouches and an official looking letter. I knew what it was without anyone telling me. I took off running into the forest and I broke down. I was alone. My brothers, my best friends were all dead. I couldn't cope with it. It took me a couple of days to calm down. When I finally did, I walked myself back home."

"At first I didn't notice anything, but then the smell of smoke filled the air. My confusion turned to shock and then panic within a second. I took off running and stopped  at the fence of my house. At least what was left of it. Our entire farm was on fire. I heard screaming from inside. I raced towards the house, but something was blocking me from getting close. Like an invisible force field. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get through. After a few minutes the screams died and the roof structure collapsed in on itself." 

I single tear runs down his face and he closes his eyes. He tries to turn away from me so I can't see his face, but it's too late. I grab a hold of his hands, holding them both tight. He tries to pull away but I won't let him. I force him to look at me. His face, now wet with tears. I reach my hand up and wipe his cheeks dry and hold my hand to his face. He looks at me with such sad eyes, it makes me want to cry and hold him close to comfort him. I hold myself back however, not wishing to rush into things.