I'll Take You to Neverland

Chapter 11: Tiger Lily

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I'm left laying on the bed, no one comes in so I'm pretty sure that Pan directed them not to.

Even with Pan's proof I'm having a hard time believing that I'm actually on Neverland. Nothing is making sense.

Ever since the day I turned ten, I've been told that all of the magic that I once believed in, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and more, weren't real. They said that people like Peter Pan were just fairy tales. Something made up, but here I am, sitting in his camp on Neverland.

And Pan, well, that's another story. In movies and stories and any other place except for this island, Peter Pan is a role-model for children- someone who never let's their childhood go- a free spirit.

But here, in real life, or whatever this is, Pan is more threatening anything that I've seen. His words and the wave of a finger can make the dozens of lost boys he has cringe in fear. He uses magic to control others, or put fear in their hearts so that they never dare to leave.

Who knows how long some of the boys on this island have been here? As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that some of the boys could have lived centuries before I was born.

That makes me realize something. I don't know how long I'll be here. I've already been gone two days just tied up or stumbling around the forest. And here I lay, in what I assume is Pan's tent, with the door guarded by one of the lost boys so that I can't run.

And then there's Pan's warning- even if I did try to run, or find away around the single boy keeping an eye on me, Pan still scares me half to death. Even a grimace from him can make me rethink the most logical things. I can't run, because I know that he won't hesitate to kill me. I'm just another life that he can take at any moment.

I can hear him sword fighting with the lost boys, each time winning as they erupt in whoops and cheers of congratulation.

Even if a boy were to find a way to win, I've seen what his magic can do- he doesn't seem like someone to play fair. Everything is just a game to Pan.

All of a sudden, the guard, I think his name is Paul, comes into the tent, eyes focused on me.

"Peter wants to see you." He delivers the message and leaves without saying another word, leaving me no choice but to do as he says- that is, unless I want to be killed.

So I follow him outside, shielding my eyes in the mid-day sun as I push away the fur that hangs over the doorway.

"There she is!" Pan shouts, holding the sword and pointing its tip at my heart. "My little..." he stops and thinks for a moment. "What was your name?"

"Cameron." I gulp, looking down at the blade only inches from my chest.

"Well then, with a name like that I guess I could consider you a lost boy." He sneers, the boys around him breaking into laughter. "Don't you have something more feminine? You are a girl..." He raises his eyebrows mockingly and finally lowers his sword.

"Lily." I state. "My name is Cameron Lily."

"Well then Cameron Lily, take a sword." Pan commands, gesturing to the pile laying at the side of a nearby tent.

"I don't know how..." I start to speak before Pan glares at me, silencing me. "Okay."

I walk towards the pile, picking up the one on the top. Realizing that it's only made of wood, however sharp it is, it will do nothing to Pan's metal blade.

I turn around to see Pan swinging it at me, and I bring mine in front of me to block the blow. It interrupts it, but now my 'sword' has a large cut right in the middle.

"This isn't fair!" I complain, but Pan still rushes forward, taking another swing at me playfully while the boys all cheer.

"Then make it fair!" He shouts- before I know what's happening Pan lunges for me again. Time slows- or at least it feels like it does- and I see exactly where he will hit. The wood will break, and his blade will stab me straight in the chest.

Then, magic happens.

The 'sword' I hold ripples, turning to metal immediatly as his clashes with mine. I stare at it, my eyes and the boys around me wide with amazement and shock. But Pan remains unfazed, he takes yet another lunge at me.

He doesn't look at me like most people did when I lived on the streets, and he doesn't look at me like he was seconds earlier.

Now, I can tell that he see's me as a challenger, someone with potential. And with all the anger I've built up over the past decade or so, I let everything out.

I aim for his stomach, he blocks it, throwing my sword of to the side and I scramble to get it, already turning and holding it above me before he can bring his own down on my head once more. I pull away and watch as he dissapears in thin air, reappearing behind me when I whip around. He slashes at my face, hardly scratching the surface but it does it's damage.

My eyes blur a bit as some blood drips down my forhead. But the pain doesn't set in yet- or I don't think about it- because Pan is coming once more with a playful yet develish look, and I have no time to think about my head.

This time I block it with confidence, pushing him back and swinging at him myself with a grin equally as wide as his. Yet, the smirk remains. His blade flies by me, cutting my stomach lightly as I jump back and stumble to the ground.

I lay there and drop my sword -watching as it turns back to it's original wooden self- and grip my side to stop any bleeding.

A shadow blocks out the light and I look up to see Pan towering over me, grimacing. He drops his sword, but before it can hit the ground it vanishes.

"You're fierce." He laughs- not a happy one, more menacing than anything- and holds out a hand to pull me up. "Like a tiger." I brush the dirt off of myself and glance up to see something wash over his face.

"That's it, I've found it!" He turns to the boys, raising his arms above his head.

"Found what?" Someone calls from the crowd, just as confused as I am.

"That's what we'll call you." He smiles proudly. "Tiger Lily."

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