A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)

Chapter 3.1 - Luke

The darkness of the deep night had settled over the island like an impenetrable veil. The black-blue band embraced the world, letting itself be drawn through only by the embraces of the celestial waves that wandered over the world with the wind. The night seemed especially gloomy and black today. Only a few stars blinked in the sky as if even they were too tired of shining brightly or had already turned their faces away from the events on the island. Thus, the band of the sky seemed endlessly deep. Ground obsidian, which additionally settled into the shadows, soaked and condensed them. Bottomless gorges, where sharp claws and sharp fangs lay hidden, especially tonight, moving in the shelter of the shadows or hiding in the greenery. A bright spot, that's all it was, that somewhere in the distance testified to battle and fire on the Jolly Roger. Dark pines and dense tops, warriors of dark leaves quickly shielded the view, turning and swallowing the light to leave nothing but the embrace of night.

The forest swallowed the figures of the lost with a few steps. The dancing light of the pirate camp on the beach was lost after only a few meters, breaking on the leaves and closely spaced trees that rose like a confusing maze behind the camp. Thus, it quickly dwindled behind the natural wall and then gave way to a mixture of the nocturnal hues of the green jungle and the blue-gray of the night.

Bright and full, the moon stood in the sky, casting down silvery white light that penetrated in streaks between the leaves of the treetops here and there, casting dancing shadows on the ground. Above the rustling leaves and dried twigs was a light mist that wafted around her feet as she threw herself into the thicket.

Rustling, she beat at the branches and twigs that hung in her way and so through the dense jungle that seemed to become more overgrown with each step. In the meantime, the treetops swallowed every light of the moon and the stars, so that it became more and more difficult to see anything at all. Only those who had once been in such a dense forest at night could understand the power of the canopy to swallow the light. She could barely see a few meters away, while she was blindly running. Thorns from some plants and bushes had caught in her clothing, digging welts into her skin, and she felt the unpleasant burning sensation.

Her lungs felt like she was breathing purest fire. Her chest was tight, not managing to pump enough air into her lungs, and burning hot. So was her cheek, where she no doubt got a bloody welt from one of the branches she'd pushed out of her way as she fled. Neverland's fauna passed her by only in shadows; within moments there was nothing more than washed-out green and dark shadows. Huge roots, leaves, and trees, barely tolerated a glimpse of the sky. But she ran on and on.

By now her lips had opened slightly, gasping for air and in heavy breaths that rolled over them. Cold night air, heavy with the nuances of earth and forest flowed into her core, ignited there, burned away, and flowed back into the night in small clouds. She struggled doggedly through the forest. With difficulty, she lifted away large branches, pushed the leaves out of her way, and, panting, climbed over the great roots.

Her gaze slid up to the foliage of the forest, which in some places pushed itself together like a roof so that one saw no gap between and other places the shimmering night sky revealed.

She just had to reach the territory of the natives or the lost, which was hidden deeper in the heart of the island. But with an incarnate shadow of death breathing down her neck, every step seemed too far. By now, she had widened her lead enough to leap over a fallen tree.... and the footsteps sounded so distant in the rustling thicket that she allowed herself to let her gaze dart around hurriedly for a moment.