The bubbling weakened only a little when another figure unexpectedly but welcomely peeled out of the thicket. Not a nameless terror with bent limbs or a pirate with a distorted grimace- but Pan. For a second, it made his anger waver because... Jake hadn't been expecting him. For one thing, he'd thought he'd be... in the Tree to listen to everyone else's enthusiastic stories, or... it didn't matter.
For a second, his gaze lingered on Pan, the iridescence of amber and gold so inhuman in which, at this late hour, almost none of the green that had brought him the pirates' insults could be seen. Changeling. Wood sprite. Fairy spawn. The sparkle in Peter's eyes, which even for Jake still sent a cold hot shiver across his skin, was far more intense than the soft glint of gold in the eyes of the older lost. They could not compete with Peter's radiance... Not in any way. And for a second, Jake caught himself, the sight of Peter distracting him.
Yet it was still there- the menacing pressure of a worried brother inside him. Simmering anger... and as he stood in front of Peter, also the worry that he might see it the same way. That Peter might think Luke wasn't worth looking after... the thought alone tasted bitter in his throat. Stinging bile bubbled up when Nibs actually began to speak, and his gaze clearly stated what he was thinking: that Luke was probably already dead. Jake's gaze slid to the side. Black blades met Nibs' gaze, and the dirty corners of his mouth twitched for a second, making Jake feel a tingle shoot into his fists.
No. You're not going to give him what he wants now. To save Luke, you need him.
So he was not allowed to strike as quickly as he would have liked. A principle that fell away in the very next moment. The dark brows twitched towards each other, giving way to the sudden hardness that slipped behind the clear blue-green in the form of steel and made the corners of his mouth turn down. His gaze, meanwhile, settled on Nibs with an unconcealed, menacing sweep. Standing up to those close to his heart in his presence was akin to shooting at a herd of cows without a fence and dressed all in red while he was already hoofing it. Or like trying to steal honey from a bear. Neither was a good idea. Then again, the lost rarely let themselves be called by reason.
"Hook's coat?" (...) "I haven't seen Luke." (Peter Pan)
Slightly take a step closer to Jake. With that, he left the ranks of the lost behind him, a strange image. There was also an unfamiliar expression on the Lost One's features; the grin that was usually there like a moon stuck in a barrel seemed to have slipped strangely far down.
"Luke didn't want to fight with the pirates, and that's why Nibs wanted him to steal the cloak." Slightly explained, catching Nibs' gaze out of the corner of his eye.
His grin had dropped again, while it now gave way to another expression.
Dirty traitor, it said on his features.
Slightly, however, he only raised an eyebrow and jutted his chin in mute: Say that to my face!
"I just wanted to challenge the Pips a bit." Nibs now defended himself, folding his arms in front of his chest and squinting his eyes.
"And the Pip wouldn't have been alone at all! If everyone had stuck to the plan, I would have climbed into the cabin with him!" protested Nibs, now shifting the blame equally on the failure and chaos of the others.
YOU ARE READING
A Neverland Tale - HOOKED (eng)
Fantasy** Only one thing can still prevent Neverland's downfall: In the dark times when a star's light perishes, a new one must be found! ** Neverland - a world in which simply everything was possible as long as you could dream it. But behind a shining lig...
