Set Your Sails...to Neverland || Peter Pan, OUAT

Chapter 10 - The Enchanted Forest

~ Davina

We sail for a day before we come to the right spot. All of the boys secure themselves to a part of the ship, ready for the violent journey. I throw a magic bean further away than before, and turn the ship towards the growing whirlpool; I hold on to the wheel as I feel the ship fall and we are once again swallowed by spinning water and blasts of magic. This trip is shorter, and we soon arrive not too far from the shore of a beach by the forest. I rise slowly from my tensed crouch and while the boys detach themselves from the ship, I get us slightly closer to the sand before dropping anchor and the rowboats. I make my way down, waiting for them to file into the boats before leading the way to shore. When they finish tying the boats to the trees, I gather them to stand in front of me.

"Right, we have twelve days to get this map. The thirteenth day to get back to the ship before that shadow has to come and force me out of here. I'm going on my own, you boys are going in five groups of two, and you're going to fan out. When you get anywhere near the map, blow into this shell," I instruct and give five boys a small conch shell.

I retrieved them from my jewellery box - we used them during our travels, one in particular when my parents and I were on a mission to find several talismans to keep Blackbeard out of our business. They signal other possessors without alerting any adversaries. The boys pair up and fan out into the forest. I look at the small clock on my wrist, the hand inches one tick onwards, and it suddenly feels like a small prison - either way, I end up back in Neverland. With what I made Pan promise me as a fail safe if I'm captured unexpectedly, or if something were to happen that puts me off-course, and the fact that I'll be delivered back to him and his island with or without this map. Not to mention the rule that no one can leave the island without his permission...

Maybe a little bit of negotiating is in order when I return.

I climb the closest tree and across a few branches to other trees until I come to a wide dirt road. I stop in my tracks as a carriage comes through, surrounded by knights clad in black. It stops by a couple, who make the effort to move far out of the way of the carriage's path. Their clothes, ragged and dirty indicate their social status. I have never seen two people look so terrified in my life. The door of the carriage opens, and out steps a woman glittering in jewels and black - the Evil Queen, I assume. She walks over to the couple and they chat, the two innocents quivering in their tracks. In one moment, her hand is buried in their chests. She pulls her hands out, holding two glowing, beating hearts. She curls her fingers, the couple choke, and as they collapse to the ground, their hearts turn to grey dust, which she discards in the light breeze. I gasp and cover my mouth, but it's too late. The Queen and her knights hear me. They draw their shining swords as they look up into the trees, so I move my body behind the trunk and try to quiet my panicked breathing. I look down and see the Queen looking up into the trees with a sneer on her face.

"Show yourself!" She shouts.

I tense, gripping the trunk tighter. The last thing I need is to reveal my identity to the woman I'm about to steal from.

"Search the forest," she orders, and her guards make their way into the woodland.

I hold my breath, fighting the desperation to breathe fully. Pan could've at least given me something to use to hide myself from plain sight. The Queen and her men scour the trees for a short while. My fingers begin to ache as the tree bark bites into them, my lungs screaming for me to take a deep breath and muscles burning as I stay as still as a statue.

Eventually, they move on, and I release my breath. I compose myself, climbing through a few more trees to create distance until I find a tall tree that looks over the forest. I climb to the top to have a look around, survey the landscape, and I see it - her castle in all its evil glory. Shining and reflecting the sun in its towering mirrored spikes, protecting the heart of the castle. It's a long way to go, and I only have twelve days. If I carry on straight, following the road throughout the days and nights, I should make it. But tonight I will rest, and tomorrow I won't stop moving. With a route and plan solidified in my head, I make my descent, dropping to the ground and keep parallel to the trees lining the road.