Pandora's Box

Chapter 16

Swords

Melody, Cody, and Zack sat around a firepit, with sticks in their hands. They each took a chance to poke the fire before they had to stop because Zack burned himself.

Cody carefully aided his brother's injuries as Melody snickered at him.

"Why are you so useless?" Melody muttered jokingly but not really. The older twin stuck his tongue out at her.

As bored as they all were, both the pirate and the twins were thankful Pan hadn't given them any special tasks for the day. They could be as lazy as they wanted.

"Swimming sounds nice," Cody muttered but Melody only scoffed.

"It's cold!"

"I'm going to get bronchitis," Zack whined as he shivered. Melody tossed the boy a blanket and handed him a new stick for the fire.

Their silence was disturbed when a giggle was heard from the other side of the camp. Melody peeked over Zack's shoulder to see Alice and Slightly sitting rather closely on an old log. She watched carefully as the two blondes seemed to bond over whatever they were chatting about.

But Melody couldn't help but feel weird about their dear Alice. The energy Melody was receiving was off-putting. She wanted to blame her untrusting nature for the strange feeling but she couldn't shake it away.

"There's something weird about her..." She muttered. Cody scoffed.

"I'm sure she says the same thing about you."

Melody growled and pushed Cody off her log.

"Girls don't just appear on Neverland," she said with narrowed eyes. Zack hummed.

"You did."

"No, I was brought here against my will. Do you think I actually wanted to return to your crummy little island? I'd rather have a polar bear tear me to bits," Melody irked as she continued to mess with the fire.

"What's a polar bear?" Zack questioned his brother but his other half merely shrugged.

"Maybe a type of bug."

Melody couldn't stand the idiocy of the twins and stood up. She left to find something else to do, even though her options were limited. The pirate settled on practicing her arm at her swordsmanship. As a pirate, she was skilled in many weaponry and how to wield most, if not all. She only hoped her skills didn't rust in the time she was stuck on the island.

She stalked over to the training circle, just a little beyond the rest of camp. She checked her sword options. Each sword had faults, and Melody grew angry that she didn't have her perfect sword on her. The ones at the camp were horrible. She wouldn't even give them to a peasant.

She picked up a grey sword with a black handle and scowled as she tried to balance it between her fingers. Unbalanced.

Melody threw it aside and chose a new one.

Chipped.

The more she looked for a decent sword, the angrier she got. All her options were terrible, none suitable for a pirate.

So she went to complain to Pan. If he was going to keep her there, he better give her a good weapon.

She found him at the main campfire. He was watching Felix roast the boar they had caught that same morning intently, telling him he was doing it all wrong.

"You're gonna burn it!"

"I'm not, nose off," Felix snapped back. Pan scoffed and crossed his arms as he continued to judge the blond's cooking.