Free(PanxOC)

Chapter 6 Birthmarks

My eyelids fluttered open to a flash of deep green, but I couldn't be sure what it was as my vision was still fuzzy from sleep. I blinked rapidly a few times before opening my eyes slowly and realizing that the green was actually another pair of eyes that were hovering over mine. I shot up suddenly, smacking my forehead against something hard and hearing two sets of groans ring out, one belonging to me.

I rubbed my forming bruise slowly with two of my fingers to ease the pain a bit, averting my gaze up, my eyes widening as I saw Pan sitting on the side of the bed rubbing his forehead as well. "Good morning to you too." He mumbled in a thick accent, his voice rough from sleep.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't- I thought-"

"Best thing about Neverland," He cut me off, standing up and shaking off the pain easily as though we hadn't just butted heads, his left eyebrow arching. "You don't have to apologize for anything."

I nodded, accepting his hand and rising to my feet as well, wobbling a bit from getting up to fast. I pulled my hair out of the rubber band and shook it out, running my fingers through it to smooth out some of the knots, giving up a few moments later and settling for pulling it back up in a messy bun. Once I'd situated my hair I approached the latter leading down from the tree house and noticed Pan staring at me intently, frozen in place.

I laughed humorlessly, feeling a bit self conscious as I cleared my throat and glanced down at myself, smoothing my hands down the front of my shirt. "Ugh- Is there something on my face?"

"What?" He asked suddenly, cocking his head to the side and raising one perfect eyebrow.

"You were staring at me so I assumed-"

Before I could finish my sentence his hand shot out, wrapping itself around my bicep, and in the blink of an eye we were standing in the middle of the forest. I would've stumbled back had it not been for his strong grip.

He immediately released my arm and started walking without a word, heading north at a fast pace. We walked in silence for at least a mile before he finally spoke, glancing over his shoulder at me. "You don't seem to be fazed by my magic. Care to tell me why that is?"

"I was- my only friend in the village was a boy named Bae. His father was..." I trailed off, looking for the right word to use. "very keen on using magic."

He spun around to face me suddenly. "But he wasn't just keen on using magic, was he? There's a bit more to it." He stepped closer to me, reducing the distant between us from two feet to one, his eyes sparkling with interest and curiosity, even though his tone suggested that he already knew what I was going to say.

I nodded, frowning a bit in confusion. "What makes you say that?"

"No one can get away with using magic and not become a slave to it eventually, dark or light."

Something about his body language told me that wasn't what he was actually thinking, but I shrugged it off, one of my shoulders rising and falling as I replied. "Well, you're right. He was- is the Dark One."

"The Dark One." He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking at me. "I knew there was something I liked about you. You're not afraid to stare danger in the face. That must be why you're not nervous to be around me." He uncrossed his arms, pacing around in a tight circle, his arm brushing mine and my back as he walked. "I'd even go so far as to say you seem to find some form of comfort in having me around."

I blinked at his straight face as he stopped directly in front of me once more, seeing his lips curl up into a smirk, indicating that he was joking before he turned and continued walking.

"I'm not really sure thats accurate," I started, smiling a bit as I fell in step behind him. "Since I always left before Rumpelstiltskin returned from his deal making."

I stopped mid step, mimicking Pans actions as his entire frame froze up, taking a sharp intake of breath. I watched his shoulders rise and fall heavily for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and continuing on our path, completely silent. 

The next few hours dragged by agonizingly slow with me tripping over something every few feet while not paying attention to where I was walking, being captivated by the scenery. The further we went the more the trees fanned out, growing further and further from each other until there was a great distance between them, making the area seem much larger than before.

I noticed that there were many more rock formations on this side of the island, not to mention the increasing amount of wildlife, ranging anywhere from birds to boars to deer, animals that I would've never expected to find on an island like this.

"Why are there so many animals on this part of the island? Why so far away from camp?" I asked, startling myself with my own voice seeing as it was the first loud sound i'd heard since our conversation earlier.

"Can't sleep too close to wild animals. They could come into camp at night while we're asleep and ravage the food we have saved." I nodded at his reply, noticing that his frame had gone back to being relaxed.

"Where are we going?" I asked, peering at him as he held out a hand, indicating the enormous cave in front of us. Despite the blackness of the cave there seemed to be some sort of light seeping out, giving off a happy, calm feeling. "What are we here for?"

"So many questions." He turned to face me, meeting my eyes without hesitation. "This is actually not where I intended on bringing you today, but while you were asleep last night something about you caught my eye." He paused to smirk at my furrowed eyebrows, lifting his left wrist up, pulling off one of the brown cuffs he wore on both wrists to reveal an odd birthmark with two pointed edges on the inside of his wrist, closely resembling mine which had three pointed edges, two on the inside and one on the top of my wrist. "It would appear," He stepped forward, reaching up to brush a piece of loose hair behind my ear, a sweet gesture that completely contradicted the glint of mischief that lingered in his eyes. "we have the same birthmark."

My mouth fell open, staring down at my own wrist. "Coincidence."

"No such thing." He replied automatically, one eyebrow shooting up. "Only fate."

I swallowed the lump of dread and fear that had began forming in my throat, taking a deep breath. "I take it you have an idea of why we have the same mark."

He said nothing, only smirked at me as he gripped my hand in his and mumbled something about me being quiet and following him. I glanced up one last time at the sky, taking in the sight of the trees and clouds and light before entering the cave, my senses encountering nothing but darkness.