Grim (A Peter Pan Fanfic)

Chapter 5: The Good Bargain

"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it." -J.M. Barris

***

            After just a few weeks, Elly and the girls have a routine for most days. They train in the mornings, either with each other or on the obstacle course they built together, and in the afternoon they hunt or meet the traders or relax. There's been no threat from anyone yet. But time will tell.

            "We only attack if they do," Bubbles says to the group at lunch. "We don't want a war here. We just want a life like theirs."

            "Do you think they'll fight us?" Menthol asks.

            "They don't have a good reason to," Joro points out.

            Elly assures them that there's no threat right now. "And it's not like we couldn't take them if we had to."

            "I have a question," Cyanide announces. "If a war plays out, do we take prisoners and show mercy or kill on sight?"

            "Prisoners," Elly says right away. "I won't let us become a group of assassins. That's not what this was formed for. We formed to start our lives over, not ruin someone else's." 

            "Do we have a name?" Sahara asks.

            Everyone is silent. Elly finally says, "No, but we need one. Anyone got anything?"

            Joro bursts out: "The Wayward Women."

            Bubble's fist pumps the air. "I love it!"

            Joro grins. "I think it's appropriate because wayward means, like, turning away, and we're turning away from our old sucky lives to start fresh."

            "I think it's great!" Elly says.

            "Me too!" Cyanide and Menthol both agree, as well as Sahara.

            Bubbles almost squeaks. "This is like having five new sisters. I'm in love."

***

            Peter knows that Elly is alive. Thanks to a helpful merchant who spilled everything after Peter promised to add a bag of silver, he knows that she's still breathing. And all it cost him was a bag of rocks covered in foil. He'll feel the wrath later, but he has what he needs. He knows what she's buying, and he knows that she has others. Why else would she need such a diverse weapons stockpile? It looks like she's taking a leaf out of his book.

            "What do we do?" Felix asks. Peter has only told him. He's the only one who he can trust not to charge over there and commit manslaughter.

            "I say we let them be. We'll know soon enough if they're revolting against us or something." Peter doesn't think they will, but he can't help but worry. He also can't help but wonder how. This island is designed to be merciless, to kill on sight, and somehow that insolent girl his shadow mistakenly brought back managed to outsmart it.

            "You're not afraid of her, are you?" Felix laughs. "I could snap her arms like twigs."

            "Felix, if she's still alive, that means she survived," Peter snaps. "And she didn't survive by lounging by the beach and eating coconuts. She must have persevered; she must've been strong."

            "Still, there's only six of them according to your merchant," Felix adds. "There's what, twelve of us?"

            "Stop acting like we're going to war," Peter says. "I'm not going to fight her. I don't care that she has her own group on that side of the island."

            "Then why are you still thinking about it?"

            Peter doesn't have an immediate answer. He's not worried about them, he's not planning to do anything them, and he doubts they're going to come marching over here and burn the place down, so what's bothering him? It comes to him like a wave crashing over him.

            "I don't like being ignorant; I don't like being fooled."

            "Fooled? That's a bit dramatic," Felix says.

            "I fooled myself," Peter snaps. "I thought she'd die. I was obviously wrong."

            Felix makes a surprised face. "Did Peter Pan just admit that he was wrong? What has the island come to?"

            "Shut it." Peter extinguishes their fire and raises his voice. "Grab your bows! You all still suck at archery!"