The Old King ~OUAT Panfiction (Book 3)

The Wall

            Emerging from the hefty leaves of the forest, Anne's eyes fell on a scene of boys preparing what looked to be a rock climbing wall. There were two ropes hanging over the top with makeshift harnesses on the end. Judging by the snide, competitive remarks and grinning faces of the lost boys, Anne concluded they would be doing this for fun. Honestly, the only time Anne saw such a wall, was in the training pillars of the enchanted forest. There were large pillars that stood up tall alongside of each other, forming a large circle at which Anne was trained how to sword fight, wield certain weapons and then, archery – though not as good as she would've liked. What she had was doable, but more often than not, she was taunted by the adult men that would train there, even some of the adult ladies. Rarely, did Anne ever encounter someone, some girl of her age. But she never let that discourage her.

She climbed the wall before, but it was nothing compared to what she did with Felix. They would climb larger walls, natural walls, cliffs and mountains when they lived on their own. Perhaps that was what brought Anne the necessary confidence to overcome all those judgements she faced. This one seemed nothing to her, so without hesitating any longer, she approached the small crowd. When a few boys took notice of her, their smiles fled. Their eyes filled with judgement, then humor. A figure slightly taller than most of the boys, came forth from the crowd. He had rich, dark skin, black eyes and large lips that spread into a belittling grin. "Would you have a look at this, boys? The girl prisoner has come out to play, does Pan know you're out of your cage?"

"Leave her alone, Dominique," intercepted another lost boy, "she's just a lost little puppy dog trying to find her owner," he tantalized.

Anne chuckled in disbelief. "Is that the best you got?" She cocked her brow.

"What do you want?" Sawyer groused once he pushed between the two boys.

She smirked at the sight of a bruise on his nose. "How does the nose feel?" She taunted. She then went on. "I want to climb the stupid wall, what does it look like, Sawyer?"

An amused smirk spread across his lips, before they pursed and his features altered into a patronizing countenance, "This wall is for big boys, not little girls," he provoked. Anne's jaw clenched, glaring at him as the laughter rousing in the crowd grew louder.

"You're a joke!" She exclaimed. "Bet the boys would think differently about you if they knew who punched you in the nose then whined and cried like a baby—" Abruptly, just then, Anne was jerked back by the arm and forced to look at her fuming green-eyed captor. Chester wasn't that far back behind Pan, taking in the scene with wide eyes.

"What the hell are you doing??" Pan hissed at her through clenched teeth.

"Proving I'm not just somebody's pet!" She then tried to yank free, when she was pulled closer.

"Listen here, you imbecilic girl, clearly a cage can't keep you in your place. You want to climb the wall??" He then scanned the crowd before him. "I say we let her try!"

"What?! No way!" Sawyer protested.

"Now where is your sense of adventure, boys?" Pan challenged. He then looked at Dominique, releasing Anne's reddening forearm. "Out of the harness, now," he commanded.

"No, tell him to keep the harness, I can climb it without one," Anne interjected, pushing through the crowd to get to the wall. Pan mentally panicked, but tried to repress it. He was so used to underestimating her, that he didn't realize how easy the wall was to climb with or without a harness – if you were careful with your foot work. When the lost girl reached the wall, her eyes traveled to the ledge at the very top. It had a collection of colored rocks to provide for gripping and stepping. It had to be about ten feet high and hardly an inch more. Easy enough, the lost girl thought to herself.