My Allegiance

Part Five | The Runaway

When Eden awoke, Pan was gone. She sat up straight in bed, looking around the room to see if he was at the desk or in a chair, but he was gone. Eden sighed,
pulling herself out of the warmth of the covers and slipping on her boots. She found her cloak that Pan had taken out of his chest for her and a small whittled comb. After looking in a mirror, she quickly began to brush her matted hair until it was smooth and somewhat presentable. When it was detangled, it reached the end of her back, naturally curly ever so delicately at the ends. Her father always told her she looked like her mother, whom she never met. He said she died when she was an infant and there was nothing anyone could do, so Eden never really asked. There was always a type of tone in his voice when he talked about her mother, almost like anger...

When Eden jumped down the ladder of the treehouse and walked briskly into the camp, Pan was waiting for her. He smiled at her as she looked around at everything. The tents, the fire, the boys...

"Sleeping beauty has finally awakened!" His voice was raised, but not in spite, in a playful tone. Eden blushed slightly as she, once again, gained everyone's attention.

"Glad you could join us, little one." Pan lowered his voice slightly as Eden came closer to him, eyeing the lost boys with interest. They had started to start up with their work again, but still glancing up at Eden every once and awhile.

"Where are they going?" She chirped. Pans lips quirked upwards at how smooth her voice was. So calm, so relaxed.

"Training of course. I think you should tag along, and have a proper welcome from the boys." He raised an eyebrow before whistling. All the boys filed into a line, shortest to tallest. Eden was amazed at how they knew exactly what to do.

"Boys, as you know, this is Eden. She's our new addition." Pans eyes shifted to some of his lost boys who were staring at Eden is a way he didn't like for much longer than he liked.

"Treat her with respect." Pan growled. The animalistic sound catch Eden's attention, turning her head, but Pan had softened his death glare on the boys when he felt her eyes on him. He cleared his throat.

"Now then, introduce yourselves." The first boy was Felix.

"I'm Felix." He smiled at her warmly, giving her a sense of security.

"I'm Jade." The next boy had dark black hair, loosely hanging in his face. His bright blue eyes stood out to Eden.

"Aaron." He was blonde, like Felix, but Aaron's hair was much curlier.

"I'm Eli." One boy said. "And I'm Elijah." Another said. They were clearly twins. Their pearly white teeth were the slightest bit crooked when they smiled and they kept lightly shoving each other away so each one would be the closest to Eden. Pan watched in amusement, but also annoyance as his boys introduced themselves. The negative emotion wasn't directed at Eden, instead it was directed at the boys. He felt something strange in the pit of his stomach when, Cody kissed her hand after saying his name. His face contorted in disgust, his fists clenching in an attempt not to lash out at Cody. He took a deep breath to calm his temper, but to see Eden blushing made him feel something different, something new... Jealousy... Sam and Daniel stared up at her, though she was so small that they were nearly the same height.

"Your really pretty."

"Are you the first lost girl?"

"Or a mother?" They flooded her with questions and comments until Pan cleared his throat, signaling then to stop. Eden laughed as they backed away with goofy smiled stuck on their lips.

"Alright! Off to training, twins your on pirate duty. Make sure Hook doesn't come anywhere near the camp." With that, the boys ran off in different directions. Eden looked around, unknowing of what to do, until Pan chuckled, taking her hand in his and leading her to the training site.