The Never Boy

|6

So we flew deep into the forest never even stopping to look back for about 20 minutes. I have to admit for the first 19 minutes I was freaking the hell out. I did not like heights and I did not like my life being in someone else's hands. Especially a flying girl that I had just met. I mean I could deal with the fact that I had just met her, but the flying part. Not okay. Once we reach a seemingly random part of the forest she begins to fly lower and I pray that she is putting me down soon. She does, just a little too soon for my liking. Like 5 feet too soon. I tumble to the ground reaching for anything to grab on to ultimately failing miserably. I hit the ground hard and I roll onto my side trying to bring air back into my lung.

I was going to feel that in the morning.

"Oh god," I groan loudly. "You couldn't have waited a few more feet?"

I look up to see Pan just now landing in front of me on the forest floor. She didn't seem to hear me because then within second of her feet touching the ground a huge hoard of boys begin to surround her.

"Slightly, go to the pixie meeting point and tell them I need to talk to them ASAP!"  She barks at a lanky blond haired boy. I didn't get a chance to get a good look at him before he was gone, running deeper into the woods.

I watch her as she shouts out many different names to all the children giving them different jobs. I watch as a rounder boy walks up to her. She bends down she's closer to his level. He looks around 9 but he's shorter than most of the children.

"Alright, Tubby. I need you to go inside and make sure we are stalked up on food. I don't want anyone going outside the hideout unless they have too." She says patting his head.

'Right away, Pan!" He says enthusiastically. Breaking off into a speed walk back into a wall of vines that I hadn't noticed there before.

I gaze up at the sky trying to ignore the groups of boys running around me doing multiple different tasks as Pan shouts them out to them. There must be thrifty to forty boys in the clearing that they had landed in. His father never mention there being this many Lost Boys? None of them even took a second glance at me, they really made people feel special around here didn't they.

"Well, look like we've got a new target for practice boy's!" I hear from behind me. I spin around and scramble away while still on the ground. There was a rather tall boy , with a bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows on his back. One of the arrows happens to point at my face.

"What in the name. . ." I begin before I'm cut off.

"Ace, this is James. He'll be our special guest for a while. So no target practice." Pan says as she stands beside me looking down at me.

I let out a sign of relief as I smile thankfully up at her. She smirks and looks back at the boy called Ace.

"Not yet anyway." She adds as an afterthought.

I look back at Ace as he's putting the arrow back in his quiver and slings the bow over his shoulder. He winks at me before Pan can see.

'Ace, you head up to the lookout and make sure that all the traps are set properly. And bring a few other boys with you. I want you to shoot any pirates on site." She says with a leaders voice. He nods quickly and with one more look at me runs off in the opposite direction.

"Traps? I question, not excepting an answer.

I was right as she just ignores me sticking her hand out to help me up. I take it willingly, standing up while shaking the sand off my pants and shirt. She seems to be done barking orders at her 10 year old army as she gestures for me to follow her. I do as I'm told following her threw the wall of vines that boy, Tubby, went threw earlier. As soon as we walk threw I gap at what I see around me. I looks to me as if we are inside the trunk of the tree. A very big tree might I add. It seemed like the trunk had been hollowed out down the middle leaving a spiral staircase of sorts on the outside walls leading to multiple different levels within the tree. There were hundreds of vines within the middle that boy's where climbing on to reach different levels as well as using the staircase.