The Third Star

Chapter 6: Lost and Found

Wendy had her eyes closed as the Shadow dragged her through the clouds and silver stars.  Her nightgown billowed out behind her, and she stood out from the velvet night like a lost angel.

The wind burned her cheeks and she winced.  It was only a matter of time before the Shadow realized she was a girl and left her to drown in the midnight ocean below.

Had this been a mistake?  Wendy's tears were brushed off her face by the gusty wind.  John and Michael, and Mother, and Father...

Baelfire.

Her resolve solidified as she imagined Bae, all alone in that wretched prison.  He needed her, his family, and she was determined that he would never be as lost as the others.

She snapped out of her reverie as the Shadow stopped abruptly.  Its head slowly twisted until its bright, yellow eyes were trained on her face.  The Shadow stared at Wendy, examining her features closely.  Wendy didn't dare to even breathe as the creature's eyes bored into hers.

Then it let go of her hand.

Wendy screamed as she plummeted down towards the murky water.  The waves reached up to her, opening their foamy jaws to swallow the young girl.  She couldn't think or feel anything but the wind whooshing past her and the terrifying realization that she had only seconds left to live.  She clamped her eyes shut and prayed for a miracle.

And then she fell straight into her miracle's arms.

"I've got you," it said, and she felt herself being lifted back up into the sky.  She cracked her eyes open and found herself staring into the greenest eyes she'd ever seen.  They belonged to a boy with tousled brown hair and an angular jaw.  But more importantly, this boy was flying.

"Peter," she said, her eyes wide.

Peter glanced down at her and arched an eyebrow.  "So you remember me."

Wendy was thoroughly speechless.  Of course she remembered him - she had been to Neverland not two days earlier.  He was the island's tyrannical leader; he was clever and charming, but a sociopath all the same.

But considering the sociopath had just saved her from certain and painful death, she shut her mouth and clung to his neck for dear life.

Now that Wendy wasn't dangling by an arm from a menacing shadow, she was able to appreciate Neverland's night in its full glory.  Hazy clouds drifted by the moon and shrouded the glittering stars that rested in the sky.  Moonlight flickered on the rolling ocean, and the songs of the mermaids spilled from their lagoon in the east.  As horrible as the island was, Wendy could not deny its unforgivable beauty.

It wasn't long before Peter touched down on Neverland's shore.  He set Wendy on her feet and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you alright, Wendy?" he asked in a low voice, staring at her intently.

Wendy nodded, still dazed and overwhelmed with everything that had happened that night.  Michael, John, Baelfire, the Shadow, Peter...her head was spinning, she needed to sit down before...

Peter quickly caught Wendy as she collapsed, irretrievably unconscious.  He scooped her up into his arms and headed into the trees, only to be stopped by the looming, black ghost that glided into Peter's path.

"I can take her back," the Shadow breathed coldly.  "Women don't belong here."

Peter looked into Wendy's blissfully peaceful face and sighed.  "This one does.  She'll stay with me until she awakens, then we'll let her decide."

The Shadow nodded and drifted away into the night.  Peter adjusted his grip on the sleeping Darling sister.

"You're as lost as any of us, little girl," he whispered.  "How else could you keep finding your way to me?"

When morning came, they would be subject to Neverland's towering hierarchy, king and outsider once more.  But tonight, as they disappeared into the forest, they were just a boy and a girl, both so tragically lost, yet found at the same time.