Hiraeth: Return to Neverland #1 (a darlinghook fanfic)

7 | adventure

Somehow, Wendy knew the way to her house made of leaves. She figured out that she had landed on the beach around Blindman's Bluff, which was between the Cannibal Cove and the Mermaid Lagoon. As she tramped through the hot forest of palm trees, she gravitated inland and soon came upon a house made of large leaves all sewn together. It blended in with the forest quite nicely and was difficult to see if one didn't know where it was.

Suddenly, she heard someone approaching in the woods and scampered into her little house, just closing the large leaf that served as a door before two figures came into sight. Wendy could see them through a small hole in the wall near the ground. She caught her breath, they were pirates.

Gripping her hunting knife in her hand, Wendy stayed very quiet as she waited for the pirates to pass by. They seemed to be looking for something, hands on the hilts of their swords as they searched the forest around them with sharp eyes. She didn't recognize either of them, but that was to be expected. She had thought that most of the pirates had been killed in the battle on the Jolly Roger. But whoever they were, she was quite sure that she could not trust them.

"I can't believe we got sent on this wild goose chase," muttered one of the pirates as they passed closer to Wendy's house. "I was about to win that game of blackjack."

"You know the cap'n, you don't wanna refuse his orders," the other pirate replied. Who is the captain now? Wendy wondered.

"Not unless you want to shake hands with his hook," said the first pirate. They were quiet for a moment, then laughed quietly and passed by the house without seeing it.

Wendy could barely breathe, and it wasn't just because she was trying to be quiet. Captain James Hook, captain of the Jolly Roger, the only man of whom the Sea Cook had been afraid, was still alive? She listened carefully to the pirates getting farther away and allowed herself to breathe more freely. How was he still alive? He had practically fallen into the mouth of the crocodile.

Adventure was coming very quickly, almost too soon for Wendy's taste. But that was what she was here for, wasn't she? And for adventure, she needed a better weapon than just her hunting knife.

So, Wendy steeled herself and quietly stepped out of her house. Her boots had soft soles and didn't make too much sound on the springy ground, and Wendy, knife in hand, scurried after the pirates. She knew how foolish this seemed, but she was in Neverland, where everything was nicely crammed, with little room between one adventure and the next.

She soon caught up with the pirates and stayed in the underbrush, planning her attack. She couldn't take both of them on.

Finding a rock on the ground, Wendy tossed it behind the pirates, where it hit a tree beside the pirate that was the farthest away from her.

They both froze for a moment and the next moment, their swords were out. One went to go look what had made the sound, leaving the other out in the open. Seeing her chance, Wendy quietly came out of the bushes and pushed to point of her knife to his back. He was much bigger than her, but he didn't know that.

"Drop your sword and any other weapons you have," she said quietly, masking her voice. "Don't make a sound."

The pirate slowly set down his sword and went to his belt to take out a dagger and a pistol. "Hurry!" she growled. She didn't have much time; the other pirate would be back any second now.

The dagger and the pistol dropped to the ground and Wendy heard the other pirate coming back. Quickly, she picked up the three weapons in one hand, keeping the knife to the pirate's back, and then ran as fast as she could into the bushes again.

"Get him!" shouted the pirate who lacked a sword and Wendy could hear them both crashing through the forest after her.

She ran, holding the weapons tightly, and though she ran for her life, there was a strange exhilaration that ran through her body. The kind of feeling that only comes when one is either running or fighting for their life. Boy, how she'd missed it!

Her house was in sight now and she slid, feet first, over the ground and through the leaf-door and into the house. Holding her breath and the sword so that it was poised to skewer anyone who came through the door, Wendy heard the pirates stampede past, cursing.

Wendy smiled. She had had her first adventure back on the island only a few hours after arriving and it had been very successful. She now had a sword, a dagger, and a pistol in addition to her hunting knife. Now that she could protect herself, it was time to figure out who she could trust.

The pirates, obviously not. Especially if Hook was still alive and their captain. The fairies and the mermaids were too unpredictable and she couldn't trust them. And while the Lost Boys would probably be overjoyed to see her again, she really didn't want to see Peter.

The Piccaninny tribe was more difficult to figure out. They had been on their side the last time, but that was when she was on Peter's side and Peter had rescued Tiger Lily. There was also no way to know if anyone would recognize her as the Wendy from so many years ago. She was an adult now and had cut her hair short.

The best course of action right now was to stick to herself and maybe sabotage the pirates. She also needed to find her pet wolf and get some food. All this adventuring sure gave one an appetite.