Neverland - Peter Pan - OUAT Fanfiction

Chapter 2 - Dead Forest

My neck snapped and my head jerked upright suddenly. Blinking to clear my vision I was aware of my left arm growing numb. Feeling that it was draped over the side of what I thought to be my bed I flexed my fingers, feeling them tingle with loss of blood. Reaching my hand out for the floor, I moved it back and forth. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I felt a slight breeze ruffle my hair. My eyes shot open, and I looked frantically about me. Moving to rapidly I felt a weight shifting under me, and looked down just in time to find myself falling from a tree limb. 

I screamed, hitting a few branches before I landed on my stomach upon a thin, wispy branch. My head still spinning I tried to focus my eyes on the ground that was whirling ten feet below me. Commanding my hands to move, I felt my way up the branch, taking hold of it with my shaking arms, only to feel it bend under my weight. Before I had time to move any further a sickening crack split the air and to my horror the branch gave way dropping me to the ground. 

The wind was knocked out of me as I hit the forest floor, landing on my back with a dull thud. Struggling to regain my breath, I lay there as I had fallen for a few moments, the events of the night before flooding back in a torrent of rage to my already pounding head. I groaned and turned over, clawing at the dirt with my fingers. Coughing slightly, I rose to my hands and knees, my mind a blur. Standing shakily to my feet, I looked around. My head spun, and my vision darkened as the figure of a boy came into my hazy view. The last thing I saw was the boy's silhouette walking towards me as the world around me faded into blackness. 

Waking with a start, I tried to gather my thoughts as I looked around at my foreign surroundings. I winced in pain, holding my head as the sudden recollection of my plummet to earth returned to me. I kept hoping that with all this waking up I would find a more pleasant reality one day. 

I slowly rose to a sitting position and gave my swirling mind a chance to adjust. Standing up from the soft deer skins I had been sleeping on, I looked around at the small animal skin tent I was in. There were few items: a very old wooden chest near the foot of what you could hardly call a bed-- just a deer skin mat really--and a few walking sticks near the entrance. Aside from the meager surroundings, the tent had a homey feel to it. I pondered what the word homey meant to me as I had been in the foster care system for as long as I could remember and had never had a proper home. 

After a bit I ditched the thought and headed for the opening. I lifted the flap and walked out into the early morning. Birds sung cheerfully, and a cool breeze blew from the north causing the leaves on the forest trees around me to bend and sway in dance. I looked around me and noticed a fire pit that had been left to die, it's dimly glowing embers barely shining in the bright sunlight. I recognized the clearing as the one I had observed last night. Other items such as pots and pans and other cookware, along with articles of boy's clothing, were strewn about on logs that lined the fire pit. 

I moved my eyes to the forest surrounding the camp; it looked much friendlier in the daylight. I saw many different trees away from the clearing, but my attention was caught by one peculiar looking section of forest directly behind the camp. While all the other trees had lush, green leaves, the edge of this considerable amount of forest had a few wisps of deep red and golden leaves. Most of these strange autumn leaves had fallen, leaving the greater part of the trees bare and I noticed many were beginning to die.

I walked slowly to the tree line, hearing no sounds of human life anywhere about it. All the birds had ceased to sing inside this fall forest.... or there were none present about it. I could still hear the faint call of birds behind me in the opposite tree line but the lifeless forest in front of me boasted no noise. There was something so haunting about this silent, decaying forest that drew me in and I found, to my surprise, my feet were taking me straight into it. Mind recovered, I found myself looking for any signs of life. My search was in vain. There was no new growth, no animal life, not even mushrooms or other decomposers that, in any normal forest, would be flocking to the rotting wood. 

There was a damp smell to the air and not even a breeze graced the trees with its cool touch. Some of the trees even had blackened leaves that were still attached to the branches but rotting away. The further I went into the forest the less color I saw, and soon all the surrounding trees were dead and bare or contained only a few black leaves. I could find no red or golden leaves that had been at the edge of the forest when I had first entered. 

I grew uneasy and decided to head back. I walked on and on but the clearing that had just been a few yards away was nowhere in sight. I rubbed my head, it still ached from my previous fall, maybe that was what was causing my loss in sense of direction. I stopped and took deep breaths trying to clear my head of the muggy, suffocating air that filled the deteriorating forest. Would this nightmare ever end? I wondered, turning in circles. I turned around and bumped right into someone directly behind me. Startled I stumbled back but caught myself before I could hit the ground. I unintentionally sighed with relief at the sight of another person. It was him. His face was set in an amused expression.

"I, I believe I'm lost." I stammered. He raised an eyebrow. I waited for him to speak but he said nothing so I continued, "What is this place?"

"This, Love, is the Dead Forest." He responded listlessly. 

"A fitting name." I said smiling a bit nervously. His presence though intimidating, helped comfort me in this wretched place. "What makes it this way?" I questioned. 

"It's enchanted." He replied, as if that was all the answer required to satisfy me. 

"How?" I ventured, utterly confused. 

"With magic." he chuckled a bit, emphasizing the last word not only with his voice, but with an another arch of his brow as well. He looked at me as if I were but a mere child. I could tell he found my puzzled state very amusing.

"I don't understand."

"I'm not surprised." He responded, cocking his head slightly as he observed me. I had the sudden mental image of an owl watching a mouse, unaware of the danger it was in.

I felt at a loss for what to say and cast my eyes to the ground. This boy clearly didn't care to explain himself and blatantly mocked me. I would have been far angrier at him if I wasn't so confused. Why can't I just get some answers?  I clenched my jaw. Looking up I found him studying me hard, his gaze penetrating into me like lasers. My eyes widened at the intensity of his focus and I fumbled for words.

"W-what now?" I managed, forcing out the words. But the boy seemed to have thoroughly investigated me and found I was no longer worth his time, for he simply brushed past me and walked without a word through the forest. Stunned, and slightly irritated with his abrupt response I stood there staring after him, but I quickly recovered--not wanting the previous events of last night to repeat themselves--and hurried after him.

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Hiiiiii! ^-^ Ok, sorry this is going slow, I'm just trying to develop her character and figure out where I'm going with this. :"P Hopefully it's not too boring and you enjoyed the little Peter Pan and girl banter! X3 Thanks for reading!

Original Publish Date: September 20th, 2017. Edited August 28th, 2021 to fix grammatical errors.