The Games - A PP OUAT Fanfiction

Ten.

Days in Neverland: 9

I had never been a very fast runner. Just never had been. I tried to get myself to go faster a lot back when I was a kid, but eventually I just gave up and accepted that I was a slow runner. But I guess things change when you have a huge beast bent on tearing the flesh from your bones on your heels. The adrenaline rush made my heart hurt; but it made me go faster by, like, ten miles per hour. The werewolf was only about five feet behind me. It probably would have reached it's long arm out and clawed me in the back at that distance - if only I had been going straight.

I zig-zagged like nobody's business. Just when the beast would get close enough to take a swipe, I would dodge, it would swipe, and then fall on its face, taking only a moment to get back up and continue chasing me. Eventually, though, I had to stop. My breath was running out and so was my adrenaline rush. So, without taking the time to think it through (since I would probably chicken out), I dodged another swipe to the back and skidded to a stop, my sword coming out again. The beast went flying, face-planted into the dirt about ten feet away, and struggled back to its feet. It was tired, too. My chest was heaving and my limbs were shaky, but I stood my ground. I was smirking, too. "Do you want to dance, Beasty?" The werewolf growled loudly, and we began to circle each other. I kept the smirked planted on my face and forced my body not to shake. After a moment the wolf got impatient and charged. I ducked out of the way just in time. I managed to give it a huge cut on its calf, and it howled loud enough to make it reverberate inside my skull. It favored its leg but continued to circle me. I hadn't sliced deep enough to paralyze it. It swiped and I ducked, cutting its arm, making it howl again and snarl. Finally, just before the Ink could take affect, it jumped high into the air and I stood my ground, my sword up and driving into its stomach. It howled as it landed on me, crushing me with its weight. I felt its claws dig into the flesh of my stomach and make me bleed.

I couldn't breathe. I was hyperventilating as I felt it die on top of me. I finally passed out; Maybe from loss of blood, maybe from not enough oxygen going to my brain, maybe just from fear. Or maybe from all three.

****

"We can't just leave our leader out there!" Picies yelled. "She saved us! She has many times! She wouldn't leave us out there, she would look for us!"

"Nobody cares about if she's dead or not," Mikah snapped. "That just lowers the competition."

Picies was fuming. You could almost see his anger falling off him in waves. It was intimidating, but Mikah was too proud to admit it.

"Picies is right," Edith spoke up. She had fallen in the hole while running from the beast, and Ellis had just left her there. She wasn't very happy about it, either. "She would help us. So we need to help her."

"As much as I don't want to admit it," Jonathan said, making everyone turn to look at him, "Edith is right. And Pan told us to help each other out." It was the first thing he had said since Picies had returned carrying a scared-out-of-her-mind Edith. He picked up a large stick, wrapped an end in some old fabric, and lit it using the bonfire they had made while waiting for the other three to return. "I don't want to have to be the one to tell Pan his favorite died because you lot were too scared to go look for her." He followed Picies into the vast jungle, who carried Edith (per her request) on his back (per his and Jonathan's request).

The sun had already gone down, and the torch didn't give much light off, but Picies knew the way back to the hole. He had memorized it on the way to the campsite. When they got there, Picies pointed to the direction they had both disappeared in. He searched frantically for her presence in his mind, barely noticing when Edith climbed off his back. He let Jonathan use his tracking skills and followed wherever he led.

"These prints are huge," Jonathan pointed out. "Spread apart. It was running; She was leading it away." He whistled. "She really is brave." They followed the tracks for another hour before they found the body of the werewolf on its back. It was definitely dead - Kasey's sword was in its stomach. But there was no Kasey.

"She was laying here," he said, pointing to a spot next to the werewolf. "She got hurt - there's human blood in the dirt." He searched for another set of tracks to indicate either an animal or person found her or she got up and walked away. "There's no more tracks. She just... disappeared."

Picies froze, anger rising. "What do you mean?" he growled out. "She can't have just -"

"There's only two sets of tracks here besides ours," he explained, trying to calm Picies down. "There's no other way to explain it." Picies searched the entire island for her presence three times in his mind before giving up. Jonathan was right. She had just disappeared.

"Maybe she returned to her world..." Edith suggested, but she didn't sound sincere. She thought for a moment. "We should ask Pan. He would definitely know."

Picies mentally slapped himself in the face. Edith was right. Pan would certainly know. He turned to the woods. "Pan!" he called. "Come out! We seek an audience with you!"

"There's no need to yell," said a voice behind them, making them all whirl around to face the cloaked figure. "I'm right here."

"Where's Kasey?" Picies demanded, not wasting any time.

"Ooh. Not very friendly, are you?" He chuckled and took a few steps toward them. "She's safe."

The way he said it made it sound sincere, but Picies wasn't satisfied. "Where?"

"That, young Picies, is for me to know, and you to guess at." He smirked and turned to walk away. Then he stopped and added, "The fairies have taken a liking to her." He turned back to face them. "They'll take care of her." And with that, he was gone.

None of then moved for a moment before Edith told them it was probably a good idea if they returned. "Kasey will be fine, I know it."

Jonathan nodded. "Captain's strong. She'll be all right."

Picies still didn't move for a few more seconds but then nodded and let Edith climb onto his back. They found their way back to camp a few hours later and they all went to bed.

Picies found it hard to go to sleep. He almost couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Kasey - wondering if she was, in fact, all right. When he did fall asleep, he dreamed of her. He dreamed of her walking in the forest, the feeling of her hand in his when he helped her over a fallen tree, the sound of her laugh....