Neverland (Based on the movie Pan)

Crocodiles and Mermaids

You lay in the bottom of a woven basket floating down a river, pretending to be asleep while listening to Tiger Lily talk. "Blackbeard won't stop searching for them. There's only one place on this island he wouldn't dare look." Hook speaks up "Mermaid lagoon? Sounds pretty. So pirates are afraid of mermaids?" Hook asks. "Because of what you have to pass through to get there." Tiger Lily clarified. "Crocodiles." Hook snatches his hand out of the water. "Afraid?" Tiger Lily smirks. "No Ma'am."

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That night, you sit next to Peter in the floaty thingie, gazing out at the crocodile-infested water. Tiger Lily had lit torches, which seemed like a bad idea considering the giant basket was made out of highly-flammable materials. You see ripples bubbling from a certain spot in the water. You frown, wondering what it is. A crocodile shoots out of the water inches away from your face, and you scream. The water around the basket churns wildly. "Grab the torches!" Tiger Lily calls. "They're afraid on the light!" You each grab a torch, waving them around. "Did we scare them off?" Peter asks after a few seconds of quiet. he is answered by a giant crocodile, which launches itself out of the water and over the basket. As it disappears back into the water, Hook shouts "Oh come on! They can fly?" Tiger Lily responds "Keep waving the torches!" A crocodile swims closer and closer, and Peter is thrown into the water when it hits the boat. "Peter!" You scream, turning into a giant crocodile and launching yourself into the water after him. You claw and bite at the crocodile dragging Peter down. Because you turned into a crocodile, you can breathe, but Peter can't. You can tell his consciousness is fading, and you thrash and scratch even harder. You are about to lose hope when you see several glowing mermaids swim out of the gloom. They apparently have tails like jellyfish, because they sting the croc over and over until it releases Peter. You turn back to yourself and the mermaids escort you back to the surface. When Hook sees the mermaids he gasps "What the heck are those?" Peter smirks, saying "I don't know, but I think you're gonna like 'em!" You mime a gag to Peter, who chuckles as Hook looks dreamily at them and says "You can say that again!" 

The basket reaches the shore of the river and the mermaids swim away. Tiger Lily and Hook jump out of the basket and into the water, pulling the basket ashore. Hook looks around and sees a small island in the middle of the river. They'res a rotten old pirate ship there, battered and smashed beyond repair. "I'm gonna check it out," Hook says. Tiger Lily looks concerned as she says "Be careful" You're not sure if Hook is being sarcastic when he says "Who's more careful than me?" Tiger Lily decides that he'd need her help, and she swam after him to check out the ship. 

You and Peter are left alone on the rocky shore, the moon shining down on you. You realize you are standing closer to Peter than you need to be, and you take a step back. You walk over to sit on one of the rocks, completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the eventful day. Peter comes to sit on the rocks across from you, looking into your (E/C) eyes. You look down, afraid to meet Peter's eyes after the incident in the bamboo forest. "(Y/N)?" Peter asks. You look up warily. "Yeah?" He takes a deep breath. "Thanks for coming after me when I got dragged under by the crocodile." You smile. "No problem. Thanks for being there when I realized I..." your voice falters. "When I realized I would never know my past. It wasn't fair for me to be like that when you heard about your mom." You look away again, shame turning your cheeks red. "It's okay," Peter said. "You can't miss someone you never met." You shake your head. "Yes, you can. You miss your mom terribly. I can tell." He smiled sadly. "I'm not mad at you. What you did was completely understandable." He held up a Neverbird feather. "You lost it when you turned into a crocodile Here." You had completely forgotten about the feather you had gotten in your first encounter with the never birds. Peter tucked it behind your ear, his warm fingers brushing against your skin. "I'm so glad you're part of this prophecy," Peter whispered. "I'm glad you're here too." You say.   Peter blushes. "This is such an awkward conversation." You grin. "Yep!" 

Before he could respond, you hopped off the rocks and swam out to where Tiger Lily and Hook were waiting on the island. "Hey!" Hook calls. "You've gotta see this!" You climb on board the ship, and Hook hauls Peter up a few seconds later.  "Well," Hook begins. "The hull's a little banged up, and see those teeth marks? Boy those crocs can jump! But once I get her fixed up, she's gonna be in good shape!" Tiger Lily looks confused. "For what?" Hook looks very exasperated when he says "To get us the hell off this island!!!" 

"You're going to run like a coward?" Tiger Lily asks. "Well I never really thought of it in those exact terms, but generally speaking, yeah. " Tiger Lily smiles. "And where will you go?" Hook frowns, pondering an answer. "Home." he decides. "You know..." He speaks each of the next words slowly as if he's not quite sure what he means. "Where I... Come from?" Tiger Lily looks very amused by this. "Home's not where you come from!" She clarifies. "It's where you make it!" 

"So help me do that!" There's an awkward pause before Hook says "Anyone who survived Blackbeard's attack is in the mines right now, and I've been there and I'm not going back. Not for anything, or anyone." 

"Well if you have no reason to stay, then go!" Tiger Lily says solemnly, not letting Hook see the tangle of emotions in her eyes. "Go now, leave us to die." Hook looks extremely aggravated when he shouts "I don't want you to die... I want you to come with me." She looks mortified. "And if I don't?" Hook glances at her sadly. "Then that's your decision, not mine" Tiger lily turns around and swims back to the shore, leaving you, Peter, and Hook. "Well kids, I guess the old gang's back together. let's get this ship back in the air."

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You sit with Peter and Tiger Lily at the edge of a cliff, watching the ship sail off into the sunrise after a hard night's work of piecing it back together.  Tiger Lily has tears in her eyes. "You really liked him, didn't you." You say to her. "Yes, I did." Tiger Lily said. "I didn't know him as well as I thought though." You decided to switch the topic to something more serious. "let's get this straight. I'm not the chosen one. The prophecy wasn't about me if it was ever real at all." Your voice cracked. The prophecy had been so important to you. Peter speaks up for your silence. "But I am my mother's son, and is Blackbeard is going to destroy everything my parents died for,   I'll stand against him to the last, just like they did." This inspires you to conclude "This prophecy business and the fairy stuff has nothing to do with me, but I will fight to protect the land I love. Now, take us to the fairy kingdom."   

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I hope you enjoyed this!! Thanks for reading!

-LianLily