Blackbeard

4

They brought us to their tribe. Peter, Smee and I were tied to a pole, while James was dangling upside down above their arena. James started to wake up due to the crowd yelling and screaming 'pan'.

"What's going on? What's Pan?"

The princess of the tribe, who I learned was Tiger Lily, stood with pride as she addressed everyone.

"The Pan is our tribe's bravest warrior. It's our tradition to grant you the chance to win your freedom. You're our sworn enemy, you're pirates."

The pan? My wrist, Peter's necklace. We had to show them.

"Pirates? We're not pirates! Hold on." She walked away. "The kid is the one you've been waiting for."

"Your fiercest fighter against our pan" she was determined.

A man then jumped and cut him down. James had to fight him and he tried. He tried his best, but he was no match for the warrior.

I turned my head, looking away not wanting to see James repeated be beat. I struggled against the rope that bound me to the pole, trying to escape. I looked up every once in a while, to check on James. He was getting beat badly. Then Peter was running and jumping on the man.

How'd he escaped before me?

My hands were free in a matter of seconds after that and I ran towards the royals. Peter was on his back, with spears at his neck and I was in front of the chief with my bracelet removed. They were all in shock.

"They both wear the pan," yelled the chief. Then they said something about flying and proving ourselves. We had to train and become the warriors they waited so long to come and there was no way of refusing them. It was either that or become a prisoner again.

I spent the next couple days properly learning how to fight and defend myself with Tiger Lily. She taught me how to hold and maneuver around a sword, as well as an ax. My least favorite part of training was learning hand to hand combat. Whatever instinct I was supposed to have did not help me out here. I was always getting knocked down and could not block a punch to save my life. But I kept going at it, I had too.

We've been a couple of days now and I kinda lost track of Peter. We trained separately; I think because we have different skill sets, or maybe he was learning something else. I was walking through the camp and saw him with the chief, they had maps and scrolls laid out everywhere. So, he was learning about the tribe, while I was constantly getting beat up.

The next morning, I had just finished getting changed into new clothes that Tiger Lily had given me when James walked in.

"Hey, um... I wanted to say I'm sorry." I looked up.

"For what?"

"For not trusting you and yelling a couple days ago. It's just I didn't know you and I still kinda don't know you but... now, it's different."

"Then I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled back. I understand, we're getting to know each other."

"So, I'm James Hook, been here since I was young, and I finally escaped." He gave a small chuckle and held out his hand.

"I'm Audrey and I've been here since I was young too, I disguised myself as a boy to stay alive." I played along with his game.

"Smart."

"Um... How long have you known Peter?"

"About the same amount of time as you. What's he to you?"

"He's... um... He's my brother. I found out the day we escaped."

"Does he know?"

"I don't know, it was implied but I don't know if he got it." Then Peter walked in ending our conversation.