The Warrior of Neverland

Wendy

Her head was throbbing. As the blackness faded, she glanced around, but her vision was still fuzzy. Whatever light there was felt like too much, and she squinted against it, making the pain worse.

She couldn't quite make out what words the voices around her were saying. When she tried to move she could tell that she was tied up- again- and now there was a gag around her mouth, too. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and looked around.

They were still in the cavern, but now her back was against one of the tall spires of rock, and the rope was wrapped around her and it, keeping her in place.

A sharp clash of metal made her jump, and she looked up to see the pirate captain on a higher plateau of rock, brandishing his sword at someone above him. Tigerlily smiled to herself as that someone above him flew into sight, laughing brazenly. 

Pan!

She watched their battle with wide eyes, and were it not for the gag, she would've been cheering Pan on. She could see the moment the captain realized he was losing, and she held her breath excitedly as Pan swung his sword one last time, sending the captain's weapon flying from his grip.

"Take that, Hook!" Pan exclaimed. He planted his foot on Hook's chest and sent him tumbling into the water before swooping down to Tigerlily. "Hallo, Tigerlily." He cut the ropes loose and Tigerlily jumped up, hugging Peter Pan.

"You were marvelous!" she said.

Pan put his hands on his hips and smiled. "Fighting pirates is easy. And anyways, I had some help." He gestured to someone behind her and she turned, stepping around the rock formation.

Tigerlily froze where she was. A girl in a blue dress stood tall behind the two pirates- the injured one and the stout one- who were unarmed and tied up. She held a sword out towards them- rather poorly, Tigerlily thought, but with great courage- and smiled proudly at Pan.

Tigerlily narrowed her eyes. "A London girl?" she asked disdainfully.

Pan stepped up beside her and waved at the girl. "Not just 'a London girl'," he insisted. "She's the prophecy."

Tigerlily frowned. "You say that every time." She wasn't just annoyed that he'd brought another girl back to Neverland, but that every time he did, he changed. He didn't act like the Pan she knew. He spent more time trying to get these London girls to stay than he did adventuring with the Lost Boys or telling stories to her people.

"Well, this time it's true. She helped me defeat Hook."

"Hook? Is that what you're calling the pirate captain now?"

"Sure!" Peter shrugged like Tigerlily wasn't serious. "I gave him that hook myself. Anyway, it sounds much more interesting than Captain James, don't you think?"

"You didn't defeat him," Tigerlily argued. "You just won the fight."

"I don't want to completely disable him-"

"You have to!" she yelled. Pan shut up and looked at her silently. "Pan, you're the only one in Neverland who's ever fought a pirate before. If you don't send him out of Neverland, the prophecy will be unfulfilled, and who knows what will happen?"

Pan didn't say anything. He looked down at the ground, then up at this Wendy girl. Then he ran towards her and stuck out his hand. When she took it, they shot up into the sky, out of the cavern, leaving Tigerlily on the rocky shore.

***

"Chief!"

Tigerlily lay facedown in the sand. She could've stood up, but she didn't feel like it. She was tired.

That made her a little scared. Of course she'd been tired before- they all had- but it was only the kind of tiredness that can be fixed with a little bit of sleep. This was different. Her bones hurt. She needed more than just sleep.

Hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her to her feet, and she reluctantly dragged her feet one after the other back to the camp. The scouts who'd found her insisted on taking her to Hyacinth's tent, and Tigerlily didn't resist. She had some questions for the eldest Indian anyway.

They laid her on the woven cot in Hyacinth's tent and left, and for a second all was quiet. Tigerlily's mind was racing, though.

"Did you swim all the way from Skull Rock?"

Tigerlily could only nod tiredly.

"My," Hyacinth murmured softly. "Vasha ve copput."

The world is ending. It was a phrase Tigerlily was beginning to think none of them truly understand. It was what they said when something didn't make sense, or seemed sad or unfortunate.

She pushed herself onto her elbows. "Hyacinth, why am I so tired?"

Hyacinth raised an eyebrow as she ground different leaves and plants together in a mortar. "You swam all the way from Skull Rock," she said simply.

"No," Tigerlily said, rubbing her forehead frustratedly. "I've done things like that before. This feels different. It feels like- like-"

"Like it will take time to recover?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. Her eyes widened and she swallowed. "Time." She sat up and stared at the floor, trying desperately to piece everything together. "But there is no time here."

Hyacinth didn't say anything.

"Unless..."

Tigerlily stood up slowly. Suddenly there was a commotion outside, and she heard one voice over the rest. Pan's.

And another voice with it, one she didn't recognize, but she knew exactly who it was.

Wendy.