The Warrior of Neverland

Sword

Her hands were bleeding. It hurt more than she expected. It had seemed like a brave thing at the time, to be willing to climb no matter what happened to her, but now that she was exposed on the barren face of a cliff, the wind beating around her ears, with her hands red and raw, she didn't feel brave. She felt scared, and sore, and incredibly overwhelmed.

The peak wasn't far now. Tigerlily had never known anyone to climb to the peak. Pan had flown here, of course. Surely there wasn't an inch of Neverland that Pan hadn't visited.

But no one had ever climbed. A feeling of pride encouraged her to reach up again and find a new handhold.

Finally, there was no more to climb. She pulled herself up the wind-worn edge of a small plateau and stayed on her hands and knees, nothing but sky and sea all around her. Tigerlily dared look down at the island around her, small and green and very far away. It made her nervous, so she looked back up, at the endless ocean disappearing into the horizon, at the clouds puffing across the vast expanse of sky.

At the speck of gold and brown drifting away from the Mermaid Lagoon. The pirate ship.

Tigerlily's stomach twisted up, and she looked down at the ground she was crouched on, unsure what she was looking for. A sword handle? Something carved in the stone? Why would the sword be up here anyway, at the highest peak of Neverland? There was hardly space to sit up here, and it took her all of three seconds to scour the surface. There was nothing.

Tigerlily jumped to her feet, peering around and under her feet, just in case she'd be in the way of seeing something.

"Nothing," she said, anger seething inside her. "Nothing?!"

But she'd climbed so far, there had to be something. Tigerlily bit her tongue and stomped her foot against the rock. Maybe there was a magic door or something- anything- there had to be something up here, she couldn't have come so far for nothing-

But the space was far too small for her to be thumping her feet, risking her balance. One misstep. The wind gusting at her back.

Tigerlily felt herself falling.

The peak was above her now. The sun was shining in her face. The wind was whistling in her ears, too loud- or maybe she was screaming.

No sword. No prophecy.

No flying. Tigerlily couldn't fly. She was falling. She was falling.

A shadow came between her and the sun.

Then arms pressed against her back.

She grunted as gravity pushed against her- she wasn't falling anymore. She was flying, upwards, outwards. Her hands scrambled to hold on to her rescuer as she caught her breath. She already knew who it was.

He dumped her ungraciously on a wooden surface, and she thought maybe he'd dropped her on the lookout tower of the Hollow.

"Why didn't you just let her fall?" a curt London voice said.

Tigerlily's eyes widened, staring at the salty wooden planks under her hands, her fingers curling into her palms. Wendy.

Pan didn't say anything in return.

"Oi, Chief!" That was the voice of one of the Lost Boys. Tigerlily was still shaking from her fall- and shaking with something else now, too. She felt the gentle rock of the boat beneath her. The Lost Boy pulled her to her feet, but she didn't even look at him. She flipped the mess of black hair out of her face and glared in the direction of the London girl.

But then her eyes caught sight of the thing in Wendy's hands.

A long, gleaming shaft of metal, crested with a magnificent golden handle, glistening in the sun from the numerous gems inlaid in the surface.

She knew, even though she'd never heard of it before this very day. It was the sword of the prophecy.

And Wendy had it.

Wendy looked down at the sword, then up at Tigerlily. She smirked arrogantly. "You thought Peter didn't know about the prophecy?"

"Pan," Tigerlily pleaded, but he didn't turn away from the wheel of the ship.

"He's seen the sword there for years. He knew it had to be part of the prophecy."

"There are no years here in Neverland," Tigerlily spat. "There is no time!"

"The sun is rising, Tigerlily," Wendy said, pointing at the light in the sky. "There is time."

"There can't be time with Pan. Pan will never grow up!"

Wendy handled the sword poorly, failing a few times before putting it into the sheath at her side. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Tigerlily. "It's too late. He's already growing up. You all are."

Tigerlily slowly took a step towards Wendy. She saw the London girl falter, and Tigerlily realized... she didn't know what she was doing. This girl couldn't defend herself. If Tigerlily got close enough she could just...

"Don't do it, Tigerlily."

She jumped and looked up. Pan was flying, arms crossed, a few feet behind and above Wendy. He floated down, staring coldly at Tigerlily.

"Look what you've done, Pan." Tigerlily stepped towards him. He didn't flinch like Wendy had. "Look around. The prophecy isn't fulfilled."

"It will be," he argued. "Wendy is here. We defeated the pirates."

"The pirates weren't the prophecy!" Tigerlily yelled. Pan looked at her oddly. "The prophecy speaks of seaborne enemies. The pirates came from the stars." Pan didn't deny it, and she could see in his eyes that he knew she was right.

"Well... then," Pan fumbled. "Then we'll find them. We'll find the enemies."

"Pan, someone is seaborne on our waters right now," Tigerlily stated gravely. She looked over at Wendy. Wendy's eyes went wide, and she stumbled back a few steps.

"No..." she whispered. "No, it's not... Peter, it's not me. Don't listen to that crazy girl."

"Tigerlily," Pan said, frowning. "That's impossible."

"This London girl brought time to Neverland!" Tigerlily exclaimed. "Time is your enemy, Pan. Time has always been the thing you've hated the most. How can you let her stay when she's brought that with her?"

"Maybe she's not the reason for the time," Pan argued. "Maybe it's something else. We'll find it, and we'll defeat it."

"London girl?" Wendy asked. "What do you mean London girl?"

"Quiet," Pan snapped.

Tigerlily's feet froze where she was. She watched as Pan stomped back over to the wheel of the ship, steering them further out to sea. Wendy's hand was clenching and unclenching around the handle of the sword.

"Pan," Tigerlily murmured. Her breaths became heavier and angrier with each word, her steps quicker. "Tell me exactly where you found this girl. Where," she asked, decisively mounting the steps, "is Wendy from?" Pan's fingers gripped the ship wheel tighter. "WHERE IS SHE FROM?"

Tigerlily's head swiveled to Wendy, quivering on the deck of the ship. Pan wouldn't answer.

Tigerlily would make him answer. She planted one foot on the railing and dove straight at Wendy, smashing her against the deck. She pressed her knee into Wendy's chest and unsheathed the sword with one hand, holding it against her neck. "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" she screamed into her face. 

"I didn't bring time! I didn't mean to bring anything!" Wendy sobbed. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't do anything!" She continued crying, shouting for Pan.

Pan grabbed Tigerlily by the back of her neck, yanking her off Wendy, but Tigerlily whipped around, slicing the blade through the air. It met skin, and Pan yelled, stumbling back. Red blood spilled from his arm, and Tigerlily's throat tightened.

She didn't want to hurt anyone. Except maybe this Wendy girl. She jumped towards her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up to her knees.

"Tell me where Pan found you," she snarled.

Wendy's eyes were streaming with tears. Her face was red, and her voice was barely legible through her sobs. "I was on a boat," she cried. "He found me on a boat."