Belief Extraordinary

Settled

In the end it was Rasheed who settled things with Zack. At the close of his fight with Koya, when the older boy insisted they go back to their thrown weapons, Zack had stormed off in search of a more sympathetic ear. He wouldn't practice with the so-called Lost Girl if she were the last person in camp. So while Koya went to heckle her, and maybe show her up if given the chance, Zack went looking for the one person he knew would still agree with him: Lucian.

Lucian was keeping more and more to himself these days, still wary of retaliation despite the continued peace since Sarah's return to camp. He was sitting with Martín, who had little opinion of Sarah one way or the other. If the younger boy didn't share his negative views on her, at the very least he didn't have an abundance of good to say of her either, and was thus more pleasant company than an increasing portion of the camp.

Zack found them on the opposite end of camp, knotting vines into sturdy nets. Martín waved in greeting, but Lucian only looked up, silent. "She doesn't belong here." Was Zack's opening line. Lucian eyed him cautiously, then jerked his head to the side. Zack took the invitation and sat behind him. "Even Cody's falling all over her now, it's disgusting. Claims she stopped the banthear that was attacking him earlier." He picked up one end of the net and started knotting. He pulled so aggressively that Martín was worried he might break the net before it was finished.

"I don't know what's more embarrassing," Zack continued, still seething, "That he'd need a girl to help him or that he'd lie about it to get on her good side." Martín glanced towards Lucian, whose face revealed nothing. He'd been quieter ever since the second game of capture the flag, though he wouldn't say why. "And then Koya was telling some crazy story about how she's dangerous or something because she can move some rocks around,"

"She is dangerous." Zack furrowed up his face as Lucian spoke at last. Lucian's face remained even, his progress steady as he calmly tied each vine. He glanced discreetly to the sides as if he expected the terrifying she-demon he'd seen in the jungle to materialise behind him. "She is much more dangerous than she looks."

"You beat her in a stick fight, Lucian." Zack peered heavily at the one person in camp he had expected to agree with him. "A stick fight. She didn't look so dangerous then." Lucian inclined his head ever so slightly.

"She has magic." Zack opened his mouth – he knew she could teleport, but so what? That didn't make her dangerous, especially not if she was stupidly teleporting in front of projectile weapons all the time. Lucian didn't let him interrupt. "Fire magic." He didn't feel the need to elaborate – it had been humiliating enough that Sarah had seen him afraid for his life, he didn't need the Lost Boys to know it too.

Zack frowned, cursing as he pulled one of the vines so tightly that it snapped. Grabbing another, he complained, "She's still not a Lost Boy. She shouldn't be here just because she's using her stupid girl tricks on Pan." Privately, Lucian agreed. After that day in the forest he had almost found a grudging respect for her. Anyone who could attack Pan and Felix and live to tell the tale was a force to be reckoned with. Now that he knew why Pan had spared her life, he felt differently. She was still dangerous, yes, but she wasn't dangerous as a Lost Boy was dangerous. She didn't have skill with weapons or fighting or stealth. She had magic. Only Pan could have magic – on anyone else, it was cheating.

But though privately he agreed with Zack, he was wary of saying anything aloud which might sound as though it disapproved of their leader's actions. Instead, he muttered to his friend, "Pan knows his business best." Zack narrowed his eyes, about to argue, when Lucian rested a firm hand on his shoulder. "Pan is our leader." He said carefully, looking the boy directly in the eye. "And if we know what's good for us, we follow our leader."