Take Me to Neverland || OUAT

2: Playing Fair

"Come on, Amber, I've got more places to show you," Peter stated as we hiked towards the center of the camp. His charismatic swagger led the way as I followed, taking in the bustling atmosphere of the lost boys. They were scattered like marbles on hardwood, but at the same time, they had a sense of organization that most groups lacked.

Out of the daring blue, Peter halted mid-step and looked at me. "But first...." The aura of a burning challenge on the tip of his tongue. "I'd like to see how well you fight with a weapon."

"Wait... what?" My eyes widened, as he tossed me a gorgeous sword with a silver-tipped blade.

I remembered back in the age, I was taught very well by my father, how to hunt and fight using daggers, swords, and bows and arrows. "Play fair," he would always say, "and never let your guard down." I kept his word even after he died. Ever since, my family was never the same.

But here I was, tilting and adjusting the sword so that I had a good grip on it. "Have you had experience before?" He asked.

There was another lesson that my father had taught me, it was to never reveal your strengths or weaknesses before-hand.

"I've had a little practice with a sword," I shrugged, eyeing his every move. "Am I going to have to fight you?"

He chuckled at the thought of it and shook his head, "I was going to have you fight one of the Lost Boys, but since you mentioned it... I might as well give it a shot." With a smirk, he drew out a bronze sword and polished the tip with his shirt. "A sword fight with the new Lost Girl? I couldn't resist," he grinned as he brought the blade up against his shoulder, "let's play."

~~Peter's POV~~

I wanted to see how much fight this girl had in her. Amber Hawthorne. She circled me, keeping note on my movement. It was now when it suddenly dawned upon me that she definitely had past experience with a sword before, because in one swift move, she pinned me up against a tree with the blade resting at my neck. The Lost Boys hooted and cheered. "Best out of three?" she grinned. "Oh it's on," I replied with a smirk of approval.

A little fencing off, defending, and making false attacks was my way of tensing her up. And within a minute, I had her sword sprawled across the jungle floor, we're even now. Her eyes darted up towards mine and in a split second, she recovered her stance with her sword ready at aim.

I'll admit it, I like her. She wasn't bad with a blade, and it always seemed like her curiosity sparked an interest in me. I knew that within 10 days, she will be mine.

I dodged another attack from her which seemed to get her more intrigued with our little sword-fight. All in all, I observed her moves. I could plot out where her hits would land and when exactly I had to dodge them. "Having fun?" I called to her. "Save it, Pancake," she replied and with a final blow, she cut my blade in half. The broken shard fell to the forest floor as the Lost Boys cheered evey louder within each second. I could feel myself falling into a pit of defeat, not because a girl beat me, but she also exposed my pet-name, "Pancake" to the camp.

"Nice going, Pancake," I turned around to see a scarred face. "Don't call me that," I hissed. I was nearly at my peak of bursting when Felix laughed. "You know she's different, don't you Pan?" he replied. I nodded slightly, but Felix just kept talking. "She's a keeper, if you know what I mean," and with that, he disappeared into the crowd.

I didn't know what to feel about this girl. Either "intrigued" or "worried" seemed to fit the situation. I'll have to try harder to win her heart.

~~Amber's POV~~

The Lost Boys basically worshipped me after that, I even got to learn a few names before Peter called me off to continue our tour around the camp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well that was joyful," I laughed as the sarcasm settled into my voice. He just chuckled, "don't worry. The mermaids are always like that when I bring a girl around."

Earlier on he took me to the Mermaid Cove, a little farther into the island. Let me just say, the mermaids didn't like me very much. One almost tried to drown me for God's sake.

I shuddered as the memories came back into play, but laughed them off as soon as we found ourselves back at camp. Nightfall was coming in quick, so many of the Lost Boys were already in their tents.

"You coming?" Peter asked at the base of his tree house.

I frowned, "what? To sleep with you?" He smirked, "I promise I won't do anything to the new Lost Girl on the first night in Neverland."

Scoffing, I turned around and sat with my arms crossed on a tree stump. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I thought you were curious. Wouldn't you like to experience what it's like to sleep in a Neverland tree house?"

"Sure, but not with you."

He laughed and I could see the bonfire gleam in his eyes, "this another part of the game. If you're able to withstand this for 10 days, then you can leave the island forever."

It seemed like he knew that I couldn't resist a good challenge. I hopped up off of the tree trunk. "Fine, but stay on your side of the bed," I looked him straight in the eye, "I'm warning you."

"And if I don't? What would you do, love?" Judging from his mischievous grin, I could tell that he had quite the dirty mind. I shook off his thoughts and shot him a death glare, "I'll make sure that not only the lost boys, but the whole island knows about your pet-name. Pancake."

Victoriously, I made my way up the tree-house. It was going to be a long night.

~~Peter's POV~~

No girl has ever done that before. No one has ever defied me. But afterall, it was a tiring day so I followed her up the rope ladder.

Once at the top, I noticed her walking towards the bathroom mirror to inspect herself. Sighing, she shook her head, "by any chance, Peter, do you have any spare clothes for me to sleep in?"

I always do, magic helps me stock my abundance of everything. I scoffed at her question, "have you forgotten where you are? This is Neverland, the birth-place of magic. Wish for something, and it will appear."

Her eyes sparked with the curiosity that I knew so well. Within an instant, she had before her a whole clothing rack with all the necessities she needed. I could tell by her expression, she was impressed. "I-I was just asking for a simple shirt or something, but... I'm not complaining!" she laughed.

I let her get changed real quick before settling in on the left side of the bed. I could slowly feel her presence beside me.

After a while, I flipped onto my side to find that she was still awake as well. "Can't sleep?" I whispered. She shook her head "no". Thankfully, I knew exactly what to do. I'm not really the romantic type but...

I drifted my hand towards the cieling, and in response, a night sky appeared from all the foliage. Stars blinked in a variety of constellations.

She smiled and pointed, "Jupiter... right next to it, is Regulus... the foot of the Lion constellation."

"How do you know this?" I asked. Now it was my turn to be curious. She shrugged, "my father taught me how to read the stars, just in case if I got lost one day." I let her head rest against my chest, my breathing deepened as the night lead on. Our heart beats beated in sync.

I let my gaze fall on her one last time before I felt my world go dark.