Shadowless part IV

Concealed under shades, heart beating in rhythm with the island’s, Tiger Lily watches the lazy dawn setting in. Neverland changes in front of her eyes, gloom rushing away, blinding light heating the rocks underneath her. Her long hair sways gently over her, matching the wind’s dance.

Peter Pan’s big victory on the Jolly Roger had cast an eerie false sense of security on Neverland. One the princess never accepted. Where her people saw peace and abundance, she only saw complacency and neglect. She kept searching for the enemy in the forgotten places of the island. The Pan-king, as everyone was now calling him, was a pompous idiot in her humble opinion. He was slipping, forgetful in the most disquieting way. Peter being forgetful wasn’t uncharacteristic but he seemed unbalanced and out of focus.

After the Darling’s departure from the island, Tiger Lily had hunted every pirate and crushed them for good. She burned the Jolly Roger to the ground, leaving only back trails of charcoals on the sand. Her success allowed her people to forget the oppression and hardships of war. Her tribe grew with the island, its children didn't learn to fight anymore. The chief seats comfortably on his throne while his daughter dreams of war. Dreams that started visiting the young woman, clinging to her like her own shadow. Blood and darkness swiping the island. She could taste their truth in the air. She knew they weren’t dreams but premonitions.

She knows the Pan-king sees her as a belligerent in peace times. But Lily isn’t blindfolded by indulgence and comfort. She listens to nature’s spirits and hears its cry. For long she predicted evil would resurface. Telling her friends and family only resulted in making them worry for her. They murmured behind her back that she’d lost her mind to anger and violence. That she’s jealous. Because she is a woman and a princess, because she’d once had feelings for Pan. She’s reduced to childish feelings, defined in them as a petulant kid. Tiger Lily got used to brushing those annoying rumors off. She is, after all, a warrior princess. She never had time for mere emotions.

As she makes for her morning rounds, she hears cries in the wind. She’d learned to trust the wind implicitly, for it often carried the scent of hidden truths. Her feet can’t carry her fast enough to the lagoon. Arriving on the clearing she sees Pan on the sand, covered in blood. Her bow and arrow find her hands swiftly, and a battle cry settles in her throat. Peter’s eyes meet hers. She stops, and takes in the carnage set in front of her. The sand is stained with dried out blood, corpses of mermaids splashed on the shores and the Pan-king is drenched in gore. The angry sun heats up the scene and the stench of death assaults Lily.

« By the stars… what happened ? » She covers her nose with her shawl, the stink even more pungent up close.

« I was too late. » Pan whispers. His face was suddenly youthful again, the weight and burden of death crumpling the adult. Swallowing back any emotions she might have, Lily straightens in front of him. She won’t allow him to wallow in grief.

« We need to honor their souls properly. And you need to wash. » she takes him by the hand like a child, forcefully dragging him to the water. He seemed to stunned to understand any of her words, standing in the water, gaze lost in the wave’s push and pull.

She grabs his neck and pushes him underwater, scrapping the blood from his hair. Tinkerbell alarmed tries stopping her, flying erratically in her face.

« Enough Tink ! He needs to wash he’s in shock. I won’t drown your precious king. »

Peter comes up for air, coughing salty water from his nose.

« That’s it, get it all out. Are you back with us Pan ? » she asks, still holding him like a pup by the nape.

« If you don’t drop me, I’ll drop you from way above your damn trees » He gritted out in between coughs.

Her hand unclasps, reassured she makes her way back to the dirty sand.

While Peter washes, she starts building a pyre for the dead. She hears him approach to help her pile up dry wood. They worked silently, Tink levitated leaves to add to the mock up altar. Lily brushes sweat of her brow, worry was growing in her. Her dreams had showed her blood and gore. And reality had caught up. By mid day, the pyre was done so they pilled the bodies gently on it. In silence they lit the fire. It’s flames purged the horrors of the night. Peter commanded the wind to blow the ashes back to the sea. And they flew away, turning back to sea foam.

« Ready to talk about it ? »

Peter tells her the events of the night. How he had found the mermaids already dead save one. How he had promised to avenge them. Almost shamefully he confesses he’d lost his shadow.

« You do realize how bad this is ? Your own shadow ! Do you know how powerful one shadow is when free ? »

« I know alright ! It’s not like I did it on purpose ! I told you, I felt it being cut from me. Someone, or rather something just took it. » he protested. Peter wasn’t used to being lectured and it showed.

« You said you lost it once, do you know how that one happened ? It might be linked. »

« I was young the first time around… »

Tink starts buzzing, to which Peter scowls. The fairy had certainly made a good point judging by Peter’s reaction.

« What did she say ? Does it have something to do with… » unsure to continue she leaves it unsaid. His silence is answer enough.

« Listen Pan, shadows are useful, they hold on to our darkest desires and keep them from bleeding into the world. One could lose it when overcome with certain emotions. I won’t push you to talk about it. But you have to face your truths. »

She kneels on the sand under the cool shades cast by coconut trees. Her fingers twisting in the sand, grounding her to the island.

« What are you doing ? Need a power nap ? Or are we done with this charming conversation ? »

She rolls her eyes at that. Nobody on the island new of her strange connection to spirits and to the wind.

« Don’t be an idiot for once. I need to be seated for this. »

« And what is… this ? You’re starting to scare me. » Now he was outright concerned, Tiger Lily never acted out of place.

Taking a big deep breath she tried to shake off the self-consciousness.

« Since the disappearance of the pirates, I’ve been dreaming. At first I thought it was just that. Dreams. But most of the time they come true. I can see what is to come although the vision is not always clear. You are full of questions Pan. Ask me and I shall give you fragments of the future. »

The atmosphere shifted, like dust falling back to the ground. Peter felt her power in his bones. An old power charged with energy. Somehow he couldn’t make jabs or lighten the mood.

« If you can see the future, I’m eager hear it. » he sys seating like her, legs crossed spine upright.

« Alright - she adjusted herself finding her meditative pose like an old nursery rhyme - I need something of yours. Magic is costly, for me to see your future you have to offer something. »

Peter pondered on her words carefully. He personally knew that the cost of magic was rarely of one's choosing, yet the answer felt evident. He had to give up something big. Something meaningful or less he wouldn’t get his answer.

In his right pocket, rested a heavy secret. A silent reminder of the past. A sweet memory carved in his heart and mind. So long had he been the sole keeper of it. Rarely did he touch it, for he knew it’s every bump and curve. It would roll under his now bigger fingers. Sometimes he’d imagine other curves under them… The token was nothing but a piece of metal but to Peter it held more warmth than the sun itself. Her kiss. The first she’d offered. Such a simple gift yet such power it had on Peter’s mind. Parting with it was nauseating. It was the last thing he possessed of her. The last thing of hers he could still touch.

« I have something of great value to me. Will it do ? » he takes out his small treasure and places it on Lily’s hand. She examines it closely, rolling it under her thumb. She could sense the emotional weight of the small device.

« It will do. For this to work I usually cut my own hair and burn it, and it’s enough to bring out the visions. You need to make a fire.. »

Tink and Peter build the small fire, much like they had the pyre. When a flimsy smoke rises, Tink seats on Peter’s shoulder, anxiously.
The princess throws the token in the fire. Fed by it, it grows, its smoke invading the air around them. Tiger Lily inhales deeply the fumes. Her dark eyes roll back violently. Her body jerks but she holds on to the sand. That was the painful part.

Peter reaches out to her in concern but she pushes him off.

« No ! Don’t touch me, the vision is almost upon me. »

Suddenly she sees. White fills her eyes and blood trickles down her face.

« I see…evil will rise once more. Shadows conspiring in darkness. Neverland will suffer if the shadow is not reattached. A bond forged yet unfulfilled. Unbalance. Chaos. Death. »

The words were forcing themselves out of her, painfully. She was close to the truth, she could taste it. She just had to reach a bit more.

« Pan alone. A bird in a cage… the white woman… she… » Her body jerkes one last time, exhaustion abruptly catching up to her.

« Stop it ! Lily you’re bleeding too much. »

She felt pulled violently from her dream. Gasping she opens her eyes to Peter holding her. She tries to regain a dignified position in vain.

« Stop it stubborn fool. You’ll kill yourself ! You need to rest. Tink we need to lie her down » Tink quickly conjures her pixie dust to construct a make belief bed. Peter gently lays her down on it.

« I’m sorry. My vision is incomplete. The future stands at a crossroads, that is likely why I couldn’t see. But I’m sure it involves her. »

« What do you mean her ? » he asks whilst tucking her under a big leaf. She just gives him a look. Well he perfectly knew what she meant. He just needed her to say her name.

« Wendy. » she croaked.

Hearing her name being pronounced freely felt good. He was already anticipating being close to her. That was bad enough to scare him. The addiction coursing through his blood felt immutable.

« Find her Peter. She’s the key to getting your shadow back. But you knew it didn’t you ? »

Peter lowers his head in embarrassment. He remembered the way Wendy had sewed his shadow back the first time. But he just didn’t want to involve her in this mess. Anyways she didn’t even remember him.

« Just do what you have to do. But you must bring her here. She is needed although I don’t see her role just yet. »

Clenching his jaw, he accepts his fate. He would return to London and retrieve Wendy for the sake of Neverland. His Wendy.