Peter Pan:A Faerie Tale
Part 6
Author: Silvara Wilde (LadyLark@hotmail.com)
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own any rights to Peter Pan or the characters therein. They all belong to J. M. Barrie; I am merely borrowing them for a while.
Pairings: Peter/Wendy (eventually!), Nibs/Tinkerbelle
Author's Note: Any comments, suggestions, flames, rants, are always welcome. Though the last 2 will be given the respect they deserve. (Read: they will be used for virtual kitty-litter.)
Note: You can thank lordoberon for getting me to update tonight. My muse had run away and I must confess I had forgotten this was posted until I got the review alert this afternoon... All I can say is "oops!" and that I hope you'll forgive me! Working on part 7 now, but it won't be posted tonight!
Peter Pan:A Faerie Tale Part 6
“Peter?” Wendy whispered. No one seemed to notice. It had been only seconds since the last of the Unseelie fled, yet it seemed far longer. Getting shakily to her feet, she began to move carefully though the carnage towards the last place she was sure she had seen Peter.
All around her the people of Peter’s land were moving, checking those who were alive or dead and dying. How could they not realize Peter wasn’t among them?
“Wendy!” Nibs ran up beside her and swung her around. “We did it! We fought them off! It’s all thanks to you and your brothers.”
“But Nibs! Peter. Where is Peter?” blinking back still more useless tears, Wendy watched as Nibs’ face drained of color.
“He’s not here? He must be here, I saw him just moments ago. I’m sure of it…” Turning away, he began to hurry towards the front of the battle line. A golden glint caught Wendy’s eye as she followed after him. Stooping down, she caught hold of an edge and pulled.
“No, oh no. Please let it not be true.” There in her hands was Peter’s sword.
The once-gleaming sword was dimmed now, all the magic seemed lost from it. Under the blood and grime, the metal looked like nothing more than hammered gold. For Peter, it had seemed to be weightless, a flashing faerie blade made of the finest elven steel and lit up from the inside by a magic all its own. Now it lay lifeless in her hands, a mute testament to the fact that Peter was gone.
As Wendy looked down at the blade in her hands in silent horror, Nibs dropped to the ground beside her and began to dig through the bodies frantically. He was soon joined by Slightly and Tootles, neither of which looked like they should be up and moving around, but all grimly determined to find their leader. It was a futile effort, it took them nearly an hour, but they cleared everything away down to the dirt for many feet in all directions.
“He isn’t here. He isn’t here! They took him, and we have no way to track them or follow.” Nibs sagged down in despair. The feeling was catching, one by one the boys looked away trying to control their grief. Thus only Wendy noticed the flicker along the edge of the blade she still held. It was a tiny glimmer, so barely there that if she had blinked she would have thought she had imagined it. Blinking away her tears, she lifted the sword higher, within inches of her face and breathed one word: “Peter.”
As if in answer, the light flashed again, slightly stronger this time and hope took hold in her breast. Could the sword lead them to Peter? And if it could, would it be in time? She gripped the hilt tighter in her hands and said in a slightly louder and firmer voice: “Peter.” The blade flashed again, then went dark. “Will you... Can you, lead us to Peter?” The boys were looking up at her now, confusion on their faces, but the blade, the once shining blade, responded. It lit up with a flash and a crackle, not as bright as it had for Peter, but fully bright enough that you could tell it was glowing from within.
“I know you will not permit me to go, I do not know how to fight, and would most likely slow you down. But it seems willing to lead you if you can follow it.” Hands trembling only slightly, Wendy had no wish to release her last link to Peter and an even greater wish not to stay behind, she offered the blade across her palms to Nibs.
The moment he touched it, the light went out. When he removed his hand, leaving it with Wendy, the light came back. So it was for Slightly and Tootles, Peter’s blade it seemed would only lead them if Wendy carried it. They had no choice, to rescue Peter, Wendy must come with them, but so many were hurt. Slightly had a cracked rib, Tootles was missing a finger, and Tink, poor Tink had one wing bent at an unnatural angle. Nibs was hurt the least, bruises mostly and one cut across his left cheekbone. But they had not time for the fae healers to fix them up, every second they wasted could mean Peter’s life.
Forming a half circle around Wendy, they set out past the war zone, past the boundaries of their home. Into lands unclaimed by any creature of good, and right into the heart of the Unseelie lands. Three fae warriors, one fairy, and a twelve-year-old mortal girl-child, would it be enough?