Swords

Melody, Cody, and Zack sat around a firepit, with sticks in their hands. They each took a chance to poke the fire before they had to stop because Zack burned himself.

Cody carefully aided his brother's injuries as Melody snickered at him.

"Why are you so useless?" Melody muttered jokingly but not really. The older twin stuck his tongue out at her.

As bored as they all were, both the pirate and the twins were thankful Pan hadn't given them any special tasks for the day. They could be as lazy as they wanted.

"Swimming sounds nice," Cody muttered but Melody only scoffed.

"It's cold!"

"I'm going to get bronchitis," Zack whined as he shivered. Melody tossed the boy a blanket and handed him a new stick for the fire.

Their silence was disturbed when a giggle was heard from the other side of the camp. Melody peeked over Zack's shoulder to see Alice and Slightly sitting rather closely on an old log. She watched carefully as the two blondes seemed to bond over whatever they were chatting about.

But Melody couldn't help but feel weird about their dear Alice. The energy Melody was receiving was off-putting. She wanted to blame her untrusting nature for the strange feeling but she couldn't shake it away.

"There's something weird about her..." She muttered. Cody scoffed.

"I'm sure she says the same thing about you."

Melody growled and pushed Cody off her log.

"Girls don't just appear on Neverland," she said with narrowed eyes. Zack hummed.

"You did."

"No, I was brought here against my will. Do you think I actually wanted to return to your crummy little island? I'd rather have a polar bear tear me to bits," Melody irked as she continued to mess with the fire.

"What's a polar bear?" Zack questioned his brother but his other half merely shrugged.

"Maybe a type of bug."

Melody couldn't stand the idiocy of the twins and stood up. She left to find something else to do, even though her options were limited. The pirate settled on practicing her arm at her swordsmanship. As a pirate, she was skilled in many weaponry and how to wield most, if not all. She only hoped her skills didn't rust in the time she was stuck on the island.

She stalked over to the training circle, just a little beyond the rest of camp. She checked her sword options. Each sword had faults, and Melody grew angry that she didn't have her perfect sword on her. The ones at the camp were horrible. She wouldn't even give them to a peasant.

She picked up a grey sword with a black handle and scowled as she tried to balance it between her fingers. Unbalanced.

Melody threw it aside and chose a new one.

Chipped.

The more she looked for a decent sword, the angrier she got. All her options were terrible, none suitable for a pirate.

So she went to complain to Pan. If he was going to keep her there, he better give her a good weapon.

She found him at the main campfire. He was watching Felix roast the boar they had caught that same morning intently, telling him he was doing it all wrong.

"You're gonna burn it!"

"I'm not, nose off," Felix snapped back. Pan scoffed and crossed his arms as he continued to judge the blond's cooking.

Melody approached him and watched as Felix was indeed burning the meat.

"Are we eating charcoal or something tonight, why is he tryna burn it back to life?"

Felix immediately told the two to respectfully fuck off and leave him alone. They obeyed.

"The swords you have here are absolute shit, Pan."

"Peter."

"Fine, Peter, your swords are absolute shit."

Peter Pan sighed and rubbed his temple. Peter didn't have the energy to snap at her. He turned to the pirate and gave a tight smile.

"Follow me."

Melody listened. She and Pan walked back towards the training section. With a snap of his fingers, two beautiful swords appeared. He tossed one to Melody and she caught it with ease.

Melody examined the sword. It was absolutely stunning. Perfectly balanced, as every sword should be. The blade was sleek and the handle was glittered with gems. The pirate loved it.

She nearly drooled over the sword. It was only until Peter cleared his throat that Melody's attention was skewered. She turned to see him also holding a similar sword.

Melody raised an eyebrow.

"What's this then?"

Peter smirked and playfully smacked her sword with his.

"I want to see what you're made of, pirate!"

Melody smirked and hit his sword back.

"You're gonna wish you never said that."

~

Melody remembered when she first stepped onto the island. She remembered how her instincts were telling her to run and hide.

And yet she couldn't pull herself away from the need to be around Peter Pan.

It was a simpler time back then.

"You're holding it wrong."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are, dumbass," Melody snapped. She huffed as she watched Peter struggle holding a simple sword. His stance was weak, his wielding was poor, and he had already cut himself twice.

Melody didn't know why he struggled to use a simple sword.

"Useless."

Peter frowned at her and scoffed.

"I don't need to learn how to use a weapon! I have magic and that's enough," he said. Melody rolled her eyes and tossed her sword to the ground.

"Then it's useless to teach you anything."

Melody had very easily beaten down Peter. She twirled her sword around victoriously with a smug smile.

"I see you're still shit at wielding a sword," she commented with a hmph. Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"I never needed to learn how to use a sword anyway."

Melody smiled and looked down at the sword.

"I want to keep this," she mused, "can I?" She carefully traced her fingers over the blade, eager for Pan to let her keep her new toy.

Peter hummed and gave an effortless shrug.

"Fine. But if you try to stab me with that sword, I will end your life," he smiled darkly. Melody promised and grabbed some spare fabric to make a sling for her sword.

Pan watched carefully as the pirate worked. He even helped her out with the knots.

"Here," Peter said. He offered Melody half of a mango (she had no idea where he pulled it out of) and she accepted it.

They ate in silence, not bothering to make conversation. Melody could count how many times she had lost to a sword fight on one hand. It wasn't often, and she didn't plan to lose any more than 10 fights in total. So far, she had lost three sword fights, two to her father and the other to David.

They headed back to camp soon after and Melody followed Peter into his tent. She tossed herself onto his bed and sighed.

"Peter," she called out carefully. The boy turned to glance at her and hummed in response.

"I'm getting tired of this camp... Can the twins and I go to the beach-"

"Absolutely not," he interrupted and smacked the book Melody had in her hands to the ground. The pirate scrunched her face into a frown. She sat up and crossed her arms.

"And why not? You let blondie get away with everything, why can't I even leave?" Melody said, referring to Alice.

"Because blondie over there isn't trying to constantly leave the island and cause chaos everywhere she goes!" Pan snapped at her. He glared at her once more before turning his back on her again. He continued to search for something among his trinkets and ignored the pirate.

Melody huffed and dramatically slid off the bed and onto the ground. She continued to huff and puff. She tried to annoy Pan with her actions but he had gotten used to her habits. Finally, Melody fell silent and Pan found what he has been searching for.

"What's that?" Melody queried as she peeked over his shoulder. Pan pushed her back and she fell onto the bed with a grunt.

"None of your business, pirate," he taunted and held the book close to him. He stalked off to grab his book bag and turned to Melody.

"Listen here, pirate. I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours. I expect you to listen to Felix and do as he says!"

Melody silently mocked him but stopped quickly when Pan grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. She squeaked and was about to punch him but turned red when she saw how close they were. Her ears burned with embarrassment as she tried her best to hide away her tomato face.

"Do you understand, pirate?"

Melody turned her face away but nodded. She peered up at Pan but couldn't make eye contact as she ripped her arm away.

"Whatever, you prick."

Peter rolled his eyes and pushed her away again.

"I'm leaving."

Melody scoffed.

"Good riddance."

When Peter left, Melody let out a breath she didn't know she has been choking back. She coughed and twiddled with her shoelace.

She didn't like the feeling that suddenly arose. She recognized the feeling.

And she would be damned if she ever let herself drown like that ever again.

*unedited*

I'm not losing inspiration, you are.