Day: 17

"When are you going to tell him you want to rejoin the Hunt?" Harry asks from on top of me.

I struggle beneath his tight grip, wiggling about. Today, we are working on hand to hand combat. I don't know how Harry is managing to use his size to his advantage, but somehow I've found myself on my back much more than I would have preferred. Every time I move to swoop in on him, he escapes my clutches.

I'd have an easier time catching Johnny than him, and Johnny easily has 100 pounds on me.

"Next time I see him, I guess." I grunt. "Before Max can get involved with the group anyway."

"He'll have to participate in the game we'll be playing soon, there's no way around it." He holds himself still as I squirm beneath him. "You can't keep him safe forever."

I can't seem to shake this kid off me. "When is the game? And what is it?"

He shrugs. "They say it will be in about a week. It's got something to do with the Hunt I suppose. No one knows exactly what's going on with it anyway."

Harry is concentrating his effort on my hands, which are struggling under his firm grip. I buck my hips off the ground, knocking him off me. He's slippery like soap, so when I get up and flip him he effortlessly escapes my grip.

Didn't he say he was awful at fighting without a weapon?

"Don't worry Charlie. Sooner or later you'll get the hang of it."

Maybe I'm just worse than he is. After all, I don't use grips and holds when I fight like we are now. I lead with my fists.

I wait for Harry to charge me, finding defense the only possible approach to this. There's no way I can hold him still long enough to win a fight. He walks on air, and precision is his game. I'm no match, not without bulking muscles anyway.

Harry grabs hold of me, sending me down to the ground. My hands find his shirt, and he falls with me. I use our momentum, rolling off of my back and over onto his.

I quickly straddles his chest, pinning his arms down with my knees. Harry may be an escape artist, but he's not a strongman. My grip on his will hold.

"Not bad," his breath is heavy, out of surprise or exhaustion I couldn't tell you.

He kicks up his knees into the air behind me, but his legs fall short of my back. Too small to reach up and kick me. He lifts his hips off the ground, and as I lean back to hold his legs down his slips his arms out from beneath me and flips me on to my side.

Harry rolls over to attack me, and my leg smashes into his stomach, pushing him back. He gets up, holding on to my foot and dragging me along the ground. I spin on to my front and dig my nails into the dirt, trying to pull myself away from him.

He moves a hand further up my leg, and I twist my leg to the side, flipping him on to the ground. I get up and hold up my hands, almost like a boxer.

He groans, slowly sitting. "I think that's enough for today. It's past dinner and I'm tired."

I look up at the sky, searching for the sun. "Is it really? We must've been out here for hours."

He nods his head up and down. "It's been a long day. A very, very long day."

"How did I do?" I ask.

He shrugs. "You tied with me, but remember, I'm rubbish without a knife. You got one thing going for you though."

"And what's that?" I ask, offering him a hand up.

He takes it. "You're clever, and a quick-thinker. You've got good intuition. Remember, that's no match for strength though. Don't go trying to take on anybody bigger than Alex. That'll get you nothing but trouble."

I roll my eyes. "My strength is enough to match you."

"Don't take too much pride in that." He smirks. "I'm not even a challenge."

That felt like a hell of a challenge. I'm sweaty and sore, and ready to eat.

"You expect me to get good at this overnight?" I chuckle.

He slaps a hand across my back, in a friendly way. Am I one of the boys now? "I don't expect you to - you've got to. We've moved past the Hunt. We're in the big leagues now, and you had better keep up. I don't need any more funerals, especially not yours."

I roll my eyes. So what if we are in the big leagues? I can take it.

We take the quick walk back to camp, which is eerily quiet for so early in the night. All the animals seem to have already entered their quiet slumber. Not even the wind wishes to whirl through the woods, opting to remain silent instead.

"Look, I'm going to bed." Harry says. "I'm supposed to watch Lily soon. I'll see you later."

I nod, and watch as he walks into his tent, the flaps shutting behind him.

My tent is close and I nearly enter it, but something is bothering me. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it makes me stay out. What harm could staying up later do? It's not like there is a wakeup call, or even a curfew.

"Pan," my voice comes out in a whisper.

"Why is it that you always ask for me?"

I turn around and find him standing behind me. I jump back at the short distance between us, giving myself a space to breath. A zone of sanity. He can't invade my world, not when I'm trying to think.

"You know, most people don't contact me on a regular basis, not unless they are in dire need of something. What makes you different?"

I decide here and now not to let him get to me. He has a sneaky way of winding himself up in my thoughts. When I'm walking towards a trap, I've got to keep my moves on my terms. That's what the hunt is anyway, a trap.

"I want to rejoin the Hunt."

The silence is cool and crisp. Even the forest seems to listen to my request, waiting for me to enter its clutches again. I almost feel like I'm walking into the jaw of the beast.

"You what?" He laughs.

"You heard me."

"Alright," he laughs, looking me up and down. "By all means."

"As long as you don't give Max a spot." I tell him. "That's my one condition."

That's really all I want anyway, for the defenceless to be safe.

"Anything else you'd like, your highness?" He mocks.

I shake my head. "That's all."

I turn around to head back to my tent but he cuts me off from the front of me. I hate it when he does that. Moving around my body without letting me in on the tricks. Crossing into the zone of sanity, an illegal immigrant.

"I don't suppose this means I win?" He asks.

"Win what?" I ask.

Please do not be talking about the bet. If he is talking about the bet, and he knows I'm a girl, I will absolutely lose my mind.

"You wish to stay in Neverland."

That's what he thinks?

"Absolutely not," the mere thought makes a smile dance onto my lips. "I wish for Max to be safe."

"Well you can't keep him safe if you aren't here."

I shrug. "I care about the kid, but not enough to sacrifice my life for him."

"Would you sacrifice your life for anyone?" He asks.

I flinch.

What an odd question, coming from him. Nevermind what a personal question, but what an odd one. Would I sacrifice my life for anyone I've met here?

"No, would you?"

He grins, but doesn't answer.

We continue to look at each other, waiting for one of us to prompt the other. I'm not good at silences.

"I hear there is a game coming up soon."

He nods. "Can you keep a secret?"

I don't see why I would have any reason not to, especially when I don't have much of anyone I would tell. Maybe Harry, Max and Johnny.

"Yes."

"Even if telling it would help the others?"

I squint at him, thinking. Since my time on Neverland, I've discovered it's me versus the world. That is to say, I have always had friends, but here having friend's means something different. It means putting others' lives before your own. It is easy to say you'd die for someone, but when you are thrown into a life-or-death situation, you're thoughts begin to blur away. Adrenaline does many things to me; it makes me brave, reckless, self-assured. However, it doesn't make me suicidal.

I will die over my dead body.

Even if I wouldn't have myself killed for someone else, I would still never throw someone under the bus for my own safety, or kill someone just for the sake of it, but that doesn't mean I'm going out of my way to help anyone, or to save anyone at my own expense. It's a happy medium between self-sacrifice and self-preserving. It is the healthiest place to be.

Why would I tell people a secret if it would only place me in danger?

"I'd only tell them if it won't hurt me telling them."

He nods, before a grin takes hold of his face. A wicked realisation. "The Game is starting much sooner than you'd expect."

"Really?" I ask. "How soon?"

"As soon as you are ready." He says. "Do you think you are?"

"Well, what exactly does this game entail?" I ask.

He shrugs, leaning against a tree. "I need to leave some time after it, so I can still win the bet you know."

He didn't answer my question.

"You're scheduling it around me?" I ask. "Humble little me? Oh dear, I think someone's in love!"

He scoffs. "I'm not, what was it? Gay?"

Right, he thinks I'm a boy. I nod. "Gay's the right word, yeah."

He rolls his eyes, moving on. "How is training going with Harry?"

"Good." I've begun to accept he knows everything that goes on around here, even if I don't tell him about it. 'How's Felix been doing?"

"He's Felix," Pan nods.

He takes a few steps closer to me, until there's half a foot separating our skin. He glares down over top of me.

"I take it you've adjust to life here."

"I only have to be here another 33 days." I tell him. "Day 50 and I'm out. Why should I bother to adjust?"

"Day 50 and you are here forever." He laughs. "And no one gets off the island without my permission."

He's not quite as grand as he thinks he is. I'll manage.

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

So, remember how I said this will be in seasons? Well, season 1A is coming to an end soon. I've got a few more chapters up my sleeves, than the big three part finale. Can you guess what's coming?

Let me know what you think will happen in the comments? What's this Game, and what's the deal with the Hunt? What do you want it to be; action packed or emotionally taxing? It's up to you to decide.

Anyways, remember to take care of yourself, and I'll see you Saturday.