────── ★★★ ──────

────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃

────── ★★★ ──────

Everly slowly opened her eyes to be greeted by the darkness that she had grown used to after spending a few months with Peter Pan and his Lost Boys on Neverland. The blonde girl rested on her cot for a moment longer before letting out a groan and getting to her feet. After putting on her cloak to protect her from the strangely cold air of the island, the Lost Girl exited her tent to get as much heat from the fire as she could before the boys woke up and forced her away from their only source of warmth. While the blue-eyed girl sat on a log in silence as she stared into the flames, the sounds of Lost Boys' tents opening followed by their approaching footsteps met her ears.

The lone Lost Girl didn't move an inch as she felt their presence getting closer and closer to where she sat. She mentally prepared herself for the pushing and shoving of the boys, only for her entire body to tense when she caught a hint of green smoke out of the corner of her eye before she looked up to see Pan staring down at her with his signature smirk plastered onto his face.

"We are going to play a game, boys," he announced while keeping his eyes glued to the girl in front of him as the cheers from the surrounding Lost Boys filled the air.

After studying the leader of the Lost Boys for a long moment, Everly simply rolled her eyes in response before turning her back to the green-eyed boy to continue to absorb the warmth from the fire. Even though the demon boy hadn't said it yet, the former pirate knew that she would be left behind at the camp after never being able to participate in his little games. Not that she wanted to play in the first place.

When the thoughts stopped running through her head, Everly was greeted by the stillness of the Neverland Forest before the feeling of unwanted attention sent chills throughout her body. A long breath passed over her lips as the Lost Girl slowly turned around to see every single boy that was standing in camp staring back at her with their little devious smiles.

"What?" Everly asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance she was feeling towards Pan and his minions.

"Want to join the game, Everly?" Pan responded, the smirk on his face never faltering as he watched the girl in front of him quirk an eyebrow his way.

"I think I'll pass."

After sending one last look the leader of the Lost Boys way, Everly turned her back to him and faced the fire once again while trying to ignore all their eyes glaring daggers into her back. As soon as she thought she actually got out of this one, the lone Lost Girl felt two pairs of hands grab both her arms before Pan and Felix lift her off the log and turn her around to face the Lost Boys once again then placing her back on her feet.

"Too bad. Baelfire's off doing who knows what and Felix would like to play this time. Don't want to leave my Lost Girl alone and unprotected. Plus, you're an important player in this game," Pan laughed, causing Everly to scoff before the former placed an arm around her shoulders as if to keep the blonde from escaping, "the game is called Capture the Everly. Our little Lost Girl will have a minute head start to get as far away from camp as possible. The group who catches her first gets a day off chores."

As their cheers filled the air and smiles formed on all of their faces, Everly rolled her eyes once again before turning her full attention towards the leader of the Lost Boys. "What's in it for me?"

The immediate response she received from the boy next to her was his signature sinister smirk, making a wave of dread crash over Everly. Just by the look plastered onto his face, the lone Lost Girl instantly knew the green-eyed boy had been planning this whole thing out a lot longer than anyone originally thought and she really hated that she was actually taking the bait.

"If you make it to the beach, I may consider letting you go," he told her, the mischief in his eyes never fading as he spoke, "but if you don't, you'll be training all night. No sleep. No way out of it."

The former pirate's jaw clenched as a million different thoughts ran through her head while her eyes scanned his face for any sign of a lie. When she was only met by his grin, she looked back up to meet his eyes before crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to fake the confidence she wasn't feeling. "No lies?"

"Now why would I lie to my Lost Girl?"

"I just have to make it to the beach?" Everly questioned, wanting to make everything clear before she agreed to anything. The only response she received was a nod before the fake courage she was showing began to slowly turn real. "And when I make it, Baelfire comes with me. That's the deal or I'm not playing."

"You have a minute. Better run little Lost Girl."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Everly sprinted out of the clearing and ran straight towards the beach. Having been there every chance she got, the blonde knew exactly which route to take to get her there in the shortest amount of time. Her feet continued to speed through the forest as she leaped over rocks and logs in the middle of her path before the smell of seawater filled the air, causing a small smile to form on her lips. Just as the golden sand came into view, a cloud of green smoke surrounds me before disappearing as quickly as it came and leaving Everly stranded at the very top of Dead Man's Peak.

"I should have said 'no tricks' and not 'no lies,'" she mumbled to herself as she climbed down the rocky cliff as fast as she could before sprinting through the dark forest towards the beach once again.

After running for what felt like an eternity with only the sounds of the sticks under her feet to keep her company, Everly heard the Lost Boys on her tail just as she hit the sand. She sprinted through the sand to get as close to the sea as possible before stopping inches from the water to take in the blue scene before her. Another small smile appeared on her face as she spun around to face a few of the boys from Felix's group, their leader nowhere in sight.

"Sorry, boys," the lone Lost Girl smirked before pointing to the water behind her, "I made it to the beach."

Neither of them responded as they continued to get closer and closer to Everly, causing her grin to fade and her joy to be replaced by fear, knowing that these boys would do anything to get out of doing work. Once they got a few feet closer to her, the blonde girl turned and sprinted along the beach before making her way back into the dark forest. Her ears continued to listen to the loud footsteps of the pursuing Lost Boys as she ran through the trees and in the opposite direction of where she needed to be.

Just as she was about to make a b-line for her destination, the feeling of her foot hitting a tripwire caused the Lost Girl to freeze before a net came out of nowhere and surrounded her then pulled her up into a nearby tree. After sitting in silence for a long moment while hanging upside down in the net, a familiar laugh filled the air, causing an irritated sigh to escape her lips.

"Get me down, Felix!" Everly shouted, only to succeed in making his laughter grow before he came out of a nearby bush with a huge smile plastered onto his face.

"I don't know. I kinda like the way you look up there. Besides, what are you gonna do if I just leave you there?"

"Felix!"

After letting out another loud laugh, the Lost Boy made his way towards the rope that was keeping the net up in the tree before using his dagger to cut the rope, causing Everly to land on the forest floor with a loud thud before a grinning Felix came to stand over her, "you're down."

"Now let me out of the net," Everly hissed while trying, and failing, to escape from the rope trap.

"You said 'down,' not 'out,'" he smirked as he grabbed the rope that was still attached to the net, "I want a day off and you, Ev, could use some more training. Even the youngest boys could beat you in a fight."

The blonde girl shouted his name once again, only for him to respond with a laugh before he began to drag her all the way back to camp, earning a few more scrapes and bruises along the way. When the pair finally make it back to the clearing, the first thing they saw was all the Lost Boys in a half-circle around their glorious leader, who had a huge grin plastered onto his face as he watched Felix dragging Everly towards them.

"Felix's group wins!" he announced, causing a cheer to erupt from three of the boys while the rest let out annoyed groans.

"Can you let me out now?" Everly said, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice before a chucking Peter Pan snapped his fingers, causing the net around her to disappear. Just as Everly got to her feet, a hand made its way around her wrist before Pan forced her to face him, causing her to stumble a bit before she ended up inches away from his face.

"It's time for your training," he told her, only for anger to flood the Lost Girl's head before she tried, and failed, to pull away from his grasp.

"I made it to the beach," she retaliated while glaring at his smirking face, "you said I could leave if I made it."

"If I remember my words correctly, I said 'I may consider letting you go.' Now, have fun training all night."

Before she could finish her sentence, a cloud of green smoke surrounded Everly then she found herself standing in the middle of the training hollow, furious and alone. After standing there and contemplating how the day's events played out, the former pirate let out an annoyed sigh before walking over to the tree that their equipment hung from and grabbing her bow and arrows. Her hand tightly gripped the carved piece of wood before she began shooting at the targets until she ran out of arrows. Just as she took a step towards the target to collect all of her arrows, the sound of footsteps filled the air, causing her to spin around to find Felix making his way into the clearing.

"What do you want?" Everly scoffed with a hint of venom in her voice while the boy came to a stop a few feet away from her.

"Aw. Is someone upset they have to train a bit more?" the tall blonde teased as a small laugh escaped him.

"If you came here to gloat, you can just turn around and go back to your precious leader."

"Thought you'd finally learned how to respect your superiors after all this time."

Anger continued to flow through the Lost Girl's body before all common sense left her as she loaded an arrow onto her bow and aimed it straight at the Lost Boy's chest. However, as soon as she saw the emotionless look on his face and his quirked eyebrow, Everly quickly felt her rage fade before she took the arrow off her bow and dropped her arms to her sides.

"Why didn't you tell Pan to let me go?" she questioned the boy in front of her as he continued to study her with a blank face, "I thought we were 'allies.'"

"I get we're...somewhat friends and I should probably have your back," Felix answered before walking closer to to the blonde girl and stopping inches away from her. The two just stared at each other for a long silent moment before his smirk returned to his face and he whispered, "but have you ever thought that I don't want you to go?"

His words caused Everly's eyes to slightly widen before her mouth opened to respond, only for no words to come out. Before either of them could continue the conversation, Pan appeared out of nowhere and stared at the two of them for a long moment. "Get back to training, Lost Girl, before I make you train all day tomorrow as well."

After letting out an irritated sigh, Everly turned around and began to shoot arrows at the tree once again while watching the pair make their way out of the clearing. When their footsteps faded into silence, the blonde girl let frustration consume her as she let her bow fall from her grasp and to the ground. The arrow in her hand quickly followed before her fingers made their way through her hair as she tried to fight the urge to scream while finally realizing how much she truly wanted to leave that nightmare of an island.

But through all the negatives of the day, Everly did learn one valuable lesson that would help her survive on Neverland.

Never trust Peter Pan.

────── ★★★ ──────

────── ★★★ ──────