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Peter held out his hand expectantly, and then waved it up and down. "I'm told that you do this when you become friends with someone," he explained. "Just grab my hand and follow my lead."

It had been 3 days since Tiger Lily had gotten her necklace taken from Peter Pan, and despite the fact that she had been going out everyday, with the excuse of hunting, to go search for him, she returned to the village each time feeling more annoyed than before.

The days otherwise had been quite cloudy and overcast; thus, the sky was always blanketed with a thick layer of gray. It didn't rain quite as often, with maybe a few showers here and there, but nothing too overly major in comparison to the storm three days previous. Because of this, they had been quiet, peaceful days, a refreshing change for Tiger Lily, contrast to the usual business in the Sky Eaters village.

But finally, Tiger Lily decided that she would take her search a step forward and go into "the Forbidden Territory", as the older adults in the village described; also known as, the land around the home of the Lost Boys.

While she knew that she wasn't allowed to do so and would be severely punished if caught, Tiger Lily was willing to take the risk. The necklace Peter Pan had stolen was a treasure to her, the last thing ever given to Tiger Lily from her father before his death. She was prepared to risk everything that she could in order to get her prized possession back.

Once she had taken her tomahawks and her knives and strung them back on her belt, Tiger Lily took off to the village entrance and sprinted through the trees, as part of her daily routine at this point. Her plan today for the necklace's retrieval was simple; re-look in every place that she had checked for the past few days, which included scaling the area around the village and passing along the rivers, and then, that would be the moment where she would head near the territory of the Lost Boys. There, she would try to catch Peter Pan off on his own, knock him out, and take the necklace back before anyone could catch her.

While it was a long plan that would most likely be carried out tediously in the beginning, Tiger Lily knew that she had to be extra careful and check the places she had checked the days before to see of any evidence. And besides, with her well-trained speed, it was possible that she could get the job done relatively quickly and without too much trouble. After all, she had memorized the Neverwood due to her almost daily hunting trips and occasional explorations since from when she was young, and even more once she had stopped aging.

Scouting along the trees, Tiger Lily passed through every single thicket of trees and along every single river, while still trying her best to be stealthy, doing her best to look out for any signs of expeditioning Lost Boys, or in particular, Peter Pan. As she continued to scale the areas, she didn't see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. She even passed by the place where the whole event occurred, in which Peter Pan sabotaged her and took away her pendant, before shoving her into a bush and managing to escape. The imprints of their feet and where they had been lying had evened out over the course of those three days and there was almost no trace of them anymore.

Finally deciding she had rechecked every area nearby, Tiger Lily tightened one of her hands into a fist and prepared herself for her next part of the plan; getting to the land of the Lost Boys.

As she ran through the woods, the clouds overhead up in the sky began to darken slowly, turning a few shades darker every few minutes. Although Tiger Lily became suspicious as she looked through the corner of her eye, at the same time, she could not sense any rumblings of thunder, anywhere at all. And just like the last few days, no rain was taking place, not even any droplets falling from the sky. Tiger Lily decided to assume that the clouds were simply growing thicker, and for the time being, there was nothing to worry about.

Dashing through the trees, Tiger Lily then realized that she was beginning to enter unknown territory; different positioning of trees, a new type of bush every so often, even things that she had never noticed before, like noticeable birds nests or large holes in the trees. Perhaps she was getting closer...

Tiger Lily began to slow down; it would be easiest not to rush too much into things, especially important ones like this. She stalked along the ground slowly, carefully placing each foot to make sure she would not be heard, while keeping both her eyes and ears alert for any oncoming signs of human life. Then she suddenly stopped at the sound of what sounded like stampeding.

Just as she was attempting to analyze the noise, a male teen burst out of a bush thicket and sprinted straight forward, head down and powerful arms and legs moving. It was only in a split second that Tiger Lily realized that he was heading straight for her. The boy quickly looked up and his eyes widened in surprise before he came crashing into her.

Their bodies colliding together, Tiger Lily was knocked back from the strong force and fell back, landing hard on her spine; unfortunately, the sudden shock from the surprise had rendered her temporarily unwary. The boy was on top of her, his head sitting on her shoulder as he lay dazed on top of her, his red brown hair brushing on her ear and her chin.

The boy slowly pushed himself up a few inches off the ground with his arms by her sides, until the two looked at each other once opening their eyes and silence took place. Tiger Lily looked up to see a familiar face, bluish green eyes staring down, shocked, at her, with her pearl pendant fixed and dangling from his neck. Peter Pan's cheeks looked hot with embarrassment, and even though Tiger Lily herself was blushing slightly, anger over took her emotions instead.

"You!" she snapped as she proceeded to yank at Peter's collar and reach out for the pearl, but his hand quickly grabbed firmly on to her's and stopped her abruptly.

"Not now," he said to her, his voice low and quiet, their noses almost touching as he leaned in close.

Just then, a larger man erupted out from the same bush thicket. He was mighty and tall, with beefy muscles rippled across his arms and legs. His impressive size also came with an impressive stomach, carrying about a pot belly below his chest. He dressed in ragged attire, a large sword worn in a scabbard on his belt, but wore on him a bandanna with a skull imprinted on it. It was a pirate. The pirate panted for a moment, before seeing Peter on top of Tiger Lily, and he hesitated no longer than a tiny fraction of a second.

"PETER PAN!" he roared, reaching out his massive hands, preparing to grab him. But Peter reacted quickly and tightened an arm around Tiger Lily's waist, pulling her with him out of the way of the pirate's attack.

Letting go of her, Peter Pan pulled out the dagger Tiger Lily had seen before and began sparring at the pirate, attempting to hinder him. The pirate quickly pulled his own sword from his belt and began clashing blades with the trouble-making teen. "Run!" Peter shouted to her, distracting the pirate so she could escape.

But Tiger Lily knew right off the bat that she would do no such thing; if the pirate did indeed kill Peter Pan, chances were that he would take the body back to the pirate ship Jolly Roger and toss him off into the ocean. And Tiger Lily needed her necklace back first before anything else. As such, she grabbed at her tomahawks, ready to battle.

Tiger Lily tossed her right tomahawk and it hit the pirate square in the back of his head, causing him to look to her direction. His eyes boiled in fury as he saw her that her tomahawks were raised, prepared to attack.

"You want to die too?! Then I'll beat you as well, Indian scum!"

Growling mightier than any lion, the pirate launched himself to Tiger Lily, sword held high, to which she side stepped and sliced her tomahawk across his back. A few droplets of blood shed, although it was not intended to cut too deep. The pirate turned to face her and snarled, in which he began slicing his sword continuously at her. With every slice, Tiger Lily moved smoothly out of the way of each one, until finally deflecting it quickly with one tomahawk and then tossing her other, swinging it and creating a cut going over the pirate's cheek and across the bridge of his nose.

The pirate, now even more angry than before, held his sword all the way up into the sky and prepared to slam it down into a deep stab into Tiger Lily. But dodging it quickly, Tiger Lily then threw both tomahawks towards the pirate's legs, the cords encircling tightly around his thighs, causing his knees to buckle and for him to fall down. And before he could react, Tiger Lily then leaped up gracefully into the air with her knife at hand, and with a warrior cry, stabbed the blade deep into the pirate's chest.

Yelling out in pain, the pirate seemed to slump over, as Tiger Lily made an elegant landing back to the ground. She looked up to see that Peter Pan, who had been standing by the side the whole time, had been watching her as she fought. He stood in a more relaxed manner, leaning on his right side with his knife still in hand, but his grip was more loose on its handle. While his expression was hard to read, he gave the impression of someone impressed, but also surprised.

Tiger Lily walked right up to him, knife pointed towards him. "Give me the necklace," she ordered. She poked the tip of the blade to his chest, above it rested the pearl necklace she was seeking.

Peter Pan's eyes hardened slightly, but his gaze seemed unchanging. "You're a pretty good fighter," he noted, looking to the pirate on the ground. "Do you do this all the time?"

Tiger Lily ignored his comment and question and looked deeply into his eyes, intensifying her stare as her eyebrows furrowed slightly. She refused to repeat her request twice.

But instead of him responding to her order, Peter's eyes softened as he looked over her face, and a docile smile grew on his lips. "Why so serious?" he asked quietly, his voice gentle, as if suddenly taking admiration to Tiger Lily's determination. Tiger Lily nearly hesitated, somewhat annoyed of Peter's easiness around her, and to transmit her emotions, began to dig the blade in a little deeper.

"Relax," he said, putting a hand on the blade of the knife and pushing it off lightly, his eyes still focused on her. His hand led back up to his neck towards the pendant, until suddenly he looked up and his face suddenly became hard.

"Move!" But just as his hands gripped her shoulders and were about to push her off to the side, Tiger Lily felt a hard, sturdy object strike her across the back of her head. The hit was so powerful, that she felt every muscle in her body go limp. She fell, hitting the ground hard and feeling her eyes begin to flutter, letting go of the handle of her knife as her grip went weak.

As she lay, beginning to go unconscious, she heard a loud thump fall a few feet away from her, and the last thing she saw was Peter rushing to her side, his face tense with worry, his hands grabbing for her shoulders and starting to shake them, and the last thing she heard was his gentle voice gone harsh, yelling at her, desperately trying to keep her awake...



The next hour or so, Tiger Lily was barely conscious. Although she was confused about what was going on around her, at the same time, she was unable to fully awaken herself.

As the minutes passed by, Tiger Lily felt herself slip in and out of consciousness over time. She could feel herself moving, but not that she was moving herself, but something else was. She felt two arms pressed on to her; one arm felt as if it was cradling her back, the other holding up her legs at the backs of her knees. Her body was turned towards another body, in which her head was leaning against its chest, her arms resting on her waist and her legs dangling as she moved.

Who's carrying me? she wondered, her head occasionally slipper front and back. Her ear then found itself in a certain spot where a loud pounding was heard. It followed a steady beat, and was not pounding too slow or too fast. It was a heartbeat.

With the noise throbbing in her ears and feeling as if the sound was echoing all throughout her body, Tiger Lily suddenly felt at immense peace, and finally she was able to completely relax herself. She leaned in more towards the person's chest, resting her cheek on their heart and breathing in the warmth emanating from them. Never had she felt so comforted just by someone's beating heart, and even if she had before, it didn't give off this kind of aura...

What settled her the most was when the person carrying them leaned their own head in, and she felt a pair of lips brush against her forehead, moving away a few hairs in the way. They were light, soft, and gentle, and they stayed put against her skin, inhaling as if breathing her in, and then exhaling warm air onto her face, allowing Tiger Lily to bathe in this sweet tenderness.

And to her chagrin, she fell back asleep, unconscious once again.



When Tiger Lily awoke, she instantly felt cold, missing the aura of the person holding her in their arms. Her eyes blinked open slowly as her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around herself, trying to keep her warm, and as they opened, she looked down at what she was lying on; it was a cold stone floor.

Tiger Lily gently pushed herself up, wiping away at her eyes and scratching behind her ear, before realizing to her surprise that she was surrounded.

Tiger Lily was in a cave, a dark cave lit by candles sitting around the floor. The cave was somewhat small, only resembling that of what felt like the inside of a small hut. The ceiling was not very low, perhaps high enough for her to stand up in, and no outdoor light was present or able to be seen. And as she looked around her, she noticed that she wasn't alone in the cave.

Sitting around her were boys, six boys to be exact, all curled around her, looking intently at her. They appeared to be somewhat young, the oldest looking to be about twelve years old, and their young innocent eyes flashed with curiosity as she looked around them.

"Hey, she woke up!" said one.

"She looks so confused," joked another.

"Do you think she might be hungry?" asked a third.

"Well we haven't heard her stomach rumble yet," snapped a fourth.

"Boys, stop!" An older, more mature voice, spoke through them. "She's just woken up, of course she's confused..."

Tiger Lily looked behind her to see Peter Pan approaching. He appeared to have been sitting there near the back and had been observing the whole charade. "Now why not you introduce yourselves," he suggested. "It will help her feel a little more comfortable."

"Okay," said one. He pulled Tiger Lily over so she would face him. He appeared to be a boy of at least eleven and had scruffy light brown hair and blue eyes. "I'm Nibs," he said.

"I'm Tootles," another said. Tootles was somewhat shorter with black hair and brown eyes. While Nibs and Tootles were looking at her, a gruff hand grasped around the top of Tiger Lily's hair and felt down it, before letting go once reaching the bottom. She turned around to see a boy, a bit taller and larger in general, with dirty blond hair and green eyes. He smirked as she looked to him suspiciously.

"And that's Slightly," Nibs said. "He's the one who just molested your hair."

Slightly grinned.

Another boy spoke up, this time a boy with distinctive curly brown hair. "I'm Curly," he told her. "I'm named after my hair, so it's an easy name to remember," he added helpfully.

And finally two boys with identical appearances popped up, both with dark brown wavy hair and black eyes. They were twins. "And these are the Twins," Curly said. "We don't have names for them, we just call them Twin 1 and Twin 2."

"So what's your name?" Tootles asked, putting his hand by her side and looking her in the eye. "Peter says you never told him."

"Yeah, what is your name, anyway?" Peter spoke up, leaning over now, his legs crossed and his head resting on one of his fists.

Tiger Lily hesitated, but she decided it would be of no use to lie. "Tiger Lily," she said.

Nibs, Tootles, and Curly smiled. "That's a neat name," Nibs noted.

"What's a tiger lily?" one of the Twins asked.

"It's a flower," Peter said. "A very beautiful flower."

Tiger Lily felt her face grow a slight bit hot at his comment.

"Just like Tiger Lily!" Tootles jokingly poked her cheek softly. "Tiger Lily is pretty too..."

"If you bring a girl here, you could at least bring a girl with some more curves," Slightly said aloud, receiving a sharp look from Peter, and a hit on the head by Curly.

"He didn't mean it," Nibs assured her. "You're pretty just the way you are, Tiger Lily."

Tiger Lily blushed, but she made a small smile, making the other boys jump. "She smiled!" the Twins said happily in unison. Even Peter seemed suddenly interested. "Can I see?" he asked, getting up and moving to sit beside the boys and look at her. He seemed to hesitate for a moment as if to look carefully, but then he smiled back.

"Should you be getting back?" Tootles asked nervously. "It is pretty dark outside."

This made Tiger Lily feel anxious; was the rest of the village wondering where she was at this hour? She felt the need to leave.

"We can all walk her back," Curly openly suggested.

"No, you guys stay back here, I'll walk her back," Peter said, standing up. He held out his hand to Tiger Lily. "Come on, let's go."

She reluctantly took hold of his hand and sat up.

"Well, bye, Tiger Lily," Nibs said.

"It was really nice meeting you," Tootles added.

"And you seem really nice," Curly said as well.

"Your braid felt nice," Slightly called out.

The Twins began waving goodbye, and the others started waving goodbye as well. Tiger Lily looked towards them one last time and also waved goodbye, and she couldn't help but smile again at their sweet gesture.

Peter led her out of the cave, leading her back outside into the woods. It definitely was much darker; the clouds had gone nearly black, and you could barely see even a few feet ahead. Peter took her hand again. "It's really dark out, and we'll get separated in this darkness," he explained. "I'll show you out back to your part of the Neverwood."

Tiger Lily was silent, but she held on to his hand as he gently pulled her along.

Peter carefully led Tiger Lily through the woods. He managed to evade the trees ahead and the bushes standing in the way. The sky almost felt as if it was growing darker by the minute. Tiger Lily felt her hand growing warmer from Peter's grasp.

After several minutes, Peter stopped and pulled her lightly from the arm to his side. "Your village should be over there," he told her, pointing out into the distance.

"Will you be alright?" he asked. "Your head probably must still hurt, that pirate hit you pretty hard..."

Tiger Lily thought back on it, feeling a bruise in the back of her head, but it was fine; before she nodded. "I'm alright," she replied.

"Good," Peter said. She swore she could hear a smile in his voice.

"You should come back sometime," he added, his hand still clasping her's. "The boys seem to like you a lot and you get along with them fine." He suddenly gripped a little tighter. "Would you?"

Tiger Lily hesitated. "If I can get away with it..."

Peter laughed a little. His laughter was light-hearted, filled with happiness, making Tiger Lily want to smile again. "Well, please come visit us if you can, they'd really appreciate it..." He placed his other hand on her's. "And I'd appreciate it too."

Tiger Lily blushed, but in the darkness, it was probably hard to see. "Thank you for saving me," she then said, trying not to sound awkward.

"It's fine," Peter told her assuredly. She could see his grin through the darkness. "You looked really peaceful when you were asleep too. I was really worried..." He rubbed his hand on her's. "But I'm really happy you're okay."

"Thanks," Tiger Lily said, although she wished she could have sounded more meaningful.

"Oh, and I forgot something." The boy let go of her hand and untied something from around his neck; the pearl necklace. He handed it back to her. "I'm sorry I took it from you."

Tiger Lily held it in both hands. "Why did you take it in the first place?"

Peter hesitated for a moment. "Well, I happened to see you near the river, and I saw your necklace, and I wanted to see it for myself..." For some reason, the answer didn't seem too true. "I hope you don't hold it against me too much," he added jokingly.

"I'm just glad I have it back," Tiger Lily responded.

Peter Pan seemed quiet for a moment, although it didn't seem like an awkward quiet, but one of those moments where he appeared deep in thought. But he stopped thinking for a second and regained his composure.

"Well, I'll see you sometime this week then?" he asked.

"If I find you."

"I'm most certain you will."

Tiger Lily looked at his hand through the darkness, then taking it, and the two shook hands.

"I'll see you then!" Peter told her, and he began to walk back to the cave.

Still clutching the pendant, Tiger Lily sighed with relief, and started heading back home, not only happy that she would be returning with her prized possession, but also happy of something else; and although she hated to admit it, it was most likely from the new friendships she had just created.