[Word count: 2,800 - without the Authors note at the bottom]

| chapter - four |

\ awol /

Multiple lost boys were whispering among themselves, especially between the two boys whose names were Nibs and Devin. She only knew their names as she overheard Peter talking to both of them during the bonfire on her second 'real' night in Neverland.

"According to the far away village, Geldof of Ti'jker-Grove has heard about Mallory and wants her to visit to have a chat." Nibs explained.

Devin chuckled in disbelief, "Nonsense, it's a trap-"

Mallory cut them off and got between the both of them, "Who is this Geldof you so speak of, and what is Ti'jker-Grove?"

Nibs and Devin looked between each other, knowing they had said too much and knew the consequences for doing so. And so, without another word they ignored her completely and wandered off towards a small group of lost boys that were filled with laughter and dumb jokes.

Mallory scoffed, "Rude." She spoke under her breath.

She began to sit on a log next to the morning fire, the wind blowing chilled her skin. She tried to stretch her wings, only to remember the horrible loss. Feeling the stubbed bones prodded from her back where they were last cut off, shift in her shoulder blades. As that was the only movement she was able to do. It was better than nothing she supposed.

She didn't care what anyone thought, she would solve the mystery of her missing wings whether it was the last thing she did. Her first bet was Peter. It was either him or one of the lost boys, no in-between. She knew it to be a fact.

And as much as it pained her to think so, she even pointed fingers at Bear, Bishop and Fenn. They could also very well be the culprit's too. Which would hurt if it were true.

And speaking of one of the possible culprit's, Bear had made his way over. "You're coming with me today, Pan's orders. No exceptions or questions."

She didn't know how many times she was going to sigh whilst on Neverland, but nonetheless, she followed without any hesitation or obligations.

Not like I have a choice, anyway... She thought, referring to her cut off wings that were turned to boney stubs.

And so as they head out into the forest, in another direction that was faraway from the beach where her and Bishop went yesterday. Which made her eternally happy.

She had important questions, "I overheard Nibs and Devin... whose Geldof and what is Ti'jker-Grove?"

Bear paused for a second, gripping his staff tighter. "... We don't normally talk about her. We aren't allowed to."

"Her?" Mallory raised a brow.

"Yes, her. Now quiet." He continues to trek through the forest as she followed suit.

"I won't tell anyone, not even Peter. You have my word, Bear." Mallory insisted, and she meant it. She wouldn't tell.

Bear sighed, "She's located on the tip of the snowy mountains, in a secluded village popularly known as, Ti'jker-Grove." He points through the clearing of trees in the sky, and Mallory followed his aimed arm.

She saw a large mountain as it held a large star above the tip, and he was right, it was full of snow. But it was delightful to see a different scene other than just trees.

"Pan is very powerful, but Geldof is like a goddess in disguise. She is known to be far more powerful than him. Her magic is unearthly, she could take out a whole entire army in the blink of an eye." Bear explains, Mallory could sense his spine chilling through his voice. "You have not seen true power, until you've met Geldof."

He then added, "Now, why she's up there? That, I will not tell. I know parts of the story, but not all of it."

This made Mallory want to know more, "When I overheard Nibs and Devin, they were talking about how Geldof wants me to visit to talk."

Bear turned to face her which caused her to stop in her tracks, "That's not happening, don't you even think about going."

Mallory curled her fists in front of her chest from tension and scoffed, "And why not?"

"It's a trap." Bear answered quickly. "And traveling through snow is not as easy as it seems. Snow on Neverland is not like the snow that you know back at home. Trust me. You haven't seen snow like on Ti'jker-Grove, and you never will." And then, "The whole mountain breathes when Geldof breathes, her magic is so powerful the snow bends to her will effortlessly. If she wants you off her mountain, even if you're as powerful as Pan, she'll get you off, without a question."

Mallory didn't ask again but this got her to feel even more curious, as she stared up at that tall daunting mountain that Geldof resided atop as they continued to walk through the forest to their destination.

And just by staring at it, it was like she could physically feel the magic of Geldof that pulsed around the mountain's aura. And Bear was correct, it was crucially unbarring. She felt as though if she just brought her hand to the sky she could grasp the particles of magic that she sensed in the air as they got closer, but she knew Bear would only stop her from doing so.

And so, she resigned from doing such a particular act. Her heart said yes, but her mind said no.

***

"Is 'Bear' actually your name? Or does it mean something?" Mallory wondered.

They now stood in a small clearing, a few feet away was a target in which was where Bear's bow and quiver of arrows came into play. And his weapon now made sense. She assumed this was where he often practiced on the daily.

Bear rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh as he examined his bow and laid his staff against a tree, "Why must you ask so many questions? Are all girls like this?"

Mallory grabbed her hips with a scoff, "I'm only being curious-"

"-A little too curious." Bear cut off with a chuckle. "And a little too reckless for answers."

"I just want to know, I've never met anyone with the name 'Bear'." She shrugged.

"And I've never met anyone named 'Mallory', are we even?" Bear raised a brow, as he began to sharpen arrows so they wouldn't be so dull when hitting the targets.

Mallory didn't laugh. This made Bear sigh, "If I answer will you stop with your questions?"

"Maybe..." She hummed.

He shook his head, "No, 'Bear' isn't my actual name. My name is in a language that you wouldn't understand."

Mallory nodded, "Alright, what is your name then?"

Bear scoffed, almost snapping an arrow in half after she just asked another question. "O mo chreach..."

[Translation: Oh my god...]

Mallory tilted her head and felt intrigued, Bear just spoke in a different language but she didn't know what.

The cloak that drapes over his shoulders flows along with the wind, as he takes the hood off his head so he could feel the cool breeze blow around his ears and neck. The one way he could calm down from all of her annoying questions.

"If you must know, fine." Bear breathes through his nose. "Beithir is my name."

"Be-Bei-B-" Mallory attempted but kept pausing and furrowing her brows, trying to figure it out.

"Don't try it, you don't have to it's fine." Bear shook his head. "My name is Gaelic for bear. But it's also Scottish for dragon."

"Ohhh," Mallory nodded, dragging the word on for a little bit. It all made sense now on why they just called him 'bear' instead of having to pronounce his real name only to fail a million times, over and over again.

But this only created more questions to occur, his name was Gaelic but also Scottish. It was clear to Mallory that his home was quite the long distance. "May I ask where you're from? Who're your parents?"

This caused Bear to pause, almost as if her curiosity had caught him off guard. He was annoyed by the many questions that were asked, but he was never prepared for this one. He gripped his bad leg tightly, which she gradually noticed.

She could see in his face that he was remembering his past life back at home, but by his expression, they weren't welcome. If anything, Bear almost seemed frightened and traumatized. Though, it was utterly subtle, but it was there.

Bear had let out a shuttered breath and swallowed the saliva that had filled his mouth with a shake of his head, "I don't want to talk about it... I've told you my name and it's meaning, that should be enough to satisfy your ongoing thoughts."

Mallory came to terms with it and nodded as she watched him hit the target flawlessly with arrows, like a natural talent. She could see how stressed he was though, he shot the targets with a sense of anger, almost as though he were imagining a person instead.

But when he shot an arrow straight through another, splitting the first in complete half, she was in awe of such graceful talent. She's never seen such a thing happen in archery, not that she could remember anyway.

And now it made sense why Bear was the hunter of the group, one of them anyway. Probably one of the best.

As she watched each arrow fly, something suddenly occurred to her. She saw the shine on those arrows and realized they weren't made of wood, but metal. But what kind?

She just figured out how incredibly strong this boy actually was, the fact that he managed to split a metal arrow in half with another... in any other case, that would've been impossible. And that just proved that Bishop wasn't joking when he stated Neverland to be a magical place.

"Your turn," Bear held his bow to her. "let's see what you can do."

Mallory didn't protest, not wanting to get on his nerves since he's a great aim. She grabbed it as he reached for one of his arrows and handed it to her.

But the second it touched her hand she winced and jerked her hand away as the arrow sunk into the grass below. She felt a burning sensation as her fingers were letting off a little bit of steam, as her palm was safe with the bandages.

Bear was confused of the reaction as he scooped the arrow from the ground, "What was that about?" Now it was his turn with the questions.

Mallory shook her head, not knowing what to think. "What is that arrow made of, Bear?"

"Iron."

She saw flashbacks off being hit by an iron arrow and falling out of the sky having a small wave of panic, as she remembers the feeling of burning and then hurdling through the trees and then the ground. She touches her shoulder where it hurt the most under that area of the bandages.

"Mallory?" He got closer as she let his bow go and took a step away from him.

"What were you shooting on the day of my arrival?" Was all she asked. "What was your target that day?"

Bear didn't take another step as he put the arrow back into his quiver, "I was given orders to shoot down the bird in the sky." He answered softly. "So I shot the bird down."

Mallory didn't understand and something told her that he knew she wasn't a bird. She kept backing away from him, slowly. She wasn't afraid; she was angry, disgusted and in disbelief. And then she thought of the boney stubs on her back that used to be her feathery wings.

"It was you..." She painfully whispered, as Bear looked down at her with furrowed brows. "... you cut them off. Didn't you...?"

Bear didn't say a word, as there was nothing to say.

Mallory scoffed as she couldn't believe it, he wasn't even defending himself. Was he that guilty to do something so utterly cruel to a dark fairy? Her wings were her everything. And now her everything was gone.

And it was because of Bear.

She began to feel lost in the mind, she didn't know who to trust on this island. And so she ran. She ran far away as fast as she could.

"Mallory, come back!" Bear yelled from where he stood. "It's not safe!"

But she did not listen, she kept running and didn't stop.

After awhile of her running, she looked back to see if Bear was following her. Lucky for her, he wasn't. But right as she was going to look forward again she collided with another body. Both groaned as they fell back.

Mallory shook her head from spinning as she sat up, rubbed her head and looked at who she ran into.

It was a boy.

Of course, another boy. She thought. It's always boys.

The boy sighed as he was gathering up berries into a basket, "Fathers going to be so mad at me..." He whispered to himself as she was confused.

Father...? There's parents on Neverland?

He looked to her, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that, I'm just in a bit of a rush is all."

Mallory shook her head, almost wanting to tell him that it was most likely her fault, not his. But she couldn't find words. She pushed herself onto her feet, having no urge to help him.

Once the berries were back in the basket, he stood up. "I guess to make it up to you, I'll start off with my name first." He smiled, holding the basket of berries close. "I'm Laird."

"Mallory..." She spoke in a soft tone, unsure whether or not to trust him. Considering the others she already met.

Laird's honey coated eyes grew wide in shock, "Mallory?"

She looked in multiple directions, not knowing how to feel or what to think, "You know me?"

"Of course! Everyone at my village knows you!" Laird grew a big smile. "You're the daughter of Maleficent, the infamous dark fae, enemy to Aurora. My parents used to always tell me the fairytales when I was a young boy."

That name, Maleficent, was familiar to her. Almost too familiar. She knew Peter was wrong, she wasn't Hook's kid. This boy and that evil Siren just proved that to be a fact.

But then this had her question why Peter was wondering who she was. If Laird knew her, wouldn't the one who runs all of Neverland, know her as well?

So many questions; yet not enough answers.

"Mallory." Laird cleared her of her thoughts. "You must come to my village at once."

She fiddled with her hands, "And why should I do that?" She was still iffy on boys when it came to this island, she was still angry at the last one she just ran away from.

And through her unforgiving anger she could feel her blue irises glow a brilliant neon green, as the feeling of magic surged through her veins. But she kept her cool the best she could. She didn't know how this was happening but she tried to not think about it.

Laird tried to ignore her glowing eyes, "There isn't much time to explain, my father wants me home as fast as I came out to gather these berries or he'll be upset. But come, follow me." He motioned.

He then followed up with, "Geldof has been wanting to speak with you since your arrival."

-*-

-----

Here's chapter four! :)

What was your favorite part of this chapter?

I'm so sorry for not updating since, like, June. A lot of bad things happened in the past few months that put everything on pause, and it really affected my mental health in the worst way possible. I had some very dark thoughts back in July and August, and then other stuff happened after that. It's a very long story.

I also lost a close friend of mine in July, to su*cide. And then another close friend in October to an illness, not covid, but she was always very sick, sadly. It's a very long and painful story for both, and they both destroyed me entirely. Especially the July one... I don't wanna talk about it, just take my word for it. These are hard losses to get over, but I'm trying my best.

Sure, I've been updating certain books. But the reason why it took so long for this one specifically is because, the JULY friend also loved Peter Pan. And she loved the concept of this fic a lot. And so, it almost felt wrong to continue the book without her being here anymore, whose gonna read the major plot twists that happen later on? Whose gonna leave snarky little comments that make me laugh and smile?

Either way, I'm SLOWLY moving on. It's still kinda hurts, heck writing this was a little bit of a chore. I still enjoyed it and am excited, it's just a chore because... yeahhhhh. But THIS chapter has been halfway finished for months now. I thought it was time to finish it. I thought, if I finished this chapter and publish it, I can fully move on from her death and continue the story again. So, here we are. Let's hope it works.

Anyway, sorry for ranting your heads off. I hope y'all enjoy this. It'll get better. I'll get better. We will get better.

I love and miss you a lot, Willow. Don't you forget that. I hope you're having fun in your Neverland now, save a spot for me one day. <3

I DO have some good news, literally the only good thing to come out of 2020 for me so far. I finally got my hands on a pair of noise cancelling headphones. I have some major sensory overload issues, no thanks to my Autism. And the sounds of the world drive me insane to the point where I wanna actually scream, sob and hurt myself physically. It's really bad. I sometimes envy the deaf even though I shouldn't. But NOW I can suffer just a little less thanks to these headphones, and I'm excited about it.

See y'all in the next chapter. :>

xoxo <3