the rapids

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

Fauna busied herself rooting through the crate of spare daggers and broken guns, slipping a few blades into her belt as the others gasped at Lake’s words. She felt her ears going red as a few of them just sat or stood frozen. At her last words, the other kids sparked to life, armoring themselves as best they could, grabbing waterskins, pulling on boots with steel toes that had been stolen from the port. Faun glanced to Lake and gave her a quick nod, before slipping into Peter’s private chamber of the house. There was one more thing she wanted to get for this trip; Peter had been given a brass ring with a bear paw carved into it by Tiger Lily’s father years back. It would be perfect for branding the dirty pirates that had survived the attack on Peter and Faun. Yosef. Suki. Starkey.

Lake was glad the kids were responding well to her orders, then rushed to her box of things and pulled out the one pretty dress she owned, last worn to Hook’s cabin, and redressed. She looped a string three times around her thigh and tied it tight, slipping a sheathed dagger inside. The best she could do. While the other kids armed themselves, she went into Peter’s room, where Fauna had gone. “I know you’re angry and upset, and I know you want revenge.” She stated, “But don’t do something stupid and get yourself overwhelmed and caught because you want to hurt someone. That won’t help Peter.” Lake knew Fauna enough to expect protests, so she didn’t give her the chance. Instead, she went back to the rest of the kids and stood in front of the exit to address them. “Do all you can to find him, but be careful yourselves. We don’t want any more captives or casualties. We’ll ,eet back here this evening.”

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

“Ah yes, those filthy pirates probably–” Faun’s eyes stung and she blinked away tears as she thought of what they were doing to Peter. “I’m gonna brand each and every one of them,” she muttered darkly, dropping Lake’s hand and tumbling into the home, skidding to a halt in front of the table, where she and Peter had left some animal skins she’d dried at her camp. She tramped over to where a few empty water bags hung, and began gathering a few things, ignoring the few lost boys that were sitting around in the home; they all watched Faun, looking around to each other for some sort of explanation. 

“Don’t go there.” Lake reminded her, thinking of horrible things that could be happening would only make doing what they needed to do harder. She wished she could say more to make her feel better, but it was a difficult time and there weren’t any words. She gave Fauna a second to get clear then followed her down, finding a home full of confused looking children watching the other girl, then their attention came to her. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath. “Peter’s been taken.” She said. “By the pirates. We need full waterskins, spare weapons on everyone to hand off to Peter. I want Stealthy and Noddy sneaking around the port, see if you can spot anything. Everyone else can watch from afar, we cannot be seen.” Lake let out a breath. “I’m going in on foot to see what they’re saying.” There was a pause, the kids waiting for anything else she had to say, but she felt too overwhelmed by it all. “Get ready. Now.” 

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

Fauna nodded in approval; there was Stealthy and Noddy that were most quiet, but she wasn’t sure if the latter would be up for much of a mission, as he was silent, but skittish. “Yeah, we’ll have to get a bag together for Peter too; he doesn’t have his weapons,” she told Lake, trying to remember what he might have on his person. How foolish they’d been, only going out with the tools to gather fruits and veg, pompously believing they wouldn’t need much to defend themselves if someone were to come along. In fact, she hadn’t even taken into account that someone might have tried and attack them. The home underground in sight now, Faun felt her pace quicken a bit, wanting to get right down to business at the first chance.

“That’s a good point.” She agreed quickly, it hadn’t even occured to her that weapons would be important. It worried her that she might not be up to this task, but she would undertake it anyway “Each group should have extras, just in case. No one should be caught short if they’re the ones to find Peter.” Lake sped up with Fauna, her longer legs making it easier. “We’ll find him. They’re no match.” She reassured once again. “Everyone needs to have full water skins as well, he might need it.” 

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​: 

Fauna’s mind wandered; she hoped that Peter wasn’t too hurt, and that he was giving the pirates as much hell as she was feeling right then. It had been such a brutal and surprise attack; bad form, as the codfish would’ve called it. And yet he’d let it happen. They’d been instructed not to kill–what was Hook up to? She was brought back to earth when Lake squeezed her hand; Faun looked down at their clutched fingers, and squeezed back, before looking up at Lake. She was so brave and kind. Normally, Fauna felt like she could handle anything on her own, that being little had its own advantages. However she appreciated having someone older beside her just now; not that she’d ever admit that. “I think they’ve taken him prisoner. They said something about the captain wanting us alive before they took him.” She said quietly, wanting to work out a plan.

Her thoughts of how to approach pirates were broken by Fauna’s voice and Lake looked down at her. The new information had her mind racing, but she nodded. “Good. That’s good.” She nodded quickly. “That means we have time. We can get him back. Peter’s clever, he’ll be alright until we get there.” She was reassuring them both. She hadn’t woken up today expecting to be in charge of a rescue mission. “The quietest kids should sneak around the port, see if they can spot any big movement.” She told Faun. “I’ll go into the port and ask around, they love to talk.” Lake said, doing her best not to sound terrified by the prospect. 

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

Fauna nodded morosely, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “I can manage,” she said quietly, but then looked up at Lake with tears welling behind her eyes. She slipped her little bruised hand into Lake’s, walking beside her. She needed something to tether her to earth; they would find Peter. They would save him. And they needed to do it together. 

She wished she could make things easier for the young girl, wipe away her tears and give her a hug until things didn’t feel quite so difficult and scary. But Fauna was a proud child, she wasn’t sure that would be appreciated right now. She squeezed her hand once as they walked, and thought of the best way for surveillance. Maybe she’d have to don Victoria again, and see if any pirates would be happy to share news about Peter. 

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

Fauna cradled her head between her hands, shaking her head from side to side. Her ears were still ringing from the battle that had taken place, and she felt an overwhelming inability to do anything right. How could she possibly think of a single happy thought when Peter had been stolen from them? “I don’t…I don’t know, Lake,” she muttered, head pounding. She tried to will herself into the air, but she stayed put like a stump in a bog. “I’ll walk,” she said, defeated.

Lake nodded, understanding completely that feeling when it all felt so hopeless that flight was impossible. “Okay.” She started off towards the home underground, figuring she could think of a proper plan on the way. If she had a proper plan when she told the other kids what had happened, it might force them into action mode instead of panic and tears. There wasn’t time for panic and tears. “Are you okay to walk all this way? I can give you a piggy back if you need.”

[thelostlake]

littlelostfaun​:

A short-lived flush of relief came over Fauna at the sight of Lake, but she could feel her limbs trembling as she reached for the water. She’d let Peter down; he was gone, maybe even dead, and that was her fault. If only she’d fought harder, thought smarter, stabbed stronger; this might just be a fun story to tell the lost kids. But he was gone and she felt the weight of both her actions and inaction. 

“Lake, they took him,” she said shakily after a sip of water. It made her want to retch, the way the cool liquid went down so easily. It was delicious and just what she needed, but the stress pulsing through her little body fought its way out. She turned and dry heaved, the water rushing back up. Faun looked frantically back up to Lake. “What are we going to do?”

Lake nodded somberly at Fauna’s comment. “I know,” She whispered in response, scared of what that meant. All the horrible thoughts of Peter’s whereabouts and what the pirates might be doing to him right that very second, if he wasn’t dead already, were screaming at her. It was all she could do not to cry. 

She looked down at the younger girl and tried to pull herself together, for her sake. Lake was one of the older lost kids, and she ought to be able to stay composed. “Can you fly? Let’s go back and tell the others. Then I think we should do a sneaky surveillance of the port and see if we can hear anything or see anything about where he might be.”  

[littlelostfaun]

north winds || open

tw: violence, blood, death

Fauna sat up shakily, head pounding, and blinked slowly. Rubbing the dried tears from her eyes, she winced, realizing she’d sustained a rather bad bruise under her right one. What had happened? She yawned, but quickly shut her mouth and brought her fingers trembling to her lip. There was a cut there as well, and she traced the crack of dried blood with a frown upon her aching head. Her eyes widened suddenly as the memory flooded back and she scanned the clearing for Peter. A basket of overturned and smashed fruit lay scattered there, accompanied by a native sewn blanket, a few logs toppled over that had been gathered for a fire, and two dead bodies about three feet from her. She scrambled back, disturbing the crow that had been standing menacingly on the pirate’s chest. She looked to the trees, over her shoulder, hopping to her feet as her heart pounded. They had been preparing a campout under the stars for the lost boys when the pirates had attacked. “Peter!” she called out, new tears forming behind her eyes. She recalled the five men that had surrounded them, blades and pistols drawn. 

Keep reading

[thelostlake]

At the calls, Lake stopped her search and rushed back to where she’d seen Fauna. Upon finding the bodies she’d felt lost and useless. She didn’t know if she could carry Fauna all the way back to the home underground, so she’d started by looking around. She’d inspected the bodies of the pirates, and tried to ignore the horrors that they showed. The pools of blood were dark and sticky, so she assumed it had been a while since it had happened. She’d done her best to inspect Fauna and see if she was hurt badly, but she didn’t see any deep wounds. Just as terrifying as the sight of the bodies and blood and her lost friend knocked out on the floor, was finding Peter’s dagger in one of the bodies. Peter wouldn’t have left this, and she doubted he’d have left Fauna hurt like this unless under exceptional circumstances. 

“You’re up,” Lake said, landing on her feet and walking the last few feet towards the younger girl. “Be gentle, give yourself a second.” She knelt down and held out her water skin for Fauna to drink. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

Peter also raised an invisible glass in toast, and imagined he was sipping a sparkling champagne. He crinkled his nose at the imaginary taste and pretended to throw his cup away; he could almost hear it shatter against the cave wall. “I prefer red wine,” he commented, sticking his nose into the air pompously. Pan smacked at the chest once more, as if he’d be taking it off its guard by trying again. “Damn,” he muttered, and then leaned back against the ledge. 

Lake laughed, nodding her agreement. “Me too,” She agreed, releasing her hand and forgetting the idea of drinks entirely. She sighed loudly when the attempt on the chest didn’t work, mimicking his movement and leaned back beside him. “What do you think’s in there? Coins? Fabrics? A book of secrets?” She listed off ideas, hoping for something incredible and not just plain disappointment. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

Peter frowned thoughtfully at her explanation, nodding as she spoke. “You know,” he started, still nodding, and then looked at the skull. “I think you’re absolutely right,” Pan agreed, suddenly taking it for fact. “I do remember a be-brooched pirate named Frank. Surely the greedy fellow drowned,” he sighed somberly, holding up the skull in his palm now, and put on a very solemn voice. “To Frank,” he stated, pressing his free hand against his heart. “May you have moved on and found peace. And may we find all of your jewels, you greedy, toad-faced pirate,” he added the last bit with a callous laugh, and chucked the skull across the water, where it slowly sank, bubbles coming up as it went down. Peter had also pulled a beaded necklace that looked quite like a native piece of finery, a broken link of a chain, and a piece of coral rock. “Nice,” he nodded to Lake’s finds, dropping the chain and rock back into the water, and the beads next to the chest. 

Lake grinned at his acceptable, always feeling special when he gave it. She snickering with him at the insults, gasping when he threw away Frank’s skull. It bubbled down, looking sad as he drowned for a second time. She felt a moment of sympathy, before giving Peter a nod. “To Frank! Your jewels will glisten in our hideout for all time.” She didn’t have a drink, but she held up her hand as if she did and was giving a toast to the dead man. “Thanks.” She smiled to herself, slipping the bracelet over her wrist.

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

“That’s a good idea!” He agreed, thinking that might be the easiest way to get it open. Pan dove back down into the water, and drove his arms through the sand, grasping for anything that felt less than natural, before kicking back up to the surface. He waded over to the ledge and set everything down onto the rock with a loud splunk, and hoisted himself back up beside the pile. “Spooky,” he chuckled, picking up a water corrupted skull that was missing its bottom jaw. He stuck his fingers through the eye sockets, his fist in the skull, and pointed it towards Lake. “Who do you reckon this was?” Peter laughed. 

Lake surfaced and swam as best she could with her small haul, setting the items on the edge before sitting up besides Peter. “Gross,” She said with a sputtered laugh, shaking her head at it. She’d heard stories of people getting tied up against the rocks to drown when the tide came in, the cuffs were still there, but she didn’t like to think about that all that much. “Maybe his name was Frank and he liked to wear brooches, but one day he wore so many jewels he fell off the edge and the weight of his jewelled jacket drowned him.” Lake told the story, as she eyed the coin and bracelet she’d pulled out.

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

Peter nodded, and then pulled himself up beside her on the ledge, chuckling. “Always!” he beamed, though he was still catching his breath. Pan turned the chest to face him and held up the padlock with a sigh. “Me too,” he commented, pulling his dagger and smacking the lock aggressively with the pommel a few times. He frowned, irritated that it hadn’t worked, and then shoved the tip of the blade into the lock, fiddling around with it for another moment before irritation took over and he slammed the lock back against the chest. “Needs a key,” he grumbled, sheathing his blade. “Maybe we have something back at the camp,” Peter added, more to ease his own anger than to give hope to Lake. “Let’s see what else is down there,” he stated, giving a forced grin, and jumping back into the water.

Lake watched on hopefully as he worked at the lock with various tactics. It was Peter, she trusted that he was able to do pretty much anything and there was always a slight dwindle in mood when the attempts didn’t pan out. “If not, we could fly it up real high and drop it, it might break it.” But hopefully not break it’s contents. She nodded at the suggestion and jumped in after Peter, floating at the surface to take a bunch of deep breaths before diving down. She swam as fast as she could to the bottom to allow herself more searching time. Palming around in the sand, Lake’s fingers curled around some sort of bobbled chain and gripped it tight, grabbing something circular with her other before swimming back up for air. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

Together, whatever was in the water seemed to budge, and Peter kicked his feet in a bicycle motion as he strained to pull harder, the air in his lungs burning white hot. With Lake’s help, a large, rectangular shape was pulled from the miry clay, and Peter kicked off the ocean floor with a ferocious intent to get to the air again. He burst through the skin of the water and gasped loudly, hiccoughing water as he moved slowly towards the ledge again.

Lake swam up with Peter and watched him worriedly as he coughed and gasped. She’d gone down later, and while she needed the air she hadn’t pushed herself so far as he had. “Are you alright?” Lake asked, reaching out to gently touch his shoulder and check in. She put her hands on the ledge and hoisted herself up, helped by fairy dust, and pushed her hair back out of her face to stop water dripping down over her eyes. “I wonder what’s in that box.” She thought aloud, swinging her feet as she caught her own breath. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​: 

Peter shrugged, and watched her drop the broken jewelry beside him. “Oh well, there’s lots to be unearthed down there! Tally-ho!” He shouted, and slumped forward, plopping into the water and diving down deep again, eyes flicking along the floor of the water, where sand had been kicked up floating around from where they’d just pulled treasures. He felt around on the ground, air bursting in his lungs to be let out. There, he found the handle again and began pulling with all of his might, unwilling to resurface until he got this ruddy thing out of the muck.

Lake laughed at his eagerness, letting go of any upset she had about her rubbish first haul. She took a deep breath before diving down after him, finding it far harder to see with the sand floating around them. Swimming down, she accidentally palmed Peter’s shoulder and adjusted course, swimming down further to find whatever he was pulling at. She grabbed where he was holding and tried to help pull with all her might. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

Peter hoisted himself onto the rock ledge, puffing out air as water dripped from the hair hanging over his forehead. He ran a quick hand through his locks and huffed, looking at the piece he’d pulled from the muck. It was a golden locket in the shape of a heart, holding a purple gem in the center. He swiped the dirt away with his thumb and held it up to the lantern light. “Some sort of necklace,” he replied after a moment. “There was something heavy down there I couldn’t pull from the mud, but I want to go back for it,” he told her, and then looked over at Lake. “What’d you find?”

Lake stayed in the water, looking up at his find. “That’s pretty, amethyst do you think?” She questioned the purple gem, not minding if it wasn’t anything fancy really, just that the colour was vivid. She turned her focus back to her own hands, the sand dropping away to reveal a drop earring missing it’s pendant. “Disappointment.” She told him, reaching up and dropping the earring on the ledge beside him. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​:

The pressure in his ears the further they dove made Peter clench his jaw together, but gave a watery smile to Lake when she did, bubbles flooding past his teeth. He pushed on, and scanned the ocean floor. It was hard to see; aside from his blurred vision underwater, it was darker down here. He scooped a handful of sand, fingers closing onto something metallic, and then his other hand grabbed onto a handle of something that he couldn’t budge out of the sand. Peter kicked back up to the surface, puffing out air as soon as he hit the air. 

Lake held her breath as long as she could, palming through the water, hoping for something incredible to find it’s way into her hands. It felt like she was getting nowhere and her chest was starting to hurt with the need to breathe. She grabbed what she could and swam up after Peter, gasping for breath as she surfaced. She piled everything in one hand and brushed back her wet hair, wiping away the water from her eyes. “How’d you do?” She breathed, eyeing up her pile of sand that was melting between her fingers. 

[thelostlake]

leaderoflostboys​: 

Peter shrugged, giving a smug smirk as though it didn’t effect him the same way; as though he hadn’t been crying in fear in his sleep just that morning. “Nightlights make everything better,” he commented, and then stood at the edge of the rock, peering down at the sparkling gems below. “Alright, here goes!” he wriggled his brows at her, and then jumped into the air, hovering slightly as he arched and dove at an angle into the chilly water, making his way down to the treasures below.

Lake nodded her agreement, though she never felt the need for one in the clubhouse. It always felt safe and cozy there. She watched Peter dive, letting out a holler at the grace of it. She ran off the edge and dove, splashing into the water and swam down deeper after him. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the saltwater, but once they did she looked at Peter with a held-breath smile, moving her arms and flapping her feet to take her down to the bottom to search for worthy treasure.