Disclaimer: I don't own any Peter Pan characters.

Note: Same old.

Chapter Three

The following day Tinker Bell woke late as usual. Peter would already be up and out, hopefully getting them something for breakfast instead of playing around.

Tink slipped from her bed, gathered her toiletry bag, and went down to the river for her morning wash. When she came back she sat at her vanity dressed in her robe and set about doing her hair. She wished she could wear her hair down more often but it just wasn't practical for the days she endured. She liked to keep her hair a little below shoulder length. Examining the fine blonde layers in the mirror she decided it would soon be time for a trim. No fairy in the village could cut hair very well. That was something she went to London for.

With her hair and makeup done, she went behind the silk screen to pick out an outfit for the day. Would it be the cute white tank top and pleated skirt? Or maybe the silk tunic with the gold rope belt? Oh, how she loved to kid herself. Of course she reached for one of those green dresses at the end. Cheap, plain things they were. But some weeks she went through them like a pirate through gunpowder.

That day Peter went exploring into the labyrinth of caves that ran beneath the island. He encountered mudmen and nymphs and talking dolphins, and deeper in the caves there was a nest of baby green dragons. As babies they were still quite friendly and Peter thought nothing of playing with them for the whole afternoon. Tinker Bell wasn't so amused. One of them snorted and nearly scorched her wings.

At the end of the day Tink was exhausted. It wasn't six o'clock yet and she was ready for her bath and bed. She reached for her toiletry bag when she suddenly remembered Brixer's order to attend the assembly. Well, Brixer had said it like an order. Tink didn't have to be there. What were they going to do, banish her? She'd just start getting her clothes from London like she got her furniture.

Oh, but she had to be there, if only to see what that Graver was up to. If it was something wicked she would tell Peter at once. As the matter stood now she was inclined to believe that Graver was some kind of scam artist. Annoying and unethical, but nothing to be worried about.

She changed outfits. This time she did take that white tunic with the gold belt. If she was going, she might as well look good when she got there. She cleaned up, fixed her hair into the tight little bun on her head, then set off for the village.

The assembly area for the fairies was the ground-level trunk of one of the trees that held their village. The base of the tree was the widest and was therefore the best place to accommodate every pixie.

Tinker Bell must have been the last to show up. As she neared the tree she could see cracks in the trunk bursting with the light of the pixies. She flew to one of the open knots and peered in. Pixies sat all around in small notches carved in the wood. Down in the center, Graver stood with Bixer and Rubyglade in chairs behind him.

"I didn't want to be the one to upset your lives," Graver was saying. The smooth baritone of his voice echoed through the tree trunk. He gestured with his hands, broad sweeping motions to engage his audience. "Believe me, if I thought it was in your best interests to leave you alone and let you continue your days in happiness, I would. But one day soon you would wake up and see war ships on the horizon. Hunters and soldiers would be landing on your shores and you wouldn't know who they were or why they were there."

Polcat fluttered from her notch. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. "You said Neitherland is the one at war with Neverland. You're from the Neitherland, aren't you? Why should we be trusting you about all this?"

The other pixies shouted their concurrence. Graver waited for the noise to settle before replying.

"I'm a refugee with no interest in this war. I'm on my way to London where my family is. It was only by chance that I happened to fly over this island and see the lights of your village. I was hoping someone would have already told you, but your council seemed thoroughly surprised." He glanced outside one of the knot holes in the trunk then leaped and hovered in the air. "The sun is down. I can show you the proof you asked for."

Graver took off from the assembly area. Row by row, the other pixies peeled off and followed after him.

Tinker Bell watched them go, sitting with her knees tucked and arms hugged against herself. She should go get Peter, shouldn't she? If this was really proof of an encroaching war. The fairies would object to Peter's presence but she didn't care.

She frowned and shook her head. Silly. Of course there wasn't a war. With a sigh she swooped down from her seat and trailed after the fluttering crowd of lights.

The procession was a sight. A great handful of dancing little globes weaving among the trees in a long trail. Tink was at the very end. Polcat had noticed her there and paused to fly beside her.

"Hey, Tinker Bell," said Polcat, smiling.

Like Tinker Bell, Polcat was the subject of much gossip around the village. As far as the other fairies were concerned, any male who had set foot in the Honey Cup tavern had as good as bedded its owner. Polcat wasn't old but neither was she young. She was broad for a female fairy with wide shoulders and curvy hips. Her hair was curly and yellow, and she always wore it tied back with a ribbon almost as big as her head. Of all the fairies in the village, Tinker Bell found Polcat's company to be the most tolerable.

Tinker Bell glanced at Polcat and then looked back ahead. She didn't return Polcat's smile. "Evening."

Polcat chuckled. "Dammit, Tink. I guess you still got that bean stalk wedged up your ass." As Polcat flew she rolled over onto her back and folded her hands under her head. "Kiddin. You know I never judge you. Just came to see how you're doin. You don't drop by like you used to."

"I'm fine," Tink replied. Her eyes stayed ahead. She hated it when people asked how she was doing. She knew they did it to get her to open up about her daily life, about Peter, about herself. They only wanted material for gossip and she wasn't interested in being the butt of any more cruel talk.

Polcat watched her until Tinker Bell finally became uneasy.

"What," Tinker Bell snapped.

"Pale was askin about you again. Last night. Couldn't keep his eyes off you," Polcat replied. She was nothing but shit-eating smiles tonight.

"I didn't notice."

"Showed up in nothin but your jammies. That was cute."

"I wasn't the only one in bed clothes. I was sound asleep when Idlana woke me up."

"Sooo..."

"So nothing, Polcat. Leave me alone." Tink shoved the stocky fairy away from her.

"Alright, alright. Just teasin you." Polcat righted and flew back at Tinker Bell's side. She was quiet for a minute and then pointed ahead. "What do you think about this Graver guy."

"I think he's full of shit."

"You think? I don't know. I've never seen anything like him though. You think there really is a place called Neitherland?"

"If there was then Peter would've told me. Peter's been everywhere around Neverland and beyond."

"Ah, right. The great Peter Pan."

"Don't start, Cat."

"Well if there's no Neitherland, where do you think he came from?"

Tink threw her hand up. "Probably just some other island somewhere, I don't know. On this island alone there's no shortage of creatures. I swear every day Peter manages to dig up some new monster somewhere. He pisses it off, fights it, gives me a heart attack, then strolls back to his hide out like it was all nothing. One day it's sea serpents, the next day it's golems. Today it was dragons and nymphs. Tomorrow, who knows?"

Polcat grinned. "I know you must really love that boy if you're willing to put up with that kind of stuff all day."

"I do," Tinker Bell replied and left the matter at that.

Graver lead the fairies through the jungle, then up and up along the craggy cliffs of Neverland's highest mountain. Half way up the mountain the air grew thin and cold. Even higher up the wind gained strength and fog seeped in all around. A little higher and snow began to fall. At that point pixies held hands to stay together and they became one long train to keep from getting lost.

At last Graver stopped on a snowy ledge. The ledge was several yards wide, plenty big to let all of the pixies stand comfortably. He motioned all of them up.

"Here," he shouted over the wind. "Be careful. Everyone hold hands to keep from getting blown away."

Tinker Bell's teeth chattered loudly in her skull. She gripped her arms tight around herself and huddled in against Polcat. Idlana had seen Tinker Bell and slipped her way over.

Tinker Bell moved away to make room for Idlana between herself and Polcat. The three of them stood huddled close, well away from the cliff's edge.

"Look out there," Graver shouted to the fairies. He pointed toward the horizon.

At first Tinker Bell didn't know what she was looking for. The sky and ocean were completely dark except for a glittering V of moonlight. She squinted. After a minute she thought she was beginning to see something. There was a shadow, a silhouette gliding across the water. It was a very dark object. If it hadn't been for the moon at its back it would have been completely invisible.

In another minute when the object was right in the middle of the moon's reflection, its full shape became clear. It was a pirate ship, but nothing like the one belonging to Captain Hook. This ship was twice as large and black all the way around. If Tink focused closely enough she could make out the red color of its sails.

"A ship," someone shouted. Everyone had seen it now.

"Who is that?"

"Are they coming here?"

Tension began to rise. Tinker Bell looked around for Graver.

For creatures as tiny as pixies, time registers differently. In that one second when Tinker Bell had turned her head to search for Graver, behind her she heard what sounded like a whip just before it pops. Tink looked behind her and saw a diamond pattern of rope being yanked up from under the snow. It was coming in all around the fairies and drawing them close. Tinker Bell leaped up to dart away, but the frost had gotten to her wings and arrested them. The rope came closer and when it was up from the snow Tink could see clearly that it was, in fact, a net.

To a human, the entire thing had taken a tenth of a second. By the end of that tenth of a second, Tinker Bell had already pieced everything together: they had all been tricked.

All of the fairies were bunched together in the net and screaming for their lives. Some pulled this way, others pulled that way. They clawed and bit at the ropes, twisted and pulled and writhed to get free.

To avoid getting crushed, Tinker Bell climbed up the side of net to the top of it. The hole at the top was puckered where the rope gathered, but looked just big enough for a pixie to squeeze through.

Tinker Bell had just reached this exit when a beefy hand came and clutched it shut.

"Balls, Graver," shouted the voice to which the hand belonged. "I think this is the best batch we've ever gotten. Look at 'em all!"

An enormous man with a belly like a cauldron swung the net from side to side. His face was all brow and jaw. He had no hair anywhere and his skin was dark grey.

Another man came up and prodded the net with the butt of a mace. This man was as large as the first, but frighteningly thin. His bones were almost visible and the skin across his ribcage looked as though it were draped like a shawl.

"Lemme see there," he whispered, his gaze dancing. "Look at all those females. We're gonna be rich! This might be the last batch we ever have to gather."

The fat man slung the net over his shoulder. To a human, the collective screams of the pixies sounded like a bag of tiny bells being shaken by an energetic two year old.

Tinker Bell was thrown to side of the net. As the net rolled across the man's canon ball shoulder, she was crushed under the squirming mass of bodies. Her wings were pulled, her arms and legs were contorted painfully. Someone's foot was smashed into her face.

"Peter," she screamed.

There was no way these brutes would be able to make the trek across the island without Peter Pan knowing. Peter knew everything about this island and everything that happened on it. He was probably on his way right now. Tinker Bell estimated that she had been gone from the hide out for well over an hour. Peter would have noticed and gone looking for her. It was only a matter of time before he came across these men.

Tinker Bell reached for the netting and pulled herself close against it. She looped her arms around the rope and locked her hands to keep herself from being pulled away. Looking out, she searched for Graver. Where the hell was he. She'd known he'd been up to something and when she got the chance she was going to kill him.

The two men ambled down the mountain. The skinny one went first and the fat one followed. When they reached the trail that would take them through the jungle, the skinny one grabbed the net full of fairies and used it as a lantern. Tinker Bell watched the fat one draw his sword.

"Careful," the skinny man hissed.

The snatchers worked their way through the jungle and down to a narrow strip of beach. There was a wooden boat tied there. They climbed into the boat and pushed off.

Tinker Bell felt panic rise in her chest.

"Peter," she screamed again. Her eyes darted everywhere in search of the boy. Where was he? They were away from the island now.

She clamped her teeth on the rope in front of her and see-sawed her jaw to try and cut it. She barely managed to break a couple fibers. When she looked back at the island it was quite a distance away. "Peter, help," she cried.

A hand reached up from the tangle of bodies and grabbed her arm. "Tink!"

It was Pale. Tinker Bell gnashed her teeth at him and tore away from his grasp. "Don't touch me!" She didn't want to deal with him right now. She didn't want to deal with any of them. She needed to be away from them and back with Peter. What was she going to do if these men took her away? What would become of Peter? She could imagine Peter being content to live like an animal. He would never clean the hideout or himself and would probably eat nothing but candy from the brownie men. Worse yet, he would have no problem consorting with those Indian girls and the mermaids all day.

Tinker Bell wouldn't allow for that. She ripped and pulled at the rope with the ferocity of a wild cat. Pale was saying something to her but she wasn't listening. She didn't want to hear him. She hated Pale and wanted him to go away.

The island drifted further away. When Tinker Bell fought herself into exhaustion she slumped, her tiny hands limp over the rope. She felt like crying but wouldn't resort to that yet. At her back she could hear the cries and moans of the other fairies. Among them she was able to pick out Polcat's voice, and Rubyglade's. She closed her eyes and gripped the rope tightly.

"Augh," the fat man growled and shoved the net of screaming pixies with his boot. "Just shut up already."

The skeleton man sneered at him. "Fuck, be careful with those! Dead pixies are worthless pixies. Go on and put em out. We'll sort em out when we get to the ship."

The fat one grumbled and reached behind him for a sack. From the sack he took out a large, white jug. "We don't have much left. Hope it's enough."

"It'll be enough. Captain says we're gonna stop at Blacktide. We'll get more there."

Fat man pulled the cork from the jug and poured onto his palm a small pile of fine, silvery dust. To Tinker Bell it looked very similar to pixie dust. The man crouched to bring his face close to the pixies and blew the dust from his palm all across them.

Immediately Tinker Bell held her breath. The dust coated her and the other pixies. The man picked up the net and blew again across his palm, making sure no pixie was missed.

Tink couldn't hold her breath for long. When she inhaled she felt the dust swarm into her nose and lungs. It was thick and choking like smoke. She couldn't breath. She coughed and thrashed, turning her head any way she could to try and get a fresh breath. She coughed until she had no air left in her lungs. When she did manage to inhale it only served to sweep more dust into her.

After a minute her head began to swim. She was falling. The spasms in her chest relaxed and she felt her body go loose. The world closed in and went dark.