Not to mention he had basically just said “don’t worry, humans are always being racist shitheads, you’re just always rotating who you’re picking on.” And she really wished she could argue with him, but he wasn’t exactly wrong, was he?
“I know.” He let out a hum. “Terrible thing, when a villain starts to make sense.”?*
“I thought you couldn’t read my mind inside the stories?”
“I didn’t need to. The look on your face tells me everything.” He patted her shoulder. “Now. I take it by your glorious objection to dealing with the ‘locals,’ that you would prefer an abridged tale? I think even if you strove to correct the glorious inaccuracies surrounding Tiger Lilly and her people, their inevitable slaughter at the hands of pirates might come off as a bit…” He paused, before sliding his hook along the steel pin holding a section of the rigging in place, creating a horrible metal-on-metal sound.“Excessive.”
The whole situation had become so surreal, the whole conversation so ridiculous, she had to let out a sad, broken laugh, and stare up at the sunny blue sky dotted with clouds.
“What?” Hook seemed lost.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she really wished the answer to this whole thing had been drugs. “I’m debating the optics of fictional genocide with Captain Hook.”
“Hardly genocide, don’t be dramatic.” He scoffedas he walked away from her. “Just a little mass murder. Regardless, abridged you want and abridged it shall be! I’m eager to start our game in earnest, I will admit. As fun as this has been, and all. You!” He called to another pirate. “We attack the Lost Boys at sundown in their secret hideout. Prepare to go to shore. We’ll be sneaking inside, taking them prisoners, and bringing them back here. So we’ll need rope. Fabric to gag them. Knives. We’ll take them all except Pan himself.”
“But sir.” The pirate took his tricorn hat off and held it in front of him, gripping it in both hands in a show of deference. “It’s a secret hideout. How will we know where it is?”
The expression on Hook’s face was of a man who had spent literal centuries surrounded by imbeciles.
Pulling the gun from his waist sash, he shot the pirate dead in the chest.
“Any other questions?”He shouted at the others.
Everyone muttered a series of “no-sirs” and quickly went about their business, ducking their heads and getting ready for the evening’s work.
“I thought not.” Hook grinned. “Tonight, we end this Peter Pan business once and for all.”
Sasha couldn’t help but appreciate his conviction.
Looking out at the island, she could only hope her sister was okay. And if she wasn’t? The only way to keep the score tied at zero was to throw herself to the crocodile. Or hope Peter Pan ran her through.
Sasha’s stomach twisted in a knot at the idea of killing herself. She didn’t want to die. Fake or not. The idea was horrifying. Could she do it? Feed herself to the proverbial wood chipper as part of a “strategy?” She didn’t know.
But something told her she’d have to find out. If not here in Neverland, then…soon.
“Mr. Smee!” Hook shouted at her from across the ship.
“Yessir!” She rolled her eyes. “Coming, Sir!”
This fucking sucks.
Sidney didn’t knowhow much blood a person had, but Peter’d been bleeding for awhileby the time the tide finally brought them back to where the Lost Boys were waiting for them.
Like, for at least two chapters.
That had to kill a person, right?
Sasha would know the name for that. What was it? Plot armor? She didn’t know. She just followed after the boys in their grubby excuses for clothing as she hopped barefooted through the jungle, wincing as she stepped on every goddamn piece of pointy sea grass and rock.
Yeah. Fuck everything aboutallof this.
She really hated being barefoot on pointy surfaces. It was like her least favorite thing in the world. She suffered the whole way through the march back to the tree that they called their home. When they finally were there, they rolled the hidden door away.
Tinker Bell didn’t waste a second before she came rocketing out of the door, jingling and shimmering and likely swearing her ass off, buzzing around Sidney’s head, obviously blaming her for everything.
“I don’t care what you think, I had nothing to do with any of this!” She swatted at the fairy. “Go away! I don’t want anything to do with Peter Pan, I just want to go home. You can have him! He’s yours!”
That seemed to catch Tinker Bell off guard. The fairy hovered near her, looking at her in stunned surprise.
