Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“We’ll meet you back where we picked up Grover’s trail.”</span> you promised.
Pan nodded and lifted off into the air. You bent down to collect your weapons and cloak, trying to get over the complex emotions that you were feeling. No one said anything on the way back. Cat was playing with a gold doubloon that she lifted off of the dead pirate, though she didn’t look particularly happy about it.
By the time you’d made it back to where you left off, Peter Pan was already there waiting for you. Gone was his usual cheerful, carefree demeanor, now replaced by a determined frown. And you couldn’t be entirely sure because of the masks, but you were pretty sure that you were all wearing similar expressions.
—-------
Grover’s path had been a lot harder to follow, as there weren’t any toppled trees to hop over. Instead, Callisto and Anastasia seemed to follow the areas of overgrown foliage that didn’t quite match up with everything else. Their ability to spot the tiniest differences in their environment was downright baffling!
Thankfully, your search progress was expedited by Pan’s efforts, who’d been dipping out and above the canopy to search by sky. His most recent dive seemed to bear fruit, since he was now excitedly leading you through the jungle, zigzagging between trees at incredible speeds. It was getting a bit hard to keep up with him.
When he led you through a clearing that was blocked by some particularly overgrown fronds, you nearly tripped. Standing before you now was a pirate ship, made entirely of plants and tree bark!
Its parts and pieces were gnarled and unrefined. It used vines instead of ropes, and a thick blanket of interwoven leaves in place of a sail. The mast was a large oak that seemed rooted to the deck.
And standing atop it was a young boy with tan skin and a cloak of leaves covering his body.
<span class="mu-g">“Peter! Thank goodness, you came!”</span> he said, his voice filled with genuine relief. <span class="mu-g">“Did you happen to find Gordy out there?”</span>
Peter swooped down and embraced Grover, holding him close and tussling his dark, curly hair a bit. <span class="mu-g">“Yes. I found him, Grover. He’s a bit shaken up, but he’s safe and sound at the tree fort.”</span> Pan reported.
All at once, the tension seemed to melt out of Grover’s body. <span class="mu-g">“Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried when those pirates jumped out. I was actually about to head out and look for him with my new invention.”</span> he said, gesturing to his ship.
Pan looked it over as well. He seemed genuinely impressed. <span class="mu-g">“What is this thing, anyway?”</span> he asked.
Grover laughed heartily. <span class="mu-g">“Can’t you see, Peter? It’s a ship! I’m going to use it to take down Hook and the rest of his pirates!”</span> he declared, throwing his arms out and closing his eyes.
Suddenly, a multitude of vines shot up, wrapping their earthy tendrils around a pile of rocks, and started loading them onto the ship. They looked vaguely spherical in shape.
(Cont.)
