Where Shadows Lie (Once Upon A Time)

"The kiss woke her up?", said Tinkerbell excitedly. She clapped her little hands. "True love's kiss. Of course. Peter don't you realise what this means? She's your soulmate. The girl we saw through the window, so long ago? I knew it! I knew it would come to be!"
She flew around Peter's head, trailing pixie dust in her wake.

"Tink, stop that!", he swatted her away, and she stood on branch, nothing more than a twig, really, but it held her 3 inch tall form easily.
"So, tell me it all again!", she said. "And don't leave out a single detail."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Tink. Nothing happened."

"But you love talking about how briliant you are. At length."

"What? There's nothing to say. It was my healing spell that saved her."

"But is it really you that saved her?", wondered Tink. "Or did she save you?" She proded him on the nose. Peter blew a puff of fiery smoke out his nose.
"Shut up, Tink.", he crossed his arms. "She probably hates me. Not that I care. She loves moonlight, and rainstorms, and so many other things that have a soul. But I don't need anyone. I cannot love." Wendy's heart was wild, but he didn't want to catch it, but run away with it, to set his free.

Tinkerbell sighed. "Don't play with the feelings of others, Peter. You might win the game, but the risk is, that you will surely lose the person for a lifetime."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"The Echo Cave?", said Wendy, later that following day, back at camp.
That's where the pirates were holding him captive. They had to save Baelfire. And they would find their way off this island, no matter what it took.

"The Echo Cave is the most treacherous place on the island.", said Peter gravely. "No one can make it out of there alive."

Wendy hung her head. "It's all my fault. Yesterday was disastrous, all because I couldn't do it. I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted to be a heroine. And now Neal's gone."

"Sometimes doing the right thing is the hardest thing to do.", said Peter, but he didn't deny what she had said.

"We have to save him, Peter. We can't just leave him!"

"There's no chance, Wendy. What do you suggest we do? Waltz up to the pirates with sweets?"

"He's actually tried that one before.", said Killian, who was drinking the water out of a coconut.

"Well, it's my fault he ended up there, so I should be the one to save him.", said Wendy.

"Now, love, that's all fine and dandy. . .if you want to flirt with death, that is.", said Killian.

"I'm not in this for heroism! I just want to do the right thing."

Peter made a face. "Being a hero's not all it's cracked up to be. It's so much easier being the bad guy."

Wendy's forehead creased. "The Echo Cave really must be a place of such woe for you to speak so ill of it. Imagine how Baelfire must be feeling." Then she clapped her hand over her mouth, when she realised what she had just said.

"Baelfire? That's Neal's real name?!", said Killian, his mouth agape in shock. Then he frowned. "He lied to us.", he said with exaggerated ferocity.

Wendy felt sick. She had promised him she would keep his name a secret, and he had trusted her. And now it was spilled. She could never take it back. She was messing everything up.

"Baelfire." Peter said the name slowly, rolling it around in his mouth. He didn't have much of a reaction to the news. He hadn't so much as lifted an eyebrow. Which, Peter being Peter, was more than a little surprising.

"Okay.", he said finally, standing up, clenched fists on his hips. "We rescue him tonight. But bewarned, the Echo Cave is like the worst Truth or Dare game ever." He closed his eyes, and fell back on a hammock. "I am not looking forward to this."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

The Echo Cave was, well, a cave, strewn into the side of a mountain. It loomed before the five of them; Peter, Wendy, Killian, Felix and Tinkerbell.

"Careful.", said Peter. "No man has ever come out of here alive. Except me."

"Good thing I'm not a man.", said Wendy.

Peter looked sidelong at her. Felix rolled his eyes. Tink just smiled.
Killian groaned. "Enough with the doting eyes. Let's get a bloody moving." And, pushing everyone else aside, led the way into the cave.
The shadows seemed to swallow him whole.

"You alive?", called Felix.

"Don't think so. I've just walked into the depths of hell, and now I'm a demon like Peter."

"Oh, he is very much alive.", said Felix. "Shall we go in, or are ye afraid of the dark?"

The shadows closed in around them, even against Peter's will. He lit a fireball in his hands, and with Tink's golden aura, were the only sources of light within the cave.
How did the pirates even get him in here?, Wendy wondered.

Stalagmites and stalactites protruded from the floor and ceiling, sharp as knives. The ground was slick beneath their feet. The tunnel was long, and sometimes the half the path would give way to surging drops.
As they trecked, each was left to their own thoughts. It was not really a place to make small talk. The only person who seemed completely at ease with the brooding darkness was Peter, who welcomed it like an old friend.
Wendy noticed the shadows seemed to be drawn the the light, entranced by it. The burning fire in Peter's hands attracted the shadows. They clawed at it, trying to get the light that they lacked.

Maybe thats it, thought Wendy. Light. That's the key that Baelfire was looking for!

Finally, through the darkness, could she see something ahead of them? A cage. Her heart sped up. She made her way towards it, when she ran into someone. Peter.
"Careful. There's a drop right here." And indeed there was. Killian threw a stone downwards. They didn't hear it land.

"Hey! Over here! Wendy? Tink? Killian?" It was Baelfire. He was trapped in the cage, across the wide, black abyss.
"Baelfire!", exclaimed Wendy.

"I can fly over there.", said Tink.

"No.", said Peter darkly. "I already tried. The only way across is to reveal a secret. Something that you wouldn't tell a soul."

"Can I choose dare?", said Killian hopefully.

Wendy could picture in the darkness Peter glowering.
"It's called the Echo Cave for a reason."

"Who thought of that bloody name?"

Felix sniggered. "Some idiot. Probably who thinks of all the names on the island."

They giggled.
Peter whispered to Wendy. "I have a good mind of throwing these two off the cliff."

"Do you always have to be so murderous?"

"I'm bitter and complicated. It's one of my charms."

Killian snorted. "I don't think you know what that word means. Or how to count."

"Hey, guys. I'm still over here locked up so. . ."

"Right. Who wants to start off?", said Killian with feigned ethusiasm.

"I will.", said Wendy. "There's why I know Baelfire's real name. I found him in hiding, in the woods. And I helped him find the way home. I'm helping him and I leave Neverland. For good."