The Foggy Lake

Pan used the giant ore that had been laying on the bottom of the boat, pushing it like a gondola. The boys talked amongst themselves as they made their way to the Indian camp. Pan looked around as they made their way across the lake. This lake was known to house one of the largest land and aquatic animal that was known to the inhabitants of Neverland.

It wasn't dangerous unless provoked or awoken from its 'winter slumber.' It was an animal that would hibernate for about 6 or 7 months out of the Neverlandian year, which consisted of 13 months. Though most didn't know of the months since they lived by the stars, the moon, and the sun. Most everyone except the children still learning the ways of this island knew how to use the stars to guide them across the ocean and look at the sun for the time of day.

Though across this lake, the fog was so thick Pan could barely see what was in front of the boat. It looked like there were dangers all around them, but he knew they were safe for now. He looked down towards the boys as they talked amongst themselves, trying to listen to what they were talking about. Binky and Nibs were playing pirates with Tootles.

Binky and Tootles were pirates while Nibs was pretending to be the evil Captain Stinky, which was the name he chose himself. He hopped around, being careful as they pretended to have a huge, grand fight. Nibs was like every other child Pan had seen play, pretending he had wings and he could shoot sprinkles from his sword.

It was absolutely adorable and he wished children stayed in that mindset for their entire lives. Though he knew that would never happen, it was nice to witness while children acted like that. He looked back up towards the lake as he heard a low groaning noise coming from off in the distance.

Marmaduke and Fox were talking about the camp and what they needed to do when they got back. While Pan didn't hear the beginning of whatever they were talking about, it sounded like they were trying to sneak one of the children back with them. Pan sighed softly, not wanting to break their hearts but he needed to let them know that they couldn't bring someone else back.

Pan slowed the boat down and knelt down, sitting in front of the boys. They both looked towards Pan curiously as he looked between the boys. He had almost a fatherly aura about him when he spoke with the boys about serious topics. "I heard you guys talking about bringing something back to camp?" Fox stayed quiet but Marmaduke nodded and made eye contact with Fox.

Fox obviously didn't want to give up their plan but Marmaduke was a snitch. Marmaduke looked back towards Pan and spoke quietly. "Well we wanted to bring back Uzumati so that we can play all the time..." Marmaduke looked down and played with his hands as he spoke. Fox looked to the side, not making eye contact with Pan.

Pan inhaled as he looked to the side, thinking of something to keep the mood up, exhaling as he looked back towards the boys. "Well as you know, the children from the camp can't leave behind their traditions and a part of those traditions are what?" He looked between them waiting for an answer, Fox emphatically answered.

"Their culture which is connected to our family!" Pan nodded and looked at Marmaduke. "That's correct, now if you happened to take Uzumati away from his traditions, he wouldn't be able to find them anywhere else..." He paused for a moment, pulling them in as he grew quiet. "He could try to make new traditions and new family, but it wouldn't be the same as his own traditions."

The boys nodded as they listened to Pan, they seemed to understand what he was saying. Pan smiled softly and looked between the boys, hugging them softly before patting them on the backs and moving away. "Now why don't you join Captain Stinky and his enemies every there..." He chuckled softly as he slowly stood up, moving back towards the paddle.

As the boys nodded and carefully crawled over to the other three, Pan continued to paddle the boat moving quickly now. At the pace they had been moving they would be there in about an hour. As the boys continued to play together, Pan started humming an ancestral chant from the Indian camp.

The people would always sing out a Sacred Spirit chant as loud as they could whenever Pan would visit. It was a sort of greeting in their own way, they would create a great feast and dance around the fire till the sun rose up. While Pan hadn't been able to visit for the last three moons, he could feel the celebratory energy every night when he was supposed to go visit the Camp. He tried to visit them when he could but he hadn't been able to since he had to deal with Hooks crew.

Pan paused for a moment, listening to the surrounding water as the low groaning noise grew closer. He sighed softly as he got into defensive mode, continuing to paddle. Everything surrounding their boat grew quiet, just the sloshing of the water hitting the boat and the boys as they continued playing.

Over in the distance, a dragon-like creature poked its head out of the water, looking towards the boat. It seemed curious about the noise that was coming from the boys, though it stayed far away at first, it slowly grew closer. It made a low groaning call that echoed off the water, the creature becoming more visible through the fog. The boys all looked towards the creature one by one, growing quiet as they looked at the creature amazed.

The creature looked like a Kobold, which was a species of aquatic animal that was about 20 feet long. It has a long neck and its head is small compared to its body. Its body was beautiful with different shades of blue and purple throughout its scales. Among its giant fins, it had one large horn on the top of its head that was about 5 feet tall that it used for defense.

These creatures generally didn't attack others unless they felt threatened. It came up to the side of the boat, it's long neck extending its head over the boat as it looked down, investigating the boat. The boys sat quietly and stayed still but Pan had moved closer to the boys, trying his best to stand between the Kobold and the boys.

Tootles slowly walked towards the Kobold, which made it bow it's head to his level. As they made eye contact, Tootles reached his hand out, Pan went to put his hand on Tootles shoulder to pull him back. The creature looked down at Tootles hand and placed its snout on Tootles hand and closed its eyes.

Tootles eyes lit up and he happily jumped looking towards Pan, who was amazed. Pan chuckled softly, trying not to ruin the moment these two were having. After a few minutes, the Kobold backed up, opening its eyes as it scanned the boat. It made a low groaning sound, the fins along its face rippling as it bowed off into the water.

After a few seconds, the boat started moving again, a lot faster than they were going before. All the boys took a seat as the boat moved faster, Pan sitting down near the back of the boat, watching as the Kobold pushed the boat. After about 10 minutes, they arrived at the Indian Camps shores. Pan smiled softly, standing up and hopping out, tying the off. Once it was secured, he helped the boys out, being greeted by the Chief of the Village, Tiger Lily.