After climbing down a swaying rope ladder that Eirwen had been reluctant to let his sisters go down in the first place, Petra escorted the brother and sisters to a long, wooden picnic table where all of the Lost Girls were already seated, and enjoying breakfast. In large wooden bowls sitting in the center of the table were different kinds of fruits.

At first Eirwen didn’t recognize the fruits and thought they were native to Neverland, but upon closer inspection Eirwen realized that the only thing different about the fruits were their sizes. The bowls were filled with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, cherries and cranberries that were the size of watermelons!

When Michelle spotted a giant strawberry she squealed in delight, and as soon as she’d taken a seat at the table reached out to grab it.

“Fascinating,” Joan said, pushing her glasses up her nose and inspecting the fruits. “I wonder what made them grow so big here? Perhaps, certain nutrients in the soil.” Joan eventually settled on a huge cherry, and Eirwen decided to try a giant blueberry.

After they’d stuffed their faces with the sweetest and juiciest fruit Eirwen had ever tasted, the group that would be traveling to the Indian village began to make the necessary preparations for their trip by gathering food, weapons, flint, and medical supplies.

The Lost Girls that would be traveling with Petra, Tinker, Eirwen, and his sisters were: Nibby, Slightly, Curly, Tootles, and the Twins. The group couldn’t fly to the Indian village because Eirwen was still unable to find his ‘happy thought’.

Joan and Michelle had fun teasing Eirwen about his inability to fly as they flew circles around his head for fun and just to show off.

Eirwen noticed that Tinker was acting surly and ignoring everyone. The fairy was probably still angry that he’d gotten caught red-handed in his lie about Eirwen being a slaver.

The Lost Girls were armed with bows, quivers of arrows, and spears. With the way the girls were acting, Eirwen felt like they were his unofficial bodyguards.

“Before we head on out,” Petra began loudly in order to get everyone’s attention, “I believe that Tink has something he’d like to say to Eirwen. Isn’t that right, Tink?” She shot the fairy an expectant look.

Tinker crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. “No, I don’t-”

“Tink!” A scandalized expression fell over Petra’s face. “You owe Eirwen an apology!”

Tinker glared daggers at Eirwen. “Fine. I’m sorry for having you thrown into Merman Lagoon. Anyways, it was just a bit of fun.” The fairy’s lip curled snidely. “How was I supposed to know that the mermen would attack you? You probably did something to threaten them. They’re usually very peaceful.”

Eirwen gawked at the fairy in disbelief. “Peaceful my ass-”

Tinker flew over and bit Eirwen’s ear. “No swearing in front of the girls!”

“Ow! Bloody hell!” Eirwen complained rubbing at his sore and throbbing ear.

Petra appeared to take this as a good sign, however, and beamed at the two. “I’m so glad you’re both getting along now!” She hugged Tinker with her right arm and hugged Eirwen to her side with her left arm. Then she kissed Tinker on his forehead (which ended up being his whole face), and did the same to Eirwen. “My best friend Tink…and my knight Eirwen.”

“Friend zoned,” Eirwen coughed into his hand.

Tinker shot Eirwen a venomous glare as the fairy’s entire face turned tomato red in anger.

“Onward!” Petra said before walking off into the forest and expecting everyone to follow after her. They walked for about an hour until they reached the outskirts of the Indian village. That’s when they were suddenly surrounded by a group of Indians that had appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, and who had spears, tomahawks, and arrows aimed their way.

“Get behind me, girls.” Eirwen swiftly moved to stand protectively in front of his sisters. He frowned at the Indians, who all wore stoic expressions on their tanned faces. They didn’t seem very friendly.

“Real live Indians,” Joan muttered softly to herself. “This is so awesome.” She pushed her glasses up her nose as she scrutinized them. Most of the Indians had long black hair decorated with scattered braids, feathers and colorful beads. Some of the Indians had mohawks though.

All of the Indian males were shirtless, showing off their gleaming, oiled muscular torsos impressively. Several of the Indians were only wearing loincloths to hide their nakedness, but others were wearing leather pants. All of them were wearing soft leather moccasins on their feet, which was probably why the group hadn’t heard their approach.

Petra seemed unfazed by their sudden appearance, smiled brightly at them, and raised her hand in greeting. “How!”

The Indians continued to glare at Petra suspiciously, and after a few awkward minutes of this one finally spoke up, “You dare to enter Indian territory, you pirate scum-”

Petra frowned and waved her hand dismissively through the air. “Oh, we’re not pirates. We’re the Lost Girls! Don’t you remember us?”

The Indians exchanged skeptical and amused looks. Some of the Indians’ gazes lingered on the girls’ breasts, and sadly Eirwen knew exactly what they were thinking. The girls were no longer ‘girls’ but young women with nice assets.

“Petra?” questioned a deep, authoritative male voice. The circle of Indians parted to allow one man to step through and approach them. This Indian had a commanding presence that set him apart from the others, and Eirwen could tell right away that he was in charge. Like the other Indians he was shirtless, showing off his battle-scarred chest that made Eirwen think he was probably a fierce warrior. You didn’t get nasty scars like that staying home knitting socks after all.

The Indian had on a feathered headband that appeared to be more elaborate than the other feathered headbands his tribesmen were wearing. He was probably someone important in the Piccaninny Tribe.

“Prince Tiger!” Petra greeted Tiger enthusiastically, walking over to him and giving him an affectionate embrace. Tiger’s chest puffed up with pride at Petra’s trusting manner. Petra Pan’s reputation preceded her in Neverland as being a fierce fighter, and most knew not to mess with her, especially if you were an evil pirate or monster. The fact that Petra was acting this way around Tiger meant that he’d somehow managed to gain her trust.

Tiger. So that’s his name. And Eirwen couldn’t really say he was all that surprised. Tiger’s long black hair had orange highlights. He was wearing orange leather pants, and a necklace made out of tiger claws. And he’s a prince. Eirwen thought, not that he was jealous or anything of all the attention Petra was suddenly giving this Indian man.

“Stand down, men,” Tiger ordered his tribesmen with a wave of his hand. “This is Petra Pan. She has…grown up.” His voice was tinged with wry amusement. The stoic expressions on the Indians’ faces morphed into shocked ones.

“Then the rumors are true?” one Indian asked with a worried expression on his face. “The Neverland Clock was stolen?”

Petra pulled away from Tiger and nodded in the Indian’s direction. “Yes. By Tezcatlipoca.”

Several of the Indians muttered the name ‘Tezcatlipoca’ darkly and a few spit on the ground in a show of obvious disgust.

“Petra, not that I’m not pleased to see you. But why have you come to my village?” Tiger asked while throwing Eirwen a surreptitious glance.

Petra gave Tiger a searching look, and knew the question was more for the benefit of the tribesmen that were there. Petra had already mentioned to Tiger that she’d found a worthy candidate to try and pull Excalibur from the stone. “I have come seeking an audience with Chief Great Big Little Panther. I have something very important to discuss with her.”

Tiger nodded his assent. “Then follow me,” the Indian prince said gruffly as he began to lead the way into the village with confident strides.

The village of the Piccaninny Tribe was composed of scattered, conical-shaped teepees made of buffalo hide, and decorated with the images of wildcats, panthers, lions, and tigers running free. Some of the teepees had the images of buffalo and deer being chased and hunted by wildcats.

Joan and Michelle were running circles around Eirwen as they tried to take in all the sights at once. “Those strange houses are called ‘teepees’,” Joan explained to her sister Michelle.

“Ooo,” Michelle responded, thoroughly impressed by her older sister’s smarts.

Indian women were milling around the village as they ran various errands - fetching firewood, filling up buckets of water, going to the river to wash clothes, cooking, and fixing damaged clothing for their husbands with their needles and thread.

“Indian women are called ‘squaws’,” Joan continued.

Tiger offered Joan a smile. “She’s a smart little one, isn’t she? You must be proud.” He directed this comment to Eirwen.

Eirwen nodded. “I am.”

When Tiger finally came to a halt it was in front of a teepee that was larger than all the others. This teepee had the image of an enormous black panther and paw prints painted on it. Tiger approached the door flap. “Chief Pantera, we have guests who request an audience with you.”

“Very well. Enter,” came a gravely female voice.

Tiger nodded at the group, opened the flap, and ushered them inside. Petra, Eirwen, Tinker, Joan and Michelle entered the tent while the rest of the Lost Girls remained outside to keep a lookout.

Hanging from the ceiling were several ornate dream catchers in all different sizes. The dream catchers were made out of willow, and decorated with the rainbow-colored feathers from the Never-bird. As Eirwen and the others entered, Chief Pantera set aside a dream catcher that she’d been working on in order to give them her full attention.

“Dream catchers…are said to catch nightmares and turn them into good dreams,” Joan said.

A twinkle came to Chief Pantera’s eyes at Joan’s comment and she nodded. “That’s right, little one.”

Chief Great Big Little Panther, also known as ‘Chief Pantera’, was an elderly woman with tanned, wrinkled skin, graying hair that was styled into two twin braids, and wise, dark eyes. She was wearing a black headdress made out of a panther’s pelt, and a black leather dress. With the way the panther’s open maw sat on the top of Chief Pantera’s head it looked like the panther was trying to swallow her whole.

Chief Pantera was sitting cross-legged on a mountain of animal furs. In front of her was a small fire where a container of water was being heated for tea. Eirwen noticed that a bow along with a quiver of arrows was leaning against the teepee’s buffalo hide wall.

Tiger silently walked over and took a seat cross-legged next to his mother. Chief Pantera waved her hand at Petra and the others to come forward. “Please, make yourselves comfortable, and have a seat.” Everyone obediently sat on the ground cross-legged.

Chief Pantera’s eyes narrowed as she took in Petra Pan’s new grown-up appearance. “Petra Pan…you have matured.” Her brow furrowed in thought, and the corners of her lips dipped into a frown that was tinged with sadness.

“Not by choice, of that I can assure you,” Petra said solemnly. “Tezcatlipoca has stolen the Neverland Clock and broken the fairies’ spell. But I intend to get it back and set things right in Neverland. That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”

“What is it you need?” Chief Pantera’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Petra waved a hand at Eirwen and a confident smirk formed on her face. “I have brought a worthy knight to remove Excalibur from the stone.”

Chief Pantera’s sharp gaze snapped to Eirwen and she scrutinized him for a moment. “How can you be so sure this young man is a man of worth?”

Petra raised her chin in challenge. “I believe in him. And I…love him,” she admitted softly.

A flash of shock passed over Tiger’s face, and his stoic expression turned disappointed. The Indian prince’s shoulders hunched dejectedly.

Chief Pantera appeared to be equally surprised by Petra’s sudden admittance. “For hundreds of years the Piccaninny Tribe has guarded the secret of the location of Excalibur. My son Tiger…” She glanced at Tiger with a concerned expression on her face. “Was kidnapped by Hook and tortured in order to discover the sword’s whereabouts. But my son would not be broken.” A proud expression settled over Chief Pantera’s face as she gazed at her brave son. Tiger grew stiff at the remembrance of being in Hook’s evil clutches.

“Excalibur…is a very powerful weapon,” Chief Pantera continued as she laced her fingers together in a pensive pose. “We cannot allow it to fall into the wrong hands. The consequences would be catastrophic.”

“Neverland is already in grave peril,” Petra reminded. “We must save it. And the only one who can save it is Eirwen. But, he needs Excalibur if he’s to defeat Tezcatlipoca.”

Chief Pantera let out a thoughtful hum. “Eirwen’s worth must be tested. He must pass the test to earn the right to try and pull the sword Excalibur from the stone. The test shall be…a fight to the death. If Eirwen is truly worthy - he will live. If the Great Spirit deems him unworthy - my son, Tiger, will kill him.” Tiger nodded in grim agreement to his mother’s command.

Eirwen’s eyes widened in alarm and he shot a worried look Tiger’s way. A fight to the death with Prince Tiger? He didn’t want to kill anyone…

A sharp smile formed on Tinker’s face, and he gleefully rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation of getting to see Eirwen scalped. “Chief Pantera, you are most wise. A fight to the death is an excellent idea.”

Suck up. Eirwen shot the fairy an irritated look and began to voice his hesitations, “Chief Pantera, I don’t think I-”

Petra swiftly interrupted him. “Eirwen will fight. And win.” She turned to Eirwen and gave him an intense, meaningful look. “I believe in you. And I trust that you’ll do the right thing.”

Eirwen gave Petra a searching look in return. He had the feeling he understood what she was trying to hint to him. When Petra winked to make it even more obvious, he let out a defeated sigh and nodded. “Alright, fine. I accept your challenge.” A determined expression had settled over Eirwen’s face.

“Do you really think that’s wise, brother?” Joan questioned tentatively, placing a hand on her brother’s arm that Eirwen noticed was slightly trembling. “Fighting to the death is, well…” She spread her hands in a helpless gesture before her. “Dangerous.” Michelle’s bottom lip had started to tremble, and her wide eyes were filling with tears.

Eirwen turned his attention to his sisters and gave them a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, girls. Your big brother knows what he’s doing. And I have a plan,” he said the last in a low voice only they could hear. At least, I hope I know what I’m doing. Eirwen could feel a headache coming on and had to resist the urge to rub at his temples with his index fingers.