[color=b3b3b3][right][sub]TIMESTAMP: After [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5433110]Finding Neverland[/url] 
Featuring: [color=BB986B]Mitena Strongbow[/color],  [color=fe6f5e]Penelope James[/color], & [color=b5392e]Forrest Proudstar[/color] [/sub][/right]
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[indent][indent]Slowly, the Dreamchasers, no longer the Lost trio, started heading back home. Jade with her Pancake. Mordechai with Natalia. All but one had enough reason to return. Penelope James found herself on edge and uneasy with the idea of going back. She knew the moment she was back in Edenridge, grief would wash over her, as it always did. She was still in pain at Blue Hill but to her surprise, it was taking a positive turn. It made her feel she would survive and find a reason outside of Charlie to keep going. To not give up.  

Mitena had taken her on another walk, showing her a hidden secret, off-the-beaten-path gem. Blue Hill, like Edenridge, was full of obscure yet beautiful finds. At first, Poppy was confused because it was a stamping ground, a barren patch in the center of the wood. Tena had explained that before her people were pushed out of Edenridge that witches would hold counsel here and dance around the campfire. That wasn’t what made this a remarkable site though. Mitena asked if Poppy minded waiting for a little bit, and of course, Poppy didn’t mind at all. So they waited and talked about little things like their jobs, their hobbies, and what they care most about. 

In time, the sun set and a magical phenomena happened around them. Magic appeared around them like clockwork. Blue Ghost Fireflies came out of the forest and shimmered around them, with bluish-greenish color, glowing, not flashing like their counterparts. It was ethereal to say the least. There Tena told her about the legend that these were the ghosts the witches wanted to give peace, during that horrible period that revolved around ‘the Judge’ where so many lives were lost. 

Poppy was lucky because it seemed this would be likely the last day they’d come out until next summer. These fireflies specifically only visit for maybe a month, less than even, but when they do… you understand why the people you meet are meant to be cherished. Love and magic have a great deal in common. They both tie into the soul and heart, connecting them with practice, enriching the self and delighting one’s heart. Poppy couldn’t help but feel nostalgia fill up in her tiny frame, as she imagined those she lost, yet kept dear to her. 

Charlie, Maxine, Danny… 

For a moment, she felt like she could see their apparitions, like Danny staring up at the moon, book in hand, but she knew this was just her heart wanting to see those she lost, missing them terribly. He looked at her and smiled, the light reflecting on him so magically. She could see it, just by how he looked at her, how proud he was. How proud he was of all them. How proud he was to see them fighting to live. How grateful he was they were still trying. 

The night was beautiful. Little Danny soaked in the night, the stars and the silence. Danny Boaz was at peace. She could see how happy he was in this surreal, ethereal place. She could see there were no thoughts beyond the present — his moment with her. That smile, his smile, he wore so well. The energy that surrounded him, positive and warm. The glint in his eyes, hopeful and content. Bringing her attention to Tena, she watched the strange and unusual woman pray to the surrounding spirits and send good tidings. All of this because Rhonda Decker knew what she and her friends needed. 

[color=BB986B]“You can feel them can’t you?”[/color] Tena poised as she waved her arms in rhythmic prayer. [color=BB986B]“The people you’ve lost along the path? They’re here. We can’t always see them. We can’t always feel them but they’re there. They’re there.”[/color]  It seemed that the young singer had become some form of spirit guide for those that had traveled down from Edenridge. She offered them something they each seemed to desperately need and want. Something it seemed that only she could give them. Perhaps she was giving to them all what Charlie had stolen?

Through the flicker of blue flame, Mitena’s doe eyes watched Poppy with a smile as she embraced this side of her which she doubted the tiny girl knew even existed before her trip to the reservation. She no longer seemed fragile, the brittleness of the glass case she had boxed herself into had now been reinforced by her spirit and by her will. Would it last when she ventured back to her own world? Tena did wonder. Yet she also knew that the difference between then and now was that if ever Poppy or any of Charlie’s soul pieces needed her, she would be there, something that she wasn’t before and regretted deeply.

[color=BB986B]“No one on the reservation knows this place exists. It’s a Silverheel secret. Only members of my family are welcome here and you’ve been family for a very long time.”[/color]

Giving a small smile in appreciation, Poppy didn’t say anything in return. Not right away. She gracefully laid a hand out and watched a single firefly rest in the palm of her hand. Memories, too strong to be forgotten. Memories that not even time could combat. To keep them alive, she had to continue to remember. Their lives ended unceremoniously but she still loved them. She would always love them. No matter the words left unsaid and how things ended. Penelope was grateful, immensely grateful, for the memories they shared. Even the bad ones. 

Poppy watched as the firefly left her hand and closed her hand, grasping at the air as Charlie was back in the forefront of her mind. [color=fe6f5e]“Do you think… I can be happy?”[/color] She didn’t know what happiness entailed but she also knew she had a long journey ahead of her and she also knew that meant more pain and more heartbreak. [color=fe6f5e]“I try so hard,”[/color] she glanced over to Tena, her voice as low as a whisper, [color=fe6f5e]“I try so hard to stand but I keep getting hit with shit. I don’t know why,”[/color] she tried to gather her thoughts, her bittersweet emotions spilling out with every word. [color=fe6f5e]“I don’t know why this is my life, or why others have to go through so much just to be happy.”[/color] She frowned, not knowing if she should be angry, sad, numb, or happy. Not knowing how to feel because she was so tired of feeling. [color=fe6f5e]“I just want to be happy,”[/color] she muttered, yearning for something new and something good. Something that wouldn’t turn around and hurt her. Something she wouldn’t lose in the end that made her feel a little less lonely. Something that she could call her own. 

Tena looked deep at the girl with the flower for a name. She was so deep in the sadness that had been her entire life, she must feel like she was drowning. As Mitena prepared to open her mouth to state her piece, she saw the rustling in the trees behind Penelope and a smile began to envelope her lips. Taking a step forward, the indigenous beauty brushed a single strand of hair away from Poppy’s pale face and looked into her big green eyes. [color=BB986B]“There she stood, pale, glowing, wrapped in transcendent light. There she stood, pulling me out of the water again. The crunching weight of the darkest depths fading as I flew into the air and into her arms. We painted over the silence with silence. I was happy. She was happy. It wouldn’t last the night but we would be happy again. I would do anything for her to be happy again.” [/color]

Reaching out as she echoed her brother's words in his novel, wrapping her fingers around Poppy’s shoulders and gently turning her around one eighty to view the rumblings in the wood and the emergence of Resi from the thick trees. [color=BB986B]“I think you can be happy.”[/color] Tena whispered, gently pressing a soft kiss behind Penelope’s ear. [color=BB986B]“Go be happy.”[/color]

Stunned at the immediate recognition of who would say, or write those words, Poppy felt a couple of warm tears trail down her pale, smooth skin. It wasn’t a stream. She didn’t find it in her to give into the rain. Instead it was a mist blurring her vision but keeping the storm at bay. Wiping her under eyes with her fingers, those words echoed in her mind, like all the memories of him did. If only he had the courage to say those words to her, to tell her that she made him happy. Faith could only carry her so far and in the end, he gave into the dark, leaving her behind. He was her everything but what they had, she knew, wasn’t healthy. She recognized that. 

With every passing quote she heard, every passing secret and moments he shared with others, she knew he could never love her the way she deserved until he loved himself. And she too needed to learn to love herself. They didn’t help each other, not in the way lovers should. They depended on one another. And when they were apart? It killed them, slowly and painfully. That wasn’t what love was supposed to be like. Was it? 

Taking a couple of deep breaths, she rested her hands in front of her, holding them together as she buried the sadness to see who was coming to meet them. When she saw Forrest, Tena and Charlie’s cousin, a subtle shift in how she held herself could be seen. Her shoulders relaxed, her smile wasn’t as small, and her body seemed less heavy. There was a glint in her eyes. [color=fe6f5e]“Hi, Resi,”[/color] she greeted, before looking back at Tena in surprise, having not expected to see him again this soon, [color=fe6f5e]“You invited him?”[/color] 

[color=BB986B]“No.”[/color] Tena smiled as she softly placed her hands on Poppy’s lower back and with a touch of force, pushed the ghost girl forward. [color=BB986B]“You did.”[/color] Her voice whispered lowly into the Edenite’s ear before taking a step back towards her bags. [color=BB986B]“Cousin! What brings you out here?”[/color] She feigned surprise as she watched her older relative make his way into the firefly grove. 

[color=b5392e]“Foraging!”[/color] Forrest raised a small clear bag from behind his back and aimed it at the two girls. [color=b5392e]“I have this idea for a stuffed mushroom snack which would be great for someone in need of a quick brunch!”[/color] Bending down, Resi plucked another fungus from the ground before turning his attention to the two beautiful girls in the clearing. [color=b5392e]“You two watching the fireflies?”[/color]

Tena glanced at her cousin before shifting her look to the outsider. [color=BB986B]“We were but actually I need to be going. Apparently some guy wants me to head out as a supporting act for a two week tour of Canada. Sounds kind of badass. You mind taking care of Penelope for a few hours while I go work out the details. Thanks Resi, you're the best.”[/color] The songstress did not even wait for the wild haired Indian boy's response as she tossed him the keys from her back pocket and took off with her bags into the woods. 

[color=b5392e]“What the hell just happened?”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“I actually… don’t know,”[/color] Poppy admitted, realizing she once again wasn’t wearing Charlie‘s jacket and finally felt the chill of the evening through her skin, sending a subtle shiver throughout her petite body. Holding herself as she watched Mitena leave her, completely abandoning her for a business thing, Poppy tried to connect the dots of why her new friend would do half the things she did within the past minute or so. Like pushing her closer to Forrest or suggesting this was her idea, that she was the one inviting him over to the Silverheel ranch. Truth be told, Poppy was coming up empty. Unfortunately for Tena, the girl with the flower name was clueless and wouldn’t be able to read any romantic gestures unless it hit her in the face. It wasn’t like she was looking for it anyways. Poppy was still rewiring her brain to look outside of her perception, her perception being everything Charlie. 

Brushing off the sudden moment of randomness, no point in overthinking it, Poppy glanced Resi over before asking, [color=fe6f5e]“How do you know those mushrooms are safe?”[/color] He had a little curl bouncing in front of his face begging to be touched. Distracted by the impulse she stepped closer and twirled the strand around her finger, [color=fe6f5e]“You have such cute hair,”[/color] she complimented. It took her a second or so before she realized that these actions were only meant for people like Jade and Decky. Her hand retreated behind her back. [color=fe6f5e]“Sorry… I couldn’t help myself.”[/color]

[color=b5392e]“It’s ok. People dig the hair.”[/color] Resi normally wouldn’t allow anyone to touch the wild mane that he had carefully maintained over the years. Hair to a Native American is sacred, it is a connection to family, tribe and creation itself. It is a display of individuality while being respectful for that which came before. For anyone to touch it to some could be considered blasphemous but for Resi, with Poppy, he didn’t mind, in fact, he kind of liked it. [color=b5392e]“As for the mushrooms, well if we ignore the fact that I’ve lived in this place my entire life, there are a few telltale signs. Like if it’s slimy or has dark spots, do not touch those ones, they’re bad bad bad.”[/color]

Forrest looked around the clearing. He was surprised that Mitena had brought the ghost girl here. This was where the family gathered and watched his auntie Dakota, Tena’s mother, leave this plain and join the Creator. The family camped under the stars and watched her fall asleep, knowing she would never wake up again. It was the best way to go, in his opinion. He wondered if his cousin had brought the offcomer here in some attempt to connect her to those that she had lost? More specifically, Charlie.

[color=b5392e]“We should get out of here. It’s getting dark and we don’t want the skinwalkers to find you.”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“And we both know they’d find me, I’m hard to miss. White as heck. They can use me in lighthouses to guide ships at night,”[/color] Poppy chuckled, poking fun at herself. She was gradually getting color, ever since she started going outside more, but not enough to make much of a difference. She was always a pale girl, though since the incident, her paleness took more of a sickly manner. She was getting better though. Little by little, Penelope was healing. 

Before she decided to follow Resi, she turned back to the fireflies, taking in the spirits one last time. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. Placing her lips against them, she quietly prayed and made a wish. When she was done, she returned to the present, her reality, and spun on her heels, her dress twirling as she did so, [color=fe6f5e]“So since you’re here, does that mean you’re not busy? With work, I mean…”[/color] she looked at him doe-eyed and hopeful. [color=fe6f5e]“…are you free?”[/color]

[color=b5392e]“That’s the joy of being self employed, I set my own schedule. Technically I’m working by gathering ingredients…”[/color] Forrest waved his bag of mushrooms again. [color=b5392e]“…But for you? I’m absolutely free.”[/color] He stuffed the clear baggy into his rucksack and reached out, taking Poppy’s hand into his without a second thought.

Resi remembered the day when Mitena came to him with the news of what happened to her brother, Charlie. The two men had never met, never exchanged a word and didn’t have any kind of relationship. Forrest didn’t know Charlie at all but he still felt the pain of his loss through Tena. People would look at his cousin and see someone completely put together, spiritual, intelligent, creative and driven to succeed. No one ever saw her quiet moments outside of himself, Jadyn and Illara. No one ever saw the Tena that cried herself to sleep. No one ever saw the Tena that wouldn’t leave her room for a month. It wasn’t until she got a package in the post, a book, a collection of thoughts and feelings and a story written by her big brother that Mitena finally left her room.

Forrest could recall every passage of that book because it became his cousin's bible. Amongst its sea of words, was the story of a girl; a pale girl with green eyes from the wrong side of town. Having met Poppy a few times now, Resi could tell, no he could feel, why Charlie loved her. Watching her twirl in the dragonfly-kissed coming night filled the world and his heart with joy as pure as fresh white snow. [color=b5392e]“Is there anything you’d like to do?”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“Well…”[/color] Poppy gleamed up at Resi as they walked through the shelter of trees, down the well traveled dirt path, to their next destination. Her overflowing grief and the eternal sadness that encompassed her entire being grew quiet. It was still, frozen in time, at least for a moment. Not gone, it never would be. This sensation that used to be so overwhelming, to the point she wished she had novocaine to numb the pain, felt… distant. At bay. It was surreal what this place was doing to her. For so long, she couldn’t eat. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t function. For so long, she laid in her pain, unable to get away from it. She laid there crippled by depression and anxiety. Crippled by self doubt and self loathing.  Crippled by her shortcomings and desire to die. For so long, she thought of one thing and one thing only. And that thing, that person, was the Raven perched persistently above her heart’s door. The Raven she desired. The Raven that wanted her to let go and find purpose. Let go and be happy. Let go and live. The Raven she loved.

Right now, in the company of Forrest, all these emotions, her monsters who’ve taken control of her since that dreadful day, fell silent. This allowed Penelope to focus on the boy beside her and him alone. They walked away from the dancing lights. The further they got from the stamping ground, the darker their surroundings became. The wood was dark but she wasn’t alone. She never was, was she? [color=fe6f5e]“I’ve been walking a lot today. So I was thinking we could watch a movie? I don’t care where, I just think it would be a nice way to end this emotional day. A story, some treats, and… good company.”[/color]

Wait. Hold up. Wait a minute.

Was she asking him to watch a movie? Now this was the moral test of Resi’s self. He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to Penelope. Very much so in fact. But he also couldn’t deny that he had some idea of the baggage that came with her. He had read Charlie’s book, he had seen into his cousin's heart. Yet it only intrigued him more. There were two girls in that book but Resi only had eyes for one. 

[color=b5392e]“Well.”[/color] Ruffling the back of his wild head of hair, the young cook looked down at the tiny girl in his hands and smiled. [color=b5392e]“We don’t have a movie theater here so I guess we can head back to the Silverheel and put something on there. I still have a room in the barn.”[/color] Forrest was lucky that Jadyn hadn’t decided to demolish the place or turn it into some crazy sex dungeon. [color=b5392e]“But I can’t be out too late, I have to be gone for my little sister.”  [/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“Oh you have a sister?”[/color] Penelope raised an eyebrow, wondering when she would get to meet her. [color=fe6f5e]“Understood! The movie doesn’t have to be long,”[/color] she earnestly agreed on his terms, absentmindedly interlocking her fingers with his. [color=fe6f5e]“What’s your sister like? Is she your only sibling?”[/color] When he mentioned he had a sister, her mind immediately thought of Maxine and all her great qualities. Max died too soon when she had such a promising future ahead of her. So many touched souls Max left behind and then her best friend, Indie, did what she could to keep her memory alive. To this day Indie always did what she could to keep Max alive. 

[color=b5392e]“Yeah. Illara.”[/color] Resi gripped Poppy’s hand right as they emerged from the woods and out into the open field. [color=b5392e]“She’s eighteen so not really little but Illy has always been really shy. She helps me out on the truck though she mostly just preps my ingredients.”[/color] The reservation dog took a deep breath, inhaling all the smells and taking in the spirit of the world around him. Illara was his heart. She was the reason that he fought so hard not to fall into the same darkness that had swallowed most of their family whole. The Silverheel sisters, his cousin Charlie, Tena’s father. There seemed to be some curse against the lot of them. Forrest would be damned if there was a curse that he wasn’t going to go out kicking and screaming. [color=b5392e]“You have any siblings?”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e][i]I did[/i]. “Yes!”[/color] Poppy chirped, looking away from him and straight ahead as she did so. [color=fe6f5e]“Maxine. She’s a couple years older than me.”[/color] With her free hand, she reached for the teardrop necklace she rarely takes off that dangled from her neck. The necklace that held some of her sister’s ashes. [color=fe6f5e]“She’s incredibly witty, a bulldozer when it comes to getting shit done, and she cares, so deeply about Edenridge.”[/color] 

Fiddling with her necklace, she glanced back at Resi, reminiscing the times when her family was whole, [color=fe6f5e]“She would say if you take care of the little things, the big things would take care of themselves. It would all just fall into place.”[/color] She breathed, before continuing, [color=fe6f5e]“She is so wise for her age, it’s incredible really.”[/color] Poppy smiled to herself, imagining her sister and how life would be if she were still around. The ‘What Ifs’ always plaguing her mind. [color=fe6f5e]“She is someone who fiercely preaches about the beauty of Edenridge, and that it’s the community that makes it. My town tends to… live in the past, with their ghosts and all the bad. Every corner you turn, a curse. A bad omen. A death story. When there’s so much dark, it’s hard to see the light. But she… didn’t struggle with any of that. I don’t know how she could be so strong. She was a beacon for many and…”[/color] Poppy’s voice drifted as her hand stopped playing with her necklace. [color=fe6f5e]“…I miss her.”[/color]

It didn’t take a genius to realize that Poppy was dancing between past and present tense, to see that her sister Maxine was no longer of this world and had joined with the great spirit. Even still, the sparkle in those luscious green eyes was enough for Forrest to see that whoever Maxine James was, she was a good person, just like Poppy. No one is talked about with the same feeling if they weren’t a blessing on the world. [color=b5392e]“She’s always with you. Those that are gone live in our hearts and minds or at least that’s what I like to believe.”[/color] The young chef glanced up at the distant lights of the Silverheel ranch and smiled. [color=b5392e]“What was her favorite movie? That’s what we’ll watch tonight, and she can watch it with us.”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“… okay, well,”[/color] Poppy cleared her throat, caught off guard with the question. She hadn’t thought about Max’s favorite things in such a long time. She was so used to thinking of the promising future that Max would’ve had instead of thinking of the girl she was, who had her own unique quirks that set her apart from other girls. [color=fe6f5e]“My sister,”[/color] Penelope returned her free hand to her side, before chuckling to herself, [color=fe6f5e]“[b]Loved[/b] crime fiction. Action. Thriller. So if I could think of something she would like to watch… probably Dirty Harry. Honestly, it’s dad’s fault that we like these types of films. He used to watch them all the time with his friends.”[/color] 

There was a brief pause. 

In that moment, Penelope prepared herself, getting ready to imitate Dirty Harry’s mannerisms and Clint Eastwood’s quiet, unforgettable and compelling tone. Quoting the most famous scene in the movie, she made a handgun with her free hand and went in full character, glancing at Resi as she spoke. While her voice wasn’t as deep as Clint’s, she was still able to project authority, strength, and wisdom like he does, [color=fe6f5e]“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track of myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”[/color]

Forrest felt almost compelled to say something cheesy, like being in Poppy’s presence alone made him feel lucky. Which itself wasn’t really a line as much as the truth. There was something about this ghost girl that filled him with joy; something warm and pleasant and dare he say happy. He was entranced by her imitation of Clint’s most iconic character and couldn’t help but just watch her, the way she smiled and her hair danced in the light wind. 

It was clear as the night sky above them that Poppy loved her sister just as much as Resi loved Illara. Siblings were a strange thing, some could be as close as close could be, others distant with life and more that led completely separate lives. Both Forrest and Penelope loved their siblings deeply and had done their entire lives, people like Mitena, never got the chance. It was a sad way of the world that even those that deserved everything could go their entire lives with nothing. 

[color=b5392e]“I’m really glad you’re staying another night, Poppy.”[/color]

Caught a little off guard, Penelope looked up at Forrest, not expecting the sudden words of affection. She didn’t know why but she was drawn to him. Something about him and his presence, she wanted to get close to. He warmed her on the inside as well as made her feel anxious and worried, all at once. She was at peace and felt safe, yet she felt so antsy just by being near him. An increasing urge that she couldn’t quite understand. Two vastly different sensations that she didn’t want to stop feeling. She liked this feeling, so much so that her face began to blush ever so slightly. 

[color=fe6f5e]“Me too.”[/color] 

As they walked down the dirt path, hand in hand, getting further and further away from the fireflies, Poppy found herself absentmindedly staring up at the moon. 

She was bright and beautiful tonight. Even when she wasn’t whole, she was full of light, awe-inspiring and poetically captivating. The moon was a luminous guide, whether she was aware of it or not and her cold, arid orb took Poppy’s breath away. 

That big moon over their heads was creating a glow in Poppy’s big green eyes and as she stared up at it, Forrest stared at her. He was completely and utterly in her thrall. Even her pale, alabaster skin seemed to be glowing under the shine of the sky spirits light. As they approached the end of the path and the entrance onto the Silverheel ranch he once called home, Resi couldn’t help but think to himself that there was something completely and utterly special about the offcomer, Poppy James.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her and he didn’t want to.
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