One blue eye cracked open under the assault from the ray of sunlight that had managed to fight its way through thousands of leaves just to wake her.  The other eye soon followed but only for a brief moment, her eyes screwing shut as the woman yawned.  She stretched, her arms reaching far over her head as her back popped once or twice.  The bed was large and comfortable, heaped with pillows and covered in crisp white sheets.<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fe4%2F4f%2F45%2Fe44f45214dcfb5515c03ad19c80f511c.jpg&amp;hash=2b685893c1d396f3256815cf12686a81" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/4f/45/e44f45214dcfb5515c03ad19c80f511c.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Erin</a>was reluctant to get up but it was her turn to go see if any people had arrived in the middle of the night.<br/><br/>Never Land had a strange way of pulling newcomers in while they were sleeping. Or maybe it was while the Never Landers were sleeping. Either way, it didn’t matter much. All she knew was that Sarah had gone to check yesterday and Ryan had gone the day before that which meant it was her turn in the rotation.  With a grumble, she tossed the covers back and rolled out of bed, her bare feet landing with a soft thump on the smooth wooden floor of her treehouse.<br/><br/>It didn’t take long to pull on her clothes which consisted of a well-worn pair of jeans that had clearly seen better days based on the rips, holes, and bloodstains that covered them along with the fitted t-shirt that may have once been white but was now a dingy gray and also ripped in places.  Nimble fingers quickly braided her long dark hair so it was out of her face before she strapped a sheath to her right thigh then carefully slid the long knife into place.  Finally, she pulled on her socks and boots, lacing them tightly.  Dressed and ready to face the world, she stepped out the door with a smile at the view laid out before her.<br/><br/>The tree that her house was in was immense, reaching into the sky until it was impossible to see where it ended.  Sometimes Erin swore it touched the stars. The branches were thick and strong, dotted with the small houses of others that lived in the tree in the dead center of Never Land. Forest stretched to the north and east while open plains and fields occupied the west. To the south was the sea where Capt. Madelyn Hooke maintained a fleet of pirate ships. Erin wished someone was going with her today; she’d even settle for Chris but he seemed to prefer to keep to himself, avoiding contact with pretty much all the inhabitants of the tree.<br/><br/>Without further ado, the woman did an elegant swan dive into thin air. It was hard to deny that flying was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Erin felt weightless as she dove and swooped through the air, even letting the air currents take her where they wished. After a few minutes of simple fun cavorting through the air, it was time to get back to the task at hand. The fields seemed to the best place to start with her search for newcomers. People that appeared in the trees tended to arrive a bit worse for the wear while the unlucky ones that appeared over the sea, well, they mostly drowned.  The mermaids were picky about who they rescued and the crocodiles took care of those who weren’t lucky enough to be saved or land close enough to shore to swim.<br/><br/>The trip to the open fields wasn’t a long one. Within minutes she was swooping low, flying back and forth as she scanned the ground below for signs of life. The land below seemed empty and she was ready to turn for home when something caught her eye. There, in the treeline. A vague shape. Erin flew closer, wary of what it might be. Hooke had been known to set traps before. In fact, Elijah had disappeared that way. They still weren’t sure what had happened to him.<br/><br/>It appeared to be a large man. Burly, almost. And he appeared to have a beard. He seemed to be out cold. Sleeping, perhaps. Sometimes it was hard to tell. He was curled on his right side, knees drawn up a little. There was something embroidered on his chest, on the left side above a pocket. Alighting on the ground, Erin moved closer as she squinted to make out what it said. ‘Alek’.<br/><br/>“Hey,” she called out cautiously, ready to run if he tried to attack her. “You alive?”<br/><br/><a class="username" data-user-id="1302" data-username="@Abeyance" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/1302/">@Abeyance</a>