Subject: [FFML] [FIC][SM/Other] Challenge Response Pt 2
From: Starrngr@aol.com
Date: 6/24/1999, 2:54 AM
To: FFML@fanfic.com

And here is the next part of the unusual crossovers fic I've been working on. 
 Again, C&C really would be appreciated....

Sailor Pan: Part 1  �A most curious boy�

(See Prologue for Disclaimer)

Raye Moira Angela Darling awoke to the sound of weeping.  For a 
long moment, she debated burrowing under her covers in fear, but 
decided against it.  It should be noted that the sound of someone in 
tears was not inherently frightening to her, but rather that her mother 
and the two cats that served as Nannies to she and her younger sisters 
Amy and Hotaru had almost trapped a strange boy in the nursery a few 
days ago and she was concerned that he might have come back.  It is not 
known wither her actions that night would have been different had Luna 
and Artemis, the cats cum nannies in question, been sleeping in the 
room as was their custom, but as they had been banished to the backyard 
that evening after a nasty scene, it never will be known, either.  In 
all fairness to her, in fact, the knowledge that Luna and Artemis were 
not in the house this night probably contributed to her decision.  If 
there was someone in the nursery that night, it was her responsibility 
as the oldest to protect her younger sisters.

	In the end, what is known is that Raye did not hide under her 
covers, but instead opened her eyes to behold a most curious boy 
sitting in the middle of the nursery floor, holding his shadow and 
weeping in frustration.  His hair was as black as the inside of a 
Newcastle coal mine, while his sad eyes were the shade of a mahogany 
desk that had been lovingly waxed for a score of years.  He was garbed 
from head to toe in some sort of one piece suit made from leaves.  For 
the most part, the outfit was as black as the boy�s hair, yet from 
wrist to elbow, and ankle to knee, the leaves were a bright yellow.  
His hands, face, and feet, for he wore no shoes, were tanned to a 
golden shade.  All in all, there was something about the lad which 
puzzled her, and the first words from her mouth were not the command to 
begone one might expect to be directed at a stranger one has just found 
in your bedroom.

	�Why are you crying, boy?� was what she inquired, instead, and 
thus were events set into motion that would change everyone�s lives.  
The boy�s reaction was electric, jumping halfway to the roof and then 
just hanging there, in midair.  The novelty of this fact caused Raye to 
gasp in surprise and wonderment at this exceedingly strange personage.

	�I am Jason, the Pan,� the boy replied, still floating midway 
between the floor and ceiling, apparently quite unconcerned with the 
inexorable force of gravity that rules our lives.  Something touched 
his more noble nature, and he bowed extravagantly, without so much as a 
bobble to his precarious mid-air position.

	The novelty of this fact intrigued Raye greatly, and drew her from 
her bed in order to walk around him, examining him closely to see if 
there was, in fact, some sort of hidden wire suspending him in midair 
that she hadn�t noticed.  Satisfied that there were none, she sat back 
on her bed and pondered his presence.  �And I am Raye Moira Angela 
Darling,� she replied grandly, as if hoping to impress him with the 
sheer volume of names.  �But, where do you live?� she continued in 
discrete inquiry.

	�Second star on the right, and straight on till morning,� Jason 
replied grandly, drifting over to sit beside Raye on the bed.

	�That sounds so very far away,� Raye decided.  �Won�t your mother 
be worried that you�ve traveled so far from home?�

	While Raye thought this to be quite the innocent question, Jason 
clearly took offense at this, for he launched himself from the bed and 
hung in the air once more, with his back to her.  �I have no mother,� 
he declared, his voice as venomous as any scorpion.  �I ran away the 
day I was born.�

	�How awful,� Raye observed softly.  �No wonder you were crying.�

	�I wasn�t crying,� Jason replied quite indignantly.  �And even if 
I was, it wasn�t because I have no mother.  It seems that I cannot get 
my shadow to stick to me.�

	This prompted Raye to examine the shadow in question, which was 
not in the best of conditions; Ikkuku Darling had simply wadded it up 
and shoved it in one of the drawers after having torn it from Jason as 
if it was something quite distasteful, and it was now quite creased and 
wrinkled.  The shadow was clearly unhappy with this fact, and expressed 
its displeasure at its current condition with a most crude gesture!  
�Stop that�, Raye snapped at the impertinent shadow, �I cant help you 
when you wiggle like that.�  The shadow seemed to accept this, or at 
least the fact that with so little light in the nursery, it was not 
strong enough to force the issue, and allowed Raye to continue her 
examination.  The cause of the problem was soon clearly apparent to 
her.  �No wonder it won�t stay,� she told Jason.  �You tried to stick 
it on with soap!�

	�And what is wrong with that?� Jason replied, trying to hide his 
ignorance in the matter.

	�Because it needs to be sewn, that�s why,� Raye retorted in a tone 
that indicated that Jason really should have known this.  �Let me get 
the needle and thread from the drawer.�  No sooner than she had opened 
the drawer, she stopped short in surprise and amassment, for a glowing 
light had just emerged from the drawer and hung before her, giving the 
most annoyed sort of chiming noises.

	�Crystalbelle!� Jason snapped from where he floated.  �That is no 
way to speak to her, she is trying to help.  And how were either of us 
to know you were still stuck in that drawer?�  This only served to re-
direct Crystalbelle�s displeasure from Raye to Jason, as the light 
zipped over to where he was floating and continued to berate him in its 
crystalline tones.

	�What a curious creature,� Raye observed as she finally retrieved 
the needle and thread and returned to where Jason was floating.  �I�ll 
need you to hold still for a moment, as this might hurt a bit.�

	Jason threw back his shoulders, as if to declare there was nothing 
that would make him flinch.  �This is Crystalbelle, the fairy who found 
me when I ran away.  You see, when a baby laughs its first laugh, that 
laugh breaks into a thousand pieces and each becomes a fairy.  And it�s 
a good thing to, for any time a person declares that they don�t believe 
in fairies, one of them drops stone dead.  If each baby didn�t create 
so many of them, they would all be dead by now, given the way no one 
believes in them anymore.�

	�How horrible indeed,� Raye agreed as she tied off the final 
stitch.  �There, that should do it.�

	This prompted Jason to test this, and he promptly flew around the 
room and struck several silly poses to prove that his shadow really was 
now re-attached.  Aside from one incident in which the shadow made 
another comparatively rude gesture when Jason did not, he was quite 
satisfied with the results, and flew around the room once more, crowing 
and congratulating himself on being so clever, as if Raye had had 
nothing to do with the solution of the problem!

	�Well,� noted Raye, quite upset at Jason�s antics, �Since you 
clearly no longer need me, I shall retire.� And with that promptly 
climbed back into her bed and drew the covers up over her head.  Jason 
promptly ceased his flight and settled down on Raye�s bed once more, 
but the damage had been done, for her sisters Amy and Hotaru had been 
awakened.

	�Hullo,� Amy ventured cautiously at the strange apparition before 
her, �Who are you?�

	�He�s a giant conceit, that�s what he is!� snorted Raye from under 
her covers.

	�I�m sorry, Raye, I can�t help but crow when I�m happy.  It�s the 
way I am,� Jason gravely apologized to Raye before turning to Amy.  �I 
am Jason Pan, captain of the Lost Scouts.�

	�Who�re they?� asked Hotaru, the youngest, still rubbing the sleep 
from her eyes.

	�They�re girls who fell out of their prams unnoticed by their 
nurses.  Sadly, of late, if it happened to a boy the parents would not 
rest until he was found.  With a girl, the father seems to go through 
the motions with no real effort behind them.�

	�How awful!� observed Raye, pulling her covers back from over her 
head at last.  �Whatever do they do?�

	�Whatever we feel like,� Jason replied confidently.  �But of late, 
we�ve spent most of our time dealing with Captain Yeeves and his 
notorious pirates.  They alternate between trying to catch us and kill 
the redskins who live in Neverland with us.�

	�Pirates?� Amy asked excitedly.

	�Redskins?� Hotaru noted with glee, and both looked to Raye, the 
eldest, with pleading looks in their eyes.

Raye, however, remained uncertain, so Jason turned to persuade her once 
more.  �Please, Raye.  It would be so nice to have you there.  None of 
the scouts can do the things you do, and you know the most entrancing 
tales!  You could be the mother they never had!�  It isn�t known if it 
was the words or the pleading tone in which they were spoken which did 
the trick, but Raye�s heart was softened by this and thus were their 
feet set firmly on destiny�s path.

	�I suppose it would be all right.  But we really shouldn�t stay 
too long, mother and father will worry about us if we do,� she decided, 
to the delight of her younger siblings.

	�How do we get there?� Amy asked.

	�Why, we fly, of course,� Jason replied confidently.

	�How?� wondered Hotaru.

	�Think of your happiest thought,� advised Jason, �and it will lift 
you right off the floor!�

	All three children promptly screwed their eyes shut and 
concentrated on the happiest thoughts that came to mind.  When they 
opened them, however, they realized to their dismay that they still 
stood solidly on the nursery floor.

	�It didn�t work,� sighed a melancholy Hotaru.

	Jason quickly ticked off what was needed on his fingers once more.  
�A happy thought, a little trust�� His voice trailed off as he realized 
what had been forgotten.  Quickly he reached out and grabbed 
Crystalbelle, who had just returned from investigating the nursery 
bathroom.  �And, a little bit of Pixie dust!� he concluded 
triumphantly, as Crystalbelle gave a crystalline shriek of surprise.  
Jason shook the fairy lightly over the head of each child, showering 
them with a golden substance.  Crystalbelle was not happy with this, 
and expressed her displeasure to Jason over this treatment in no 
uncertain terms.

	The effects were almost immediate, and soon all three children 
were floating about the room.  Jason let them circle the nursery a few 
times before leaping to the window.  �Come on, everybody!  On to 
Neverland!� he shouted, and the four youths swept from the nursery out 
across the night sky.

Continued in Part 2.