Three trees.

She’d marked three more trees that week… of how many, she wasn’t sure. The nice part about having oodles of noodles of troodles of trees was that she’d always find a new one whenever she felt like looking for one. It didn’t hurt the trees much when she’d mark them - it was like some of the fancy tattoos she’d seen on several visitors to the ports, really. A small knife, carving her letter in the bark, marking a history in its trunk that the Knight of Neverland had taken residence among the branches for a night’s slumber.

None of the trees she visited held the same comfort as her tree, but it was always good practice to be on the lookout for a backup. Always a good practice. Sure, her tree had all of her treasures and stuffings hidden within the hollowed out trunk but stuffings were always replaceable.

Or mostly replaceable, really.

Tangled hair was shoved past her ears as her face pressed close to the newly carved bark. She blew against the wood, small tinder and debris flying off to reveal the misshapen, crooked N. The knife was fastened back to her belt and the young woman had enough time to let off a triumphant grunt before the wind decided to join in with the noise making.

“Grimal, did you hear that?”

The spark in fiery eyes was lit, dirty hands reaching up to grab at the branches up above. Her companion gave no response but the silence failed to deter the young, rambunctious woman.

“I haven’t heard a whistle like that since the day we found that whatsit down at the port. Do you think more whatsits are on the way?”

Still, no response was offered but the Pluto Knight nodded her head, as if silent words were being whispered into her ear along with the whistle in the wind. “Probably. I wouldn’t be surprised. He didn’t seem to happy but it got us a decent treasure. Lots of sparkles, that one - still sort of sparkles when you hold it right.”

Calloused palms grabbed and pulled at each branch above, hoisting herself upwards until her head was even with the treetops. Hair stuck out like a sore thumb among the greenery but it was okay - her thumbs were sore anyways, so it made sense. Very sensible.

“What’s this?”

Eyebrows furrowed together as she glanced around in the direction of the port. It was easy to see the time of day because of the shadows, but the colors of the sky…no good. It wasn’t good. Well, not good for her, fine for the sky, probably not so good for those down at the port.

"Red sky at night, sailors’ delight."

The soft voice chimed aloud, the volume low enough for only the best of listening ears to hear.

"Red sky at morning, sailors take warning…"

As the red painted across the skies surrounding her forests, Neverland scrunched up her nose and peered through the clouds. It was an ominous sign, for certain, but even ominous things could bring about a grand time - if one were to play their cards right. Or whatever they were using the place of cards, of course.

The longer she stared out at the red-drenched dawn, the narrower her eyes were forced to peer. Storms were ahead and she needed to get back to her tree but something kept her hanging on to the tree top, staring off into the distance.

All the staring paid off in no time, though, a small speck among the clouds catching her attention and bringing out a loud crow from the Pluto inhabitant. Fishing out the rickety spyglass she’d traded for only a week prior, one eye peered through the hole while the other positioned itself out towards the distance.

It was a ship, alright… but still too far away to notice any remarkably unremarkable markings. No doubt potential treasure to find at port once it docked...

“Look like there’s a change in the wind, Grimmy. Should we batten down the hatches or ride through it?”

The only response she got was a whistle between the leaves. She grinned as the spyglass was returned to its home.

“Aye aye. My thoughts exactly, friend. Adventure awaits us - oh!”

Her hand had risen to the top of her head, only to discover a messy mass of curls under her fingertips. “Wouldn’t be proper-like to show up underdressed. I think I’m going to need my fancy hat for this one.”

The Knight’s head quickly disappeared into the foliage, soon after followed by the sound of branches snapping and twigs breaking as the young woman made her way quickly back to her hovel of treasures.