Second star to the right - Larry

FOUR

Harry wakes me up when the sun is rising. Niall is grinning as Fawn sits down on his head to play with a single hair strand. Jack is securing his bow and quiver as Zayn is crouched down behind Liam where he's sorting out his thigh-holster so it's tight enough.

I move into a sitting position and make sure no knives have slipped out in my sleep, then tighten my own thigh-holster. My thoughts turn into worry as soon as we're on our way again. I'm expecting something to come out and attach us with every step we take.

"Louis?"

I look at Liam when he grabs my elbow and steps up next to me. Zayn is chatting with Jack as they're seemingly working out last night's argument.

"Did you want something?"

"I want you to know that I don't stand by Zayn's actions."

"I know."

Liam would choose Zayn a hundred times over, but that doesn't necessarily mean he agrees with the things he's saying.

"I know him quite well," he goes on. "He doesn't want to go back, he's just upset about the entire situation. He enjoys growing up, but he's struggling with the pace. We've been children so long that growing up was such a distant thing to us. And when it suddenly happened, time caught up with us quicker than we had expected, so we haven't always understood everything that has happened along the way."

I understand what he means when his cheeks turn red. I suppose going through puberty is always tricky, but in Neverland it must be even trickier when they haven't grown up in a world where it comes naturally.

"Right."

"Anyway," he continues, "as children we had no worries. Peter might not have cared about us, but we were watched over."

I suppose, in some ways, that being on Peter's good side is an outright privilege when it comes to security. And I open my mouth to say something, but no less than 5 boys appear rather suddenly. Liam curses as he and the boys prepare their weapons. Fawn is gone in a hurry, apparently unwilling to get caught up in whatever is about to happen.

"I see two new ones," the blonde one says. "How is the little one going to help?"

I shudder in response, but Harry grabs my arm and pulls me behind him. They're young, much, much younger than us, but they have an edge to them, one that makes them stronger than they appear.

Jack has an arrow ready, so the only thing he has to do is let the string go, but the children aren't anywhere near scared. I suppose they know Jack won't let it go unless they actually make a move to hurt us.

"Are you going to kill us?" another one asks, amusement shining through in his voice. "I mean, are you going to try?"

"We might," Jack says.

A long moment passes where nothing happens, but when something does, it happens so quickly that I can't keep up—children who have been trained by Peter move terribly quickly. They probably believe in strength they might not have, so in mere seconds, Harry and I are hiding behind a tree with Fawn hovering in the air between us.

"One." 

I realise what she means when one boy drops to the ground without making a single sound. I cover my mouth when he stops gasping, watching Jack pull his arrow out. He uses the same arrow to kill a second boy when he comes up behind him and sticks the arrow into his neck. I grip onto Harry's arm when Jack kicks him so hard his teeth come out, which might've been slightly unnecessary when Niall is already making sure he's dead by sliding his sword through him.