An Awfully Big Adventure

Chapter 5: A Sleepy, Glittering Dance

Louis shook his head violently as the chatter around the campfire grew impossibly louder. Here he was, in the middle of a spontaneous Lost Boy feast with a bunch of rowdy little boys talking at top volume and play-fighting, and he still couldn't get all of the questions to stop. Questions and thoughts about the new Hook absolutely filled his head to the point he was afraid it might burst.

It didn't help that Hook and his crew hadn't made any attacks in the past week and a half. Louis was on his toes, constantly wondering when they would choose to attack next and why they hadn't done so yet. Of course those thoughts led to more — was it perhaps because Harry just couldn't think of anything? He didn't seem to be very good at fighting or plotting, but maybe it was all part of his plan to appear that way. Did Harry know that Louis thought he was very much like many of the Lost Boys? Was he going to try and use that to his advantage?

The questions continued on and on, not even just specifically about Harry, sometimes they were about himself. He questioned why he was so intrigued by Harry in the first place, and why he always felt the need to help him. He thought himself in ridiculous circles, unable to break the chain.

Tink was, of course, persistent as ever. She and some of the older Lost Boys who had been in Neverland for quite a while asked Louis frequently about his sudden change of pace. What was he thinking about? Why did he suddenly go from carefree and loud to the one boy who was always stewing quietly in the corner or going off by himself? They never got answers though. Louis just insulted them until they left.

It was driving him insane that he couldn't just have his regular passing thoughts of no real importance. Usually his thoughts were varied and imaginative, but now he was stuck with a constant revolution of thousands of questions about the same things all the time. Louis needed it to go away. He couldn't concentrate on having fun.

~*~

Harry was stumped and upset. He didn't know how to plot against Pan. Quite honestly, the boy was quicker than him and better at fighting. He also couldn't really see the point of them being enemies to begin with. The whole situation was strange.

His crew could finally walk around, but they were in no condition to fight. None of them had had any ideas either. And there was nothing to do on this blasted ship!

Harry had taken to exploring the island a bit more, although he had been a little hesitant after the thing with the mermaids. He didn't want to accidentally fall prey to any other magical (or non-magical) creatures. Harry was also unsure of what he should do if he ran into Pan or one of the Lost Boys. Was he supposed to fight them?

Today he decided to go see what was past the lagoon. He walked past quickly to avoid the mermaids, and continued through the thick forest. He couldn't see anything except green for a very long time, and then, suddenly he began to see quick flashes of gold. At first he thought he was just imagining it, but no, the air was shimmering and bright sparks of gold were intermittently visible through the trees. Harry eagerly pushed forward and entered the most breathtaking clearing he could've imagined. There were larger, wizened trees bordering the clearing and one more ⁠— the largest ⁠— in the centre.

Harry walked forward very slowly, looking around in awe at the beauty. Multicoloured flowers coated the ground and on the far side of the clearing, it looked almost as if some of them formed a sort of waterfall as they swayed in the light breeze. The gold glowing he had seen through the trees were fairies ⁠— or pixies, he wasn't sure which ⁠— flitting about through the air. They were very tiny and each glowed brightly. He slowly continued walking around the clearing, entranced by the gorgeous scenery.