Crimson

Chapter 23: Scars

Lea's Perspective:

Dull rays of the sun shone through the snow-covered trees. Millions of snowflakes floated through the air and danced along with the slight Neverland breezes. There was only one person I knew who could have possibly done this, and he was standing not twenty feet away from me, leaning against a large cedar tree. I observed the way he watched the Lost Boys play from a distance, his eyes fixated on their bright, happy grins. But his focus was interrupted when the sound of a hut door opening rang through the air. Standing in the doorway was Hannah, her lips parted and her eyes gazing at the cascading snowfall. Her blonde hair was quickly covered in snow as she held out a hand in front of her. Stepping out of the hut and venturing out into the snow, she bent over and grabbed handfuls of it, throwing it into the air and spinning in circles. Laughter filled the air and Lost Boys continued their shenanigans. Why was Peter allowing this? He knows how tightly bound we are. God forbid we get too rambunctious and Hook and his crew hears us. Of everyone, Peter knows that we can't get distracted by anything right now. Looking over at Peter, I watched as his eyes met Hannah's. For a brief moment, a grin crept upon his face and he laughed to himself. All I can say is at that moment, I was quite puzzled. That smile was unlike anything I've ever seen on Peter. I couldn't tell you a time that I had seen him smile like that. Picking up a chunk of snow off the ground, Hannah formed a snowball and turned toward Peter.

"Hey, Peter!" She shouted before chucking a snowball at him, hitting him in the face.

Did she just call him—

"Snowball fight!" Lost Boys began to shout.

All of a sudden, mounds upon mounds of snow were being thrown through the air at one another. Peter began throwing snowballs back at Hannah, ducking behind trees and hiding for cover. It was every man for himself, and they thrived with it. Can't they see that it's all fun and games until we lose everything? Everything we've ever worked for, everything we've ever been through, the people we've lost...It will all be for nothing if we don't—

"Ha!" Julian and Sam began to shout.

The side of my head was now covered in freezing cold snow, making me shiver. I could feel the wet snow streaming down my back and seeping into my black tank top. I turned my head and glared at them as more snowballs fired my way.

"Get Lea! Get Lea!" The boys shouted. It was at this point that all of the boys were against me.

They want a snowball fight?

I'll give them a snowball fight.

I crouched down and picked up a handful of snow, tightly packing it in the palms of hands. I chucked it at Sam who went flying through the air and towards the ground. His face was consumed by snow, chunks now matted in his brown hair. Julian was met with the same fate as I threw a snowball at his face. Lost Boys came at me left and right, but they were no match for me. My adrenaline was pumping and I released a few laughs here and there, shrieking when Sam shoved a handful of snow down my back. For a few moments, it seemed as though we were escaping from the world around us. Peter was fooling around with the Lost Boys, Sam and Julian were having a blast, it was almost like old times...

Almost...

As the battle came to a slow, Lost Boys began to fizzle out and relax. The snow had stopped falling and the sun began to warm up the air. While it was fun for a few moments, we couldn't lose sight of what was important. With everything I've seen today, we're not gonna have a chance against Hook. We have to spend every last moment we've got training. As the Lost Boys joked and conversed with one another, I decided that enough was enough.