23. Poor Unfortunate Souls (From "The Little Mermaid")
Poor unfortunate souls, in pain, in need...
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Night time was Louis' favourite time.
Everything was quiet and still. He thought it was peaceful, a time where he could think clearly and relax.
As he lay beside Harry in bed, he kept one hand stroking his boyfriend's hair, and the other resting behind his own head as he listened to the sounds of the night with his eyes closed.
It all seemed so odd, that night. There was an uneasy feeling, he thought. Something didn't seem right.
He tried to brush the feeling aside, and instead focused his thoughts on Harry and how on earth they would be able to defeat the pirates in time to get home before Harry had the baby. The last thing he wanted, was for Harry to give birth in Neverland. Their family, and their lives, were at home in England. They needed to set up the nursery, make sure they found the right hospital and the doctor had a good team to deliver their child. Nothing could go wrong, or Louis would freak out.
He sighed, so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear what was going on outside the room, at first. But as soon as it happened a second time, his eyes grew wide.
The first thing Louis noticed was exactly how dark it was in their room. It was still night time, the sun wasn't up, but it seemed as if it had gotten impossibly darker, so much so that he could hardly see the other side of the room. He reached to the table beside Harry's hospital bed for an oil lamp to turn on. After fiddling for a moment, he found the switch, and woke up his boyfriend at the same time.
"Wha-" Harry begun, but was shushed by Louis placing a hand over his mouth. He was listening carefully, trying to hear the noise again.
It was quiet, but it was there. He strained to hear it exactly, but it was becoming louder and louder with every second.
Voices. Yelling. Screams in the night.
"What's going on?" Harry whispered as Louis got up and peered out the window carved in the tree.
He didn't answer for a moment, he only watched. Lost Boys and girls were jumping out of their rooms, strapping armour and swords to their body as they ran. Louis didn't know where to, but it all seemed very chaotic.
There were thumps all around them, almost like cannons being fired at their camp, then it clicked in Louis' mind.
This was it. The pirates, Hook, had finally decided to attack. It was time. The final battle.
"Shit." He hissed rushing back to put the lamp on the table before he ran to his things in the corner of the room and started getting dressed. "Harry, I need you to hide."
"What?" Harry asked. "What do you mean? What's happening?"
"It's the attack." Louis said, his eyes begging Harry to understand. "The pirates are here, they're attacking the camp. This is it Harry."
"Then we'd better get to the weapons-" Harry stuttered as he climbed out of bed, all of a sudden very awake, and very scared. "We need to help-"
"Harry please," Louis stopped his, grabbing both his shoulders. "Please, hide. Don't fight."
"I have to help!" He argued, but his boyfriend wasn't listening.
"Its too dangerous!" Louis cut him off again. "I can't have you getting hurt, either of you."
Louis started into Harry's eyes, begging for him to understand as he gave him his special look, one he knew Harry would recognise, as he hoped it would convince Harry to hide.
"I know, this is scary." Harry said calmly, gripping Louis' face in his hands. "But we don't have a choice right now. I won't sit back when I can do something about it, and help our friends."
"Haz..." Louis trailed off as Harry leaned in to kiss him gently.
"We're going to be fine." He said. "Now lets go, it sounds like its getting crazy out there."
Never did Louis think that it was possible, but Harry made him smile, and even laugh a little at the absurdity of the situation. No matter where they were or what was going on around them, Harry had an aura about him that gave him hope. It was amazing.
"Okay."
Louis went back over to their trunk and tossed Harry a sword in it's scabbard, a leather tunic and then pulled out a bow and arrow.
"Find a tree and shoot at them from above." He said as he pushed the weapon into his hands. "The sword is for backup. Please, baby, stay safe."
"You too." Harry answered as he slipped the sword and quiver of arrows over his shoulder and tested the bowstring. "I love you."
"I love you too." Louis said as he adjusted his own sword. "Now, let's go."
.
Louis slashed his sword as he fought off an oncoming pirate, then ducked as the man charged and went over the railing, falling to his death.
He wiped his forehead and looked around where he was standing. There was yelling and screaming all around him, fighting everywhere he looked. Just in time, he stepped backwards for Perrie and charge at another pirate, sending him falling over the edge of the railing too. Up where they were, the easiest way to get rid of the oncoming threat was to let them fall over the railing of the rope bridges they were standing on. He had about 2 seconds to reassess what the fuck he was doing, before he had to run down towards where he saw someone needing help.
Honestly, he was terrified. This whole thing was more than he'd signed up for in the grand scheme of things. He wanted to help Neverland, but this was a lot to ask he thought. At least knowing Harry was safe and perched in a tree somewhere made him feel infinitely better about what was going on.
Neverland, and the Lost Boys camp, was supposed to be a safe place. It was somewhere for the Lost boys and girls to have fun and get away, it wasn't supposed to be a battle ground. Though it made him feel better that after they'd defeated the pirates, Neverland would be safe again and they would be able to go home.
Louis jumped down the last couple of steps on the bridge, then grabbed a rope and slid himself down to the ground before running to help his friends.
Slash. Slash. Stab.
Another one down before he spun and moved on to the next, taking care of him too. It didn't really register with him that he was actually killing these pirates, probably because he was only really focused on protecting his friends, and Harry. It was the most important thing to him.
After getting rid of a couple more nasty pirates, Louis managed to have a second where he could look around and take in what was going on around him.
Liam and Niall were working together to fight off the oncoming pirates only a couple meters away from him.
In the dining hall, Louis could see people up on tables fighting, including Pan himself. He was fighting off a couple of pirates, seemingly okay. He was darting amongst them, taking care of them relatively easily. He was standing on top of a table, just having run through a pirate with his sword when it happened.
He had a grin on his face, watching his Lost Boys and Girls as they fought for their home and freedom. He was proud.
It almost happened in slow motion. Louis saw a pirate coming up behind him, and Pan couldn't see. There was a sick grin on his face as he jumped up onto a chair, and then the table behind their fearless leader. Louis watched on horror, yelling out to his friend, but it was too late. Everyone stopped fighting as Louis screamed, and turned to watch the scene unfold.
The pirate brought his sword in front of Pan, the boy's eyes filling with fear, and slit his throat.
And just like that, Pan was dead.
There was a moment of silence where no one knew what to do. The room was filled with shock, hands covered mouths and eyes filled with tears.
But the battle was still going. Louis pushed through the crowd as the fighting started again, desperately trying to get to Pan. He jumped up onto the table and sat beside his body, taking his face in his hands.
"Oh my God." Louis whispered, tears filling his eyes. He tried desperately to stop the bleeding but it was a lost cause, Pan was already gone. He closed his friend's eyes and took a moment, before looking up around the rest of the room.
As if everyone shared the same thought at the same time, the rest of the Lost Boys and Girls stepped up their fight and fought with twice the strength and determination. For their late leader.
And in that moment, the battle turned and luck was on their side.
The Lost Kids were going to win.
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um, hi ... ?!
i finished uni for the semester, so I'm back? i guess?
sorry i've been gone so long. a lot of things have happened in my life since last time we were here.
but hey, i'm here now!
i've missed you all, how've you all been?!
Lights, Camera, Harry reached 1M reads?! y'all are insane i love you all so much xx
thanks for still being here, i owe you the world <3