Never Land

At the mention of the mysterious girl they’d met in the woods Niall felt his stomach twist itself in knots. His heart sped up at the memory of her dark eyes and plump lips, even if they were always turned into a scowl. As Louis let out a long sigh Niall knew he couldn’t miss out on a chance to see her again. “I’ll go with you.” He blurted out quickly. He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he cleared his throat awkwardly. “I mean, I’m assuming you were planning on bringing Evelyn and I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

Evelyn let her head fall to one side before a knowing grin spread over her face. She turned to Louis, that smirk not leaving her lips for a moment. “Well, if Louis wants us to go…”

“Well I could use the company.” He said.

“But I would suggest you stay very far away from Tiger Lily when Louis breaks the news to her.” Jodie said quickly. “It won’t be pretty.”

“She won’t hurt you, will she Louis?” Evelyn asked, giving him goo goo eyes that made Niall want to gag.

“Well there was this one time she shot him in the foot.” Liam chuckled.

“Pushed him off that cliff into mermaid cove.” Jodie added.

“Oh what about that time she put him on the spit to scare him after he-”

“That’s enough.” Louis snapped. He turned to Evelyn, his body relaxing just at the eye contact and making Niall want to punch the handsome boy in the face. “We should get going, I don’t want to have to deal with waking her up and telling her bad news.”

The walk to Tiger Lily’s village seemed to stretch on forever as Niall made sure to walk between Evelyn and Louis. He knew his sister wouldn’t be happy with him, but he was her big brother, protecting her was his job. Finally the sounds of laughter and singing hit their ears as they approached the camp where a feast like Niall and Evelyn had never seen before was going on. A boar the size of a cow was roasting on a spit as Tiger Lily’s people danced and hollered. Niall and Evelyn couldn’t help but smile, feeling their stomach’s growl as they followed Louis up to the camp.

As Niall looked around however he couldn’t help but notice Tiger Lily herself was nowhere to be seen. He watched as Louis walked up to one giant tent, but the men in front of it insisted Tiger Lily was not to be disturbed, but Louis and the others were free to help themselves to whatever food they wanted. Without another word Louis quickly grabbed Evelyn, pulling her into the group dancing around the fire.

Niall watched him for a moment, making sure he wouldn’t do anything creepy with Evelyn, but she seemed to be having a good time. So Niall turned his attention back towards Tiger Lily’s tent, knowing he had to see her again. He quietly snuck through the dark camp before making his way to the back of her tent where there wasn’t a guard to be found. He swallowed nervously, but he knew if he and Evelyn were going to leave he had to see her one last time. He slowly pulled up the bottom of the tent, looking inside and felt his cheeks flush when he saw her.

Her back was to him as she pulled on her skin tight pants, her cropped shirt quick to follow as her raven hair cascaded down her back. Niall felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as she sat down, looking at a giant feathered crown that he assumed must belong to her. The white and red feathers sparkled as two raccoon tails hung down the sides. From what Niall could see, it was very old as Tiger Lily slowly picked it up, running her fingers through the feathers.

“Peter.” She murmured. Niall immediately felt a pang of jealousy as he heard another boy’s name leave her lips. But it was also the way her face softened when she said it, how it made her scowl vanish and a small, sad smile to take it’s place. He was so caught up in how beautiful she looked in the light of her small fire that he didn’t notice the guards until it was too late.

“You! What are you doing in Chief Tiger Lily’s tent?!” When Tiger Lily heard her name she spun around, her eyes narrowing in fury as she saw the blonde boy from earlier. She shot up, storming over and grabbing the front of his shirt before pulling him roughly to his feet.

“You have ten seconds before I kill you.” She growled. Niall felt his heart racing as her eyes narrowed and he knew she wasn’t joking.

“I came with Louis and-”

“LOUIS!” She screamed, dropping Niall back to the floor and ripping open the front of her tent. Everything became deathly silent as she looked over her tribe before finally Louis stepped forward, Evelyn right on his heels. She grabbed the back of Niall’s shirt, pulling him to her side as she glared furiously at the lost boy. The rest of her tribe got the hint, everyone vanishing into their tents. “Do you care to explain to me why they’re still here?”

Louis swallowed nervously, looking back at Evelyn before facing Tiger Lily one again. “I dropped the bag of dust.” He muttered. Niall watched her face fall as she looked at Louis in shock.

“You what?”

“I dropped it.” Louis repeated. “But it shouldn’t be a problem to get it back right? I mean, you can just get more… right?” Niall prepared himself to go deaf from Tiger Lily’s screaming, but she simply looked at Louis, her eyes dark.

“Why Peter ever chose foolish, clumsy children like you to replace him is beyond me.” She hissed. Niall recognized the name and watched Tiger Lily, seeing a flash of something in her dark eyes before they turned hard once again. “Call Liam and the others.”

“But can’t you just-” Louis started, but Tiger Lily simply held up her hand.

“Get the others.” With that Louis and Evelyn started off. But as Niall started to follow she grabbed the back of his shirt again. He turned to her as she scowled, her eyes narrowed. “If I ever catch you spying on my again, you will not have a quick death. That I promise you.” With that she gave him a hard shove, nearly sending him to the ground before she vanished into her tent. And as Niall hurried to catch up with the other, the only thing he wanted to know was who this Peter was and what he’d done to Tiger Lily.