Curiosity and Freedom.
Winter. Nature is dead, sky is freezing, and the world below is cold, frosted with white glittering snow and ice. Bright lights of the unknown city below gives the boy an interesting view. His magic numbed the cold that blew against him, he inhaled and flew downwards into the city. Making sure no one was watching as he descended in a open deserted street. He pulled out his flute and brought his lips to the instrument and blew, letting out a soft then whimsical tune that echoed down streets, alley's, bouncing off houses into the ears of sleeping young boys that slowly got to their feet.
As he walked, keeping the tune alive while he left tracks behind. He stopped and noticed his shadow descending, it stood before him and cocked his head to the side then it reattached itself to him. He sighed and tucked the pipe back into his cloak.
"Lost but not hearing the tune?" He wondered to himself, he frowned as he went walking down a dark alley, remembering his shadows directions. He closed his eyes and focused more closely on the memory of what his shadow saw.
A boy, maybe older than the usual lost boys he would recruit, but still a boy. Wearing a dark jacket and large hood that hid his face, shivering as he sat alone in the alley a few blocks ahead. His shadow couldn't get any closer to see his face, something sticking out of his mouth was evident, maybe a cigarette.
He reopened his eyes as he walked down another street towards the next alley. He closed his eyes again, this time he let his magic sway and the cold of the winter attacked his body, a shiver escaped through his lips. It was colder than he thought, he pitied this boy.
"Why are you alone at such an hour?" He wondered, clenching his teeth and ignoring the cold, his shadows memory went back a few hours as it flew across cities and towns until the sun began to set into the evening. The boy right away catching the shadows attention. The front doors of a shop swung open, the boy stumbling out while a man yelled at him to get lost. The boy reached down for some snow in his bare hands, rolling it into a round snow ball, a smirk playing on his lips, but his face still shrouded by the hood. He threw the snowball at the man, hitting him in the back of the head, the man turned around, his face bright red as he began to chase the laughing boy down the street.
An abrupt chuckle escaped his lips, amused by the memory as his shadow followed the boy. The man didn't bother chasing him and went back to his shop. The boy panted, leaning against a wall and walked down a few streets alone and the feeling the shadow felt was strong, the boy was uncaring. The shadows memory went on for a few hours, disappearing from the boy's view and going somewhere else but always coming back to the boy.
He stopped walking as he opened his eyes, a sigh escaped and the puffs of cold air some how surprised him. He wondered why the boy was outside, didn't he have family, then again he wouldn't be outside alone. Two more blocks where the shadow last saw him.
He closed his eyes once more as his body continued walking down the lone alley. Then once more the memories opened up, the boy was up against a wall while two older men kept him from escaping.
"You've become a pain to deal with, didn't your mother teach you not to steal from others." One man seethed.
"If I had a mother, maybe she would have said something like that." The boy grit his teeth, the darkness that surrounded them was slightly annoying, he couldn't see what this boy looked like. He wanted to see, to know who this was, why his shadow was so entranced by him. The next thing caught him by surprise that his physical body stopped moving. One of the men punched the boy in the face, a groan escaping as he thickly inhaled air. The other kicked him hard in the stomach, the boy fell to his knees, gasping, snow meeting his thin long fingers.
"Adults.." He muttered with a sneer, his body kept moving as his mind fell back into the memories.
A few minutes after, the boy was at his feet, body slightly bent, hand on his stomach as he held onto the brick wall for support. He pulled out a lone white cigarette and scoffed.
"Wish I had a light.."
He opened his eyes and quirked a smile. He figured out why his shadow was so interested in this particular boy. He's playful, quick, and unbreakable. Unusual that this boy didn't hear the sound of his flute, he didn't have parents, he's an orphan and homeless. Shouldn't that make this boy feel hopeless and unloved? He wanted to know why the sound didn't affect him like the others. Maybe in some way, this boy felt like there was no way he was ever going to find a home so there was no point in feeling anything. However, that's just speculation. He was close, around the corner, he'd walk up to the boy and see for himself.
He inhaled and licked his lips, he pressed a hand on the cold brick wall and took a quick step into the alley. He sat on the ground, hood concealing his face, unlit smoke in between his trembling lips, his body shivered as he hugged himself to gain some kind of warmth.
He walked straight up to the boy and said, "Do you mind if I take you home with me?"
The boy's body tensed from the sudden sound and realization that someone was here with him. He hadn't realized and looked up to see a playful grin upon plump pink lips. "A-Aren't you a little young to be saying that?" He asked, noticing the clothing the boy wore and thought it was strange.
The boy shrugged his shoulders, looking up at the sky and noticing the falling flakes of snow descending. "I can keep you warm." He looked back down.
The boy, however, scoffed. "Do you have a light?"
He leaned down, touched the edge of the cigarette with his thumb and when he pulled away, it lit and the boys eyes widened. "How did you do that?" He asked, inhaling the smoke he wanted since a few hours ago.
"Magic."
He hummed and said nothing, enjoying his cigarette. He figured this strange boy with the strange clothing and magic touch would simply leave. Instead he knelt down and was looking at him more closely, an impulse to flick the black hood away from his face to see what he was dealing with.
"How old are you?" He asked, knowing his shadow wouldn't go for an adult. This boy seemed the type to be near the age, but that could be easily stopped soon enough.
"Seventeen, why?"
"I'm sixteen, been that way for years now.. I can take you away from this, I can stop you from aging and also make you forget at the same time."
The boy raised his brow, of course the one in front of him couldn't see his skeptical expression. "What? Are you my Fairy Godmother or something?" He asked, almost wanting to laugh at the absurd thought.
He tilt his head to the side, "Never thought of it that way, but no." He pulled out his flute and before he was going to play.
"What's your name?"
"Felix."
"Peter, Peter Pan."
Felix smiled sheepishly, finally understanding this boys strange words. "You meant Neverland."
Peter shrugged. "It's a real place, Felix, and I can take you there. A home where you won't be alone anymore, where others like you and I well reside. A lost boy in your own right."
Felix pulled the cigarette out and flicked it to the side. He stood up, four inches taller than Peter and he did what Peter and his own shadow wanted since they noticed the boy. He pulled off his hood, showing ragged blond hair, thin face and grey eyes that hold kindred amusement, mirroring Peter's own green eyes that brighten with pride.
"How about it?"
Felix thinks for a moment, wondering if this kid was just simply messed up, or Neverland is a code for an orphanage. He didn't have anywhere else to go, no one to see, nothing to do but freeze. What else did he have. Nothing but this strange boy in front of him, it felt odd, and he shivered at the cold.
Peter watched as Felix hugged himself, trying to stay warm. He welled the magic to return to him, the cold felt annoying and once the magic covered his body and shielded him from normal human temperatures. He reached out to touch Felix's arm, however, Felix stepped back and Peter paused.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"Reflex. My bad." Felix tried to smile, but his face felt numb. He didn't know why this boy was going to touch his arm, but he let him and once he did. Peter's hand moved along his arm to his wrist and Felix felt warmth.
Why was he feeling warmth? What did this boy do? What was happening? Felix gasped in shock, he stepped back again, his back hitting the brick wall, Peter moved forward, grabbing his wrist and this time not letting go.
"I did say I was going to make you warm, didn't I?" Peter smirked, moving into Felix's personal space, not wanting to move away from him.
"How?"
"Like I said, magic."
Peter smoothed his fingers against Felix's bare wrist. "So, do you want to come with me to Neverland?" He asked, bringing up the flute he held in his free hand.
"Free?"
Peter nodded. "Free."
Felix's heart raced, the touch of this strange boy, the heat overwhelmed him. All he did was nod and he watched the boy smile, bringing the flute to his lips and before he played, he said, "We're going to have a lot of fun in Neverland, Felix." He didn't doubt Peter's words and the music that hit his ears made his mind black out.
.
.
fin
a/n: I wanted to incorporate a sort of romantic meeting between Peter and Felix, but it's more subtle than I thought and I kinda like it. :D I forgot what the Pied Piper's flute does to boys and why they blindly follow him and I realized it's because they feel unloved and hopeless. In OUAT, Henry wasn't affected cause he felt hope for his family and Peter broke that hope and he was able to hear the music.
In this story, Felix doesn't feel unloved nor hopeless. He doesn't want to feel those type of feelings. He's more playful and lives in the moment instead of moping over emotions. That's what Peter's shadow and Peter are drawn too. The mystery of Felix's emotions. And to be honest, Felix wants freedom and that's what makes him hear the music at the end. Peter found him and gave him an escape into another world, Peter gave Felix freedom.
Sorry.. I explained that. LOL.
Reviews are appreciated. No flames or bashing please.
(p.s - I ship these two.)