Yep, there's nothing better to wake up to then an annoying bird call coming from an annoying mouth attached to an annoying person.

Yep. Nothing better.

"Wake up!"

Pan, shut up.

"Catch."

I heard something hard hit the ground below me and roll.

"I don't like apples."

"Who doesn't like apples?"

"It's a family thing."

I could practically see Pan's smug face through my closed eyes.

"Well don't worry,"

Ok, that's my cue. Alrighty Venn, wakey, wakey.

I faked a yawn and sat up from the branch, leaning against the base. Pan was crouched down above Henry, who was sitting on one of the nearest logs.

"They're not for eating. It's for a kind of game. A really fun game."

Damnit, Pan. This again?

He held up the bow to Henry's face which made me tense.

"I call it target practice."

Pan offered a hand to him but Henry stood up on his own, following him toward the center of the camp. Pan grabbed a bottle of dream shade from Nate, one of the older boys.

I swear to God he has done this with every new boy to come on the island, ever. I found it incredulous that the Lost Boys still found it entertaining.

"What's that?"

"It's dream shade, a nasty poison. We heard a story here about a man who once shot an apple of his son's head with an arrow. Let's find out if it's possible."

Ok, yeah, no.

I jumped down off the branch and walked calmly toward the group of boys surrounding Henry and Pan.

"If you're shooting the apple, what's the poison for?"

"Motivation not to miss."

I began to walk a little faster and approached them all when Felix grabbed my shoulders playfully and dragged me in front of him, not taking his hands off them.

"Felix! Get over here."

Felix squeezed my shoulders with a wicked smile across his lips and walked forward toward them.

"I-Is Felix good? Is his aim good?"

"Doesn't matter." All the boys began to close in the circle, me included.

"He's not the one doing the shooting."

"I-I don't want to shoot him."

All the boys began chanting for him to shoot. Henry looked at me with worry clear in his eyes.

I smiled and nodded while mouthing 'it's fine.'

"You won't hit him." Henry looked back at Pan. "Trust yourself, go on. It's exhilarating!"

Henry looked at me again and I nodded. He took a big sigh and aimed the cross bow. There was a long pause, the Lost Boys tense with anticipation. Henry inhaled deeply and abruptly turned his aim and fired towards Pan who caught it before it hit his chest. I rolled my eyes.

"Told you it was exhilarating. Come on, I have something to show you."

I stepped forward toward the two of them.

"Venn, stay here."

I crossed my arms and he raised his eyebrows. After a second I scoffed and began walking toward my tent.

(line break)

Henry followed Pan toward a log some ways away from the bonfire.

"Look at the fun their having. The thing about this place Henry, is that no one ever tells you no. You can do whatever you want."

They sat down.

"But they never hurt themselves?"

"Oh, all the time. At one point, I had four boys with missing fingers. Cost of the game, they didn't mind."

"I don't belong here."

"Actually, you do. We have been waiting for you for a very long time, Henry. Long before you were even born."

"I don't believe that."

He scoffed. "You should. This place runs on imagination, on belief. But your world stopped believing. Magic is dying and you, Henry, need to save it."

"In my world, you mean."

Pan scoffed once more. "In every world. You need to bring it back. That's your destiny. To return the magic, to be the savior."

"My mom Emma's the savior, not me. "

"She broke some curse, yeah." He said under his breath.

Henry's face hardened.

"Oh, I know more than you think. But what id breaking the curse wasn't the thing that made her the savior? What if having you was? Think about it, you're the descendant from the greatest of light magic, and of dark."

"So you think I'm supposed to save magic?"

"Oh, I don't think, I believe. Remember I , uh, said I had something to show you. "

He pulled out a scroll of tattered paper.

"I've had this for a very long time. Long before you were even thought of. Look and you'll see why I'm so sure you're the hero magic has been waiting for."

Pan noticed Henry gazing, scared, behind him. "Henry?"

Henry didn't look away.

Pan turned his head around to see what he was staring at.

Devin had Venn pushed up against one of the trees as he violently kissed her. They could both see her hands harshly pushing against him and her legs kicking him.

Pan sighed and handed Henry the scroll. He stood up and began to walk away.

Henry watched as Venn freed herself from Devin's grasp. She looked sad and angry for a second, before running off to her tent. Henry dropped the scroll purposely behind him.

"I don't believe you."

Pan turned around and smirked. "You remind me of your father."

With that he turned around and made his way to who knows where.

Henry inhaled sharply and stood up. He began walking over to Venn's tent.

(line break)

I'm wasn't even surprised. This had happened so many times in the past, why would I?

At least now I was safe-ish in my tent.

It wasn't much, just a sheet kept up by a few sticks. It was small, just big enough to fit two people sitting up. It was filled with pillows and blankets I had made and a box I crafted loaded with books and notebook from back home. It had been a while since I had been in it.

I looked down, tears filled my eyes for the first time in years. I kept quiet, not wanting anyone else to hear me cry. I saw the sheet of the tent begin to move.

It was Henry.

I used the blanket to quickly wipe away the tears from my eyes and opened a book, aimlessly looking for a sentence to read.

"Venn?"

I looked up, pretending to be surprised. "Henry- I…"

"Are you okay?"

I sighed and shut the book. I waved for him to some in and he did.

"It's not the first time."

He sighed and leaned in to hug me. I took it by surprise, given no one has hugged me in a long time.

"It's okay," he started. "You don't have to tell me."

I pulled away from him. "You are the best kid I have ever met."

He smiled. I adjusted my sitting position.

"I just, haven't cried in front of anyone in a long, long time."

"Why?"

"They used my fear, my tears against me. Whenever I would show emotion in general they would just use it to hurt me more. Once I trained myself not to give in to emotion, they couldn't."

He sighed.

"I'm gonna go rest. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

I walked out of the tent and climbed back up the tree.

I just laid there for a while, feeling completely defeated. I ignored the smell of meat roasting above the fire and just laid there until I fell asleep.

Oh, well. Tomorrow's a new day.