Chapter 21: Waiting and Fighting

DANIEL'S POV:

Daniel woke far after the sun was up, and grew nervous. Pan would have his arse for this! But everything was quiet. Daniel sat up and saw Robert lying on the cot across the tent from him, still asleep. Quietly crawling out of their shared tent, Daniel saw that the camp was peaceful. No boys were going in or out, he didn't hear any hollering or games. That could mean they were just further in the forest, but still, Pan would never let them sleep in like this.

Swallowing his nerves, he poked his head into Pan's tent and sucked in a breath through his teeth. Elle was curled up on Pan's cot, her pretty hair now short and filthy, and had her eyes closed but was squirming around and whimpering slightly. Pan had obviously taken care of her a bit because her light skin was clean, but it showed the bruises and cuts all over her. Pan himself looked about half-asleep, sitting and keeping her on the cot with his arms wrapped around her but clearly exhausted. He'd probably been up all night.

"Pan," Daniel breathed uncertainly, getting his attention. He wasn't sure what he wanted, it hurt to see Elle so hurt and upset. Daniel himself had never had a sister, but he'd had five younger brothers before Neverland and had just always been a big-brother type. He didn't know what he could do, obviously Pan was working on her. "What can I do?"

Pan nodded gratefully. "Uh, I need," he sighed and drifted off. Daniel grimaced, he'd never seen the leader of the Lost Boys even slightly weak or tired. But Pan looked plain helpless, looking down at Elle with a drawn face.

"How 'bout some herbs? For medicine?" Daniel suggested quietly, hoping Pan wouldn't snap at him. Pan possessed such magic, and was proud of it. "Sometimes people need ta heal naturally, too."

Pan nodded weakly. "Go on, then," he ordered, but Daniel was already off.

FELIX'S POV

Felix sat cross-legged on Pan's cot, keeping Elle's head in his lap as she writhed and cried out weakly. Four hours ago, he'd practically dragged Pan into his own tent to sleep, promising to watch over Elle and tell him if anything changed, even though Felix knew Pan would feel any changes anyway.

"Shhh, Elle, it's me, it's Felix, it's ok," he murmured, feeling tears prick his eyes as he told her this for what felt like the hundredth time. She seemed to get a bit quieter and nudged her head deeper against his arm, but still kept moving. It was such a strange movement: it was like she was trying to escape something, yet she hadn't fallen off of the cot even when no one was holding her. He could tell she was in pain, but she wasn't bleeding anywhere anymore and Pan had checked her over to find no broken bones or permanent damage. Her hair was light brown but seemed to faintly glow, she was still alive and seemed to have traces of magic. Felix had snorted when Pan had told him this, as if either of them really still cared about her magic. But Pan had explained that, to someone so powerful, magic was like a second life force: it would be almost impossible for her to survive without it.

Felix was stroking her matted hair and talking quietly to her when Daniel walked in carrying a full sack of plants in his arms and his little brother, Harry, in tow. He placed it on the floor and began pulling out different types of plants, naming them while Harry began organizing them on the floor in front of the cot.

"Sorry I took so long, had ta circle the island for some a' this stuff," Daniel started, but Felix just shook his head.

"Just get on with it," he said, voice low. Daniel jerked his head at Harry and the two set to work.

"Aloe vera leaves 'n' marigold for the skin wounds, they'll soothe her skin 'n' help 'em heal. Elderberry leaves 'n' berries, these'll help fight infection 'n' maybe stop whatever pain she's in," Daniel listed. Harry took his knife and some rocks and began cutting and mashing the plants into pastes and pieces. With a nod from Felix, Harry began spreading the paste on the larger cuts and bruises, wincing when she did but whispering soothing words to her. Felix half listened to each, Daniel instructing Harry and Harry promising Elle that they were helping her. He wasn't sure if she heard because her eyes stayed closed but she did seem to calm down a bit.

"This is dogwood 'n' passion flower. They should calm the anxiety 'n' help her sleep," Daniel finished, starting on a separate concoction of the two herbs.

The two began dabbing the paste on her and helping her drink, Felix keeping her in his lap the whole time. Daniel told Harry to leave once they finished. "I don't want him ta see too much a' this," he reasoned. Felix understood. The boys enjoyed fighting their enemies or intruders, selfish grown-ups, since they deserved to suffer for trying to use the boys and the magic. But Elle had done nothing to the boys except be a part of them, nearly all of them looked at her like a sister by now. No boy ever liked to see their fellow Lost One in pain, and Pan always healed them immediately.

But she was in pain, and it was their fault, his and Pan's especially. Pan had been trying all night to heal her with magic, but it wasn't working, Pan couldn't heal her. At least they had Daniel, always so perceptive and compassionate; Felix remembered Daniel when he first came to the island. He wasn't anything special, not at first, but then he'd proven himself to be an incredible addition once he and Pan had looked closer at him.

His little brother had come first, sent away from their home of negligent parents by Daniel to the land where they could be free children forever. Daniel had followed him, Harry, about a month later after he'd found homes for their other siblings who had refused to believe in Neverland. Their parents, despite the way they treated their children, had been the town's doctors, and Daniel knew almost as much as they did. He taught Harry everything, and taught most of the boys at least the basics, and worked right alongside Pan if anyone got hurt.

After telling Felix he would reapply the pastes and feed her more every few hours, Daniel left to find the other boys. Or so Felix thought. He reappeared a few minutes later with Louis.

"Let us take shifts, ya look exhausted 'n' Pan is sleepin' like the dead," Daniel insisted.

"No, I'm fine," Felix said, and glared at him to assert his authority. Daniel just sighed.

"No disrespect, Felix, but ya need ta rest. We are perfectly capable a' takin' care a' her, she's our sister too," he said, voice firm. Felix continued to glare, but the boy held his own and finally Felix gave in.

"Fine. In two hours. Six hour shifts each," he bit, and Daniel nodded.

"I or Harry'll be 'round for the medicines," Felix nodded and Daniel left.

COLIN'S POV

Colin's first shift watching Elle was three days after the attack, and he couldn't find an excuse to not take his turn. He didn't want to watch her, look at the incurable pain she was in, and know it was all his fault. Pan blamed himself, Felix blamed himself, all the boys blamed themselves but they were all wrong. It was so obvious that Pan cared specially for her. At a time that had been an advantage to Colin, but now it made him feel even worse.

He sat his six hours in pain, watching Elle squirm and cry out softly, her eyes occasionally opening but not seeing anything. Paranoid, Colin thought she sensed he was there and what he'd done, and he thought she seemed to struggle more.

"I'm so sorry, please, I'm sorry Elle," Colin whispered after four hours, a few tears dripping down his cheeks. "Please get better and I promise I'll come clean, I'll tell them everything just please get better," he begged, desperate for her to stop. Her fingers wrapped loosely around the edge of his sleeve, since he sat cross-legged on the floor with his arms and head next to her on the cot. He gasped, but she didn't do anything else unusual. She also didn't remove her grip.

The last two hours of his shift he stayed silent, unable to tell if she was calmer or not. He studied her, trying to look past the sad sight and find something useful. Colin was observant, he picked up and remembered details, that was mainly why Captain Jones had taken him in and to Neverland.

He noticed she looked like she was fighting something, trying to escape, but she wasn't moving in any direction more than about a foot. Her hair, light brown when Pan had brought her back, was still mostly brown but now had streaks of white and had a tiny, almost undetectable glow to it. He didn't know much about magic, but her hair had been all white and bright and so long when he'd met her. Colin unexplainably thought of worms, which regrew their tails when they were cut off.

Michael, a boy much younger than Colin, finally peeked in to start his shift and help up a necklace. "I found the stones on the beach, I looked all day for them," he beamed. Then his smile wobbled. "Do you think she'll like it? Girls like pretty stuff to wear, right? Maybe it'll help her feel better." Colin cracked a smile, it really was cute. Of course, this just made him feel more guilty. He just nodded and walked out of the tent, intent of finding Pan or Felix.

He found both just about a mile outside of camp, their backs to him and both of their arms crossed. Colin hesitantly stepped up to them, coughing to break them out of their tense murmuring. Due to his secret association with Captain Jones, and his hand in Elle's fate, Colin was already nervous whenever talking to either of them for fear of them finding out. Now, seeing Pan's face made him nearly faint. It wasn't intimidating, but it was terrifying.

Pan's face was thinner and his expression was tense and slightly angry. But that wasn't it. His brown eyes, which Colin had always seen sparkling with mischief and freedom, were so different. They were dull, as if the life had just been sucked out of them. There was a tiny spark in them, though, but it kept flickering. Colin knew he felt something for Elle, but he didn't realize it was this. Felix barked at him, refocusing his attention.

"I-I just wanted to let you know Michael's taken over," he said quietly, jerking his head back towards camp. Pan didn't react, just looked at him, but Felix nodded tiredly. "Also, I have a couple ideas about her," this got their fierce attention.

"Spit it out," Pan half-growled. Colin gulped.

"Well, you know how her h-hair was white, and, and, now it's brown," Colin began, swallowing his fear. He had to give at least ideas, perhaps it would help redeem him, even though they didn't blame him in the first place. He needed to redeem himself to, well, himself. "But there've been streaks of white showing up, and it looks like it glows. Worms regrow their tails when they're cut off, and Jones cut her hair. Since her hair is magic, I thought maybe it's kind of like that. Like it died, sort of, because it got cut off. But now it's growing itself back," he finished, smiling shakily. A bit of hope lightened Pan's eyes, and a ghost of a smile played on Felix's mouth.

"So she has a chance, her magic could be coming back. That's not ridiculous," Felix said, excited but still scared.

"Maybe," Pan croaked. "It's just an idea." Colin nodded in agreement, not wanting to get their hopes too high. It was just a theory, he didn't know anything about magic. But he could feel hope growing in his chest anyway. Pan knew everything about magic, and if he granted his theory any credit, even just the maybe, then there must be some hope. Colin turned to walk back to camp as Pan and Felix returned to their quiet conversation.

He'd gone four steps when he remembered another observation he'd had. He himself couldn't do anything with it, but Pan and even Felix were powerful, maybe they could look inside her mind or something.

"Oh, and, um," he called, turning back to face them. They turned their heads in sync, it was a bit funny how similar they acted sometimes. "She's in pain," he started, but Felix began to roll his eyes and Pan snarled. Colin finished his thought quickly, "but I don't think it's a pain from outside. I think it's inside her, something's going on inside her mind and body. That's what she's trying to get away from. I think she knows she's here, we're here, but she's fighting something we don't see." He scampered back to camp as soon as he said the last word, not able to face them anymore.