The lost children (finished editing)

"Chapter 10; Could it be?"

Trigger warnings: violence towards children, accidental injuries, fear of death, arguing, etc.

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7 year old Harry was sneaking through the forest, trying not to get caught by any lost boys or Indians.

He had been lost for hours after a spider landed on his shoulder while he was taking a tinkle and scared him—causing him to run off. He was trying to get back to camp—unscathed and before Harriet noticed that he was gone. He winced at the thought of how Harriet would react if she realized he had wandered off on his own again. He just knew he'd be under camp arrest if she realized he was gone and that she'd insist on never letting him out of her sight again, which would NOT be pretty.

Crack.

Harry jumped as he heard a branch snap on the ground nearby and dove behind a tree.

Was it an Indian?

Or a fairy?

Or a mermaid?

Or a lost boy?

Was it Pan himself?

Who could it be?

He pressed himself against the tree and willed himself to stay still and quiet as he strained his ears. After a few minutes, he was finally able to pick up a conversation as a group of people walked near. Seemingly unaware that he or anyone else was there.

"How can we be sure we can trust you, Pirate?" An unfamiliar voice spat venomously, causing the tiny pirate to flinch. What did this guy have against pirates? Pirates were cool! His daddy was a pirate and had never done anything wrong in his life, so why did this man seem to hate pirates? Would this man hate him? Was this man dangerous?

"You can't be but you'll have to live with that since I'm one of the only people who knows how to navigate through this territory, mate."

Harry nearly gasped at the sound of the voice.

Could it be?

Taking a risk, Harry carefully turned around and peeked his head out from behind the tree. His eyes widened. It was! His father was here! He had come for him and his sisters and the Smees! They were gonna be saved!

"Can you two please cut it out? We need to find Henry before he gets hurt" an unfamiliar blonde woman said, cutting his father and the strange man off.

The small pirate furrowed his burrows in confusion, squinting his eyes at the group—trying to get a better look at them. There were 3 girls and 3 men, but he didn't recognize anyone other than his father. He also didn't recognize the name.

Who were these people? Were they holding his daddy hostage? Was his daddy in danger? Were they new crew members? And who was Henry?

Harry decided that the best course of action was to find his way back to the camp and tell the others before doing anything else. Then they could figure out a game plan together. So, he started to sneak off— only to step on a tig.

A loud snap rang through the air, causing the group to go quiet.

Harry stiffened.

"Who's there?!"

"Come out wherever you are!"

The ravenette swallowed heavily as his hands started to calm up. He started to sweat profusely and bolted, letting fear overcome him.

He heard footsteps running after him and his father telling them to stop because they didn't know where any bloody thing was, but they didn't stop and he didn't slow down. He ran and ran as fast as his little feet could carry him, only slowing down when he could no longer hear the footsteps from behind him. He looked behind him to see if they were gone, not noticing the branch in front of him— and this foot got caught in it. He tripped over it and felt two sharp pains as another loud snap—different from the snaps from before— rang through the air.

Harry's eyes watered as a yelp caught in his throat. His ankle really hurt all of a sudden and he was pretty sure it was broken. And his chest really, really hurt and it felt wet.

"Daddy!" Harry cried out, not caring if he got caught now. He was hurt and scared and in pain, and wanted his daddy. But his dad didn't come. He bit his lip and looked down at his chest to find his hook lodged in it and started to cry as panic overtook him.

"Daddy? Uma? Baelfire? Harriet?" He called out frantic as the pain worsened. Black dots started to cloud his visions.

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE!" The tiny pirate sobbed out, before his voice cracked. " Please. I don't wan- ta die!"

His dad didn't come.

Neither did his siblings.

But someone else did, right as he passed out. Right before he left the world of the woken, he was absolutely positive that he saw Uma and Gil's outline approaching him. He relaxed and finally allowed unconsciousness to overwhelm him, knowing that his crew would save and protect him. Even if his family couldn't or wouldn't.

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Killian panted lightly as he caught up with David, Emma, and Regina.

"What part of 'don't run off' do you people not understand?" He asked, irritated, leaning against a tree.

"Oh shut up pirate /Guyliner" David and Regina said in unison, before a look of pure comical horror crossed both their faces as they realized what had just happened.

Snow rolled her eyes "honestly you two, you aren't so different you know—"

"Snow!"

"How dare you?!"

David and Regina exclaimed at the same time, both sounding extremely offended.

"While I'd love to sit here and watch all of you get offended by nothing" Rumple started, distain clear in his voice "this—" gestures to the scene in front of him "isn't gonna help us find my grandson. So stop being idiots and let's get to work."

"For once, I agree with Gold," Emma muttered, causing Killian to make a face. He was really starting to wonder if helping these people was really a good idea or worth it at all.

"As much as this pains me to say, I also agree with the crocodile " he sighed, clearly irritated and exhausted. "And I'd like to add that running after phantom sounds won't help either. "

They all looked at the pirate in shock, not believing that he just agreed with his archenemy.

"Oh don't give me that look, I don't want to be on this blasted island for any longer than I have to. Which means we need to find the boy and get him back to the ship safely" he said, a bit snappish. Just being here was giving him goosebumps.

Him being exhausted and in pain from the last few weeks' events probably wasn't helping.

"What's wrong? Afraid of the big bad island?" Regina snorted, causing Killian to shoot a glare her way. He was so not in the mood for this.

"Trust me your majesty, if you spent even 1/12 of the time I have here then you wouldn't like to dwell here either." He replied flatly,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Killian was really starting to run out of patience.

"It means that this bloody island and Pan have taken nearly every one I ever cared about from me. I've seen horrors you couldn't even imagine. Horrors done to people younger than your boy. So, I ask you, do you lot really wanna stick around here and find out exactly what I've experienced?"

Everyone was quiet.

"That's what I bloody thought. Now come on."