Second Star (Niall Horan)

Chapter Seven

For all of the energy Niall spent the previous day, the solid night of sleep he somehow managed was well deserved, even if it was spent on skinny cushions on a dirt floor. He had balled up his blue crewneck to use as a pillow, and slept heavily on the floor as the rest of the boys did the same in their hammocks. The entire thing reminded him of when he had toured with One Direction, how they all would just fall asleep wherever they could in order to catch up on rest, except this time it was with children in a hole in the ground, the only sources of light coming from candles in small jars to illuminate the room while the fireflies slept.

After talking with Keon the night before, Niall felt slightly more at ease knowing that his discomfort was rightly justified, and he found solace in the boys' presence, understanding that they would be able to help him and he wasn't as alone as he felt. As he opened his eyes early that morning, he felt better both mentally and physically. His mind wasn't yelling at him to solve the problems at hand, instead merely gave him the space to recover through rest. His body was still sore, of course, but it didn't emotionally pain him anymore. Sitting up, he glanced at the rapier he laid next to him while he slept, reaching to touch the detailed handle.

Around him, the boys slept soundly, the two biggest boys claiming the bottom hammocks, the twins on the top, and Blaise and Falcon claiming the two middle bunks. The youngest was so small that he even needed assistance to get into bed, but was so comforted in his space that he fell asleep almost immediately, his gentle breathing countering the snoring of the older ones. Peter slept in the room behind the curtain, his own private space with a large feather bed. Tink had a scavenged dollhouse in there that she adopted as her own space, and the hideout was a safe haven for the children with the knowledge that they could never be discovered here.

Taking advantage of the quiet, Niall silently stood up, gripping the handle of the sword before sliding it through one of his belt loops to hold it in place, dusting himself off, and slipping out of examining the hole through the ceiling. The hallway to the ladders was too dark for him to be able to find his way through, and a bit of courage had energized him. He could attempt the flight out of there. Just think good thoughts, Niall mentally told himself, and he jumped up just as his body decided to lift, leaving him to smack his head into the dirt roof, letting out a huff before descending back to the floor, dirt and stones following him. "Shit." He whispered, holding the top of his head before brushing the dirt out of his hair.

"What are you doing?" He heard a voice lowly ask him, and turned to see Keon awake in the bottom bunk, his hair looked tufted as he leaned out of the hammock.

"I was trying to fly out," Niall answered him in the same low voice. "Wanted to move around and maybe practice a bit before everyone got up."

Keon nodded before yawning. "Do you want help?"

"You can sleep if you want, I was just going to try and review what we did yesterday before we started today." Niall responded, playing with the guard on his waistband.

"I'll come up in a bit, just keep an eye out and don't jump anymore." Keon rubbed his eyes before rolling himself back over to stretch his body out.

"Got it."

Niall focused his mind again, and began to fly up through the hole in the ceiling, keeping his arms outstretched above him to find the opening. When his hands hit the piece of wood, Niall pushed on it to remove it and flew out from the hole that was typically covered by a rounded bush in the side of the hill. Replacing the cap, Niall regained his flight to make it to the ground, looking around constantly for any sign of mischief. When he saw none, he landed on the ground in front of the wall of vines, giving enough space for when Keon emerged. He rolled his neck around a few times to stretch it out before reaching for the blade and selecting a tree to be his fighting partner. Speaking instructions under his breath.