The Trip
Peter flew up to the sky and made sure that Lightning Bolt was following closely. He flew circles around Lightning Bolt as the kid got used to flying. This did nothing but make Lightning Bolt laugh and want to fly even more.
Peter flew ahead and turned around making sure everything was going alright, once he noticed that Lightning Bolt seemed tired he knew it was time for a quick stop.
"Hey kiddo, let's stop here for a second, I need to pick some things up for the Lost Boys and for you as well, it's not much but it helps keep us clothed."
Peter showed Lightning Bolt how he went through second hand shops' throw aways. He explains that this is stuff they can't sell because of holes or stains or damage of any kind, but that it's perfect for the Lost Boys to use, especially the shoes as they go through a lot of those in Neverland. Lightning Bolt helped Peter find items that would be useful for them and helped load it all in a big bag that Peter brings with him anytime he comes to the mainland.
"This is perfect Lightning Bolt, some of these will fit you perfectly and I know the rest of the boys will be happy to have new stuff. Now, you ready for a flight to Neverland? It might take a bit but we'll be there before nightfall."
Lightning Bolt just nodded his head very enthusiastically, he couldn't wait to make it to his new home. He just hoped everyone liked him and that things would go well for him for once. This is the best birthday ever!
"Now, a little secret about Neverland, everyone stays the same age since they arrived unless they wish to grow bigger. So you have a choice kiddo, you can stay however old you are now if you like or you can grow a little older as well, the biggest a Lost Boy can be though, is thirteen years old. Once you hit that age you never get older again. It's the magic that Neverland has, we get to stay kids forever."
Lightning Bolt just looked at Peter with wide eyes, he definitely wanted to stay a kid forever, but he also wanted to grow bigger and smarter and learn things too.
"Will someone teach me to read? Do you have books to learn things so that my brain still gets bigger?"
Peter laughed, he thinks he'll like the way this kid's mind works, thinking so far ahead instead of just in the moment, sometimes they needed that kind of planning when they get into things in Neverland.
"Don't worry, we have fairies that help teach us things and books we have some and can always find a way to get more if need be. Actually, we can probably get a library card somehow and just take some from some library and keep up to date that way. I never had a Lost Boy who was worried about his brain getting bigger before."
Lightning Bolt blushed and smiled at Peter, it sounds like this will be much much better than trying to learn at the Dursley's, plus no more worries about The Room. They were flying over the clouds at this point and Peter kept pointing out locations below that they could sometimes see so that Lightning Bolt could learn his way eventually. A couple of hours later and Peter showed him the island. Lightning Bolt was in awe. It was beautiful and full of trees and it looked like it had a boat at one end and a little town close to that boat. He wondered if that's where he'll end up living. But Peter started descending towards the opposite end from the boat. Lightning Bolt followed along and couldn't keep his giant smile off his face.
Once they landed Peter was immediately surrounded by a bunch of noisy boys all asking how things went, if he found anything, if they get to have something, if he was seen and a whole lot of other random questions. Lightning Bolt could also hear a tinkling sound which sounded a little tired and exasperated and angry all at once. He didn't understand how a sound could show so much emotions.
"Boys! I have a bunch of new stuff, and we'll go through that in a second, but first let me introduce you to someone new, a new Lost Boy that I found while at the mainland. Tinkerbell, he's going to need some healing, but otherwise I think he'll fit in nicely with everyone!"
The Lost Boys did not even notice the extra person standing behind Peter, the kid was so small that they were surprised he was able to fly all the way to Neverland. Looking at him, they did not seem completely sure about him, but they always trusted Peter, and Peter would never do anything to bring too much trouble to Neverland. Now with a small smile Lightning Bolt waved at the Lost Boys, blushing at all the attention he was getting.
"Now for some introductions, Boys line up!"
As soon as Peter said the words the boys all lined up beside one another in the order of how tall they are from the tallest to the smallest. You could tell they were used to this order or demand or command.
"Now, we have Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly and First and Second Twin. These are the Lost boys that will basically become your family now that you live with us! Boys, this young one is called Lightning Bolt, he's still growing and wants to learn to read books and find ways to make his brain bigger, this is a happy time for us Lost Boys!"
Each boy waved at Lightning Bolt when their name was mentioned, they seemed surprise about the fact he wants to learn but they went along with what Peter says and if he agrees with this then it must be a good thing.
Tinkerbell, while the boys were being introduced, was doing her own analyzing of this new kid. She felt magic on him that did not come from her fairy dust. This was interesting for her as she has not met any human with magic before. But, she could also sense the pain and suffering the kid was going through so she flew over to Peter and got his attention and started tinkling around his head.
"You're right Tinkerbell, Lightning Bolt needs healing right away, come on Lightning Bolt I'll show you our tree house and get you set up for Tinkerbell to work her magic. She seems to think it won't take much since you seem to have your own magic, whatever that means."
Peter gave the bag of goodies to Tootles and led Lightning Bolt to the tree house. It looked huge and very well kept considering who the tenants were. But the boys took great care of their home as they know they need a place to stay in, especially during storms. Plus the fairies always help to take care of things when needed.
Lightning Bolt was led to a bed, was told to lay down and just relax. Meanwhile Tinkerbell was debating on calling a friend to help, she never healed a magic human before, she did not know if it would work differently. Well, she'll just have to give it a try and if it doesn't work then she'll get help. So Tinkerbell flew around Lightning Bolt and sprinkled fairy dust and tinkled along with a variety of noise. Peter backed away and let her work, he could tell Lightning Bolt was falling asleep so he decided to go join the other boys.
The Lost Boys were busy going through the goody bag. They passed around some shoes and clothes that they could tell would fit certain boys, they were very happy with the load that Peter brought back. They kept quiet about the new kid at the moment, waiting for Peter to be around to ask questions. It was not very often a new boy was brought to them, and even rarer that the new boy stayed longer than a few months.
Peter joined them and set aside a set of clothes for Lightning Bolt, he knew the kid needed something to show that he belonged and that he no longer was part of his previous family. He smiled to himself as he could tell the other boys were just waiting to question him about the new kid. He kept quiet, seeing how long it'll take them to burst forth with all that they had on their minds.
"How old is he? He seems younger than most we get." "Where's he from?" "What happened to him?" "How did you find him?" "What did Tink mean when she said he had magic?" "Does this mean that First and I need to share a bed again?"
Peter knew it wouldn't take long, and they all exploded with their questions being asked all at once. He lifted a hand and smiled at them all.
"I'm not sure how old he is but I could tell he was ready for us. He's from a bad home that was close to a shop I was curious about. His bad home hurt him, it's why I took him away. It felt like there was something needing me nearby so I followed the feeling and found him in his garden. I believe the kid can do some of his own magic, he told me his hair grew back once. Yes Second, you and First will need to share a bed until we make a new one for Lightning, it shouldn't take too long because I can tell he's going to be staying here a while."
The boys all listened closely to Peter's answers and stayed quiet until he was done. Then they stayed quiet to think things through. It's not often Peter has a feeling about a boy staying and the way he found this kid was different than usual too. But, their trust in Peter was extreme and they just knew that Lightning Bolt would make a great addition to the Lost Boys.
Meanwhile, Tinkerbell has been working on Lightning Bolt for quite some time and she was not sure if she was helping him much, he seemed to be healing but there was some magic that was fighting against hers around his lightning scar that she was worried about. She decided to leave things as is for now and get the Fairy Queen's help when she gets a chance to see if she could find out what was going on there. But, for now, Lightning Bolt was healed and sleeping and will stay asleep until the next day. She flew back towards Peter and let him know that Lightning is healed but that she has questions for the Fairy Queen. But she told him this could wait and it wasn't urgent so not to worry about anything. Peter was just happy that Lightning Bolt will feel much better once he wakes up, he could tell the kid was in great pain.
The Lost Boys all got together and decided to make sure that Lightning Bolt had a great wake up call the next day so they grabbed their gear and went hunting for some breakfast food. You could never tell what they would find in Neverland, sometimes if they're sneaky enough, they can steal cakes from the Pirate's town. They figured this was an event that was worth the sneak around. Peter got First to stay with Lightning Bolt, in case he woke up or something happened, and the rest of them followed Peter to town to get something special.
None of them knew just what this new little boy would bring forth to their crew, but they all had a feeling it would be something special, especially with a cool name like Lightning Bolt.