[OPEN] Lost in the Cold

[catchacold]

Who: Leonard and YOU
Where: Neverland
When: Course of the event
Rating: Probably nothing bad, will change if need be.
Summary: Leonard's among the older lost ones, he often takes on a big brother role. He doesn't like or trust adults. He also has very good aim, which some adults might find out about.



A - beach

With the threat of adults everywhere, it's more important than ever to guard their borders. Leonard is thinking of all the lost ones that have every right to be scared and wary of adults and he also knows that this is their home. Peter has given it to them and no adult is welcome here.

There's a reason he carries a slingshot, which many might laugh at, but it only took a well-aimed stone to take a giant down if you hit him just right and Leonard had a lot of practise. He patrols up and down the beach, only stopping occasionally to fix up the threatening symbols him and others had left on the sand.


B - forest

To any outsider, Len would be invisible here, the moment he enters the forest. He takes to the trees and his clothes are dark, the thick leaves here don't allow much sunlight to filter through. It's here that he can be found sitting on a tree, carving a piece of wood with his knife. What he carves has the form of a little girl and depending on how far into him you catch him, you'll be able to make out her shape and, eventually, the accusing look on her face.

However, should any intruder try to sneak up on him, the knife could surely be used in more violent ways if need be.


C - anywhere

It's subtle, the change barely noticeable, because Leonard's ghosts never truly leave him alone. Still, actually seeing his father has him stand still, his face so carefully guarded to not betray an emotion, his body tense and his arms folded, wrapped around himself. He knows it's not real or so he tells himself. It doesn't keep him from flinching and finally lowering his head.

Perhaps a subdued reaction, but the pain is raw and at this moment, he doesn't pay attention to anyone or anything else.


D - lost one encampment

During the day, he can be found here either fixing up something or carving symbols into bark, as a journal of sorts and to record things as well as make plans for the future. Peter has gone and they don't know when he'll be back. As cynical as he is, he wonders if he will ever be back. But he can't tell that to the others, so he simply thinks about preparing for the eventuality. When he sits down, it's on the ground or on a branch, leaning back and relaxing in positions that couldn't possibly be comfortable.

It's not actually that much different during the night. Leonard doesn't sleep much. But he keeps his ears and eyes open, especially with so many adults and strangers roaming about. It's necessary to guard. He listens for sounds from outside, but he'll also hear any of the sounds from among them. A lot of them have nightmares and he knows that that's like.


E - Wildcard: Throw whatever you want at me!

[Plotting possible at the plotting post or hit me up on reineke

Prose or brackets work! New CR welcome!!! (old CR is too)]

Comments

Encampment

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco has been in Neverland for...awhile. He stopped bothering to count the time after awhile because it didn't really matter anyway. Leonard wasn't the one that found him when he arrived, but he was definitely the one that Cisco attached himself to, almost instantly. He was everything a big brother was supposed to be. He cared, in his own rough and tumble kind of way, and he was protective and despite the number of kids amassed in his group, he never made Cisco feel ignored. That was kind of the top number one best thing to him.

The sudden influx of adults has everyone on edge and Cisco can't sleep. So, naturally, he wanders the encampent to find Len because history says he's probably not sleeping anyway and at least if he has to be awake, if Cisco's with him, he knows beyond any doubt he'll be safe. No matter what. He finds the older boy leaned up against a tree and flops down next him. "Do you think they're here to make us all go back?" Because he definitely does not want that. At all. He doesn't remember a lot about home, but he knows he didn't like it. Everything's better here with his found family.

[catchacold]

"Don't know." Not the most reassuring answer, but Leonard doesn't typically bother lying, even to the small kids. Maybe especially not to them. He looks at Cisco for a few moments, then pulls up one leg so he can prop his arm against it. "We don't know why they're here." From the interactions he's had, he's not even sure whether they know. Who they need is Peter, but he is nowhere to be found. That part he doesn't voice out loud. "But it doesn't matter, Cisco. They can't make us. We wouldn't let them."

Leonard isn't sure how much certainty of this he actually feels, but it's an easy thing to fake. "If anyone comes close to you, just yell. I know you can get loud."

[thisismadfreaky]

"We need to find a way to send 'em back." Wherever they came from, whatever means it took. They didn't belong here and they needed to go back where they did. If he sounds bitter about it, maybe he is, Cisco's not a huge fan of change. He likes that Len is honest with him and the others, not tiptoeing around things just because some of them are a lot younger than him. He treats them all the same, and it's a big part of Cisco's own gravitation toward the older boy.

He smirks a little at that and nods, "Yeah, I will. And probably I'll stick to traveling with someone, going alone seems like a bad idea right now."

[catchacold]

"Good. You can stick with me for now if you want to." Especially since it's late at night and he doesn't want Cisco to wander off. So instead he gestures to the ground next to him, inviting Cisco to sit down. "You scared of the dark?"

Looking off into the forest, he keeps talking. "Ain't no shame in that. It's smart, yanno. Being scared of the things you can't see."

[thisismadfreaky]

He can't help but smile a little at the idea and he nods, "Okay." He goes over to sit with the older boy, leaning back against a tree, knees tugged halfway to his chest. He shrugs a little at the question. "Kinda, sometimes."

He smiles again when Len says it's smart to be scared of the unseen, because maybe it's like him saying Cisco is smart and that's kind of awesome. "I bet you're not scared of anything."

[catchacold]

"Me? Nah. I'm scared of a lot of things. Not being scared is stupid. Makes you slow, too." Leonard kept his eyes on the forest, pausing to make sure nobody is using him talking to sneak close without being heard. "You just can't let the fear overwhelm you. If it makes you run faster, there ain't anything wrong with that."

[thisismadfreaky]

"Really?" Cisco seems genuinely, if pleasantly, surprised by Leonard's admission. If he gets scared by things, then maybe it's not so bad if Cisco does sometimes. He perks up a bit and tilts his head slightly. "So...whadda'ya do if you get overwhelmed though? Like if makes you freeze up instead?"

[catchacold]

"I remember that there's people who're scared even more." Leonard finally turns his head to look at Cisco, wondering if he can really explain this to him. Someone who needs him. He remembers that feeling even from before he has ever come here. "And that's always worth fighting for."

Sister. It meant something once.

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco's quiet for a moment as he takes that in and mulls it around. He thinks it's a pretty smart way to look at it and he nods a little. "That makes sense." Both in general and with Leonard being who he is. He's the kinda guy that takes care of people. One of the good ones.

[catchacold]

"And sometimes you just gotta run." Len smirks for just a moment, catching Cisco's eyes and then looking back at the forest again. Tonight isn't a night to let his guard down. "I ain't gotta tell you that, I know. You know, before. Back..."

Back elsewhere, back when he was growing up. He doesn't say it, just gestures to make his point. "I was the smallest kid for a long time."

[thisismadfreaky]

"Yeah, I know." He grins a little, but it fades into something more confused after a moment. He can't really picture it. Len as the smallest. "I can't even imagine that. You've always been the big brother." He admits, the tiniest twinge of sadness in his voice.

"Better than the one I used to have." He mutters, staring down as he twisted his fingers together in his lap. He doesn't remember a lot, he's been here too long to remember much detail, but he does remember he didn't like his brother back there. That his brother there always made him feel like he didn't matter, somehow.

[catchacold]

"I was." Big brother. Leonard frowns and he lowers his head for a moment, his hand sliding into a pocket. He pulls out the wooden girl he's carved today, then puts her down on the ground. "Doesn't mean there weren't bigger people around."

He finally looks at Cisco again, nodding. "It's supposed to be better here. That's why we'll keep those strangers out."

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco tilts his head and leans over and pick up the little carving. "Who's it for?" He looks back up at Leonard.

"Yeah," he nods a little. "Nah, nothin' to worry about. They won't get past all of us, there's no way."

[catchacold]

"No one. It's of..." He trails of, finally shaking his head. She's not here. She's abandoned. He's left, he's failed. "No one. Keep it, if you want."

It doesn't matter. Holding on to some figure won't change a thing and he has a forest to watch and all of them to guard. "Think you can sleep now?"

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco tilts his head a little, confused by the way he trails off, but when he says he could keep it, he smiles a little and sticks it in his pocket.

"Yeah," he nods a bit. "I think so... Thanks Len."

[catchacold]

"You can sleep right here, if you want to." He nods to a spot nearby. "I'll wake you if I need your help."

Obviously he has no plans whatsoever of waking Cisco, but it's better than just outright dismissing him.

[thisismadfreaky]

Cisco nods a little. Yeah, he'll definitely stay over here for now. It's always safer when he's not alone, and there's no place on the whole freakin' island safer than wherever Len is.

So, without much else to say or any fanfare, Cisco just goes over to settle in for the night and try to catch a bit of sleep before something crazy happens with all these intruders running around.