The Element People

8. "What Was The Truth?"

Niall was exhausted from his panic attack. When the two boys entered his tent, he was asleep.

Louis sat next to the bed while Zayn was leaning against the pole of the tent. Gazing at the blond.

The boy looked so helpless. He felt a pain is his chest when he looked at the boy's tearstreaked cheeks.

If he had only-

"How old do you think he is?"

He snapped his head up at Louis. "Who?" He said in a reflex.

Louis raised an eyebrow at this. "Who do you think? Santa?"

Zayn rolled his eyes. "Sorry, okay. I wasn't paying attention."

The older boy snorted. "Obviously. Now what do you think? Can't be older than 16, right?"

The boy surely looked 16, maybe even younger. But Zayn knew for a fact that he was actually 18 and about to turn 19 that year. He had done his research.

Though instead of saying that, he shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Zayn."

The teenager quickly shoves the papers away. "Yes father?"

His father enters his room. "We have a meeting. Come."

The boy nods, gets up from his bed and follows his father. Before he leaves the room, he shoots a quick glance back, to see if the papers are hidden well enough.

As the men discuss their plans, Zayn doesn't seem to be able to concentrate on what they are saying. He starts thinking about the papers he had read.

Niall Horan, 13 years old, born on September 13. Lived in RiverSide, Fire Nation. Attended Sunblaze School for boys. Discovered after freezing a wave of water that was about to enter the village.

The last sentence had never been made public in the Fire Nation. Zayn had been told that Niall was discovered when he threatened one of his schoolmates. That's what most people believed. No one even knew where the boy came from. They had all been too excited that the boy was found and was going to suffer. There were also some other stories that were going around
Though this was the main one. No one had ever spoken up and told the truth.

So Zayn was confused. What was the truth? When he first saw Niall, he couldn't believe it would be a violent guy. They had always described the other Element People as aggressive, heartless and stubborn. Niall was just boy. He had made eye contact with the boy once, he had seen the look of pure fear. He had looked away. Afraid he would feel pity for the boy. But he had been to late. That look was still haunting him.

So a few days later he went on investigation. He went to see the small village Niall used to live in and some villages around it. He had claimed that he needed to see the smaller parts of their nation as well, in order to be a good leader. He didn't want anyone to get suspicious. When he got to Niall's village, he saw the big frozen wave with his own eyes. He was impressed. However the people of the village told him that it was a sculpture. Made to represent the name of their village. Of course Zayn hadn't believed them, and he knew he was being fooled.

So in secret he tried to find out more about the boy. He visited the village a few more times. Wearing a disguise. And he managed to get more information.

He found out Niall used to be a normal boy. The joker of the class. Able to make anyone laugh. But Niall was also an excellent student, at the top of the class. But still the village thought he was a monster.