Disclaimer: All recognizable characters do not belong to me.

See my profile for chronological list of Alternate Universe Vidia stories.

Third story in my Vidia series.

Stand Your Ground

Part 1

Hawk Attack

Vidia heard hammering from far below her, and from the corner of her eye could see a fairy in green.

"Tinkerbell's messing with her gadgets again." Vidia muttered, almost rudely, but not quite.

"Vidia! Hey, Vidia!"

Vidia glanced back over her shoulder, then gracefully looped around to hover near Wisp. "What is it?"

"Mixie saw a hawk heading southwest. Queen Clarion wants you to fly over the cove and see if that's where they've gone."

Vidia nodded and took off.

Recently, hawks had become a common danger. The fast-flying fairies had been ordered to help out the Scout-talent fairies to look out for them. No one had been injured by a hawk attack yet, but it was a lot more work for the talents involved. On the bright side, which Vidia refused to acknowledge, they got more pixie dust.

Vidia flew fast and high, keeping a sharp lookout for hawks. She saw some smaller birds and gulls circling the pirate ship, landing on the rails and mast, looking for food. Her mind wandered to Pixie Hollow and her friends there. Tinkerbell had been talking about going to the beach to look for lost things, and Vidia had meant to go with – to make sure she didn't become a hawk's lunch.

Vidia turned and headed down toward the pirate ship slowly, meaning to circle around it and head back for home. Suddenly the gulls on the rail looked up at her coming in and took off. Surprised, Vidia paused in the air, floating gently in place while all the birds left – flying directly away from her.

She frowned. "What's up with them?" she wondered aloud, right before a shadow blocked out the sun.

She snapped her head upward and froze. An enormous hawk was diving straight for her. Instinctively, Vidia turned and flew for her life. The hawk had a head start and she could hear his feathers swooshing through the air behind her.

She turned downward, putting on as much speed as she could. She tried zigzagging from side to side, but every time, he stayed right with her – and seemed to get even closer.

Over land she would have found a tree or a bush where he couldn't see her. Over the choppy water, though, there were no hiding places.

Except the pirate ship! Vidia realized, and zoomed toward it.

She got closer – closer . . . so close . . .

She glanced over her shoulder to check where the hawk was. She turned back to face front and had to dodge the gathered up sail. She rocketed around the upper deck, looking desperately for a way to lose him.

Vidia felt a sharp claw brush her ankle. She jerked and put on a great burst of speed. She spotted a net hanging from the yard and tore straight for it.

She slowed, not wanting to be caught in the small rope strands.

"Ah!" Vidia's wings and back suddenly made her shriek in pain. She shot through the net and lef the hawk on the other side holding something in his beak. He extended his wings, trying to stop, and twisted his head from the net and went over. He looked around, but Vidia was nowhere to be seen, as if she had vanished.

If he had thought to look down, he would have seen his prey lying on the rough board floor of the ship.

Stand Your Ground

"Tink – have you seen Vidia?" Silvermist asked, gliding down to land on the floor near Tinkerbell.

Tink looked up from her acorn teapot. "I saw her flying over this morning."

At the other table, Bobble stopped his work and pushed up his glasses to listen.

"When?"

Tinkerbell frowned, thinking. "Pretty early – I figured she was on a hawk-scouting mission. She was heading south."

"I think she was."

"Sil, why are you asking?"

"No one has seen her for hours." Silvermist replied, agitated. "Wisp passed on Queen Clarion's order for her to scout for hawks around the cove, and you saw her leaving, but she hasn't come back."

"What's wrong? Who hasn't come back?" Rosetta drawled, floating gracefully down to the tinker's workshop where Tink and Silvermist were talking.

"Ro, what are you doing here?" Tinkerbell asked, surprised.

Fawn walked over. "What's up, guys? I had to leave the frogs to practice on their own to come meet you."

Iridessa landed nearby.

All three of them looked up as Nyx landed nearby and walked over.

"I sent the messages asking you to come here." Nyx said, skipping any introduction. "As Vidia's friends, I assume you'll want to know that Vidia has been missing for six hours. I've sent out searching parties, but for now it seems that Vidia is the first Hawk victim this year."

Stand Your Ground

Vidia opened her eyes, dizzy and confused. She could see something large and black that seemed to be coming down towards her very quickly.

The hawk! It was diving toward her! She rolled out of the way, only to hear the shoe clomp loudly as the pirate trudged to the stairs and went down to the lower deck.

Something was wrong, though. When she had rolled, she hadn't felt her wings beneath her. She couldn't feel them at all.

Her breaths came faster as she reached behind her shoulders and felt nothing. Something across the deck caught her eye and she walked cautiously over.

Vidia's wings lay shredded on the deck. She picked them up tenderly, her mind a whirl of thoughts.

"He ripped them off and didn't even have the decency to eat them." she choked. "How am I ever getting back to Pixie Hollow?"

A shadow suddenly fell over her.

Hawk!

Vidia's head snapped upward, but the shadow was cast by the flag – the Jolly Roger – snapping in the wind. A pirate climbed the stairs, coming toward her, and she hurried toward the mast to hide behind a barrel.

Vidia backed away from the pirate as he came across the deck, then went into the cabin. She turned around and froze.

She was face to snout with a large brown rat.

She stared at him, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

I sure wish Fawn was here.

"Why are you wearing a new color?"

Vidia stepped back, a suspicious frown on her face. She watched him carefully for a moment before replying. "Rats talk?"

The rat shrugged. "I do. None of the other ones will."

Vidia took another step away. "How come you do?"

"I don't know."

Vidia surveyed the fuzzy creature. "Have we met before?"

"Yes, but you were wearing green and were with a bunch of other leafy people. I was just trying to get an apple core. The red-furred critter called me a mouse."

Vidia snorted. "That was Rosetta. She couldn't tell the difference between a moth and a butterfly. She's a garden fairy. Yeah, and by the way, I'm Vidia."

"Vidia?" He cocked his head.

"Yeah."

"Wha-" he paused. "What do you mean by Vidia?"

"I – don't understand the question."

"What is Vidia. Why are you saying that?"

"Vidia is me. That's my name. It's what everybody calls me. Like this piece of wood being called a mast. It's to identify me."

"Huh. I've never needed a name. How do I get a name?"

"Pick one." Vidia advised.

"I don't know how."

"It might be something you enjoy . . . my friend has a mouse named Cheese."

"Well, how about 'apple core'?"

Vidia shook her head. "That wouldn't work too well. How about something descriptive. You look kinda scruffy and brownish . . ."

"Can I be named that?"

"Brown? Brownie?"

"No, the other. Scruffy."

"Don't see why not. It's your name."

"Then I'm named Scruffy."

"Nice to meet you, darling, but I'm leaving." She paused noticing suddenly that the sails were down and filled with wind. She took a few steps toward the rail. "How long have they been sailing? Couple of minutes?"

"More like hours." Scruffy corrected.

"What?" She turned to look at him in dismay.

"We're far from the cove."

"In which direction?"

"I'm a rat! How would I know?"

"Scruffy, when'll the pirates go back?" Vidia asked. "I need to get off the ship – right now. Fairies at Pixie Hollow have enough trouble keeping clear of the hawks, they don't need to be looking for me, too."

"Weeeeell . . ." Scruffy scratched his ear with his back leg. "I might be able to help."

"With what?"

"Getting you off the ship."

"I have a feeling this is coming with conditions." Vidia put her hand on her hip and waited.

"Take me with you."

Vidia's eyes widened, then she snorted. "Scruffy, look. I need to make good time and get back to Pixie Hollow. You are heavy, and do you even know how to swim?"

"Do you?"

"Don't change the subject – what happened to your foot?" Vidia stared at his injured leg.

"I got in a rat-fight a couple of months ago." Scruffy replied, holding out his stumped leg.

"Scruffy, if you think I'm going on a raft or something with a three-legged rat, you're wrong."

"Three and a half! Besides, you're injured, too."

"When I get back to Pixie Hollow, we'll see if there's anything they can do to fix me up." Vidia said, speaking more to herself than to her new friend.

"Do you think they could fix my foot, too?"

"I'm not a nursing-talent – I don't know."

"You don't know they can't, then. Now you have to take me."

"So what's the escape plan?" Vidia changed the subject.

"Not telling you unless you take me."

"Not deciding until you show me. Spit it out, dearie." Vidia demanded.

"I have a hat."

"A hat. How useful."

"I thought if you dusted it . . ." Scruffy tried to explain.

"It needs dusting?"

"I mean fairy dust."

"That . . . makes more sense. Let's see this dusty old hat." Vidia followed the rat across the floor and down below deck.

It was a large red hat with a wide brim.

"Nice hat." Vidia noted. She picked up the edge and struggled to lift it. Scruffy angled his nose underneath and flipped the hat over for her. "How are we going to get it on deck?"

Scruffy paused. "I figured that because you're a fairy, you'd figure out how to do that."

"We could try to fly it up."

"The grating to the deck is closed." Scruffy pointed out.

Vidia scowled, crossing her arms, then her face lit up. "I've got it."

"What?"

"You're pretty strong, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not tall enough to open the grating." Scruffy pointed out.

"I don't think you need to be." Vidia smirked. "Get me some rope."

Scruffy scampered off, while Vidia dragged the hat near the base of the ladder.

Scruffy returned. "There's some rope on deck, but I can't get it down here."

"That's good enough. Now, I'll tie one end of the rope to the grating, climb the mast, and toss the other end to you on the ground, and then you'll be pulling it up. You keep it open, and I'll fly the hat onto deck."

"You're not going to leave me behind, are you?" Scruffy asked.

Vidia hesitated. "Look, I'm trying to get back to Pixie Hollow in one piece. You're not exactly a strong ally."

"What do you mean? I'm scary. I've got big teeth, and I can puff out my fur like this . ." Scruffy suddenly seemed much larger. "And get even scarier."

"You've only got three legs." Vidia pointed out.

"Three and a half."

"Three feet, then."

"Come back in six months, I'll probably only have two. You couldn't have that on your conscience, could you?"

Vidia sighed. "Fine, come with. But if you cause me any trouble, I'll leave you on the beach and go on my own."

"Fine with me." Scruffy agreed, bravely.

"Now get ready for that rope." Vidia and Scruffy climbed up the ladder slowly.

Vidia tied one end of the rope to the grating, and stared up at the mast.

"It's a lot taller from the ground." she murmured, before starting up. It was pretty easy climbing – all the sword marks in it gave her holds.

Before long she was scooting out to the end of the yard and untying the rope from her waist.

She lowered it down to Scruffy, who was waiting for it..

"Got it." he called, and started pulling. She made her way back to the mast, mapping out how to get the hat all the way to Pixie Hollow.

"Vidia – Vidia!"

She glared down at the rat. "What?"

"It's isn't working – what's wrong?"

Vidia peered down at the grating. The rope was holding, but it wasn't opening – then she saw it.

"I see the problem. It's got a latch holding it shut."

"Well, fix it." Scruffy sounded impatient.

"From up here? What d'you think I am? Tinker fairy?" Vidia shouted back. "Give me a minute."

"Someone's going to notice the rope, Vidia!" Scruffy glanced around at the pirates who were milling around the lower deck. "Vidia, hurry up!"