Disclaimer: All recognizable subject material does not belong to me
The Little Fairy
Chapter 1
Jacquie Graystorm
Alternate Universe happenings of the Great Fairy Rescue
The first story in my Vidia series
Vidia put her hands on the jar's side and got ready to roll the jar off the seat, but the human glanced protectively at her and she knew he'd notice and catch it. She slowly moved to the lid of the jar.
He'd punched holes in the lid to give her air – apparently he was a practiced kidnapper. Vidia put one hand in each hole and twisted hard. Nothing happened. She spread her feet to get good balance and took a deep breath, then tried again. It moved.
She glanced up at the human. She pulled her hands from the holes and moved to set her back against the jar. He quickly scanned the jar, then turned back to watch the road.
Releasing the breath she'd been holding, she walked cautiously back to the lid. She twisted it off and stepped out. Everything was louder and bumpier out there. She put the lid back on and twisted it back on, hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was gone.
Vidia jumped into the air, her wings working fast to propel her back over the road.
I hope I can stop Tinkerbell and the others from mounting a rescue attempt. She thought, trying to put on more speed.
She shot forward, then jerked as lightning lit up the sky. Thunder shook the ground and vibrated through the air, throwing her off course a little. She swooped lower, then straightened out.
"AH!" she zipped out of the way as a horse trotted through where she had been.
Wrong side of the road. She realized, and landed for a moment to catch her breath. Her heart was beating like an Indian tom-tom pounding an urgent warning.
She launched herself up and ripped through the air back toward the Griffith's home. She heard a sound coming from above and stopped short. A raindrop rocketed down right in front of her and crashed on the ground below.
She glanced up at the sky, then scanned the area, but there were no places to hide.
Nothing for it.
She zoomed up into the air, following the road carefully. She saw a raindrop falling in front of her, and dodged so as to not run into it. She saw another directly in her path and put on more speed, hurtling forward.
Vidia narrowly escaped a collision, and she watched the raindrop as it colllided with the ground and shattered into a billion tiny droplets. She straightened to watch her path – too late.
No!
She tried to slow down – to stop – but she was going too fast.
The raindrop slammed into her and time seemed to slow. Vidia raked the air with her fingers and tried to will her dripping wings to move properly. The ground soared up to catch her. Wind raced past her ears, deafening her.
They'll never know what happened to me.
The noise of the rain stopped abruptly. Vidia could hear footsteps nearby, and clop-clopping of horses hooves. Rainwater ran from a roof drainpipe and splashed out into the gutter.
That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Vidia tried to sit up, but it seemed as if she was paralyzed. She managed to blink her eyes open. The sky was dark blue, fading to black, and clear of clouds.
She sat up, startled, not noticing that she could move again.
Where did the clouds go? Was I unconscious?
Vidia suddenly realized it was very chilly, and shivered. She glanced around and realized she had fallen into a small, soft plant, crushing leaves and a few flowers. "Thanks for the padding." She fluffed up the surviving flowers, then drew back, horrified. "I sound like Rosetta."
"Look! A doll!"
Vidia froze.
A young boy ran up to stand over her, and another joined him. They were both grubby and wet.
The first picked her up and she went rigid, trying to seem like a real doll. The boy used a gentle fingertip to move her arms and legs around.
"What a flexible toy." he remarked.
"My sister has one with a head that turns around backwards." the second suggested.
The boy moved his thumb and finger toward Vidia's head.
They want a flexible toy, huh?
Vidia leapt to her feet and flipped off his hand. The boys gasped in shock as she sailed through the air to land on the ground, then started running away.
"How did that happen?"
"I don't know!"
"Leave it. It's jinxed."
"It's getting away! Grab it!"
"I'm not sure -"
"We can sell her!" one boy decided. "She'll bring in a lot of money."
"All right." the boys caught up with her and she suddenly whirled, facing her enemies.
"Grab her." One whispered.
The other leaned forward and extended his arm carefully, reaching for her.
He snatched it back as a fairy landed in between the boys and Vidia, just in front of the boy's fingertips. In both hands she held a spoon, as if she could use it to defeat them.
The boys drew back a little, but they hadn't given up yet. The fairy pulled a gold coin from her pocket and put it in the spoon, then used it as a catapult to throw the coin down the street.
"Get it!" one shouted, and both of them took off.
The fairy turned around, "Are you okay?" Her curly cinnamon hair sat in a short haircut. The spoon she held firmly in one hand. Her wings were folded, hidden under a jacket of leaves.
Vidia frowned. "I don't think I've met you, darling."
"I don't think we've met, either." The fairy shrugged, "What of it?"
"I meet all the fairies who come to the mainland. You aren't one of them."
The fairy drew back, startled. "You're one of the regular fairies?"
"I certainly am not regular, but I travel with all the rest of the ordinary ones." Vidia paused. "What do you mean 'regular fairies'?"
"The ones that aren't lost." the fairy explained, excited.
"Lost?" Vidia shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Lost fairies. I'm one of them. We never got blown to Pixie Hollow. We live wherever we're laughed."
"Wait – you're saying that we miss your laughs?" Vidia asked, suspicious. "That's impossible. We get every single one."
"So there are six billion fairies in Pixie Hollow?"
"Well – no, but -"
"These laughs are just really quiet." the fairy shrugged. "You can't hear them. It's almost just a pleased breath."
Vidia paused, wishing she didn't have to believe.
Lost fairies. They could turn all Pixie Hollow upside down forever. Nothing would ever be the same.
She shook her head, overwhelmed. "How many lost fairies are there?"
"Hundreds. I don't know - thousands. Only Minta would know how many are in the area, and she doesn't operate outside England."
Vidia didn't move. "Thousands."
The fairy tucked the spoon into her belt. "You've met Queen Clarion, then?"
"Of course. Everyone has." Vidia answered, recovering.
"When you tell her about me will I be able to go to Pixie Hollow?"
Vidia smiled. "She wouldn't have it any other way."
A small raindrop screamed down from above and smashed into the ground near them, splattering Vidia's shoes and ankles with tiny droplets of water and dirt. Another torpedoed down and landed several fairy-lengths away.
"We need to get inside." the fairy turned. "Follow me."
Vidia took a step after her, then paused. "Wait – who are you?"
"I'm Jacquie. And you're . . ?"
"Vidia."
"Nice to meet you, Vidia of Pixie Hollow. Hurry up – you'll get soaked again."
Vidia followed her down a street. She glanced up at the buildings lining the alley, tall and dark. A few stars were showing themselves and she quickly picked out the second from the right.
Straight on 'til morning. As long as you have dust.
The stars were covered by a raincloud moving over the dark sky, and Vidia was reminded of the raindrops slamming dangerously around her.
"Vidia – up here." Jacquie called, and started climbing up the side of a brick building.
Vidia followed her to where she'd started and grabbed the vine rope that was made into a sturdy rope ladder.
She climbed up to a windowsill, where Jacquie had waited for her. Light shone through the sectioned stain glass window to turn Jacquie a flattering blue.
"Where to from here?" Vidia asked, quietly.
"Through here." Jacquie pulled a section of the glass out. "After you."
Vidia glanced through, cautiously, but the room seemed to be empty. She clambered through and found herself on a large, cushioned windowseat. Jacquie climbed in after her and sealed the window again.
It was a bedroom, with several chairs, a desk and writing equipment, and a fancy tall bed. Vidia glanced at the desk and felt a thrill of satisfaction to see the pen was the feather of a hawk.
"Vidia, it isn't safe to stand around there. Thomas will be going to bed soon." Jacquie called to her.
Vidia turned around, but Jacquie wasn't there. "Where'd you go?"
"Up here."
Vidia craned her neck upward. Jacquie was standing on the top of the curtain rod. "Use the cord to climb up." she advised. "The curtains aren't strong."
Vidia concerned herself with climbing up the thick curtain cord until she got to the top.
"See that cord hanging from the ceiling?" Jacquie pointed.
"Yes."
"That pulls open a trap door. When I pull it open slightly, you'll have to jump and get in the attic and get off the door. I'll get myself in fine."
"Okay." Vidia nodded, trying not to get excited. Jacquie didn't seem to think it was dangerous.
She vaulted easily into the air and grabbed the cord. Her weight and the impact pulled the trapdoor open slightly.
"Now!" she called.
Vidia swallowed and didn't look down. She curled her toes around the curtain rod and wished she had room to run and jump. She bent her knees and propelled herself into the air. She spent only a split second in midair – then she was landing, pulling herself into the attic, off the trapdoor.
Jacquie was suddenly behind her and the door shut. Vidia peered into the sudden dim light, but she turned and saw two points of light farther into the attic.
She blinked and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, then she managed to make out a human dollhouse – a regal castle towering over them. The candles sat on the watchtowers, overlooking the empty attic floor.
Jacquie gestured to the castle. "My home."
The Little Fairy
Vidia stood inside the plastic stone castle, looking out at the ramparts. "Why haven't you ever come to pixie hollow?" she asked, turning to Jacquie, who was holding two teacups carefully over a candle.
"I don't know where it is." she replied. "I've only just heard about it in the last year – Minta learns stuff like that."
"Who's Minta?" Vidia asked.
"Araminta, really. She's another lost fairy. She lives a good day's travel across rooftops. She's a good friend of mine – a good friend of everyone. She's a really friendly person."
Vidia thought for a moment. "So how long have you been here?"
"About twenty years." Jacquie answered. "I was born in a farmhouse outside london. The baby that laughed me to life had very fragile health – and a very small laugh - and I've looked after him. Thomas is almost twenty now. This used to be his castle. He'd play with toy soldiers in here for days on end while I would watch from up there." Jacquie pointed up to the rafters of the attic.
"This was his playroom."
"Yep." Jacquie said. "He had a girl cousin come over a few times when he was little. She wasn't so interested in soldiers – but liked to make them fly around like normal fairies."
"So you've never used pixie dust?"
"Of course not. None of us lost fairies fly properly. But I've made wings from bird feathers that fasten at the shoulder and wrist. I can glide from rooftop to rooftop pretty easily. I fly and camouflage myself at the same time." She grinned at Vidia.
"That's pretty neat." Vidia smiled. "What talent are you?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. What's your talent?"
"I'm a fast-flying talent fairy."
"What do you do with that?" Jacquie asked, surprised. "Fly really fast all the time?"
"I make whirlwinds and winds to bring fairies laughs to Pixie Hollow." Vidia replied. "What do you do with your magic? We might be able to figure out what talent you are."
"I shield Thomas from the rain when he goes out. When I was away he caught pneumonia and almost died, so I make sure he doesn't get wet on the way to the office."
"Well, you can control the rain. You must be a water fairy. Or a storm fairy."
"Storm fairy!" Jacquie grinned. "I like the sound of that. Jacquie Graystorm."
"Why graystorm?" Vidia asked.
"Storms are usually gray around here." Jacquie smirked. "I think the tea is hot enough." Vidia admired the plastic stonework in the castle as Jacquie walked down a sturdy set of built-in stairs to reach the level where Vidia stood.
"Hey, if you want to take a nap I'll watch the rain and get you up when it's dry." Jacquie offered.
"No, thanks. I'll stay awake with you." Vidia turned her down.
"Here you go." Jacquie put the tea down on the table. "Careful – it's hot." She held her own teacup in two hands and drank a large swallow.
Vidia reached for her own cup. Something skittered loudly over the floorboards – claws scraping the wood loudly. She drew back, startled.
"Don't worry about the rats." Jacquie rolled her eyes. "They're always causing trouble."
"Rats?" Vidia said, hesitantly.
"The cat will get them." Jacquie nodded assuringly.
"Cat?"
"He doesn't come near the candles. Almost ate me once, but I learned my lesson, and I always carry a spoon. He hates being hit over the nose with it." she shrugged. "Don't wander around the house without me and you'll be fine."
Vidia nodded, then spoke. "I didn't think little human boys had toy china sets." She picked up the teacup and sniffed the hot tea.
"They don't. These are from another lost fairy's human. She grew out of play china and threw it away. Portia grabbed all the useful china and gives it to her friends."
Vidia sniffed her tea, frowning. "It doesn't really smell like tea." she pointed out.
"Yeah. Thomas's parents really have terrible taste. They get the nastiest tea. I can live with it – I've been drinking it my whole life." Jacquie took a big gulp of hers.
"His parents?" Vidia inquired. Vidia sat down at the table across from Jacquie.
"They used to live in the country, but they sold the farm and moved in with Thomas. He likes it because his mother is a good cook, and they need to be near a physician in their old age." Jacquie explained.
Vidia took a sip of tea, then held it her mouth for a moment, wondering if it would be rude to spit it back out. Then she swallowed. "I really like your leaf dress." She remarked, randomly.
"Thanks."
"But I think I'll skip the tea." She put the cup back on the table and pushed it away.
"That's fine." Jacquie smiled, sadly. "I'm really sorry."
Something in Jacquie's tone made Vidia worried. "Don't mention it. It's not my favorite flavor, that's all."
"That's not what I was talking about." Jacquie grimaced. "It's necessary."
Vidia stared at Jacquie until she suddenly went blurry around the edges. She stood – well, tried to stand. She pushed herself up using the table and swayed on the spot. "What have you -" Vidia choked. She glanced at the teacup and realized there had been something in the tea.
"What did you do?" Vidia asked, just before her knees buckled under her.
Yep, to any who noticed, the title is from 'The Little Mermaid', which I have not watched, but have read. This story will not be mirroring that plot. Vidia is the main character, not Jacquie.