Tinker Bell and all related characters ©Disney.
CHAPTER I: SHATTERED
A beautiful early spring day in Pixie Hollow.
Along the beach coastline of the island, a fairy flies above in search of lost things. Frequently, they washed up on the shore of the island from time to time, from passing ships that lost objects in some way on their voyages. She needed them for a new project that is to help the nature fairies keep cool from the increasing heat on the mainland. Though there were multiple shelters around to keep cool, the barometrical aspect of London had changed dramatically. It was not the shelters themselves, but the foliage that inhabits them. This made keeping cool during those days very difficult. In the past century, temperatures on the mainland have increased, with some days in the triple digits. It's been a few millennia since that much of a climate change has happened. Commissioned by the Minister of Summer, and specifically asked of her to design and build, the gears began turning inside the head of the tinker/inventor, and she set about in rectifying their situation.
Tinker Bell is one of a kind. She is a rare breed of fairy that comes along, only once every few hundred years: a 'Super Talent'. A fairy whose talent and skill is so strong, that just one innovation or invention from her, will be the talk of the realm for a long time. And there has been plenty of that. From the moment Tinker Bell took hold of that hammer at her arrival ceremony, and its intense glow left everyone in shock and happiness, Queen Clarion, ruler of Pixie Hollow, knew that a Super Talent had arrived, and she was a tinker of all things. The last Super Talent to arrive long ago, was Vidia, Pixie Hollow's fastest flyer.
Through trial and error, as well as remaining true to herself, Tinker Bell has proven to be a Super Talent like none before. Incorporating lost things into her builds, her inventions have made preparations for the changing of the seasons easier for the nature fairies, and other improvements to different processes around Pixie Hollow have been accepted with much relief and gratitude. She downplays it heavily, saying that it wasn't just her, but also her circle of friends that helped make it happen. Associated with a fairy from each of the nature talents, all can testify that Tink is a very dedicated, determined, and dependable fairy. Even Vidia, her rival/friend, would say the same.
From what is known, Super Talent fairies often exude strong emotions when it come to their area of experise. From mild to extreme sadness, anger or frustration, they are very volitile when it involves an act or a project. Tinker Bell is no different, if more prone even, to those outbursts. She is the only fairy who literally turns bright red completely when angered. There are ways to calm her down, but one needs to be in sync with her to do so. Her best friend Terence, a dust keeper talent, who has a huge crush on her, is getting to know that very well. Which brings her to what is happening now.
Scouring the beach for the past two hours, she's found a plethora of items, from paper clips, to bottles and caps, buttons and wire. Though they seem useless as they are, Tinker Bell always has a use for them in some way. She had been back and forth with several things, sorting, and altering her design. By this tiime, she was getting frustrated.
"It's still not what I need," she sighed, slumping her shoulders, "I hate to alter the design again," shaking her head of the thought. Digging into the sand, she finally saw something promising. Since different times now were among them, more modern devices were found; in this case, a brand new deck of playing cards, in the box, still in the wrapper. Tink smiled giddily.
"Perfect!" she said as she dug more into the sand, to unearth the box. It was in mint condition, unused and untouched. This was her best find of the past two hours. "This will go perfectly with the current design," she said to herself, as she wrapped twine all around it, to haul it back to her home above Tinkers' Nook. As the sun was high, she noticed a large shadow with wings circling overhead. Immediately, she knew what it was.
"Hawk," she whispered, as she fluttered up, lifting the heavy box of cards out of the sand, doing it as quickly as possible, to avoid being spotted. Unfortunately, it was too late for that, as the hawk spotted the green-cladded fairy. Still trying to make a getaway with her treasure, the bird went into a nose dive towards Tinker Bell.
"AAAHHH!" she shrieked as she dropped the parcel and flew for her life. The hawk corrected itself and flew after the magical being. Not wanting to lead it back to Pixie Hollow, Tinker Bell tried to lead it out over the water, and double back to lose it. Big mistake.
The hawk was close on her tail, when she was stopped midair by... a second hawk! "This is not good," she mused, as the look on her face told of fear. Not being a fast flyer, she had to think of something, so she tried ducking underneath to get away from the carnivores. Until she was met by a third hawk! 'This just isn't my day,' as fear consumed her being. This is a scenario in the worst case. Turning red from frustration, Tinker Bell took a chance, and shot straight up, in a last ditch attempt to escape. The three followed in hot pursuit of the fairy, as she screamed at the top of her lungs, hopefully to get the attention of the scout talent fairies on hawk watch. Unexpectedly, she felt talons wrap around her, as she was pulled out of flight by...a fourth hawk. This is a fairy's worst nightmare, quadrupled.
"Let, me, go," Tink growled, struggling to work her way free of the hawk's grasp. Everyone around Pixie Hollow knew that Tinker Bell was a fighter, and very stubborn at that. She won't give up anything without a fight. This time, the stakes are infinitely higher, as her own survival hangs in the balance. Cawing at their victory of finding food, the four hawks took turns at their captured prey. But resistance was met pretty harshly.
"Keep away from me, you birdbrains!" she yelled, kicking at their beaks, keeping them from laying one on her. Tinker Bell wriggled in the grasp of the first hawk's talons, as its grip increased, biting deeply into her skin. The pain only intensified as another hawk grabbed hold of her right leg, and bit it off above the knee.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Tinker Bell screamed at the top of her lungs, the pain being too much for her. She shook her head to calm herself; gritting her teeth, her face lit up red again, and her anger as fuel, she managed to budge the toe open to get free of its grasp. Trying to fly away proved to be difficult, as she just then noticed that her right leg was missing! Like a fairy, as with any avian, if part of an appendage is missing, the delicate balance for flight is thrown off, making a difficult situation, just that more dangerous. Though she hovered, that missing piece of leg made it harder than usual. Hobbling along the air holding her side, dropping off to the right so much, just made her more prone to attacks. And that's exactly what happened, as all four hawks did something unexpected.
Knowing she was heavily injured, Tinker Bell flew swiftly, yet unbalanced, back to the beach. Being too far from it, she would not make it, as each of the hawks performed nosedive manuevers, their sharp feathers and talons at the ready, to prevent her from reaching the shore. Hawks are some of the fastest birds of prey on Earth, capable of flying, at full throttle, speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. And they use its max in an attempt to subdue their prey.
"Got..to get...to...the beach," she told herself, as she fluttered unbalanced towards the coastline. Struggling to stay conscious, her wings started to sparkle its array of colors, then a deep red, indicating a problem. As much as she was trying to get out of harm's way, it became futile, as the birds began their ariel assault on the tinker fairy.
In the Winter Woods, winter fairies were practicing in the frost forest, not too long after returning from maintaining winter on the mainland. Since the freeze a while back that threatened all of Pixie Hollow, one frost fairy, Periwinkle, has become very close with Tinker Bell, a tinker fairy living in the warm seasons. What makes their friendship so special, is that they are twin sisters, a rarity in the lives of fairies, and the first ever pair in all of Never Land. Born of the same laugh, they share most thoughts and interests, yet differ only in appearance and talent. What solidifies their connection, is the sparkling and shimmering of their wings when either one is near, as they share the same identical pattern on their wings. As Periwinkle was flying around, she suddenly dropped out of the air, and into the snow. Her friend Gliss saw what happened, and flew down to her, followed by another, Spike.
"What happened Peri?" she asked, helping her friend up. Then she noticed it. "Is that usual with your wings?" Periwinkle looked behind her, to see her wings glowing a deep red. That can only mean one thing.
"Tink!" she said hurriedly, "she must be in trouble!" as she took off, despite the pain, her two friends following behind, gliding level with her.
"Where is she?" asked Spike.
"She said she was going down to the beach to find lost things for a new project," she said, wincing, as they reached the primary residence of the Lord of Winter. Heading inside, the three found Lord Milori, overseer of the Winter Woods, as he was going over some paperwork.
"Lord Milori!" she said quickly, "Tinker Bell's in trouble!" Milori looked up from his paperwork, and noticed the red eminating from her wings.
"Where is she?" he asked as he stood up.
"She's at the beach!"
"Come," as they all went outside, and summoning his snow owl, he mounted. "I'm going to inform the queen," as he and his owl took off for the border. Just then, the pain struck Periwinkle's wings again, making her wince.
"Please be alright, Tink," she whispered as Gliss and Spike helped her up.
"Can't...let them...take me...down..." Tinker Bell muttered, as she steeled herself, crossing her arms in front for defense, trying to avoid any other attacks to her body. Knowing she couldn't make it back to the beach, she instead formed a defensive stance in the air. Yet because of the loss of her leg, she was weakened considerably. With every passing strike from a hawk, she yelped, as energy was slowly seeped from her. The more she defended herself, the harsher the assaults. Tossed around in the air like a rag doll, her dress was already tattered, exposing scars. Each of the birds climbed gradually, and descended rapidly, as they relished in the fun of destroying an opponent. What was once a quest for food quickly turned into a relentless, malicious taunting, with a cut here, a stab there, and mounting wounds. Despite tiredness, the only thing keeping Tink aloft is her strong will.
Flying to the home tree was relatively quick for Milori, as he became acclimated to the warm seasons. One of a few that can do this, it allowed him to do things other winter fairies can not. Coming up to the high entrance that accessed the well, the lord of winter dismounted from his owl, and went inside. He knew exactly where he was going.
In her private quarters, Queen Clarion floated, having a meeting with the ministers. As one was talking, he entered. Taking an eye from him, she knew his way.
"Excuse me," she said, as the others nodded, allowing her to exit to meet with her co-ruler and long time love.
"Milori," she spoke with a beautiful ring to her voice, "what's wrong?"
"Periwinkle just told me," he said, "that Tinker Bell is in trouble at the beach."
Clarion smiled. "Tinker Bell is always getting into some kind of trouble-"
"No, this is serious," he interrupted, "Peri's wings glowed deep red."
The queen's eyes grew big, as she now understood that this is a serious matter. "We must hurry," she quickly said, "we need to get the scouts." Milori called for his owl, and mounting it, he and the queen made their way to the border of the Autumn Wood and Summer Meadow, where the scout talent fairies are stationed.
Once the scouts were informed, three armed themselves with acorn cannons, a new invention designed by Tinker Bell to deter hawk attacks, and three others with ammunition. Now, they will be used to possibly save its creator.
"Can't...hold...out...much...longer..." she muttered, huffing.
With every attack from the band of hawks, Tinker Bell felt she was nearing the end of her life. In a few minutes time, scars adorned nearly every part of her body, and her green dress was shredded beyond recognition, as she was bounded around like a rag doll in midair. Having no strength to move, even to barely keep her arms crossed as they sagged, she was helpless. Exhausted to the point of collapse, and her wings locked in hover mode, she was holding out by sheer will alone. The hawks' speed made their feathers feel like stinging razors with each strike, which made her more of a bloody mess, by anyone's standards.
Feeling that they've had their fun, the first one that started it, went in for the kill.
"Can't...hover...no...more..." As Tink's energy finally tapped out, she slumped over as the hawk caught her by the midsection with its talons, and squeezed, cracking her ribs. And once again in midair, the other three flew over and began feasting on her. As the talons dug into her abdomen, one bit at her left arm, taking it off above the elbow; another tore at her wings, while the third nibbled at her remaining leg. She had become too weak to even scream or yell, as she wheezed. Tink winced harshly at each bite, feeling the blood, her life, quickly draining away; her expression contorted because of the pain, realizing now, this is how she will die.
Suddenly, one of the hawks felt something hit its back hard. Then another, and another. Before long all four hawks were being rapidly pelted with small projectiles that stung. The scouts fired off rounds of them like professionals, just like Tink showed them, as to operate the defensive devices properly. Squaking furiously, the four each departed and flew out over the water, the last one, letting go of the tinker. With the release, she felt her limp body falling like a stone towards her waiting watery grave, until she felt something catch her. With her last bit of energy, she weakly cracked open her eyes, filled with haze, to catch a prominent chin and square jaw, that could only belong to one person.
"Lord...Milo...ri..." she barely managed to wheeze, before her head lulled to the side, and completely lost consciousness.
Milori gazed down at her, and couldn't believe her condition. "Oh no," he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief, as he navigated his owl towards the beach, where a very concerned Queen Clarion was waiting. When they arrived at the beach, shock didn't describe what they saw happening over the water. This is the first hawk attack any fairy has seen, actually in progress. And possibly, the worst one to date. Gliding down to the waiting monarch, Milori's face was filled with grief. Fluttering over to him as he landed, what she took sight of, brought the queen to tears.
"Tinker Bell," Clarion's voice trembled, covering her mouth with both hands, as tears streamed down her cheeks. The most talented tinker fairy to ever grace Pixie Hollow, had literally been ripped apart. Multiple cuts all over her body, deep gashes in her midsection and back, her dress shredded, wings severely tattered; and most horrific, her right leg was gone, as well as most of her left arm. From nearly every gash and cut, blood leaked, as the remainder of her dress was saturated with it. Her blonde hair was disshelved, and her face bore scars from the hawks' razor-like feathers. The stumps still dripped blood, as it smeared on Milori's tunic.
When the scouts returned, they came alongside Lord Milori, and taking one glance at the fairy, it made all of them gasp in shock and horror at the gory sight.
"It's amazing that she's still alive after that," Milori said, as he took off his cape, and placed it over Tink's mutilated body, leaving her face exposed. It was for her protection and privacy.
"She has a strong will," Clarion said, wiping her face of water, "we need to get her to the healing talent fairies quickly, if she can be saved," as she took off urgenty, the lord of winter following as well as the scouts.
The speed that the royal entourage was moving, many thought it was a flock of birds flying above them. Seeing the flurry of pixie dust, followed by a bright white owl, couldn't tell the absolute urgency of the situation.
At the fairy infirmary, things were going along as usual, like treating cases, such as a fairy and a frog tongue-tied together, rainbow collision, and being stuck inside a snap dragon, again. Yet, things changed, when the flurry of pixie dust blew past the waiting area, and right to the desk. Opening the curtain, the receptionist was surprised.
"Yes, your highness?" she asked with shock.
"Urgent," the queen said quickly, "fairy severely injured by four hawks..."
"FOUR hawks!?" She ran from around the desk, to see Lord Milori standing there, with a blond fairy in his arms. Removing the covering, she was greeted with a horrid sight.
"Come," as she ran to the nearest available room, and setting off the alarm.
"CODE RED! CODE RED! ALL AVAILABLE HEALING TALENTS TO ROOM FOUR!"
Just as quick, five healing talents flocked into the room, just as the Lord of Winter laid the fairy down on the table. Upon seeing the victim, many recognized who it was.
"Tinker Bell!" one said in shock, "what happened?" as he was prepped for work.
"She was mauled alive in midair by four hawks, not too far from the beach," the monarch said, as Milori placed his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll do our best to save Tinker Bell, your highness," the head healing talent said, as he escorted the two outside the door, "I promise you." He then went back inside, closing the door, and starting the urgent medical process to save the tinker fairy.
Word got around later that day of the multiple hawk attack at the beach; but when told of the victim, the entire fairy community was brought to a screeching halt. To hear that THE strongest talented fairy in Pixie Hollow's history so far, had been viciously attacked and nearly killed, was immensely unexpected. Every fairy and sparrowman of every talent stopped what they were doing, and headed east of the pixie dust tree to the infirmary, where the healing talents worked.
As soon as Tink's circle of friends got word, they all flew like the wind to get there before everyone else. The reception area, as well as the outside, overflowed with concerned people, as well as waiting patients. Just outside the entrance, Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn and Vidia stood, concern full on their faces, waiting to hear anything on their friend. Just then, one of the head healing talents appeared, along with the queen.
"How is she?" asked Silvermist.
"Can we see her?" said Iridessa. The entire group chattered questions, wanting to know about Tink. Clarion quieted them all down.
"Quiet, please," she said, regaining order, "I have saddening news." She tried to keep herself composed, but it was hard. "Tinker Bell was attacked by four hawks at the beach, neither one were Never Land hawks." Gasps of shock were heard throughout the crowd. "By the strength of her will, she stayed aloft in the air, even after being struck by the hawks multiple times. Her injuries..." she trailed off, "are very severe," as tears streamed down her cheeks. The doctor took over.
"It's a miracle that Tinker Bell is still alive, but barely," he said, "she's lost a lot of blood, there are many deep gashes, and..." hesitating, "she...has lost her right leg and most of her left arm." More gasps, even louder, were heard. "She's been mauled very badly. I've never seen anything like it."
"If it wasn't for Periwinkle's signs from her wings," Clarion added, a bit more composed, "Tinker Bell would probably be dead. Even if she survives for longer, her life after this will not ever be the same."
"When can we see her?" asked Rosetta in her southern drawl.
"Since you five are her closest friends," said the doctor, "you can see her first."
"Where's my precious tinker?" a voice yelled, frantically, as Fairy Mary appeared from the middle of the crowd. Clarion flittered over to the tinker overseer and longtime friend, to calm her down.
"Do you want to see her, Mary?" she asked.
"What happened at the beach?" The queen filled her in on the details. "I knew...she was working on that project for Sunflower," the tinker supervisor muttered, "but who would expect anything like this..."
"None of us knew it was going to happen," Clarion replied, "where those hawks came from, we have no idea; but one thing for sure, it's because of Tinker Bell's connection with Periwinkle that informed us immediately."
"We had to work quick to stabilize her condition, but we have her patched up as best as possible," said the head doctor, "she's pretty mangled up. Are you ready?"
The five nature talents and tinker overseer nodded, bracing themselves as they made their way down the hall, and to a room curtained off. As the doctor drew back the curtain and they stepped inside, what they saw rendered them all totally speechless and completely heartbroken. 'Pretty mangled up' didn't describe the sight before them; their sister in fae Tinker Bell had literally been torn to shreds. Laying unconscious on a table bed, the majority of her body was wrapped up in bandages, cut to fit, most lightly saturated with blood. But it was the stubs of her arm and unseen right leg that told the real tale. Sil began to sob, as Ro closed her eyes and shook her head. Dessa gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks, and Fawn stood there with a sullen gaze, with nothing to say. Even Fairy Mary couldn't help but shed tears, to see her best tinker like this. In a surprise move, Vidia, of all people, approached the bedside of the tinker.
"Tinker Bell," she whispered, "how could they have done this to you?" Fairy Mary came from behind, and laid a hand on her shoulder. This was one of the few times the tough fast flyer has shown any type of emotion.
"When she wakes up," she said, "her whole world and everything she knew will have changed."
The others swore that they saw Vidia wipe water from her eyes. Then she clenched her fists.
"Where are those damn hawks," she growled through clenched teeth. None have ever seen Vidia get this upset before. Mary nipped her quick.
"Oh no you don't," she stopped her, "you're not going to do anything stupid, fast flyer," then gazing at the unconscious tinker, "we need to be here for Tinker Bell, and support her in her recovery."
"But," spoke up Iridessa, "what can we do?"
"First," said the tinker overseer, "we can work on getting Periwinkle over here to see her sister." .
After making sure things were in good hands, Milori made his way back to the Winter Woods. Seeing Tinker Bell in that bad of a condition was hard, very hard, to swallow. He wanted to cry. It will be hard to break the news to Periwinkle, but it had to be done.
Arriving at the entrance to the frost forest, Gliss and Spike spotted the lord of winter, and flew over to him.
"How's Tinker Bell?" asked Gliss. Milori looked sullen.
"She's in very bad shape," he said, "alive, but barely. Where's Peri?"
"We took her home when she was still having those pains," Spike said. "What happened?"
"Come with me," as he mounted his owl, and took off for the deeper part of the forest, where the frost fairies lived. When the three arrived at her home, they saw her and Dewey, the Keeper of All Fairy Knowledge, sitting down. Peri had recently been relieved of her wing pains, and was resting.
Upon seeing her overseer and her friends, Peri shot up and towards the lord of winter.
"How's Tink?" she asked anxiously. Milori placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Come," he said, "you need to sit down for what I have to say," as they made their way to her ice couch. As Milori told of the hawk attack on the beloved tinker fairy, none couldn't believe it. Peri handled it surprisingly well at first, but when told of her sister's massive and extensive injuries, she broke down crying. As far as Dewey knew, never in all of Pixie Hollow's history, has a fairy been maimed so badly, yet managed to survive. The elder sparrowman, known as the Keeper, comforted the frost fairy.
"Tinker Bell's a mighty strong fairy," he said in his Scandanavian accent, "one we haven't seen in a long time. She will come out just a fine. Whatever adversities she'll a face, she'll overcome them." That brought some comfort to her.
"Yeah," added Gliss, "I've never seen a fairy as strong and innovative as Tink."
"She'll learn to adapt," Spike said, "we're here for you, and her."
Periwinkle wiped the melted ice from her face. "Thanks, guys," she said meekly, "I needed to hear that."
"The tinkers are working on a way to get you to the infirmary to see her," Milori said, "give it a few days. They may need Slush's help again," he smiled. "But they probably want you to wait until she's conscious though." She smiled weakly as she sighed.
"I just wanna see her," she said, "but I can wait."
Constant vigil was kept over Pixie Hollow's Super Talent fairy for the next forty-eight hours, as she remained unconscious, yet breathing at a regular rate, despite her broken ribs and the wheezing. Moved to a better room after being stabilized, many healing talents came in periodically and changed her bandages, including the ones covering her stubs. Though her circle of friends needed to get rest themselves, they would often come to the tree in the middle of the night to check on Tink's condition. She had made it through the most critical point of her recovery, now comes the hard part: when will she wake up.
By the end of the week, her infirmary room was filled with various gifts from all the talents in the realm; from flowers to devices, food to handmade creations. It was an outpouring of support unlike any other for one of their own.
Queen Clarion managed to visit every other day, to attain updates on her condition. None of her fairies are unimportant enough for her to keep check on them. Yet, because of what she saw with her own eyes, she took Tink's ordeal to heart, personally.
Tinker Bell's injuries were very extensive; her broken ribs from the squeezing of the hawk's talons were starting to heal, but not as fast. The gashes in her midsection and back went deep, some to where bone was exposed. Multiple surgeries were performed after her arrival to sew them up. The multiple scars incurred from the hawks' rapid descent attacks mostly healed, including a long one on her face, from her left ear across her cheek. She was still critical, yet with the special mixture of herbs and various ointments, her wounds were healing. Her road to a somewhat full recovery will be long.
