Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.
Author's Note:
When did Prilla arrive in Neverland? The books indicate it was current times, but what if Prilla arrived earlier? Say, about 10 or 20 years after Tinker Bell - then she'd be around for this story in 1942.
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A Neverland Saga - Chapter 2 - The Beautiful Valley
Vidia and Prilla flew NNW at 2000 feet over a dark ocean covered by surly grey skies. By Vidia's estimate, the 200 mile trip from Cape Wrath, Scotland to the Faroe Islands should take only about 30 minutes, but they had not reckoned on the North Atlantic weather. It was their third attempt this week. The first time, they had been turned back by storms. They had flown more than half an hour on their second try, but cross-winds, magnetic deviation errors, and a lack of visual landmarks had gotten them lost.
"If this is what it's like in June, what must it be like in January?" Prilla yelled over the noise of Vidia's wind-fold. Vidia nodded. Though not pleasant, the weather was at least tolerable for flying. They both watched the horizon for signs of land.
Twenty minutes into their flight, Vidia yelled "I think I see it!" Prilla spotted it too. As the minutes ticked by, the land grew but the weather began to deteriorate. A patchy layer of clouds formed below them and a light drizzle fell. Vidia's wind-fold kept the drizzle out, but the increased humidity made their wings heavier.
They met the southern-most island and followed its coastline north. The drizzle became heavier as they flew over sea again, passing 3 small islands. Vidia's wind-fold wasn't keeping as much rain out, and they were both receiving small spits of water from the interior tail-wind. If this kept up, they'd both be unable to fly in minutes.
As they approached another large island, Prilla cried "There it is!", indicating a small island on the other side. "Vidia, set us down here. I can bring us back when the weather is better." They were both struggling with damp wings.
"No, I can make it!" Vidia's fast-flyer mind did some quick estimating and she pitched the wind-fold up, to gain altitude. But this put them above a cloud layer, and they lost sight of the ground. Vidia followed a long ballistic arc, gradually pitching her wind-fold down.
"Vidia?" Prilla grew nervous and reached over to grab Vidia's leg. She could Apparate them both to safety in an instant.
"Hold on..." Vidia told her. They broke through the cloud layer without warning, heading toward the ground. "Uh, where are we? Where are we?"
"The ravine, over there!" Prilla cried. Vidia quickly altered course toward the large ravine. "Vidia..." whimpered Prilla as the ground grew closer.
"I've got it!" Vidia dropped her wind-fold 40 feet above the ground and immediately started another in the reverse direction. This rapidly slowed them until they bounced off the ground. Vidia extinguished the wind-fold and the fairies fell 3 feet to the grass in a heap.
"Are you okay?" Vidia asked, as they untangled themselves from tether straps & carry-bags.
"Yeah. That was scary." They sat in the drizzle catching their breath.
"Any landing you can walk away from..." Vidia grinned as they pulled off their goggles & hairnets. Suddenly they were enveloped in a breezy vortex and a local fairy hovered before them with a look of surprise & joy on her face.
"Hi, there." Prilla gave her cheeriest smile. The inverted vortex continued to whirl, keeping the drizzle off them like an umbrella as the fairy landed. She was about to speak when they all heard a human voice singing nearby, and she turned her head in alarm.
"It's Frúa Jacobsen!" (Mrs. Jacobsen) the fairy exclaimed. "Come quickly!" Vidia & Prilla jumped to their feet and chased the local fairy. They ran a short distance to a sod-covered rock. The fairy pushed aside some turf and they all stepped into a small chamber. They stood watching the field outside, where they saw an elderly woman singing to herself as she hiked toward the nearby ravine.
Prilla took the moment to remove her tether-belt and gasped in shock. "My bag! It's gone!" She looked again to the field outside as the old woman stopped singing and bent over to pick up something small. The woman studied it for a second, then pushed it into a pocket and continued her hike. "That's my bag!" cried Prilla.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it right now." the local fairy sympathized. "Let's get you dried off and something hot to drink." Vidia & Prilla followed the fairy to the back of the small chamber, then down a spiral staircase lit by small glow lamps. "I'm Sólja. It's a good thing you arrived just then. I was on the surface watching for Frúa Jacobsen."
"I'm Prilla, and this is Vidia. Lucky you have a hiding place nearby." Prilla commented.
"Oh, we have exits all over the place that lead to our home below." Sólja winked at them. "It's a poor mouse that only has one hole." The staircase ended several feet under the surface, and they followed a corridor to a long, straight tunnel. One end of the large tunnel led to the ravine, the other far end held a bright glow. Sólja gave 2 short whistles down the tunnel, then hovered and watched.
"So you live underground?" Vidia asked.
"Ja."
"That doesn't seem right." Vidia scowled, "Fairies should have their own island."
"Well, Faroe Islands were once all our islands. Then the humans showed up about 1500 years ago." They heard scampering noises approach from the long tunnel and 2 mice appeared out of the dim light. Vidia & Prilla climbed onto the mice, who began a fast gallop down the tunnel as Sólja flew with them. "We just couldn't leave our islands, so we built a home inside one."
The mice slowed to a trot as they exited the tunnel into a large chamber 70 yards wide, 40 yards high, and 180 yards long. Vidia & Prilla gasped together at the brightly lit plants around them. It was as lush with life as Neverland.
"This is one of our gardens." Sólja pointed out.
"Where is the light coming from?" asked Vidia. They all looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh, we've built crystal bottoms into the lakes of this island, so the daylight shines through." They could see how the ceiling perimeter followed the contour of the lake above them. From the brightness, Vidia suspected there were also light-talent tricks at work.
"Are those fish?" Prilla stared up at the lake bottom.
"Ja, they're trout." Sólja said. "They keep the lake bottom clean for us." The mice followed a well-worn road through the gardens, then broke into a gallop as they entered another large tunnel. The next chamber was almost as big as the first but had 2 smaller lakes in the ceiling. After a short run through a third large tunnel, they entered the largest chamber of all.
"Welcome to Fagradalur!" announced Sólja. It was difficult from the size to tell they were still underground. Vidia & Prilla had the illusion of being in a valley 85 yards wide, 60 yards deep, and stretching into the distance for over a quarter mile. They saw garden plants everywhere, small waterfalls and ponds, clusters of fairy buildings, and in the center, a large sturdy birch tree flowing with pixie dust.
"Wow." gasped Prilla.
"This is remarkable." agreed Vidia.
"Come on, let's find Queen Oydis." Sólja smiled.
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