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.
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Treasure Hunt - Chapter 2 - The Mark is Roped
The Tinker Bell gang flew west over Pixie Hollow, then the Neverwood forest, toward the Neverland Plains.
"We're looking for a large clearing, partly ringed by trees, where the forest turns into plains." Tink told the others. "There should be 4 large rocks in a square."
"Or an X." suggested Vidia.
"Oh... yeah, I suppose it could be an X."
After some time in the air, they reached the edge of the Neverwood and found the clearing. They landed on one of the rocks to check the map.
"According to this, the treasure should be right in the center." Tink said. They all slid into the tall grass between the rocks and began searching.
Fawn knew exactly where they were going and had reached the clearing shortly before the gang, but she stayed hidden in the trees. Fawn raised a birch bark megaphone to her mouth, and started practising her bird calls.
"Hush!" cried Vidia, looking up. They all stood still. "Did you hear that?" Another bird call echoed over the clearing. "Hawk!" hissed Vidia. Everyone gasped.
After a few tense moments of waiting & watching, Tinker Bell suggested "I don't think it can see us in the tall grass. We can still keep looking."
Several minutes later, Iridessa called "Tink, I found something." Everyone worked their way to her through the grass.
"It's another bottle, just like the one at the cove." Tink cupped her face to the glass.
"Is the treasure inside?" asked Silvermist.
"I can't tell. Help me get this cork out."
With everyone pulling, the cork squeaked from the bottle. Tink looked inside, then reached in and pulled out a curled-up parchment paper. She unrolled it for everyone to see.
"Huh." Tink grunted, "It's another map."
"So, no treasure." Vidia frowned.
"I guess they wanted to make it hard to find. This one has an X, south of the Misty Mountains where Havendish Stream joins with another. It's near a small river island."
"Oh, I know where that is!" cried Silvermist, "It's called the Water X."
"Then I guess that's where we go." Tink nodded. She rolled the 2 maps together, and after some careful watching for hawks, they all flew for the Misty Mountains.
Fawn was already on her way to the Water X. When she arrived, she looked in on some river otter friends of hers.
The Tinker Bell gang followed Silvermist to the Water X, and hovered above while Sil explained its name. The 2 incoming streams formed the top part of the X, then the combined stream split to go around the island, forming the bottom part of the X.
The gang flew up & down the shorelines, but found no signs of pirate activities. When they checked the map, it became clear what they were missing.
"This X is drawn right in the middle of the Water X." Tinker Bell noted. They all looked down at the water.
"Could the treasure be in the river?" asked Rosetta. They hovered close to the water, which was clear, but the ripples made it impossible to see the bottom.
"Sil," asked Tink, "Could you make the water surface mirror-flat?"
"Oh, yeah." Silvermist gestured as if smoothing a bed-sheet, and the water surface calmed. They spent several minutes following Sil around and studying the river bottom.
"What's that?" Vidia pointed to an object jutting from the river bed.
"It looks like another bottle." stated Iridessa.
"So how do we get to it?" Rosetta asked. Everyone looked at Tinker Bell. The river bed was only 1 foot below the surface, but the water flow was strong enough to keep plants from growing there.
"Uhm..." Tink tugged at her bangs as she thought. "Sil, could you push the water down to the bottle?"
Silvermist pushed the water down like a bowl, but it kept moving and trying to drift downstream. "It's too strong." she said. "I usually work with water, not against it."
"Try using a boat shape." Tink suggested. Silvermist had a much more control of the water with that. Tink quickly hovered into the invisible boat to examine the bottle, then zipped back out. "It looks like the bottle is full of air. If we can get it out of the river bed, it might float. I'll need some ropes."
They spent the next little while collecting vines and tying them into ropes. One end of the big rope was fastened to the river bank. When they were ready, Tinker Bell tied a smaller rope around her waist as she gave them a briefing.
"Sil will push the water down, while I fly in and tie this big rope to the bottle."
"Tink, isn't that dangerous?" Vidia asked.
"I'm relying on Sil to hold the water back, but if something goes wrong, you guys will have the other end of my rope & pull me out."
"Wouldn't it go faster if we helped? asked Rosetta.
"Can any of you tie a double constrictor knot?" Tink got blank looks from them. "Then I guess it's me. Let's go."
Over the river, Sil pushed the water down to the bottle and Tink dropped in next to it. Her friends nervously held the other end of Tink's safety line, as they watched her looping the heavier rope around the neck of the bottle. She was almost ready to tighten the knot, when a large furry face splashed through the side of Silvermist's water depression.
This startled everyone, and Sil almost lost control of her hole in the water. The face nudged Tinker Bell and gave friendly chittering noises.
"No time to play, I'm working here!" Tink told the otter.
"If Fawn was here, she could talk to the otter." Silvermist struggled to hold her water shape. Tinker Bell straightened out her knot and pulled it tight. As she rose out of the hole, the otter grabbed the bottle neck in its front paws & rocked it loose from the river bed.
"That's it, Sil!" Tink called, and Silvermist let the water return to its natural level.
The bottle bobbed to the surface, and began drifting downstream. As the rope around it tightened, the bottle swung toward the bank where the rope was anchored. The bottle eventually floated over and beached itself on the river bank. The gang had the cork out in seconds, and Tinker Bell pulled another map from the bottle.
"This treasure must be really something, if they went to this much trouble to hide it." Tink rolled out the map and followed the dashed line. "It looks like the next X is at a couple of fallen trees in the Neverwood."
"What are those wiggly lines rising from the logs?" Rosetta asked.
"I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we get there." Tink rolled up the map with the other 2, and they flew north for the Neverwood.
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