A/N: I'm starting to write out some of my chapters in the evening before I go to bed so I have a plan on what to type the next day. I wish to say that, although I have LITERALLY half-a-dozen other stories to type up and update, I am focusing solely on this one as this story has made me feel rejuvenated and is giving me (what I feel is) a fresh start. By the looks of things, I've been updating this story almost every day to every other day, so expect frequent updates. Also, I went through my last few chapters and HOLY NEVERLAND, there was so many typos I didn't even realize it! I went back and fixed all of those so hopefully there isn't any more of them. Also, if you guys are wondering where Nyx and the other scouting-talent fairies are, I just think that they normally are a bit delayed (as seen in the movie) in getting to wherever the hawks are.

Guest: Oh my goodness, thank you! I have always been worried that my writing is either too long or includes one too many paragraphs (as I've been taught that, normally, a new paragraph begins whenever a new subject/topic is broached or someone else speaks) or includes too many details. I suppose not, judging from what you've been saying. Thank you so much for the kind words!

Chapter Genre: Friendship, Action, Thriller

Chapter Rating: K+

Rating Content: Brief Scenes of Peril, Mild Depictions of Violence, Mild Scenes of Blood

The Summer Glade was a lot more... brighter than what Flora had expected. Not because of the bright and cheerful colours (although they contributed a great deal to it), but because of the fairies that were working there; they all seemed to have a very bright or cheerful personality.

Or perhaps maybe it was because of Sunflower that they all seemed that way. Flora herself felt more bubbly by just being around the Minister of Summer, so maybe her personality had an effect on others' personalities as well. After all, being around a cheerful person can make you cheerful as well. And, for once, Flora didn't feel so tiny when standing beside her compared to whenever she stood beside Redleaf or even Queen clarion. Sunflower wasn't too much smaller than the other Ministers, but she at least didn't tower over her.

"So, how did you enjoy the Autumn Forest?" Sunflower asked. "I hope you're well adjusted over there."

Flora smiled at the fairy. "It truly is a lovely place! I love all of the colours and the smells are absolutely refreshing. Redleaf had also found a lovely little home for me to live in."

"That's excellent!" Sunflower beamed. "Now, how are you feeling? With you being so far away from home..."

Flora shrugged. "I should be feeling sad, but I'm just... not. I'm mildly upset, but that's about it. The only people who would really care about my disappearance would be my mother and my younger sister. Other than them, there isn't much to go back to or to miss."

"Do you not have friends there?"

"As I had said to Redleaf, 'define friends'. The only true friends I ever made are all far away from London and I barely heard from them after they left."

Sunflower frowned, a rare face for the Minister of Summer. "Oh dear..."

Flora shrugged again and smiled. "I try not to dwell on it too much. I prefer to focus on the now."

Much like Redleaf, she decided to let the subject go. "Well, what would you like to see, first? There's so many places here that I could show you! We have the Sunflower Gully, the Neverfruit Grove and the Palm Tree Cove."

Flora smiled brightly. "They all sound fascinating! I absolutely adore flowers, but I haven't seen a palm tree before. Don't coconuts come from palm trees?"

Sunflower flashed an even brighter smile. "That's right! If you'll follow me to the beach, I can show you how palm trees are grown and how the coconuts are collected!"

/ / /

Redleaf flew to the Spring Valley, intent on speaking with its Minister. Redleaf knew of the mistrust that Hyacinth harboured towards Flora and he wished to diffuse any issues that he may have with her before she went to see Spring.

He quickly asked the nearest fairy the whereabouts of Hyacinth and she pointed. "He's at the Cherryblossom Heights."

Redleaf nodded his thanks and dashed to where the fairy had directed him.

It had taken almost no time to find the Minister of Spring. Even in a forest of cherry blossom trees, Hyacinth was very easy to spot. Dressed in his spring blossoms, he was very easy to find in a crowd. He flew down to him. "Hello, Hyacinth."

Hyacinth's head shot up and he caught sight of the Minister of Autumn. "Ah, Redleaf. Although it is good to see you, I'm a bit surprised to see you here in Spring."

Redleaf ignored his comment. "I need to speak with you."

Judging from his tone, Hyacinth could tell it was something more serious than regular conversation. He dismissed himself from the two fairies picking the ripe cherries. "Carry on."

They flew until they were away from the listening ears of the other fairies. "What is it you need to speak to me about?"

"It's about Flora."

Hyacinth's wings fluttered and he quirked an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Redleaf hesitated at first, unsure of how he should continue. "As I understand things, you are somewhat... cautious around her. I can understand why, seeing how she's a human. But, she had been shown to most of the seasons in Pixie Hollow and she'll want to see the Spring Valley soon."

Hyacinth said nothing so he continued. "Once again, I understand your concerns about Flora, but I can say that she is a bright and kind woman. There is nothing that you need to be concerned about."

"How do you know for certain?"

"She has the wisdom and maturity of an elder fairy, but she looks upon Pixie Hollow with the eyes and curiosity of a young child. She has an innocence about her, and she is honest. Flora has a... troubling and painful past, so the very last thing she needs is someone here not trusting her. She needs kindness and open arms. I'm hoping you can give that to her."

Hyacinth considered what Redleaf had said. He hadn't spent any time around Flora, so he wouldn't know a thing about her, but Redleaf has and he does know things. From the sounds of it, he may know a fair amount about her. If what he was saying about her past was true (and Redleaf was not one to lie), then Flora deserved more kindness than what she had previously gotten.

Hyacinth let out a soft sigh and nodded his head. "Very well."

Redleaf smiled. "Thank you. Now, one thing you should know about Flora is that she's a very curious young woman, so expect several-"

Redleaf halted his sentence when he heard the sounds of horns blowing. That usually signaled that a hawk was around Pixie Hollow. These horns weren't sounding in the Spring Valley, but within the Summer Glade.

A feeling of dread gripped at Redleaf. "Oh, no..."

Almost instantly he was flying to the Summer Glade and Hyacinth quickly followed. "What are you doing?"

"Flora is in the Summer Glade!"

Hyacinth flew up until he was directly beside the Minister of Autumn. "Are you quite mad?! If there's a hawk then you're flying directly into danger!"

"You're almost no better in following me!" Redleaf snapped back.

The Ministers both stopped within the Summer Glade and hid as a hawk flew directly over them, screaming as it flew over them.

Redleaf dared to peek out from under their hiding spot. "What are you doing?!"

"Hawks don't scream, they screech!" Redleaf hissed. He looked up and saw someone within the grasp of one of the hawks, struggling to release herself from it.

"Flora!"

/ / /

Flora and Sunflower were both heading towards the Sunflower Gully, having seen the Palm Tree Cove (and after Flora got stuck on a tree after trying to climb it). "I'll admit, I'm not used to climbing such rough trees. They don't have any branches, either!"

Sunflower laughed her jovial laugh. "No need to worry, dear. You managed to get a lot higher than I would've ever thought! Do you climb a lot?"

She nodded. "I loved to climb this one oak tree back home. From when I was little, I would climb as far as I could and just watch the forest from that point. I really enjoyed just watching nature and seeing it work and move. I also just liked to listen to it as well, I loved hearing the birds and the river. It was always calming."

"I can see where you get your tree climbing skills, then!"

That's when Flora heard it, then. She didn't know what it was, but it was something. "Hold on a moment..."

"What is it?"

She shushed the Minister and turned her ear to the sounds, holding her breath as to not falter her hearing. She soon heard it again as it echoed through the air. Flora recognized it as a hawks' call. She then looked up to make sure it wasn't another creature.

Using her hand to shield her eyes from the beaming light of the sun, she saw a small group of hawks high up in the air, around two or three. "Oh, I didn't know you have hawks here!" She said, casually.

Sunflower's eyes widened. "Hawks?"

One of them called out again. "Yeah, hawks. That's almost fascinating. I never got to see them-"

"HAWK!"

Flora jumped as Sunflower shouted at the top of her lungs. "What, what's wrong?"

As the other fairies called out the same word over again, she heard horns going off and the fairies all began to run and hide. Sunflower pulled Flora along and they both hid at the base of a large tree where several other fairies took cover.

"What's wrong with hawks?"

A young fairy hissed at her, "They eat fairies!"

Flora's face fell. "Oh..."

Flora looked out to see the hawks swooping in low at any fairies that still hadn't gotten to a hiding place, snapping their beaks and stretching out their talons. She felt almost panicked at the sight before her. Pixie Hollow was a peaceful place, so hawks were the last thing she would've thought to be dangerous. But it made sense, considering they ate small rodents and sometimes bugs. Fairies nearly resembled bugs, she realized.

One of the hawks landed a small distance away from the tree she and several other fairies were hiding in and Flora saw that one fairy had gotten cornered. The fairy was a young girl, pink flowery dress and silky red hair. Flora's heart almost stopped when she saw the poor girl cowering at the base of the maple tree.

Without even thinking, Flora dashed out from the hiding spot, too quickly for anyone to even notice her or stop her. "Flora!" She heard Sunflower call out.

She ignored the Minister and ran straight for the Hawk as fast as she could. She wasn't about to let an innocent young fairy die. Taking a small stone she saw, she reeled her arm back and threw it as hard as she could at the hawk. It made a small little croak, confused as to what had just hit it.

"Hey, stupid hawk! Over here!"

The hawk turned to Flora and she waved her arm in the direction of the nearest hiding spot. "Go, it's distracted!"

The fairy dashed away and Flora looked up to see a very big and very angry hawk, which stepped closer and closer to her. She didn't look like a bug, but she was certainly small enough and looked good to eat.

She back up and swallowed hard. "I didn't think this through..."

The hawk screeched and Flora turned the other way in an attempt to escape. The hawk (having a much longer neck than what Flora expected) simply leaned down and grabbed her with its beak and, without even hesitating, flapped its wings and took her up with it. Flora let out an ear-piercing shriek, clawing at where the hawk was holding onto her.

Thankfully it had gotten her shirt and not her actual hair or skin, but the height along with the fact that she could be dropped at any second, terrified her more than anything. "Oh, lord almighty!" She gasped, her breath almost being taken away with how high they had gotten in such a short amount of time.

Another screech could be heard and Flora looked to see the second hawk flying directly towards the one that had her. It probably saw that another one had caught something and is most likely going to try and steal it. Steal her.

Flora curled into a ball and braced for impact, managing to hold back the scream that threatened to escape her. She was tossed around for a brief moment before she felt herself falling. Then she did scream, her hands clawing at the air as she fell.

The third hawk had grabbed her with one of its talons, screeching out almost as if he was saying 'ha, caught you!'. Flora felt the wind knocked out of her as it grabbed her and she gasped for air. Once she got her air back, she tried her best to claw and pulls at the hawks talons, but with no avail. So, all she could do was wait until it either dropped her or decided to eat her.

The hawk finally landed somewhere, probably still within Pixie Hollow, but away from where the other two hawks had been fighting. The hawk released her and she tried to run, but it grabbed her with its beak and pulled her back. Flora then tried to crawl away and it pecked at her, creating a large cut on her arm, causing her to scream in agony.

Flora huddled in on herself as she held her bleeding arm, looking up at the hawk that eyed her hungrily. It then picked her up and tossed her up in the air, making her scream once more as she fell closer and closer to its gaping maw.

Something ran into her and pushed her far to the side, preventing her from falling into the hawks' mouth. "What in the name of Neverland did you think you were doing?!"

As she was set back down on the ground, Flora immediately recognized Redleaf's voice and relief swept over her. She quickly hugged him, more out of the need for self comfort, but he pushed her back and inspected her arm. "What happened?!"

She shook her head, unable to speak, in shock from nearly being eaten. Her entire body was shaking and tears streamed down her face. When did she start crying? Why was she crying? Aside from the immense pain in her arm, of course.

They both heard the hawk hiss at them, spreading out its wings in a threatening stance. Redleaf then quickly curled himself around Flora and shut his eyes tight, bracing for any impact.

"Get him!"

They both heard multiple shouts and the confused and upset sound of the hawk. Flora dared to look from under Redleaf's arm and she saw that several fairies had rallied up against the hawk, tossing berries, rocks, and other hard items at it. The hawk screeched at them all, but ended up with a rock being thrown at its eye. Shaking its head, it spread its wings and flew away from the assault, screeching out in frustration.

The fairies all gathered around she and Redleaf, all of them asking them if they were alright. Redleaf slowly uncurled himself from around Flora and picked her up, not caring for the blood that smudged onto his robe. "She hurt her arm," he informed them, "she needs to see a healer!"

They all gasped at the sight of her bloodied arm, still flowing from the wound that the hawk caused. Despite this, she pushed at his chest. "I'm fine, Redleaf, I can walk." She croaked

Redleaf ignored her and gently pushed past all of the onlooking fairies, quickly flying over to the hospital, silently hoping that she wouldn't bleed out before they got there.

/ / /

He sat patiently on one of the stools as the nurse stitched Flora's arm, who barely even flinched as the needle pierced her skin. "What were you thinking?" He finally said. "You had no business attacking that hawk!"

She shrugged. "I wasn't really thinking-"

"Sh!" The nurse tutted her.

Redleaf sighed. "You should have let a scouting-talent fairy handle it! They know how to get rid of hawks."

Flora was about to respond but the nurse shushed her again and she rolled her eyes. The nurse cleaned the dried blood from her arm with water (which a Begonia petal had been soaking in). She then took the Begonia and crushed it, making some sort of paste and spreading it on the wound. Then, using bandages made from cotton and silk, she wrapped up her arm to keep the paste from rubbing off. "There, that should keep it from getting infected." She turned off the fireflies and they flew off, resting on one of the nearby shelves. "Now, don't move it too much or you could open the stitches." She then handed Flora a small pouch. "This is a Calendula and Begonia supplement." She then handed Flora a large roll of bandages. "Every day when you wake up, you should take off the old bandages and then crush the petals and use a bit of water to make the ointment. Use the new bandages to wrap up your arm, not too tight or too loose. It should be feeling better in a week."

Redleaf stood from the mushroom stool. "Thank you."

The nurse nodded her head. "Mhm."

Flora and Redleaf slowly left the hospital and she could almost feel his eyes burning a hole into her. She snapped her head up at him, making him almost flinch. "What?!"

"I said nothing!" He retorted.

"Look, I know what I did was stupid but, in my defense, I did not know there were scouting-talent fairies."

"That is no excuse to go out and attack a hawk, Flora. You could've been eaten alive!"

She glared, a new fire lit within her. "Better me than that girl. I don't know what you would have done, but I was not about to stand idly while watching an innocent young fairy get torn apart and eaten alive by a hawk!"

Redleaf suddenly felt very small underneath her furious gaze. He sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Flora, we lose several fairies to hawks every year, even with the scouting fairies' best efforts put forward. What you did was brave, I will say that, but you were not thinking at all. If you died, that would have eaten at me until I went insane."

"Why, though?" She asked, now extremely curious.

He said too much, he realized, and he cringed. "You're new, here. I had hoped that you would be at least safe here in Pixie Hollow until we figured out how to get you back home or until you were comfortable. You are under my care until then, and if you died, then I would be hounded by guilt, knowing that I had turned my back for a few moments."

"But Sunflower was the one who was looking out for me while I was in the Glade..."

"That's worse, then. She would've felt a lot more worse than I would have simply because of that fact. You ran out when she was right there. Even now, she is probably berating herself for letting you rush out like that."

Flora turned her head, shame falling on her face. He was right. Sunflower seemed more like a mother-hen rather than a Minister. If she knew that Flora had died whilst being under her care, surely she would not be the jovial, high-spirited fairy that she knew her to be. Flora sighed in resignation. "I'm sorry, you're right. I should probably find Sunflower..."

As they passed by her home, Flora quickly dropped off the items the nurse had given her and followed Redleaf to the Pixie Dust Tree, silently hoping that Sunflower was not in the condition that he had described to her.

/ / /

Flora cleared her throat and knocked at the door leading into the chambers. She saw that Sunflower, Queen Clarion, Hyacinth and another young fairy were already there, probably waiting for her.

"Flora, come in."

She took a deep breath and slowly approached the Queen, but she was suddenly snatched and arms wrapped around her in a great big hug. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

Flora groaned and patted Sunflower's back. "Arm. Hurting..."

Sunflower quickly released Flora and inspected her arm. "My goodness, what happened?"

"Hawk tried to skin me, I suppose. I guess he liked pale skin." She attempted to joke, but felt that she failed miserably.

Surprisingly, Sunflower laughed. "You are a very pretty young woman, so it probably wanted to be pretty as well." She joked along with her.

Flora looked back at Redleaf, who looked just as surprised as she felt. They both were probably expecting a series of apologies from the Minister of Summer.

She ushered her towards where the Queen stood Flora quickly bowed to her. "Queen Clarion..."

"Sunflower told me of your bravery in the Summer Glade." Clarion told her, her face still betraying no emotion.

Flora shuffled her feet. "What I did was foolish. I didn't think, Your Majesty... I wish to apologize for putting everyone here in such a panic-"

"There is no need for apologies, Flora." Clarion interrupted her.

The young fairy, whom Flora finally recognized as the fairy that got cornered by the hawk, nodded in agreement. "If it wasn't for you, I'm sure that hawk would've gotten me." She then added, "I'm Rosetta."

Flora waved slightly. "Hello..."

Redleaf flew up beside Hyacinth, a mix of shock and confusion apparent on his face. Queen Clarion then turned her attention to him. "We were all discussing what had happened in the Summer Glade and we all thought that Flora may have found her own talent here in Pixie Hollow."

"What?" Both Flora and Redleaf said in unison.

"She heard hawks when the other scouting fairies didn't. If it wasn't for Flora, I'm certain more damage could have been done on the Summer Glade. She also took the initiative and protected Rosetta from the Hawk." Clarion explained. "Hyacinth and Sunflower have both agreed that scouting may be her talent, despite her being human."

"But, Queen Clarion, she had been harmed by the hawk." Redleaf said. "She cannot fly, she cannot dash away when she needs to."

Flora cleared her throat. "But I can climb and I can run. I've climbed trees since I was small and I have trained my body to endure stress for several years." She shrugged. "I don't exactly feel too fond of this idea, either, Redleaf, but I want to be able to make a contribution to Pixie Hollow. I don't want to be sitting around on my rear all day wondering what to do with myself. I want to help!"

Clarion looked expectantly at Redleaf, an eyebrow raised. He released a small sigh of resignation. "Very well. But she must rest before she starts anything. Her arm needs to heal."

Queen Clarion nodded. "Of course, as long as she needs."

Rosetta smiled at Flora and she smiled back. "I think you'll be a great scout! We just need to figure out how to get you up on one of the towers... maybe Tinkerbell could whip something up for you!"

"Tinkerbell; she's that one fairy I met a couple of days ago, I remember her!"

"That's right!" Rosetta nodded her head. "I could show you where she does her work, if you like."

Flora nodded in earnest. "Sure!"

They both left the chambers, the both of them chatting up a storm. For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, Redleaf sighed. "Your Majesty, forgive me once again, but-"

"She is a talented young woman, Minister. She will be able to hold her own." Clarion told him. "Being a scout will also keep her mind from other things."

Redleaf nodded, understanding what she had meant by 'other things'. Not just about getting home. "I suppose so."