Back again with my head hung low. I know I have been neglecting my stories...a lot and I'm thankful to those who have kept reading and badgering me to update. I have now got some spare time to actually commit to my stories somewhat so I'm now going to make the effort to writing more and maybe even bring this story to a conclusion. I'd like to thank Alex Rotta for kindly offering to take on my story, but I feel it's my responsibility to finish it and I will start with this chapter. Although feel free to write your own Ferngully scenario, it would be nice for a few more Ferngully fanfics out there. That's enough from me, enjoy and review.
Batty fled.
Batty flew for all he was worth to escape the choking smell that was stinging his throat and nostrils. He coughed and managed to dodge the tree that unexpectedly appeared in his path.
Once clear of the foul smell, batty flew upwards and above the canopy and immediately regretted it. Thick black smoke was gathering in clouds above the trees and Batty's eyes watered from the heat and chemicals. Despite this he kept flying upwards, holding his breath whilst repeatedly beating his wings until he was free of the poisonous smoke and gulped down the clean air like water.
He looked down to survey the damage and couldn't believe how fast this fire was spreading. Trees young and old were engulfed in flames and Batty looked at the clear blue sky in dismay. There wasn't a single cloud in sight.
Batty hovered for a while and then gasped in horror. He had to find Crysta.
Crysta stared wide-eyed at the giant smoke clouds that clung to the forest canopy and continued to swell like an engorged black grub.
It had happened so quickly. Not minutes before the sky was clear and the forest peaceful, filled with the sound of bird song and animal calls. Now smoke blocked out the sun causing an ominous shadow to swallow the light. Birds screeched and fled to the sky, creating a terrifying chorus that faded into a doomed silence as they flew out of sight. Over the roar of flames that were yet unseen, the forest hissed and groaned in pain. Crysta covered her ears in horror when the distinctive scream of a falling tree pierced through the sound of the flames cackling evilly at their deed.
The two males could only stare helplessly.
Zack collapsed onto the dry earth, shaking his head hopelessly. They didn't have the equipment to fight a fire this big. A few extinguishers in case their own fire went berserk, but something on this scale…they might as well be water pistols. Help from the nearest city was half a day's drive from here. By then the damage would already be done and they'd be risking the lives of more people.
Zack spared a glance at the human sized fairy to find his expression was as distraught as his own. It would appear the fairies had nothing to quench the ravenous flames either.
After all their hard work, both fairy and human alike, they could do nothing but watch as their efforts went up in smoke.
'Oh my.'
Boss stood outside his tent, gazing at the billowing smoke with sweat trickling down his face. His eyes shifted over the size of it, calculative and panicking.
'J-just…h-how many people did you say lived in this forest?'
Zack was suddenly on his feet and stomping angrily towards him, using his height to tower over the tubby man.
'What did you do!?' he practically growled.
Boss jumped back at his ferocity, but it seemed he was jolted back to his senses. The glaze over his eyes sharpened, his eyebrows went back to their habitual frown and he leant forward with a know-it-all leer, arrogantly waving his finger with certainty.
'Now see here, I don't know what you're accusing me of, but I had nothing to do with this. I was with you the entire time before this happened.'
'But you don't seem at all surprised that it happened. Did you plan this? Is that what the big bloke was up to this entire time?'
'You have no proof we had anything to do with this.'
'But you're not denying it!'
Zack grabbed the porky man by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground until he was almost face level. Boss kicked and whaled at his mishandling but couldn't hide the fear on his face as Zack glowered angrily at him.
'You actually went this far to destroy the forest and endanger peoples lives? I don't think even you superiors will let you get away with that one.'
'That's not what we aimed to do!' Boss squealed fearfully, 'We only meant to destroy the forest so you'd have no forest to protect! We didn't even know there were people living in the forest until now!'
'And what about the creatures in the forest! Did you not know about them as well!'
Crysta screamed at him with tears streaming down her cheeks, she was so angry she had curled her hands into fists. She hovered in front of Boss' face, seething dangerously close to his left eye.
Boss stilled in Zack's grasp, his eyes widened and went cross-eyed as he stared at the tiny sprite. Every nerve in Boss' body seemed to twitch and a panicked look mixed with his fearful one as his body finally moved. He shut his eyes tight and thrashed about, making his arms swing in front of his face and swat at the air.
Crysta had backed away at Boss' sudden change and she darted back to hide behind Pips when he suddenly screamed.
'Bugs! I hate bugs!'
Zack dropped the flailing man so he landed in a puff of dusty cloud. Rearing back, Zack punched Boss squarely in the jaw, making the man topple over and clutch his face painfully. Zack moved to punch him again, but a hand held him back.
'Forget about him Zack! We need to start evacuating everyone somewhere safe!' Pips yelled, bringing him back to the present.
Zack looked at the empty campsite and nodded solemnly. He needed to find his team and make sure they were all right. Turning back, Boss cowered beneath his shadow.
'Get back in that tent and don't move,' Zack threatened quietly.
Boss jumped to his feet obediently and stumbled almost comically into the tent.
'I need to find my group,' Zack said anxiously, 'You two need to warn Ferngully and get everyone to safety.'
With that, Zack took off towards the forest.
'Wait Zack!' Crysta called after him, starting to follow.
'Don't!' Pips cried and Crysta stopped in her tracks, turning to him with wide eyes. 'Now isn't the time to put your heart before your head Crysta. Zack will be fine, right now you need to turn me back and get to Ferngully.'
Crysta took one last distraught look in Zack's direction and then focused on Pips. Summoning the magic she chanted the shrinking spell and released it. Pips shrank back to his original size and peeled out of the now shrunk human clothing.
Both fairies shot into the forest, keeping low to stay out of the smoke and urging any creatures they came across to head out of the trees. Reaching Ferngully, they found that most of the fairies had gathered in the circle and were chattering in worried tones.
'Crysta!'
Crysta's father hovered towards them and embraced his daughter tightly.
'Thank goodness you're all right,' he said with a sigh of relief. Pulling back, he grasped her hand and began guiding her to the centre of the trees. 'This fire couldn't have happened at a worse possible time. You'll need to split everyone into groups and give instructions on fire measures.'
'Wait, we have fire measures?' Crysta asked in shock.
'Of course,' he replied with a smile, 'Forest fires are a natural course of life, they don't happen that often, but they have the potential to be devastating if we leave them be. The last one was before either of you were born.'
The old fairy's smile became grave as his large eyebrows furrowed into a frown.
'I'm afraid that we cannot ask your human friend for help this time Crysta,' he said with bitter disappointment. 'I have unfortunately been informed that this fire was ignited by one of the humans.'
Crysta looked at her father in horror and then around her, noting the distrusting glares from the fairy population. They already knew. Crysta bowed her head in utter defeat; any chance of regaining trust between the humans and fairies now was completely destroyed. And any trust they had in her.
'What can I do now?' she asked miserably.
'Despite how you feel and how anyone feels about you, you must uphold you're position as leader. We need to be united if our forest is to survive and I'm sorry, but you cannot be involved with that human anymore.'
'It wasn't Zack,' Crysta barely whispered, her voice tight with emotion, 'It wasn't him. He was helping us, he really was. I was with him when this happened, he was just as saddened by it as we were.'
'I understand,' he said, clasping her hands in his, 'but I'm afraid most will find him just as guilty.'
Crysta couldn't control the tears as they cascaded down her cheeks and Pips put what he hoped was a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Placing his chin on her head, he whispered into her hair.
'It'll be ok, Crysta.'
Taking the initiative, Pips spoke for her.
'What do we need to do?'
Zack inspected the ground where the shattered pieces of a satellite phone lay discarded by the jeep. All of the containers of fertiliser were gone and Zack had a nauseating hunch to where it had been disposed.
The dusty earth was scattered with boot prints and a trail of them lead back and forth to the trees nearby. There, Zack could see the orange glow of flames in the distance.
Zack followed the trail, keeping an eye out for any of his group and hoped that they were all right. As he ventured deeper into the forest he felt the heat of the fire dry his skin and he broke through the vegetation into a clearing where the fire obviously originated.
The ground and neighbouring trees were scorched black into charcoal. Smoke rose from the smouldering remains and escaped through the naked branches above. The air was heavy with heat and soot, ash fell gracefully like grey snow only to be violently scattered by small thermals created by the burning wood. The aged bark of the trees that had fallen flickered a dying red as the embers fed on whatever life remained.
Zack brought an arm up to protect his face as a gust of hot air sent a flurry of ash into his eyes. He blinked until his sight returned and then cautiously walked deeper into the clearing.
He had only travelled a couple of metres but the temperature difference was immense. Zack squinted to the point of shutting his eyes for fear that they might dry out and any sweat he had before immediately evaporated. He was astounded by the amount of heat still present in the area where the fire had gone out, there was no way that he could get any closer to the fire to look for his team.
Zack backed out of the clearing with a cough, noting the drop in temperature with minor relief. He let out a yell of frustration and brought his hands to his head, as if the action would help clear his mind.
It was too hot and too dangerous to venture any further into the forest. All he could do is run around it where the heat wasn't scorching and hope that he found his team along the way. It wouldn't do him or his team any good if he just ran in blindly to become injured. Dread and helplessness crawled into Zacks chest as he started running and calling their names, completely unaware of the predatory eyes that watched him.
Crysta and Pips watched with heavy hearts as the last group of fairies departed to carry out the necessary tasks to stop the fire. Already a group had been sent out to evacuate as many creatures as possible and another to slow the fire down. The last group, which Crysta was in charge of, were to make blockages that would stop the fire in its tracks should it reach this far.
Crysta mentally flinched at the distrustful glares that were sent her way whilst she was handing out orders, but for her sake and theirs she didn't let it show.
She took one glance at Pips for assurance and took of into the air, the rest of the group shortly following. They had barely left the circle of trees when a familiar scream, followed by the form of Batty slamming into one of the trees shocked the group to a stop.
Crysta immediately shot forward to check on her friend as he pulled himself off the bark and flapped his wings languidly.
'Hello nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand but I don't have hands.'
Crysta abruptly silenced Batty by grabbing his snout, simultaneously snapping him out of his concussed stupor.
'Batty, you need to get away from here, fly as fast as you can out of the trees and get downwind. Go now!'
Batty barely managed to inhale after Crysta released him before she took off. Floundering to stay airborne, Batty yelled to get her attention and tried to keep up with her and the departing fairies.
Batty flapped his wings with all his might but failed to gain any distance as the group were slowly shrinking from sight.
'Wait! Crysta! This is important!'
Batty was starting to lose his strength, the effort off escaping the flames and then rushing here was starting to take their toll. His wings were starting to slow and he was wheezing from lack of breath. He was beginning to despair as the tree sprites showed no sign of slowing down.
Batty did the only thing he could do. Allowing himself to crash into a nearby tree branch, he clambered onto it and took a deep breath. He just hoped she would hear him.
'HEXXUS!' he screamed, 'THE SMOKE CLOUD IS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR HEXXUS!'
And here is the obligatory cliffhanger. I know how much you guys love em. Til next time.