You can run and you can hide, but you can't stop the flames inside~ "Grounded" by Natewantstobattle


That night, his dreams were full of fire and death.

Lots and lots of fire.

The recurring nightmare haunted his mind and plagued his heart. The distant throb of his wings didn't help either. He lay awake for hours, and when he finally did drift off, he saw fairies dying and Pixie Hollow burning and Shade laughing. He stood in the epicenter, watching everything fall to ashes around him.

"You think you're their savior?" Shade's voice hissed. "You can't save them. You're not a hero. You want to stop the evil, but how can you protect your loved ones from yourself?"

And then he'd wake in a cold sweat, shaking terribly like a leaf in autumn.

At dawn, he finally managed to sink into a dreamless sleep, only for it to be interrupted by the loud crashing of a door flying open and several loud voices all combining and rattling through his brain.

With a groan, he gave up on the prospect of sleep and slowly sat up. Before he was even halfway awake, there was a flash of white and someone threw their arms around him in a tight hug. The force of the impact sent him teetering and he shot out a hand to catch himself before he ended up on his back.

"You're awake! Oh, thank goodness! You're awake! We were all so worried! I mean, not that I was worried or anything, because of course you're fine! Why wouldn't you be? Other than being this super important hero who has to defend the entire Hollow, and all that. But I wasn't worried. Nope. Not me."

"Oh, totally not," came another dry voice from the doorway.

"Gliss?" he guessed, recognizing the hyperness of the frost-talent. "Spike?"

"Guilty."

"Yes!" Gliss squeaked, releasing him from the bear squeeze. "Hi!"

"What...how...how are ya here?" Bobble sat all the way up now, putting his glasses on and blinking as the two frost fairies came into focus. "I thought...Pixie Hollow..." He trailed off, unable to finish. He gulped. "Ya know."

Spike nodded, but it was Gliss, unsurprisingly, who answered. "Oh, it was," she said, nodding vigorously. "It was awful. This big, scary sparrowman just swooped in, like, whoosh, and demanded the thrones from Lord Malori and Queen Clarion!"

Bobble frowned. "And they just gave them up?"

"Of course not," Spike said. "But when a fairy's that strong, there really wasn't much either of them could have done. He defeated them both, and took all of the Hollow prisoner. If Vidia hadn't come for help, we wouldn't have been with her, and we would've been captured as well."

"Sooooo," Gliss cut back in. "How does it feel to be a Protector?"

Bobble chuckled weakly. "Right now, it's not so hot. Where are the others?" He looked over their shoulders hopefully. Surely the others were all right too. There was no way Shade could have found them all, right?

"They're waiting outside," Spike answered. "There's...a very uptight pixie out there. She was very adamant that you weren't to be disturbed. We...snuck in when she wasn't looking." She grinned and folded her arms. For a moment, he was reminded vaguely of Vidia.

"Oh." He grinned back. "Well, I'm glad ya did. It's...really good to see ya. Both of ya." And he meant that. It felt like a bit of the weight had been lifted from his chest. They escaped. Maybe others did as well. "Um...what about Periwinkle, Dewey, anyone else?"

The two girls shared a glance. "No," Gliss said quietly. "I don't...think anyone else got out. Spike?"

But the darker-haired fairy was shaking her head. "No. At least...I didn't see anyone."

Bobble nodded, running a hand through his hair. "So it's up to us."

"Well, technically, it's up to you. You're the Protector," Spike pointed out.

Gliss smacked her arm.

"Ow!"

"It's all right," Bobble told her. "I...I think I want to see the others now." He heaved himself out of bed and went straight for the door.

"Yeah," Gliss agreed. She and Spike followed right behind.

Throwing open the door, Bobble stepped into the brilliant morning sunlight. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, and was greeted by whoops and cheers from the others. "Wow...uh...hi, guys." He smiled as they surrounded him, hugging him and slapping him on the back.

"I wondered how long it would take for you to wake up," Scarab said. The fairies split as the older Protector appeared. She looked different now. Instead of her traditional orange dress, she was clothed in dark gray pants and a long dark robe. Her hair was tied up in a simple ponytail and she was smiling. The sun reflected off of her many freckles. She looked very different than she had the day before. A million times younger, and more beautiful.

"Whoa."

"Not bad, right?" Scarab chuckled. She beamed even bigger. "I guess I was a little behind on the times. But I like this look much better." She gave a little twirl, earning laughs from some of the other girls.

Bobble chuckled, and Scarab's gaze fell on him. "Have you heard the news?"

He nodded, sobering immediately. "Shade's taken Pixie Hollow."

Scarab nodded. "It's confirmed then. All right." She sighed. "We should probably get to work." She glanced meaningfully at the others, who backed off, whispering amongst themselves.

"We'll see you later, okay?" Tink said, briefly putting a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded again as they turned and began to fly off, and then realized what she'd said. "Hang on!" he called. "Why...why are ya leavin'? Can't ya stay?"

"No," Scarab answered. "This place is for Protectors only. That's part of it's enchantment. Evil like Shade can't get in so long as fairies of other guilds don't enter our walls. I broke the rules to permit them once. And some of them, very directly, disobeyed my orders." She frowned at Gliss and Spike who smirked sheepishly.

"We'll be right outside," Silvermist promised, giving him a reassuring smile.

But he wasn't going to settle for that.

"No! Wait!" he called, running over to them and blocking their path. "Stay," he went on, ignoring the displeasure radiating off of Scarab. "I...I know I'm askin' a lot, but, I...I don't think I can do this with...without ya. Each of ya. Ya...know more about the talents than I ever could. A-and...I want...want ya here. L-like ya said, a guild teaches their own. Well, you're all my guild."

They looked at one another and then back at him.

"What did I literally just say?" Scarab groaned with a deadpan. "Hello? Am I invisible?"

"I can see you," Gliss offered.

Scarab sighed.

"All right," Tink spoke for the entire group. "We'll help. What do we do?"

Scarab rolled her eyes and excused herself to go sit on a large rock off to the edge, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "Oh, yeah, sure. Do whatever. Certainly don't listen to the only fairy here who knows anything about this guild."

"So where do we start?" Fawn asked.

"Well, we know of seven talents that Bobble can, more or less, control," Tink began thoughtfully.

"I vote for less," Vidia commented.

"Yes, Vid, thank you." Tink sighed. "Very helpful."

"Water, Light, Animal, Storm, Ice, and...Fast-flying," Fawn counted them off.

"Four life..." Clank began.

"Two death," Scarab finished. She moved suddenly, grabbing a quill and zipping up, pointing it dangerously at Bobble's throat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it!" Over half of the fairies lunged forward to protect the redhead. Tink and Gliss got there first. Tink pushed Bobble behind her, while Gliss raised her hands cautiously. "What are you doing?" Tink demanded.

"He's one of them," Scarab hissed.

"No, he's not," Tink snapped back. "Okay? He's not like Shade. He's trying to help."

"Help?!" Scarab laughed weakly. Still, she did not lower her weapon. "Do you know how many fairies just like him claimed to want to do the right thing? And do you have any idea what happened to them? They joined him. Turned their backs and betrayed the Hollow. Oh, and your kind is the absolute worst. Tinkers. Always so optimistic, completely loving having special powers. Well, let me tell you, fairies like...like him..." She pointed at Bobble. "They aren't the heroes of...of anything!"

"You don't know that!" Tink fired back, while Gliss chimed in with, "Yeah!"

"Don't know that?" Scarab spat. "I'm the only one who knows! You don't know what it feels like to go, day after day, knowing that your best friend will someday turn on you and try and kill you. You don't know what it means to truly love someone, only to have them stab you in the back." A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"You and Shade...were...more than friends, weren't you?" Fawn guessed. "You loved him, didn't you?"

Scarab nodded numbly. "And I thought he loved me. But it was all a deception. Tinkers can't be Protectors. The very thought of power corrupts them. Shade made sure of that. That's why this one will never be able to defeat him." She slowly lowered her weapon, but kept her hatred filled gaze on him. "You're justlike him."

"Stop it!" Gliss pleaded.

"Do you know why they call you Bobble, Phineas?" Scarab went on, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Quit!" Tink snapped. "Leave him alone!"

"Because that is exactly what you are," the former animal talent went on ruthlessly. "A powerless, doomed-to-failure, mistake."

"Hey!" Iridessa protested. "Stop it!" She pushed her way forward to glare at the female Protector. "You don't even know him! He couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Though he certainly did a number on the weather cycle," Vidia grunted.

They glared at her.

"What?"

"Lassies," Bobble began softly. "That'll do. Leave it be."

"No!" Tink snapped. "No way! You can't let her push you around! And you!" she added, pointing angrily at Scarab. "You have no right to talk to him like that! He's trying to save Pixie Hollow! Which is more than I can say for you!"

"Miss Bell..." Bobble tried again.

She ignored him. "We came here for help," she growled. "Because you were a Protector. You were the only one we thought might know how to help him. But clearly, all you care about is yourself! Come on, you guys." She put a firm hand on Bobble's shoulder and steered him away.

"You'll never make it out there!" Scarab called after them. "Take one step outside of this place, and Shade will find you. And he will kill you. You can't defeat him, and you're fools to even try!"

"Well, at least we're trying!" Fawn pointed out. "Which is more than you are doing."

"We won't just hide, and just hope he leaves us alone!" Gliss added. "That is our home. And we will protect it!"

And with that, they walked past the vined arches and out into the open forest. Scarab watched them go, but did nothing to try and stop them. For a while, they trekked in silence. Occasionally, a look was passed between them, but for the most part, they said nothing, and it was not until they were far into the distance that they paused near a creek to catch their breaths.

"So...what now?" Iridessa questioned, flopping down against the roots of a tree with a relieved sigh.

"What do you mean?" Gliss asked, sitting down next to her and folding her hands patiently.

"We have to defend the Hollow, right?" Fawn answered for the light-talent, watching as Silvermist and Bobble worked their way toward the water while Clank and Tink made little cups out of leaves. "Right?" she glanced around at the other fairies.

"Right," Spike and Rosetta said together.

"But...if you don't mind me asking, how?" Silvermist whispered. "We can't get anywhere near the Hollow without Nyx and the other scouts seeing us."

"Um...is that a bad thing?" Bobble asked, looking up from the bubble of water he was trying to control. It popped and fell back into the stream. He sighed. "Can't they help us?"

"No," Tink answered while the others shook their heads. "They're not...in their right minds, I guess. Shade...it's like..."

"He's controlling them," Clank finished. "It's scary." He shuddered.

"You saw them?" Bobble asked curiously, coming back to the group, carrying several cups of water Sil managed to draw. He handed them off and then took a seat on a log across from them.

"We sure did," Rosetta said. "And they looked absolutely awful. Almost as though they knew what they were doing, but couldn't stop themselves. They rounded up every fairy they could find and brought them to the Tree so Shade could brainwash them. They almost got us too, but Clank and Tink knew the back way out of Tinkers Nook. They were looking for us, you especially. Somehow...they knew that you'd be with us. It's almost like...they could read minds or something."

"It's Shade," Bobble explained. "One of his...abilities...is manipulation. His favorite against his enemies. I know." He shivered, thinking once again about his dream.

"You aren't their savior."

"How do you protect them from yourself?"

He took a deep breath. "I think I know how we can save the Hollow," he blurted, to his surprise as much as the others.

"But first," he went on, moving forward and taking a stick to write in the dust. "There are a few things we're going to need."