The Butterfly Trainer – Chapter 6

"Hey, you guys doing alright in there?" Mari whispered as Emma landed next to her. Turning to see her friend, Mari carefully shut the door to the canopy comb and said, "They're all set to go."

"It was awfully nice for the bees to let us use one of their hives," Emma said, coaxing her little tiger butterfly to her side.

"Yeah, especially after we helped them clean it out. Are you sure it's safe enough for them?" Mari asked her in theory.

"It's only a short pass to the Mainland, so yeah, it's only so we can keep track of them on the way over there," Emma said, checking the windows. Doing a quick count, she asked, "Hey, where's your butterfly pal? Isn't he coming along?"

"Oh Papillion?" Mari asked, stopping to open her wings in the warm sun. "No, I told him to stay home."

"Why?"

Turning to look up at the Second Star, Mari said, "I just don't want anything to happen to him."

"So, you want to protect him by leaving him here?" Emma asked, discerning her friend's thoughts.

"Precisely," Mari replied, occupying herself with securing the twine to the Dove that waited nearby. "A lot of things could happen to him there."

"A lot could happen here, too, remember?" Emma said, flying over to help. "Wouldn't he be safer coming along with us, especially with all the training we've done with them?"

"Well, of course …" Mari started to say, feeling for her whistle.

"What's wrong?"

"My whistle, it's gone," Mari started to say before they heard a sharp WEEEEEE whistle past their heads.

Looking up, they saw a mischievous grin on a particular little blue butterfly as he blew it again. Landing on a branch just above them, Emma just laughed as she said, "I don't think he's taking no for an answer."

Flying up to intercept him, Mari brushed back her hair as she looked around for him as she landed on the branch herself. Within a second though, a tiny little silver whistle dangled in front of her eyes as she felt the weight of two or four little legs perch on her head and shoulders.

Peering up to meet Papillion's, she chuckled as she said, "Ok, you can come. Can I have my whistle back now?"

"Hey you two, we've fixing to go," Emma heard her brother call out from across the meadow. Flitting higher, Winter cupped his hands as he called, "Everything's all ready on this end. "

"We're ready over here," another shouted among the light fairies, where Posy smiled over at Mari with a leafsack over her shoulder.

As other voices sounded off, the signal sounded off as the fairies and sparrow men took to the air. Taking quick doses of pixie dust at the Pixie Dust Tree, they rounded its branches as they launched themselves towards the Second Star to the Right and out over the Never Sea.

Keeping up with the current, Mari paused long enough to stroke Papillion's antennas as she signaled for him to go on, murmuring, 'It is true that the flute is special to me since this was a gift from Queen Clarion, but you are more important to me than a million turnabouts of the seasons themselves …'

We'll be there … at the first breath of spring
When the birds start to sing … and the grass starts growing
We'll be there … in the still summer heat
With the meadow's gleaming gold …

The sea sparkled amidst the trail of dust that shimmered as they flew past the Second Star and out past the clouds. The midst of wings separated into groups as they scattered and dove down towards the Mainland which arose in their midst.

We'll be there on the crisp autumn days …
With the leaves all ablaze … in the cool breeze blowing…
We'll be there for it every year … As we've been since days of old …

Pausing in the sky, the light fairies uncapped some of the rainbow tubes and sent them flying over the skies as others took the tails and filled the sky with colors. Sliding down one of the rainbows, Posy blew some of her colored sunbeams in several directions, creating shimmering shadows of rainbow light across everything.

For what if the world is wider than we ever knew? …
And through the seasons … didn't we dream of something more?
What if we brave the great unknown? … What if we're not so all alone?
What if it's you I'm searching for?

Mari unfurled her wings as she hopped off Papillion's back as she saw the huge maple that she had supposedly heard about.

"There's Fairy Camp," she heard Emma say as she called for Papillion to join the other butterflies in the Meadow. "Excited?" She asked Mari before she flew after the herd that flew out into the field.

"I guess," Mari started to say before she heard someone shout for help just behind the Tree.

"Everyone scatter! HIDE! NOW!" a scout hollered from just behind the Tree as every fairy and sparrow men grabbed what they could and zipped into the roots of the Tree. Quickly releasing the birds from the baskets, the animal fairies shooed them away into the higher branches as everyone else herded the animals inside the camp.

"Quickly Cocoa, this way," they heard Nora say as she came riding in atop his back with River holding Torch right behind her.

"Papillion, where are you?" Mari shouted immediately in the sudden ruckus as she felt a hand take hold of her wrist and pull her in.

"He can take care of himself, sweetie," Rosetta said, herding her inside. "Come on, quickly!"

"What's going on exactly?" Mari wanted to know.

"Everyone quiet," replied the scout, shushing them. "A human boy is approaching from the west."

"A what …?" Mari started to say before the shadow of a black shoe filled the canopy they were all ducked behind.

Sighing, the boy sat down with his head in his hands with his back facing the truck. Pressing a button on something in his pocket, he shut his eyes as he lifted some isolate earphones to his ears in silence.

"What's wrong with him?" Mari wondered as she watched him with concern.

"I'm not sure, but we can't send everyone out at once or he'll spot us for sure," the scout said as he came sliding down the trunk. "We're going to have to send a few of you out at a time, so light fairies and garden fairies with me …"

Watching the scout sparrow man usher them out the back way, Mari stepped out from under the canopy before a tall purple adorned fairy stopped her.

"Ah, Sweetie, what do you think you're doing?" Vidia immediately asked her as Mari ducked past her.

Flapping her wings in a hover, she said, "Trying to see if the boy is alright. I don't see either one of you trying."

"Perhaps you haven't heard," Vidia replied. "Humans are dangerous."

"Vidia, not always," Tink said, speaking in favor of Lizzy. "Remember Lizzy?"

"Of course I do, but we don't know how every human would react if they saw us," Vidia replied, making a point, readily thinking back to the past. "Some of them might put us in jars, just like they do to those poor butterflies."

"What?!" Mari exclaimed, appalled.

"It's true that some Clumsies collect things, sugarcane," Rosetta warned her.

"Yeah, especially for their scientific gains," Dessa said, following the others behind the Tree.

"We're not sure what's going on, but the butterflies have started to disappear one by one over the past two weeks, but we find them later among the few who haven't been captured yet," Fawn said, coming out from inside the Tree. "We aren't sure who it is that's doing this, but we do know that Lizzy's Father is out of town."

Flapping her wings excitedly, Tink asked, "Lizzy is at the cottage?"

"Yeah, I checked in on her when I first got here, but she wasn't alone. Two other kids and an older lady is staying with her at the cottage, so I technically didn't get to check in with her. Sorry Tink," she said, knowing how much Lizzy meant to Tink.

"Who's Lizzy?" Mari asked, still curious.

"She's the girl who 'captured' me," Tink said kiddingly.

"What?" River asked, looking towards them.

"Long story," Vidia said, flying out past them all, creating a thin breeze in her path.

"But still, shouldn't we see how he is?" Mari said, flitting ever higher.

Stepping forward, Nora flew up to meet her with Posy right behind her. "I don't think we'll have to wait for that …"

"THOMAS!" the call reached their ears as Nora backed into the leaves while Posy pulled her sister closer to a knothole in the Tree as the boy opened his eyes, knowing his aunt's shrill call anywhere. Sighing, Thomas stood to his feet and quickly made his way up the walk, back to the cottage where Ms. Perkins answered the door.

"He looked so sad …" Mari said, still thinking of him.

"I don't know if he was or not, Mari," Posy said to comfort her. "But we have to be weary of humans; we don't know what they would do."

Thinking about Papillion and the others, Mari sighed quietly as she said, "I'm going to see how Emma and the others are. See you later." Flitting away, Mari casted another quick glance to the cottage in the distance as she took off for the Meadow.

Once again, all credit goes to Disney for the song We'll Be There from Secret of the Wings. I just thought it would fit the story. :)

And yes, for further fact, Winter and Emma are a few of my other OCs in the story, as are Thomas and Niabi. In a way, this story is writing itself, but like you I'm excited for what's coming next. Fly with you later. :)