Betrayed, she had been betrayed, that was the only thing that Zarina could think about at the moment the fact. She flew herself as hard and as fast as she could against the glass of the lantern tipping it over.
James chuckled a low cold laugh, righting the prison, "My dear," he exclaimed, "It's fairy proof," he announced.
Why? Why had he betrayed her? He had claimed to be her friend, he had claimed that they would see the world together. He had helped her, took her in when she had nowhere to go, and now he had her locked up like some bug in a cage. Why oh why had she been so stupid. She should have never left Pixie Hollow... She should have listened to Tink when she told her to slow down, and she should have listened to Fairy Gary when he told her that she shouldn't tamper with Pixie Dust. Tinkerbell, and the others, what happened to them? What was going to happen to her?
She was thrown out of her thoughts by her head making contact with the glass walls of her prison. James had picked her up and was moving, carelessly allowing the lantern to swing in his grasp, causing her to be tossed back and forth. What was he going to do? Had he decided that he didn't want her as a night light after all? It was all she could do to keep her head from colliding with the wall as James walked deftly down the gangway and towards one or the wooden decks built around the pixie tree.
Zarina barely had enough time to throw out her hands to catch herself as James flicked out his arm once more. Beneath her was nothing but air and under that was water. Cold, unforgiving water. Was James going to throw her into the sea like some leftover stew?
"Return that blue dust!" James bellowed loudly, lifting the lantern to eye level, "Or your friend is done for."
Zarina gasped, she was being held ransom, for the Blue Pixie Dust, which she had stolen, which Tink and her friends must have gotten back. But why? Pixie Hollow needed the Blue Dust to survive, she was just a fairy that got fired from her job, a job given her from birth, a fairy that had betrayed them. They wouldn't help her, this really was the end. Why was James doing this? Were all those late-night talks worth nothing?
Zarina couldn't help herself, she peered down once more, down, down down into the water. her heart pounded in her chest loudly as her stomach twisted itself into knots. Her mouth went dry as James continued, "That's right, Captain Zarina has been relieved of duty."
Zarina tried to breathe, but she couldn't, she was mere seconds from being thrown into the water, mere seconds from dying. Movement caught her eyes, no it couldn't be. She pressed herself closer against the glass and watched in confusion and disbelief, as Tinkerbell flew past and returned the blue dust.
Why? Why would she do that, she had betrayed them, stole the blue dust, trapped them, and swapped their talents. Why would Tinkerbell sacrifice all of Pixie Hollow's well being for her?
The blue dust was placed back and the Pixie Dust Tree started to produce more dust. James rose the lantern once more to his eye level, "You really are a talented fairy." he sneered at Zarina as he lunged forward, causing the lantern to swing recklessly as he pulled a lever, Zarina hadn't been prepared for it, and whacked her head hard against the glass, temporarily blacking out.
When she regained her senses, James was stopping the blue dust, picking it up and placing it around his neck. The lantern swung once more as James leaped onto the ship as it floated past, "Bon voyage little captain," he said casually, as he let go of the lantern.
Zarina's stomach lurched, a scream forced its way through a lump in her throat and out her dry mouth as her heart started once more to beat hard in her chest. She was going to die. Everything went dark when she hit the water, she could sense that she was going down, down, further and further, water was rushing in through the holes in the bottom. Then she stopped. Zarina quickly glanced up, Tinkerbell was flying with her arms spread out, parting the water as her friends latched hold of the lantern, pulling it up.
The lantern was completely filled with water by this point, her heart was pounding in her chest, loud in her ears. There was no way that they could pull her up out of the water, she was too heavy, she would pull them down instead.
She needed air, she needed air now, her lungs were burning from holding her breath for so long.
Suddenly there was a loud popping noise and she was airborne, the water immediately started to drain out the bottom. She took in a breath, mixing seawater and oxygen, causing her to cough and gasp for her. The water had emptied quickly but it was quickly reentering now that the other fairies had laid it on the side to free her.
"Help, please!" Zarina cried out, watching as the water started to fill the prison once more, she was so close but so far, Iradessa and Tinkerbell were working as hard as they could pounding on the latch, "Help me!" Zarina screamed again, at least she thought she did, her heart was pounding so loudly that she couldn't hear anything else, but she felt it, her mouth was dry and her throat sore from screaming.
The water was up to her neck, she was kinking it at an odd angle to keep her head above the water, and then, strong arms grabbed her and yanked her out of the water, she was free, she suddenly was free.
Zarina gasped and heaved for breath, she had almost died. If Tinkerbell and the others hadn't rescued her... She was back on solid ground but her heart was still pounding. Her stomach gurgled and lurched as a burning sensation filled her throat. She quickly swallowed the bile that was forming in the back of her throat, she had nearly died, she had been betrayed by someone she considered a friend, who tried to kill her and had been rescued by a group of fairies that she had purposely hurt. Tink and the others had saved her life. They had saved her despite all she had done.
"Are you okay," Tink's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, she was sitting on a large rock, her arms wrapped defensively around her middle. Tink and Rosetta were kneeling in front of her, kind, concern, looks in their eyes.
"You saved me," Zarina managed to rasp out, her throat burned with each word, raw from screaming, "Why?" she asked. Why had they risked their lives, and the well being of Pixie Hollow to go after her, instead of going after the pirates and the Blue Dust.
"Let's just say that we're offering you quarter," Tink explained.
Zarina squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to fight the burning sensation she was feeling in them, even raising one of her hands to wipe away a stray tear that had managed to escape, "I'm so sorry," she whispered, whispering didn't hurt as much as talking normally did. She still couldn't believe that they had actually saved her, maybe, maybe she could make things up to them, "They're heading to the Second Star," she explained, "If they make it pass, we will never find them, the Blue Dust will be gone forever."
Vidia gave her customary smirk, "Then let's stop them before they get there."
Tink looked at Vidia for a second, before turning to Zarina, "Captain," she said with a bright smile.
Zarina offered a small smile back, but she didn't really feel it, just because Tink and her friends had offered her quarter, didn't mean that Fairy Gary and Queen Clarion would.
...