Alright, this chapter is a bit longer. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9

Thumbelina sat on a fungus, back in her original clothing with her knees pulled to her chest. Her head lifted up as she heard singing, very faint singing, but extremely familiar.

"You're sure sure to do impossible things,

If you follow your heart,

Your sure to fly on magical wings,

If you follow your heart." Jacquimo landed down on the fungus next to Thumbelina.

"Why, what is ze matter, Thumbelina," he asked frowning, looking at her tear streaked face.

"I'm cold. I'm lost. And I'm hungry. And the beetle says I'm ugly!" She sniffled again, more tears cascading down her face.

"Ze beetle?" Jacquimo smiles as he helps her up. "Do you love ze beetle?"

"No."

"Zhen never mind ze beetle. Good riddance to ze beetle. And good riddance to ze toad!" Pausing to blow away the dandelion next to Thumbelina,

Jacquimo leaves one seedling with dew left. "Does Prince Cornelius think you are ugly?"

"No," Thumbelina smiles, wiping at her eyes. "He thinks I'm beautiful."

"And so you are, mon amie. Look," he turns her so she's looking into the dew droplet. Looking into the little droplet, Thumbelina sees herself smiling prettily.

"I'm going home," she whispers to the wind. Her confidence restored. "Jacquimo?"

"Hmm?" The bird was settling down to sleep by the tree, and Thumbelina crawled over to join him.

"Will you find the Vale of the Fairies?"

"I promise. Yawn. I promise. But now we must sleep."

"Thank you, Jacquimo. Thank you."

"Tomorrow is a new day. And I will go to ze forest and see if I can find your Prince Cornelius."

Back at the Beetle Ballroom, many insects were still there, and enjoying themselves happily, gossiping about Thumbelina.

"Can you believe how ugly she was?"

"Sure wasn't a beetle, I know that much!"

"She didn't have any wings, so she can't be a fairy."

"What do you suppose she was?"

Suddenly the doors opened, and a white cloaked figure walked calmly inside, a silver blade flashing on their back. Immediately the room took notice, for they recognized the visitor was wearing spider silk. Only two kinds of people wore spider silk; the good friends of spiders, or the very, very rich people.

The figure paused near the middle of the room, before walking up to a waiter. Said waiter curiously tried to look underneath the cloak, but the flickering lights of the room distorted the shadows too much to let him see who it was.

"Excuse me, but I've heard from a reliable source that a girl named Thumbelina performed here recently. Is that rumor true?" The voice coming from the visitor was high pitched and obviously female, but it had an undertone of danger to it, which made a shiver crawl up the waiter's spine.

"Yeah. The girl performed here last night, but the crowd didn't really like how ugly she was, so I doubt she'll perform here again." A fellow waiter answered the mysterious girl, swaggering with bravado that had to have come with his hulking height.

"Ugly?" The cloaked girl asked slowly, but with obvious anger, which the tall waiter didn't notice, despite his friends warning nods.

"Yeah, the chick was pretty disgusting. She didn't have any feelers or wings, or even a shell! I don't know what she must have been thinking, showing her face on stage like that. Disgraceful."

"Uh huh... I see... So she was disgusting because she had no feelers, no wings, and no shell." The figure said thoughtfully, before turning to leave. "Well, since I doubt you beetles know where such an ugly person has gone, I'm going to find someone who does. Maybe I can ask my spider friends. But wait, they don't have feelers or wings. Guess that makes them too ugly to talk to. Or maybe I can ask one of my fairy friends. But no, they don't have any shells. Oh, I know! I can go ask one of the birds! But they don't have feelers or shells! Since I have no one else to talk to. I guess I'll just have to talk to an ugly person anyway.

"Of course, I'll be sure to tell them all about what you said about them." The beetles all freeze. If the spiders-or heavens forbid the fairies, self-righteous snobs that they were-they wouldn't get any spider silk for seasons! Maybe even years! The tall waiter from before walked over to the cloaked girl menacingly.

"Then I guess that means we can't let you tell them!" He roared, leaping towards the girl, intending to hit her unconscious, only for her to dodge out of the way. Turning to face her again he punched forward, only for her to slide under his punch and kick him in the stomach. Doubling over at the waist, he coughed, only for the warrior to bang the hilt of her sword against the top of his head, and knocked him unconscious.

"Anyone else want to try that?" The warrior asked the stunned audience quietly, before sheathing her sword and walking calmly out the exit. Immediately the ballroom burst into chatter.

"Who in the world was that?"

"Did you see how fast she defeated Binkley?"

"Man, sure don't want to get on her bad side."

"She was like a white knight!"

"No, a angelic warrior!"

"Did you hear that? If we don't stop calling people ugly, she'll bring the fairy court down on us!"

"The way she took that guy out, it was almost as if she was dancing!"

As she left the Crystal Caves, Ivalyn hmphed angrily. "How dare they call my sister ugly! What a bunch of snobbish, rude idiots! Alright then. Next stop, the forest."

In said forest, a hare ran fearfully away from a fox, who was trying to get his dinner. Momentarily catching the hare's foot, the fox grinned, only to get slammed into the earth as the hare shook him off.

"Bonjour!" Jacquimo greeted the hare, flying up in front of her and landing on her face. "A nice sunny day, hmm?"

"It's sunny all right, but I'm not too sure about the nice." The hare looked back at the fox, while simultaniously dashing across a log bridging a crack in the ground.

"I am looking for ze Vale of ze Fairies."

"Fairies, huh? Beats the heck out of me! Why don't you go ask a fairy!"

"Oh! You know one?"

"No, but he might!" The hare replied, seeing a way to distract her pursuer.

"Oh, ah! Merci!" Jacquimo thanked, before flying off to land on the fox's face.

"Ah, excusez-moi, monseiur. I am looking for ze Vale of ze-"

"Am-scray!" The fox interrupted, ripped the swallow off his face, only for said swallow to grab on to his mouth, and sit inside it while asking his questions.

"I can see at zis moment you are a very busy fox, so I will be brief."

"Buzz off buster!" The fox said, flinging Jacquimo out of his mouth with his tongue, causing the bird to fly into a thorn-bush. Plummeting down, he looked in shock at the thorn impaling his wing.

"Look! Look what-what I do! I have a thorn, in my wing! Oh, zis is bad. Zis is very bad! Mon dieu, I hope I can-I still can fly!" Flapping upwards, Jacquimo flies up to the top of the thornbush he was impaled by. "I fly! I fly, oh merci! It only stings a little! Now, where was I?" Suddenly, the leaves on the trees near him blacken and fall off.

"Autumn. It is Autumn! Oh, I must hurry to find ze fairy prince! Winter is almost here!"

The two princes flew side by side in a gale helmets on, and fighting against the wind.

"Thumbelina!"

"Ivalyn! Where are you!" Chrysanthos calls, only to be knocked off Sniper by the wind, and land in a mud puddle.

Sitting up he pulled off his helmet, and wiped the mud off his face with a scowl.

"Come on, Chrysanthos! Get up," Cornelius yelled at his brother, as Sniper scooped him back up, and they continued through the gale. Landing at a log that marked the entrance to the jitterbug's caves, the brothers dismounted their respective mounts.

"We're-We're looking for two beautiful young sisters. Their names are Thumbelina and Ivalyn," Cornelius said to the gathered jitterbugs.

"Are you the fairy princes?" Gnatty asked hopefully.

"We are." Chrysanthos confirmed, kneeling down to speak on the same level as the jitterbaby.

"Thumbelina's and Ivalyn are gone."

"Gone? Where? Where did they go?" Cornelius asked urgently.

"It's not quite so simple, Your Highnesses," Amilia, a butterfly jitterbug told them. "You see when they were kidnapped by the toads, we helped them escape, but in the rescue Ivalyn fell over a waterfall. No one has seen her since."

"No." Chrysanthos breathed out. "No, not Ivalyn. No, she can't be gone!"

"I'm so sorry, Chrysanthos," Cornelius comforted his brother. "But, what about Thumbelina, where is she?"

"The beetle took her away," Gnatty told him.

"What?"

"They're out there, somewhere," Amilia confirmed.

"She's out there? In that?" Cornelius turned, looking at the distructive weather outside.

"There's a big toad after her too!" Gnatty added.

"Oh no. I've got to find her, Winter is almost here!" Putting his helmet back on, he turned to find Chrysanthos staring at him determined.

"I lost my chance to find love. I won't let you lose yours!" Hopping back on their insects, the princes set out again, Cornelius pulling ahead.

"Hurry Buzz, my father can't hold back the frost much longer!" Chrysanthos followed behind him, his hand going to a twinkling gold ribbon which was tied around his neck.

"I promise I'll find your sister, Ivalyn. I swear it upon my life."