The Fairy Without a Talent – Chapter Six
"Come on, Torch, there's nothing to be afraid of," Nora called out to the tiny shadow that lingered behind River's black hair.
Whimpering, the little firefly ducked down deeper into her owner's hair as she cried out pitifully.
Iridessa held the light basket aloft as she gazed at the little guy quietly. "I heard rumors that a few of our fireflies were born out by themselves in the Shadow Plains, where not much of us fairies fly. Torch must have been one of them."
"Then, how come is it so isolated? Where I live, I have seen a few houses built next to mine, but not many," Nora's brother said as he brushed a small brush across a posed leaf. In his other hand rested a small acorn cap full of tethered moss.
"I'm not really sure, until recently we haven't really used the caves near Shadow Canyon until the mining and art fairies found shimmering crystals and clay along the walls," Iridessa said, tipping the jar so a few eager and hungry fireflies could light up.
Chirping excitably, they took turns as they zipped through the shimmering lights, some yellow, orange and even red.
"So, that's why I found this ready clay near my home, I've been painting the walls with it ever since I got it. It works really well, but this is the first time I've actually tried it out on a plant leaf," he said, turning back to his work.
"Be careful, some plants don't take to clay paints. When painting plants, we mainly use petal dye to color nature, and by us I mean the garden fairies and animal fairies," Iridessa said with a smile, turning to Rosetta and Fawn who stood nearby.
"Iridessa, this is petal paint. Rosetta gave to me," he said with a smile.
"Torch, come on, it's ok," Nora said, trying again, holding out the little ball of light out in front of her.
Twittering quietly, the little firefly refused to budge as it nuzzled even closer to River's neck.
"Torch, come out," River said gently, holding a finger to her shoulder. "People are talking to you. Come on now," River said, edging him out into her hand.
Squeaking, he looked from Nora back to River as she perched him on her finger.
"Nora, you might try letting it drop above him," River said, looking up with a knowing smile.
Trusting her friend with a silent smile, Nora tipped her hand to let the precious light fall atop them both. Flickering down past River's black hair, Torch watched it as his little eyes grew wide with wonder. Flapping his little wings, the curious firefly flew into it, coming out with a shiny fiery light emanating from his happy smile.
"Here you go, Torch, that wasn't so bad, was it?" River said, smiling as he snuggled against her cheek.
"You know, I still don't get how you called him Torch, after me," Nora's brother said, sitting down his supplies.
"What's to wonder? That seemed to be him, a little torch to light up the night," River said proudly.
"Well, that's good for him, because that's not really my name," he said, looking up to see Iridessa and others staring at him.
"What, but you said …" Rosetta said, before she stopped by his words.
"I know what I said, I chose that name to cover up my real name," he said with a sad smile.
"Tor, what do you mean?" Nora asked her brother as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Nora, I'm surprised you didn't know. Bluebell should've told you," he said simply.
"You right, I should have, but you shouldn't have lied at your arrival, Torum," Bluebell said, joining her siblings as she flew out of the tall grass behind them.
"Torum?" Rosetta said, aflutter.
"Yes, that is my true name," he said, looking down at his black leaf pants as his dark hair fell about the tip of his eyes.
"Well, that's still no excuse," Teal said, picking up a blue feather from the ground.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nora saw the shimmering gown of Queen Clarion as she descended down towards them, but she didn't say anything as the Queen watched as Teal sat the feather in Torum's hair.
"Because I think it's a fine name," she said with a smile, lifting up his chin.
"Queen Clarion," Nora said as the Queen smiled down at them all.
"Your highness," Rosetta said, dipping into a quick but graceful bow.
River looked up as she felt a gentle hand rest on top of her shoulder.
"Nora, I would like to see you and River personally in my chambers in ten minutes, all right?" the Queen said to them as her eyes fell on Torum and Teal, who backed away in instinct.
"Teal, please escort Torum to my chambers, I will be there presently."
Looking at her friends, she saw Nora and Bluebell's worried eyes as they followed her lead their brother away.
"Ten minutes, girls, I would like to talk to you both," Clarion told them with a small smile, but she was stopped by Bluebell as she said, "What is it, dear?"
"Queen Clarion, what is to happen to our brother? He didn't mean to …" Bluebell started to say.
"He didn't do anything, dear," the queen said to reassure her.
"But, why … ?"
"Would you like to come along?"
"Please, he's my brother, and I don't want anything to happen to him," Bluebell said with a tear.
"Bluebell, you won't have to worry about that, I just want to know why he lied, alright?"
"He didn't lie, he's was just ashamed of his name, but I don't know why," she said, looking down.
"A name is a wondrous thing, it does not need to be shaped or hidden from the bearer; it only need to be accepted, for it represents who you are on the inside. I think that just what your brother needs to hear," Clarion said with a caring smile.
"May I go to him, Queen Clarion, to tell him that, please?"
"You may," Queen Clarion replied, watching as she flew after their brother in high speed.
"Bluebell really looks after you two, doesn't she?" River asked, sensing that Nora was still looking up after her sister.
"Yeah, she does," Nora said with a sisterly smile.
"We'll fly with you till you get to the Pixie Dust Tree," Silvermist offered, walking up to meet their eye.
"No, I'm sure we can find it, but thank you," River said with a smile.
"You ready?" Nora asked her, holding out a hand.
"Yes, but don't lead me. I want to try to make it myself, just stay near me and tell me if I go the wrong way, alright?"
"Ok then, let's fly," Nora said, flapping her translucent wings.
Staying a little bit behind River, Nora kept pace with her as River flapped steadily against the night breeze. In just a few wingflaps, they made to the Pixie Dust Tree.
Flying low near a branch, Nora flew up to avoid it, but River was almost below it as Nora let out a gasp. Before Nora could yell out though, River had tugged in her wings and swirled up and over it thrice before finally landing softly up on another branch just above it.
As Nora chuckled, River took it as a smile as she said, "I'm getting better. Of course, I knew it all along."
"Come on then, Speedy, Queen Clarion is waiting on us," Nora said, pecking her on the head with one finger.
Laughing, River swooped up next to her as they circled the tree until they heard the soft pouring sands of the Pixie Dust Tree. Landing near the Well, they stood still to see if anyone was there expecting them.
"Oh, and for the record, the last I checked my name was not Speedy," River said with a playful shake of her head.
Giggling, Nora said, "I know, it was just a joke, Riv."
Popping an arm up, River suddenly let out a small streaming jet of flying water geese towards Nora, who ducked her head just in time. Watching the geese fly, she watched as they playfully showered the walls of the Well, however, it never touched the Pixie Dust, which was a good thing considering …
"Stop! Pixie Dust is useless when it gets wet, don't you know that?" an irritated and angry voice came booming out to meet them as a sparrow man came flying at them at high speed.
Startled, River quickly summoned all of the water back to her as it warbled safely into a single dewdrop, which shimmered in her hands as Nora backed up next to her.
"We're sorry, we were just …" Nora started to say.
" … being careless. Trust me, you don't Fairy Gary on your backs when Pixie Dust gets spoiled," he said in an exasperated sigh. Tilting his head back, he shook his head before he said, "By the way, the name's Stone."
"Nora, and this is River. We're looking for Queen Clarion's chambers," Nora said.
"Up there, and by the way Cinda is pacing, I'd say you were expected."
Soon after waving farewell to Stone, Nora and River soon found themselves being practically half-pushed and half-ushered into Queen Clarion's personal chambers as Cinda said a rushing, "OH, what took you two so long? Everyone knows you shouldn't keep a Queen waiting. Oh, and what will she do when she sees how late it is?"
"Ah, Queen Clarion just asked us here a few minutes ago," River said, obviously not liking to be pushed.
"Oh, I see, sorry about that. Well, here we are," she hurried to say as we heard the squeals of three other fairies that flew in from a side closet, carrying a misty lavender and golden dress in between them.
"Cinda, come on, we have to get the Queen's dressing arrangements done before the night is done," one of them said as they paused in the entryway. "Oh, you brought them."
"Brought us? We found her," River said, turning to Nora with an annoyed hidden frown.
"Queen Clarion is in the den," she said, breezing past us in a tizzy. Passing Cinda a pair of shoes, they both rushed off out the door as they shut it behind them.
"Thank goodness," River said, letting out a breath as she flexed her wings.
"It wasn't that bad," Nora said with a chuckle.
"Not that bad? I felt like I was in a swirling tizzy, being pushed this way and all."
"I know, but really they were doing their job …"
"Nora? River? Are you girls out there?" Queen Clarion's voice came from the hall as she came flying into the room.
"Good evening, Queen Clarion," Nora said automatically, although she didn't need to.
"This way, girls," Clarion said with a smile as she led them into another private room, away from prying ears. "You girls are probably wondering why I asked you here."
"I guess," Nora said, knowing the answer.
"Well, it's actually about you both." Turning to face River, she said, "River, I know about your situation, and I also know you want to keep it a secret. That's fine and all, but I'm afraid it may become evident that everyone will come to know."
"I'm aware of that," River said, not looking away as she swirled a hand absent-mindly. "But, Queen Clarion, I can get around fine. Just because I can't see, doesn't mean my sense of direction is way off. My extra senses actually help me to see."
"I can see that, but I can also understand how hard it might for you to constantly live in a world of darkness. Doesn't that bother you?"
River was silent for a moment before she said, "Truthfully, sometimes it can be, but most of the time, you just have to learn to see beyond the dark. Also, my friends help me to see by being there, and with them, I can look out into the world with new light and confidence."
"I just needed to hear it from you; I didn't want it to be a problem to you," Clarion said softly, sitting a comforting hand on her young fairy's shoulder.
"Believe me, I can deal with it. It's part of me, but it helps to make me strong, too, in my own way, and that's more of what I could ask for," River said proudly.
Finally turning to Nora, she asked, "How's your talent hunting coming? I heard you trained with Rosetta and Tinker Bell for a while."
"I did," Nora said with a smile.
"Fawn and I also gave her a test," River said passionately.
"Did you find anything that you would see as your talent, perhaps?" Clarion asked with a patient flap of her wings.
"Actually, I felt something, but I'm still not sure what it is," Nora said truthfully.
"Well, if my hunch is correct, I think you may have a very unique talent," Queen Clarion said with a speculating and cheerful smile.
"But, she still has hasn't tried all the other talents, yet," River said, stepping forward with a flap of her wings.
"And, there's other places you haven't ventured to. Before I tell you what I think your situation might be, would you like to go on another talent quest?"
"Sure, but where?" Nora said with a grin.
"How about the Winter Woods?" Queen Clarion asked with a wink and a silent admiring look towards an open window, which overlooked the wintry hills of the border.
Again, sorry for the wait, here's chapter 6. My friend who created River, her name is writergirl142, helped with me this one. In this part, you will Queen Clarion fixing to see the girls on another talent hunt in a snowy wintry haven that will be featured in next chapter. :)
School has been busy, but I'll start on the next part as soon as I can. Thank you for your kind posts and gracious support, I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am. :D
Fly with you later until next 'tis part.