The Fairy Without a Talent – Chapter Eight
The snow was soft, like the silkiest petals of a posy pillow. It also crunched under your toes like poppy seeds.
"Hey," Teal gasped, falling to her waist in snow. Laughing, she said, "Watch where you step."
And, the snow was deep as a gap. Fluttering over it, I managed to grab ahold of Teal's hands.
Joining me, Tink said, "Ok, heave …"
" … ho!" Peri finished as all three of us sat Teal on her feet.
"Thanks guys," Teal said, wiping the snow off her wings.
"Come on, wait until you girls see the ice rink," Gliss said, flying ahead.
"The Ice Rink?" River asked, pausing on top of the snow.
Snowdust paused for a moment by an icicle tree as Periwinkle said, "Yeah, it's super fun."
"And real slippery," Tink said, chuckling. "But with some of these 'found things' that Peri found on the mainland, they'll sure help you keep step on the ice."
"With what, let me see," River said as Peri passed her one of the ice clips. Feeling over it, River said, "This is a paperclip, from the mainland."
"A what?" Tink and Peri exclaimed at the same time.
"It's a paper clip, used to hold pages together in books and such," she said, lending against the tree.
"How would you know that if you never been to the mainland before?" Vidia said.
Narrowing her eyes with a small smile, River replied, "Just call it a hunch."
"Well, whatever they're called, they make darling little skates," Rosetta said, lacing up.
"Yeah, they sure do," Silvermist said with a giggle.
Tilting her head up, River heard the swishing skids on the ice before we had actually gotten there.
"Oh, what fun. Come on, Nora," Teal said, taking her hand as we stepped on the ice.
"Whoa," I cried, slipping forward, but Teal kept me balanced as she fluttered her wings behind her to stay off the ice.
"I'm not sure if wings really help here," Tink said from the side.
"But it seems to be working for them. Come on," Peri said, joyously pulling her sister onto the ice.
Laughing, Tink led the way on the ice as the twins separated to skate a figure eight. Circling around the others, they just grinned as they started to sing …
I never knew I lost you till I found you
And I never guessed how close you were to me
River sat listening by the shore until she felt herself being seated next to the rink by Snowdust, who was bent down slipping icicles on the bottom of River's shoes.
"Hey, what are you doing?" River exclaimed, her eyes opened wide in surprise as Snow pulled her to feet.
And now I wanna throw my arms around you
Tell a thousand tales that will astound you
Everything about you tells me this was meant to be, don't you see
"Whoa," River cried as Snow skated them both onto the ice. Peeking over my shoulder, I almost flew over to help her, but something in Snow's eyes made me stop and smile as she never let go of her hand.
I'm on your side
Let's take this ride
And together we're facing the world
Doing things nobody's done before
And the great divide
Doesn't seem so wide anymore
Pausing at the sides, we watched as River and Snow separated as they let their elements fly.
I can't recall what life was like without you
Now it feels as though we've never been apart
Tell me every tiny thing about you
Anything you say I'll never doubt you
We're meant to be together I can feel it in my heart
It's just the start
I'm on your side
Let's take this ride
The two were so endowed with their shimmery creations that they weren't even aware that they were creating a breathtakingly beautiful display of vapor and snow around us all, snow sparkles from Snowdust and rippling water misty droplets from River's fingertips.
And together we're facing the world
Doing things nobody's done before
And the great divide
Doesn't seem so wide anymore
Tink and Peri, catching the sight of River and Snow's aerial sky dance, stopped in their tracks as they just beamed at the connection that was becoming quite evident from the two.
However, soon after that, their dance soon ended abruptly as they clashed with each other and fell into the snow.
"River," I shouted, rushing over. "Snow, are you alright?"
The first to emerge was Snowdust as she giggly shook snow from her silvery hair. River pushed herself up out of the snow on her hands as she brushed some snow out of her hair. As she opened her sapphire blue eyes, I immediately saw the similarity between the two.
"We're fine," River said, sitting up on her knees
For an answer, Snowdust just laughed, Hee-hee-heh-ahhh-heee-ahh …
For a moment, River's face was quiet as a memory started behind her eyes. For a moment, I was aware of her journey as a laugh as I heard it echo pass my eyes.
Turning to Gliss and Periwinkle, I asked, "When did Snowdust arrive?
"Yesterday, why?" Spike asked, not catching on.
"When, yesterday?"
"Yesterday morning," Gliss said with a smile.
"But it wasn't until her arrival that we saw that she couldn't speak," Periwinkle said, looking at the two.
"River can't see," Nora said, facing her.
Gasping, Periwinkle gazed at Tink, who nodded.
"I knew there was something off about her," Vidia said, sarcastically.
"Not now, Vidia," Tink said, turning red.
River quietly gazed up at where she heard my voice, "Could it be true? Are Snowdust and I really sisters?"
"It's possible," Peri said, smiling. "You two do look alike."
"We do?" River asked.
"Yeah, except for the color of your clothes and your hair, but your eyes are very similar," Gliss said.
Snowdust looked at River with sparkly sapphire eyes as her misty purple top shimmered with her glow.
It was true that Snow and River looked like, right down to their wings which were double etched. Their designs though were just slightly off, however.
"Two laughs," I whispered to myself as I caught Teal's emerald eyes gazing at me in curiousity.
"You heard them, didn't you?" She whispered as I peeked over at River, who heard every word.
"I don't know what I heard," I said honestly.
"Well, there is one way to find out for sure if the two of you are sisters," Tink said, thinking of a certain sparrow man that was known to have a whole library of fairy knowledge. In fact, he was known as the Keeper of all Fairy knowledge.
"Dewey," Peri said with a chuckle. "I know he'll be willing to help."
"Ok, the fastest way to get down to Dewey's is down this hill," Peri said, pulling out their sled they had worked on together.
"We're sledding down a hill?" River asked, just to be sure.
Snow just touched her hand to say 'Yes.'
"Is it clear?"
"Well, there are a few trees, but we can easily slide past them if we steer carefully enough," Tink said, tightening a vine on the side of their sled.
"Where's our sled, then?" River asked.
"Don't worry, I've got that covered. I sent ahead for it," Teal said, listening for something. "In fact, it should be here just about … now."
"Oh, miss Teal!" we heard as Bobble and Clank came flying up the hill. Between the two of them, they were carrying a big enough wood sleigh that would fit all four of us – Teal, Snow, River, and me.
"Right on time, Bobble," Teal said, blushing a bit.
"Well, a tinker's is always at your service," he said with a quick bow. "And, now, excuse me, I have another present for Miss Gliss."
Gliss stepped out behind Spike as Bobble pulled a good sized acorn out the side of his tinker knapsack. "It's not really big, but I thought maybe you could add this to your collection …"
"An acorn," Gliss cried, hugging him. "Thank you … I love it!"
Hiding an innocent grin, I saw Teal's eyes widen in a twinge of jealousy as I turned to see River and Snow sit on the sleigh, ready to go.
"Hey Tink," a voice greeted Tink as he came up behind her. Flashing a sparkly smile, he waited until Tink looked up before he said, "I thought you were up here."
"Terence," Tink said with a smile. "Hi."
Seeing Periwinkle, he said, "Hello again, Periwinkle?"
Leaning close to Tink's ear, Peri whispered, "Are you sure he's not your …"
Tinker Bell, blushing with a bit of embarrassment, quickly shushed her sister as Terence looked over his shoulder at us.
Catching on, River called out, "See you down the hill, love birds."
Before Tink could retaliate, Teal and River had pushed us down the hill.
With the scenery passing by us like a moving train, we leaned right and left as the snow shuffled up to us in powdery puffs. Not even minding it, River and I just laughed the whole way down.
"Hmm, I think I'm actually going to like that River," Vidia said, nestled in a tree, looking up to see a flushed Tink and giggling Periwinkle finally sled down the hill.
Touching the bottom, we immediately found ourselves in front of an open carved open door next to a snowy hill.
"Dewey should be inside," Peri said, pausing at the door. "Don't be alarmed when you go in and you see a giant lynx. That's Fiona, she's really nice, you'll see."
Stepping through the opening, we entered the Great and Legendary Hall of Winter, which was carved completely in ice, including the books littering the floor of the Hall.
"Wow," I sighed, seeing all the carved books.
"Keeper?" Periwinkle called.
"Yes?" Dewey called, looking up from a book he was working on. "Alright, I'm a-coming." Slowly, coming down, he flew over to us with his staff touching the ground every so often.
"Dewey, we think that Snow and River here are sisters," Tink said with a smile. "They arrived nearly at the same time yesterday morn."
Touching his speckles, Dewey just nodded, no doubt seeing the resemblance. "Well, we shall see on that. Follow me," he said, leading Tink, Peri, Snow, and River into an opposite room while Teal and I stood near a stand stacked with books.
"Should we, do you think?" I asked, completely curious.
"It couldn't hurt," Teal said, already picking up a book on new recipes.
Browsing the tomes, I chose one from the middle of a stack that laid near my feet. Flicking through it, I came across stories of past mysterious talents, but one section in particular almost made drop the book in shock as I came across a legend about what was called the Talent Stone.
Sorry for the wait, but here's the latest and newest chapter of Nora's venture. Enjoy. :)
Featuring some of the lyrics from "The Great Divide" I own nothing, I just thought it might be a cute addition to the story, especially for the girls' connection. Next up, I will elaborate more on the Legend of the Talent Stone.
Fly with you later until next chapter. :)