DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: Since I'm in such a cheerful mood, I'd like to do a little something special...
DID YOU KNOW? Walt Disney's favorite childhood story was Peter Pan? Originally, he wanted it to be his second animated film - right after he made "Snow White And The Seven Dwarves (1937)". Yet, "Pinocchio (1940)" took its place due to Copyright Law issues. The outbreak of World War 2 also put the production on hold until about 1946. "Peter Pan" itself was not released until 1953.
THERE YOU ARE! A SPECIAL PIECE OF TRIVIA!
Speaking of Peter Pan, 'LET'S CATCH UP WITH TINKER BELL (AND SORA & RIKU & VIOLET) RIGHT NOW!'
CHAPTER 9
Dewdrops OR Sunlight
The sun was quickly ascending in the bright, azure sky as the rays of its morning warmth covered the picturesque landscape below. At the moment, a group of fairies were patiently awaiting their turns for their daily-sprinkle of pixie dust. Although they were friends, each of their talents were unique — clearly noticeable upon their individual attires.
One of the fairies had long black hair, brown eyes, and clear wings with a blue lily-resembling dress and blue shoes. She was a Water Fairy; Silvermist. The next fairy had shoulder-length red hair, green eyes, and clear wings. Her rose-petal dress and red shoes revealed her identity as a Garden Fairy named Rosetta. The third fairy was wearing a sunflower-petal dress and yellow shoes. Unlike the others, she had dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and clear wings. She was a Light Fairy; Iridessa. The fourth and final fairy was bearing long, braided, light-brown hair, amber eyes, and clear wings. Her clothing consisted of an orange and brown dress with orange-yellow shoes on her feet. Her name was Fawn; an Animal Fairy.
Though they were merely chitchatting away about something or other, not a single one of them was prepared when someone swooped swiftly over to them in a minor gust of wind. With a cheerful expression, the new arrival called out, "Mornin' girls!"
"Tinker Bell?!" the four fairies exclaimed the instant they realized who had zoomed into the area. Before they could react any further, the forms of Sora, Riku, and Violet flew into the vicinity.
Unlike Sora and Violet, Riku looked exhausted; his eyes were drooping a little and he gave the occasional yawn. He knew this was most-certainly the result of the night before. While everyone had spent the previous night at Tinker Bell's house, Sora had unprecedentedly taken the opportunity to inspect each item in the home. The sounds of clattering, banging, and stomping among others had continued well into the middle of the night. Even after his friend had finally gone to sleep, Riku's head relentlessly echoed with the noises Sora had previously produced. The final outcome was a severe lack of rest and relaxation. The only one he could point the finger at for such an inconvenience was the Keyblader named Sora.
As Tinker Bell hastily introduced her four friends to Sora and the others, Violet took note of how hyper the former was behaving. Tinker Bell's voice was filled to the maximum with excitement; her arms were swaying this way and that, and her face was brighter than the sunlight illuminating the surrounding terrain.
All the angel thought of doing in response was a simple shake of her head. This felt no different than how she had witnessed Sora reacting in unfamiliar environments. Even while travelling through the previous world, Sora had perpetually been acting without preparing ahead of schedule — often with disastrous consequences. For instance, Sora had scurried straight for Rapunzel's tower while the very concept of seeing the secluded tower in such a hidden location had given the possibility of being abandoned. Nevertheless, Sora automatically ventured inside the structure, though the final outcome was an expansive adventure with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider — Eugene Fitzherbert.
"Guess what," Tinker Bell enthusiastically proclaimed the very moment she completed the introductions. "I've decided not to be a Tinker Fairy anymore!"
This brought out a gasp of bafflement from the others as they gathered around Tinker Bell. The latter continued, "Who says I have to be a 'Tinker'? Just cause some silly hammer glowed? Who says it wasn't some big mistake? Maybe I can just switch my talent!"
"Switch your talent," Rosetta remarked in a Southern-style accent. "I don't know, Tinker Bell."
Viewing from where he stood, Sora got the impulsive urge to speak. "If Tink can handle nature," he broke in, drawing over everyone's attention. "She could go to the Mainland, right?"
"Oh, Tinker Bell," Rosetta sighed with a roll of her eyes. "That's just not how it works."
"It might be possible," Riku commented. His eyes were finally on the verge of waking up fully. "She could try."
"He's right! She could!" Silvermist cheerfully exclaimed.
For a brief second, Iridessa paused in thought before she spoke. "Well… I've never heard of anyone switching talents before."
"She's right," chimed in an optimistic Silvermist. "Me neither!"
All this reaction did was encourage Sora to confidentially snicker. This was definitely how his friend, Goofy, would've been responding. All he allowed himself to do was shake his head, though he presumed it would've provoked Donald into rolling his eyeballs in disbelief. Talk about ironic!
"Look," Tinker Bell finally spoke up. "You all can do things that are beautiful and magical and important, but me… "
Her voice trailed off, leaving everyone else pondering intensely. After about a minute, Tinker Bell sighed. "…There's got to be more to my life than just… pots and kettles," she specified. With tears slowly forming in her eyes, she finished, "All I'm asking is you give me a chance."
Several minutes of unbearable silence immediately followed. To Sora, however, it felt like several months had flown past when Silvermist smiled, strode up to Tinker Bell, and said, "I'll help you, Tinker Bell."
Tinker Bell smiled with gratefulness. "Thank you, Sil!"
"Me, too," Fawn agreed. "Could be fun."
"Well," Rosetta giggled a little. "First time for everything I guess. What harm can come from trying?"
Sora placed his hands behind his head. With the large grin upon his face, the Keyblade wielder declared, "Riku, Violet, and I will help, too!"
"We will?!" Violet exclaimed instantly after what Sora had said registered within her ears. The reply came in record time when Sora nodded in confirmation; Riku did the same. While still questioning their motives for willing to assist at a mere second's notice, the angel speedily chose to tag along anyway.
"Well," Iridessa hesitantly sputtered. "I still think this is a bad idea."
The sun had just completed its journey of reaching the highest point in the endless, blue sky. Still, Sora, Riku, and Violet hadn't taken the time to admire it. In fact, they were currently gliding smoothly over a large, wide stream cutting through the scenery consisting of a region the fairies commonly referred to as Summer Glade. Since Silvermist had been the first to agree to aid Tinker Bell with changing her talent, the former had been chosen to demonstrate her talent — as a Water Fairy — first. Not wishing to miss such an experience, Rosetta, Iridessa, and Fawn had all volunteered to cheer for her success.
As he looked down into the steadily-flowing water below, Sora took note of how the brook resembled the surface far above the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. Although swimming to the surface of the sea had been forbidden, a mermaid named Ariel had willingly taken the risk of venturing to it. The only one who appeared to be helpful in the least, little bit happened to be the sea witch, Ursula. Fortunately, Sora had been in the vicinity at the correct time to bring the sea witch's plot with the Heartless to an abrupt end.
When he suddenly remembered how Ursula had mysteriously emerged out of the ocean back on the islands, Sora's mind quickly transferred over to pondering about why the sea witch had spontaneously appeared directly where they had been sailing on the raft. Did she somehow learn of their presence there? If so, how would she have discovered such restricted knowledge? For that matter, how had she managed to venture into a separate world from her own?
Such questions were probably going to remain unanswered, unless… the mysterious figure in the black-hooded cloak of the former Organization XIII was behind it all. Yet, what was his motive? What did he wish to achieve by abducting members of the Cybersquad? Why had he muttered about Sora's heart possibly having been converted into a prison? Even more peculiar, why did he spontaneous show up at random intervals? For that matter, when would he emerge next? Where would they confront him when that time arrived? On top of everything else, when, where, and how would they learn the answers to all these questions upon any additional ones they hadn't created yet?
"Sora? Are you okay?" Riku asked when he noticed how deep in thought his friend was. Instantly in turn, Sora snapped back to reality. When he realized Riku had asked the query, Sora immediately replied, "Yeah… I'm okay."
Deep, down inside, Sora wasn't so confident. The entire concept of the mysterious stranger formulating some type of trap for the Keyblade wielders remained hidden elsewhere within his mind. If anything, he simply refused to believe such an event could take place.
"So," Silvermist spoke up, removing Sora for any further contemplation. "For your first day of Water Fairy training, I could teach you how to make ripples in the pond. Or, show you how to talk with the Babbling Brooke."
Thrilled to try something different, Tinker Bell replied, "That sounds fun!"
All of a sudden, Silvermist's face lit up with great excitement. "Wait, wait, wait! I got it! I got it! I got it!"
Watching zealously with everyone else, Riku kept his field of vision locked upon the fairy as she zoomed up and straight to a large, sticky spider-web. One look and the Keyblader was certain the web had been abandoned some time ago. He listened intently as Silvermist declared, "Dewdrops on spider webs!"
Although he was feeling a little puzzled about how water droplets could be situated on webs, Riku curiously followed along with Sora as the two joined Silvermist and Tinker Bell at the edge of a lush, green lily-pad floating gently in the stream.
On a nearby lily-pad sporting a large, white-pink blossom, Violet was observing the scene with Rosetta, Fawn, and Iridessa. Not wishing to be drenched in water, the angel had insisted on just spectating the whole sequence from a distance. Though she kept such information confidential, she preferred for no one to ever learn how her wings wouldn't be capable of flying if they got wet. Sure, when they dried off, flying was possible, but as far as she was concerned, who'd ever heard of an angel being unable to fly? All this had encouraged her decision of not getting involved with the liquid of the creek around.
"Watch carefully," Silvermist taught. "You cup your hands together… reach into the water… and… "
As the others watched, Silvermist scooped her hands naturally into the stream. When they resurfaced, she was clutching a decent-sized droplet of liquid. Both Sora and Riku did the same, and produced individual droplets of their own. As she began to flutter away in the air above, Silvermist turned to face her trainees. With a loud voice, she proclaimed, "Okay! You've heard of a dewdrop? This is a 'don't drop'!"
For a brief minute, everyone simply stared in anticipation of learning what they were expected to do next. Noticing this, Silvermist clarified, "That's Water Fairy humor."
"It's good!" Tinker Bell remarked. However, both Sora and Riku glanced at one another with perplexity on their faces. Together, they shrugged it off and quickly flew after both Silvermist and Tinker Bell; the latters were now gathered at the spider web.
When they arrived at the web, Silvermist instructed them, "Now, this is the tricky part!"
She carefully moved her water droplet across the sticky lines of the web. "It takes a very steady, delicate hand to… "
She stopped the instant her droplet was gone. In its place was a chain of water droplets positioned along the complete length of the web strand. Attempting to be the quick learner he believed he was, Sora swiftly tried to mimic the exact method Silvermist had used. After his droplet had been used up, he whirled around to seize an overall view of what he had accomplished. Sora was shocked; his droplet had formed a chain of water droplets all right, but the chain had seemingly gotten separated into three distinct strings on the same thread of web.
One glance at Sora's work, and Riku immediately shook his head in amusement. It was so like Sora to randomly leap into something brand unfamiliar without taking the time to proceed with caution. Rather than do the same as his friend, Riku chose to move slower and carefully positioned his dewdrop onto the web. When he took a look of his own, Riku noticed his droplets of water were much bigger than Silvermist had made hers. He crossed his arms and turned away when Sora gave a smirked grin.
Finally turning to Tinker Bell, Silvermist took one, short look before asking, "Um… where's your dewdrop?"
Slightly uneasy for a moment, Tinker Bell smiled before swooping back to the lily-pad they had started at. As she passed the four spectators, the fairy explained, "Forgot my dewdrop!"
When she reached the lily-pad, Tinker Bell scooped her hands into the water and brought them out — a dewdrop right in her grasp. Excited, she exclaimed, "Hey! I did it!"
At that precise moment, the droplet of liquid water exploded in the palms of her hands. Distraught by this sudden occurrence, Tinker Bell seemed a little discouraged.
"Shake that one off!" Silvermist persuaded aloud. "You can do this!"
"Yeah!" Riku added in turn. "Keep it up!"
Agreeing to redo from her mistake, Tinker Bell retrieved a second dewdrop and slowly began fluttering her way towards the web. From the spider web, Sora shouted, "You're doing great!"
As if on cue, the dewdrop burst into liquid water after the words had escaped Sora's lips. With a hint of frustration, Tinker Bell hurried to grab a third dewdrop. From the lily-pad, Violet was still watching onward with the others. For some unknown cause, every one of Tinker Bell's dewdrops were exploding before she could reach the web. The result was a growing amount of frustration building from deep within the fairy. In fact, as another dewdrop exploded in Tinker Bell's hands, Iridessa muttered, "You do have to admire her persistence!"
"Yeah," Rosetta approved in return. "Still, sometimes hammers might glow for a reason."
Violet simply shrugged in turn, not sure how to respond.
At that exact second, Tinker Bell scooped up what could very well have been the twentieth dewdrop. In a state of total vexation, she hurled the droplet into the air. Everyone stared in amazement as the water droplet rammed straight into the web. While Sora, Riku, and Silvermist had narrowly managed to flit out of harm's way, the droplet slammed into the web with such force it absorbed all the other water droplets upon it. Like a catapult, the spider web launched the gigantic sphere of water into the air. It took less than an instant for the enormous sphere to make impact — directly on the lily-pad where the group of observers had collected.
As they hurried over to ensure everyone was not injured, Silvermist turned to Tinker Bell and said, "Y'know, you always struck me as a 'Light Fairy' kind of gal!"
Although she was astounded by this comment, Iridessa was too soaked with water to answer. Lying next to her was the drenched Angel of Dreams; Violet sighed, knowing her wings had gotten dripping and would require quite some time to dry out.
After waiting impatiently for nearly two hours for the wings of Iridessa, Rosetta, Fawn, and Violet to dry off, Sora Riku, Silvermist, and Tinker Bell joined them as Iridessa had been picked to demonstrate her talent with light. Even though Iridessa was still feeling uncomfortable about the whole idea of assisting in Tinker Bell's 'talent-switch', she had reluctantly agreed to at least assist Tinker Bell attempt at something.
Thus, the whole group had journeyed into a field of golden-yellow sunflowers not a fierce distance from the location of Springtime Square. Wanting to strive for success in this particular challenge, Violet accompanied Sora and Tinker Bell as they flew into the sky above with Iridessa. Riku had volunteered to observe from a nearby sunflower along with Fawn, Silvermist, and Rosetta.
As they flew into view of the sunbeams, Iridessa called out, "Look! The last light of day! It's the richest kind of all!"
Flapping directly into the beams, Iridessa reached out and snatched a clump of sunlight. At the same time, Sora reached out, but failed to retrieve a piece of light; he was surprised to notice Violet's hands carrying a ball of the sunlight instead. Having witnessed the others take their turns, Tinker Bell reached out and grabbed into the sunlight. When she looked again, her palms were empty. Though puzzled how this had taken place, Iridessa handed her a cup molded from green leaves, placing her clump of light into it. In turn, Violet inserted her own ball into a second leave-shaped cup in Sora's clutches. Astonished at the very sight of viewing into the cup of warm, soothing light, Tinker Bell exclaimed, "It's incredible!"
"Yeah!" Sora acknowledged as he took a glimpse of his own. He instantly turned away, fearing his eyesight would most-certainly be damaged by staring directly into the sunlight.
In a voice filled with excitement, Iridessa spoke up, "And now for the fun part!"
From where they sat upon the sunflower, Riku inquired the others, "Think that's too heavy for Sora?"
"No," Silvermist calmly replied. "It's light!"
"Duh!" Fawn teased, forcing Riku to cross his arms and look elsewhere. His eyes coincidentally happened to fall on a nearly-finished-setting-sky. Night was already emerging upon the scenery of the encircling landscape.
Hovering directly above a patch of shadow-covered grass, Iridessa gave a loud whistle. On cue, a cluster of small insects appeared out of the shadows and grouped in front of her. For roughly a minute, Sora was starting to wonder what type of creatures the insects were. The next minute, Iridessa had pulled a handful of the brilliant light from Tinker Bell's cup and happily tossed it into the air. As the sunlight broke into various pieces, the insects hurried over and caught each and every glimmer of light upon their now-glowing backs. Sora was speechless; these were no miscellaneous insects — they were fireflies.
After Violet had successfully gotten a few more fireflies lit, both Sora and Tinker Bell took notice of the anticipating swarm waiting to receive their own lights. In response, both Sora and Tinker Bell reached deep into their cups and threw the light into the air. Well, at least they had assumed the sunlight had been thrown. Unfortunately, nothing had happened. Mystified, the duo tried over and over to grasp the light within their cups — with no success. However, the harder they attempted, the more desperate they became since not a single clump of sunlight was gathering in their hands.
"Tinker Bell! Sora!" Iridessa and Violet exclaimed, urgently trying to reassure the two. Unable to get anything out, Tinker Bell threw her cup onto the ground. She snapped, "This is impossible!"
What occurred next was probably the least-likely thing Sora would ever have expected happen to Tinker Bell. First, the cup of sunlight collided with the ground, sending two beams of light hurtling into the sky. One beam vanished from plain sight while the other bounced off a nearby sunflower stem and sped straight through where Iridessa, Violet, Sora, and Tinker Bell were hovering.
After a few more bounces, Tinker Bell let out a yelp of alarm. Both bewildered and befuddled, the group glanced around, only to instantly realize the beam of sunlight had collided upon Tinker Bell's behind. As it glowed, Sora covered his mouth to contain his otherwise uncontrollable laughter. From the Keyblade wielder's viewpoint, Tinker Bell seemed to be a firefly herself. When the swarm of unlit fireflies spotted this, they all smiled in anticipation of seizing the light for themselves. Therefore, Tinker Bell immediately took off flying as fast as her wings could manage with the fireflies about to give pursuit. Seconds before the insects could follow, a small group of owl-shaped creatures spontaneously appeared, scaring the fireflies away before giving chase after the now-terror-stricken-face of Tinker Bell.
Noticing the atypical creatures, Sora exclaimed, "Here too?!"
As he summoned his Keyblade, Violet declared, "Those are Nightmares pursuing after Tinker Bell!"
"Let's get 'em! C'mon!" Sora shouted as he flew off with Violet and Iridessa following in turn.
Riku was beginning to feel extremely bored when a screaming fairy flew past the sunflower all he could see was a blurred image. Directly behind was a swarm of monsters he didn't recognize as they appeared in a blur, too. It wasn't until Sora, Violet, and Iridessa came flying into view that Riku realized Tinker Bell had been the one screaming past. Furthermore, he noticed how Sora was already holding his Keyblade; this definitely meant the monsters were enemies.
Fluttering along, Iridessa shouted, "Fly, Tinker Bell! Fly!"
"Uh-oh!" Rosetta exclaimed, noticing the full event unfolding before their eyes. In reaction to Sora's determination, Riku summoned his own Keyblade before following in pursuit, too. At the same time, Fawn, Rosetta, and Silvermist flew behind, urgently checking to ensure Tinker Bell was okay.
"We'll save you, Tinker Bell!" Sora called out.
"Dodge and weave!" Violet asserted.
All Riku could say was, "Cover the light behind you!"
Nevertheless, Sora, Riku, and Violet all knew this turn-of-events was yet to reach its closure.
A/N: THE CHASE HAS BEGUN...! DUN-DUN-DUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Anyway, you get the picture. Come next chapter, we'll most-likely learn what the outcome of the previous event was.
Until then, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!
This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"