Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.
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Lizzy's Sunset - Chapter 9 - The Fast-Flyers
True to Tinker Bell's words, a carpenter-talent named Padauk was knocking on Lizzy's royal apartment door next morning. Padauk informed Lizzy that she was soon to be moved into her own place, and invited her to come look at some basic structures.
As Lizzy quickly groomed herself for the day, Prilla also arrived.
"Just as well." commented Prilla. "Queen Clarion has... an errand for me, which could take several days. I'll probably be back in the evenings, but I may be too tired to do much." She hesitated for a second before continuing. "Queen Clarion may some day send you on similar... errands. It might be a good idea to make friends with the fast-flyers, especially Wisp and Elwood."
"Wisp and Elwood." repeated Lizzy. "How do I find them?"
"Talk to the record-keeping talents. They have a good idea where most fairies are." Prilla turned to go, "And don't forget to practice your Apparating-in-motion."
"I won't forget." called Lizzy, as Prilla vanished. "Early morning, and my day is already full." Lizzy chuckled, as she followed the carpenter-talent out.
"Welcome to the Pixie Hollow carpenter shop." Padauk announced.
It was a large shed with water-wheel powered wood-working equipment. The place smelled wonderfully of fresh-cut wood, and reminded Lizzy very much of Pauline's sawmill. At least a half dozen fairies were working Pauline's rough-cut lumber into near-finished wood for many projects.
"The basic houses are out back." Padauk indicated, and Lizzy followed her out.
"These were all washed up in the cove." began Padauk. "Don't be put-off by their rough appearance. When we finish with them, you'll never recognize them, then the decorating-talents take over."
The first looked like an orange crate. Quite large and sturdy, but boxy. "This could be placed with the big side down, for 1 large floor space, or up on end for 2 smaller floors." noted Padauk. "The second is a human water bucket. The blacksmith-talents can cut windows, a door, and remove the bottom... it's got a hole. We'll build a roof for it."
The third was a half-bushel fruit basket, larger than the bucket, but smaller than the orange crate. "Easy to work with," said Padauk, "But still sturdy. We can put 2 floors in that. The last one we have appears to be a birdcage, it's nice and rigid. Same as the bucket, windows and a door can be cut, and the bars can be covered-over so you'd never know what it used to be."
Padauk turned to Lizzy, "If you don't like these, we can build you a custom house, but it'll take longer."
"I don't think I'll need a lot of space, but I like the round look of the fruit basket." Lizzy decided.
"Good enough then." Padauk produced a clip-board, and sketched a few interior layouts for Lizzy. She picked one, but added a few features. "That looks nice. Now, where would you like it?"
"Is there any room near Prilla's house?"
"I think so. Let's fly over and have a look."
Lizzy had never seen Prilla's place and was charmed by it. The location was a bit isolated, the nearest neighbors being some of the fast-flyers.
"I remember this." stated Padauk. "South-facing, plenty of clear views. You could set up across from her, or beside her."
"She's not here to ask..." said Lizzy. "I wouldn't want to block her views, so I'll go beside her."
"We can move it later if there's a problem. I'll get to work on it."
"Thank you, Padauk." Lizzy called, as the carpenter-talent flew off.
Lizzy decided it was time to track down some fast-flyers, so she Apparated to the Pixie Dust Tree. She fluttered in and asked around until she found the Record-Keeping Department.
"Oh, hello Viola." Lizzy recognized a familiar face.
"I suspected you were on your way here." Viola gave a smile.
"What are you..." Lizzy started.
"Whenever I'm not "summoning", I spend a fair bit of time briefing the record-keepers about the location of our fairies."
"I was looking for some fast-flyers, mostly Wisp and Elwood."
"They're on the mainland, roaming the countryside, but if you wait at the Fairy Camp Tree they'll return for meals."
"Thank you, Viola."
"Wait! We might need your help. I think there may be a garden talent trapped in a greenhouse at Kensington Gardens. It's not urgent yet, but could you get her out?"
"I think so." Lizzy was thrilled at the possibility of her first rescue mission.
"Before you go," suggested Viola, "Drop into the Fairy Mail Office next door to see if they have any express messages for the mainland."
"Alright. Thanks Viola."
Minutes later, Lizzy fluttered into the mainland Fairy Camp Tree's shelter, dropped the messages, then Apparated directly to the Richmond Park base. They were glad to see her, having just received the trapped-fairy news from a Kensington Gardens scout-talent. Lizzy and the scout jumped into the air and were on their way.
"She flew into a storage cabinet to look for seeds and a human locked the door, then left." explained the scout. "Can you really get her out?"
"I'll see when we get there."
Lizzy cautiously followed the scout into the greenhouse and up to the storage cabinet. Several garden-talents and scouts were prying at the door, but had only got it open a crack. The fairy inside was clearly distressed.
"What's her name?" asked Lizzy.
"Zinnia" said one of the garden-talents.
"Zinnia?" called Lizzy, "It's alright. We're here to get you out." Lizzy looked at the fairies prying the door, "Can you hold it open there?"
"No problem." they responded.
"Zinnia, give me your hand." The trapped fairy thrust out an arm. Lizzy took her hand, closed her eyes, and tried to Apparate her out. "Why didn't it work?" thought Lizzy, then it occurred to her "I can't get an emotional bond with her hand, I don't even know what she looks like." Lizzy had an idea.
"Zinnia, let me see your eyes." The other fairies flashed odd looks at each other, but through the door crack Lizzy saw a pair of eyes swimming with fear.
Lizzy closed her eyes and flipped Zinnia out of the cabinet.
"Oh, thank you!" Zinnia cried, hugging Lizzy. The other fairies relaxed and floated over to give thanks. Lizzy was doing flips inside.
"I'm just glad I could help." responded Lizzy, as they all made their way out of the greenhouse.
"Next time Zinnia, take a scout with you." chuckled one of the scouts.
Lizzy said farewell to the Kensington Gardens fairies. She Apparated to Richmond Park, to let them know things were alright, then to the Fairy Camp Tree.
It was just about lunch time, so Lizzy wandered toward the cafeteria. There were still plenty of seats available, though she noticed most of the fairies tended to sit with their own talent group. Lizzy had gotten her pixie dust that morning, but missed her breakfast so she portioned her tray with a healthy lunch.
She stood with her tray, wondering where to sit, when a gust of breeze heralded the entrance of 5 fairies in a tight group. Lizzy studied them as they went for their meals. Most of them wore purples and blues, except for the smallest who wore green and pink, which went well with her wild platinum-blonde hair. When they sat down, Lizzy approached them.
"Excuse me, do you mind if I join you?" she asked. A couple of them eyed Lizzy with suspicion.
"Can't find anyone in your talent to sit with?" smirked the small blonde.
"Well, there are only two of us, and Prilla's away right now."
They all froze, eyes bulging in astonishment at Lizzy.
"Please join us, join us, sit down, Leeta slide over, have a seat, join us." blurted out the sparrow-man in purple. Lizzy sat opposite him and the blonde, who had turned red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." said the blonde, abashedly. "It's just that most fairies avoid fast-flyers in a group."
"I wonder why?" questioned Lizzy, not really expecting an answer. The fast-flyers looked uncomfortable.
"Let's start over, shall we start over?" began the sparrow-man. "I'm Elwood, that's me."
"Wisp." said the blonde.
"Aura." said the one next to Wisp.
"Hermes." said the one 2 seats from Lizzy.
"Leeta." said the fairy next to Lizzy.
"Pleased to meet you all. I'm Lizzy."
"You're the new one, aren't you? The new one, the new fairy?" asked Elwood. Lizzy nodded.
"So your talent is..." prompted Wisp.
"I'm a mainland-visiting talent." The fast-flyers murmured general approval.
"Prilla must be pleased." indicated Leeta. "She always felt like a bit of an outsider."
"She said I should meet some fast-flyers," Lizzy stated, "Get to know you." Wisp's eyebrows went up.
"That's an odd request, that's strange, yes odd, I think it's odd. Don't you think it's odd?" blabbed Elwood.
"I know why." Wisp lowered her voice in confidence. "It's about the secret missions." The fast-flyers murmured agreement.
"What secret missions?" Lizzy lowered her voice. The fast-flyers all leaned-in close.
"Every once in a while," Wisp continued, "Vidia and Prilla disappear for days at a time. Sometimes they're back in the evenings, but always exhausted, and they never say anything."
"Prilla told me Queen Clarion sent her on an errand..." Lizzy whispered.
"Queen Clarion! I've heard that!" whispered Leeta. "What do you suppose it's about?"
"I can't imagine." said Aura.
"Well, I said it was odd, and it is. Odd. There, I said it again. The whole thing is strange."
The topic seemed to have been depleted, so they settled in to the remainder of their meals, chatting about fast-flying and Apparating. When they were done, the fast-flyers invited Lizzy to fly with them for the afternoon.
"Ho-ho! I don't think I could keep up with YOU fairies." Lizzy laughed. "Besides, Prilla gave me some exercises to practice. I want to show her I've made some progress."
They all promised to meet again soon.
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Author's Post Notes:
I don't know much about Elwood, but I've heard he's kind and talks a lot. I thought for him I'd attempt a touch of Robin Williams. That sort of dialog can work well on a sitcom, but could quickly get tedious in text. I hope you get the idea.
More about the "secret missions" in a future story.
I feel this chapter is a bit weak, so I'll upload it along with chapter 10. This chapter fluffed-out more than I expected, but I think chapter 10 should be the close.