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Stand Your Ground: Legend of the Monster – and the Firebird that Never Returned
Chapter 10
Dawn
"Well?" she asked, unable to stand it.
"I'm so sorry, Vidia." Tinkerbell put a hand on her shoulder. "It's too late."
"Maybe it just takes some time . . ." Silvermist suggested. "Maybe they'll grow back in a few hours."
Vidia shook Tinkerbell's hand off. "Don't, Sil. I get it. It's fine."
"No, it isn't!" Scruffy exclaimed. "If the salamander had just cooperated when -"
"But he didn't. It's done." Vidia cut him off firmly. She swallowed. "I'm done. Let's go home."
Stand Your Ground
They traveled to the beach and decided to stop there for the night before flying back to Neverland. Vidia sat silently by the fire as all the fairies got ready to sleep.
Silvermist walked over to her. "If there's anything that you want . . ."
"Thanks, Sil. I'll let you know." Vidia essentially dismissed her.
"So have you met any friendly creatures on the island?" Fawn asked, curiously.
"A beaver gave me a ride." Vidia recalled. "He was friendly."
"A beaver! I haven't met many beavers – I wonder if he'll stop by." Fawn exclaimed.
Everything was silent for a moment.
"It's very green here." Iridessa said, hesitantly.
"Oh, yes." Rosetta replied. "Beautiful."
Silence.
"I don't have wings. That's the end of it. But it doesn't mean you have to stop talking for fear of upsetting me." Vidia said, loudly.
Tinkerbell shook her head. "I was thinking about everything that's happened – you were amazing, Vidia. I would have been impressed with everything you've done even if you had wings and hadn't been poisoned. You don't have wings anymore, but you saved all of us several times over, and defended yourself just like normal – better, even. Because of your wings being gone, you've learned more skills that the rest of us will ever think of needing."
"She's right, Vidia." Silvermist spoke up. "You did more than any of the rest of us, and you haven't any wings."
"It just makes everything you do more dazzling." Rosetta pointed out.
"You aren't handicapped." Fawn told her, seriously.
"You're not even a burden to us." Iridessa said. "It makes me feel safer right now to have you in camp."
"And just think – you'll be able to do so much more in the rain." Scruffy pointed out. "You won't have your wet wings slowing you down."
Vidia glared at him. "Not helping, Scruffy."
"Oh." Scruffy thought for a moment. "Since you can't fly anymore, I'll bet you're the fastest fairy on two legs."
"He's right. You probably are." Fawn agreed.
"Probably? No probably about it!" Rosetta smiled. "'course she is."
Vidia smirked. "Thanks, Ro."
"No problem, sugah." Rosetta waved it off. "I'm going to bed – or what passes as a bed."
"Come on, Ro!" Fawn jumped up. "It's like camping out!" She dove into her blanket and rolled over to turn it into a sleeping bag.
"It is camping out." Silvermist pointed out.
"It's more fun when it's just like camping out." Iridessa agreed.
Vidia put a stick next to her bed and sat down in it. She turned and saw Tinkerbell watching her.
"What is it?"
Tinkerbell shook her head. "Everything's going to be different, but you're so . . . I don't know . . . so independent, so -" she shook her head.
"I was independent before." Vidia pointed out.
"But I didn't expect you to keep being you." Tinkerbell admitted. "I thought you'd just have to rely on us."
"Me?" Vidia snorted. "No way."
Tinkerbell turned away, then back. "I know what it is." she announced. "It's that you've learned – to stand your ground."
Vidia looked at her.
Tinkerbell shrugged, then turned and lay down, pulling her leaf blanket over her.
Vidia lay in bed and watched the treeline. She saw birds getting to their nests, squirrels scampering back into the jungle, foxes wishing that the fairies didn't have a fire.
Vidia turned her head and saw a white bird sitting on a rock further down the beach. It seemed to be watching her.
She sat up partially, leaning on her elbow, staring at the bird.
"What's wrong, Vidia?" Rosetta slurred, sleepily.
"Nothing, Ro. Go back to sleep."
Vidia watched the bird until she felt her eyes trying to close on their own.
She lay back down.
Still watching the bird, she was prepared to swear that it had winked at her.
Stand Your Ground
Vidia squeezed her eyes shut tightly – she was sleepy and sort of cold. She rolled onto her side and managed to land her face in an open bag of pixie dust. She sneezed loudly, then looked around, but no one else woke up. She turned over to try to go back to sleep. She managed to roll over onto a rock. She shifted again and her blanket let her toes out into the cold air. She shivered and pulled on her shoes to keep her feet warm.
I'm never going to get back to sleep now. Vidia got up quietly and left the camp. She didn't want to wake anyone else up. She walked along the quiet beach.
After walking for a few minutes, Vidia came across a large pile of rocks that extended out into the water. She walked out and sat down at the end.
She dangled her feet above the water and watched the sky turning gray.
"Better get back to the others. They'll worry." she said, aloud, and turned.
"Whoa!" Vidia yell, scrambling back away from the white bird. It apparently had been sitting next to her for a few moments. It didn't move as she rudely screeched and jerked away. It just sat and watched her.
Vidia halted, realizing that it didn't mean to eat her.
It winked.
"Hello again." She settled down, comfortably. "I thought it was my imagination that you winked at me yesterday."
The bird shook it's head.
"You can understand me?"
He nodded.
"I didn't mean to be rude: you surprised me, and I've had a lot of critters trying to kill me or eat me or feed me to their eaglets. I'm jumpy, I guess." Vidia admitted.
The bird just sat.
"Any idea what happened to the Firebird that passed through here a while back?" Vidia asked. "I don't quite understand what he did – you see, if he dropped all the blue pixie dust into the volcano at once it would have exploded and destroyed the island. But it's stayed boiling for hundreds of years. I don't get it. For this to happen, he'd have to have stayed around and kept putting a little bit of dust in the volcano regularly. But you're probably not old enough to have met him."
Vidia stared at the waves going toward the horizon.
"That bird was my last hope for wings." Vidia confided in the white bird. "Or his tears, anyway. My wings got ripped off by a hawk sixteen days ago, and I wanted to heal them, but a firebird tear only works on fairy injuries up until fifteen days after they got hurt. Well – an old Firebird tear. Maybe there's still a chance for me – if I found another legend of a lost Firebird – we might even find a live firebird. A fresh tear might heal my wings even now." Vidia stopped short. A pink rose petal was floating in the wind and it landed on the rock next to her.
"Rosetta." she sighed. "I have to get back to the others. They'll be worried if I'm not there when they wake."
She turned away from the bird to push herself up, but suddenly she heard a strange sound. Like water – one drop – on a rose leaf.
Vidia looked up for storm clouds, but it was a clear, gray sky.
She turned back and looked up at the bird that had just stood up.
It was crying.
She looked down at the drop in the rose petal, and the bird let another tear drop from it's eye to the petal.
Vidia slowly climbed to her feet.
"You're the Firebird!" she whispered. "The salamander lied. You're alive."
The bird nodded. It dropped a third tear into the petal.
Vidia's mouth opened slightly, astonished. "You've stayed here so long – to keep us safe."
The Firebird nodded.
"You're incredibly old." Vidia said, "That's why your feathers are so white."
The Firebird flew into the air.
"I didn't mean to insult you! I meant in a really wise way." Vidia called after him, but he didn't look back. Vidia glanced down at the rose petal on the rocks. She didn't move for several minutes, thinking about how everything fit together.
Hearing something, she looked up and the Firebird was hovering over her.
He flapped his wings and suddenly pixie dust was dropping down all around her. The petal with the tears started floating upward. Vidia grabbed it before it got too high.
Vidia looked up at the bird. "You're going to stay here forever, aren't you? Why didn't you tell them the sacrifice you were making for them? Those fairies thought that you weren't powerful enough to defeat the monster. They thought you died. You've become the victim in stories. And you've been saving our lives over and over again without us even knowing it."
The bird gestured to the tears, and turned away.
Vidia straightened.
"Doiteain!" she called.
Doiteain turned back toward her.
"We will never forget you again." Vidia said. "I'll see to it."
Doiteain regarded her for a moment, then settled back down on the rocks and bowed gracefully.
Vidia awkwardly bowed back. Doiteain looked at her for a moment, then flew away.
Vidia took a deep breath and took a sip of Firebird tear.
Something changed. She could feel it changing.
"Thanks, Doiteain." Vidia murmured, then launched herself into the air.
Stand Your Ground
Vidia soared toward the marsh. She held tightly a handful of sand. She hovered over the alligator and dumped the sand on him.
He looked up.
"Can't catch me now!" she shouted. "Can't catch me!" She flew down the beach next to the marsh. She waved at the surprised beaver – and he waved back.
Spinning recklessly through the air, Vidia suddenly found herself face to face with the dragonfly that she'd met before.
"Hiya!"
She darted past him and let him almost catch her before she darted away again. The dragonfly was disoriented when she suddenly disappeared.
Then he heard laughing, and she was high above him. Laughing.
He was about to give chase, but there was a swishing sound and she was gone.
Vidia landed gently on the rocks where she'd met Doiteain. She knelt down and picked up the white feather that was sitting there. She stuck it into her belt next to the purple ones.
Stand Your Ground
"Get up, lazybones!" Fawn said, cheerfully, patting Scruffy on her way by.
"Just a minute." Scruffy settled his chin more comfortably onto the ground.
He shut his eyes again.
His eyes flew open as round as as acorns when something landed, hard, on the sand in front of him.
He first noticed purple-shoed feet, and then he glanced up. It was Vidia, hands on hips, wings outspread – wait.
Wings?
"Wings?" Scruffy whispered.
"What did you say, Scruffy?" Fawn asked, her back still turned to him.
"Tink, where's Vidia?" Rosetta asked, from across the clearing.
"Scruffy?" Fawn turned around and stopped, staring. "Vidia?" she said, breathlessly. "I'm dreaming."
Everyone turned. No one made a sound.
Scruffy climbed slowly to his feet.
Vidia turned and looked at the sunrise. The sky was orange-red. She saw Doiteain was flying out over the ocean, toward the horizon. The sky reflected off his white feathers and made it look as if he was on fire.
She gestured toward the bird.
"They had it wrong in the book." Vidia said. "It's the Legend of Doiteain, the Firebird. And the Monster that will never return."