AN: This is unfortunately a filler chapter. It is needed so that you guys will understand Baby Tooth's thought processes later on in the story.

Also, I'm really sorry this took so long. The semester is winding down and I have a lot to do this week. Hopefully this was worth the wait.

Chapter 4: Baby Tooth

The little tooth fairy had left for her rounds that day not knowing the life-altering blizzard she would be flying through. She had grabbed her coin from the North America tower at the Tooth Palace, said goodbye to some of her sisters who would be doing rounds in Asia that day, and left to find the tooth that Mother had told her about.

She had just reached the large river town when the wind had started to pick up and she felt a storm approaching. Determined to reach her destination before the storm hit the town, she put on a little more speed gripping the coin tightly so the wind wouldn't take it from her.

Without warning, the wind picked up again, reaching levels that were unsafe for her to fly in. She was being blown around in circles while looking for a safe place to wait out the storm.

Not far from her location in the middle of the paved street, she found a window with a flower box nailed to the sill. The small fairy made a beeline for safety only to lose sight of her haven when the snow started coming down. She looked around her, not being able to see anything but the white in front of her.

Panicking slightly, she thought about continuing in the direction she was headed originally, but decided against it. Flying anywhere in storms such as this was dangerous. She knew this from experience having once been caught in a blizzard in the high peaks of the Himalayan Mountains.

When the wind picked up even more, though, she knew she couldn't stay in the air. She was trying to figure out what way was down when the wind caught the coin she carried and started pulling her along its swirling currents. Having lost all sense of direction, she could do nothing more than hope she didn't run into anything.

The little tooth fairy had been flung around by the wind for nearly an hour before she realized that she had dropped the coin somewhere along the way, losing what little weight it provided her to counter the extreme force of the wind. Without it, she lost what little control she could muster in her small body. She doubted she would be able to fly herself to safety if ever she could see far enough to see shelter. She wondered if she was even still in the town or if the storm had dragged her out into the vast and empty lands surrounding it.

Seeing no other option but to go with the wind, the little fairy tucked her fragile wings in close to her body and waited for an opportunity to pull herself to safety. That chance came soon after in the form of a small copse of trees. All of a sudden, she was twirling through the flimsy branches of some small saplings close enough that she might be able to grab one.

As her tiny hands tried to grasp the twigs, the wind would just pull her away again, though. Mustering what little energy she still had, the small tooth fairy opened her wings and attempted to slow herself down enough to land in a tree. As she beat her wings furiously, she could feel the strain on the thin membrane trying to break through.

She was getting closer to a tree, almost close enough to pull herself onto a branch, when one of her wings ruptured. The loss of one wing nearly allowed the wind to take her back out into open air.

With one last push and the collapse of her second wing, she finally landed in the juncture between a branch and the trunk of her sanctuary. Looking down at her mangled wings, she felt her heart stutter noticing the tears in the membrane. She would not be able to fly back to her mother on her own.

Curling up in a small ball to preserve warmth, she began the long wait for the end of the storm, thanking the extreme cold for dulling the pain in her wings.

She awoke awhile later to weather that had vastly improved. The snow was no longer falling from the sky and the wind was no longer trying to rip her from her hiding spot. The little fairy could feel her mother searching for her and her lost sisters. The many tooth fairies had a strong connection with their mother because they were in essence just mini-copies of the real Tooth Fairy.

The little fairy poked her head from her hiding spot to look around her with apprehension. She wasn't sure where the wind had taken her in its fury and if she was too far from where she was supposed to be her mother might not be able to find her.

Looking around at the trees surrounding her and the town she could only barely see, she knew that she was far from her original destination. The tiny fairy was going to have to try to find a way to get to the town so the next group of collectors would find her.

Suddenly, a family with two young boys walked past her quickly, heading for the town. They had snow shoes on to keep on top of the snow and multiple layers of clothing to stay warm. They looked scared, as though they had just come from the center of the storm. The youngest was so terrified that tears were running down his face.

Thinking quickly, she tried to push off the branch to land on one of the children to carry her to the town knowing this was likely to be her only chance to get there. Crawling up the branch she was perched on, she gritted her teeth and tried forcing her wings to move, to carry her just a few feet away.

Squeaking in pain, she fell back to her branch unable to get her incredibly damaged wings to cooperate. Her face fell as the family continued on quickly, unaware of the helpless fairy they were leaving behind in the cold.

A few minutes passed with the little fairy just staring at the path the family took when the wind picked up again. Looking around in fear, thinking that the storm was returning, she tried to make her way back to her hiding spot. Her wings kept getting caught on little twigs poking out from the branch, though, until she fell down and squeaked in pain.

Curling in on herself to relieve the pain, she didn't expect what happened next. A pale face covered in ice and snow appeared over the branch, concern etched into the immortal's brow. For an immortal he was. The tooth fairy could tell by the deathlike pallor of his skin and the irises that were in the shape of snowflakes. He must be a winter spirit of some kind.

"Are you okay Baby Tooth?" the boy asked, reaching in to pick her up.

The tooth fairy tried to respond in a way that he would understand, only ever having communicated with her mother or sisters. She wanted to tell him that that wasn't her name, that she didn't actually have one, and that she was cold and her wings hurt. All that came out, though, was a small squeak.

The boy had finally picked her up, rather gently too, and brought her to his chest where she could hang on to his badly tattered clothing.

"Were you caught in the storm? I'm really sorry about that," the winter sprite apologized, his bright blue eyes looking sad. He really did look apologetic, as though he was the one to have created that horrible storm. But that couldn't be, thought the little tooth fairy. He was far too nice to be so mean. "I'm sure your mother will be looking for you and any others caught in the storm. You can stay with me until then if you want."

Knowing that there was no way she could make it to the town by herself, she gave a hesitant nod. She would need somewhere to stay, preferably not out in the open like she had been doing. Maybe this sprite had an actual house she could stay in to warm up.

The sprite smiled a little, his face brightening as he brought her back down to the ground. Looking down, the fairy saw that the sprite actually had the ability to fly, like her and her sisters, only he had no wings. He could command the wind!

The little tooth fairy, Baby Tooth now she guessed, knew of very few immortals who had any control over the wind. All were seasonal spirits, and typically not just lowly sprites. Could this spirit be the Spirit of Winter? The winter weather had been more under control recently, as though someone was telling the season what it was supposed to do.

During the time it took for Baby Tooth to make these observations, the winter spirit had made his way to a clearing that surrounded a pond that had been frozen over. The clearing had little snow compared to the surroundings, but the spires of ice gave it away as the home of a winter elemental.

The little fairy was brought back to the present when the boy landed beside the pond and started digging a hole in the snow. He lined it with some of the local leaves and ripped off a piece of his cloak to put in as well before resting her gently on the bed.

As he pulled back, Baby Tooth was given her first full view of the immortal and she was surprised at what she saw. Having been up close to him earlier, she had been able to look underneath all the ice to the young features of a boy just out of childhood. Now though, with the ice covering every inch of his skin, she could easily mistake him for an old man. With his white hair and outdated clothing, pale skin that only barely covered his bones, he looked like an old hermit that had lived out in the woods for too long. He even had a staff made of ice that could have been mistaken as a walking stick if he wasn't currently holding it at his side.

What really drew her attention, though, was the obvious cuts and bruises along his limbs and face. He looked like he had been caught in the storm as she had, only not able to find his way out of it in time. It also seemed that something had hit him quite forcefully on his forehead. Oddly enough, however, none of the cuts bled although blood could be seen near all of them. They still looked like open wounds, but they were frozen over as though the ice was acting as a bandage.

The boy smiled a little before standing.

"Stay here," he told her. "I'm going to go find some warmer bedding and maybe some berries for you to eat. I'll be back in a little bit."

And then he took off into the wind, leaving Baby Tooth to her thoughts.

She couldn't understand who this boy was. He was a winter elemental, obviously, but was he of any importance in the nature immortal world. It would seem so because the wind answered his call. But if that was the case, then he would have been powerful enough to stop that storm or at least lessen the damage done.

Or he could have caused it. Baby Tooth didn't like this thought. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He had obviously been caught in the storm and had apologized to her for her own experience with the wind and snow. His home, which she now understood did not include any sort of actual shelter, was enforced by giant spikes of ice that looked rather threatening if you weren't invited. He also appeared to be drained of all energy, which any spirit who had created such a storm would be.

But none of this made sense. The boy she had just met was nice, with small smiles and a caring personality. He tried to make her as comfortable as he could on their trip to his home and understood her need for warmth in such an atmosphere.

Baby Tooth breathed out rather forcefully. Confused and wanting her mother, she was starting to grow a little agitated. The constant throbbing pain in her wings was not helping her mood any either.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she began to calm herself and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wait for answers to any of her questions.

Laying down in her almost warm bed, she decided to take a nap to begin the healing process while her new friend was gone.e opened the door, and the family started to make their way into the forest to the home of Old Man Winter.

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