Sometime later that day
It was now the early afternoon and the midday sun had passed and had gradually began to sink in the sky towards the distant hills, soon to be replaced by the ever stretching black sky of the night that would take over the world until morning came and the sun rose to take its place. Most of the fairies by this time were back at work, having now cooled down from the midday sun and were ready to finish their work until the evening.
Unfortunately, for Fawn there was no rest bite in her job. For most of the day now she had been chasing Blaze and had had no luck in catching him. The only results of today were that Tinkerbell was really angry at her for damaging, or making Tinkerbell damage, her chair, which was why she had tried to steer clear of the workshop sine her last unfortunate visit earlier. She had washed the paint off her face and resumed her search for Blaze but he seemed to have given her the slip, which as really annoying but, in contrast, it was also a blessing in disguise as she was able to rest and gain her strength back and to try and regain her composure in catching that firefly who was being a total pain in the neck.
At the moment, she was sitting by a small pond with a tiny acorn cup, the nut end having been cut open, filled with water, trying to think of where Blaze would be and how she could catch him. There just had to be a way for her to do so, but so far up and down pacing and being deep in thought was coming to no solution.
Where could he be? She mentally repeated firmly to herself over and over. Where is that damn firefly?!
He had to be somewhere! The Home Tree? No, she had checked that already about three times and had no luck. The meadows and sunflower fields? Maybe, but after the fiasco they had brought there earlier, it was unlikely he would be hiding there. He was certainly not anywhere beyond the border of Pixie Hollow and not in any other trees or in Tinker's Nook or wherever. The only other place she could think of was the workshop, but every time she came to that conclusion she constantly had to remind herself harshly that he could not be there because Tinkerbell would have likely chased him away after what he had made Fawn do earlier. He just had to be somewhere!
Sighing heavily, Fawn drank what was left of her water and threw the acorn cup into the pond and watched it sink, but doing so reminded her of her falling hopes in finding Blaze. Why did she have to get lumbered with him? Oh yes, of course, she was the only one left as Buck and the others had been lucky enough to get animals that were willing to be cleaned. But not her, oh no! She had to get Blaze! It was not like they held a grudge against one another but she knew that he did not like being cleaned and the moment she had to tell him that was what had to happen to him he got scared and flew off. Fawn had promised to the others she would get him, but that had been hours ago and she was nowhere near getting him!
She sighed again and turned to fly away. "Best start looking for him again," he said to herself.
But just then, as she was about to fly away, movement out of the corner of her eye to her left caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw a bug emerge from the bushes a few feet, if you were a fairy, away from her. Upon seeing him, anger and adrenaline filled her body like water filling up a tank. It was Blaze!
Her body urged to rush at the firefly and grab him and, ignoring her common sense's protests, that was just what she did, charging full speed at the insect as fast as her wings would take her. Blaze, however, saw her coming and quickly sped off, Fawn giving chase.
"You're not getting away this time!" she shouted after him. "When I catch you, you're gonna get the scrubbing of a life time!"
Off they flew, heading right back towards the place where they knew that they would be resented well.
At the workshop
The Tinker workshop was full once again of the Tinkers working tirelessly on the carriages, baskets, rainbow holders, bee liners, silk gatherers etc. for the mainland and for work on Pixie Hollow as well. Their break at the pond had relaxed them and cooled them down and now they were back at work knowing they would not overheat in the usually hot workshop. Some were tired and did feel that they would rather relax a little more than do their work but they only needed to do so for another few hours until the evening came. All were chatting to each other about the day and how everyone was feeling and what have you.
There was, however, one reigning topic over all the others, and that was with the fairy at the other end of the workshop. As Tinkerbell was kneeling down with her back to the rest of the workshop, she did not notice the many glances in her direction she was getting from the other Tinkers, nor did she hear the muttering behind her back about what had transpired with her and Blaze and Fawn earlier on. Quite frankly, most were against them having to bring their chase in here and end up devastating the workshop as well as Tinkerbell's chair. After all, they would feel the same way if they had been in her position and the same thing had happened to them. Some were, however, adamant to approach her and ask her if she was alright after the recent damage inflicted on the chair for they feared that they would probably be on the receiving end of her yelling at them. The best thing was just to leave her to cool down, though that would only happen if Fawn and Blaze stayed well away.
One of the Tinker fairies, a tall black male with a light green leaf top and dark green shorts and brown shoes, was approached by Fairy Mary as he worked on one of the baskets that were to carry a set of rainbow holders to the mainland later in a few weeks.
"How is everything going, Ryan?" she asked him.
"Oh, fine, Fairy Mary," he replied happily as he hammered another twig into place.
Next to him, Fairy Mary looked past him at Tinkerbell, who set down her tools and stood up and wiped her forehead clean of sweat, with a concerned gaze.
"Is she alright?" she asked the working sparrow man anxiously.
Ryan looked at her and then over at Tinkerbell. "Oh yeah, she's been fine," he replied, turning his head back to Fairy Mary. "I mean, as long as Fawn and Blaze don't come crashing around in here again she'll be fine, and so will we as a matter of fact,"
Fairy Mary nodded in agreement. She was going to have to keep an eye out for those two from now on until this bathing matter was sorted out, which she, and probably everyone else, hoped would not be too long away.
"I mean it, Blaze! Come here!"
Upon hearing the shout, everyone looked up to see Blaze zoom overhead towards the tree at the end of the workshop opposite Tinkerbell's end; Fawn right behind him, both arms outstretched as she tried in vain to catch him. At first, most just shook their heads and went back to work, un-approving of this chase going on by these two. However, some quickly became concerned, and for good reason.
Near the base of the tree was a small slope that was part of the wall of the workshop and at the top of that slope was a huge fenced off set of stones that had been put there earlier on in the week when there had been heavy rain to stop the rain water from coming down the slope and flooding the workshop, which they could cover with a makeshift leaf covering. Blaze stopped just at the edge of the fence and turned to face Fawn, who was now hovering a few feet in front of him, her fists clenched and a look of angry concentration on her face.
"You're trapped now, mister!" she hissed at him. "Just give up Blaze and let me wash you,"
He glared and shook his head frantically, ending his point by sticking his tongue out at her. This only annoyed Fawn even more.
"Alright then, you wanna play it rough? Fine! I like playing it rough anyway!" she growled and dived towards him at full speed.
It was a huge mistake.
Blaze moved out of the way as soon as she moved and Fawn slammed into the fence holding back the stones. At once, a loud crack filled the air and the twigs began to snap and break apart. Blaze gulped in fear, probably realising what he had just made Fawn do, but quickly fled in terror when she chased after him again, now more annoyed than ever.
"Will you give it up already!" she shouted angrily.
Most of the Tinkers watched them go with a sense of relief in their eyes, knowing that any damage and danger that would be brought onto them was gone…or so they thought.
"Look!" one of the women Tinker fairies exclaimed worryingly, pointing up at the fenced stones.
Everyone looked up at where she was pointing and were quickly overcome with fear when the fence suddenly broke apart and the stones began rolling down the slope and into the workshop.
"Scatter!" Ryan yelled, he and Fairy Mary quickly hovering into the air to get out of the path of the deadly stampede of stones, the other fairies around the workshop doing the same so as to avoid being crushed.
The stones rolled past the tables made of the same thing, but those that were wooden were crushed and flattened like paper cups, along with what was on them. They pulverised virtually anything that was not made of stone and barrelled down towards the other end of the workshop, towards…
"Tinkerbell!" Fairy Mary shouted. "Watch out!"
The young Tinker fairy sighed in annoyance, having finally finished painting her chair and fixing the head rest and was expecting a little rest.
"What is it?" she asked with an annoyed tone, turning to face the others.
As soon as she saw the wave of stones coming towards her, she screamed and grabbed her chair and flew up into the air, just in time as the stones slammed into her table, some barrelling over it and coming to a halt against the wall.
When the last of the stones had passed, Tinkerbell lowered the chair back onto the table and looked at the stones with a shocked and amazed expression. How did they get loose? Surely that could not have happened…unless…
She looked over her shoulder at Fairy Mary, who fluttered over. "Are you alright, my dear?" she asked.
Tinkerbell gave a small nod, but was then suddenly angry. "What just happened? Who released them?!" she demanded.
Fairy Mary folded her arms and gave her a look as if to say: "Take a wild guess," which Tinkerbell did and very quickly found the answer. She shook her head, sighing through gritted teeth.
"Those two had better give it a rest," she said with a firm tone.
XXXXXXXXX
Later
"Blaze! Come out of there now!"
Fawn hovered next to a small branch on the tree just above Tinker's Nook, peeking into a tiny hole that was big enough for a firefly to hide in, and it was exactly where Blaze had taken refuge from her. He had been in there for the last ten minutes and Fawn had tried everything to get him out. She had shaken the branch, thumped the tree, pretended to give up and fly off, which had worked the first time in drawing him out but she was not quick in catching him, and all sorts of ideas, and so far the result was obvious; she was getting nowhere. There just had to be a way! There just had to be!
"Clanky, careful! We might drop some of the fireworks," she heard Bobble's voice call from below.
"Sorry, Bobble," Clank's replied.
Looking down, Fawn saw the two Tinker fairies holding several small leaf boxes in their arms, Clank's one seemed to be on the verge of breaking though, which would probably explain why he was pushing it up against his chest. From where she was, Fawn could not see what was sticking out of Bobble's box so she fluttered down towards them, the object gradually becoming clearer. It was a firework, and around the middle of it was a vine tied around the middle that went inside the box, probably having been tied to other fireworks inside it.
Yes! Fawn smiled to herself. Now I can get him out of there!
She flew down to the two and stopped in front of Clank, making him jump. Bobble bumped into him from behind.
"Clanky, why have you sto-Oh, uh, hello Miss Fawn," he said when he saw her hovering there.
"Hey guys," she greeted, her eyes looking back up at the tree just to make sure Blaze would not seek the opportunity to make a run for it. "Um…can I borrow some of those fireworks?" she asked, though she was hovering towards the box as if they had allowed her to take some.
"What? Oh, um…Y-you want to borrow some, Miss Fawn?" Bobble repeated.
"Yeah," she replied, lifting up the lid and grabbing one of the fireworks and pulling out three. "They light up when in direct contact with sunlight, don't they?" she asked.
"Um, yes, why?" Clank answered, confused.
"Oh, don't worry, thanks," she replied zooming back up to the hole.
She held up one of the fireworks to the sun and it lit immediately and, quickly pulling apart the vine until it snapped, she threw it into the hole and covered her ears, waiting for it to go off. That would be enough to frighten Blaze and make him leave the hole.
As she waited for the firework to explode, a prodding on her back made her turn to see Blaze hovering there. He squeaked something and she shook her head in annoyance.
"Not right now, Blaze!" she said to him. "Can't you see I'm-" she paused and looked at him with wide eyes and then at the hole.
"How did you-why are you-what are you doing here?!" she demanded, flying over to the hole and looking inside.
BANG! The firework went off and sent up a huge cloud of smoke and dust into fawn's face and hair. When she looked back up, Blaze laughed, which was a high pitched continuation of squeaks, and pointed at her face and hair, both of which were a kind of black/dark greyish colour. She, however, was not amused and glared dangerously at him.
"Oh, you think that's funny do you?" she asked him sarcastically with a dangerous tone, promptly shutting Blaze up and forcing a worried expression onto his face as Fawn stood up and clenched her fists. "Well you'll laugh real hard when I get my hands on you and give you the bath of a lifetime!"
Blaze gulped, fearing that word bath he heated so much and quickly sped off, Fawn giving chase, Bobble and Clank looking on with confused expressions.
She chased him through the air and bushes, not knowing they were heading back in the direction of, surprise, surprise, the Tinker workshop. But rather than fly through it, Blaze stayed well above the ground and flew up to the branch standing high over the end of the workshop where Tinkerbell had been before and hide in a small hole on the side of it. Fawn put her arm in the hole and tried to grab him, but he lightly bit her finger, which caused her to yelp and pull her arm out, infuriating her even more.
"Okay, Blaze, we'll do the hard way," she said to herself as she lit the other two fireworks and threw them into the hole, moving away from it and covering her ears and slamming her eyes shut.
Unbeknownst to her at first, however, Blaze had grabbed the two fireworks and threw them down into the workshop. Fawn opened her eyes when she heard him dart back into the hole and saw the fireworks hit the stone table and roll under Tinkerbell's chair. Panic immediately gripped her.
Oh no! She thought in a terrified manner and flew down to the chair, hoping to get the fireworks out from under there before they went off.
However, as she reached the chair and went to grab the fireworks, a hand grabbed her, hoisted her to her feet and turned her round to face a narrow eyed Tinkerbell with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping the ground as if she were a parent waiting for her child to admit to what they had done wrong.
"What are you doing by my chair, Fawn?" she asked in a calm but clearly annoyed manner.
Fawn hid her hands behind her back, smiling meekly but nervously, something she knew she would not be getting from Tinkerbell at this moment in time.
"Well…I um…was getting something…f-from under your-" she stuttered.
"You've done something to my chair again, haven't you?!" Tinkerbell snapped, interrupting her and pulled her aside and knelt down and put her hand under the chair.
"No, Tinkerbell, don't!" Fawn begged, grabbing her and pulling her away from the chair, but Tinkerbell grabbed her wrist.
"I'd like to have a word with you," she said to her animal fairy friend, pulling her over to the chair and kneeling down and reaching under it. "I'm getting sick and tired of you breaking my ch-"
BANG! The chair seemed to explode from underneath, making Fawn jump back, but Tinkerbell just held her kneeling position, though her eyes had grown wide and were now twitching slightly as if she were in pain, which she really was. Fawn managed to pry Tinkerbell's hand off hers and stepped back a few paces from her injured friend.
"Sorry, Tinkerbell!" she squeaked.
She did not reply straight away but just held her position, her arm with the hand under the chair shaking slightly.
"C-can someone…get m-me a-a-a healing fairy, please?!" she said with a tone that was obvious she was in extreme pain.
Immediately feeling responsible, Fawn flew off to get some help for Tinkerbell whilst the other fairies came over to see if they could help her for the time being.