FernGully

"Did I not tell you earlier today that we shouldn't show ourselves to humans? And you deliberately went and disobeyed me?" Crysta asked, looking at her daughter with a very angry glare.

"I just wanted to see him. I didn't mean to be seen myself it's just… I thought I saw Father in there."

"Me?" Pips said, pointing. "Why would I be over there?"

"That's what I was going to ask you. I thought it was you so I went into the little shop to ask why and how you had made yourself bigger when I was caught. It was by that human who saved FernGully. He explained that it wasn't father and that it was actually his son dressed as father. Once I got the explanation, he let me go."

Crysta smiled a little.

"You saw Zak?"

"Yes, I did."

Crysta smiled again, remembering when he had visited so many years ago. Even though she was with Pips, the memories of her first love were still quite fresh in her fairy mind. Pips, knowing this, cleared his throat and Crysta looked at him. He pointed at Moon and she resumed her rant.

"Either way, you were told not to go there and you even tried to get Leafo involved."

"Leafo wasn't involved at all. I told him what happened but that's about it. That's when Father came."

"You're forbidden to go near that place, do you understand me? It's dangerous there. Even though Zak protects FernGully, there are still others who wish to damage it."

Moon frowned and then left, flying away.

Crysta made a face at her daughter, knowing she was probably disobeying as she flew. Pips walked up to her.

"Crysta…"

"I'm sure she's going to do the complete opposite of what I asked. If she's anything like me then I know she will."

"Do you want me to send Batty to watch over her?"

"No…" She sighed. "I wish we could just reveal ourselves to the humans but… but last time we did that Hexxus was released and he almost killed FernGully and then Magi…"

Pips pulled Crysta into a hug, holding her close.

"Don't worry… we put him back in confinement. As long as Zak protects FernGully like he has and they don't do any of that logging stuff, then Hexxus won't be able to come back."

Crysta knew that but it was still a fear she would always have.


FernGully Foundation Center

Max decided to keep his situation from his parents. He didn't need them to get into his business and as long as he didn't cough hard like he had because of the being kicked around a little, he would be alright. When they went on a day trip or something he would go to the doctor's office. *Maybe it isn't really TB.* Max thought as he scrubbed the blood off of his hands in the bathroom and off of his chin. Maybe it's just because I was already coughing and then Jason made me lose my breath… Yeah… that sounds like a good plan. Max wiped his face and looked in the mirror. He nodded about his story and walked out of the bathroom.

As he turned around he gasped, finding Pepper standing there.

"P-Pepper… um…"

"I'm sorry about Jason, he can be a real dick sometimes."

"Um… yeah… uh…"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind giving me a personal tour? I've always wanted to come here but my parents thought it was a waste of time so we always end up going scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef or something."

"You've been to the reef?" Max asked in amazement.

"All the time. It doesn't change. It will always be fish skeletons and sharks and Finding Nemo-ish. I was surprised Jason even wanted to come here."

"Don't you have a movie to catch or something?"

Pepper looked around a little. "I um… just recently broke up."

Max lifted an eyebrow. "So… why were you here with him? Do you mean you dumped him just a moment ago?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Well, I knew he had issues with people but I thought it was something else but seeing him just beat you up like that for no reason… well… I realized what my eyes had been blind to. Anyway, I'll totally pay for the tour."

"Uh, you don't have to. I-I'll take you."

Pepper clapped happily and then looked at his outfit.

"Do you have to wear that?"

"I do but I'm going to ask if I can take it off. I don't like walking around in it; it chafes."

Pepper laughed a little as Max walked up to his father.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I change clothes and still do a tour?" he said, gesturing to Pepper with is eyes.

Zak looked over his son's shoulder and saw the pretty girl standing there and he lifted an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Come on, Dad, I've had a crush on her since forever!" he hissed.

Zak laughed. "Fine but if some kids come in you're putting the outfit back on."

"I know…"

Max changed clothes and took Pepper out to the forest.


"So I was reading in the brochure that there are fairies out here? Have you seen one?" Pepper asked, looking at him expectantly.

"No, I haven't seen one yet. My dad has though…"

"So… what's with the getup back there?"

"It's supposed to be a fairy guy that my dad met when… well…"

"When what? I'm truly interested."

Max stopped walking.

"My dad used to be a logger and he was marking the trees to tear down the rainforest when he caught a fairy in his hands. He said that she misspoke when she was trying to get him to be able to see her fully and turned him into the same size as her. He learned about how the rainforest is a living organism and the fairies need it wholly to survive. With that, he was returned to normal and lost his social life forever."

"That's quite a story."

"It's been told to me many times. I always thought it was just a story until I realized that the center was built and stuff."

"So how did your father see her if she had to make him see her?"

"He said all he saw at the time was a flash of green and went to go catch it, thinking it was a firefly or something."

"I see. So the costume is a fairy he met?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I see… That's pretty cool though. My dad is just an accountant."

"At least it's normal."

They laughed for a second when Max noticed the forest was oddly quiet. He put his hand out to stop Pepper and she looked at him.

"Max?"

"Shh… something's up…"

"What do you mean?"

"My dad always told me that when a forest gets quiet, that means that something has startled everything within it."

Max waited to hear something when he saw birds leaving the trees in droves of all kinds. Suddenly ground creatures like snakes, lizards, bugs, rabbits, etc. began to scurry past them. Pepper screamed with the snake and practically latched onto Max, who didn't mind. Then Max saw the kangaroos jumping toward them along with deer and some other bigger mammals.

"Oh god, it's a stampede. Hurry, back to the center!" he yelled, pushing her forward.

Pepper ran as fast as she could, leaving Max behind. He didn't mind because he wanted her safe but the running was making him wheeze and the stampede was getting closer. He didn't know how far out the stampede went in either direction or what was coming so he couldn't stop. That was a mistake, of course, because the more wheezing he did, the scratchier his throat got and made him cough. The cough did him in as well as the tail of a kangaroo. It smacked him and he whacked into a tree.


Moon was, of course, disobeying her mother's orders, when she saw a stampede in the forest. She frowned, following the direction of it when she saw Max laying next to a tree, out cold. She flew over to him and lit on his nose, touching his face.

"Wake up! You can't sleep now!" she said, making sure that his legs were out of the way of the stampede but frantically nudging his skin.

Of course, Max didn't wake up (since he couldn't feel her) and she put her hands over her mouth. Was he dead? She flew around in to inspect for any injuries when she found that there was a big red whelp on his face where the kangaroo tail had whacked him and a knot on his head where he must have hit the tree. Moon flew to his face and lit on his nose again.

Max woke up a little later and moaned, his head killing him and his nose itching. He rubbed his nose and Moon fell off, yelling. Max put his hand to his head and then again to cough, making Moon afraid and she flew back far enough to see him better but not be caught in his gestures.

"Ow… jeez… I wonder what spooked the animals so bad…" he mumbled, trying to stand up and cough at the same time.

Moon watched him carefully as he put his other hand to his mouth and looked into it. He made a worried expression and Moon flew over to his hand. Finding blood, Moon gasped, looking at Max.

"You need treatment!" she yelled, although he couldn't hear her.

Max wiped his blood off on his jeans and started to leave, although wobbly. Moon stamped her feet in the air and flew in front of him.

"Oh, I hope I get this correct. Bless your heart with magic light, I give the gift of-"

"A fairy?"

Moon stopped as Max tried to look at her through pain filled eyes from coughing as well as the smack in the cheek and the bump on the head… and other bruises. Max held out his hand to the glowing green dot, waiting.

"I can't see your face but I know fairy lights when I see it. Come on…"

Moon quickly flew to his finger and lit on the very edge. Max squinted and smiled.

"Awesome, a real fairy… I'm keeping you."

Moon yelled as he went to clamp his hand shut but a rack of coughs overcame him and he fell to his hands and knees. Although Moon knew he had just tried to take her, she was very concerned. The blood scared her but she had read about the type of disease that he had in a book of hers… If only she could get it to him… She sighed and cleared her throat.

"Bless your heart with magic light, I give the gift of fairy height. Sight! Shoot!" she yelled as he magic swirled over to Max.

She really hadn't meant to do exactly what he mother had done and ironically it was the person she had shrunk's son. Moon had been thinking of how to get the book she read the material on about this sort of disease and the word came out. The magic worked quickly and he shrank down to her size, but he was coughing profusely now and Moon ran over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Max didn't say anything for a moment and then looked at her in confusion.

"Who are you?"


for the record, ferngully is in australia and kangaroos live in australia. anyway, he's not the same size as moon. can they really help him or is it just for fairies? we shall find out.