Tang Ri Shan

(Here's the next chapter. Hey, if there's anything you want to see happen, let me know. I can probably squeeze it into the plot)

Tinkerbell: Curse of the Duskmoth

(I do not own Tinkerbell or any of the Disney Fairies. Enjoy!)

Chapter 6

Inside her small hole in the home tree, Tinkerbell had trouble sleeping. She tossed and turned, but finally she sat up with a groan.

"It's no use" She said to herself. "I can't sleep". She got out of her bed, and fluttered over to her window. It was still darkest night, a cool breeze was blowing across the tree. Tinkerbell saw the lights of the guardian guild members as they patrolled the home tree. Kelsier wasn't kidding about the seriousness of the guild, no sooner had she returned to the tree when they began patrolling around the perimeter like bees around a hive.

Tinkerbell jumped as a sparrow-man from the guild flew in front of the window, holding his little lamp aloft like a torch, the light reflecting off of the shiny sword strapped to his waist. Tinkerbell snorted as she watched the guild member fly off. On the way back to the tree from the festival, Klank and Bobble had informed her on the many legends surrounding the Guardian Guild. Apparently they were a nocturnal guild they slept during the day and were only active at night. Each member carried a lantern because it was rumored that the Duskmoth shunned all light. Apart from moonlight, any other light was like poison to it. Tinkerbell rolled her eyes. If that was the case, then why would they need soldier fairies to defend themselves? They could just light lamps all over the tree to keep the creature away. Shaking her head, Tinkerbell was about to withdraw from the window, when something caught her eye. From her window, Tinkerbell could see a section of the base of the hometree, and she saw a small number of guild fairies clustering around something. Curious now, Tinkerbell quickly changed out of her sleeping clothes into more suitable ones and flitted out her door.

Darting into the long grass, Tinkerbell landed and slowly crept towards the group of fairies. Peeking out from behind a leaf, she saw that they were gathering around someone and speaking in urgent tones.

"Are you sure?"

"When did this happen?"

"Is she alright?"

"Settle down! Settle down! All of you!" A fairy flew up above the mass and yelled. The crowd calmed as an older sparrow man rose above the gathering. Unlike the other guild members, he carried no lantern and wore no sword. In their place, he carried a staff made of black wood in one hand, and what looked like a large white ball in the other hand.

"Seer. Are you sure you saw what you saw?" A fairy from the crowd asked. Tinkerbell tensed. Klank had told her about him. The seer of the guardian guild was said to have the power to see into the future. Right now, he looked slightly disheveled, as if he had just been shoved and shaken by a group of people.

"What is going on here?" Lord Kelsier's voice cracked through the air like a whip. He appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, at the side of the seer, who regarded him with a nod. "Why are you all bullying the seer?" He demanded, gazing at the crowd with a stern expression.

"Lord Kelsier, we heard that the Duskmoth was sighted close to Pixie Hollow tonight!" A fairy exclaimed. More whispers broke out at this. Glancing upwards Tinkerbell saw lights coming on in the various houses. Fairies and sparrow-men peaked out through doors and windows. "The seer claims that it has already taken a fairy!" The crowd grew as more guild members flew down to the gathering.

"Seer, is this true?" Kelsier turned to the elder sparrow man, who didn't meet his gaze, but stared out at the crowd with sad eyes.

"It is true" he wheezed, his voice cracking with age and misery. "Already, we have lost a fairy to the creature" A chorus of gasps and frightened whispers followed this. Tinkerbell raised an eyebrow.

"W-who was it?" A sparrow-man asked nervously. The seer shook his head. "I do not know her name, but she was a fast-flying fairy" Tinkerbell perked up, her eyes widening. "She foolishly challenged the creature, and lost. I fear it will not be long before she becomes infected. The Duskmoth has claimed its first victim. The first, I fear, of many" The seer bowed his head as exclamations of horror and despair broke out all throughout the assembled.

"Vidia" Tinkerbell whispered, could the seer be talking about her friend? As if he had somehow heard her, the seer lifted his head and looked right into Tinkerbell's eyes. Tinkerbell felt her eyes widen, and the seer sadly nodded.

Tinkerbell shook her head, despite herself. It couldn't be true! Vidia? A sprite? Tinkerbell retreated further back into the bush silently telling herself that it was impossible. But she could feel doubt creeping into her mind. Challenging the Duskmoth did sound like the kind of thing that Vidia would do, assuming the creature even existed. And no one had seen Vidia since the festival. Tinkerbell winced as she remembered how she and the others had been teasing her. Was this all her fault? Tinkerbell slumped do the base of the bush, guilt pooling around inside of her. Had her teasing caused Vidia to run away and become infected?No! Tinkerbell suddenly stood up, clenching her fists. It can't be!

"Nice speech, old one" Tinkerbell started when she heard a voice right outside the bush. "That will have all of Pixie Hollow whispering in no time"

"This is wrong" Another voice responded, and Tinkerbell recognizes it as the seer's. "We shouldn't be doing this"

"We?" The other fairy replied in a smug tone. "You're the one who just lied to everyone about the Duskmoth" Tinkerbell's eyed widened in disbelief.

"But I wasn't lying!" The seer argued. "The Duskmoth has already attacked one fairy and before this night is over, I predict that he will take another!" Tinkerbell covered her mouth with her hands to suppress the noise that was tying to escape.

"Ha!" The other fairy laughed. "Keep telling yourself that. And more importantly, keep telling tales like that to the others. We need all the chaos we can cause if the plan is going to work."

"To play with chaos, is to tempt ill fortune. You'll regret this." the seer warned. The other fairy laughed and they both flew off in different directions. Tinkerbell watched them fly away, her mind reeling with what she had just heard. Questions began popping in her head like firecrackers. Was the Duskmoth even real? What plan was the other fairy talking about? And why did the seer lie?

Tinkerbell suddenly stiffened. If the seer was lying, than Vidia must be okay! But what if she wasn't? "I'll just have to find out for myself" Tinkerbell reasoned, before taking off and flying towards the arena. "I just hope Vidia's okay" She said to herself as she flew.

Meanwhile

Vidia's eyes snapped open. At first she felt disoriented. The world seemed blurry to her, and she seemed surrounded by a purplish glow. "Where am I?" She asked aloud as she sat up, rubbing her head, even though she didn't feel any pain. As if in response, Vidia suddenly heard a rustling from behind her. She spun around, and gasped as what she saw. She was in an immense cavern. The walls were covered with a strange purple moss that seemed to be glowing.

"Woah" Vidia exclaimed as she stepped backwards, to look at the ceiling. Moonlight was streaming through a hole in the ceiling of the cave and striking a small pond that was shining with purple light. A stream, also purple, flowed out of the pond and through the tree roots before vanishing into a large opening in one of the walls.

"What is this place?" Vidia gasped as she bent down to look at the glowing water. As she did, Vidia heard another rustle, this time accompanied by a growl. Vidia glanced around, than froze. Staring back at her from the shadows of a cluster of roots were a pair of glowing purple eyes. Upon realizing Vidia was watching, the eyes seemed to glow a little brighter and larger, like something was coming out. Vidia stepped back on reflex and her foot slipped. She fell backwards into the pond with a splash. As she struggled to stand, she felt something strange beneath the surface of the water.

"Get away from there!" A growl tore through the air, the purple eyes erupted from the darkness, the dark shape they were attached to shooting right towards Vidia. For the second time, Vidia felt total panic seize her. She was moving before she even knew what was happening, flying down the tunnel. In the back of her mind, Vidia wondered how this was possible. Her wings were wet when she fell into the pond, how could she be flying?

"Wait! Come back here!" Glancing behind her, she saw a dark shape chasing her and suddenly felt a rush of wind like she'd never felt before. She saw light ahead a second before she rocketed out of the end of the tunnel and into the night sky. Vidia was in awe, she had never flown this fast before. The world around her seemed to bend. She had been fast before, some said she was as fast as the wind, but this was different. She felt like she had become the wind. She felt unlimited energy flowing through her body. Her wings hummed like a dragonfly's, and she shot through the night like an arrow.

This is amazing! Vidia thought to herself. She had forgotten about the creature chasing her, had forgotten her fear. All she felt was this energy and happiness with what was happening. Until she looked down.

"What the?!" Vidia jerked to a sudden halt and stared down with wide eyes. The feeling of happiness was gone, replaced by dread as she stared at something, horrified.

"No!" She yelled. "It can't be!"