Tang Ri Shan
(Stay with me, we're nearing the climax!)
Tinkerbell: Curse of the Duskmoth
(I do not own Tinkerbell or any of the Disney Fairies. Enjoy!)
Chapter 12
"Replace Queen Clarion?" Tinkerbell exclaimed, darting away from the bars. The seer quickly made a shushing motion, glancing around nervously. "Sorry" Tinkerbell lowered her voice. "But why would he want to take Queen Clarion's place?"
"Jealousy" The seer replied. "Or maybe greed. Either of those two factors would be good enough reason". Seeing the confusion on Tinkerbell's face, he chuckled. "I'm told you have spent a lot of time among the humans, correct?" Tinkerbell nodded. "Well, like humans, fairies and sparrow-men are sometimes not satisfied with their place in this world, and they seek to change it. Often times, this involves clashing with another, to take a position that another has already claimed. They may be driven by jealousy by how talented that other individual is, or greed to obtain what has already been acquired. Do you understand?"
Tinkerbell opened her mouth, but paused as another memory filled her mind, a memory of how, when she had first arrived at Pixie Hollow, how she had not been satisfied with her position as a tinker, how she had tried to learn other talents in order to go to the mainland. She also remembered how jealous Vidia had been of her when they first met. "Yes" She finally said, glancing down at the floor. "I understand all too well"
The Seer seemed satisfied. "But you have come to accept your place, correct? You are a very powerful Tinker, the one who saved Spring, and made the shattered scepter, the one who rescued Vidia when she was captured by a human, and who re-opened the border between autumn and winter."
Tinkerbell glanced up at the Seer, confused. "How do you know so much about me?" She asked. The Seer chuckled.
"You name has spread far, young fairy. Even we in the Guaridan Guild have heard of your exploits. But my point is, your talent allowed you to do all this. You accept your place as a Tinker, yes?" Tinkerbell slowly nodded. The Seer's face suddenly fell. "Unfortunatly, Kelsier had not yet learned to accept his place." The Seer shook his head sadly. "He wants the power that Queen Clarion whields and I fear he will keep trying to aquire it until he succeeds."
"Wait, you mean he's tried before?" Tinkerbell asked. The Seer nodded.
"The easiest way to aquire power and devotion is to present yourself as a hero to others." He explained. " Kelsier tried to do just than when the Duskmoth last appeared, but when Erikel dissappeared and the Duskmoth fled soon afterwards, the Queen made Erikel into a hero and Kelsier was passed over. I don't think Kelsier has ever forgotten this"
"And now that the Duskmoth has returned" Tinkerbell reasoned "He'll have another chance to take control. We need to stop him!"
"I have tried speaking out against this plan, but all the higher members of the guild are completely loyal to Kelsier, and the lower members follow him out of fear of the creature." The Seer sighed.
"Wait" Tinkerbell was thinking hard now. "You just said that the myths about the Duskmoth are false"
"They are, but the creature still exists, so the stories are more believable."
"In more ways than one" Tinkerbell muttered to herself.
"Pardon?"
"Seer!" Both fairies jumped as a voice echoed down the hall. The Seer floated backwards, head bent as Lord Kelsier appeared, flanked by two sword-wielding guild fairies. "Not telling stories I hope" He glanced at Tinkerbell, who stared back defiantly.
"No my lord" The Seer replied. "Merely confirming if she has indeed been infected"
"And?" Kelsier said, tiling his head.
The Seer shook his head. "I do not think she has."
Kelsier turned to look at Tinkerbell again. Tinkerbell stared back at him, her frown faded. After a few heart-wrenching minutes, Kelsier finally spoke. "I trust your judgement Seer, but I also think that we cannot afford to take any chances. She will stay here until the Duskmoth has been defeated." Kelsier smiled at Tinkerbell's shocked expression and turned to leave.
"You can't do this!" Tinkerbell yelled, flying up to the bars as the other fairies turned to follow Kelsier. "You don't understand!" She pounded the bars in anger, but all she did was make them rattle fiercely and groan. Tinkerbell froze, the bars hadn't sounded like that before. As if reading her thoughts, she saw the Seer pause, look back at her, and wink.
As soon as she was sure that they were gone, Tinkerbell rattled the bars again. They definitely sounded hollow and they moved slightly. Glancing down, she saw that the bars were loose near the floor. Tinkerbell knelt down and pulled, one of the bars moved. She pulled again, the bar bent. Pulling with all her strength, Tinkerbell was slowly able to make a hole in the bars big enough for her to squeeze through. She flew down the dark corridor until she arrived at the door. She carefully inched it open, flinching at the squeaky sounds that the hinges made, and stepped out into the night.
"I've got to find Vidia" She said, before taking off.
Meanwhile
Vidia was flying towards the area where the tinkers lived. She figured that even if Tinkerbell had been locked up, she could still find a way to get blue pixie dust to the Duskmoth.
She was just flying over a fallen tree when she heard a voice. "Vidia! Vidia, wait!" Glancing down, she saw Tinkerbell flying behind her.
"Tink!" Vidia slowed and came to a halt. "I heard you-what happened to your face?" She asked as Tinkerbell caught up to her.
"You did this" Tinkerbell replied, slightly out of breath.
Vidia winced as she looked over the scratch. "Sorry"
"It's okay, that doesn't matter now"
"What are you doing out here? I heard you'd been imprisoned" Vidia stammered.
"I was, but I escaped" Tinkerbell gasped, peering over Vidia's shoulder. Vidia glanced back and saw a light heading their way. "Oh no, it's a guild fair-EEE!" Scarcely had Tinkerbell vinished speaking before Vidia had grabbed her and zipped up into the shadows of a tree. Vidia then dropped her stunned friend onto a branch, her hand over Tinkerbell's mouth. While Tinkerbell shook her head to regain her bearings, a lantern-wielding fairy passed silently below them. Only when the light from the fairy's lantern had faded did Vidia let go of Tinkerbell.
"Wow, and I thought you were fast before" Tinkerbell gasped, gazing at Vidia who smiled in return.
"Thanks. Listen I've got a lot to tell you" Vidia replied.
"Me too" Tinkerbell smiled. In hushed tones, Tinkerbell told Vidia what the Seer had told her, and what she had overheard.
"So, let me get this straight, Lord Kelsier wants to replace Queen Clarion as the ruler of Pixie Hollow?" Vidia's eyes went wide. Tinkerbell nodded.
"And he's using the myth of the Duskmoth being evil to do so"
"But the Duskmoth isn't evil" Vidia argued, and told Tinkerbell what Erikel had told her.
"So Erikel's still alive, but a sprite now?" Tinkerbell gasped.
Vidia nodded "And the Duskmoth needs blue pixie dust to hatch its brood."
"Wow" Tinkerbell exclaimed, her eyes seemed to glaze over, as if stunned by this information. "Okay, so we need to find a way to get Blue Pixie Dust to the Duskmoth, but we also need to find a way to keep Kelsier from taking over. The Seer said that most of the fairies look towards Kelsier because they're afraid. If we just prove to people people that the stories are false..."
"...before or after they put us in a cage?" Vidia snapped, narrowing her eyes. Tinkerbell fell silent, pondering this. Vidia was right, everyone was so afraid they probably wouldn't listen to her.
"Kelsier has an entire army behind him" Vidia ranted. "Not just the guardian guild, but other fairies as well If we try to talk toanyone we'll be overwhelemed." She sighed, looking defeated as she sank to a branch. "Too bad we don't have an army of our own to match the guild"
"Vidia, that's it!" She exclaimed.
"Huh?" Vidia looked at her, confused.
"You've just given me an idea that can save both Queen Clarion and the Duskmoth as well!" Tinkerbell said, spinning around.
"Well, what is it?" Vidia leapt to her feet, but then paused when she noticed an evil smile on Tinkerbell's face.
"Two words" Tinkerbell replied, rubbing her hands together. "Sprite Attack"