Hey there everyone! Back again with another chapter! SOO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! I had some major writers block after the holidays and just chose to chip at it a little bit at a time until I found my creativity again. So hopefully you guys are enjoying the story so far and are eager to see just what awaits for Evangeline, Tinkerbell and the gang as they explore Pixie Hollow. What new discoveries will be made and how will it affect Evangeline as tries to adjust to her new status? Well, let's find out!
Once the girls made their way to the Summer Glade, Evangeline marveled at the wonders around her, watching the hustle and bustle of the fairies as they worked to prepare for summertime. Light-talent fairies were busy adjusting rays of sunlight to better reflect on the streams, where Water-talent fairies could be seen leading minnows along the water's surface. Several Animal-talent fairies were instructing squirrels on their acorn gathering, who in turn brought some of their spoils to the Tinker-talent fairies to aid in their crafting. She also saw a Garden-fairy at a nearby tree using her talent to make several large green leaves grow, which were practically the same size as her, before flying off in a hurry.
"Wow, it's amazing" Evangeline commented with a smile.
"Sure is. Spring is nice, but honestly Summertime is my favorite. All my furry friends are running around and having fun while the weather is warm." Fawn replied enthusiastically as a she pet a squirrel on the head before it ran off
"Yeah, and the sun rays during summer are the warmest and brightest of all the seasons!" Iridessa enthusiastically added
"Once we've brought Spring to the Mainland, Summer comes next. Thankfully, Summer is a bit more relaxed then Spring, though we still have a lot to do to keep things running smoothly. Come on, we'll show you!" Tinkerbell explained before motioning for Evangeline to follow them.
The girls all flew down to get a closer look at all the preparations for summertime. They hovered just above the grass so as to not get in the way of the mouse-pulled cart that was filled with baskets and was being driven by one of the Tinker-talent sparrow-men while several Garden-talent fairies and Animal-talent fairies were working with some bees.
"He's taking those baskets to Sunflower Meadow to start collecting the seeds. And they're teaching the bees to collect nectar and pollen." Tinkerbell explained as she pointed to them
"What about over there?" Evangeline asked, pointing to the distance where they could see several different fairies flying towards the beach.
"Oh, they're heading Palm Tree Cove. It's a great place to relax when taking breaks from our work." Silvermist replied
"It's also where I find my Lost Things" Tinkerbell added
"Lost Things?" Evangeline questioned
"Yeah, they're things that come from the Main Land and wash up on the shore. I should show you my last haul, there's some great stuff I found that can help with my newest invention. You see-" Tinkerbell began to excitedly explain
"Not now Little-Miss-Spare-Parts, we've still got a lot to show her." Vidia cut in with smirk
"She's right, let's head over to the Cove for a minute and then we'll move on to the next season." Silvermist added with a nod
With that, they all quick zipped over to Palm Tree Cove, where there were several fairies already. Some were building sand sculptures. Two were playing in the waves, with one of them, being a Water-talent, using her talent to splash the other with water as the two laughed. One fairy was lying on a palm branch, enjoying the sunshine. Evangeline brought herself down to where the waves met the shore and hovered over the rushing water, watching it with amazement. Silvermist came up next to her with a smile.
"Try taking off your shoes and standing in the sand."
Evangeline looked at her with an uncertain expression as Silvermist simply continued to smile and nod towards the tumbling waters. She then slowly lowered to the ground and took off her shoes, taking a few steps forward before hesitantly stepping onto the wet sand, waiting for the next wave to roll in. Once it did, the water rushed up to the middle of her lower legs, with the bottom of her dress getting slightly wet. This made her gasp softly as the cool waters hit her before rushing back out to the sea, wobbling a bit as the water pulled back out, causing her to giggle as she looked up to her new friends with delight.
However, just before she could say anything, a sudden and large splash of water hit her squarely in the face, soaking her hair and dress. The girls all gasped at this when they saw that the culprit was the Water-talent who was playing with her friend. The fairy had quickly come over to Evangeline when she noticed she was splashed by her, pulling her up by the hands.
"I'm sorry about that, we-" The Water-talent fairy began to apologize with a smile, but then noticed Evangeline's crown nestled tightly in her dripping hair and the purple dress from the Queen's announcement, before gasping in horror and saying "Oh my goodness! You're the princess! I'm so, so, sorry your majesty! It was not done on purpose, we were just playing and I missed! Please forgive me!"
This outburst made everyone on the beach look to see what was happening. Evangeline was quiet for a moment, which made everyone, including the other two fairies, worried that she had gotten very angry from being hit with the watery attack. However, instead of saying anything, Evangeline's wing's turned into the light blue color of the Water-talent before she swished her hand forward and a stream of water strayed from the sea and splashed the fairy, soaking her as well. When she did this, Evangeline began to laugh wholeheartedly, then turned and did the same to her group of friends, dousing them in seawater.
"Now you're all wet!" She giggled as her blue wings shimmered
With that action, everyone smirked to one another as they all began to run towards the ocean and splashing one another. The two fairies from before also joined in, as well as those around who had been doing other activities. Left and right, fairies were splashing one another and laughing with joy. Then, before anyone else could serve more strikes, a horn in the distance was blown and the other fairies gave a slight groan of disappointment at having been interrupted in their fun. They all gave their courtesies to the princess before making their way over to a small booth that was set up to help them dry off their wings. Rosetta was squeezing parts of her clothing to get the water out of it, looking over to the girls.
"Well, how about we get ourselves dry and head on over to the Autumn Forest for our next part of the tour?" Rosetta said with slight discomfort of being wet but still smiling.
"Sure, I'm excited to see it" Evangeline nodded with enthusiasm
Soon enough, the girls reached the area where Summer and Autumn met, crossing over the line and made their way into the woods. Evangeline kept looking up above them where the trees were filled with various different colors, different from it's Spring and Summer counterparts. Several of these colorful leaves were falling as the girls fluttered by.
"Here we have the Autumn Woods. This is the time when things cool down and nature prepares itself for Winter. The leaves fall, harvests are made, animals stock food for hibernation, and much more." Fawn explains as they make their way past several large trees.
While they were touring around, several fast-flying talents zoomed above them, their winds causing many of the leaves above them to begin to fall to the ground. Evangeline held out her hands and caught one of the leaves that was almost the size of her and golden in color, before looking back up to witness the same fast-flyers zipping the other way and making more leaves fall.
"You guys blow the leaves down?"
"Yeah. If we don't then the tree branches get too heavy during Winter. It can be dangerous." Vidia replied with a nod
"Oh, take a look! They just got finished making pumpkin muffins! Let's hurry before they run out!" Iridessa squealed as she pointed to the fairies who were making treats
"You are going to love these, they are just to die for!" Rosetta enthusiastically agreed
The girls all hurried over, with Evangeline simply giving a small shrug of acceptance as she followed them. Once they made their way over to the stall, Tinkerbell got up to counter where one of the bakers was standing nearby, who had her back turned to her as she was working on her pastries, and gave a smile as she looked at her friends before glancing back to the baker.
"Hi, can we get seven pumpkin muffins to go?"
"Sure thing dear, I'll get those wrapped up for you. Just give me a-" The baker fairy turned to see who she was talking to, holding a bowl in one hand and whisking its contents with her other hand, but then she saw the crown on Evangeline's head and dropped the bowl with a gasp of shock and awe, quickly saying "Your majesty?! I didn't realize you were here! Let me get those for you right away!"
With that, the baker fairy quickly zipped away for a moment before speedily bringing back two covered trays and a basket. She then turned her back to them before quickly filling the basket with the treats before putting a cloth over them. She then made her way out from behind the counter and sped over to Evangeline, thrusting the basket into the surprised princess's arms.
"I hope you like them! If you want anything else, I'm happy to make you anything you'd like!" The baker eagerly said with both nerves and hopefulness as she bowed respectfully to the princess
"Oh…well thank you, I appreciate it." Evangeline replied, giving a somewhat awkward expression before smiling at the fairy with gratitude
At that point, a crowd had begun to form as they had heard the commotion with the princess and the baker fairy, which made her and the girls notice everyone forming around them. All the fairies and sparrow men were excitedly trying to introduce themselves and talk to Evangeline, who kept looking every which way in order to try and listen to them all but was sadly failing. However, they then divided and formed a pathway when they heard two claps coming from behind them. It was the Minister of Autumn, who clapped in order to regain some order among his fairies.
"Alright everyone, let's not crowd around the princess. She's here to see all of your work, so best get back to what you were doing." He said with a kind but firm order
This made them all give slight disappointed sounds and whispers, but complied with their Minister's orders and headed back to their tasks. The Minister approached Evangeline and the girls with a warm smile as his assistant fluttered next to him with a clipboard and quill in his hands.
"Your majesty. We're honored to have you visiting us here in the Autumn Woods. I hope your tour of Pixie Hollow has been going well?"
"Yes, it's all been so wonderful, Minister." Evangeline nodded as she held the basket handle in her hands
"Hawthorne, your majesty." The Minister reminded her with a smile and a nod
"Yes of course, I'm sorry. Hawthorne. Your forest is beautiful. And I'm excited to try the muffins" Evangeline corrected herself before nodding to both the Minister and the baker fairy that was still hovering nearby.
"I thank you for your praise. Now I must see to some more preparations, so please enjoy the rest of your trip around Pixie Hollow, we shall meet again fairly soon. Good day, your majesty."
With that, Hawthorne gave a gracious bow before flying off with his assistant and several other fairies fluttering closely behind as they gave updates on their work, his assistant writing everything down as they left. While Evangeline watched him leave, Fawn lifted the cloth on the basket she was holding to look at the treats they were given.
"Oh score! She gave us walnut cookies too! Come on, let's eat some before we head over to Winter. I know just the spot to sit!" Fawn eagerly cheered
She then led the rest of the group towards a large tree branch that had a perfect view of Pixie Hollow, with the rest of the seasons just visible enough to see along with the Pixie Dust tree. While the girls quickly got to setting up a little picnic on the branch, Evangeline fluttered off a bit to get a better look at the scenery. While she still gave a somewhat nervous expression, it began to slowly get more confident as she glanced around at the beauty of her new home.
"Beautiful isn't it? Take my breath away every time I see it." Tinkerbell said, appearing to her side
"It is. I still can't believe that one day… I'll be Queen of all of this" Evangeline replied with a small smile that was somewhat solemn.
"Are you worried?" Tinkerbell questioned
"…Yeah, a little…okay a lot. I guess I just don't want to let anyone down." She admitted with an honest smile before looking at her hands, then said "Queen Clarion said my talents connects the four seasons together, but I still don't know what that really means, or even what all I can do. There's just so much to learn."
Tinkerbell gave a thoughtful look before putting a hand on Evangeline's shoulder in comfort.
"I don't know what it means to be a princess, but I do know what it's like to have friends who have your back. And we're your friends now. So take all the time you need to understand who you are. We'll support you, no matter what." Tinkerbell said with a nod
"Thanks" Evangeline nodded back with a reassured expression
"You two better come over and eat before Iridessa and Fawn eat all the snacks!" Vidia called out to the two of them
"Hey, I haven't eaten that many!" Iridessa complained
"Yeah, I've only had three muffins and two cookies!" Fawn retorted with a confident head nod
"You realize you're only proving her right?" Rosetta replied with smirk
Tinkerbell and Evangeline watched as the girls were discussing their eating habits before looking at one another and starting to giggle at their friends silly antics.
"You heard her, we better hurry. Next stop will be the Winter Woods." Tinkerbell said, motioning towards the picnic.
"Sounds good"
With that, the two rejoined their group of friends.
Alright, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Again, sorry for the long wait, just a lot of chaos that is called 'life' and 'writer's block' that kept getting in the way. I'll see you in the next chapter!