Remember how I said this was going to be a little darker than normal Disney Fairy fanfiction?
It was Asha who made the bold statement, alerting everyone in the room (and their brother) to what had previously been a sneaky slip-through-the-shadows-and-Hollow-forbid-anyone-see-us mission. Having been met by an all-but-pleasant sight upon entering the forest, they had snuck into the cave, sticking to the shadows and biding their time. Upon reaching the main room, Asha warned them to be quiet as voices rang throughout the caverns-voices that they all recognized-but something was very wrong.
They had arrived on the scene nearing the end of the grand villainous scheme, soon enough for Tink to know that Scarab had absolutely betrayed them and she was about to kick the pixie dust right off of the lying deceitful excuse for a Protector.
"Hold on," Asha hissed as Terrence, clearly feeling the same way, went to draw his weapon, though what he was planning to do against two fully-trained Protectors, none of them really knew. "Assess the situation before you go charging in there. Your friend is in serious trouble and if they are planning what I think they are, he doesn't have much time left."
"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Tink whispered. "An invitation?"
"No..." Asha said. "Just...the right moment!"
And with no more warning than that; no hey this crazy stunt that I can do? Yeah, I'm about to do it so cover your face because it might be painful. No, instead of warning them, she flung her arms out in front of her and a gigantic bellow of wind whooshed from her hands, slamming squarely into Shade and sending him tumbling to the ground.
Scarab was already whipping around by the time Shade flew back and hit the opposing wall, the bracelets clattering to the ground and rolling in every direction possible. "What do you think you're doing?" the animal-talent screeched, and behind her, Bobble broke into the brightest, most hopeful smile Tink had seen from him in a long time. He looked terrible, just dangling there, a lot like a fly caught in a spider's web, but he was still alive and that was all that mattered.
"Isn't it obvious?" Tink blurted, her tone low and dark with anger. She didn't sound anything like herself but she didn't care. "It's called stopping you! Terrence!" she added, signaling a reaction from the blond who was poised to strike. "Do it!"
"With pleasure!" the dust-talent exclaimed, drawing his sword and brandishing it tauntingly. "Asha?"
"Right behind you!" the scout replied, unsheathing her own spear. "Let's do this! Tinker Bell, you get your friend out of here and let us handle these two lunatics!"
"Got it!" Tink agreed.
Scarab laughed. "Oh, this'll be amazing!" she sneered. "Two non-talented against us, the greatest of the Protector guild!" The light was already brimming in her hands as she grinned menacingly. "Well, come on then, fools, show me your worst."
"Ow..." Shade moaned, not seemingly aware of anything that was going down. "That...actually hurt!" He raised a hand from his shoulder where he had landed, staring at it in awe as red liquid trickled between his fingers. "And...I'm bleeding?"
"Don't worry," Scarab growled. "They're about to be the ones really hurting!"
And then she fired the first shot.
"GO!" Asha bellowed and all three dove out of the way of the pummeling light burst. Terrence and Asha went right and Tink zigged to the left, circling back into the shadows, waiting, biding her time as the others engaged.
Terrence threw himself into the fray immediately, honing in on Shade as he began to stand back up. "Stay down!" he warned, pointing the sword in the evil tinker's face.
Shade stared at him for a long moment-and then he grinned and dissolved into thin air. "WHAT?" the dust-keeper yelped, spinning around and narrowly parrying an attack from behind. "No fair! You're cheating!"
"I'm kind of the villain here," Shade retorted, materializing completely once again and stepping back from the blond, a sword of his own forming from the darkness surrounding him. He bowed in a customary manner for duels. "It's literally in the job description. Now FIGHT!" he screamed, lunging for the sparrowman.
"Whoa!" Terrence cried, leaping back and ducking under a powerful slash. "Yikes! That's quite a blade you've got there! I'm a bit of a swordsman myself, but I'm much better with pixie dust. Maybe we should talk this out instead?"
His only response was another aggressive jab and a wicked grin from the older fairy.
"So...that's a 'no' then?"
Tink, meanwhile, quickly made her way through the shadows, creeping in behind her guildmate and cautiously flying up beside him. He started but the relief was evident as she began to search for a way to free him.
"Tink..." he breathed, struggling to face her. He sounded so weak and it scared her. It wasn't like him to be so down, so negative. It wasn't right. "Ye came for me."
Why did it sound like he hadn't been expecting her to?
"Yeah," she answered, still distracted with unraveling the ropes and vines tied in the most insane of ways to prevent him from escaping. "Well, it's not like we were just going to leave you here with these two liars. What kind of friends would we be if we did?"
He didn't reply to that, closing his eyes and taking a sharp breath. "I'm...sorry, Miss Bell...fer...fer everythin'. It's...it's all my fault...I'm...sorry..."
"I know," she said, trying to hide the panic in her words. She found his hand and grasped it tightly. He returned the squeeze and Tink shivered. He was colder than death. "I know. Hold on. I'm gonna get you out of here." Somehow.
What had the two Protectors done to him?
"What happened?" she asked, trying to take his mind off of his fretting and apologies while she worked. It hadn't been his fault. She wasn't angry at him. The only one upset at him was himself.
"The bracelets," he coughed. "She wanted...the bracelets."
"But then why did she have to involve you...and all of us?" Tink mused aloud. "If she just needed the bracelets...why did she even let us help?"
She didn't know and by Bobble's silence, apparently neither did he.
Okay, not important right now. Focus. Just a couple more knots and then-yes!
The snare came loose, slipping away like it had never been there, freeing him immediately. Unprepared for the sudden release, he dropped like a rock to the floor with a yelp of surprise.
"Oh, yes!" Tink exclaimed. "Did it! Oh," she realized, glancing down at him. "Oops...you okay?"
"Ow," he whimpered. It was clearly an understatement, perhaps as much as he was able to muster right now.
"Hey, you guys!" Terrence interrupted as he flew past, ducking and weaving around another of Shade's attacks. "Could you hurry it up a little?"
"Okay, okay, come on," Tink sighed, sensing the urgency in her boyfriend's words and kneeling down to pull her friend to his feet. He gasped, staggering, his knees unable to support him as he went to rise, and Tink quickly substituted, heaving him up and slinging his arm around her shoulders. "Help me," she pleaded. "You gotta stand, Bobble. I can't carry...both of us."
"I...I can't," he wheezed. "Tink, I can't...move. Everythin'...hurts...so...so cold..."
"Guys, MOVE!" Terrence yelled again, and this time Tink actually paid attention to the sudden blur of movement out of the corner of her eyes, twisting around just as Scarab decided to join the fight, sending a blaze of magic for the two of them.
"Look out!" Tink cried, jerking them both out of the way of the electricity. Thank the Hollow Bobble was so light or she never would have been able to do it. They both landed hard on the cavern floor and Tink winced at the sharp pain shooting up her arms. Her guildmate landed beside her and she felt him struggling to stand before she even processed that she'd hit the ground.
"Tink..." he whispered. "I thank ye for savin' me, but now ye need to run. Scarab...she'll kill ye and Terrence too. It's...it's me she wants. I can stop her. I've done it before."
"Not alone!" Tink protested. "I was there too, remember! And you can't take them both on by yourself! You need me!" Besides, he could barely stand, let alone try to fight. They would destroy him in an instant if she did what he wanted.
"How touching," Scarab sneered. She was standing over top of them now, the lightning crackling between her fingers as she sized up the two tinkers. "Tinker Bell, what a surprise. I didn't expect to see you come all this way. I'd have thought you'd be smarter than your friend and you would have stayed away. When did you figure it out?"
"I wasn't sure until I saw it for myself," Tink retorted bravely, heaving herself up on her elbows and moving to defend her friend-just as he had done for her before. "But there were several things that gave you away. The most obvious was when none of us could find the bracelets. That meant you had to have taken them. No one else knew their locations...no one, that is, except for Scorpion and Asha. And Scorpion tried to warn us," she added, with a rapid glance in Bobble's direction. "He said it would be dangerous to go after the bracelets...but more importantly, he said it would be dangerous to trust you. But that was all in Bobble's head, so how did I know any of that? Because Asha told me. Yeah, I can hear her too. And you know what else she told me?"
"No," Scarab growled. "And quite frankly, I don't really care what a ghost has to say to you."
"She told me all about your stupid Duality Spell," Tink barrelled on fearlessly. "I know what it does and how you planned on using it against us. But what you didn't know were the side-effects of using such strong magic, for good or for evil. There are consequences to every action, something that I don't think you ever learned!"
"What are you talking about?" Scarab snapped, her pose never wavering. She was just biding her time, making sure she knew everything before she blasted them both into oblivion.
"When you use such a powerful spell to save another's life, you bond to them in a way that is more than what is visible on the surface. You share something in common with that fairy. In the case of a Protector saving another, not only does that Protector have the ability to share their life, but they also give something else." And with that, she raised her hand, grinning as it began to shimmer and sparkle with light. "They give up some of their powers."
Scarab stared. "You're a..."
"Yeah," Tink smirked. "That's right. I'm a Protector now too."
The animal-talent drew back slightly. "Very well," she hissed. "I suppose I will just have to take care of the both of you, then. It is...not ideal, but oh well. Improvisation it is then."
Tink was still smiling. "But, wait," she went on. "I'm not done. There's...one more thing you should know before you kill us."
"And what's that?" Scarab seethed.
"You know how I was telling you everything you wanted to know to better the use of your magic and possibly in the event, convince you to do the right thing, even though you would never accept it from me? Yeah, I was just stalling."
"What!?"
And then she realized what the blond was saying. "Shade, wait!" she screamed, whirling around, the magic dying from her hands immediately as she caught sight of the two sparrowman crossing swords near the back of the cave, Terrence pinning the less-skilled tinker in the corner and knocking his weapon away with one clean sweep.
"Wha-la!" the dust-talent laughed. "Do you yield, Shade?"
The Protector hesitated, his gaze flicking from his weapon, far out of his reach, to his writhing magical abilities, and over to Scarab. What do I do? his look seemed to say.
"It's a trap!" Scarab cried.
"Yes," Terrence agreed. "It totally is."
And without any further warning, he swung his blade. The needle cut right through the middle of the Protector and he instantly dissolved into nothingness, leaving Terrence standing there, lowering his weapon and heaving a long sigh of relief.
"Yes!" Tink breathed. "It worked!"
"NO!" Scarab shrieked. And then the magic was back and before anyone could react, she let all of it loose in one powerful surge.
Terrence had no chance and the attack struck head-on, sending him tumbling to the ground with a cry of alarm.
"TERRENCE!" Tink screamed, leaping to her feet.
Scarab chuckled, reading the panic etched across her face. "Ah, I see it now," she jeered. "Interesting." Her gaze drifted from the fallen dust-talent and then back over to Bobble who was trying his best to look intimidating but failing epically. "Very interesting." She blinked, tilting her head as though hearing something that they couldn't. "Unfortunately, it seems our time to play games has come to an end. We are needed...elsewhere."
She stepped away from them, pulling her cloak closer and raising her hood to hide her face. "Have fun with all of this," she went on cooly. "You will find that, even if you can save them both-which I doubt-the entranceway to this cave has been blocked off for good. We thought we might have unwanted company so we prepared accordingly. Get comfortable with it because none of you are ever going to leave this place."
"You won't get away with this!" Tink snapped.
Scarab tilted her head. "Won't I?"
And then with one final mocking salute, she too vanished, leaving the three friends alone in the suddenly silent caverns.
And that's when Tink's brain clicked into overdrive. She panicked, looking from Bobble to Terrence and back again. She was stuck between them, not knowing who to try and help first. They both needed her but she didn't know what to do.
"Miss Bell..." Bobble whimpered and she was at his side in an instant. He had managed to make it to his knees and he was doubled over, quivering (in pain or fear, she didn't know), his wings sparkling dangerously brightly. Yellow and orange. Fear and fire.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," she promised, kneeling down beside him. "I'm still here."
"Did we...did we get them?"
She didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. They had only slowed the two Protectors down with their diversion tactics. They would be back soon enough and right now, there was nothing they could do to stop them.
"Yeah, yeah, Bobble, we got them."
He nodded. "Good." He took a sharp breath and forced himself to look up at her. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. "Tink..." he went on. "Terrence is...really hurt...needs ye...go...help him."
"But, what about you?"
He smiled weakly. "I'll be okay, Miss Bell. Go."
"O-okay." Carefully, she stood up, making sure he wasn't about to topple back over before she ran for Terrence.
The dust-talent groaned as she reached him. "Ouch," he mumbled, wincing as his grip around his sword tightened and he slowly started to come around again. "Wow, what a punch. Didn't know..." he coughed. "Didn't know lightning could hurt so much."
"Are you okay?" Tink cried, not finding his jokes humorous.
"I'm fine," he replied. "Just stunned. And a little...extra charged apparently," he added, using a nearby stalagmite and watching as electricity shot from his fingers and discharged into the stone. "Huh. Would you look at that. I'm a storm-talent now."
"That's not funny," Tink scolded, tears already brimming her eyes. "Terrence, don't scare me like that! I thought I lost you!"
"Oh, man," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm okay, though, see?" He held up both hands. "No more lightning. Just a plain ol' dust-talent again."
"There's nothing plain or old about you," Tink protested. "Now, come on. Let's get Bobble and get out of here. Scarab and Shade can't have that much of a headstart on us. We can still catch up to them."
Terrence started to agree, and then his gaze shot from her to something behind her. "Oh no," he breathed. "Tink...we might have a problem with that."
"What?" she asked, helping him up and spinning to see what he was talking about. It took her a moment, but then she saw it. Bobble was no longer kneeling there, catching his breath. In the few moments she'd looked away, he'd collapsed against the rocks.
And...oh, great Hollow...he wasn't moving.
"Bobble!" they both cried, Tink moving quicker than her stunned boyfriend, zipping back over to her other friend in record time and immediately trying to shake him awake.
"No!" she begged. "No, no, no! Bobble, wake up! Wake up, please! Don't do this to me! Not again!"
"Tink," Terrence whispered from behind her, too afraid to get close and risk being on the receiving end of her panic. "Tink, he's gone."
"NO!" she screamed. "I'm not losing him again!"
"You won't."
The voice echoed off of the walls behind and around them and both looked up, startled, to find Asha standing there. But something was different about her this time. She had a faint blue outline surrounding her body and she seemed...a little less solid than before.
"Asha?" Tink whispered, the tears fully pouring over now. "What...?"
"I'm sorry, Tinker Bell," the scout said. "I tried to tell you. I really did. But, as you can see, it's rather...difficult...to help in a fight when you can't physically touch anything. You didn't really need me anyway."
"Wait, you're a..." Terrence began.
"A ghost?" Asha finished with a weak smile. "Yes. That does appear to be the case."
"How..." Tink tried again.
"The bracelets, I'm guessing," the Protector replied. "The moment all five were activated, we were brought back." She glanced down at Bobble. "So, he's the one, then? A remarkable young sparrowman for sure. This wasn't his fight and yet he sacrificed everything anyway."
"Can you help him?" Tink pleaded. "Please, Asha. He's one of my best friends."
Asha sighed. "I cannot," she confessed. "I, unfortunately, do not have the power that Scarab possessed. I cannot bring back the dead."
"But you just said..."
"She said she couldn't bring back the dead," interjected a new voice from somewhere behind them. "But we can."
They turned. Tink gasped and Terrence looked ready to faint as three more fairies appeared before them, two boys and a girl. Two animal and one garden-talent.
This couldn't be...
"Oh, my word," Tink breathed. "It's you! All of you! You're...all here!"
"Wait, who?" Terrence asked, taking a nervous step back toward Tink.
"The other Protectors!" Tink explained as the blond animal-talent sparrowman smiled, wiping his long bangs from his eyes and putting his arm around the younger two fairies, herding them forward. "Scorpion?" she guessed and he nodded. "Falcon and Willow?" she went on. The girl waved and her counterpart shuffled his feet anxiously.
"Wait, what are you going to do?" Terrence demanded, taking Tink's arm and pulling her away and letting the Protectors closer.
But Asha was not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on Tink. "He sacrificed his second chance to save you before," she said calmly. "So, in exchange, we're going to give him ours."
Tink's heart stopped. "You can do that? But, I thought..."
"There's always an exception to the rules," Scorpion interrupted, stepping up behind Asha and taking her hand, lacing his fingers into hers. "You just have to know what they are."
"But what'll happen to you four?"
"We don't know," Willow spoke up, her voice so quiet that, for a moment, Tink mistook her for Silvermist. She seemed so much smaller than the other Protectors, but she carried the same spark as the rest of them. A spark of determination.
"But it doesn't matter," Falcon added. "We're willing to try, no matter what happens to us."
"But-"
"Tinker Bell," Asha interrupted and the tinker fell silent under her firm gaze. "Let us do this. We were born to protect the Hollow. This is the way we do that. This is our purpose."
Tink swallowed hard and let Terrence pull her away. "A-alright," she agreed. "Do it."
Asha nodded. "Stand far away," she warned, holding out her hand for Falcon to take and Willow, in turn, grasped Scorpion's, completing the circle. "This is going to be dangerous."
The two blonds took cover behind a cluster of rocks to wait, Terrence holding Tink close as Asha said something quietly to the others and a blinding light flooded the cave. Tink squeaked and covered her eyes, Terrence hiding his face beside her.
It was a long moment, stretching into what felt like an eternity before the light faded enough for either of them to look up.
The cavern fell deadly silent once again and Terrence was the first to look up, and then, once he was sure the coast was clear, he gently nudged Tink, signaling for her to get up as well and they both hurried back over to their friend.
All signs of the Protectors had faded. A faint glow swirled around Bobble's fingers but other than that, there was no movement from the sparrowman.
Tink gulped back a fresh set of tears. "Terrence...it didn't work."
He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, Tink."
She looked down at her hands and the sparkling light trying to break through. "It's all up to us now."
"Come on," Terrence tried to comfort her, putting his arm around her shoulders and steering her away. "We need to get moving. Scarab and Shade are still out there and they're going for the Hollow again. We have to warn the others."
"Yeah..."
A small cough interrupted their heart-broken retreat and both froze at the sound.
"No way..." Terrence breathed.
"Did you...?" Tink began.
"I did."
"Bobble?" Tink cried, spinning back around and darting back over to the sparrowman and taking his hands desperately.
There!
There was a pulse!
He was alive!
"Miss Bell?" he wheezed, slowly opening his eyes as Terrence ran back over to join them and staring at them both, confusion alight in his gaze. "Terrence? What's...what's goin' on? What...what did I miss?"