"This is the Black Mud Swamp, your task will be to navigate your way back to the clearing of Gloomy Wood Forest where I'll be waiting to transport us back to Alfea," Palladium said, the teacher of potionology.
Palladium wasn't a well respected teacher, most likely due to his less than intimidating appearance, making him appear to be a prepubescent boy, rather than the century old elf he was. His hair was long and a dirty orange color, which paired with his pale skin made him look mismatched, his outfit sure didn't help his case either. He wore an off white long sleeved shirt a few sizes too big and a red bowtie, with a dark green vest that matched his trousers. He had smart shoes on that gave him an inch or two of extra height, but he had bright red socks over the top of his trousers ('a true crime,' Stella says).
"The lesson will be difficult, as-" He continued.
"Professor," A fairy named Alana whined, "A mosquito bit me!"
"Well that's not a surprise, have you seen where-"
"But look where!" She continued, pointing to the very top of her leg, where she had rolled her shorts up to (like many of the girls).
"Oh my! I mean to be shorts, I mean short and to the point," He tried to salvage, while the class all laughed at him, "Oh nevermind."
"Poor Professor," Bloom sympathized.
"Well who can blame our class, I mean there are so many reasons to not respect him: one, his lack of fashion intuition, two, giving us these ridiculous outfits," Stella gestured to herself and the class, a pale yellow jumpsuit with cut out legs (something she opted to do, rather than rolling them like several others had) and four pockets, as well as appropriate footwear of walking boots and long knee high socks, she herself was wearing due to the fact what was provided was suited for the long legs for the jumpsuit. She had also accessorized with a brown belt and a hat (of her own make) with lilac ribbon. Each of the girls also had undershirts for themselves, with varying colors. "And three, his lack of confidence."
"But that doesn't mean we should give them such a hard time," Bloom continued.
Stella shrugged, showing her indifference.
Finally, finding his grounding with words, Palladium said, "As a fairy it is important that not only are you comfortable and confident with your powers, but with the voices around you, today's being nature. You will have three hours to reach our designated location (the clearing at Gloomy Wood Forest) with the groups you have chosen. Take heed of nature's advice and remember no magic, I will be supervising." And with a flick of his wrist he disappeared, and seemingly transported to his mentioned location.
The Winx split up with the rest of their class heading to an area knee deep in mud, the girls groaned at Flora, who had been the one to lead the group there.
"This is so disgusting!" Stella squeaked, "Ew ew ew! I think something's crawling on me!"
Musa rolled her eyes, leaning into Stella's space, "What happened to, 'Oh guys, you have no idea the benefits mud can have on your skin!'?"
Stella rolled her eyes with a grimace as she took another step through, while the others laughed at her expense.
"Do you guys smell something?" Bloom asked, pinching her nose in disgust.
"Duh, Bloom it's Stella's bullshit," Musa laughed, while Tecna looked further into the green mud as it bubbled sporadically.
"It appears we may be standing in the mix of the mud and slime from what is known as 'Subterranean Sludge Slug' ; they come in little groups and infect mud. A little of my magic can deal with it," Tecna explained, lifting her hands up as she formed little bits of green energy she intended to spread around the mud they were in, which she hoped would decontaminate the mud.
"Tecna, don't! No magic remember?" Bloom intervened.
"Yeah, use our senses! Bloom was right, something smells, but I can't distinguish it," Flora continued in support (of her friend and the want to do well).
The girls each smelled the area, "Smells like dirty socks to me!" Stella laughed.
Musa's eyes widened, "It smells like gas! Take cover!"
They each shrieked, as they tried to trudge through the thick of the mud as quickly as they could, opting to take cover from behind a fallen log a few meters away from the mud.
"I wonder what it really was?" Flora pondered to Bloom.
A smirk took over Bloom's face, as she picked up a bulky stick, "Let's find out," she replied, throwing it to where they had stood seconds before, hitting one of the murky bubbles. Said bubble rose meters above the mud growing more and more agitated, until expanded so much that it encouraged the rest of the bubbles to rise and all explode.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna be sick," Stella groaned, as the stench grew more present.
Flora stood atop the log, looking at the mud, before she said, "Well, you were right about one thing, sweetie, it wasn't good."
"I can't believe my information wasn't correct," Tecna said, looking downcast.
Bloom patted Tecna's shoulder, before she tried to say something reassuring, until she was interrupted by Stella's over the top gagging which encouraged their quick leave.
"Thank the ancestors, we managed to skip that godforsaken lesson, I can't tell whether I hate her or the lesson more," Stormy said, as she and her sisters teleported to their dorm. It was gloomy, a reflection of their magical status: gray all over, but with rustic qualities all over, with three single beds dotted around the room.
Darcy clenched her nose, "What is that smell? Knut, where are you?"
Her wardrobe doors shook, "I'm in here? Can I come out, my feet are sleepy?"
"Knut do you even know the meaning of quiet, just shut up and get out," Icy snapped.
"Oh, we need to get a hiding place with existing ventilation," Stormy joined in.
"And Knut needs to be reminded of his secrecy, you need to be more careful! How many times do we need to repeat that?" Darcy groaned, as she tried to cast a spell to soothe the smell left by Knut.
"Sisters! And you," Icy pointed at Knut, "You know the rules, you need to be careful, like Darcy said, our school's regulations are clear when it comes to pets, beasts and such. We could be in enough trouble if we're found skipping class."
The duckling they recently had acquired, began crying for Icy, she ignored it.
"We're witches? We need to break rules right?" Stormy intercepted.
"You'd think so," Icy began, while she picked the duck up, as she tossed it to Knut to catch, "Back to you, have you forgotten your telepathic abilities or do you want us to get caught?"
Knut glanced towards the three of them, and stuttered through his next few sentences, "I was snooping at Red Fountain School like you said? Hiding somewhere, the dungeons? Or a bathroom? Wait no! A closet?."
"Knut!"
"Sorry! A group of specialists, second year, I think, are to be bringing my hunting troll to the Center of Magix, so he can be sent through to the Ceptumium Prison!"
"Useless! Why should we care?" Stormy grumbled.
Darcy thought it over, "He could give all our plans, he's useless: couldn't take the scepter, couldn't handle some weak fairies and got trapped in an earth house at some point. I'm almost certain he couldn't handle the Interrogation Wizards."
Icy smiled, "Well it seems we need to help the troll escape," She watched Knut smile, "And then we can get rid of him forever," Knut's smile disappeared.
A red ship soared through the Sky's above Magix's largest forest. Within the ship a scream of elation could be heard, "Our first solo motion!"
"Riven, stop it," Brandon grumbled, his fair skin looking particularly green, Sky looked over in concern before laughing.
Riven, also looked towards Brandon, and upon seeing his face smirked, "Maybe this'll be a lesson that finally gets through to you, Brandon?"
"What, you're a shit pilot?" Brandon grumbled.
"No," Riven snapped, "That you shouldn't fucking eat, especially when the three of us told you not to."
Brandon looked over to Timmy and Sky for support, who both shrugged in agreement, he groaned, "Shouldn't one of you check on the troll."
Timmy offered himself, and got up and went to the back of the ship.
"Are we sure this is the right way?" Brandon asked Sky, who had been working aside Timmy to find the most efficient route.
"Of course, or have you forgotten that while you were asleep, the three of us devised the most efficient route through the sky, which is cutting through the North?" Sky asked with an unimpressed look, that consisted of him raising an eyebrow.
Riven laughed derisively, "You'd think you were the prince, Brandon, although anyone who'd find you their future monarch, has got to have the poorest luck."
Sky couldn't help the grimace that appeared on his face and tried to mediate the situation, "Now, now guys. Surely we can focus back to the idea of errr, routes! Yes, S-Brandon, why did you think there was an issue?"
Brandon looked down, "Something feels off, something's going to happen."
"Oh great, not only is he lazy, he thinks he has visions," Riven grumbled.
"The troll is a lot more complacent now," Timmy entered the control room unaware of the tension, which was mostly dissipated due to the mention of the troll (a much more effective mood shifter).
Sky looked confused, "Why's that? Surely he'd be more agitated due to the ship's movement," He argued.
"Maybe it's the fact Timmy has a more friendly face, or demeanor?" Brandon laughed.
"I'm friendly! And have a nice face, I've been told many times thank you very much!" Sky attested, looking very affronted.
Brandon took delight in the tone, "I don't know who's been lying to you dude."
"I'll have you know that-" Sky started, before a large bang interrupted his counter, he stood up and his uniform's cape flapped in the momentum, "I'll check it out."
"It's probably something outside," Brandon argued, "And besides I'm the Squire, remember? I'll be the one to check for any imminent danger."
"It wasn't something outside," Riven intercepted, as he looked at the holographic diagram the ship presented.
"Yeah, sure, sorry if I don't exactly trust you, Riven," Brandon said, finally joining the other two in standing.
"Fuck off, 'Dude', for once could you just listen to me, rather than actling like an entitled cow," Riven said, "I am the Captain for this mission."
Brandon snorted, "You captain?"
"Guys-" Timmy tried to say, being overshadowed.
"Yes, I'm the pilot, therefore I am the leader for the mission," Riven explained, condescendingly.
"Sorry, I'm having a hard time believing the guy who has no social skills, as a leader," Brandon continued taunting.
"Guys!" A more authoritative tone from the Prince took precedence over the argument, "Now is not the time for this, we need to find a way to defuse our ship's situation."
Beeping came from Riven's control panel.
"Oh shit."
The girls had continued walking through the swamp, reaching a much more open space with a lot less mud (this went over quite well with the five of them). Flora had been walking upfront, contrasting to her normal, more passive role in the group, though being a fairy of nature, she seemed to be comfortable and in her element.
They continued serenely walking through the clearing of the swamp, until a moving ash gray cloud appeared, plunging down like a bird to its prey, following a red blur.
Bloom's eyes widened, "A Red Fountain AirCraft!"
They all looked over in a panic at the area, Musa spoke up, "Quick, they may need to help!"
And with that, they began running through the clearing heading to the direction of the ship's crash landing. As they ran, their path went from moderately dry, to shallow waters, but they were not deterred, keen to assist whoever had been involved.
They heard a muffled, yet familiar, voice, "Everyone get out unscathed?"
Murmurs of agreement became apparent. Bloom saw the group, recognising them immediately, "Guys? What are you doing here? You okay?" She interrogated them, waiting for her friends to catch up.
"Sky! Are you okay?" Stella rushed over, directly towards him before checking on the others, "And Brandon? Riven? Timmy?"
Brandon and Timmy nodded their heads, watching in faint amusement as she stared into their eyes, while Riven rolled his eyes in distaste, "Do you know what you're doing?"
"Duh, Riven, checking for concussions?"
Tecna looked over their crashed ship, "What happened for you to crash your ship, so poorly?"
"It wasn't a crash!" Riven shot.
Musa laughed.
"More like a mistimed emergency landing," Timmy agreed. Standing to join Tecna in analyzing the damage, pointing out parts to her with her nodding along.
"What were you even doing?" Musa asked, seeing the large hole at the back of the ship.
"You know, our first mission," Sky said, looking down at Stella, while stretching out his sore muscles (his back and arms) from the crash. This caused much pleasure for Stella (something he may have been aware of), "Transporting a-" He looked inside the ship to gesture, before gawking.
"Transporting a very important package, to a great place, that is," Brandon said, in an attempt to keep their mission a secret.
"Shit!" Sky exclaimed, as he had ditched Stella's attention and looked through the ship and its surrounding areas, "The troll it's gone!"
"Prince Sky!" Brandon said, giving said Prince a look of disapproval, who was currently ignoring said look, by looking directly over the top of the squire.
Uproar from the two groups transpired.
"You lost a troll!"
"We didn't lose it!"
"There's a troll on the loose! Are we gonna die?"
"You let it escape?"
Riven grunted, face turning red, "We didn't let it escape! There was an accident, we lost altitude-"
"Mechanical failure!" Timmy interjected with a smile.
"Exactly! But anyhow, no one is going to die, the troll is handcuffed," Riven said, his words trying to provide comfort it seemed, but failing miserably due to his rough tone.
"Yeah! The handcuffs are special 'Adle Shackles' they're called. They'll tranquilise him at the moment he shows signs of aggression! So if he got away, we can assume he's being quite mellow!" Brandon explained.
"You've got to be shitting me!" Sky announced, "The fucking shackles came loose." He picked them up from the sludge, and gave them to Timmy who folded them for carrying.
The group of specialists groaned in frustration, while the fairies gasped in worry.
Brandon nervously laughed at the reaction and asked, "So what are you guys doing here?"
Bloom looked over towards him, "We're on a field assignment for our potionology class, first one of the year."
Before Brandon could respond, Riven snapped, "So then get back to your little assignment, fairies, the Specialists will save you and deal with everything."
Stella gasped, "The Specialists are gonna be here? When? I really want to meet them!"
Sky couldn't help but let out a laugh, shortly followed by Brandon and Timmy snickering.
"Listen here, you privileged little princess-"
"What Riven here wants to say," Sky interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder as Riven gave Stella a look, "Is that you really shouldn't have to worry about a troll, princess."
Stella laughed, "Really why not?"
"Well you need to pass as many classes as you can princess, if we're gonna spend as much time together as possible," Sky said, moving his hand from Riven (who was looking on with disgust) to Stella, whose face was forming into a grimace at the mention of grades, Sky remained unaware.
Bloom cleared her throat in amusement.
Sky looked slightly mortified, "I mean, we just want you to do well in your test you know, first one of the year maybe? I mean yes, I'm sure. Well I'm not but well, we all want to see more of you this year, because we think you could be great friends!"
"Fucking Hell, 'Prince Sky'" Riven snorted, breaking the silence that was a result of that crash of a conversation, "We don't need a show to go with this awful mission."
Brandon just laughed, and Timmy couldn't help but snicker at the fact the usually suave and confident Prince had just made an utter fool of himself so severely.
"Okay, that's enough, how about we search for that troll?" Sky said, dropping his hand from the stunned and silent Stella, red in the face.
"Sky's right, let's go, you girls better leave us alone," Riven grumbled, catching up to Sky who was following the tracks, the other two waved their goodbyes and went to steadily catch up to their fellow team members.
A few minutes passed, all in awe of the train wreck that had just occurred. Bloom interrupted the silence, "We're following them, right?"
Stella laughed, "After that whole thing? Riven's rudeness and that extremely awkward whatever?"
The rest of the girls laughed at the mention, Musa asked, "What the fuck was that about?"
"I have no clue," Stella replied, in clear confusion, "He has never done that before? It was so weird, right?"
Flora coughed, her brows furrowing, "Well now they've left we'll get back to our assignment right?"
"She is right Bloom, after the rudeness we just faced from a certain specialist I would say we are best leaving the rest to deal with him," Tecna agreed.
"I agree! If Riven wants to get eaten I say 'Bon appetit!' Right?" Stella helped.
Musa laughed looking at Flora's face, "I did not say that!"
"Look at the burn marks around the ship's hole," Tecna ordered, her motive of leaving the guys to it seemingly changing as she walked closer to the ship, pointing to said burn marks, "They are on the outside and creeping in the inside. You understand what that means, right?"
"That someone blasted into it?" Musa supplied.
"Yes, rather than out. Which makes more sense, think of it, troll's are not magical and even at the best of times, when they are, that magic is miniscule," Tecna finished.
"Which means someone doesn't want that troll to go to the police," Musa continued, filling in.
Flora sighed, "Guess that means we aren't going to be finishing our assignment."
"I cannot believe that happened," Brandon laughed heartily, as he and Timmy fully caught up with Riven, who was still rather behind Sky, who continued to march on with a stony face, which contrasted his usual relaxed features and demeanor.
Riven smirked in agreement (though he'd not admit), while Timmy just looked at his teammates with a calm joy, a large distinction from Brandon's echoing laughs.
"I mean? What did you say 'we think we could all be great friends!'? What happened there buddy?" Brandon continued to wheeze, "You've never quite crashed and burned in flirting like that. Ever."
"It was impressive though!" Timmy remarked with a laugh.
Sky continued looking forward, ignoring his supposed friends chattering before silence took over the area, he contemplated continuing his ignorance or looking behind them to check they were alright. His more compassionate side won. He looked behind only to see his group, wrapped in purple vine and before he could activate his sword he was picked up by what he could only assume was the same species of vine, he felt himself wobble in its grasp, but while it wasn't sturdy, it had impeccable grip. He could only say one thing, "Shit."
The girls had been following the troll's footsteps, the same way the guys had gone, they would have continued to do so but within a few meters the steps became less and less visible.
"Any ideas as to what's happening here?" Musa asked, "The only thing I can think of is that the troll cast a spell and we all know the slim chance of that."
"The poor, darling!" Stella shouted in horror.
"What?" Bloom and Flora rushed over expecting to see an injured animal, but instead on closer inspection, saw her staring at the footprint.
"He must have such a hard time looking for shoes! He's got to at least be a size 30!" Stella cried empathetically.
"Oh no!" Musa agreed, as she walked away from her place with Tecna, "Not the troll that attacked you and Bloom, not being able to get decent shoes! How ever will any of us cope?"
Flora couldn't keep her giggle from escaping, as Tecna joined Musa, she stated, "There is no indicator as to which direction they and the troll went."
Bloom contemplated their options, "We could try a locator spell? Or listening to the voice of nature?"
Flora jumped, "Yes! I say Voice of Nature, at least we can do one thing of our assignment," She finished, blushing slightly from embarrassment.
Tecna groaned, and looked to the rest of the group to do the listening, "Well? Is nature revealing any important secrets?"
Flora closed her eyes, and the rest of the girls did too. She felt every breath of the leaves, flowers and trees of the swamp, even the little blades of grass. Flora continued to breathe, finding a center and reaching out to ask for guidance, she felt the wind itself shift directions, she spoke, "I know which way to go, to find either the troll or specialists."
"I'm not sure which I'd rather," Stella giggled aside to Bloom, who rolled her eyes in amusement.
Tecna's eyebrow rose, showing her impatience, Flora noticed and pointed in the direction of a thicket, while her question had been answered, she was null of satisfaction, "Lovely."
"Well maybe it's not as bad as it looks," Bloom laughed nervously, following Flora, who had taken the lead.
They trudged along through the thicket, seemingly aimlessly, that was until a shrill cry for help came about, "Guess we know who it's leading us to now, right?" Stella laughed.
They ran as fast as they could to the scream, it led them to another section of the swamp, with a thin layer of water (very murky), there were trees dotted around the area, but they were dying as though something had almost squeezed the life and color out of them, the only thing that seemed still alive were spindly vines, that slithered around the area, like the enclosure was its territory.
Flora inspected the area and hushed her friends, "These plants hate noise, they were very rare on Lynphea and dependant on the variant, possible deadly: Quiettus Carnivourous."
Stella laughed, "That sounds adorable, but I doubt it."
The snake-like vines wandered towards the noise emitted from Stella and creeped around her, tightening its grip at each coil, attempting to cause aggravation within her.
Flora's eyes widened and released a calming hormone to soothe the plants. The plants reacted almost immediately, their grip loosening before gently putting Stella down. Flora couldn't stop her smugness, "Still adorable Stella?"
"Ha ha, you really are the comedian of this group aren't you?" Stella grumbled.
Musa contemplated, "I dunno Stel, you provide us with a lot of amusement but I've always considered myself the comedian you know? I thought it was a given with my quips," Musa said, shoulders moving as she chuckled.
Bloom rolled her eyes, "Come on, only a little while longer now I assume," Her statement supported by a wail of discomfort, and an agitated whisper.
The group of fairies continued, entering another open space with the previously mentioned vines. They looked over the boys entangled in the vines and kept quiet (for the most part).
"Oh goody!" Stella exclaimed.
Musa elbowed her and whispered, "Do you just refuse to be quiet ever?"
"That was quiet!"
"In what wor-" Musa started, before Flora hushed them, her eyes twitching.
Riven noticed the girls heading towards the vines, in a show of compassion (he thought) he offered the advice to shut up to which Musa rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, not all of us our total loudmouths, unlike your team."
Before he could deny their status as a team, he noticed the plant fairy (Florsa? Fawna? Flora?) head to the center of the vines enclosure before she started whispering words of comfort and let out a green mist, which caused the vines (or at least his) to loosen. Before he could plan a neat landing, the vines let go and he among the others fell as though they were just a heap of limbs. He got up in embarrassment while his subordinates (for the day) got up much slower, and they all walked away from the area the vines resided in.
Brandon headed over to Bloom seemingly unaffected by the rather embarrassing situation he and the rest of the team got into, he whispered to her, "I'm really happy to see you again so soon."
Bloom smiled, looking up at him and whispered back, "I'm glad too, Brandon, though maybe we could meet up in less stressful circumstances next time."
Before their conversation could resume, Stella cleared her throat and intercepted the conversation, "You don't need to whisper anymore, the plants have been calmed, meaning no danger!"
"I think we'd be best looking for the troll together at this point," Bloom stated, pushing her annoyances down.
The others murmured in agreement, barring Riven who instead said, "Why would we want to work with you? You can't keep up."
Musa rolled her eyes, "You sure about that, Sunshine?"
"Don't call me that," Riven replied in anger.
"Riven, don't be difficult, the girls helped us out a lot," Brandon said, irritation apparent.
"Don't tell me what to do," He snapped back.
Sky noticed the tension between the two and intercepted putting his hands on the two's shoulders, "I know you don't want to, but it's for the best if we work with the girls, they know what they're doing it seems."
Riven tried to shake the hand off and growled, "I don't want to."
The Prince's patience seemed to wear thin as he inhaled through his nose and tightened his grip on Riven's shoulder before slapping it and saying, "Then you're on your own, Bud, feel free to shout when you see the troll."
Riven's eyes darkened, before sighing, "Fine."
"Well, I'm glad we're all in the same boat now," Sky laughed, his easiness a clear facade to all present, "Now how 'bout we catch ourselves a troll?"
Timmy walked forward to said Prince in an attempt to show his agreement to the proposal, but subsequently failed to achieve this due to the watery surface of this particular area of the massive swamp, that was thick with mud, thus difficult to maneuver in. The group laughed in good spirit, while Sky went to help Timmy up, his way of walking through contrasting to that of Timmy: he was confident and looked as though he'd done it multiple times before like he was trained to do so, though it could rather be a benefit to his large stature.
"Well, ain't this such a brilliant idea!" Riven quipped derisively, dragging his feet through the mud, calculated towards Brandon, "Not only do we have Red Fountain's favorite liability, but we now have some freshman fairies and a would-be sophomore fairy to look after to!"
"Just shut up, Riven. No one cares about your 'edgy persona'. It just makes you a much more apparent dickhead," Brandon snapped, looking straight into Riven's eyes.
"You're just Prince Sky's yes man, who thinks he's so much better than everyone, right? If you want to be useful, why don't you clean good ole Princey's shoes," Riven snorted, not breaking the stare.
"You're insulting," Brandon said, shortly.
Sky cleared his throat, "Troll?"
The girls noticed the tension and jumped in, Stella first, nervously laughing, "Yep troll to find, assignment to complete, let's get a hurry on, I don't want to be a would-be junior next year!"
"Right, let's shut our mouths and open our ears to listen to some nature," Musa joined in, though much more sarcastically.
Bloom rolled her eyes, and checked the surroundings, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She turned to Flora, "Any input?"
"Yes, anything would be appreciated to get those two to shut up," Tecna replied, "Stella and Musa, that is, though they are distracting the 'Specialists' well enough for now, they are incredibly annoying."
The two girls laughed, not disagreeing. Flora placed her finger on her chin before pointing to a section a few yards away; it had dark green grass that somehow grew on top of the thick watery mud. But further ahead by the grass was a clear, deep stream with flowing water moving downwards, with stones randomly appearing within the water.
"Looks pretty," Bloom noticed, before she cleared her throat to gather the attention from her friends and the boys, "The troll has gone over there."
"Yeah?" Riven asked, argumentatively.
"Yes," Flora interrupted sharply, "Now let's get a move on."
And so they did, walking through the thick mud at different paces with Flora taking the lead and Sky trailing behind everyone, the rest were all clumped in the middle, with Riven and Brandon far apart.
They came to the edge of the grassy banks, Tecna crouched down to inspect the random stones, some looked unstable and sinkable and others looked sturdy. There was no real pattern to how they were placed. She noticed Timmy had joined her in the inspection, his eyes seemed to settle one stone at a time. He looked at her and they shared confusion over the randomness, he said, "Well, we know for certain that rock is good."
Tecna stared at him, "Correct."
Timmy averted his eyes and laughed, while he rubbed his neck, "Good luck! Guess I'll see you on the other side."
Tecna thought he was odd, she didn't particularly mind, he seemed nice enough. She took the first jump as she put her thoughts aside.
The group watched her, and one by one joined her as she continued hopping along the stones, there were laughs of joy, barring Stella, Bloom and Timmy, who were hypersensitive of the sinking of each rock as they jumped on.
Stella laughed nervously, "Not to be my dramatic self, but why do I feel as though these rocks are actually moving?"
"I was thinking the same thing, Stel!" Bloom cried out to her.
Tecna groaned, "You can quit your thinking, because we are actually moving!"
A whirlpool spawned out nowhere, circling around and around the water, as though it was hypnotizing them to their death. They looked on in horror.
"Just keep jumping and get to the edge," Sky suggested.
"Why is this happening?" Musa called out.
"I know it's a whirlpool," Brandon replied, "But I've never seen one appear out of nowhere! Like Sky said, get to the edge, that's where we'll be safest, be quick and light!"
In her panic Stella messed up her take off for a jump and ended up falling behind, she wailed. Said wailing was quickly cut short by a pair of arms catching her, "You alright princess?"
Stella blinked, Stella then panicked, with great elegance she leaped out of Sky's arms to land back on her rock, all while laughing nervously.
Musa saw this out of the corner of her eye, and shouted back, "Maybe it's just a thing today? Flirty people losing their game every now and then!"
"Keep jumping!" Stella snapped.
Bloom managed to reach the edge first, Brandon soon after, and one by one they successfully reached the other grasslands. Excluding Riven who began to show off, much to the chagrin of his teammates.
"Riven stop," Sky (forcefully) suggested.
"What, you don't like me showing you up?" He snarked.
"I don't particularly like the idea of having to jump in and save your sorry ass," Sky replied.
"Alright, alright that's the reason why," Riven laughed, taking the final jump. His attempt failed, one foot landed on the edge but his other landed in the water, causing the current to tug him more and more towards the whirlpool.
Tecna shot up, "Take my hand!"
Riven complied.
Musa ran to Tecna and hugged her waist in an attempt to steady Tecna, due to the opposing forces of Riven and the water, she growled, "A little help, fellas?"
Timmy went first, followed by Sky and a disgruntled Brandon, with the strength of the five of them they overpowered the water and pulled Riven to the much more solid ground, compared to their starting side.
Brandon looked red in the face, anger yet again directed towards Riven, "What the fuck was that?! You say I think I'm better than everyone and you pull that stupid stunt. Grow up, dude."
Riven raised his eyebrows, "I'll grow up when you do, asshole."
Before Brandon could reply, Sky walked to the two of them and placed a hand on each shoulder, "Catch a troll first."
"Alright," Brandon replied.
Riven muttered, "I think I can already see one," Before walking ahead, causing everyone to follow closely.
It was a tense atmosphere. Silent, the only noise being the multiple collisions of shoes and surface, and the new distant thuds of a certain troll and screams?
"That's Amaryll?" Bloom whispered, "The troll has our classmates!"
"Well if it's only Amaryll I don't particularly mind," Stella replied, causing Bloom to nudge her, "I'm just joking!"
Bloom jogged forward, and tried to get a peak of the troll and Amaryll from behind some bushes, "They're trapped! What are we gonna do?" She said, as she turned to the combined group.
"Well, we need to save them for starters," Sky said, thinking, "Timmy, do we still have the Adle Shackles?"
"Yup," Timmy said, he detached them from his belt and gave them to the prince, "Here you go."
"Thanks, we need to be quick and to the point. Number 1: find a way to distract the troll," Sky's eyes traveled to the fairies.
Stella raised her eyebrows and flared her nostrils, "I hope there's a number 2."
"Of course, princess," He laughed nervously, "Brandon and Timmy will make a grab for the troll to suspend it, then Riven and I will get the Adle Shackles on him."
The girls stared blankly at him, Musa saying in a monotone voice, "What a brilliant plan."
"So brilliant, you should get to it now," Sky said.
The girls ran in, Bloom shouted, "Hey big guy! Remember us?"
The troll turned round, grunting menacingly. His yellow eyes zoomed in onto Bloom and Stella, he let out a howl and began running towards them, long, black, greasy hair flowing behind. In reaction, the girls began stepping backwards though it was a mute point due to the sheer amount of ground he could cover in a step due to his sheer size. The girls ran closer and closer to their former spots near the bushes, before the troll could take a final leap to reach them, Timmy and Brandon got to his legs in a blurr, causing the troll to trip over with a big thud. The troll was panicked, long and blue limbs were flailing around everywhere, making the boys' job more difficult. Riven and Sky tried to latch onto the arms to attach the shackles, but with the troll towering over even the prince, it easily overpowered the boys, kicking and punching them all off.
"Riven, you shackle him, now!" Sky called out, taking a few steps to then leap and latch onto the arm.
"Easier said than done dude!" Riven called out, despite following the order.
The troll noticed the specialist on his arm and flicked him off, but before he could continue his attack he seemed to enter a trance that led him away, Brandon went to chase after him sword in toe before he was called off by his tall prince, "Brandon, stop. Riven got Timmy instead."
"Of course he did," Brandon said, eyes rolling.
"It was an accident!" Riven cut in, "Something you've never done I'm sure."
"Oh not this shit again, Riven."
"What. It's true."
"Get over you-"
"So these are the 'Specialists'," Amaryll said, sauntering over, "The only thing I've seen you specialize in is botchery."
Her friends snickered.
Riven growled, "Don't you have an assignment to complete?"
Amaryll looked bored, "Just because you have to worry about your assignments doesn't mean we have to, as we're not completely incompetent. Although you are right I don't want to see you again, thanks for the comedy show boys."
"What wonderful classmates you have," Timmy joked.
The troll was leaping around, he knew where to go, or what to follow more like. He was close to the ogre who hired him. He hoped he didn't have to leave this swamp; it reminded him of his home.
He kept running and running through the trees and feeling the mud squelch and shift under the weight of his foot. He began to hear the mutterings of three voices, they were like snakes hissing. They called to him, they smelled like Knut, he could trust them.
It was getting dark, he needed to hurry up.
Brandon sat on a log, face hidden in his palms.
Bloom joined him, "You know, even if you did miss out on the troll and technically let it escape again, what you did was still really brave. I know I couldn't do that and I don't think they could either."
"Thanks, but it's not just that," Brandon started, "We're not a team. Riven and I do not get along, and more often than not that's our failure."
"Well from what I see, it's Riven not you," Bloom replied, gazing into his eyes trying to portray compassion.
He smiled in return.
Sky was also looking rather annoyed and embarrassed, he was by the bushes, Stella joined him.
"So, I assume this is a day of many firsts," Stella laughed.
Sky looked down at her and smiled, "You could say that, yep."
"I think you did a great job, especially for your first mission. I mean better than average I'd say," Stella continued, placing her hand on his shoulder as she looked up to him to meet his eyes.
"Yeah, how'd you work that out princess?" He said, softly, almost whispering.
"Well," She chuckled, breathily, "You saved a princess."
"What do I have as proof of that then, my princess?" Brandon laughed.
Stella rolled her eyes and sighed, she untied her lilac scarf and gave it to him, leaning up on her tippy toes to kiss him on his cheek, "That good enough for you, my prince," She winked.
"More than enough," He leant down to return a kiss on the head.
Timmy and Riven were beside them, discussing the previous events, Riven apologized, "I'm sorry about getting you with the shackles, you're not hurt are you?"
"It's honestly fine Riven," Timmy replied, "We all know it was an accident, Brandon just you know…"
"Yep, I do," Riven gritted his teeth, "The only people good enough are him, and maybe sometimes Sky."
Timmy nervously laughed, "I wouldn't say that," His eyes darted everywhere but Riven.
"You know maybe he needs to be taught a lesson," Riven continued, violet eyes shining with something new.
"Riven, how about we don't do that," Timmy tried, but it was too late, Riven was walking towards Brandon.
Timmy slid over to Sky, and hissed, "Riven is wanting a chat with Brandon, I think we need to be mediators."
Sky's brown eyes widened, "Oh no."
Stella overheard too and shook her head in disbelief, "Really, he decides to do that now?"
Timmy laughed, "Tell me about the perfect timing," Before following Sky who had already gotten to the log where Riven was heading towards.
Riven ignored everyone in his way, gently (or more gentle than usual) pushing them, almost absentmindedly. He didn't know what he was going to do or what he was about to do, but he felt ready; he was annoyed and couldn't wait to do something about it.
Brandon noticed Riven storming over, and looked on in confusion. He stood up and braced himself for impact. Riven shoved him. He couldn't help the laugh that escaped, "Really? That the best you can do?"
Riven's brows furrowed, "I can do a lot worse 'buddy'." He reached for his weapon, his whip.
Brandon mirrored his actions. Everyone gawked at the sight of the two 'teammates' who were so willing to battle it out.
They both lifted their respective weapons, both ready to land the first blow but before they could, Timmy and Sky stepped in.
"Can't we get a temporary truce at least? It's getting dark and we still have a troll to catch," Sky said, sternly.
Timmy said, "I'd much rather everlasting peace, but that would be one hell of a start," Before saying much quieter, "And you two have an audience."
"Fine."
"Whatever."
"Sorry about that ladies," Sky smiled, "Mind leading the way Flora?"
"What if he's lost?" Stormy whittled, eyes on the lookout for a troll.
Icy rolled her eyes, "He's a hunting troll, once he catches a smell he can't lose it. He'll find us, it doesn't matter how long it takes."
"Well excuse me for worrying, but it's incredibly dark now if you didn't notice," Stormy snapped.
"He depends on his sense of smell, Stormy," Icy replied, temper short with her sisters, despite her usual cool and collected demeanor.
"What if he got stuck in the quick-sand," She tried again.
"Do you forget the anti-gravity spell we cast? Although, perhaps that could have triggered a loss of the smell," Icy contemplated, before she sneered, "I don't appreciate the lack of faith in my planning, have I ever come up with a plan that was unsatisfactory?"
The duckling that hatched previously began crying for Icy, as if to haunt her for her previously failed plan, she chose to ignore it.
Darcy had closed her eyes, in an attempt to reach out to him, to feel his movement within the darkness that now fully possessed the swamp. Her eyes glew in satisfaction, "He's here."
And so he appeared.
"Well, look who decided to show up," Icy stated, circling around him, her sisters joining in.
"You did as you were told, you were granted freedom, that will now be revoked," Stormy continued, coming to a pause as her sisters did.
"Now we banish you to Oblivion, and with you so goes our secret," Darcy finished, and three pairs of arms raised with glowing hands.
The troll vanished.
Flora was leading the way, she came to a pause. It was so cold. "I think he was here, I can feel dark magic," Flora started, she shuddered, "It's poisoned this swamp, and it was recent."
"I feel it too," Bloom said, "Or I think I do?"
Stella whispered, "Dark magic feels different for everyone, for most of us it just feels off especially when we're young."
Bloom nodded in understanding.
Brandon spoke up, "Do we keep going?"
"No," Tecna spoke up, "I- Nature is telling me the troll is gone."
"Where?" Riven asked, confused.
Musa replied, "Nature doesn't tell us that much buckeroo."
"I'm guessing someone cast a spell to make the troll disappear," Sky said, inspecting the area, hand on his broadsword as though ready to pull it out and fight at any given time.
"But why?" Brandon replied, "I assume it's the same person who caused our crash maybe?"
"And put that anti-gravity spell on, to remove its tracks at the quick-sand!" Stella added.
"But who?" Timmy asked.
Bloom walked further into the area and bent down and picked a pair of feathers up, "Do these look familiar?"
Flora followed Bloom and looked closely at the feathers, "They look like the feathers that you'd find on the duck that hatched with Icy, Darcy and Stormy."
The girls giggled at the memory.
"That brings the question, what have they got to do with us?" Riven asked, seriously.
"Trust me I'd love to find out," Bloom said, face twisting.
"Look, it's dark now," Sky started.
"Wow, great observation," Musa replied.
"And I don't like the idea of you trying to get back on your own to where you need to be, especially with the whole dark magic thing, so if you could help us fix our ship enough we'll bring you to your professor," He finished ignoring Musa's comment.
"Only if you guys are sure?" Bloom checked.
Brandon all too eagerly replied, "Of course!"
"Plus it deprives us of the ass kicking we are no doubt going to get from Codatora," Timmy grimaced.
An hour or so later the Specialists flew the girls to the rest of their group, waving them off.
"Till next time, my princess," Sky said, grabbing Stella's hand as she left, going for a kiss.
"Yeah, hopefully not too long," Stella replied, before joining the rest of the girls, giving the group a final wave off.
"You're a bit late girls," Palladium said, watching with amusement the grimace of the girls, "Though I am very satisfied with what I saw. Due to the courage you displayed and the initiative showcased, I am more than happy to declare this as a test run."
"No fair!" Amaryll whined, "We did all that for nothing!"
"Not for nothing, Miss Amaryll, I'm proud to say that a fair few of you learned a great deal today," Palladium finished, before transporting each and everyone back to Alfea.
"Well, I don't think anyone will disagree with me saying that was a complete failure of a mission," Sky complained.
"Yeah, I agree," Timmy said.
"But at least we can say that we're turning into more of a team, we just need to make it a more constant thing," Sky continued.
"I agree, Prince Sky," Timmy said again.
Brandon replied, "Maybe this will be our turning point as friends and specialists?"
"We can only hope," Sky replied, before smirking, "Perhaps we can all agree to stop saying my full title, it makes me feel old."
The four laughed, the tension was still there, but maybe (and hopefully) that tension would only continue to melt.
All the girls had showered down, Bloom being the last. She changed her clothes, into her pajamas and she decided to go to Stella before she went to sleep for the night.
"Stella," She knocked, "Are you okay?"
"Perfect," Stella yawned, "You?"
"I'm good too," Bloom giggled quietly, "I can tell you're tired, I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Okay, Bloom, have a good night's sleep," Stella mumbled.
"Yeah you too, Night Night Stel."
"Good night Sky," Stella finished, hugging her pillow.
Bloom laughed quietly, before shutting Stella's door.