— 10th June 2005, Rainspell Island National Park, UK —
As a new dawn rose above Rainspell Island, the inhabitants of the black pot, still nestled safely under the willow tree, all woke up to a new day, thirteen days after the Rainbow Fairies were exiled from the magical realm. Ruby and Amber remained tucked up in their beds when the sun rose, and the frog footmen had come out of the swamp they rested in to meet up with the fairies in preparation for their next expedition.
"Rise and shine, girls!" Jonathan enthusiastically greeted the two fairies, having been joined by Cedric and Bertram.
"Heeey!" Amber responded cheerfully, getting out of her bed to see the frogs. Ruby had also gotten out, but her movements were much more restrained and reserved than Amber's, pausing before flying over to the frogs.
"Good morning, Jonathan," Ruby then greeted in a wobbly yet gentle tone. "It's great to see we're all awake."
"What's wrong, Ruby?" Bertram asked, concerned. "You don't seem okay."
"She had a nightmare," Amber explained. "It was so bad it made her get up screaming in the middle of the night."
"Yes, a truly terrible dream," Ruby confirmed. "I still vividly remember it and how painful it felt."
"How did it go?" Francis asked.
Ruby sat down on a chair as she explained the nightmare to the three frogs. "I first woke up in a dark and painfully cold place. Before I could even do anything, I was stabbed and thrown into what appeared to be a hallway, before strange monsters came trying to attack me."
"What did they look like?" Jonathan asked curiously.
"They appeared to be goblins wearing mortal armor," Ruby answered. "The same armor they were wearing when they came here searching for us yesterday. And they were using the weapons they had as well."
"Oh no…" Francis said, worrying again. "Did you escape them?"
"Of course she did!" Amber piped in. "It's just a dream. You can't die in your dreams. What would that even look like?"
"Yes, I did… escape them," Ruby said, managing to hide the fact that she had to kill them in self-defense. "But when I did… I saw…"
Ruby paused before finishing, still struggling to get past the haunting memory as she held back tears.
"I saw Saffron's dead body…"
The three frogs looked at Ruby, shocked by what she said. Amber merely looked down in sympathy, having already heard the story back then.
"I saw one of our own dead in front of us," Ruby continued, burying her face in her hands, "and it hurt me more than anything that place threw at me…"
By that point, Ruby was crying once again. Amber flew to where she was to comfort her as the Red fairy buried her face in her chest, tears streaking down her cheeks as her emotions broke through once again.
"It's okay, sis," Amber said reassuringly. "We all have our rainclouds. Hell, I thought I was never going to make it out of that shell!"
"I don't think it's just rainclouds," Ruby replied, looking up to her orange associate. "I think something in me has well and truly… broken."
"Well, whatever it is, we'll get over it," Amber said, struggling to reassure her.
"I hope," Ruby added as the two parted and Amber went back to the frogs side, her catsuit remaining damp from all of Ruby's tears.
"Anyways, what happened after that?" Bertram asked.
"Nothing," Ruby answered, wiping away her tears with a handkerchief. "I was impaled by countless chains before I could do anything. And then I woke up."
"Oh," Jonathan said in disappointment. "That was it."
"Yes, it was," Ruby responded. "But I have a feeling it was more than just a bad dream."
"What do you mean?" Jonathan inquired.
"I never felt any of my dreams," Ruby explained, "and I was able to quickly forget them in a short amount of time."
"Yep," Amber confirmed. "I can't remember what I saw last night!"
"And yet I felt all the pain I had there, and remembered enough to explain the whole thing to all of you," Ruby continued. "If anything, it felt like I was transported to another realm."
"Another… realm?" Amber said, puzzled by what Ruby said.
"I don't know either, Amber," the red fairy replied, sharing her confusion. "I'be never seen that place anywhere up until this point."
"Good thing we're setting out for Saffron next, because I think she might be the only one who can understand your phenomenon," Jonathan stepped in.
"Thank you," Ruby said gratefully, "I hope she's still alive, unlike what the nightmare showed me."
"C'mon, she is!" Amber exclaimed. "I mean, I'm still here. So she is as well! Why shouldn't you let some nasty dream break your hopes?"
"…like I said, I don't think it's just a dream," Ruby explained, a bit disgruntled by Amber's downplaying of the event; that annoyance melted away shortly after. "but thank you for the kind words, Amber. It's good to see you still have your spirit."
"No probs," Amber added.
Just then, Stanley and Cedric immediately rushed into the folds of the willow tree to meet up with the rest of their amphibian kin, catching the group off guard as they came in panting and tired.
"Stanley! Cedric! Where have you been?" Bertram asked, annoyed by how long it took for them to join them.
"We were just playing ball with an acorn outside," Cedric answered. "Stan suggested it since we had nothing to do."
"Nothing to do? Ruby just had a horrid nightmare!" Francis said, annoyed by how the other two didn't follow their orders.
"It doesn't matter, because the reinforcements are arriving!" Stanley exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement at the urgency of the situation.
"The reinforcements?" Jonathan inquired. "Just today? I expected us to stay here for a few more days!"
"Yep," Cedric confirmed. "You all should rush outside. Best not keep them waiting."
"O-Okay," Francis complied as the three frogs hopped out of the willow tree, leaving Ruby and Amber in the pot.
"Should we join them?" Amber asked.
"No," Ruby replied. "The mortals might still be watching."
"oh, okay."
The five frog footmen came out of the willow tree to greet the reinforcements Stanley had informed them of, and sure enough, they spotted it in the sky: another lotus leaf flying in the air and gracefully landing on the grass floor, softly flattening some of the grass blades that happened to be below it.
When it did, four more frogs came out of the leaf to meet up with the frogs already on the ground.
"Welcome to the mortal world, boys!" Bertram greeted the new arrivals.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bertram," the first of the arrivals - Ulysses - sternly replied."I get it you and your helpers have already made a base here."
"Well, not really," Bertram responded. "We've just been moving a pot and furnishing it. But I get what you're saying."
"Speaking of which, who are you guys?" Cedric asked. "I don't think I've seen you guys up until this point."
"Sure thing. My name is Ulysses, and the other three are Claude, Theodore and Olivier," Ulysses answered, pointing to the frogs as he said their names.
"Good to see ya, mate!" Olivier greeted the on-land frogs, waving his hand towards them. "It's a really good day, isn't it?"
"Anyways, what exactly is going on here?" Theodore asked curiously. "The king and queen had sent us all here to help you guys, but why exactly do you need help?"
"It's a long story," Jonathan responded, a sullen look on his face as he looked down.
"Well I for one am rather interested in what got you here," Claude said eloquently, his posh attitude having stemmed from coming from one of the more wealthier Frog duchies.
"Yeah, It's hard to do a mission if we don't knowwhywe're doing the mission," Olivier added. "Fill us in."
"Fine," Bertram said, caving in to their requests.
"When the pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow entered the mortal world, they were spotted by the mortals. How, you might ask? The mortals had apparently gotten enough advanced technology to create flying contraptions and the like."
"And what did they do after they spotted them?" Ulysses asked.
"They blasted the pot, violently separating the Rainbow Fairies from each other," Bertram continued. "Ruby was the only one remaining. When it landed, the mortal forces had surrounded and attacked it, and they blasted another hole that knocked her out."
"That's rough, man," Olivier commented.
"Eventually we were sent down to rescue the Rainbow Fairies, which I'm sure you know why, but we only managed to find Ruby in there. She gave us all the information we needed, and after telling it to the royals, we were sent with a new mission: to rescue all the Rainbow Fairies and bring them back to the pot before it's too late. Which is why you are all here."
"Do we have anything to worry about?" Theodore asked curiously. "I know queen whats-her-name said the goblins would be coming, but you're talking about something else as well."
"Yes," Bertram replied. "The mortal forces that attacked the pot upon landing are still trying to hunt down the other rainbow fairies. Unfortunate, I know, but that is reality. Just yesterday, they invaded this place trying to search for us. That was a very stressful experience."
"What progress have you made on this mission?" Claude was the third of the new frogs to ask Bertram.
"Well, in the time before you four arrived here, we discovered Ruby in the pot and helped her in hiding the pot from our enemies and making it livable for them to last the whole banishment," Bertram explained. "And we've also managed to find and rescue Amber as well."
"Hang on a sec," Olivier said. "Why even bother making them stay in the pot? Couldn't you guys just take them back to Fairyland?"
"That's the thing," Bertram said, "We can't. Not without any of them dying. Jack Frost's curse is so powerful that if we sent any individual Rainbow fairy, they'd fade away in the grey. We know that because we tried doing it with Ruby when we discovered her. So we have to keep the fairies in the pot until we get all seven of them together."
"Oh dear, how much did they tell you?" Francis asked, getting concerned about the reinforment's glaring lack of information about the world they were sent to.
"His Royal Highness told us that we were going to be sent here to aid you guys in your rescue mission and to stop any goblins from attacking," Ulysses answered. "When Theodore asked for more details, he told us you'd learn more about what's happening when we get there."
"I guess you did," Jonathan said, injecting some humor into the situation. "Well, now that you're well versed in what happened here, you can go ahead and meet the Rainbow Fairies, or at least, the Rainbow Fairies we've rescued. Follow us."
"Affirmative," Ulysses responded in compliance, and the four new frogs joined the five existing ones in hopping to the willow tree where the pot was hidden.
Soon, all nine frogs had entered the folds of the willow tree to see firsthand what Bertram and his crew had progressed through the mission, as well as seeing Ruby and Amber in person. Their reactions varied, from Ulysses' stoicism, Olivier's concern and Claude and Theodore's awe.
"Woooahhh," Theodore was the first to speak, gobsmacked by the size of the pot. "This is gonna be awesome!"
"Oh god," Olivier said in worry, noting the amount of holes and dents on the pot, "They really did rough up this fella."
"I must say, the plant furniture is rather well-made," Claude said, examining the wood-and-leaf chairs and tables, a soft red berry serving as a cushion for the chairs and cups and plates made from acorns and twigs. "You really put enough work into making this place worth living."
"Thank you," Bertram said, accepting the compliment. "After all, we're clearly going to be here for more than just a few days."
Just then, Ruby and Amber, who were talking to each other, noticed the frogs.
"Oh, you're back, Mister Bertam!" Amber cheerfully greeted Bertram upon his return to the pot. "Wait, who are those guys?"
"They're the reinforcements the Royal Family sent to aid us in your rescue," Bertram answered Amber's question.
"Ohhhhh, those guys."
"Oh, Ulysses!" Ruby said, easily recognising him as one of the frog generals most loyal to Oberon and Titania's defence forces. He was a good scouter, a frog skilled with exploring and charting new lands; his experience was grown from being part of the military of a frog duchy. "It's good to see you've arrived in the mortal world."
"It's good to see you here again, Miss Ruby," Ulysses responded stoically. "As a frog scout, I'm happy to see that my skills are needed here."
"They definitely are," Amber said, an uncertain expression on her face.
"I've always wanted to see the Rainbow Fairies in the flesh," Claude said, "I've rarely been to places outside my duchy until now. But I never expected this to be how I'd see them."
"Yep, it's unfortunate," Theodore said. "Hey, at least their boss is here."
"So this is what you've gotten up to, huh?" Olivier said. "How long did it take?"
"While Ruby was already trapped in the pot when we arrived, it took us four whole days just getting to Amber's location," Jonathan explained. "This world is just that big!"
"Interesting," Olivier remarked. "Me and Uly over there are experts in surviving wild lands. Say, how'd you make it?"
"Sneaking onto one of the mortal… vehicles that drove past us," Jonathan explained, pausing to remember the term Amber gave him to describe their new transporting machines.
"Wait, vehicles?" Confusion took over Olivier's face as he struggled to picture what he was saying. "I've never seen those things ever in my life."
"That's the problem," Jonathan said. "The mortal world has developed in such a way that it has become completely unrecognisable from what we see in the magical realm. So much so that they've been using their new innovations to attack us and hunt the fairies down."
"They've managed to create entirely new methods of moving around without animals, they've managed to create things that could allow them to communicate from far away, and most importantly, they've managed to fly."
"And place objects in outer space," Ruby interjected.
"Yes, and that."
"Well, that sucks," Olivier said. "Now what do we do?"
"Don't let that get you down," Stanley butted in the conversation. "Hold onto your hopes. You've never been in this world and neither have I. You shouldn't expect a difference."
"And does it make any difference?" Francis also joined the conversation to share his worrying opinions. "It doesn't change the fact we're all puny compared to them. They'd just step on us and it's over!"
"Shut up, spineless," Cedric grunted. "You're not doing any favors here."
"At least Iwantto be here," Francis retorted.
"No you don't, no one does!" Cedric snapped back. "We're all being forced here against our will to do the royal family's dirty work! Why don't they just rescue the fairies themselves?!"
"Because it's for their own good," Stanley joined the boiling argument. "The queen knew that the fairies wouldn't be able to handle the mortal world even before they sent us here."
"Or maybe because frogs actually exist here," Olivier told Stanley, an annoyed look on his face as he crossed your arms. "You can't just spin everything around to this 'the king and queen cares for us' nonsense. I don't think they've ever seen most of us until now."
"QUIET!" Bertram shouted, startling everyone else. "Intent or odds don't matter here. What matters is that we have to rescue the Rainbow Fairies from the mortal world, because if we don't, Jack Frost will destroy our homes!"
"Right," Cedric said.
"OK, we get it, the Rainbow Fairies are important to us and we'll all get killed if we just sit around doing nothing," Olivier said sarcastically. "Now how exactly do we rescue them?"
"That's exactly what I was going to cover," Bertram said, pushing his glasses up. "As the leader of this mission, it is my duty to inform you all on what you are here to do."
The rest of the frogs remained silent and followed Bertram as he made his way to the side of the pot and laid his spectacles to the ground. Ruby and Amber remained inside the pot, not wanting to interfere in his speech.
"At this point, you all know why you're here and what you've been sent to do. And that is rescuing the Rainbow Fairies," Bertram began. "You four have been sent as additional backup for us so we can get the job done quicker."
He clicked his glasses, and, once again, the same footage that occured last night - of the British soldiers entering the area and scouting for the pot's location - played on the pot.
"Yesterday, the mortal military forces entered this clearing and searched for the pot, with clear intent to take the fairies out. Eventually, they spotted it and got under the willow tree, and we barely managed to escape them," he said as the footage played. "I have a feeling that they'll come back with the same intention, and I'm sure they'll strike when we're all away searching for fairies."
"It's also rather hard and stressful trying to command a group of eight frogs in expeditions across a new place," Bertram continued, "especially with such otherworldly technologies and hostile threats behind them. Which is why I'm planning on sending some of you to stay here to guard the pot."
"Wait, what?" Stanley asked, confused.
"Yes, you heard me right," Bertram said. "Four of you will remain here to watch over the pot and keep Ruby and Amber safe if any danger arises. Those four will be Cedric, Francis, Claude and Theodore."
"Aww," Theodore said in disappointment, being the only one not happy with this assignment. "I thought I would be out exploring…"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think you're too mentally fit to join us," Bertram explained.
"Finally," Cedric said in relief. "I don't get to walk around longer. Still boring looking after a pot though."
"Good. I don't think I can handle being in such a vast place," Francis spoke up.
"Well, this seems fine. I'm never the kind of person into having fights, anyway," Claude said, once again in his posh manner.
"Well, it seems like everyone is happy with this," Bertram said. "Very well. I can now move to the next objective: the rescue itself."
"How did you find Amber?" Ulysses asked. "This method needs to be used for any other searches."
"With this compass," Bertram answered, pulling out the compass he gave to Jonathan. "It's wired to the nearest source of fairy dust. For a better account of keeping check, I've made it point to the fairy that comes next in the Rainbow."
"So we're rescuing Saffron, right," Olivier affirmed. "Hope this isn't difficult."
"It's not going to be," Stanley responded. "We'll free her eventually, no matter how long it takes."
"Have you had any methods in travelling to the fairies' location?" Was Ulysses's second question.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't there to command Amber's rescue mission," Bertram said in a disappointed tone. "I was guarding the pot myself, helping Ruby with the furniture. Luckily there weren't any threats throughout the four days, but it was still rather stressful. So I'll leave it to Jonathan to explain."
"Roger that," Jonathan said as he stepped to Bertram's side. "Now, to answer your question, we first started by just hopping the way there. However, after two whole days, it got tiring and we were worn out quickly. That's when we saw the mortals' new method of transportation, which they called vehicles."
"The vehicles were incredibly fast, capable of moving without animals to pull them - in fact, they actually moved faster than our carriages! And they could carry just as much, if not more. So our plan was to sneak inside one of them and let them take us to her location. It felt tense, but it was also incredibly quick; just imagine how many days it would've taken to find her without them!"
"Intriguing," Ulysses said in response. "I see you've already learnt how to adapt to the environment of the mortal world."
"Yes," Bertram confirmed. "And judging by our experience with Amber, it's clear that we're going to have to adapt more often. The mortals seem to know their inventions rather well."
"So what's the endgame here?" Olivier asked. "Do you have any idea on what to do?"
"Yes," Bertram replied. "The next day, after you've fully recharged, me, Jonathan, Stanley, Ulysses and Olivier will set out in search of Saffron the Yellow Fairy. The other four will remain at the pot in search of dangers."
"Olivier, you and Ulysses will scout the compass' direction to see if we can find anything we can use to reach Saffron's location faster, or if you can see any sign of her being nearby or any potential dangers that might arise to trouble us, such as mortals or goblins."
"Heh, we can do that well," Olivier said enthusiastically. "It's the one thing I'm awesome at."
"Any more questions?" Bertram asked.
Silence from the other 7 frogs.
"Good," Betram said. "Well, remember to wake up early tomorrow. For now, you're all free to go!"
With that, the frogs all left the side of the pot and spent the rest of the day doing whatever. Some played with each other, some chatted with Ruby and Amber about their meeting and some just explored the area, making sure not to get lost. They soon helped in finding lunch and dinner, and went to bed early, preparing for action tomorrow.
— 11th June 2005, Rainspell Island National Park, UK —
The next day, the frogs woke up early, remembering what Bertram had told them. They all went out of the swamp to follow him as the sun rose once again.
"Good morning, lads!" Bertram greeted the frogs. "Good to see you've woken up ready for the assignment."
"Yep, I'm ready to get moving," Olivier added.
"Was it really necessary for all of us to wake up at this time?" Cedric asked. "Especially since half of us aren't even going to leave."
"Well, I did it just so you wouldn't feel left out," Bertram replied. "Now, Jonathan, Stanley, Ulysses and Olivier, you four are going to come with me. The rest of you will stay to keep watch of this pot and protect it from our hunters."
"We can do that," Francis said, finally sounding confident for the first time on this expedition. "Watching over a place has always been my best field."
"According to my compass, it appears Saffron is located directly north of this pot," Bertram continued, now looking at his compass. "And she looks to be close by."
"Good," Ulysses responded positively. "Let's hope this doesn't turn out too badly."
"Well, let's set off then," Bertram declared. "Follow me, boys!"
The four frogs selected by Bertram to search for the fairies then followed him as he hopped out of the willow tree's folds and out in search of Saffron. The four remaining frogs looked at each other and then the pot.
"Well, this looks like less work for us," Cedric commented. "Finally."
"Um, excuse me," Claude said, taking offence at Cedric's words. "We still have to watch over this pot. Who knows, the mortals will sneak into this place and blow up the pot while you're slacking off."
"Exactly," Francis expressed his support for Claude's point.
"At least it's not walking all the way to a different corner of the island," Cedric retorted. "You know what, fine."
And so, the rest of the day went by, most of the frogs having set out on their next rescue mission while a sizable portion remained to protect the pot. After the close encounter that happened yesterday, things were getting tense, and now it was clear that rescuing the Rainbow Fairies from the xenophobic mortal forces and their advanced weaponry was all but a quick and easy task. But that didn't stop them from trying, for if they failed, Jack Frost would take the opportunity to conquer their withering homeland and destroy their homes. This was for their own homes, and that was what motivated them to push through this gruelling task.