Hello, once again, fellow FF authors and readers. I hope all are well, and thank you for continuing to read this FF. Updates have been constantly put off, but new additions will be made.
For this one, this is a WHAT IF …? scenario. Hope you like it, though please be warned as it will be much darker.
One thousand … or was it fifteen hundred? Even more? Surely not! No way something of that length of time had passed. It had to be less!
The tool fell to the floor with a thud, yet she ignored it and instead continued to stare through the dim light at the blank space of wall before her. Her workspace, her house, her little creative world that had once burned with a perpetual desire for tinkering, now lay in a heap. Tools were scattered all over the place, the rock hammers broken and/or covered with dust. Twigs and sticks and vines sat in the corner. Piles and piles of designs on leaves and bits of paper covered the floor. Even her workbench made out of a harmonica was rusty, dirt and grime and even the odd spot or two of a dried maroon colour all visible across its surface, and had a few cracks and dents in it (the result of her venting her frustrations). Once vibrant and exciting, now it was lifeless, empty, devoid of any real life.
If anything could sum up the saying 'a shell of its former self' more, it was this. Many had done, and Tinkerbell agreed. But then again, they had been saying that about everything and everyone else for … well, likely years now. How many, she could not remember, and quite frankly she did not want to. It brought back … back …
Her eyes hardened, hand gripping the desk, her jaw locking, lip trembling. Perspiration ran down her forehead and her stained green dress. One who would enter the premises would think that she was undergoing some kind of episode or heart issue, but they would be wrong. Her mind filled with images of the 'Last Day', as the Neverland folk had come to dub it.
With what Tinkerbell had learned about humans, albeit to a limited degree, and their idea of something bigger and better than them, it had, in her eyes, come to life.
"TINKERBELL! PLEASE HELP ME!"
"Wait, Lizzy! I'm coming!"
It was all a jingle, a light musical chorus that contrasted with the hellish landscape around them. The little fairy, her blonde hair messy and laced with dirt, her dress torn across several places and a few cuts and marks were scattered across her body, tried to find her way through the dust and smoke as a hellish orangey/red filled the air from the flames of the distant burning of the nearby human town. A blood red plant, the Martian red weed, covered the earth, ubiquitous in its nature as it sprawled over cars, trees, rocks, roads, even simple bushes and broken remains of what had been every day human things - 'Lost Things', as Tinkerbell called them - had and were likely to be swallowed up by this new alien plant.
Among the mass of red, two humans lay prone. One was a man with his back to her dressed in a white shirt that was torn and bloodied with the remains of a ripped tie hanging aloft, a ripped green top that had slashed and had burn marks across the side, and a pair of torn, dirty grey trousers and black shoes. His hair was a mess and Tinkerbell could see dry maroon across his neck and the back of his head. His face, she could not see, but she was silently glad for that.
The girl's voice cried out for her again, this time laced with sobs. Tinkerbell leapt forward past the fallen form of the man, but quickly stopped, eyes darting in all directions, trying to see through the smoke and dust as a wave of heat slammed into her from nearby. Loud metallic thuds ran through the ground, and the little fairy could feel them go right through her. Distant cries echoed out from somewhere.
'They're murdering everyone!' Tinkerbell thought panic-stricken. She called out: "Lizzy, where are you?!"
The noise of the jingle was lost in the cacophony of sounds. More cries. A fireball shot into the air some fifty feet away, followed by the sound of a collapsing building. The sound of the girl reached her ears once again, and Tinkerbell frantically darted in several directions.
'Oh, where's Sil and Vidia when you need them?!'
A large object slammed into the ground nearby and she screamed and fell to the ground. She picked herself up and gasped upon seeing a huge, thick, metallic leg driven deep into the ground, cracking what had been the paving stones for a road. Shaking, her terrified gaze travelled up the leg that was, from her tiny perspective, hundreds of feet up to a huge mechanical body that was shaped like a teardrop atop a large oddly shaped body. Two more legs, one from the back and one on the other side, traversed down to the ground, the rear one having torn through the burnt remains of a human car. Two huge glowing neon green eyes gazed at the devastated world around them. Had Tinkerbell been able to observe what it could, she would have witnessed the levelling of a town that looked like, and likely well and truly had been through a battle. A mass of waving, swinging, metallic tentacles lined the front and back of the machine below the head and across the mid-section/body, ready to grab any and every unsuspecting form it deemed prey, and next to it she saw the bright orange lamp-like device unfold from the body, glowing and ready to unleash hell once again upon them.
Tinkerbell dared not move, though her wings ached to have her flee as fast as she could. This was a Martian tripod, a death machine and the main vehicle for the invaders from another world. What shocked her was that despite the madness around them, despite the chaos and the death and carnage unfolding, the thing looked calm, collected. In fact, it looked like it was finding some sort of mild intrigue at the hellish environment, though she knew that the beings inside were probably enjoying it. She watched as a red mist pumped out of the back of the body, blocking out some of the sunlight that had managed to break through the smoke and dust, but still remained still, fearing that just one little twitch and she would be dead.
"No! NO!"
"Lizzy!"
Those cries. As if life had been spurred into her again, the blonde fairy zoomed past the tripod (it did not even notice her) and further into the smoke cloud. She saw more of the red weed covering everything, snaking across the ground like a hungry creature yearning for more things to consume. She saw several forms, ranging from those called 'soldiers' to those who were ordinary men and women, their fates clear as day to her and made her feel sick to her little stomach.
Something passed overhead with a scream. She looked up and her face went pale.
In one of the tentacles of another tripod, she saw a little girl of about ten with messy and torn shoulder length brown hair and green eyes and wearing a muddied and dirtied pink shirt, a white vest-like top over her pink top with a white skirt. Her feet were naked as her red shoes fell from them, narrowly missing Tinkerbell. The girl cried out and screamed fighting hard against the tentacle, but like a python with its prey in its clutches, it just tightened itself around her waist, and Tinkerbell could hear the little girl gasp for breath.
"Lizzy!" Tinkerbell cried out.
Another tentacle passed overhead, carrying a soldier, whose uniform was also torn and missing a trouser leg that looked like it had been torn clean off. His condition was much worse though, as he looked as though he had been beaten and bloodied as his face and the exposed parts of hid body through the torn uniform were pockmarked with bruises and cuts and one side of the face had swelled. The left arm hung limp even as the soldier tried to wriggle free, but another tentacle quickly shot out and wrapped itself around the limp arm and a horrific cracking sound filled the air and he cried out before being taken away, disappearing towards the body of the second tripod as it ambled into view.
Tinkerbell watched as the man disappeared, then turned her attention back to Lizzy, whose face was laced with tears from her puffy red eyes as she began to sob hysterically. The little tinker fairy shot up, racing through the cloud. 'I have to get her out of there!'
Lizzy saw Tinkerbell and exclaimed happily: "Tinkerbell! Please, help!"
"Don't worry, Lizzy!" Tinkerbell said, though again it was a jingle to the little English girl, yet the prospect of being freed from this thing was all the same for her.
Suddenly, just as Tinkerbell reached Lizzy, the tentacle launched itself towards the ground so fast that Lizzy did not even have time to scream. Tinkerbell cried out, averting her eyes as she feared it was going to slam the little girl into the ground. With a light thud, it did, though it was not enough to kill her, but she did gasp loudly as the wind was knocked out of her. Tinkerbell saw this and dove towards Lizzy.
Lizzy tried to struggle free, but the tentacle was like an iron grip and though it did not tighten anymore, it did not loosen itself either. Tears flowed down her face, and she sobbed.
"P-please … p-please let me go!" She sobbed.
Another jingle, another ray of hope. She looked up and saw Tinkerbell dive towards her. She jingled something at the young girl, then tried to pull the tentacle off, but her own strength was minute against that of the tentacle. Lizzy urged her on desperately and Tinkerbell tried, darting around, trying to find her friends, hoping that they would arrive to save the day.
VVVVVRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMM!
The thunderous sound erupted overhead, rolling across the landscape like the call of a god. Lizzy cried out in pain as it rang in her ears, and Tinkerbell, who was sent reeling to the ground by the sheer volume and blast of the horn, dug her hands into the sides of her head to try and block out the noise.
"Lizzy!" a woman's voice cried out.
Another human landed with a cry about ten feet away from the little girl and Tinkerbell. As the sound of the horn faded, the blonde fairy looked up to see a dishevelled and bloodied woman with a torn black dress and bruised arms laying there, a tentacle wrapped around her and pinning her arms against her midsection and another around her legs, forcing them together to the point that she felt like it was trying to fuse them into one. She looked over at the little girl, revealing it to be Lizzy's mother, Rebecca.
"Mother!" Lizzy cried out, trying to reach for her, but the tentacle just tightened itself once more, knocking the air out of her to the point that her cry became a strangled whimper.
"L-Lizzy!" Rebecca said, trying to sound calm, but was on the point of breaking down at seeing her daughter in danger, in pain, trapped, and there was nothing she could do. "You'll be alright!" she said.
A hissing growl sort of sound came from within the sound of the smoke, gradually growing louder. The eyes of the women looked around, trying to locate its source. Tinkerbell scanned her surroundings akin to a deer on the savannah watching out for a predator, inching closer to Lizzy to try and break her free, however she planned to, though, was lost to her racing mind.
Something ambled towards them and slammed a clawed hand/foot onto Lizzy's stomach, making her cry out once more. Tinkerbell backed away, looking up with a terrified expression at the being as it glared down at her with its black eyes, then at the terror-stricken human girl under its front arm/leg. Rebecca cried out from behind Tinkerbell and struggled to free herself from the tentacle, but it was no use. The Martian leaned in towards Lizzy, opening its V-shaped mouth, exposing her to black gaping maw and the rows of sharp teeth as dark green saliva dripped onto her face.
"No, leave my daughter alone!" Rebecca cried out, but the Martian dragon just glared at her with a snarl, then looked down at Tinkerbell, the fairy's eyes more pleading and terrified as opposed to the human. 'Please, let them go!'
The Martian regarded her for a moment as if fascinated at the existence of such a tiny, delicate-looking little thing and how it could have existed among the humans? Or did it hide? None of the others had ever made a mention of this sort of tiny earth-creature, they had only encountered humans and the usual creatures with them they had used as cattle, pets or for transport, with some of the wildlife thrown in too. These little creatures? Whatever they were, they did intrigue it, and that it showed concern, fear, attachment for the humans!
The Martian opened its mouth somewhat, revealing its teeth and such one again. Tinkerbell watched for a moment, puzzling at what it was doing. It did not seem to be preparing to strike at her, not at Lizzy. It …
Her heart dropped. It was smiling, and with the look in its eyes and the fact it was from one of the machines that was laying waste to the city, it did not look like a nice and friendly one.
A mechanical whirr came from above and another tentacle drooped down from the body of the tripod standing overhead, though this one opened up into a kind of sharp needle and the main part of the metallic device was transparent. Tinkerbell's eyes widened, having seen this before when hiding in the cellar with Fawn, Bobble and Cheese, wherever they were now Mother Dove help them. The Martian moved aside, purring eagerly as it looked down at Tinkerbell again, then at Lizzy.
"No! NO!" Rebecca's voice screamed, struggling harder now, but the Martian just grinned at her, running its tongue over its long teeth as if she were something delectable.
Lizzy began to cry, tears flowing once more as the needle tentacle edged towards her slowly, deliberately, savouring the moment. "Mother!" She looked at Tinkerbell pleadingly. "Tinkerbell! Help me!"
The fairy looked on helplessly as the Martian grabbed Lizzy by the top of her head and held her in place, its strength overcoming the impression that it had no real strength because of its thin, bony frame. The needle approached, another whirr emanating from somewhere within it. Rebecca screamed out again, only to stop mid-sentence as the tentacle around her mid-section tightened once more. Lizzy tried to move, but the creature pushed down tighter on her head, digging its claws into her, cutting her skin and drawing blood.
The Martian looked over at Tinkerbell, maintaining the grin on its face, running the tongue over the mouth once more as the needle tentacle paused right above Lizzy, just inches above her throat.
"No!" Tinkerbell spoke, though the jingle was all the Martian heard. She shook her head, clasping her hands together in a begging motion, hoping that it would understand. It had to! It had to! "Please, let her go!"
The Martian cocked its head to one side, finding some interest in the little creature's motions. Did it understand? Maybe, but who knew. It was not native to Earth, so body language and motions were completely, and rather ironically, alien to it. Yet, it did appear to acknowledge that the creature had some level of intelligence.
As for the human …
Lizzy looked over at Tinkerbell, her eyes wet and red as she begged: "Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, please! Tinkerbell!"
The cries of the mother faded, the purring, growling and other unnatural sounds of the Martian seemed to lessen, and Lizzy's voice stuttered as she called out for her friend.
Tinkerbell got up and moved towards her.
The needle lunged forward, followed almost simultaneously by the sound of ripping flesh, a strangled, choking sound and Rebecca and Tinkerbell's cries of horror.
"Tink!" Someone called to her and she found herself against the wall in the old place where her old building blocks had once been, wielding a hammer.
Standing before her was another fairy dressed in purple leaf attire with her hair tied in a ponytail, her face holding a worried expression, one foot gingerly stepped towards her, the other half off the ground, wings half open, ready to dart away if something happened.
"Tink!" the fairy spoke cautiously, taking another step towards her. "It's me, Vidia!" she added, trying to reach out.
Tinkerbell looked up at Vidia, shaking, eyes open as wide as fairy possible, clutching the hammer tightly. The flashback was fading, but she still remained in place like a frightened animal as she dared not take her gaze off Vidia.
Vidia took another step forward. "Tink, it's me!"
Said fairy lowered her hand with the hammer and sat up a little more, her heaving chest relaxing. She leaned in a little, looking deep into the purple eyes of the fairy before her.
"V-Vidia?" she asked.
She nodded. "It's me," she replied. "It's okay, Tink. You're safe."
Tinkerbell moved forward and embraced Vidia as she knelt down, burying her head into her friend's shoulder as Vidia gently stroked her head, embracing her younger fairy to calm her down. Gradually, Tinkerbell calmed and laid there, looking at her workbench, trying to stop those awful images of what had passed before from coming back to her.
"It happened again?" Vidia spoke up.
Tinkerbell nodded, wrapping her arm around Vidia as if afraid she was going to disappear. "I-I tried to help her," she whispered almost inaudibly.
Vidia gave a light nod. "I know," was all she could reply and wrapped herself around Tinkerbell more tightly and gently rocked her back-and-forth, rubbing Tinkerbell's back to calm her more.
As you had previously read, dear readers, such an episode was hardly new. Ever since Tinkerbell had witnessed what had befallen Lizzy and her parents, she had become a shell of her former self. The young, vibrant, bubbly, sassy, tinker-driven fairy, the one who had helped create a bridge between fairies and humans, who had helped turn Pixie Hollow into something much more than it had been, all of that was gone. Now she barely left her home, and at times her own bed, still struggling to come to terms with the horror, the death and destruction, the carnage, the literal hell that she had witnessed first-hand back on the Mainland all those years ago. She had never gotten over it; quite frankly, it was usually the only thing she could and would think about, constantly nagging and gnawing away at her like a disease.
Vidia knew, though, that it was hardly limited to Tinkerbell. Whilst no fairies had been lost in the Martian attack on the Mainland, the mental and natural toll it had taken on them as well as the season and the various animals and such that dwelled there was a completely different story. Much of the nature, plant and animals, had been reduced to ashes by the fiery weapons of the Martians. The few the fairies had been able to bring back to Neverland were also left in a state of shock at what had happened. The red weed too had been something completely unparalleled, and quite literally 'life-sucking' as several of the garden fairies had stated upon returning after the mass evacuation. It had changed the Mainland to the point where now the entire island looked like it had been painted red, and the damage it had brought to the previous ecosystem was something that Rosetta, Chloe, even the ministers of Spring and Summer had said would almost certainly never recover, or at least not for an incredibly long time.
If such a thing were possible.
As for the fairies themselves, it had been traumatic. Never before had they ever faced such a dangerous, determined and deadly force, and likely the same for the humans. Never before had such destructive power been witnessed by them, even when taking into account natural events both here on Neverland and on the Mainland. Many had come back traumatised and in a state of shock, some came back inconsolable, a few furious, but none with any answer or recourse for what they were to do next given the situation. Queen Clarion, herself, whilst she had not been on the Mainland when the Martians invaded, she had been told everything that had happened from various eyewitnesses, even from Tinkerbell's friends, though Tink herself had not wanted to talk about it and could not be brought to do so, though Queen Clarion did not push for it.
As with everyone else, she had been beyond horrified with what had happened upon hearing of the devastation and death inflicted on the humans by the Martians. It had been here that Vidia, Silvermist and Terence, had informed her of what had happened with Tink and the humans as they had witnessed the latter be taken by one of the tripods. While she and the other fairies beyond those who immediately knew Tinkerbell had not really given them much thought, they knew how close Tinkerbell had become with them and their deaths had left her a hollow shell. Surprisingly, many fairies had been horrified by their peers of the many stories and accounts of them witnessing swathes of the humans be obliterated by the Martian fire weapons, crushed underfoot by their tripods or by collapsing buildings, or, more grotesquely, be torn apart by those tentacles and sucked dry, sometimes by the nightmarish beings themselves.
After an hour or so of going over everything, Clarion, who by this point was emotionally drained by the horrors recounted to her, had decided then and there that all further travel to the Mainland, which had been banned earlier on with an air of hope that it would be temporary, was now permanently forbidden, much to her own heartache.
Such a decision had shocked many, but few protested, understanding the gravity of the grave situation that was befalling the humans and everything they had created, and the fairies had also spent many a century maintaining and building. Depression, anxiety and a general feeling of hopelessness had quickly ensued, though it took a while for everyone to really come to terms with the new order of things as it was such a huge U-turn from their daily, weekly, monthly and annual routines. Many fairies now had to seek some sort of therapy and comfort, to fill in the void that had been created. Most fairies simply drifted aimlessly from one day to the next, hoping, though pointless it was, that they could go back, but knew it was nothing more than a pipe-dream, a now out of reach, unattainable desire that they would almost certainly never get back.
Many animals too, as Fawn and Buck had mentioned to Vidia and Silvermist once a little while ago, had become noticeably more withdrawn and affected, no doubt understanding to some degree how horrific things had become on the Mainland. Some had even passed in their sleep and the number of new animals being born had dropped significantly. Even new fairies, once a regular thing on Neverland, had become almost a complete rarity given the effects of the Martian invasion on the human children, and often any new ones that were to come were often shunned or, at best, ignored for their innocence. Most Pixie Hollow residents saw them not only as a nuisance, but as a reminder of what they had once been able to do so jovially.
Vidia sighed, trying to shut out such things from her mind, but it was pointless. As much as she tried to hide it, she felt just like everyone else; depressed, directionless, even empty that her purpose to bring breezes to meadows and winds in storms and such had been taken away by these … these things. The others in their friendship group felt the same way. Iridessa had taken to staring up at the night sky almost every evening, looking at the Second Star to the right, thinking, wondering if they ever go back, desperately clinging onto that fragile belief that they would be able to return. Silvermist barely left her home area; Fawn tried to stay positive and upbeat around the animals but was unwilling and unable to do much more beyond that. Even the Tinker duo of Bobble and Clank had become distant from everyone, even each other as they no longer had any desire to carry on with something they had loved so much. At times, she too felt it hard and just wanted to give up, but tried to carry on, often becoming the beacon of support for the other fairies who at one time she had thought herself better than but had come to embrace as her family.
What a way for things to turn out she had mentally told herself one night after witnessing Iridessa and her friends holding light in their hands towards the Second Star, their way of holding a remembrance for everything they had lost, everything that they had worked for and on being taken away, and, something which did admittedly surprise Vidia and several others who inquired, for the many humans who had perished, and were likely to be even now. They knew nothing of what was going on, again due to Clarion ordering no one to head back there under any circumstance, but they had a hunch that with what the Martians had done to the Mainland – a 'country', as Tinkerbell had told them about it once shortly after arriving there barely a couple of days before the horror had come – then many other lands, other 'countries', other 'Mainlands' were going to be their next targets.
She shook these thoughts from her mind and turned her attention back to Tinkerbell, who was lightly breathing and resting against her shoulder, her eyelids flickering.
"You okay?" Vidia asked softly, gently lifting her head with her chin to look at her, seeing her eyes wet with tears.
She nodded, looking away quickly, hating that one of her friends was seeing her like this. "I'm sorry," Tink said.
Vidia placed her hands on her fairy friend's shoulders and knelt down before her. "You've got nothing to be sorry for, Tinkerbell," she said softly, but with a firm undertone. "You know that I'm here for you, just like you were for me."
She did not respond verbally, but gave a nod, eyes drifting to the harmonica 'workbench' again. "Just wish we could go back … that she were … that they were still alive."
Vidia nodded, her gaze drifting to the floor in a moment of sadness. "Me too,"
Tinkerbell huffed, turning a little more red. "The Martians," she muttered, unable to hide her disgust at uttering their name. "I hate them. I-I really hate them!" she breathed, almost clenching her teeth as of one of them were before them right now.
Vidia looked up at her friend, concerned at her words. This was by no means the first time she had heard Tinkerbell ever say something like that, but every time felt like it was. Another sign that the innocence and lively soul that had once inhabited the old Tinkerbell was gone.
She herself, though, could not deny that she felt the same way towards the Martians, even at times wishing nothing but the worst things imaginable on them for what they had done. Even if she had been rather apprehensive, guarded, even cold towards the humans given their last venture to the Mainland (the last being the year before it all ended as it was the last peaceful summer they had there) she had never wanted to wish anything so horrific upon them. Not even they deserved to be burnt, crushed and torn apart and harvested like what the Martians had done. Part of her even hoped that they had found a way to get rid of them, or at least stop them completely. Then they could go back and gradually rebuild everything, get things back to normal.
She tried to hold onto these thoughts as she helped Tinkerbell up and walked with her over to the fairy's bedroom, it too a mess with the bed unmade, leaves scattered across the floor and a layer of dust coating much of the room. Tinkerbell had not wanted to clean it; it would just remind her of the old times. Vidia led her through the clutter, moving things aside with her foot, and gently set her down on the bed and laid her down, draping the covers over her.
"Get some sleep, Tink," she said, rubbing her back gently, soothing her until she heard the Tinker fairy breathe and begin to lightly snore, then quietly crept out, closing the door behind her.
As she exited out into the dusk night, she glanced up at the night sky, taking in the growing dark blue that would soon be replaced by blackness, save for the Second Star and other ones that would appear tonight. Iridessa and her light fairy friends were no doubt going to be out again, paying some kind of remembrance to it again in the vain hope they refused to let go of. Others were probably doing the same, from what she had heard at least.
She turned away, wiping a tear away from her eye at the frustrating melancholic feeling. Everyone here could not move on, could not fully grasp or accept that things were, had been and were going to be different, that they should be glad they were safe here (for now she had told herself). Their pining was not going to bring it back.
Yet, she too could not let go, not fully. She could understand where Tink and the others were coming from, what they were thinking. After all, it was difficult not to forget about years, decades, and for some even centuries of hard work and fun, all the plants they had sewn, the animals raised and trained, the breezes brought to the fields, the flowers bloomed, the many memories she and others had created and shared.
It was all lost now, dust and echoes of a time long past, literally and metaphorically, their past gone, present broken and future unknown.
Vidia turned back to Tink's house, looking as if she could see through it to her sleeping friend, wondering if she were asleep, or trying to cry herself to sleep, just as she herself had done numerous times.
"Sweet dreams, Tink," she muttered and took off back to her house.
The simplest description of it now. Nothing but a dream, a broken fragmented dream.