Tinkerbell x Vidia ch2

It was often said that you could tell a fairy’s talent by the way they looked. Fast flying fairies were tall and knobby, looking somewhat awkward when they were doing anything but flying. Animal fairies looked wild and unkept, much like their companions; and Tinkers were sturdy, but hunched, like a forgotten kettle gathering dust in shadow. Tinkerbell was the exception; sturdy, certainly, but warm and sociable. She was soft, and pear shaped, with both the energy and attention span of a sparrow. Vidia might have found this endearing had she observed from a distance. Unfortunately, however, she’d been involved in enough scrapes with the fairy to know her clumsy enthusiasm caused irritation at best, and disaster at worst. After several months of knowing her, Vidia simply did not have the patience for her antics.

Which was partially why the trip to the Fall Forest felt so long. It was also due to the fact that Tinkerbell had a lot of tools and lost things she wanted to bring, and flying with them would use up a lot of unnecessary dust, resulting in the most inconvenient solution possible; the mouse cart.

“Did you know that clocks use a pendulum to keep time? If your clock is inaccurate, it’s probably because the oscillator is slower than it’s supposed to be, but luckily there’s a pretty easy way to fix that…”

Vidia closed her eyes and pretended she didn’t have a headache. She lay curled up in the corner of the cart, wedged between a bag of cotton for mattresses, and a bottle full of buttons that continuously rattled in her ear as she tried to sleep through Tink’s rambling. As you may have guessed, her effort was in vain.

“Which is how each hand is a different speed…”

How much farther was it? She sat up and squinted into the distance. Yes, the bridge was coming up. Just over the brooke and they’d be in Autumn territory. Burnt Grove was only twenty minutes in, right?

“Anyway, that’s just your standard clock. But hey, enough about my talent, what do you normally do for spring?”

“Can’t that mouse of yours go any faster?”

Tink leaned forward and patted the waddling critter on the head. “Oh, poor Cheese is doing his best, aren’t you buddy?”

Cheese made an affirmative squeak in reply.

Vidia sighed. Twenty minutes was definitely too long.

The air changed when they passed the bridge into the Autumn Forest. Even with her eyes closed, Vidia could sense it by the crisp smell of dead leaves and chilled mud.

“You know where we’re going, right?” She called.

“Of course I do!” chirped Tink, “But I would like someone to hold the map.”

“Great, I’ll let you know if I find someone.”

“Vidia!”

Vidia sighed and got up to join her at the front of the wagon. Tinkerbell had the reins in one hand, and the map in the other, which flopped weakly when the wind wasn’t whipping it about. Vidia sat beside her and took the map in both hands. Tink leaned over to try to see it over her shoulder. Vidia held it just out of Tink’s sight.

“I’ll take it from here, Sweetie,” she crooned in her falsely-sweet tone. Tink pouted but said nothing. “There!” Vidia announced suddenly, and pointed to a side trail directly to the left.

Tink gasped and yanked at the reins, making Cheese turn so sharpley the wagon nearly toppled behind them.

The fairies continued their journey, despite Vidia’s poor communication skills. She insisted on Tink focusing on the road while she looked at the map, insisting that she knew where they were going,and would tell Tink when to turn. Tink was not comforted by this. She intermitdly asked how far the next turn was, only for Vidia to glance silently at the map and then back at the road without a hint of an answer. When she finally did give direction, it was frequently at the last conceivable moment, forcing Tink and Cheese to round more sharp turns.

It was a miracle they made it to the Grove at all, let alone with everything and everyone intact. The trees in Burnt Grove grew closer together, as if gathered to whisper gossip where no one could hear, blocking even the sun from their affairs. Below them, brown leaves made a thick crunchy carpet.

Tink shivered. “Let’s find the house. Queen Clarion said it was a pumpkin, right?”

“A gourd,” Vidia corrected, “There it is.” she pointed to a deep green shelter striped with white and topped with a curly stem.

“Oh wow!” Tink clapped and led Cheese down the path to it. Vidia felt a tingle down her spine and looked around. Something felt different here. Something about the atmosphere seemed… wrong. She shuddered, and grabbed her bag to follow Tink inside.

Already, Tinkerbell had claimed her bed and was bringing in her belongings. “Look at this, Vidia!” she said, “Isn’t this exciting? We get to do whatever we want with this place!”

Vidia glanced around with a raised brow. It was barely warmer than outside, and offered very little to work with in terms of internal design. The corners collected dust, and walls felt too close together.

She set her bag down by a hammock on the opposite wall, then flopped onto it with her hands behind her head. “Then I vote for a curtain down the middle.”

“Great idea!” Tink said, and flew out to retrieve more lost things.