My Mandywolf did an almost convincing job of looking like the sweet little innocent girl she resembled, but her tail twitching nervously gave her away. The Pirate Queen cocked a brow and held her good hand out. Then Amanda pouted and stomped a little foot as she dug in a pocket and pulled out a baby crocodile that was no longer than her hand!
She muttered, “Fine,” then handed the crocodile to Wendy as Titiana tilted her head back and laughed a hearty, silvery laugh.
The pirate shook her head and muttered, “Really, what am I going to do with you?” Then she moved to the rail and dropped the critter into the water below. We all stood there and watched it gain its bearings, then start swimming slowly toward the shore.
I zipped up in front of my Mandywolf when she muttered, “I only wanted one,” and I kissed her on the nose and winked at her.
Her pout turned into a mischievous smile before I buzzed up in front of the incognito Elder and prompted the group, “First line of business, we need to locate where the Pan is holding Tinkerbell before we confront him, else he'll use her for leverage. But Amanda and I would be a liability if caught...” I looked at Titiana. “Unless you can do something about that? You mentioned earlier that we already had what we needed here to resist his suggestive power.”
She nodded and explained, “Well, given time, you would have your own immunity as being a fairy becomes your reality. The little one has partial immunity whenever her form resets according to the curse of the Trickster. But like Mah dearest Wendy, over time, exposure to your dust sifting onto her all the time, she would gain a natural immunity too.”
Mandy chirped as she balanced a little pink dagger on a finger by the point, “How long will that take.”
The dark skinned woman chuckled and shrugged. “A few years.”
The dagger fell to the deck and embedded between my girl's feet, her jaw hanging open. Then the historian smirked almost playfully and said, “That's with but one... sort of fairy dosing you. But I think we can do a little better for you two just now.”
Mandy narrowed her eyes at the woman who smiled at how cute it looked, and she held a hand out, my little wolf absently moved over and held the woman's hand. It seemed like acts like that were getting more natural for her, and the things like the tantrums and pouting were starting to concern me. The longer she remained a little girl, the more mannerisms she took of that form.
The woman turned toward the Grotto again and pointed at it saying, “All manner of things come to my island, knowing they are under my protection while I am here.”
She let go of Mandy's hand and then draped a chain around her neck, leaving me blinking, wondering where the chain had come from since she hadn't been holding anything. Resting on Mandy's chest was a tiny silver pan flute no bigger than a locket, and they glowed unnaturally under the sun.
The woman rested her hand on the pan flute and said with sad longing in her tone, “This was his. A gift from me, to aid in turning back the Elders from moving through Neverland uninvited. It is your's now, mah darling one.” She took Mandy's hat off and kissed the top of her head.
She nudged her chin down to my girl, and she looked at the flute and then lifted it to her lips, her eyes questioning. When Titania nodded encouragement, she blew into the pan flute, and a sweet and haunting tone drifted out, and it was my world. I smiled and buzzed up to my girl, hoping she would sound the note again.
Wendy was smiling and pointing toward the Grotto. “Look!”
An explosion of sparkles erupted from the jungle, buzzing and spinning and darting across the water, like a thousand happy sparklers. As it got closer to the Sea Devil, we could hear giggling and excited little voices. Moments later they exploded up from the water they were buzzing up and over the railing like a tide. Hundreds of fairies swarmed us. More specifically, they all swarmed Mandy, who was giggling and sneezing as a few landed on her and dozens buzzed around her, dust sifting down upon her.
I was amazed and then gleeped when one grabbed my hands and spun us up into the air in a joyous dance above my girl. One landed on the railing in front of Mandywolf as dozens landed on Titiana, braiding her hair with silver flowers.
Some little voices called out, “The Hook!” And they swarmed Wendy too, giving her kisses on the cheek, and draping chains of silver flowers over her.
The one in front of my girl looked at her, her hands on her hips and studied the tiny wolfling. Then she drew a tiny sword that sang a note as it was drawn, a tone that spoke of magic and unbreakable sharpness.
She stood sideways, taking on the stance of a well-seasoned fighter and pointed the tiny blade at my girl. “Who is it who calls us with the flute of the fairy forces commander?”
Titiana placed a hand on the small of Mandy's back and moved her forward, so her face was even with the fairy which I realized was wearing armor and... a tiara.
My girl looked back, tail twitching, to Wendy who smiled and nudged her chin toward the fairy. My wolf swallowed then turned to the apparent fairy princess and said, “A... Amanda Danes.”
The fairy's wings buzzed, sifting pink sparkles to the deck as she looked around to the cloud of fairies flitting around and the hundreds lining every free spot on the railings and rigging around us. She jammed her sword into the air and called out in her sweet but commanding voice, “The Amanda!”
They all chimed out in unison, “The Amanda!” Followed by, “Commander Amanda!” Then “Puppy-girl!” They cheered with glee.
Then their leader knelt and held out her blade in both hands out to my girl, “As princess Bluebell, wielder of the blade of Tinkerbell, I pledge ourselves and our steel to you, my lady.”
My little wolf looked like she was about to explode into glitter and rainbows as she straightened and looked for guidance, but when Wendy shrugged and smiled, Mandy said, “Thank you, Bluebell.”
Then in a blur I almost couldn't follow, Bluebell was in front of me, her blade a millimeter from my chin, “You! Where is your armor? Do not disgrace us in front of the commander.”
Mandy... was no help as she chuckled. I blinked and said, “Umm... I'm not really a fairy, I've only been one for two days.”
The tiny woman blinked, her dust changing from a purplish black to a bright amber and white as she looked to be bursting with excitement, “Oh! A Make-Believe? The Lost Boys bestowed upon you the greatest of all gifts!” She grabbed my hand and spun me in the air as she buzzed us up a dozen feet in joyous celebration.
I swallowed and looked at her sheepishly. “Umm... as, uh, as honored as I am to be a fairy at the moment, I have to return to my life as a steward of the garden of Perchta.”
She looked sad and placed a hand on my cheek to comfort me. “You will Big again? You have our deepest sympathies.” Then she brightened. “But before you Big yourself...”
She whistled, and a dozen winged women surrounded me, buzzing in circles, and I squeaked as the leaves that comprised my only outfit were stripped away one by one. I covered my modesty as they swirled around me. Titiana cocked an appreciative brow at me, causing Amanda to growl at her as she moved possessively between us.
Then in another swirl, the giggling woman redressed me in shiny metal armor that sang of sunlight, and radiated the heat and warmth of a smile. Then a blade was slapped into my hand. I looked at it as I blinked in shock as the woman swirled away.
I lifted it to examine it, and it sang as if it were slicing the very air around it. I swallowed as I looked around, hundreds of eyes were on me, and all the little, winged women were leaning in toward me, eyes wide.
I sheathed the blade on my back beside my bow and said in a question, “Umm, thank you?” They all cheered and celebrated as they dove up to dance in the air. Apparently, that was the proper thing to say. Mandy looked ever so pleased with herself. I smirked at the smug girl, and she winked at me.
Well, at least I wasn't wearing leaves anymore.
Titiana was chuckling as she crouched beside Mandy and said to Bluebell, “Mah little lov
e, the ladies are going on an adventure.”
Squeals of, “Adventure,” circulated through the fairies.
She continued, “They are going to free Tinkerbell from the Pan, and rid Neverland of his evil.”
This time, excited whispers of, “Tinkerbell,” rippled through them, just as alarmed red dust sifted from them at the mention of Peter Pan.
The Voodoo Queen shared, “But they are susceptible to the influence of the monster. But as faeries, you can help them resist his thrall.”
They all buzzed with assertions like, “Of course we can,” or, “We're fairies, the Pan cannot fool us,” followed by Bluebell stopping her preening with a question, “But... how can we do that?”
I had to cover my mouth to hide my smile. They were like a bunch of children playing.
Titiana said, “As you said, the Pan holds no sway over you. And just as Tinkerbell helped the Wendy resist the Pan, you can do the same for these ladies from a faraway land.”
Bluebell buzzed up to hover in front of her and said confidently, “Of course...” Then her smile turned to one of embarrassed confusion, “...but how did my sister do that?”
Oh, she was Tinkerbell's sister?
The Elder smiled graciously and shared, “She coated her with fairy dust over time. But we don't have time. So your commander...” She pointed at Amanda, “... was hoping that all of you would help out and coat them with as much fairy magic as you can spare. Perhaps the sheer volume of it would do the trick.”
Ripples of, “Trick,” and “A new game,” filtered through the amassed women.
Bluebell nodded and cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled out, “We have good volume.” She looked proud.
Wendy chuckled, placing a hand on Titiana's arm as the Elder valiantly fought off a laugh. “Here, let me try.” Then she addressed the fairies. “Ladies, we have a wonderful new game for you.”
This got them all to stop buzzing around to lean in in anticipation, excitement in their eyes. The Pirate Queen stepped back, pulling Titiana with her as she pointed at us with a huge smile on her face, “Dust the girls!”
I swallowed as all eyes swung to us, smiles blooming, I landed on Mandy and grabbed her ear as she said, “Oh, fuck m...” as we were swarmed by what sounded like a million bees who happened to be giggling with glee.
Both of us were sneezing and coughing as my skin began to tingle as we were coated by an unending cloud of sparkling dust. I had to breathe and gulped in air, just to find myself giggling uncontrollably as my insides started tingling like I was being tickled from the inside.
Mandy was rolling around on the deck in two-inch deep fairy dust in the cloud, giggling and sneezing and trying to catch her breath. Sparkling dust stuck to the happy tears rolling down our cheeks, and I could feel the dust soaking into my eyes.
I felt full like I had eaten a ten-course meal and was going to pop if I had one more bite, but it felt warm and tingly. We were giggling so hard that we couldn't catch our breath and I was actually starting to worry about that.
Then a voice cut through the commotion around us as Titiana laughed. “Mah dear darling ones, ah think that's enough, don't you?”
Then the cloud dissipated and I was able to suck in some air. I felt... well I felt drunk. It took ten or more ales to get me buzzed with my high metabolism, but I felt more than a little tipsy just then, and a little... aroused.
Mandy struggled to sit up, giggling with each motion. She swayed and tried to shake it off, just to land on her face in an ocean of fairy dust. “Heh,” she puffed out, causing the dust to swirl around.
She propped her head on her pudgy little hands and looked at me, slurring out, “I ever tell you how smexy you ish?” A dreamy look on her little face.
Wendy picked her up by her belt, dangling her in the air. “Ok, I think you've had about enough, little one. I've never seen anyone stoned on fairy dust before.”
Titiana offered helpfully with a chuckle. “There's never been so much fairy dust in one place before.”
I flew drunkenly to Titiana who caught me in cupped hands as she snickered at me. Then she seemed to look through me instead of at me, and she nodded. “It's not quite as much saturation as Wendy has, but it should do since you already have a bit of resistance.”
I thought myself quite clever as I pointed at her and smirked smugly. “You... are an Elder.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “We've established that already, dear one. And you are as they say in the mortal realm, 'high as a kite.' The effects should wear off in a minute or so.”
I looked at Wendy who was holding Mandy away from her at arm's length. My girl whispered sloppily behind her hand as she batted at Wendy with her other hand and tail, “My mom's kinda hot.”
I blinked. Oooo she was right. Wendy... was... I shook my head, and that cleared it up a lot. I could still feel a bit of a buzz inside making my thoughts a little sluggish.
That's when I noticed all the fairies were silent, watching us with excited anticipation. I said, “Umm... you win?”
They cheered and performed aerial dances. Then Titiana said, “Now all we need to do is locate where the Pan is holding Tinkerbell, and we devise a plan to rescue her.”
Bluebell buzzed up to her and opened her mouth, but then hesitated as we heard a little snore, and we all looked over to see my Mandywolf sound asleep, hanging from her britches in Wendy's hand. The Pirate Queen just swung her up to hold her, Mandy just laid her head on Wendy's shoulder and kept softly snoring. By the Goddess, it was adorable with her little tail gently swishing.
The fairy princess looked as though she wanted to buzz around hugging everyone over the sight, but then her eyes widened as she remembered what she was going to say. She turned back to us and said, “The Pan holds her in his treehouse.” She made a sour face and hissed, “In a jar!”
Then she saddened and shared, “Many lost their lives scouting, the Pan uses the Lost Boys to strike out when our scouts are found out. The Make-Believes he has them create are too strong even for us to save our queen.”
Titiana stroked the little one's cheek with a finger as the princess hovered there and shared, “The Hook is strong enough to face him now, with the aid of these women. We will save her.”
As a group, their dust started sifting purple of concern. “But what of the Lost Boys, they are not evil, he just uses them against their will. They'll get hurt defending him. They can't get hurt, they play the most wonderful games and have the most exciting adventures.”
I could hear the love of the Lost Boys in their tone. They understood that the boys were victims of the demon.
I assured them, “We will do all we can to protect them from the Pan. The first step is to free your queen.”
Ripples of, “Yes, the queen,” and “Tinkerbell,” and “Tinkerbell loves the Wendy.”
Bluebell seemed to be able to follow the hundreds of voices at once, and she nodded, placed her hands on her hips again and said, “Yes, Tinkerbell and the Wendy are mates. Sealed with true love's kiss.”
This got fluttering and tittering from those gathered as they all held their own hearts and sighed. “True love's kiss.”
With pride Bluebell said to us, chin held high, “My sister is first to fall in love with a Big.”
Then in an astounding aerial display, the fairies started flying past Wendy, each kissing her cheek.
They scattered when Mandy snorted loudly in an aborted snore and looked up, eyes wide. She sounded completely sober now as she ran a hand down her face saying, “Whoa, what a trip.” This just got chiming giggles from the winged women.
Bluebell made a decision and called out with authority, “We will sail with our new commander. Ladies, assist the pirates, what a grand adventure!” The cloud of buzzing woman squeed and buzzed off in all directions, making their way into the vessel from every crack and cranny, some flew to land on the few men brave enough to be hiding on the far side of the main deck with the Sea Hag onboard.
; I had to grin at little giggling voices from everywhere calling out things like, “Yo ho ho!” or “Argh” or, “We're pirates!” to “You've got a really big nose.”
Amanda looked around and asked, “So... what'd I miss?”
We all chuckled at her.
Wendy was in motion, still hugging Amanda to her as she called out in a booming voice, “Hoist anchor, raise the sails! Mr. Gerald, we sail on the Pan!”
The man stood up from where he had been hiding behind the ship's wheel on the poop deck as he called back, “Aye aye captain!” And he started shouting orders to men that started coming out from everywhere.
Hook left the main deck into her cabin with Mandy and Bluebell, and I had to smile. “It is going to kill them to break the Make-Believe. They look so happy as mother and daughter.”
Titiana shrugged and said, “Just because something wasn't so before, doesn't mean they have to return things that way. Happiness is a gift that all should possess, mah darling one. Who are we to say differently?”
She was right, we definitely needed to return to our proper size and age, it was confusing with my mate being but a child. But did we necessarily need to reverse all that had changed while here in Neverland? I'd have to speak with Wendy and Mandy on this.
Then the Elder cocked her head at me. “Ah have a gift for you as well.” She held up a silver necklace with a silver shell that pulsed with unnatural light. She moved it toward me, and at first, I thought it was a trick of perspective, but the chain seemed to shrink as her hands reached me and she placed it over my head. The shell clinked on the armor I now wore.
I reached up and examined the shell, and I saw it had holes in it like it were a flute.
She said, “This too belonged to mah Adrian. It can call the forces of the merfolk, it is the symbol of their commander.”
I tentatively brought it to my lips as I looked at the water as the ship started to move in the wind now that the anchors were back aboard. She held a hand up, palm out, and chuckled, “Not now. Those women are enough to drive a sane person crazy. Always trying to strike a bargain for a boon. I love them to death, but they can be quite trying at times.”
Shadow of the Hook Page 13
