War of Talents | A TINKERBELL FANFICTION (2023 Rewrite)

Chapter 5: The Lies to the Truth

Somewhere in Neverland...

The distant rumbles of thunder echoed between Torth Mountain and the rolling hills of Butterfly Valley and the settling mist was abruptly disturbed by a whoosh of howling wind, catching not only nature off guard, but nearly sending a fairy tumbling through the air as well. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, latching onto a dangling branch and hoisting herself onto the limb to brace against the impact.

What in Neverland was that? she wondered, wiping her long bangs, now plastered to her forehead by the onslaught of rain, from her eyes. She shivered, folding her arms and backing further into the trees, confused. There had been no scheduled storms planned for that day. She had memorized the rain-talent's movements for the week, as well as the thunder...no, the storm...talents. All of their notes read the same; there should not have been any precipitation at all for the next four days.

This wasn't the work of one of the Guilds.

Her gaze narrowed and, taking a deep breath, she stepped back into the storm, tossing an arm out to her side. Immediately, the howling wind dissipated, swirling away in angry little huffs, and the clouds parted, allowing the sunshine to seep through once again. "Stupid Protector," she hissed, fluttering from her perch and zipping back to the flower she had been attempting to grow, snatching up her watering can and hoisting it like a weapon. "It's like you're just asking for someone to get too nosey."

It was far too late for that, she knew. She had seen the lot of them skulking about, searching for clues and evidence, pretending to be investigators, but that didn't mean a thing. Even the best of detectives could be hoodwinked by the right words; with just the right deceit. There was nothing to worry about. Clarion could handle it. She'd done flawlessly up until now.

Well, almost flawlessly. 'Flawless' would not have gotten them into this predicament in the first place. 'Flawless' would have involved telling the Hollow the truth about her...about them all...instead of hiding away like cowards with something to be afraid of.

She was no coward.

She had received the message from the queen by means of a dove several days before. She knew exactly who had caused this unusual turn in weather and she knew how. Unstable, tentative, uncertain; those were the words Queen Clarion had used to describe him; the last of the Protectors, the one without a balance, the one that shouldn't have been.

The wolf hidden amongst the sheep.

They were clueless, blinded from the lies blended with the truth, skewed to believe that everything was so simple and inherently good. Not one of them suspected that their precious perfection could ever be tainted or put in danger, that once, that very coincidence nearly destroyed all of existence.

Well...perhaps there was one who did.

She sighed, waving her hand absentmindedly and watching as the tulip shot from the dirt, a full-grown rosy pink. The tinker girl was getting far too close to the truth. Someone needs to put a stop to her investigating, she had warned Clarion upon asking to be informed of the sparrowman's progression, before she gets into something she can't back out of.

I think it might be too late for that, had been the queen's reply, so solemn and forlorn for a letter on quill and paper. You understand the inquisitive nature of a tinker, perhaps better than the rest of us. If I try to stand in her way, it will only go to fuel that curiosity, and that, I believe, will only make the truth more difficult to untangle in the end.

Well, you are the queen, I suppose. Just be careful that your loyalty to your subjects does not blind you from the truth. If he becomes anything like Shade was, then we are all in danger.