Culmination | A Tinkerbell Fanfiction

Chapter 6: Whispers In the Dark

The darkness fell away to death and dismay and the remains of the fairies' once-mighty kingdom lay beneath the ruins of fire and ash.

Once again, he found himself cornered by the impending feeling of doom, watching helplessly as the cinders rained down from the heavens and the land lay barren and scorched beyond recognition and repair. He had stood here once before, seeing everything, knowing he alone survived in the wake of the catastrophe, yet uninformed of what tragic event had stolen the life from the land he loved so deeply. It was always the same. The same fire, the same disaster, but never the cause or the means. 

He called above the stillness, his voice the only sound for miles around. The hills repeated his cry, tossing it on past the winter woods and far off into the mountains, but there was no reply, no signs of anyone or anything.

Once again, he was alone. 

Once again, he'd come too late.

Only, this time, something about the scenery felt...different. He'd been here before, that much he was sure of, but even as his wings slowly began to lower him to the earth, he knew he did not recognize the place he was standing now. 

There was no sign of the Pixiedust tree, standing or destroyed. Not even the roots or the trunk of Neverland's heart remained. No river ran through the middle of the four seasons; there were no seasons left to traverse. 

Everything was gone. Blown away. Reduced to ashes.

Nothing could have survived such destruction.

So, why did he have the sensation that...somehow, somewhere...he was being watched?

"Help..."

Chills shot up his spine as a twig snapped somewhere from the deadened trees behind him and he forced back a scream as he twirled, arms already flying up to protect his face from a frontal attack. He didn't know who was out there...or who could have escaped the same fate as the Hollow...but he was determined not to let them catch him off guard. Not again. Not ever again.

But a moment passed, then two, and no blow came.

"Help me...please..."

The voice repeated its request. It sounded nearer now. Like whoever it was was standing right in front of him. 

But when he looked, there was no one there.

He tentatively lowered one arm and then the other, blinking and letting his gaze dart from one edge of the clearing to the other. The shadows drifted lazily past, but there was still no sign of anyone, either in the air or huddled close to the dirt. 

He slowly fluttered forward, confused, and eerily fascinated. He yearned to understand, to find the source of the voice, to help. If someone was in trouble, then it was his duty to do everything in his power to assist, not just as the Protector he once was, but also as a tinker. It was the honorable thing to do, the right thing.

But why couldn't he see anything?

"Please...I can't...move...they're...they're everywhere..."

The voice sounded weaker and, though he had not dared to take another step into the unknown, further away. It echoed off of the trees surrounding him and he flinched back, tensed and ready as fire began to slither up the roots behind him. He didn't need to turn around, he could feel the heat from the tongues, greedily leaping for him, watching his delirious retreat hungrily. He backtracked again, searching for a way around the flames, but they were moving too quickly, fueled by the barren land and dried riverbeds. They surrounded him in moments, pushing back his attempts to proceed into the shadows.