The Forest's Secrets || Fairytale! AAF

Chapter 8

Peter led the kids south just as Claus had instructed him to. He didn't know if Claus was going to hold true to his promise, but he knew one thing about nagas... They always stuck to their word in some way or another.

"Peter... How much further are we gonna keep running..." Melody had asked him. Peter could tell she was getting tired as fairies normally fly and can't run a long distance in one go. Since the Queen Spirit clipped Melody's wings, she can no longer fly... Just like him...

"Are you getting tired Melody?" He asked her. She nodded her head. "Kid, wait for us..." he told Andy.

Andy stopped running and went back to them. "What's going on?"

"Melody's getting too tired to run..." He informed.

"Perhaps you can carry her... But it is getting dark so we should find a place to hide out for a bit of the night."

"Kid... Where would we hide? The whole kingdom is either scared of me or would try to kill me." Peter said, picking the tired fairy up.

"Well, we are just on the outskirts of the Elven Woods... So..." Andy looks around. "Follow me..."

Andy takes off, prompting Peter to follow him. Andy leads them to a big tree. It's not the biggest tree in the Elven Woods, but it's big nonetheless. Andy circles the tree, knocking on the bark of it as if trying to find something.

"Kid... What in Dragonite's name are you doing...?" Peter asked. He didn't dare be loud as Melody had fallen asleep as he carried her.

"Looking for the door," Andy stated. "This is my secret hideout tree. Only I know how to get in so we would be safe here."

Since he knew elves can't lie outright, Peter knew Andy was telling the truth. He watched as Andy knocked on the tree til there was a hollow sound.

"Found it," Andy said as he reached into his satchel, grabbing a key made of wood and bark.

"They didn't take your bag?" Peter was surprised.

"I hid it well enough with my cloak so they didn't see it. I had a feeling we might have needed it."

"So... You KNEW we would escape?"

"I said I had a feeling, a hunch. I didn't know we would escape." Andy explained as he opened the hidden door in the tree's bark.

"You kids just keep surprising me..." Peter sighed as he went into the hidden hideout, gently carrying Melody as she slept.

Andy looked around, making sure no one else was around. He locked the door from the outside and then climbed to the top of the tree.

"It's around here somewhere-" He found a leaf blanket he made. He moved it to find another entrance to his hideout. Closing the hatch behind him, he climbs down the long rope from the entrance down to the others.

Peter just watched the kid climb down the rope. "You know what... I'm just not even going to ask anymore..." He said as he followed Andy further down into the hideout.

"Now we can rest here and I can gather some supplies from my house safely. Unfortunately, we will have to keep going early in the morning..."

"Why's that kid?" Peter asked.

"Guards might have been sent in all directions. Even if they didn't, it is a protocol to check everywhere for escaped prisoners." Andy explained as he got some blankets and sleeping mats out. "You can let Melody rest on this."

"Thanks, kid." Peter gently set the sleeping fairy down on the sleeping mat before turning to Andy, who was looking around in some cabinets.

"If you're curious about the sleeping stuff, I often camped out down here whenever the rest of the elves do their festivals and all of that," Andy stated.