Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (4 page)

Nyx returned to Pixie Hollow and entered the Book Nook.

Scribble was there, absorbed in his research.

Nyx interrupted. “Get me every animal volume you have in here immediately—”

“Please. I’m in the middle of a high-level, special royal project. Oh, did I say royal? Oops, top secret—” Scribble put her off until he saw who was there. He
didn’t think there was a lovelier fairy than Nyx. “Oh. Hello. How may I help you?”

Nyx repeated her demand, and Scribble got to work immediately on piling up the animal books, carrying so many at a time they made him look as if he had muscles. “And this is just the
A
s. Y’know, books are a workout for the brain…and the biceps.”

Knowing she needed him, Nyx tried not to glare. She flipped through each book, not finding what she needed. Scribble kept bringing more texts to her. When she reached the
Z
s, she buried
her head in her hands wearily.

The whole time Nyx was looking, Scribble had been talking to her, but she wasn’t listening. Then she heard him say, “And so I said, ‘Listen, QC—Clar, most sparrowmen
couldn’t stomach this kind of pressure, but then again, I’m not most sparrowmen. And besides, that mysterious green comet isn’t going to analyze itself.’”

Nyx looked around the room as she listened, her eyes drawn to a piece of parchment on Scribble’s bulletin board. On it, there was a beast drawn with a distinctive tail and fur markings,
and a comet drawn above the creature’s head.

In a flash, Nyx flew across the room, swiping the fragment off the board.

“Hey!” Scribble shouted.

Nyx got in his face. “Tell me everything you know about this. Everything.”

“Over dinner?” he asked hopefully. She didn’t blink. “Oh, okay. I see. I’ve misread this situation entirely, haven’t I?” He sighed to himself.
“We’ll always have the
A
s.”

That evening, Fawn gathered her friends near Gruff’s Summer Tower.

“First, thank you guys so much for meeting me here. I’m sure you’re wondering what this is about.”

Tink, Vidia, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Rosetta were all there. Rosetta was already dressed for bed.

Fawn told them, “So, as you know, I really learned my lesson about being smarter when it comes to dangerous animals.”

The girls all nodded.

“We know.”

“We’re really proud of you.”

“Oh, honey, you are doing great.”

“Yeah, you’re doing really good.”

“I never thought you’d make it this far,” Vidia said.

“However—” Fawn began.

“And here we go.” Vidia rolled her eyes.

“Fawn…” Tink braced herself.

Fawn took a deep breath and moved aside. “Ladies, say hello to Gruff.”

The NeverBeast was hanging upside down in the tree behind Fawn. He dropped down from the tree branch.

Iridessa fainted.

“What. Is. That?” Rosetta asked.

Fawn shrugged. “I actually don’t know. I’ve never seen any animal like him before. Ever.”

“What does he eat?” Tink asked.

“Not fairies,” Fawn said.

“Oh, well, that’s a relief!” Silvermist said.

“So I’m gonna take him to the queen and show her he’s harmless,” Fawn told them. “Then I’ll tell her how he destroyed Sunflower Meadow. Well, how
I
destroyed it. You know what, maybe it was both of us.” The NeverBeast grunted and Fawn corrected herself. “It was an accident, okay?”

Gruff agreed and went back to work.

“And what do you call that?” Vidia asked about the tower.

“Again, I don’t exactly know…but I’m working on it!” Fawn said.

Rosetta frowned. “I’m hearing a lot of ‘I don’t knows’ in this conversation.”

“Umm…uncertainty makes me uncomfortable,” Iridessa complained.

“C’mon, have I ever put you guys in danger?” Fawn asked, seriously.

Rosetta answered honestly. “Uhh, yeah.”

Silvermist said, “Yep.”

Iridessa said, “Frequently. Remember Peter the Porcupine? I still can’t sit up straight.”

Vidia waited a beat before saying,
“HAWWWWWWWWK!”
She was reminding them about Hannah, just to prove a point.

“Oh, yeah.” Fawn remembered it all. “The point is—I want to do the responsible thing this time, just like I promised.”

The girls looked at one another, then Tink turned to Fawn. “I’m guessing you already have a plan in mind?”

She did. “Operation Gruff-a-Go-Go.”

A little while later, Fawn and the others had coated Gruff in pixie dust and flown him through the sky. Fawn sat on his head as the girls guided them toward the Pixie Dust Tree.
Gruff landed softly.

Fawn hopped. “Open up, big guy!” She used his own spit to smooth his fur.

“Eww! My skin is gonna break out!” Rosetta shivered.

“Okay, so I’ll go in and set the stage. Then on my signal, get him in position, and I’ll bring her out,” Fawn said, then whispered to Gruff, “Don’t worry.
She’s gonna love you.”

Fawn stepped away. “Here I go! Model citizen, all the way!”

The girls cheered her on. “Good luck! Be brave! You can do it, sugar!”

The girls watched Fawn as she entered the queen’s chambers.

“She’s doomed.” Vidia sighed.

Fawn started speaking the minute she entered through the queen’s door. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, which is why I’m here to tell you that—”

Clarion turned and Fawn saw that Nyx was there, too.

Fawn changed her mind about telling the queen. “I—uh—you know what? It can wait. I’ll come back.”

“Fawn, I’m glad you’re here,” Queen Clarion said.

“So am I…” Nyx grinned.

“Nyx has discovered a dangerous animal in Pixie Hollow. We could really use your expertise.…” the queen began.

Outside the Pixie Dust Tree, Gruff was trying to get away from the girls and go to Fawn.

Tink peeked in the queen’s window to see what was going on.

“Ugh, I am on the verge of perspiring over here. Do you see the signal?” Rosetta asked.

Fawn subtly gestured at the window, trying to tell Tink to take Gruff and leave.

But Tink didn’t understand the hand motions.

Nyx explained, “I had my first direct sighting earlier today. This is no ordinary predator we’re talking about. It’s bigger and faster than anything we’ve ever seen. I
combed through every animal text in the library, and came up empty. But it turns out, I was looking in the wrong place.”

Tink flashed an “I don’t understand” gesture to Fawn.

The moment Nyx and the queen looked away, Fawn exaggerated her gestures, until it looked like she was playing charades.

Nyx noticed her wild gesticulations, but Fawn covered them up by pretending to do a dramatic yawn.

Outside, Tink realized what was going on. “Back to the forest!”

“What?” Iridessa asked.

“Mission abort!” Tink said. “Mission abort!” Nyx made Fawn stay and listen as she told her about the ancient parchment and its predictions. “That comet that went by
the other night—it was here before…nine hundred seventy-two years ago. And each time it passes, it wakes the creature.” She showed Fawn a paper fragment that had a drawing of the
beast on it. “This is the NeverBeast. Once the comet brings it out of hibernation, it starts building.”

Another fragment showed Gruff’s stone towers.

“Four rock towers,” Nyx said. “One in each season of Pixie Hollow.” She went on with another picture. “Green clouds fill the sky. Then the creature transforms and
brings a lightning storm so powerful, it consumes all of Pixie Hollow.”

In the final drawing, lightning vibrated from the towers, destroying Pixie Hollow.

“If we don’t act fast, this storm will destroy us all,” Nyx said.

She pointed at the fragmented drawings, now pieced together to form a single ancient parchment: The Legend of the NeverBeast.

O
utside, Tink and the girls were doing their best to move Gruff. They pushed and pulled, but the beast was stubborn.

“Back home, please!” Tink said.

“C’mon, Gruff,” Iridessa told him.

“Let’s go,” Rosetta tried.

“On three! One…two…
THREE
—” Tink counted.

As Vidia grabbed his ear, Gruff inhaled sharply, getting a whiff of Tink’s dust, before exploding in a sneeze.

Nyx and Clarion turned at the sound. Fawn pretended it was her sneeze. “Phew. I should get that checked out.” Then Fawn told the queen, “Look, animals do not control the
weather.”

“
Ordinary
animals don’t.…” Nyx countered.

Fawn held up the drawing. “Furthermore, this creature with the horns and the bat wings…An animal that big couldn’t possibly fly under his own power.”

She glanced out the window to see Gruff darting back and forth, out of control, as her friends chased him around.

Nyx grabbed the parchment. “Either we capture the NeverBeast or life as we know it is over.”

“Nyx, let’s not do anything rash until we know more,” the queen said. “See if you can locate the creature first.”

“I just don’t want innocent animals to get hurt,” Fawn said.

“And I don’t want innocent fairies to get hurt.” Nyx turned to Fawn. “I’m not the enemy here.”

The queen stepped between them. “I trust you both to do what’s right for Pixie Hollow.”

Nyx stood straighter. Fawn tightened her jaw. They both were determined to do things their own way.

Outside the queen’s chamber, Nyx’s scouts waited.

“What’s the word?” Fury asked her.

“We go after it at dawn,” she said without hesitation.

That night, Gruff floated through the sky, pixie dust trailing behind him as he slowly descended.

Fawn caught up. “What happened?” she asked her friends. “You were supposed to get him out of there.”

“We tried, sug,” Rosetta told her. “Giant thing wouldn’t budge.”

“I think he didn’t want to leave you,” Tink said.

Fawn stroked the beast. “I missed you, too, Gruff.”

Vidia interrupted. “Sorry to break—whatever this is—up. But what happened to doing the right thing?”

“Nyx got there first,” Fawn reported.

“And…?” Iridessa asked.

Fawn flew up and sat on Gruff’s nose. “Nyx found this harebrained legend about a creature called the NeverBeast who builds rock towers and shoots lightning to destroy Pixie Hollow,
so now she thinks he’s some kind of monster.”