Book 1, series 1, Chapter 2

 Chapter 2

“What!” Gaze said, coming almost as close as he could to yelling. He looked behind him, and, sure enough, a cloud of dust was beginning to form.

As soon as the villagers heard, the streets became a jumbled mess of yelling and screaming. Pixies began panicking, grabbing their children, flying to higher places. 

Alcahorns are one of the creatures commonly found in the Willowing Woods. They are rabbit-like creatures the size of sheep, with ram-like horns that curl inward, and a tail very similar to a lions. They are normally found with brown or grey pelts and live in burrows. Their teeth are also similar to a rabbit’s, and can dig through not only dirt, but boulders too. Alcahorns often make their homes under the common Great River-Callers, trees that are known for their pods of sweet-tasting water and their blue leaves.

“We need to do something!” Neptune yelled though the chaos, “Where’s Celestial?!”

Everyone turned around when the Wood Pixie who brought the news flew down to them.

“Right here.” They said. Suddenly, her eyes glowed neon green, and her body started changing.

The once dark skin tone shifted into a light skin complexion. Her hair morphed from the short brown ponytail to two complicated buns. Her wings changed from the fully bloomed wings of an adult Wood Pixie to the sparkling wings of a Galaxy Pixie. Her farm-girl outfit flowed in the breeze as it too changed. And soon there was no longer a stranger standing in front of them, it was Celestial.

Wood pixies go though a process called “Blooming.” It’s when their wings change shape as they get older, just like how a flower blooms. When they are born, they have what Wood Pixies call “Bud wings.” Bud wings are round wings that look very similar to flower buds, they are always green, with a darker green on the tips. When the Wood Pixies get to teenagers, their wings are halfway Bloomed. The formal bud wings begin to open up, in a way where the wings still keep their shape, but the color that will show completely at adulthood begins to peek though. At a young adult age, their wings keep blooming, and once they reach adulthood, their wings have completed all the stages of Blooming. There is no more of the green color of the Bud wings, but a new color is there, and the wings have expanded like flower petals. The colors are any color of the rainbow, and sometimes have more than one color.

Celestial is, believe it or not, Firestone’s twin sister. They are pretty much the opposite of each other, Firestone and her aggressive, hot-headed personality compared to Celestial’s out-going, diva-like personality. Celestial is also known to be the prettiest one out of the group, and always wears fashionable clothing, no matter what the occasion. She wears pounds of make-up, and always messes around with Hairstyling elixirs. Celestial is -Just like Firestone- one of the Rare Powered Pixies, which is very rare, but always made sense, since they are twins. She has the rare power to shape shift, making her able to appear to be someone completely different from herself. She could be a pixie, an animal, a fish, even a rock if she really needed to. But it was always known that the bigger and stronger the creature, the harder it is to shapeshift into it. Celestial has -Also just like Firestone- no black in her hair, but a sparkling mix of greens. She has her hair in two buns, with the extra strands of hair flowing freely. A white rose accessorized her head. She had neon green eye shadow, and black lipstick. Her neck was decorated with two strings of pearls, and her wings sparkled with the same colors as her hair. She wore a green tube skirt with white tights. A white tie front long-sleeved top with a black tank-top underneath. Black mary janes completed the look.

“So,” She said, strutting over to them without a single spot of dirt visible on her clothes. “What’s the plan? Being as we normally save the village and all that. Oh! But make sure all the ‘Saving the village’ stuff centers around me. Maybe then the Pixies would finally come to their senses and make me Queen.”

Gaze sighed. Celestial had always wanted to be the Queen, and everyone assumed it had more to do with all the luxury and diamonds, rather than the responsibility and power. She made speeches every weekend, hoping the Pixies would magically start rioting in favor of making Celestial their new queen, sadly for Celestial, Gaze new that would never happen. Their currant queen, Queen Nettaria, already had three heirs to the throne. The eldest being Princess Camilia.

Because of their very long lifespan, the Pixies have a rule about the heirs. The Queen rules for a certain amount of time -Depending on weather they rule for the whole time or retire early- which is a very long time, and then the heir to the throne -The eldest- takes the throne. The Princesses are the ones who take the throne, and the Queens husband is the general, but if there is a Prince, there is a different responsibility they have. The Prince is titled as the Heir Warden. They protect their sister, or the heir to the throne. The princess has a bodyguard until the prince is ‘Titled’ the Heir Warden, or until the princess is crowned Queen.

Midnight stared off into the distance. Then her head shot up.

“I got it!” She said, maybe a little to loudly. “I don’t know if it’ll work, I did just think of it in the last minute, but it’s worth a try.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Midnight cleared her throat. “Gaze, Neptune, I want you to warn as much Pixies as you possibly can. Celeste, you create clouds of mist, it should slow the Alcahorns down some if they can’t see anything. Celestial and Firestone, you make sure the Alcahorns don’t get anywhere near the village. I’ll watch from above.”

Everyone nodded again, but Firestone crossed her arms.

“Why do I have to go with HER!” She pointed an accusing finger at Celestial, like she committed some sort of crime. Midnight sighed.

“Firestone, there is no time for arguing, the longer we take the closer the Alcahorns get. Let’s go!!” Everyone took off flying.

 

                                                                 .  .  .

Gaze and Neptune did as Midnight said, warning as much Pixies as they could, telling them to fly high enough where they would be safe. However, Gaze worried, a lot. He new Midnight and the others had everything under control, but the dust cloud grew closer, and Celeste had just started forming a cloud of mist in her hands. Gaze started getting more nervous and started getting in a rush of warning the pixies. “I’m starting to wonder, why don’t we ever just let the soldiers take care of this kind of stuff?” Neptune asked, making Gaze jump. He hadn’t known Neptune had walked up to him.

Gaze had thought of that many times. It would make everything less worrisome, knowing that his other friends weren’t out there risking their lives for the village. But he told Neptune the same thing he always told himself.

“Because by the time the soldiers got here, half the village would be destroyed, and lots of Pixies could be killed.” Gaze wished that to be true before he started warning again.

But soon, just a couple minutes since he told Neptune that, he heard something. It was up where his friends were fighting to keep the Alcahorns away from the treehouses. When Gaze started running up the hill, he was able to hear it. Someone was crying.

“Cattail!!” He yelled.

Cattail was Junica the Librarian’s son, and he was sitting right where the alcahorns would come if one were to get loose! His friends appeared to have been too busy to notice the four-year-old, and the other Pixies were to busy panicking and running around that no one had noticed him! Gaze started flying, speeding towards Cattail like an eagle hunting its prey.

“Cattail!” He yelled again, and the little boy turned his head. “What are you doing! Sitting in the middle of the road!”

Cattail sniffled as Gaze picked him up. “W-well, m-mommy always told me t-to stay put if I ever got lost. So, I-I-I did.”

Gaze started flying towards the crowd, calling for Junica. She had to have gone somewhere!

It wasn’t long until Gaze saw her, holding out a picture of her kids and asking frightened Pixies if they had seen them. But all the Pixies did was run past her, yelling and screaming as they hurried to higher ground. Gaze ran up to Junica, holding Cattail’s hand.

“Mommy!” Cattail squealed, letting go of Gaze’s hand and running over to his tear-stained mother.

Junica gasped when she saw Cattail and reached out to pick up her son.

“Oh! Gaze! Thank you so much!” She cried, dabbing a silky hanker chief on her wet eyes.

Gaze blushed, but then noticed Junica’s worried eyes.

“Oh Gaze,” She said, wiping her eyes again with the cloth. “Please help me. I sent Leilani to look for Cattail and now I fear she’s lost!!”

Gaze’s eyes opened wide, and he immediately said, “Don’t worry Junica, I’ll find her.” He just hoped it was true.

Leilani is Junica’s daughter. Gaze new her really well, and she was like a little sister to him. She often helped Junica in the library and talked to Gaze all the time.

.  .  .

“Leilani!!” Gaze called. He repeated her name over and over, but Leilani was no where to be seen.

He checked behind trees, and houses, but it was as if the forest was mocking him with its thick vegetation. He had searched far away from the place where his friends where, hoping that maybe Leilani had some sense to stay away from the commotion.

Suddenly, Gaze’s vision started diming, and blue rimed his vision. Oh no! Not now! Gaze thought. But there was nothing he could do. His vision disappeared completely, replaced with a blinding light. The white light lingered in his vision for a couple moments, but soon a picture appeared. No, not a picture, a moment in time, a fragment of the future. A wall of fire blazed in front of him, burning and crackling as if it was real. Firestone walked out of the fire. Two balls of blue flames ignited in the palms of her hands. But before Gaze could see what happened, the moment shifted. It was Firestone again. Or Gaze thought it was Firestone. Firestone’s eyes glowed a bright neon green, and her body began to change. The moment shifted again. It was a pixie, or something. Gaze couldn’t tell because all he could see was a blurred figure sprinting across the sky. So, So, fast, Gaze only had about three seconds until the figure was gone, leaving the faint outline of yellow behind. Then the moment shifted. There was a lake of ice, he heard Pixies screaming as a blurred figure jumped into the piercing, ice cold water. Then he saw bright, purple eyes. The figure turned around, and some sort of portal closed behind them. Then a Pixie jumped from the trees, slamming their fists on the forest ground, and tall boulders of stone shot up from the ground like geysers shooting out air. Before it all ended, a Pixie with icy blue hair in a ponytail walked ahead, but suddenly turned around, so fast, but also swiftly as they let a silver ninja star shoot forward with the flick of their wrist.

Gaze gasped for air, and nearly lost his balance from the sudden push back to reality. He groaned as he brought his hands up to rub his temples, and the remains of a headache lingered behind his eyes. The blue that rimed his vision faded away, and he had a couple seconds to celebrate. Suddenly he heard grunting and growling, snarling and pushing. He whipped around only to see Crystal, blinking in and out of sight as she tried to keep a Daggertooth away from her throat!

“Crystal!” Gaze yelled. The Daggertooth must have tried to attack him while he was having his vision!

Daggerteeth… One of the most hostile and dangerous creatures in the Willowing Woods. They’re wolf-like creatures with long, pointed fangs like a saber tooth tiger’s that are as sharp as knives (which is where they got their name.) There are a couple differences between a male and a female. The males have sharper teeth, brown pelts, two fluffy tails, and ears like a lynxs. The females have shorter fangs, a cream colored pelt with splotches of red and grey, three fluffy tails, and wolf ears. They live in packs, and their diet consists of meat, their favorite being Alcahorn meat. But, if they are starving, they will eat almost anything.

Gaze was paralyzed, to scared to move. He didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know if he could do anything. All he was able to do was watch as Crystal battled with a female Daggertooth. But something wasn’t right, Gaze new it, but it was in the back of his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. It wasn’t until Crystal kicked the Daggertooth off of her when Gaze realized what it was.

Daggerteeth lived in packs. But when they hunted, they hunted in pairs of twos. A male and a female. Which meant if there was a female Daggertooth…

He didn’t get to finish that thought when Crystal shook his shoulders, pointing at the Daggertooth struggling to free itself from a log that was crushing it as she said,

“That thing’s not dead yet! You don’t expect to just stand here do you?!”

And Gaze realized what Crystal meant. Miraculously, his legs were working again. And Gaze shot into the sky. He had only gone up a little however, when a male Daggertooth lunged at him from a Pixie’s treehouse! Its razor-sharp claws missed his arm, but the other claw scratched his wing, sending him tumbling back to the ground. Those Daggerteeth had obviously fought Pixies before.

Crystal immediately flew down to help Gaze as he pulled himself off the ground. The male Daggertooth had tumbled into the female, but both were getting back up to finish the fight. Crystal and Gaze started running down an alleyway, hoping to lose the hostile creatures. But they were catching up to them.

“Crystal, why aren’t you flying?” Gaze asked, although he was secretly glad Crystal was there. She was much more a fighter then he was.

“Are you crazy?!” Crystal asked, huffing and blinking in and out of sight as they turned a corner. “There’s a reason I helped you out the first time Gaze. I’m not leaving you like this!” She waved her arms around Gaze, and for the first time he noticed a fresh wound on her right arm.

Without giving Gaze a warning, Crystal pushed him out of the way, quickly snaped a thick branch off of a tree, and shoved it over her head right before the female’s teeth sank into the branch. She pushed the female back into the male and they tumbled to the floor. But it just made them angrier.

Gaze was just about to keep running when Crystal pushed him, again, without a warning, into the arched branches of a tree. She placed herself in front of him, and right when he was about to ask her what she was doing, snapped a vine holding a net of flower petals. The petals covered them with their strong fragrance -They were Dalavile petals, which have a very strong smell- and Crystal turned invisible, blocking Gaze from vision as well.

Just then, the Daggerteeth stalked by, raising their noses into the air and sniffing. Gaze held his breath as the male stalked over to Gaze and Crystal’s hiding place. It sniffed the petals suspiciously, but let out a sneeze, and walked away.

They waited a couple minutes before Crystal walked out of the corner, and Gaze stretched his cramped muscles. He muttered a small thanks as Crystal looked around to make sure the Daggerteeth were really gone. Then she nodded.

“Next time don’t have a vision when there’s a stampede that’s obviously caused by something.” She tilted her head. “Ok?”

Gaze stared at her wounded arm, which she was obviously trying to hide.

“Wait, how did you know I had a-”

“Did anyone ever tell you your eyes glow blue when your getting a vision?” She rolled her eyes. “But then again, I guess you don’t get them often…” She started walking out of the alleyway, motioning for Gaze to follow. “But don’t worry,” she tapped her head, “Your vision is safe with me.”

                                       .  .  .

“Oh my gosh! Gaze! Where have you been?”

Midnight scanned Gaze worriedly. Some time while Gaze and Crystal were walking back to their friends, they had heard Firestone yell that the situation was “taken care of.” Midnight was the first one to notice them.

“Oh, yup. Don’t worry about me,” Crystal gave Midnight a smirk, “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Oh, Crystal, I didn’t mean-” Crystal had already disappeared, leaving a small sound of wingbeats as she lifted into the sky. Midnight sighed.

“Sometimes I don’t get that girl…” She looked into the distance, where they had heard Crystal take off. “She pops in for some drama, and then disappears without saying anything. It’s a wonder she doesn’t get lonely.”

Gaze nodded but winced from his scraped wing. Midnight’s frown deepened.

“You should get that fixed, and while we go there, you’re telling me everything. Ok?”   

Gaze had no choice but to agree, he was planning on telling Midnight about his vision. Might as well do it then.

“Wait!” He yelled, and Midnight froze.

“What?” She asked, tilting her head, as if she was trying to read his mind.

“Leilani!” He said worriedly, “She got lost during the stampede! I told Junica I would find her! But then…” He looked at his feet, feeling like a total failier.

Fortunately, he heard shuffling feet in the distance, and looked up with relief when he saw Leilani emerge from one of the tree-house’s elevated roots. Leliani walked over to Gaze like she was just out for a stroll. But then Gaze realized there was tears in her bright yellow eyes.

Leilani has her father’s brown hair, she wore it in oval shaped loose buns, and had on a multicolored bandana headband. She wore a very layered outfit, consisting of a cream colored brown and green plaid skirt, a brown green and pink plaid shirt, a caramel brown sweater vest, and a translucent purple shawl. It was a wonder she didn’t get hot. Her legs were covered with past-the-knee black-ish brown stocking, and she wore chocolate brown boots with caramel colored soles and white fluff at the top. Her ears aren’t as pointed as Gaze’s, but her bud wings stood out with all their green glory.

“Leilani! Your mother was worried sick!” Gaze ran up to her, even if his wing hurt.

Leilani let out a sniffle, “I’m so so sorry! I feel like a complete failure! I was supposed to find Cattail, but instead I hid like a coward! And now he might be… Might be…” She buried her face in his clothes, and Midnight stood there awkwardly.

“It’s ok,” Gaze said as comforting as he could. “Cattail’s ok, he’s with Junica, which is where you need to be right now.”

Leilani let out another sniffle, and wiped her eyes with her shawl. She nodded her head, but didn’t go anywhere. Gaze tilted his head at her. And Leilani glanced at Midnight, pointing at her with her eyes.

“Is there something else?” He asked. She was obviously stalling.

“Er, I’ll go tell Murida you’ll be coming over…” Midnight said, walking away to leave Gaze and Leilani alone.

Gaze sighed, Murida was his Medic, and although she’s very sweet, and Gaze could tell she tries her best to make him comfortable, he still always felt awkward trying to start a conversation in the Medic Hut.

Gaze looked down at Leilani, and Leilani gave him an awkward smile.

“Uh, so, can I come over to your house?” She asked, wringing her fingers.

Gaze sighed, “Leilani, it’s been a long day, maybe tomorrow?”

“But it’s EXTREAMLY important!” She clarified.

“Leilani, I need to get to the Medic Hut, you can come over tomorrow at noon. Ok?”

Leilani let out a long, dramatic sigh before saying, “Fiiiiiiiiiine. Tomorrow at noon! But if I get eaten by a Timberwolf for breakfast, it’s your fault.”

Gaze wondered if she ment what she said literally as they parted ways, Leliani began walking in the direction of the library, and Gaze went the opposite direction, to the Medic Hut.