Where Spring Touches Winter

Chapter 2: The Flight

Disclaimer: I do not own Tinker Bell or any of the characters there within.

Clarion smiled after the departing winter fairy until he was just a spot of glowing pixie dust in the trees. She got as far as the first tree roots of autumn before she flipped through the pages of the book he'd given her. The page he'd indicated detailed the character and manner of Never-snowy owls. She fluttered to hop over the root and sit while she read over the page, the next page, the rest of the chapter. She came back to the marked page and read it over once more.

"Never-snowy owls, unlike their mainland cousins, can be vain creatures. While mainland snowy owls may preen their feathers to remain clean, Never-snowy owls primp and preen their feathers to pure white as a sort of competition amongst themselves. They may admire themselves in any reflective surface, touting calls of their beauty to any within hooting distance."

The page said nothing of gemstones, let alone sapphires and Clarion tilted her head to one side in thought. Milori's unusual item list made Clarion rack her mind to put the pieces together and she found she simply could not. It was such a mystery and Clarion, who read and studied day and night, did not know there were any puzzles left that could stump her. But Milori's did. And it thrilled her.

Clarion stashed the book beside the root and covered it with leaves before zipping off to her quarters in Pixie Hollow. The day was still hers to do as she pleased and she flew right in through her window. Queen Aurora would throw a fit as no proper young queen would ever enter or exit by window, but Clarion's mind was full of the border, snowflakes, and Milori's deep chestnut eyes. It took her a moment to realize she was rifling through the linens closet before she hopped over to her boudoir.

She pushed aside her spring dresses, summer skirts, petal blouses, to her autumn wear.

Clarion considered coat after coat—they were all too light to withstand the cold she'd experienced that morning. The jasmine cardigan sleeves were too short, the iris shawl was too thin. No, no, none of these would do. Clarion's eyes narrowed and she nibbled her lower lip. She wasn't much of a seamstress, but she knew someone who was.

Clarion bolted out of her chambers and flew directly for the tinker fairies' workshop.

Flying low and ducking behind a table full of acorn kettles, Clarion peered out into the bustling workshop. She didn't want to announce herself to the entire tinker crew and have them stumbling over courtesies, she only wanted the audience of one. Clarion spotted the familiar figure of her best friend.

"Mary!" she hissed. "Mary!"

The tinker fairy turned around and started when she saw Clarion leaning out beside the tower of kettles. Clarion motioned her over and Mary set down her hammer and chisel before fluttering over.

"Why are you hiding behind the stockpile?" Mary asked.

"I need a favor." Clarion caught Mary by the wrist and pulled them both back into the cover.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Mary said, suddenly alarmed. Clarion never acted this strangely before.

"I need a heavy coat made before sunset." Clarion said in hushed tones. Mary stared at her.

"What?"

"I need a thick, warm, heavy coat—"

"You mean a winter coat?" Mary's eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest. "What for?"

Sometimes Clarion thought Mary was much too comfortable in their relationship, sometimes going so far as to chastise the young queen's apprentice from keeping late hours. Protocols disbanded, Mary spoke her mind. Clarion's mouth opened, but the words would not come. The Fairy Queen, reigning or in training, could not tell a lie. So Clarion had no choice but to tell the blunt, awful truth.

"I'm going to meet the future lord of winter." Clarion said with a bit of a helpless shrug. Mary's eyes went round and her arms slipped from their tight clasp over her chest.

"So it's official business then?"

"Well…"

"Why didn't you say so? I'll get right on it then, Highness."

Startled by the abrupt assent, Clarion blinked a few times.

"Clarion, Mary, and thank you."

"Come along then, let's get you measured up." Mary motioned the queen's protégé follow her into her workshop, chattering about which flowers would suit Clarion best for a lovely new coat. Fairy Mary had all manner of textiles, tools, and machines at her disposal and she rummaged through bolts of freshly cut petals, treated especially to last as clothing items. She paused on a cream lily petal and cooed, holding it up to Clarion's chin.

"Perfect! This color really brings out your eyes." Mary nodded and set to work taking the fairy's measurements, still going on about what pattern to use and how best to sew insulation into the design. But Clarion had stopped listening. She was back on the snow beneath the falling snowflakes in the company of that handsome winter fairy. He rubbing the back of his head with that sheepish, tremulous smile.

"—rion? Have you heard a word I've said?" Mary blew of puff at a loose tendril of brown hair.

"I'm terribly sorry, what did you say?" Clarion was sure her smile was sheepish now.

"I said I'm done measuring, you can put your arms down now." Mary repeated slowly and Clarion's outstretched arms dropped to her side. Mary's eyebrows rose. "Right. I've got to cut the material, would you kindly fetch some cotton for the fringe?"

"Of course."

The tinker fairy went to work cutting the design out of the lily petals while Clarion searched the cupboards. When Clarion returned with willow bark, Mary shooed her out of her work space.

"Come back when I've finished with it then. Go on. Out!" Mary shook her head, incredulous, as she flew up to retrieve the cotton. "Don't know where that one's head is at. And she's to meet the Lord of Winter? Tuh."

Clarion had the mind to borrow a pair of goggles from the workshop before she flew directly to Treasure Cove. True to its name, pirates had been hiding their stolen booty here for centuries. Clarion was sure they would not miss one small sapphire. She collected a marquise cut sapphire from the lot and deposited both items beside the book she'd hidden near the border. Glancing up, Clarion saw the sun was nearly set and she hurried back to the tinker workshop.

Mary was putting the finishing touches of the luxurious winter coat when Clarion appeared. She sewed the last stitches to the woven cotton-puffed neckline, bit the thread clear with her teeth and offered the coat up to Clarion who sighed in awe.

"Mary, it's beautiful." She said. The elegant pleats and sweeping lines of the cotton-lined jacket spoke of the high craftsmanship in both design and durability.

The queen's protégé flattened her wings to her back, slipped into the heavy coat, and buttoned it shut. Mary wiped a hand at her brow as she scrutinized the attire on its intended.

"It'll do." Mary said. "I wish I'd had a little more time on it, but it will keep you warm."

"It's beautiful, Mary." Clarion did a little turn that set Mary smiling at her work and the fairy wearing it before Clarion swept the tinker fairy into an embrace.

"Tell me all about the meeting now, all right?" Mary said.

Clarion shot Mary a decidedly mysterious smile that made the tinker fairy raise an eyebrow.

"Of course." Clarion said and darted off to the border, leaving her friend watching after with pursed lips.

Successfully securing the items Milori had tasked her with, Clarion eyed the sun setting off her shoulder and the brilliant pinks and oranges dying the clouds with their spectacular color. Just in time. She relished the warmth of the early evening summer breeze before swooping low into the trees and landing at the same root she had peeked over hours ago.

She brushed the leaves off the book Milori lent her and fluttered toward the stark magic boundary. The intensity of the magic still gave her pause as she stood on the greener side of the seasons. Snowflakes continued to fall their silent flight on the blanket of snow just within reach and Clarion held her breath as she stepped over the perimeter once more. The blast of cold met her and she exhaled at how much colder it was with the sun dropping below the horizon. Mary had done well with her coat; it warded off most of the Winter Woods' chill and she snuggled deeper into the cured petals inlaid with a layer of insulating cotton.

She ventured out into the snow again now able to withstand its bite as she turned about in the gentle flurry falling around her.

Suddenly, a biting wind whipped over Clarion's entire body as something huge landed directly behind her. Snowflakes whirled and the snow behind her crunched as though some beast had closed its jaws on it.

Clarion spun to see a massive Never-snowy owl folding its great wings over its back and eyeing her with imperious yellow eyes. Her mouth opened but she did not budge. The owl was a beautiful animal and its bright feathers were of a white so pure it put the surrounding snow to shame. The bird tilted its head to one side as if hearing her thoughts and scrutinized her before she saw its pupils shift to the items in her hands. Its eyes riveted back onto Clarion's and it stood up tall and ruffled its feathers as though to make itself more imposing.

Clarion wasn't sure what to make of this odd behavior. Most animals held no quarrel with fairies, except perhaps hawks among other birds of prey. Owls were wild. And this one's temper did not seem to side with that of the fairies.

From around the owl's scaly foot stepped Milori, a pair of goggles strapped to his forehead. He ran a pacifying hand over the owl's feathered torso.

"Easy Amicus," Milori murmured and the effect was immediate. The Never-snowy owl's stance went slack, feathers flattening as its great domed head turned and looked with deep affection toward the sparrow man. Milori lingered only a moment more before taking a few measured steps toward Clarion.

"Good evening, Clarion." He smiled at her and the warmth in his voice became double fold, but he spoke as though the owl might yet pounce on her. "I see you have all I requested. If you would kindly offer up the sapphire, Amicus will become more even-tempered."

Clarion shifted the book and goggles to the crook of her arm and reverently presented the gemstone in both hands. The Never-snowy owl, Amicus, stared at her and the gem a moment before leaning sharply down to inspect the prize. The owl's face filled her whole of her sight; so close did he peer at her that she could make out the individual feather vanes of his face, her reflection in his eyes. His huge yellow eyes seemed to bore into hers, judging her. And for the first time in a long time, Clarion felt uncertainty. The stillness of the Winter Woods was deafening as owl and future queen stared at one another, seeking secrets.

At last the owl stretched closer, opening his beak as he went. To bite her?

His black beak closed on the edges of the sapphire and tenderly plucked it from Clarion's quivering hands. A very soft whistle slipped out of the bird's beak. The owl blinked and she felt a release.

Milori appeared at her side, the unorthodox trail over.

"Excellent." He beamed, at ease. "A beautiful stone, milady, Amicus is pleased."

Indeed, the owl seemed to puff up with pride as he held the sapphire in his beak.

"A token of friendship, I take it?" Clarion said.

"I'll explain later. Now, we should be off before the night chill catches up with us." He offered his hand to her, wings fluttering to lift him off the ground. A near devious twinkle seemed to light his eyes for what he had planned and Clarion found herself smiling. She took his hand, cool but not unpleasant, as he led her skyward.

"Am I right to assume we're taking a flight of fancy?"

"One you will never forget." He affirmed as Amicus leaned forward to allow the fairies to land on his back. Milori saw that Clarion was settled before seating himself close to the reins at Amicus' neck. He snapped the goggles over his eyes and motioned she do the same. In his element, Clarion could not help but smile at the subtle vigor of his bearing, his gestures, his quietly eager commands.

She secured the goggles over her eyes and he twisted back toward her.

"Hold on tight."

Cheeks burning pink from more than the cold, Clarion wrapped her arms around the young lord's middle as he pulled back on the reins. The owl stood at attention and Clarion squeezed to Milori when she felt her weight thrown back toward the bird's tail. He patted her clasped hands in reassurance and nudged his heels into the owl's neck.

Extending its magnificent white wings, the Never-snowy owl took two hops forward, and flapped hard through the air. The motion completely differed from fairy flight; the rising and falling of the wing pumps was jarring at first but gradually slowed as they became airborne.

The chill winter air rushed over Clarion's face and through her hair, snowflakes intermittently striking her cheeks. The goggles kept her eyes clear and dry.

Clarion watched the forest floor race beneath them—summer and winter side-by-side.

Milori urged the owl to fly directly down the centerline of the border; one wing in winter, the other in summer. When Clarion began to shiver in the cold, Milori nudged Amicus into the summer where warmth spilled over them both. He remained until the heat overwhelmed him and nudged Amicus back into the icy wind of winter. They wove like this as they skimmed low over the stream and high over the trees. Clarion, feeling braver as she became accustomed to the flight and her companion, perhaps passed her excitement to Milori who pushed Amicus into the flights of fancy she'd alluded to. They climbed, banked, dove over the seasons and the queen's apprentice chirruped with glee at each maneuver. They looped through the snowflakes in one arc and rolled between green branching crowns of summer trees in the next.

Milori laughed at Clarion's exhilarated whoops and steered Amicus toward a rushing, white-washed waterfall on the winter side. The water roared as they drew near and Amicus banked into a lazy spiral descent around the falls. Clarion watched in awe as Milori released the reins and raised both of his hands, the running water frosted over and froze in elegant twisting icicles that wound their way after them; weaving icy ropes of grandeur in their wake. They reached the bottom before the ice could follow and Milori froze liquid base into an arch for Amicus to glide through. Clarion clapped her hands in delight as the owl flew up and hovered to admire the frost fairy's work.

The flight lasted until the first stars peeked out in the darkness and Amicus perched in a tree on a cliff overlooking the valley. This great old tree stood in both seasons and it was here Milori indicated they dismount and return to their own seasons to recoup. Milori took her hand again and guided them both to the border, releasing her only when she stood on her own side once more. They were both shuddering from the effects of the other's seasons; Clarion rubbing her hands together for warmth, her nose and cheeks numb, and Milori fanning his face free of heat. They grinned at one another.

"Th-that was absolutely f-fantastic!" Clarion said through her chattering teeth.

"It was…fun, hmm?" Milori said, fatigued from the heat.

The branch quaked beneath them and they both peered at Amicus.

Clarion realized the owl still pinched the sapphire in his beak. Amicus ruffled his wings with near impatience as he switched from foot to foot.

"Go on then, you silly thing." Milori laughed.

Amicus brushed Milori with one wing and launched from the perch in soundless flight toward the snowy mountains of the Winter Woods. They watched the owl soar homeward together. All four seasons were visible from their rest site, the purple valley and mountain silhouettes stark in their twilit vestments. The crickets had only begun warming up their legs for song below as leaves rustled in a gentle breeze on her side of the border.

Clarion's head was still abuzz with their adventure as she relived their awesome flight in her mind's eye. She still felt like she was flying. Milori basked in the silence as well, a reminiscent smile on his lips.

Clarion shrugged out of her coat to let the summer envelop her with its warmth and sat on the branch. The winter chill had taken its toll despite the layer of protection from its bite. Lethargy dampened the flight's excitement and her wings did not bode well cramped beneath the folds of her coat. They felt damp and heavy on her back. To think such a brief jaunt in the cold season could have such a profound effect on her; profound consequence.

Milori too seemed exhausted and followed her lead and settled on the snow-covered portion beside her, one knee drawn up to his chest to rest one arm, the other leg swinging free. They sat in silence awhile to recover and the evening granted them a quiet reprieve, their wings gradually returning to full strength.

"I come here to think." Milori said after some time.

"I can see why. It's breathtaking."

"Indeed." Milori said, but his eyes were not on the landscape. Clarion met his twinkling gaze with a demure smile, brushing a loose lock of golden-brown hair behind her ear. "Though I may come here to read now, seeing as my usual spot is dangerous." He rubbed the back on his head at the memory and Clarion laughed.

"You'll never let me forget that, will you?"

"First impressions are the most lasting."

Clarion clapped a hand over her face. "So much for my reputation in the Winter Woods."

"I'd say you're rather 'striking.'" They laughed together.

With her wings warming and her strength returning, Clarion's head filled with questions.

"So what precisely is the meaning behind the sapphire then? What could an owl want with a gemstone?"

"Ah, that." He cleared his throat as though just remembering he had promised to explain the event. "As I'm sure you've read, Never-snowy owls are vain by nature. They're always trying to outdo each other's finery and bicker constantly because of it. They take their beauty very seriously and judge their worth by it." He rubbed thoughtfully at his chin. "Yours was more of a…a peace offering if you will."

"I'm not sure I understand. I mean no ill will."

Milori inclined his head, searching the ground far below for the right words.

"Their pride is fragile. Anything they perceive to be more beautiful than themselves engenders their animosity. The sapphire was a preemptive measure to avoid disagreement."

"I see." Clarion murmured, pleased at the winter fairy's foresight and the delicate accolade hidden in his words. "Why not emerald or ruby?"

"Amicus is partial to sapphires, as I am. You chose a magnificent stone." He beamed. Clarion imagined he would have puffed up like Amicus had he feathers to do so. "How did you come by it?"

Clarion and Milori exchanged questions long into the night on the tree branch extending into both seasons, exploring their similarities and distastes. The pair had much in common despite their opposing habitations; everything from exhaustive research to board games to the unique perspectives they shared on overseeing fairy affairs. Milori promised to bring Clarion new reading material from the Keeper of their extensive library and Clarion said he would have to try rosehip tea.

They made a pact to meet every sunset from that day forward.

Author's Note: WOW. The demand for this story has been unreal-and I'm flattered and humbled by the response from you, dear readers. I've been getting reviews almost daily with demands for an update. That said, I apologize for taking so long to update! Work, life, the holiday season have kept me busy. Not to mention NaNoWriMo which was as awesome as it was challenging! But I digress...

Here, at long last, is the second chapter to 'Where Spring Touches Winter!' I'd written about half of it before NaNoWriMo kicked off, then finally came back to it these last few days. I stumbled on a few things that needed research. Namely, I wanted Milori's owl to be female, but his all-white snowy owl is clearly male so I had to revise a bit of my work. I'll admit, the romance does seem a bit rushed in this chapter but in my eyes the two are already in love-they just don't know it yet. XD Also, I dunno why Fairy Mary keeps cropping up in my Tinker Bell stories. She's a firecracker with some hidden side which I fully intend to address in the next chapter.

Yes, dear readers, I do plan to have a third chapter to this story which will no doubt be longer than the first and second chapters combined. Your lovely reviews are always encouraging to get the next chapter posted, so please keep banging my door until you see results!

Enjoy!

Blackfire 18