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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 15:22:37 GMT -5
Tinkerbell was looking for a child. She'd been trying to find one for what seemed like a long time, and she wasn't having any luck. So now she was bored. She flittered in and out of open windows, in a city that had far too much light, considering how late it was. And not even a proper clocktower.
She didn't much care for the city, but it was one of the best places to find a Lost child. The real problem, she was finding, was that children didn't seem to believe in magic anymore. She had to be especially careful who she scouted out. They couldn't afford to have children talking about how much they didn't believe in fairies.
The wind was rather chilly, for the fairy from the land of everlasting summer. She saw the flicker of firelight from a window, and headed for it. Squeezing through a hole in the window pane, she looked around the large room. It smelled of magic.
She smiled, and wondered if there were any children here. It was doubtful...but in the meantime, there was a lovely old clockpiece there on the mantel. It wasn't working--but Tinkerbell was nothing if not a tinker. She drifted over, and worked open the back of the clock. Her delicate hands began adjusting and shifting pieces, her tongue stuck out between her teeth in concentration. It was rather fun, and took her mind off of her current trouble--so much so that she failed to notice the large human entering the room.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 15:35:16 GMT -5
Well. Three apprentices interviewed and accepted. That was a start. He had particular hopes for the Moreland girl. She would be easy to manipulate if he kept her somewhat cowed and encouraged her hot-headedness at the same time. He could use her, and gladly would.
Horvath entered his study after seeing young Nani Pelekai to the main door. He went to inspect the shelves behind his desk for a book, but paused upon hearing a faint tinkling sound. Were those... bells? He didn't have any bells in his study.
The sound emanated from the old clock on the mantel, which hadn't worked since the 1920s. Frowning, the sorcerer approached it, and peered behind the clock.
A minute figure, female, glowing a pretty gold, worked among the gears and cogs. Tiny gossamer wings were a blur as she hovered in place. Horvath raised his eyebrows. Well now, a fairy. You didn't see a fairy every day, particularly not in these times.
He gestured, and a ring of blue light encircled the tiny creature, just to keep it from disappearing on him.
"Hello there," he said.
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 15:39:56 GMT -5
Tinkerbell looked up, and saw the man. She gasped, and tried to fly away, or at least hide. But after flying a few inches, it was like hitting a glass wall. She tried again, in another direction, to no avail. But this was a magician she was dealing with. He smelled of magic.
As a rule, Tinkerbell didn't like adults. Captain Hook and his pirates were the only grown-ups she'd ever really known, though there were the Long Lost Boys that Peter had banished away. She hovered as close the clock as she could, peering around it cautiously.
"What do you want?" she asked. She doubted he would be able to understand her--most humans couldn't. But he was a sorcerer, so there was always a chance he might hear something other than bells. "I wasn't hurting anything." As if to prove it, she slid the last piece into place, and the clock started ticking again. Maybe this man would be scared away, like Hook whenever he heard a ticking clock.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 20:20:36 GMT -5
He looked down at her, his eyebrow climbing slightly higher as the clock began to tick once more. Very impressive. Not only had he caught himself a fairy, he'd caught quite the little tinker of a fairy. Unlike most humans, he actually understood the fairy language. He was rusty with it, and she was speaking rather quickly, but the sorcerer focused intently for a moment until he had sorted out what she'd said.
"I merely wish to know what you're doing here, little tinker," he said. At least she wasn't one of the greater Fae. The last time he'd had one of them in a Circle, she'd been directly responsible for his getting trapped in the Grimhold by Blake. "I haven't seen one of your kind in a very long time."
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 20:58:36 GMT -5
Tinkerbell shrugged. "Been looking for a child. It was cold out, so I came in. Smelled magic, so I thought I'd fix your clock." She shrugged, closing the back of the clock. She looked around the room. "Are there children here?"
She didn't feel any, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe he would have a child he didn't want anymore, and she could take him or her back to Neverland. A magical child would be fantastic, and certainly better than any ol' Peter.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 21:22:59 GMT -5
In an odd sort of way, that made sense. But then, she was a fairy. Their logic tended to be a little odd.
"I'm afraid there aren't any children here," he replied. His dark eyes glinted as his mind turned over all the things that he could do with a little creature like this. She could prove very useful. "At least, not yet. I'm taking on several students, some of whom are quite young."
Horvath twisted the parameters of his holding spell, expanding the circle so that it enclosed the entire room rather than just the mantel. Now she shouldn't feel quite so trapped. "Why are you looking for a child?"
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 21:28:56 GMT -5
Tinkerbell relaxed, now that she was able to fly around. She moved up to the top of the clock, and sat there. "Mine forgot me."
Just saying it made her anger and hurt at Peter swell up again. She proceeded to call him several names, which, even if the sorcerer understood them, probably wouldn't make much sense. They were mostly curses she'd picked up from the pirates and the lost boys.
She looked around the room, and sighed. It was lonely, being just one little fairy in such a big world. Even if she went back to Neverland alone, she couldn't just go and rejoin the fairies. She'd been away from them so long, all her old duties would have been given to another pixie. Besides, she liked having a human playmate. She just didn't like it when they forgot her.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 21:39:37 GMT -5
"Such a horrible thing, to be forgotten," Horvath murmured, resting both hands on his walking stick as he watched the little fairy. The expansion of the holding spell had reassured her enough to allow her to settle atop the clock she had so easily repaired.
He chuckled a little at her display of anger. As always, these little fairies had quite the temper. Very passionate creatures. "And may many more horrible things happen to the child who left you," he said. "My name is Maxim Horvath. What is yours?"
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 21:42:11 GMT -5
Tinkerbell looked up at the grown-up man. At least he wasn't as unpleasant as Captain Hook. "Tinkerbell," she said. Then her curiosity got the better of her. She flittered up a little, to be more on level with his face.
"Why are you taking in students? Are you going to teach them magic? Far too few believe in magic, nowadays, it must be terribly hard for you to find them." Maybe he could help find her a child. That would be nice.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 21:53:32 GMT -5
"There are still a few people who believe," he replied. He sighed sadly. "Someone forgot me once, a long time ago, someone I cared about very much. She forgot about me because she fell in love with another man. I want to make horrible things happen to him, and for that, I need a great deal of magic. Magic I can get from students."
The sorcerer extended a finger so she could perch and look him in the face if she wanted. Tinkerbell. Quite a lovely name. It suited her very well. Like all fairies of this sort, her voice sounded like the jingling of tiny silvery bells.
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 22:01:53 GMT -5
Tinkerbell flittered over, and landed on his finger. She looked sad for him, and lightly stroked the side of his finger, in a small attempt of comfort. "It isn't much fun," she said. "And falling in love makes them worse of all."
She sighed, and put her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. Maybe she was never going to find a new child who would love her like Peter did. But maybe...maybe she'd just found something better...
The thought was slowly becoming an idea, and she perked up. "Maybe I can help you," she said. "Maybe I don't need a child right now. Maybe I could just help you, and then find one."
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 22:11:27 GMT -5
Horvath allowed a hopeful expression to slowly cross his face. "You would do that?" he asked softly. "Thank you, Tinkerbell. I would like that very much."
If she did well with him, he'd look into finding a child to be a playmate for her, as a reward for services. He'd learned his lesson about repaying fairies in full, and he'd prefer the payment to be made on his terms rather than the fairy's.
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 22:26:03 GMT -5
She smiled at him. It would be nice to play with a human again. Even a grown-up one.
Tinkerbell bit her lip, and fluttered up to be at eye level with Horvath. "Just...promise you won't forget me?" she asked. Tinkerbell greatly feared being forgotten, if even Peter could forget her. And there were those who said that if you were forgotten by everyone, that you would no longer exist.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Aug 25, 2010 23:07:04 GMT -5
"I have a very long memory," he assured her. He didn't know of many humans who could boast a longer one. Merlin, perhaps, and Blake, but not many others. Even Nicholas Flamel and his Philosopher's Stone was younger than Horvath. "How could I possibly forget such an enchanting individual such as yourself?"
He held out a finger for her to clasp, smiling.
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Post by Tink on Aug 25, 2010 23:10:38 GMT -5
Tinkerbell accepted the finger, shaking it as much as she was able. "Good," she said with a smile. "I think you and I are going to have great fun together."
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