TFT Chapter 4

And Chapter 4. It's still the longest so far... but it is actually shorter than it was. Originally we saw them out of the forest at the end of it. But it now ends earlier than that. the three pages I removed now open up Chapter 5 which is still being written. This means that I am officially done with the correction, manipulation, etc. of the previous chapters and can now advance the plot. So keep checking back!


Chapter 4
The cool morning mist woke Graves just as the sun was coming up. It was still mostly dark. The field behind them was covered with a thick fog that seemed unintimidated and crept deeply into the forest. The path was only visible for a few feet into the woods before it disappeared into a misty darkness.
“Nothing to worry about,” he said to Argyle who until recently had been used as Graves’s pillow. “Just some fog. It’ll be gone by the time we’re ready to go.”
He rolled up his blankets and packed everything into his bag. It magically all seemed to fit. His horse was happily eating grass from the field. He pulled an old carrot from his saddlebag and fed it to the horse who seemed as happy as he could be to eat something “substantial.” A quick breakfast of dried meat for Graves and Argyle and they were on their way.
There was still a light mist, but the rising sun had lifted most of it.
“Not sure what everyone’s so afraid of,” said Graves. “This place doesn’t seem so bad.”
The forest was bright and not particularly as thick as it looked from the outside. The path was wide and easily followed. There even appeared to be trail markers nailed to some of the trees along the path. The path never curved. There were no hills. It was perfectly straight.
“This is too easy. There has to be more to it than this. What did that idiot say? Everyone who comes in here just comes right back out the way they went in? I just thought they got scared of something and ran back… but now… I don’t think so. “
He stopped on the trail and looked around at the trees.
“Lying trees,” he said. “How can trees lie?”
Argyle wandered off the trail a little to the right, sniffing around the leaf bed and investigating. Graves looked up and around again, but when he looked back to the right, Argyle was gone.
“Oh. That’s how,” he said, with only the slightest trace of panic. He strained to see if maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.
“Argyle!” he called. “Arg! Come back!”
He heard a rustling in the leaves off to his left. Graves whipped his head to the left… and there was Argyle. Exactly as he had been, but on the other side of the road.
“How did you get there..? When you were just there?” Graves asked Argyle pointing to both places.
Argyle shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“You don’t know? Do you even remember crossing the road?”
Argyle shrugged his shoulders again.
“Right. Lying trees, then,” smiled Graves, and they cautiously continued onward.
They stopped at another trail marker. All of the trail markers thus far had been green arrows pointing up. Graves stared at it, twisting his chin hairs in his fingers and thinking. He cautiously walked to the marker. He reached his hand out toward it and slowly… cautiously… fearfully… inched toward it. He gently leaned forward a little, touched it, and jumped back with a “Waahh…”
“Right,” he said. He walked right up to it, and spun it on its nail so it was upside down. It was now a green arrow pointing down. He got back on his horse, now with Argyle sitting in front of him, and they slowly continued on.
They continued riding for a little over an hour. The sunlight still looked exactly the same as when they entered the forest as if no time had passed, and off in the distance… impossibly… was a trail marker nailed to a tree… upside down.
“Oh that’s just creepy,” he said to Argyle who’s tail had gone slightly puffy. “We didn’t turn around… and the road hasn’t turned. This forest is alive… and it’s playing with us. I’M NOT GIVING UP!” He shouted up at the trees.
“We’ll walk down this road until we die! We’ll never give up and turn back!” he shouted again.
Argyle wheeled his head around and looked at Graves with a very concerned look. Graves smiled back at Argyle and shook his head as if to say “Don’t worry, I didn’t mean that.”
They continued on for hours and would pass the upside down arrow another six times. Argyle was asleep and Graves was drifting in and out as the horse slowly carried them along the trail. The time of day had still not changed. It was still early morning. At this point, Graves was pointing out everything else that they had already passed almost ten times.
“There’s the twisty looking tree… There’s the old fallen tree trunk… There’s the big rock… There’s my candy wrapper from three hours ago… And there’s my trail marker!” They stopped. It was seeming pointless.
“Fine. One more lap and we’re turning around,” he said, and gently kicked the horse urging him slowly forward. The forest continued with the same tricks. But something happened then that the forest had not counted on. As they approached the big rock for yet another time, something appeared different about it.
“What is that? On the rock? Something’s different. Anything different… is good,” said Graves. He woke up Argyle. “Arg, look! Different!” he pointed.
There was something bright and sparkling on the rock. They approached it slowly. Argyle began purring and Graves realized what it was.
“Our situation has not improved,” he said reaching for his saddlebag and pulling out the fly swatter. They moved right beside the huge boulder on which sat a sleeping fairy. She had a sparkling pink glow, short, jet black hair, and was holding a tiny wand identical to the one yesterday’s fairy had.
Graves lifted the fly swatter over his head and brought it down hard at her. Argyle cried loudly and rattled her awake. At the last second she shot off the rock as Graves swatted nothing.
“BLOODY HELL! What the hell was that for?! I mean really!” she screamed, hovering in front of him.
“Sorry. Well… no I’m not. Those are the rules. You’re a fairy… and I’ve got a fly swatter.”
“It was a bit uncalled for don’t you think?! I wasn’t dancing around in your face, I wasn’t going to talk to you! I DON’T EVEN GIGLLE, DAMMIT!”
Graves and Argyle simultaneously tilted their heads to the side and stared at her.
“You’re perfect,” he said, putting the fly swatter away. “Are there more like you?”
“Doubt it,” she said, floating back to her rock. “Are you lost yet?” she added with an evil smile.
“No, actually. I know this area quite well. Been here eight times today.”
“Nine,” she smiled wider.
“Charming. How do I get out?”
“Just turn around,” she said, dismissively.
“Sorry, phrased that wrong. How do I get through?”
“What did I just say?” she snapped. “Just turn around, and GO BACK. Geez, you’re like my sister. It’s like you talk and she doesn’t hear a word of it. Just keeps bouncing around laughing as if you never told her to shut up,” she said, hands on her hips.
“She didn’t seem to hear a word I said either,” he said.
“You met her? Where, in the field before the forest?”
“Yeah.”
“Grrr… that’s my field! There’s nothing to do in a field and nothing is exactly all I want to do. The forest however is all kinds of backwards and I don’t know if you noticed, but everything she says is backwards. She’s perfect for this job.”
“Job?” he asked.
“Fairies have jobs, usually as caretakers of different areas of the world. Lesser fairies might get stuck in someone’s back yard, but if you’re more important, it could be something like a forest, or some mountains.”
“Lovely. How did you get stuck here?” he pried.
“My stupid sister does everything backwards. When people asked her for directions, all she ever told them was ‘just keep going!’ The forest ws more than happy to play along. So no one ever got through here. So we had to switch. Now she’s in the field where it doesn’t matter what she tells people. She’s insane.”
“I am 100% fully aware of this. I was wondering though, would you do me a favor?” asked Graves.
She sighed. “What?”
“Would you kindly… not tell anyone else how to get through here?”
“What? You mean not do my job? Why?”
“Because I’m on my way to the capital to start my journey rescuing the princess. And I’m not alone in wanting to do this. So I’d like to make it as difficult as possible for anyone else to get to the capital before me.”
“Princess Delle has been kidnapped?!”
“Yes, now about that favor…”
“I have to tell everyone how to get through so they can rescue her more quickly!”
“No! No! No you don’t. I… am going to rescue her. And it will take much longer with everyone else getting in my way,” he tried to convince her.
“You? How do you intend to rescue her? Look at you! You’re hardly a knight in that manky old armor.”
“I’m more of a night than anyone else regardless of the condition of anyone’s armor!”
“Right. Maybe I should come with you.”
“What? No. Not necessary. No, I have everything I need,” he said desperately hoping she wasn’t serious.
“You really don’t want me to come? You really know nothing about fairies, do you?”
“Apparently not. Why do I want you to come with me?”
She sighed. “If a fairy offers to leave her home and follow someone, she can only do so if she promises to lend her power to he or she whom she has chosen to follow.”
“So… if I let you come with us… I get to make you use your power whenever I want.”
“Yup.”
“And what is your power? Your sister’s was slightly… shall I say… useless?” he said.
“That’s what you think. She’s a forest fairy. She has power over trees, animals and all nature. She’d be a pretty handy fairy to have around if she wasn’t so flighty.”
“And your power?” he asked, very interested.
She looked at the horse. She pointed her tiny wand at him and fairy dust shot out of it at the horse’s mouth. The dust settled quickly though and in its place was a large feedbag hanging from the horse’s neck.
“He really looked hungry,” she smiled. “I’m a field fairy. Since my field was pretty big, I have some decent power to go with it.”
“So you can make food? What’s that got to do with a field?”
“I can make almost anything. But only for someone who’s heart truly needs it. Your horse there… he really needed that.”
“Sorry… still not making the field connection,” said Graves, slightly irritated.
“Nothing ever happens in huge fields except battles. Fields are empty places. So the life of a field fairy is pretty boring. Perfect for me! But should someone happen upon me in my huge field and be in dire need of something, I can give it to them. Whatever it is. That’s really all a field fairy is good for. The opposite of what you’d expect, I know. Forest Fairies give guidance or other helpful abilities. Garden fairies spread happiness and joy, water fairies have healing powers. We’re all different.”
Argyle was staring at her, purring. She looked back at him.
“Don’t even think of it,” said Graves. “Unless it’s to make him a salad.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come? I can be really useful! And with me out of the forest… no one will ever get through here.”
“You can just leave like that?”
“Sure! I’m not even supposed to be here, it’s my sister’s forest! I’d rather be sleeping in my big, boring field.”
“And you have to use your power whenever I tell you?”
“Yup. But remember, it only works if it’s something you NEED,” she said.
“Sure,” he smiled, not believing her.
“Hold out your hand,” she said.
He did.
“Now ask me for something you want but don’t need,”
“Give me a bag of money,” he said, watching her. “A big one.”
She waved her wand as she had done before, shooting fairy dust at his hand. When the dust cleared…
“Rocks,” he said. “You’ve filled my hand with Rocks.”
“Ask for something you only want and all I can produce is something you don’t need or want.”
“Rocks,” he said.
“Next time it might be dirt. One time it was grass clippings. I don’t know, I don’t really have control over it.”
“Do you understand at all why I hate fairies?” he asked.
“Yeah. That’s why I don’t giggle.”
“But… rocks.”
“Let it go. And speaking of going, if you ever want to get out of here, we should go now,” she said.
“I don’t even know your name.”
“Naphora. Nafi for short. Only my parents my call me Naphora and it’s really…”
“Sir Michael Graves,” he said, interrupting her.
She hovered in front of him and held out her tiny hand. He held up his index finger and she shook it.
“Pleased to meet you Mr. Gra…”
“SIR! Sir… Michael… Graves”
“Hehe. Right. Sir Graves,” she laughed.
“Was that a giggle?” he asked reaching toward his saddlebag. “Because I will beat you up and down this forest until…”
“Oh shut up. You’d never be able to hit me anyway. Now let’s get out of here.”

She led them in the opposite direction back toward the entrance to the forest. Their conversation continued along the way.
“So how did you become a Knight?” she asked.
“I don’t really like to talk about that.”
“What? Why? What could be so bad about being knighted? You commit some random act of bravery and a King or Queen is grateful enough to make a real Knight out of you. What could…”
“When you put it like that it sounds great. But that’s not how it happened for me and I really don’t like to talk about it.”
“Ok, geez. Sorry I brought I up.”
“So what made you so… normal… compared to other fairies?” he asked, happily changing the subject.
“Not all fairies are the same,” she said. “A lot of us are like my sister, but there are just as many that aren’t. Just because most of the fairies you’ve encountered were obnoxious and annoying doesn’t mean we all are.”
“Just like not all knights wear shiny armor,” he said with a smug grin.
“Understood,” she said after some thought.
“What makes you so interested in saving an evil Princess?”
“Well as much as you all hate her, she used to be my friend! And she’s not the evil girl you all think she is. She’s just… misunderstood,” said Naphi.
“I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard…”
“That’s what everyone says. Everyone’s heard. But no one’s ever met her. No one really knows”
“She’s evil! Come on, you know how she treats people and some of the things she’s done,” said Graves.
“That’s not the real her. I mean it! She used to be my friend when she was just a girl. But then… something happened. She changed. But she’ll be rescued, and then you’ll see,” she said.
“Well that’s obvious because I’m on my way to rescue her right now. Did you say she wasn’t always evil?”
“No! She was the sweetest little girl I had ever met! That was back when I was in charge of the King’s garden… before she banished me to the outskirts of Sprewt.”
“But if she was such a sweet, innocent little girl, why would she do something like that?” asked Graves, unsure if he was really interested or just making conversation.
“I told you, something happened to her. She changed. One day she was her sweet, usual self and the next day she was just… so angry. She saw me flying around the garden singing to the flowers and ordered that I leave and never come back because she hated music. Especially singing. But she had loved to hear me sing every day before that.”
“You? Singing to flowers? I’ve only known you for an hour or so and I already know that that doesn’t seem like you at all.”
“I used to be… happier. I mean I still am… pretty happy. But I’ve given up on silly things like laughing, giggling, singing and other typical fairy stuff. That’s why my sister bothers me so much. She’s so naïve, she just doesn’t understand that no matter how happy you are, someone can just come and take it all away from you,” she said, sounding sadder and sadder as she went on.
“Maybe. If you let them.”
“If you let them? When the Princess tells you to beat it, you don’t really have a choice now do you?”
“True, you had to leave her garden, but you didn’t have to leave your happiness there. There are plenty of other things in the world to be happy about,” said Graves.
“Really? Like what?”
“I’ve no idea,” he said with a smile. She let out a slight laugh, reminiscent of what she might have sounded like years ago.
“But it doesn’t matter. She may not be the same person she was but she’s still my friend and I just want to know that she’s safe. And maybe one day she’ll go back to being her old self again. I really do miss her.”
“Kind of odd don’t you think… that someone could completely change like that overnight,” said Graves, twirling his chin hairs.
“I know, it was like magic. One day she was nice the next day she…”
“Like what?” he said quickly, interrupting her with raised eyebrows.
“I said it was like magic… You know, how she changed like that.”
Graves didn’t say anything, but it was obvious what he was thinking.
“Hey, we’re almost out of the forest. When we get back to the field, we have to walk out into the sunlight, completely away from the shade. Then we’ll turn around, go back in, and I’ll show you the way through,” she said.
“Sounds easy enough,” said Graves. “How long will it take to get through once we do it right?”
“Only two hours or so. It can take longer if you want to come out of the forest somewhere else. But we’re just going straight through to the river so it will be quick.”
“Two hours is much more appealing than three days. And you’re sure that no one else can follow us through this way?”
“Not a chance. Unless Juni tells them how. But no one can bear to listen to her for more than few seconds and she’s not the type to just be frank with someone.”
“I noticed that… though she did give me an odd ability to talk to animals.”
“She did WHAT?”
“I told her not to but she wouldn’t listen. It’s an awful burden, now he can hear me when I call him fat.” Argyle gave a slight growl at that.
“She’s the forest fairy. A backwards forest creates a backwards fairy. Tell her not to do something and she’s going to do it anyway. You just have to know how to talk to her. No is her yes. Anyway, I might be able to fix it for you if you want,” she said.
“I think I’m about done with fairy magic for one day. But hold onto that offer because I may eventually take you up on it.”
They came out of the forest in exactly the same spot they had entered almost a full day before. It still looked like morning but as they exited the forest into the field, the time of day changed rapidly. The sun shot across the sky and lowered to its correct position revealing that it was actually late afternoon. The shadows of the trees changed as well and they quickly stretched out away from the tree line into the grass.
“Oh… First time that’s happened before,” smiled Graves to himself as he watched it happen.
“Yeah, that’s what happens. You don’t realize how long you’ve been lost in there until you come out,” said Nafi.
“I really do hate those woods. Let’s go.”
“Follow me!” she said, and led them right back into the forest.