Let us now return to King Carlyle, Jacob the Frog, Leo the hedgehog, and the band of pixies Aiden, Adair, Conn, Brenna, Arlene and Arlina who were all travelling through the forest together, carrying the Water Sprite Queen with them.
They encountered many strange things and strange creatures as they travelled through the forest, but they had very little adventures. There are very few creatures in the forest who are foolish enough to mess with the pixies.
For example, at one point, a cat stalked them through the bushes, but just as the cat was getting ready to pounce, the cat noticed that six of the group were pixies, and the cat ran away. There were a few more examples of this during the journey, but it’s not worth retelling every encounter with a bigger animal.
It’s not that Pixies are totally safe from the forest predators. A Pixie travelling by itself may be snatched up and eaten by an unscrupulous animal just as quickly as any other animal. After all, what good is magic if you don’t have any time to use it before you’re in the belly of a beast. But a group of 6 pixies always ensured that no one pixie could be quickly gobbled up without the others taking their revenge. And the animals of the forest knew this. Which is why the pixies always travelled in groups.
Eventually, they entered into what has been called the borderlands with the land of the fairies. The land where the rocks were living, and where the mushrooms and leaves could not only talk, but walk. The flowers could also talk, but the flowers were still rooted to their place in the ground--the fairy magic did not extend to letting flowers walk around the forest.
We, of course, have seen all of this before when travelling with John and Benjamin the Mouse, but King Carlyle and Jacob the Frog were completely surprised by all that they encountered. Leo the hedgehog, however, had always lived near the borderlands, so he wasn’t surprised by anything. He knew the area. Or at least, he knew of the area. As he explained to Jacob and King Carlyle, “I don’t usually come here. It’s best to avoid this area if you can. The talking flowers and the talking rocks can all be charming enough. But almost everything is alive, so you have to be very careful what you eat. Even for us plant eaters, it’s very difficult to find food. Also the leaves are constantly fighting wars against each other, and if you’re not careful, you can be caught up right in the middle of one of their battles. I have a cousin who was walking through this area, and got hit by a leaf spear right in her leg from one of the leaf wars. They didn’t mean to target her, of course, but when there’s a huge battle going on, it’s so easy for arrows and spears to go astray.”
“Was she alright?” asked Jacob.
“Oh, she was fine. It was such a little spear. But still, it goes to show. And that’s without getting into all the various mushroom kingdoms around this place.”
“Kingdoms? As in plural?” asked King Carlyle.
“They’re a very factional folk, the mushrooms,” Leo explained. “They are always splitting off from each other and fighting little wars. And then there are the Brownies--the little people. They’re slightly bigger than the Pixies, and they’re always heavily armed with knives and swords and spears and arrows. They are the self-appointed guardians of the borderlands. If you’re not from the area, and they think you’re likely to cause trouble, they’ll tie you up and bring you to their village.”
“No one will bother us,” said Conn. “The Brownies know enough to leave the Pixies alone.”
It was at that moment when there was some rustling in the leaves, and ten Brownie warriors emerged from the bushes with swords in their hands. “What are you doing in these parts?” asked one of the Brownies.
“Minding our own business, I’m sure,” replied Brenna.
“And I expect you’ll be doing the same,” said Arlina.
“It looks like you’re heading to the land of the fairies,” said one of the Brownies.
“Well, so what if we were?” asked Adair. “Everyone’s free to walk around in this forest, aren’t they?”
“No,” answered one of the Brownie warriors humorlessly. “Not everyone is free to walk around all parts of this forest. We are guarding this land, and no one passes through without our leave.”
“That’s news to me,” said Conn. “Who gave you that right?”
The Brownies ignored this question. “We don’t like pixies,” said one of the Brownies. “We don’t like pixies as a matter of principle. You cause too much mischief in the forest. But we especially don’t like pixies when they’re headed to the land of the fairies. We all know the history between pixies and fairies. Are you looking to start another war?”
Aiden elbowed King Carlyle in the side. “See? See? He knows the history alright.”
“Our business with the fairies is our own,” said Brenna. “Maybe we want to make nice with them. Maybe we want to fight them. Maybe we aren’t even heading towards the fairies. But whatever it is, it’s none of your business.”
It was at this point that the Brownies noticed the frozen Water Sprite Queen. “What have you got there?” asked one of the Brownies.
“That’s not your concern either,” said Aiden.
“Fine,” said one of the Brownies. “If you don’t want to talk to us, then we’ll take you back to our village.”
The pixies all scoffed. “I’d like to see you try,” said Conn.
A Brownie stepped forward and tried to grab Conn’s arm, but Conn simply laughed and hopped away. The Brownies then all rushed in to try to grab the pixies, but the pixies shrieked with delight and started running and hopping everywhere. All of the pixies thought the whole affair was terribly funny, and there was much laughing and giggling as they hopped along the ground, evading the Brownies.
King Caryle observed that the pixies were a very agile bunch. They were much more agile than he would have previously guessed. They hopped, they jumped, they bounced, they were able to run up the sides of tree trunks, with their bodies perfectly perpendicular to the tree, and yet did not ever seem in danger of falling. Indeed, gravity did not seem to operate on them as normal. They were able to make huge leaps, and then glide slowly through the air while the Brownies watched helplessly down on the ground.
The Brownies, by contrast, had none of these powers, and were reduced to running around the ground just like ordinary creatures. They tried to jump, and snatch, and run, but they couldn’t possibly keep up with the pixies. And the more they tried, the more the pixies shrieked with laughter.
The Brownies did, however, make a move to grab the rest of the party. Leo the hedgehog tried to run away, and was surprisingly fast on his little feet, and probably would have gotten away except some of the Brownies coming from the other side were able to encircle him. King Carlyle was too surprised by everything to even try to make an escape (although it’s doubtful that he would have been able to hop away fast enough anyway). Jacob the frog was also captured. And the Brownies picked up the frozen body of the Water Sprite Queen, which is what fascinated them the most. But for the moment, they didn’t ask questions. They were still concentrated on capturing the Pixies.
The Pixies, to their credit, never abandoned their travelling companions. They ran and jumped around and around the area, but they never tried to run away from the area. To King Carlyle, the chase seemed to last forever, but it was probably only about 20 minutes. But eventually, the Brownies were all exhausted, and began to give up, or even sit down to rest.
The six Pixies then regrouped, and stood facing the Brownies. Leo, Jacob and Carlyle were being held with the group of Brownies, and the Pixies faced them.
“Oh, come on!” complained Aiden to King Carlyle. “You let them catch you that easily? You didn’t even try to get away.”
“So… it is... apparent... we can’t... catch you,” said one of the Brownies, still gasping for breath. “But we have your companions. So either submit to us, or we’ll take your friends away back to the village.”
This caused a renewed round of laughing by the pixies. “Go ahead,” Conn finally said. “Try to take them back to your village.”
“We may not be able to catch you,” said another Brownie. “But we can defend ourselves against you if you come against us.”
“How can you defend yourself against someone you can’t catch?” asked Arlina.
And with that, the Pixies started bouncing all around again, bouncing off the shields of the Brownies, or off of their heads. The Brownies tried to catch them or stop them, but it was clearly no use.
And the intended message was also clear. The Brownies could try to drag their captives back to their village, but it would be with Pixies jumping off of their heads the whole time. Probably better not to try.
So the Brownies changed the subject. “Who is this motionless body that you’re carrying through the forest?” asked one of the Brownies.
“None of your business,” answered Adair.
But King Carlyle answered. “This is the Queen of the Water Sprites,” he said. “Her body has been permanently frozen by an evil witch’s magic. We seek to bring her to the fairies in hopes that they can undo the spell.”
This seemed to suitably impress the Brownies. “A Water Sprite?” one of them gasped.
“The Queen!” said another.
“How did you find her?” asked a third.
“That is a very long story, which we would be pleased to tell you on our journey,” said King Carlyle. “As well as to relate to you the importance that we believe she has in protecting the forest from monsters. Will you join us in our quest to bring her to the land of the fairies?”
“Now hold on there,” said Aiden. “What are you doing here, frog? I thought you wanted us Pixies to help escort you. What are we doing here if you’re just going to be asking the Brownies instead?”
“Do you mean to say,” said one of the Brownies, “that you pixies would be just as happy to leave this area of the forest and go home if someone else was to help escort the Water Sprite Queen? Because if so, I think we may have found a solution. We don’t like pixies travelling through these lands given the history between pixies and fairies. If you agree to turn around and go back home, we’ll agree to escort these travellers to the land of the fairies.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” said Arlene. “You’re not getting rid of us that easily.”
“You say you don’t want us here?” asked Brenna. “But everyone knows that Pixies always go where no one wants them. That’s what we do.”
“Besides,” said Aiden. “The frog asked us first. It’s you Brownies who should get lost.”
“We’d welcome all the travelling companions we can get,” said Jacob the Frog to the Brownies. “If you’d like to accompany us as well, I’m sure we can all get along. You never know what dangers we may yet meet along the road, and it helps to have as many friends as possible. It’s vitally important that we protect the Water Sprite Queen until we can get her unenchanted.”
The Brownies looked at each other, and then one of them shrugged. “Let’s go along,” he said. “I think the frogs are telling the truth. And if they’re not, we’ll want to keep an eye on them anyway to see what they get up to.”
“Very well,” said King Carlyle. “And while we travel, I will tell you all about how we came upon the Water Sprite Queen. But I should tell you first how I became a frog. You see, I am not actually a frog. I am the King of Castle Tauna. But one day…”
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