The Bond of the Bell

Eventually, we had to break our sweet moment to face the dangers we did not yet eradicate.

We stood at the mouth of the cave, overlooking the devastation. The smoke over the jungle had thickened, swirling into a vortex above the massive, hollowed-out stump of the Hangman's Tree.

"The Rot," I said, pointing my Keyblade at the swirling darkness. "It's coming from the hideout. The Heartless are using the tree's roots to pump darkness into the island's veins."

Tinkerbell stood beside me, still wrapped in my coat. She looked at the tree, then at her own hands. She clenched them into fists. "I can't fight like this," she said, her voice heavy with regret. "I'm too slow. My magic is too diluted when I'm big. To save my home... I have to be small again."

She looked up at me, eyes shimmering. "I don't want to go back. I liked being held. I liked... everything we did."

I knelt down, bringing my face level with hers. "Size doesn't change who you belong to, Tink. You can be small, but you're still mine. And right now, I need my partner. I need the Fairy."

She nodded, a determined fire returning to her eyes. She reached into her pouch, pulling out a pinch of golden dust, the original formula. She blew it over herself. "Ready," she whispered.

FLASH.

The pink light vanished, replaced by a brilliant, concentrated burst of gold. The weight vanished. Hovering in the air before me was the tiny, glowing sprite. She zipped in a circle, her wings blurring, leaving a trail of pixie dust. She flew right up to my face and hovered on the tip of my nose. She looked fierce. She placed her tiny hands on her hips and shouted.

Ting-ling-a-ling!

I blinked. Yesterday, that sound had just been bells. But today... the sound resonated in my bones. It vibrated against the memory of her taste on my tongue. The bond we had forged, the cleaning, the care, the intimacy, had bridged the gap between species.

I heard the bells, but in my mind, the words formed clear as crystal. "Let's kick their asses, Master!"

I smirked. "I can understand you."

Tink gasped, a sharp ping! "You can? You can hear the words?"

"Loud and clear. Must be the 'hygiene' lesson."

She turned bright red, glowing like a tiny ember. She zipped around my head in a loop-de-loop of joy. "You can hear me! Finally! Okay, the plan: We hit the Tree first. The roots are the problem. If we clear the roots, the island starts healing. Then we hunt the big guy."

"Lead the way, partner."

I leaped from the cliff edge. This time, I didn't glide aimlessly. Tink shot forward, a golden bullet cutting through the gloom. I cast Aero on myself to keep up, surfing on the wake of her slipstream.

We hit the canopy of the jungle like a meteor. The Shadows were waiting. Thousands of them, crawling over the vines like ants. "Light them up!" I roared.

I swung The Solar Zenith. The blade elongated with light, cleaving a path through the undergrowth. Tink was a marvel. In her small form, she was a blur of ****. She didn't just cast magic; she weaponized her size. She zipped through the enemies, casting high-speed Gravity spells that crushed the Heartless into the mud, setting them up for my finishing strikes.

"On your left! Big one!" she chimed.

I spun. A Large Body was charging. "Freeze!" I cast Blizzard, freezing the ground beneath it. The fat Heartless slipped, crashing into a tree. Tink dove, her tiny needle-sword glowing with energy. She pierced the emblem on its chest. POP. The giant dissolved into darkness.

We moved as one unit. The shyness of the cave was gone, replaced by a lethal synergy. She was my eyes, my radar, and my air support.

We reached the clearing of the Hangman's Tree. It was a nightmare. The tree, once the sanctuary of the Lost Boys, was pulsating. Thick, black veins throbbed along the bark. The entrance, the slide hidden in the hollow trunk, was vomiting a steady stream of Shadows.

"They've corrupted the Core," Tink chimed, hovering by my ear, her light flickering with anger. "That's where Peter used to sleep. Now it's a nest."

"Then we burn it out," I said, gripping the Keyblade.

Suddenly, the ground shook. The roots of the tree erupted from the earth. They weren't wood anymore; they were massive, thrashing tentacles of darkness. From the hollow trunk, a guardian emerged. It wasn't a Heartless I recognized. It was a twisted amalgamation of the tree itself, a Darkside made of rotted wood and shadow, towering thirty feet high.

It roared, a sound of creaking timber and screaming wind.

Tink zipped back to me, hovering behind my shoulder. "That's... that's big. Really big."

"The bigger they are," I said, locking eyes with the monster, "the harder they fall. Tink, I need you to blind him. Aim for the eyes. I'll take the legs."

"On it, Master! Make him timber!"

She shot upward, a golden streak against the grey sky, drawing the monster's gaze. I charged.