Rumours Spread

During the three weeks the dragons had been going back and forth to the tree library, in another area of the forest, a fairy named Ruby had been cooking over a campfire contemplating what to do next. She was a very cheerful little fairy with beautiful green eyes which glimmered in the light. She wore her favourite red apron dress over layers of white petticoat and a little white shirt and her red wings seemed to shimmer even when it was dark. Her pointed ears poked out of her long auburn hair, which she plaited into two plaits to keep it out of her way when she cooked. Mushroom fairies, like their name suggests, are born from a special type of toadstool with the natural talent and love for cooking. Ruby was a mushroom fairy through and through as she loved both cooking and the combination of red and white just like her mushroom fairy ancestors who helped raise her in the fairy village. 

Ruby had grown up with Kiki but had left with the other villagers years ago and had spent her days travelling around the Emerald forest and neighbouring towns with the hope of learning as many new recipes as possible. The young fairy travelled with a lovely red and white tent and camped out wherever she could find and loved the freedom it gave her as she could always have her favourite cooking pots and the smell always seemed to bring her a guest or two to share her meal with. Ruby loved to share what she cooked just as much as cooking as it brought her joy to see people enjoy the food she made. Over the last week, more and more of her visitors had mentioned a rumour of dragons being seen in the area - yet none of them had actually seen them - and this had made everyone a lot more cautious when they were travelling through the forest.

One day, Ruby had unknowingly set up camp near the dragons’ cave. That evening as she was cooking over the fire, the aromas from the delicious stew had attracted Fumi the young green dragon to her campsite. Fumi followed the scent of the meal from the mouth of the cave and found Ruby’s tent. She had never seen a tent before and so cautiously peeked round the side of it to see where the smell was coming from. There she saw Ruby humming away whilst sitting on a toadstool with the pot of food cooking by her feet. Although the dragons were now quite comfortable with Kiki, they had all grown up wary of others as they knew of the stories everyone had been told of dragons and that this had caused people to have negative ideas about them. Fumi, therefore, quickly moved away from the campsite once she realised someone was there for fear of being seen.

After several weeks of camping in this spot, Ruby had heard so many stories and rumours of dragons being in the area that she started to become quite nervous for her old friend Kiki. She knew very well that Kiki was now all alone in the Great Tree Library and that because of her job as the final remaining guardian, Kiki did not have the freedom to leave and could not know anything about these rumours. Ruby, however, had learnt so much while camping over the last few years that she felt much more confident that she would be okay if she were to encounter the dragons but she didn’t feel the same if Kiki were to meet them. When she looked at her map, Ruby could see that she had set up camp quite close to the old fairy village and so she decided it would be a good time to visit her friend to tell her to be careful. As she started to pack up her tent, the auburn haired fairy noticed something on the ground. There in the dirt were small footprints. Their unusual shape slightly perplexed her as they were nothing she had seen before. Could they be dragon footprints? They seemed too small compared to the dragons in the stories she had been told when she was younger. There were only a couple of them before they disappeared so the red fairy moved on and continued to pack away before heading on her journey to the village she once called home.

After a short time, Ruby arrived at the village. It saddened her to see it empty but she was well aware of the reality and why she and everyone else had left. Making her way to the library she was surprised to see ahead of her that Kiki was not inside, but was talking to a hedgehog outside. After thinking maybe it was a visitor to the library, she was even more shocked to see the hedgehog quickly make its way into the house by the library once the pair noticed Ruby was there. Perhaps the hedgehog was more than just a visitor?

Kiki was so excited to see her old friend Ruby that she rushed over to greet her with a hug. Out of all the young fairies, Ruby was the one she was closest to growing up so it was a wonderful surprise to see her back in the village. After asking Ruby why she was here, it didn’t take long for the red fairy to explain the rumours she had heard and warn Kiki to be careful. Kiki’s heart fluttered with nerves as she didn’t know how to explain the truth to her old friend. She knew very well that the situation was quite unusual and that Ruby would know the traditions of the Library guardians. However, she also knew that the dragons were her friends, not some scary dangerous creatures that the stories told of. How could she explain it all? The guardian fairy considered their friendship and knowledge of each other and decided to twist the truth in a way she knew Ruby would believe. “Well actually, I’ve bee reading a book all about dragons and they are a lot more friendly than we have been led to believe.” she quipped, heart racing.

Ruby’s wings tingled with excitement after hearing what her friend had said. Knowing that dragons were actually not dangerous, she was desperate to learn all about dragon cuisine. “Oh, we must find them then and learn all about what they eat and all of their recipes!” said Ruby full of enthusiasm. Hearing Kiki’s quiet response explaining how she hadn’t got to that part of the book yet, Ruby quickly flew past Kiki towards the door of the Library, eager to read the section on dragon cuisine. Kiki started to panic; she hadn’t thought it through enough. If Ruby was to go inside, not only would she find no book but all the dragons were in there sorting out the books right there on the ground floor! “There’s no need to go inside! Wait, Ruby, no!” she shouted after Ruby anxiety fully setting in.

Inside the library, the dragons could hear Kiki shouting and knew something was wrong. Hearing the sound of the front door handle, they all darted behind the nearest bookcase they could find, making sure they were hidden from the view of whoever it was that was about to enter. As Ruby opened the door, ignoring the cries of her friend which seemed very silly to her, she saw the past the mess and glimpsed a shadow up high move quickly into the darkness behind the bookcase. Tiny footsteps tapped on the floor, making Ruby a little confused. “Is there another fairy living with you now?” asked the mushroom fairy, believing this to be the only option. Before Kiki could answer, a loud crash which sounded like a pile of books falling startled the fairies. Ruby darted towards the noise, concerned something bad had just occurred, with Kiki following behind her. As Ruby rounded one of the bookcases she saw a red dragon with a small pile of books in his hand and a pile of books at his feet - the culprit of the loud noise. It was Kai. Next to him was another dragon, Alula, with her hand to her mouth telling the red dragon to be quiet.

At that moment, the inhabitants of the library realised that they had been caught. Each of the remaining dragons slowly came out of their hiding spot and gave a small wave to Ruby as Kiki gave a nervous giggle. “Surprise!” she said with a slight tremble in her voice, realising the truth had come out. To her relief Ruby started to laugh, understanding what was going on and finding the whole situation very amusing. She had come to warn Kiki of dragons and yet they had actually been with her this whole time.