Tinker Bell and the War of Talents (2015 edition--OLD)

Chapter 5: Breaching Powers

He whipped around at her startled exclamation. For a split moment, fear flashed across his features, a fear that was only instigated by the lightning radiating from his hands, his eyes widening as he realized he'd been caught. "Tink!" he cried, flinching as another crash of thunder echoed from the darkening clouds. "Tink, help me!"

She stared, feeling her world crashing down all around her. "Bobble, what--"

"Tink, please!" His voice was high, scared, and it was obvious that he wasn't faking anything. The storm was out of control. He couldn't stop it. It was growing stronger and so was the lightning in his hands. "I...I can't stop it! Please! Do somethin'!"

Tink was frozen. Half in terror, half in shock. What should she do? What could she do? This was far beyond something that needed fixing. This situation needed a miracle. And she was definitely not one of those.

"Tink! I'm beggin' ye!"

He lied to me.

He lied to all of us.

But he still needs help. This storm is only going to get worse. Someone might get hurt. I can't stand by and let that happen. No matter how irked this entire predicament makes me.

The thunder grew louder. Tink cast a wary glance toward the heavens. The rain came down harder and her umbrella began to sag from the constant beating. She took a deep breath. Okay. Here goes nothing. She darted from the trees and landed before him. She closed her eyes, questioning her sanity, and then reached out and grabbed Bobble's hands, bracing herself, fully expecting to be electrocuted or zapped entirely from existence.

But nothing happened.

She cautiously opened her eyes, shocked not to be feeling anything. Bobble looked down too, though more out of shame or surprise, she didn't know, to see the violent gold surrounding his hands start to fade to a more neutral shade. Tink did not understand what was happening, or even why it was doing what it was doing, but it seemed as though her presence had either calmed the weather, or at least her fellow tinker. Still, the lightning did not go away, nor did the storm.

"There! Now try and clear up this weather!" she shouted to him over the howling wind, ignoring the way he cringed at her tone. He nodded frantically and took a deep breath. She could feel him quivering, and in an instant, everything came rushing to her, like an answer to all of her unvoiced questions. He was the one who had caused all of the weather--but he was as afraid of it as she was. This was not something he had willed to happen. That much was obvious now.

Overhead, the rain began to lighten slightly. The lightning flashed furiously but soon succumbed to the commands Bobble was muttering under his breath. Tink watched, feeling her heart racing out of control, and, as she did, the sky began to clear up. The clouds dissipated into nothingness and the sun began to shine once more, any sign of a storm ever existing disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The two tinkers fell apart to opposite sides of the clearing with identical sighs of relief. Tink leaned against a tree, holding out an arm to steady herself, suddenly feeling utterly drained. As she glanced over at Bobble, she found him balancing himself much the same way, though he looked more horrified than tired. 

This was the moment Tink had been waiting for, and he was far too exhausted to try and fly away, so there was no way he would be able to dodge her questions.

And by the Second Star to the Right, she had a lot of those.

Bobble glanced up at her from his doubled-over position, clearly reading the determination in her eyes. "Miss Bell..." he began, holding out a hand as though hoping to ease her away from her triumphant moment. "Please...don't..."