Blackberry Bun's Journal: Chapter 20

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 20: Deep into The Cold


One week had passed since the day we met the dark berry fairies. After the three of us returned home, there were no more special trip because for unknown reason suddenly my Time Remote Mark II had broken down into an aftermath like the original Time Remote. So, once again my ``Danger! Do not touch!`` shelf had something in it, and I had no motivation to do any repairs. I had decided to spend the week walking around Strawberryland visiting one or two friends from time to time.

Three days before, I visited Orange Blossom at her house. Coincidentally, Angel Cake, Blueberry Muffin, and Rainbow Sherbet were there as well. The five of us had some talks together, and then someone started to ask something related to that device.

"By the way, Blackberry. I heard you did special trips with Raspberry and Lemon," Angel said.

"Umm, yes. What's with that?" I asked.

"Why you never invite us?" she asked back.

"Well, in the first trip all of you had already planned a garden party with Strawberry. Then for the second one Raspberry said all of you were either too tired, busy, or already had a plan for the day when she invited," I answered.

"Well..." Blueberry said, pausing for a brief moment. "You're right. Now I remember."

"Oh yes, me too," Orange said.

"I still would like to have that trip once," Angel said.

"It's not as good as you might think," I said. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," she replied.

"How about the others?" I asked.

"I'd like to," Orange said.

"I always want to see the world for real, not just in books," Blueberry said.

"Seeing new things is always a pleasure for me," Rainbow said.

"I need three days to prepare. Is it fine for you all?" I asked, and everybody else agreed.

So, the last three days had been spent repairing Time Remote Mark II. Actually I did the repair in just one day, but I had to make sure nothing would go wrong in the trip. The other two days were spent checking all the devices I would bring in the trip so I could be sure they would work when needed.

At the D-day, I was worrying everything had to be cancelled because the day was so windy that I could feel my house swaying left and right. Sometimes I was also worried that the tree where my house was on would fall, so I braced myself with all soft things I could find in my house. While I was waiting for the wind to calm down, suddenly I heard something from one window of my house. I went to the window and saw Margalo on its other side, being pressed by the wind. I quickly opened the window to let her slide in, and then she entered my house along with a strong wind. I quickly closed the window again and she landed on the table in my living room.

"Are you okay Margalo?" I asked, approaching her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What a windy day today, isn't it?" she said.

"Indeed," I said, sitting down on the sofa right in front of the table.

"I was just doing my daily work this morning, and then suddenly this strong wind blew me away and I ended up right here!" she said.

"Make yourself at home while waiting for the wind to calm down," I said.

"Thanks," she replied.

"By the way, how's your sis?" I asked.

"She's doing great! Now all of us have a lot of friends in the Berry Fairy Fields!" she answered with excitement.

"That's good to hear," I said.

"Although, I worry about this one fairy..." she said.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Sherry Bobbleberry. She's so clumsy that nobody wants to be her friend," she answered.

"Did you try to befriend her?" I asked again.

"I did, but you know..." she said, pausing for a moment. "Her clumsiness makes it hard to like her. That's also one reason she's still F.W.F.P.F.C."

"Fairy World Fairy Princess..." I said, trying to remember the abbreviations.

"Fourth Class," she continued for me. Then she looked outside the window and sighed. "I'm worried that this wind will blow her away like how it did to me."

"I wish I could do something," I said.

"You can of course. You can make devices right? Make a weather controller," she said.

"I actually have already made one a long time ago," I said, remembering about that one device.

"Then use it, will you?" she said.

"Give me Misty Lady!" I said to my backpack, which I had put beside me.

"What?" she asked as my backpack threw a device with the shape of a libra scale with buttons. The scale on each side was shaped like a sun and a cloud.

"This is Misty Lady, a weather controller I have made," I said, putting the device on the table.

"How does it work?" she asked.

"Press this main button, and tilt the scale to the weather you want, but..." I said.

"Right away!" she said, immediately pressing the main button and tilting the sun side all the way down.

"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. The device let out a bright light, seeming to explode anytime soon. I quickly grabbed it, ran to the nearest window, opened the window, and threw the device out. Soon there was a very bright light coming from the outside along with a loud sound, and when we realized it the weather had become really nice.

"Umm, did I screw up?" Margalo said, seeming to feel guilty.

"Kind of actually. Half centimeter is already enough to stop the wind, but you overcharged it," I said.

"Oh..." she said.

"This is why I'm not sure about using it. The scale is too sensitive and one wrong move can result in what just happened," I said.

"But hey, now the weather's really nice," she said, flying towards the window where I had thrown Misty Lady.

"Not really. Now the weather will be really hot for a few days. I'm glad that it is summer now. If it was winter, the snow would melt and cause flood all over Strawberryland," I said, looking outside.

"Snow...? Flood...? Oh no!" Margalo shouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Gumball Bluff! Snow always covers its top, and Berry Fairy Fields is just down the hill from there!" she said.

"What?! If the snow melts the Berry Fairy Fields will be flooded!" I said, surprised by her words.

"Exactly! Everyone is doomed and it's all my fault!" she said in panic, and then suddenly someone rang the doorbell. I opened the door and it turned out the guests were the girls I had made a promise to travel with, with the addition of Huck.

"Hi, Blackberry. We're here for the special trip," Angel said.

"I invited everyone else, but they are tired, busy, or already have a plan for today," Blueberry said. "Except Huck, so he is coming along."

"Hey, Margalo! You are here too?" Orange said, noticing Margalo.

"I'm happy to see you come, but the time is not right..." I said, then I explained what had happened.

"That's really bad," Rainbow said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I have no idea about this," Blueberry said.

"Do you have any device for this?" Huck asked me.

"No, and weather control device is hard to make. Repairing that broken one or making a new one will take three days," I answered.

"That will be too late!" Angel said.

"Now everyone will hate me for sure," Margalo said.

"Hey, maybe we can ask Old Man Winter to help us?" Orange said.

"Old Man Winter?" I asked.

"He's the one who brings winter season," Orange replied.

"Oh, like Spring?" Angel asked. "Where can we find him?"

"He, along with Spring and the others, lives in what they call Land of Seasons," Orange said. "It's very far from here."

"I see. Give me Time Remote Mark II!" I said to my backpack and it gave me the device. "Land of Seasons!"

A dimension door appeared for us to jump in, and everyone jumped in. I was the last to jump in because I took my backpack first before following them. When we came out, we were standing on an open field of grass. We walked around for a few minutes looking for the Old Man Winter whom Orange had mentioned, but it was of no success. However, suddenly we heard a voice.

"Hey, kids. What are you doing here in the Land of Seasons?" the voice asked. We looked around but we saw nobody. "I'm up here!" the voice said again, and we looked upwards. There was a boy quite older than us wearing green shirts with flower images on it, brown trousers, and beach sandals. He was floating with what seemed like crane wings on his back. His hair was short and black like mine.

"Hi, Summer. They are my friends," Margalo said.

"Isn't that Margalo? It's been a while since the last time we met," Summer said.

"You know him already?" I asked.

"Yes, this is Summer. The one who brings summer season. We berry fairies know all the season bringers because we have been having a cooperation since a long time ago," Margalo answered.

"Cooperation?" Blueberry asked.

"We bring seasons to the land, and then the berry fairies maintain the crops suitable for each season. It's just that simple," Summer said. "Anyway, what happened that you come here?"

I then explained all that had happened in my house. Summer listened to my words seriously that sometimes his face expression turned into what seemed like anger, which kinda scared me. But he seemed to notice so he changed it back. When I finished, he sighed and began speaking.

"Nature is not something to play with, you know," he said, which rendered me speechless.

"It was my fault, Summer. Don't blame him," Margalo said.

"He made the device in the first place," Summer replied. "Anyway, Old Man Winter is sleeping right there. But I don't know if you can wake him up."

"Right there where?" Margalo asked.

"The place you have been worrying about. Gumball Bluff," Summer replied. "There's a cave on its top, which leads all the way to the heart of the hill. Old Man Winter sleeps there."

"I see. We will go there right away," I said.

"Good luck in waking him up though. And kid, I say this to you: Don't control weather unless it's really needed. Promise me okay?" Summer said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Umm... okay, I promise," I replied and he smiled.

We then went to Gumball Bluff with the usual dimension door. Indeed the place where we ended up was covered in snow. However, even with all the snow we didn't feel cold at all. Not to mention that I noticed that some parts of the hill were slowly melting.

"Where's the cave Summer mentioned?" Rainbow asked, looking around.

"Let's split up and look around," Huck suggested, and everyone agreed. The search continued for a few minutes until someone yelled.

"I found it, everyone! There is a cave here!" Margalo yelled and everyone came to her. Indeed there was a cave with its entrance big enough for us all to enter.

"Well done, Margalo," Angel said.

"Let's go in," Orange said, and all of us went inside. Margalo, who was the last to enter, noticed something after all of us had entered the cave by quite a number of steps.

"Huh?" Margalo said, looking towards the entrance which was barely visible because of the distance.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her. I also could see that there was a blizzard outside the cave, but it was a small one which probably would stop soon.

"I think I heard someone yelling ``Help! Not more wind!`` out there," she replied, still looking towards the entrance.

"I didn't hear anything. Maybe you just imagined that?" Blueberry said.

"Yeah... maybe," Margalo said, and the trip continued.

We walked for the next few minutes. The further we walked the light became darker and darker until the point where we could barely see our own hands.

"Everyone, are you still there?" I asked, stopping my steps.

"I'm right here!" A voice I recognized as Huck replied.

"Blueberry? Orange? Angel? Rainbow? Margalo?" I shouted, and then I heard answers from each of them.

"I'm here," Blueberry answered.

"Right here," Angel said.

"Over here," Orange answered.

"Ahoy!" Rainbow said.

"Anybody has lights? I can't see anything here!" Margalo shouted.

"Wait a moment. Give me my flashlight!" I said, and my backpack threw a flashlight into my grip. "Give me Replicator!"

My backpack then gave me the device I wanted, and I used the device to make copies of my flashlight until the amount was enough for everyone. I didn't make a copy for Margalo because she was too small to carry the flashlight. After I threw Replicator into my backpack, the trip continued.

"Stop, everyone!" Huck suddenly said.

"What is it?" Orange asked as everyone stopped their steps.

"There's a staircase leading down. Watch your steps," he replied, continuing his steps.

The staircase we had found was a very long one. The time we spent walking down the spiraling staircase felt like hours, or maybe it was really hours. Nobody was aware of time, and the trip continued without anyone talking much.

"Stop, everyone!" Huck suddenly said.

"What is it again?" Angel asked as everyone stopped their steps.

"The staircase... ends here," he answered.

"A dead end?" I asked from behind.

"No... from here it's... it's a slide made from ice," he answered.

"A slide? We have to slide?" Angel asked, surprised.

"It looks like so," he said.

"No way. It looks dangerous," Angel said, looking at the slide.

"But if we don't, we won't find Old Man Winter," Blueberry said.

"Alright. I'll go first," Rainbow said, stepping forward.

"Be careful," Huck said.

"I will," she replied and went down the slide. "Wheeee!"

"Who next?" Huck asked.

"Why not you yourself?" Angel said.

"Alright..." he answered, going down the slide. "Woohoo!"

"Blueberry..." Angel said, looking at Blueberry.

"Why not going yourself instead of keeping asking other people?" Blueberry asked back. Angel Cake was speechless.

"Okay, I'm next," Orange said, going down the slide. "Aaaaa!"

All of the sudden, there was a vibration inside the cave. The rest of us hugged each other to brace ourselves. When the vibration stopped, it all seemed to be over. However, soon I heard a sound of water.

"Oh, no... water is coming down here!" I said.

"What?! What should we do?" Angel asked, starting to panic.

"Jump down the slide. That's the only way!" Blueberry said.

"What? No way... I'm scared," Angel replied.

"Jump by yourself, or you would rather wait until the water makes you do it?" Blueberry said.

"Oh, alright..." Angel said, going to jump into the slide. She trembled and doubted at first, but then she jumped down. "Aaaaaa!"

"I hope you'll follow quickly, Blackberry," Blueberry said, going down. "Wooow!"

"Come here, Margalo," I said to Margalo while throwing my backpack into the slide. "Stay in my hands."

"Okay," Margalo replied, coming to me. Then I held her in my grip and went down the slide. I started to slide down just right before the surge of water arrived. I didn't scream like the others while sliding, but I was quite scared not only because I was sliding at high speed, but also because a large surge of water was right behind me. The slide continued for the next one minute until I saw a glimpse of light ahead. After entering the light, I realized that I ended up in a spacious room made from ice. Everyone else were there waiting for me, and Huck already got my backpack.

"Run!" I said, getting up and starting to run as fast as I could. Soon the surge of water came out from the hole I had come from, and everyone ran away from it. We ran as fast as we could, but the water was faster. The situation seemed hopeless, but suddenly we noticed an old man standing at a distance in front of us.

"Get down and slide, kids!" the old man shouted. We did as he said, and he waved his hand towards the surge of water. A big blue crescent appeared and went past right above us. Then it hit the water surge, creating a bright light. When we regained our sight, we saw that the surge of water had become ice.

"Thank you, sir. You saved us," Blueberry said as everyone stood up.

"Old Man Winter! It's nice to see you again!" Orange said.

"He is Old Man Winter?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, I am Old Man Winter, dear," the old man said. Then he sighed and continued, "Can't get much rest this year. That quake woke me up from my sleep."

"I'm sorry..." Margalo said.

"It's fine, my dear. And I suppose the snow above is melting, right?" he said.

"Yes, that's right," Margalo said.

"I have stopped it from melting more, but I can't do much about the parts that had already melted before I woke up," he said.

"What?! Berry Fairy Fields will still be flooded?!" Margalo said, surprised.

"Don't worry, dear. Look at this," Old Man Winter said, waving his hand. A large plate of ice appeared, and then Old Man Winter took an ice crystal from his pocket. The crystal then emitted a light onto the plate, and then images of the berry fairies working together to make a dam appeared like if we were watching a large TV.

"See, they can take care of themselves, dear," Old Man Winter said.

"Hey, isn't that Strawberry Shortcake?" Rainbow said, pointing at the plate.

"And that's Ginger Snap!" Orange said, also pointing at the plate.

"Have the berry fairies grown large or..." I asked, noticing that the two girls were the same size as the berry fairies. But then I saw Custard and Pupcake being much larger than them. "Our two friends shrunk?"

"Yes, you have to be smaller to fit in our world," Margalo said, then I remembered that I also had shrunk in Dream Fairy Fields. We kept watching until we saw that the dam was a success in repelling the water surge that came later.

"I'm relieved," Margalo said.

"I believe we all are," I said, then Old Man Winter put the crystal back into his pocket and waved his hand to make the plate of ice disappeared.

"Now that it is over, I'm going back to sleep. I expect to meet you again at winter," he said, waving his hand once more. A bed made of ice appeared and then he lied down there.

"Wait! How can we get out of here?" Angel asked, but it was too late because soon a bright light appeared, and when we regained our vision Old Man Winter had been already encased in ice.

"That's Old Man Winter. Always leaves us to find the way ourselves," Margalo said.

"Not much of a problem, though. Give me my backpack, Huck," I said and he returned my backpack. "Give me Time Remote Mark II."

The backpack then gave me the device I wanted. Then I asked everyone, "Where shall we go now?"

"I want to see Strawberry and Ginger," Angel said.

"Me too," Orange said.

"I'd like to," Blueberry said.

"I think we all do," Huck said.

"Okay. Berry Fairy Fields!" I said, and a dimension door appeared for us to jump in. When we came out, the city of the berry fairies was right in front of us.

"Let's go in," Huck said in high-pitched voice. "Hey, what happened to my voice?"

"What... huh? My voice too," Orange said, then she looked at Margalo who was already the same size as us.

"It's the side effect of being smaller than usual," Margalo said. "It will be gone once you return to your normal size."

"Where are Strawberry and the others?" Blueberry asked.

"Probably at Her Highness' castle," Margalo answered.

"Can we go there?" Rainbow asked.

"Today is Her Highness' birthday, and everyone's invited to come. So yes, we can go there," Margalo replied.

We then walked through the city and later arrived at the Berry Fairy Queen's castle. At the front yard we saw a group of fairies cheering over one fairy in purple. We also saw Strawberry and Ginger standing next to the fairy.

"Sherry Bobbleberry? You have the tiara? You did it!" Margalo shouted in joy, noticing the tiara worn by the fairy in purple, who seemed to be Sherry Bobbleberry according to the name Margalo had mentioned.

"Margalo! I did it! Now I'm first class!" Sherry said in excitement, coming to Margalo and then hugged her.

"Margalo! I'm happy to see you again!" Strawberry said, approaching Margalo.

"My oh my oh my! Looks like all our friends are here as well! Bet nobody ever expected it. Nope, not ever!" Ginger said, noticing us.

"Now why so many outsiders in Her Royal Highness' royal palace?" a fairy in cyan said, looking at us.

"Everyone's invited, Periwinkle. So that's not a problem," a fairy who seemed to be the Berry Fairy Queen said.

"All right if Your Highness say so. But once the party is over, the outsiders have to leave, right?" Periwinkle asked, approaching the Berry Fairy Queen.

"Yes, but they are welcome to return here anytime in the future," the Berry Fairy Queen said.

"What?! But... okay, as you wish, Your Highness," Periwinkle said.

And so, the party at the Berry Fairy Queen's castle continued. Everyone in the party had a wonderful time with all the music, food, and everything else there. The party was over when the sky was starting to get dark.

"I think it's time for us to leave," I said to Margalo.

"I hope you will come again someday," Margalo said.

"We will," Huck said. "This is a very nice place to visit."

"Absoloo-tely" Blueberry said as I made the dimension door to Strawberryland.

"Bye for now," I said, and I jumped into the dimension door. Everybody else followed soon after.

We ended up right in front of Strawberry's house, and I was sure that we were in the correct Strawberryland because I had saved the world in the remote just like Greenhill. With proper farewell, Strawberry entered her house.

"Strawberry! Where you go?" we heard a voice we recognized as Apple from the house after Strawberry entered.

"You know, sometimes I feel that Strawberry does not care much about her little sister..." I said as we all started to walk away.

"Well, I don't know about that," Angel said.

"I mean, she just left her sister in the house alone, and it has happened not only once or twice," I said.

"We can talk all day about that, but let's not," Blueberry said. "As long as we don't see Apple complaining, it'll be just fine."

"Well, okay if you say so," I said, and the walk continued until we arrived at Cookie Corners and Ginger Snap left us.

"Sorry that we didn't get to do any special trip after all," I said as we all walked.

"Huh? But we did a special trip," Orange said.

"Yeah, it was really a great one," Rainbow said.

"Huh? So you count our trip to Old Man Winter as a special trip?" I asked.

"Of course! That was really great, especially that slide," Huck said.

"Absoloo-tely the best trip I've ever had," Blueberry said.

"But it was really scary..." Angel said.

"I told you that it wouldn't be as good as you think," I said.

"Yeah, but it was still great for me, although it was scary..." Angel said. "Did something like that happen in your trips before?"

"Kinda, and Raspberry was always the unlucky one. In the first trip she was almost eaten by a crocodile," I replied, which surprised everyone else. "And then in the second trip... well, she got captured and held hostage until rescued."

"Your special trip sure is... special," Huck said, and we arrived in one point where we separated and went to each own home.

--End of Chapter 20--