No Strangers Here

***No Strangers Here*** is the second episode of the first season of *Fate: The Winx Saga* and the second overall episode of the show.

## Synopsis

*A new day dawns as the students explore their powers… and feelings. Bloom and Stella team up for a mission. The Burned One’s reign of terror evolves.*

## Plot

Saul and Dowling discuss the Burned Ones as they leave The Barrier. Dowling talks about their other excursion relating to the fearsome creatures and mentions The Black Woods Massacre. Saul proudly boasts that he has killed 13 Burned Ones in his lifetime, even if he had some help with that. He praises Farah for being able to take a Burn One out all these years later all on her own. Farah though, doesn’t see it that way, and says that she just got lucky because the creature didn’t see her coming. They enter the barn where Dowling was keeping the Burned One that had been chasing after Bloom in the First World. Dowling doesn’t waste any time as she enters the creature’s mind to see if it’s a lone wolf or if there’s a group of them.

Back at Alfea, Bloom wakes up after her first night; she tells Aisha she’s trying not to think about being a Changeling. Aisha tells her to be excited for the day, as she will be able to use magic in the confines of a lesson for the first time. Meanwhile, Terra notices that Stella didn’t return to the dorm the night before while Musa blames Stella for putting Bloom in danger in the first place. Bloom reveals that the Burned One took Stella’s ring. When she tells Stella, the older blonde girl is annoyed and explains that she is a princess, and her mother is the Queen of Solaria, and that the ring is one of the Crown Jewels.

Dowling brings the first-year pupils to the circle of stone and gives them an introductory lesson on magic and nature. The Headmistress explains that down the line, the fairies may learn to connect with other elements, but that their first year is all about honing the element they were born with. Each fairy then proceeds to test out their magic; but when it is Bloom’s turn, Dowling tells her to push past her doubts. There’s anxiety etched over Bloom’s face and everyone gossips around her; Bloom is unable to produce her powers and it seems as if the pressure is getting to her. After class, Dowling tells her that in order to do well, she needs to find a clear mind. Bloom asks the headmistress if she’s a changeling. Dowling is shocked that she knows and admits that she doesn’t know who her birth parents are. Dowling’s main advice is to learn and grow, and that the answers will come when the time is right.

At the Specialists training area, Dane and Kat are sparring and it appears to be neck to neck, until Riven tells Kat to sweep Dane’s leg. Dane subsequently gets pinned down, and from the sidelines Sky asks Riven if there’s any way he could try being 50% less of a dick. Riven tells his best friend that he’d just be 50% less fun. Sky brings up how Riven was a bit of a lost cause the year before sporting two black eyes and a sprained ankle on day one. Sky sees Stella walking by in the distance, and leaves Riven behind. Dane then comes over to the sidelines to check on his phone, and laughs at some of the text messages Terra sent him. Riven orders Dane to get off his phone, but Dane refuses to. Riven then brings up how he knows Dane was looking through his instagram the night before. Riven continues by telling the younger guy that he needs to choose his friends carefully during his first year. But most importantly, he needs to focus, and his mind in it. He explains how being a specialist is not about how big you are, or how strong you might, in the end it’s all about strategy. To prove his point, Riven spars with a bigger Specialist named Mike, and he successfully pins him down despite Riven being the shorter of the two.

Bloom and the group are having to face a dangerous reality; they need to get the ring back off the seemingly evil creature locked away in the barn in the forest. Stella speaks to Sky and asks where the teachers might be keeping the Burned One that was captured, so she can get her ring back. She doesn’t want her mother to find out that she lost it.

While in line to get their lunch, Musa tells Aisha that her powers are always on, which makes crowded places a nightmare. She then points out how Doris is in physical pain, that Dane is scared and stressed; like a bunny when hawks circle. Whereas, Professor Harvey is feeling worried and tentative. However, Musa does admit that might just be heartburn, and that for an empath fairy, she’s learned that it’s hard to tell a lot of them apart. However, when she notices a cute guy, she is not entirely sure what happened.

At lunch, Stella, Bloom, and the rest of the Winx Suitemates plan to head to the barn outside The Barrier to retrieve the ring. Aisha is annoyed that Stella wants everyone’s help, but Stella reminds them that Bloom was the one who lost it in the first place. Afterward, Sky chases after Bloom and tells her that she doesn’t need to go on the mission to retrieve the ring just because Stella demanded it. Bloom doesn’t back down and says that because she was the one to lose in the first place, it’s the right thing to do to help Stella get it back. Sky points out that both girls have strong personalities, and Bloom interjects by telling him that it seems like he clearly has a type. Sky chuckles and eventually the subject changes with Sky rather awkwardly attempting to explain how he and Stella had a rough break-up and they hadn’t spoken in months, so he doesn’t want Bloom to think he’s “that guy”. Bloom keeps it cool and reminds him that they only met yesterday, and that she doesn’t think anything of him. She also tells him that her life needs less complication not more.

Beatrix and Riven start plotting together; they discuss Dowling’s schedule. Beatrix looks through Dowling’s books in her office to see if she can find books that show her something they don’t teach at the school. The pair end up hooking up as they were evidently into each other from the first time they spoke.

Later, Musa once again sees the cute guy from earlier, but when she tries to chase after him, she loses sight of him.

Bloom is determined to hone in her powers and tries to practice alone, but Stella intervenes and asks her if she’s broken. She tells Bloom that she cannot think her way into magic and mocks her when she sees her notebook full of notes and tips she made for herself. She tells her to feel the magic and eggs her on using the negative emotions of anger and rage. It works, and Bloom seems surprised by this development.

Saul tells Dowling that there is only one Burned One for now and they should use the Queen’s army to safely transport it away. Saul heads over with a squad, and on the way, he hears a growl that stops him in his tracks. He wants to transfer the captured Burned One to a Solarian prison for maximum security.

Aisha asks Musa about her hunt for the guy in the green jacket, but the empath fairy admits that the whole thing is weird. She explains how she can feel him around the corner, but that when she turns around, he is never there. As she’s saying this, she feels his presence again, and Aisha realizes Musa’s mystery guy is an Earth fairy once she witnesses him phasing through one of the college’s walls. Musa asks Aisha if the guy is cute, and instead of answering, Aisha asks the Earth fairy what his name is. He tells her that it’s Sam, and before she leaves the two of them alone, she tells Sam that Musa has been stalking him.

In the greenhouse, Dane and Terra are hanging out, and all is going well until Riven texts Dane and makes fun of him for hanging out with Terra. Dane sighs, and runs away after Riven keeps pestering him.

Aisha confronts Bloom about Stella and tells her not to learn magic from the light fairy. But Stella has other ideas; she wants to get the ring back before the Burned One is taken by the army to the Solarian prison. Bloom and the group head outside The Barrier and head to the location of the Burned One. But they are too late seen as how it’s already gone. Musa feels something, and it hurts her. Musa and Terra look out to the road on the edges of the forest and realize to their horror that the Burned One has killed the soldiers. To make matters worse it is still still alive and roaming around the area. The girls eventually come across Sau, who is badly injured. Terra tries to help Saul and notices that he’s infected.

Elsewhere, Musa and Sam are walking and getting to know each other. He asks her if she hears an angelic choir when around him. But she shoots that down. Undeterred, he asks if it’s a cheesy son, or something like a slow-mo shampoo ad. Musa doesn’t answer and instead tells him she just met him, so she has no reason to tell him. He then asks Musa if he sounds like Enya, but Musa says she doesn’t even know who that is. Finally, she confesses that he sounds to her like the absence of chaos.

Meanwhile, Bloom is distracted by some mystic whispers she hears in the forest, so the others lose sight of her. Suddenly, Bloom is facing the Burned One running towards her. She uses her powers to set it on fire, and then Aisha throws it aside, and a tree branch impales it. Bloom bravely takes the ring off the Burned One.

Later, Stella returns to the school and is upset because her powers are not working and Sky comforts her. Terra brings in Saul and Beatrix alerts Dowling in her office who swiftly departs to help Saul. Beatrix uses this as an opportune moment to push Dowling’s bookcase aside to reveal a secret room. She wants to find out what’s hidden under the school. But is caught by Callum who knows it was her that set the Burned One loose. The two of them talk, and he tells the teenage girl, that he assumes he sent Beatrix to help with his task. She confirms it, and taunts him by saying how it must be emasculating to be replaced by a teenage girl. She then tells Callum that the man who sent her gets quite impatient. Thus, they need to get down there to find out the dirty laundry that has been kept hidden away for sixteen years.

Saul looks to be okay after Musa and Terra save him, and Bloom gives Stella back her ring. Sky then joins Stella in her room shortly thereafter. Late at night, Bloom confesses to Aisha that she thinks she may have some strange connection to the Burned One. But as she’s speaking, her eyes roll back completely white, and Aisha becomes quite concerned.

## Cast and Characters

* Hannah van der Westhuysen as Stella
* Precious Mustapha as Aisha
* Eliot Salt as Terra
* Elisha Applebaum as Musa
* Danny Griffin as Sky
* Sadie Soverall as Beatrix
* Freddie Thorp as Riven
* Eva Birthistle as Vanessa Peters
* Robert James-Collier as Silva
* Eve Best as Farah Dowling
* Leah Minto as Kat
* Alex Macqueen as Ben Harvey
* Jacob Dudman as Sam Harvey
* Harry Michell as Callum Hunter
* Pom Boyd as Dinner Lady Doris
* Malcolm Counihan as The Gardener

## Trivia

* The episode title is from this quote by William Butler Yeats: "There are no strangers here; only friends we haven't yet met."

## References

1. ↑ Fate: The Winx Saga WGA page - Writers Guild of America West