Chapter 21

For most of the day, we walk through the woods in silence. As night falls, he yawns hugely, and his footfalls slow considerably.

"Would you like to make camp for the night?" I ask hesitantly. He nods gratefully, and sits himself down on a nearby log.

Smiling, I gather up a bunch of sticks and shoot sparks out of my hands, lighting a fire. Jaden wanders over to it and sits there, using the heat to quell the chill in the air. I sit down next to him, just enjoying his company.

"This is nice," he says, smiling. "It feels so… real. Like I'm actually doing something important. I know, it's just walking right now, but it still feels important."

"I'm glad. Here, you should get some sleep. Ezlo will keep watch," I say softly.

"Ezlo?"

Abruptly, I remember that I haven't told him about Ezlo either. Shrugging, I take off my hat and hand it to him. "Jaden, this is Ezlo. I met him when I began this journey, and without his help, I would've failed several times."

Ezlo pops his eyes and beak out, and Jaden almost drops him in shock. "Hi kid," he says, grinning at my son.

"Uhm, hi," Jaden replies, looking a bit overwhelmed. Gingerly, he hands Ezlo back to me.

"It's okay, he's nice. Or… maybe that's not the best adjective. He's… a person, but he's under a curse, like…"

"Like who?" He asks curiously.

"Never mind. Just get some rest."

He looks at me for a few moments, then nods. He grabs a log, throws his backpack onto it and lays himself down. After a few moments, he starts snoring gently.

"You almost let it slip," Ezlo says softly. I nod and remain silent; I don't really have any response to that.

"I can understand why you don't want to tell him. But Link… be careful. Just be careful. I don't know that trying to have a relationship with him like this is wise. It may harbor further resentment when he does find out."

"I know. I probably shouldn't have had him come. There was no good reason for it. But it made him so happy. And… I want to spend time with him."

"Guess I can't really blame you for that. Just be careful what you tell him. He seems like a smart kid. Give him too many clues and he'll figure it out all by himself."

I nod once more. "Goodnight Ezlo," I say quietly, laying down on the hard forest floor.

"Goodnight Link." I close my eyes, and I drift off to sleep easily.

I awaken to the sound of a bow firing. Startled, I jump to my feet, but I quickly see that it's just Jaden, using a few nearby trees for target practice. He doesn't notice me, and just keeps on shooting. His speed is very impressive, but his aim is a bit inconsistent. Every time he misses, he groans, and runs off to retrieve his arrow.

After about twenty minutes, he sees me, and smiles at me. "Did you get enough sleep?" He asks hesitantly.

I nod. "I don't really need a whole lot of sleep."

"Me neither." With that, he keeps on shooting, occasionally missing.

Hesitantly, I ask, "Who trained you to shoot?"

"Oh, no one. One of the guards gave me a bow to practice with, but they were too busy with their own kids to train me," He replies, shrugging. Mentally, I make a note to find out whoever gave him a bow, and thank them.

"Here, let me help you," I say, moving over to him.

"How do you know archery?" He asks, looking at me incredulously.

"Its, uhm, a long story. Just draw your arrow," I instruct, before he can ask any more questions.

He shrugs, and does as I said, pulling his arrow back. I carefully examine his stance, noting every error. After a few minutes, I tell him to put it down.

"You've done a very good job of teaching yourself," I say, smiling. "The biggest issue I can see is that you're not anchoring your shot. When you draw back, you're just letting your right arm go back wherever, and that's what's making your aim so inconsistent. You need to focus on making sure you draw back to exactly the same spot every time, until you can figure out what drawing back to different locations does and control it. What most beginners do is simply put their two fingers right at the corner of their mouth. That way, provided your head is straight, it'll be the same shot every time. Go ahead and try it again, but this time, put your fingers directly in the middle of the string and anchor your arm somewhere when you pull it back."

He nods and, biting his lip in concentration, pulls the arrow back as I instructed. This time when he fires, it hits the tree dead center. He grins, and tries with another arrow. It is literally the same shot, so much so that the arrow lodges into the shaft of his first one.

"Wow, that's really helpful," he says, sounding a bit shocked. "You must be really good at archery."

"No, there's nothing really advanced about what I told you. Anyone with basic training could've suggested as much."

"Yeah, but still… Thanks," he says, patting me on the back. He runs off to retrieve his arrows, then returns to my side. Without another word, I gather up the rest of my supplies, stick Ezlo back on my head and resume walking.

We travel together without incident for about five days. Every day, he practices either shooting or swordsmanship, both of which I help him in improving. I dodge all of his questions about where I became so profficient at fighting. Because the truth is, I learned it at the Knight's academy. And he knows that there's no way someone as young as I currently am could possibly have already recieved such extensive training there. People this young aren't even supposed to be allowed to train there. The only eight year old they've ever taken was me.

Beyond that, our traveling is easy, and it gives us time to talk. I try not to say a whole lot, because I can't seem to control my tongue well enough to avoid giving him hints about the situation. But he can fill a conversation pretty well without my input, and I really enjoy hearing about his life. What's more, he seems to enjoy telling me about it too.

Eventually, we reach the place marked on my map. But there's absolutely nothing in the area. On the map there's a little M with a circle around it, indicating that this element is also found in the minish world. But I can't see any temples or structures; not even minish-sized ones. Finally, I just accept the fact that I'll have to make myself minish, in order to investigate further.

"I'm sorry, but this is where we need to part ways," I say gently.

"Huh?" Jaden asks, looking around. "We haven't even found the Element yet. Are you just giving up?"

"No, it's just… the journey is about to… change. And it's too dangerous to…" My voice trails off. The explanation sounds weak, even to me.

"I don't get it. This is the spot marked on the map, so this is where the Element is supposed to be. Since it's not here, I'm guessing you're gonna look for it even more, or else find the minish elder, right? Why can't I go with you then?"

I sigh, and decide to just give him an honest answer. "In order to search for the element, I need to enter the minish world. I have to become minish. And you would too. And… I'm not sure I could protect you then."

"But why would you have to be minish to go somewhere else? And what makes it so dangerous?" He asks, sounding genuinely confused. I consider brushing him off, but I just can't bring myself to do that. He doesn't deserved to be lied to. And I have no good reason to lie to him.

"The minish world isn't a new place. It's just our world, from the perspective of the minish. And the reason it's so dangerous is because… minish are smaller than us. Much, much smaller."

"How small are they?" He asks curiously.

I hold up my fingers and make a tiny gap between them. "They're about that big."

His eyes widen in shock, and for a few moments, he's silent. Then, hesitantly, he says, "So what's so dangerous about that?"

"Think about it Jaden. Imagine what the world is like at that size. The footfalls of a bird or a rabbit could crush you. You could drown in a simple stream. Wind could throw you far enough in the air that just the fall could kill you. Even raindrops are deadly."

"I guess so. But… it seems kind of… enticing. I mean, exploring the world like that would be incredible. Could you maybe just show me? I promise, I'd go home after that. I just… I wanna see it. Please?" he says quietly.

"Okay," I reply, smiling. He grins, and then looks around. "Uhm, how do you become minish?"

"There are objects called portals which allow you to change yourself, as long as you know how to use them. Like this stump. See the lines, all swirling towards a small hole? That's how you know it's a portal. Just stand on top of that, and I'll make you a minish. It'll be a bit disorienting, but don't leave the stump, okay?" He nods, and hops up onto it.

In a swift motion, I surround him with the six symbols, and he reaches out and touches one, feeling the warmth and light it provides. Then, in an instant, he's gone, replaced by a tiny little form falling through the hole. Shuddering, I jump up onto the stump and transform myself. The world grows all at once, and I find myself falling onto a soft, cushy mushroom, right next to Jaden.

"Woah," he says, looking around. "That's so weird. But it feels… I don't know. It feels kinda nice."

I nod in understanding, and I bounce down to the ground. He jumps up and down on the mushrooms a bit, laughing, and then follows me. He catches sight of the little hole at the base, and sees a glimpse of the real world beyond it. As though he can't wait any longer, he runs out into the open, and looks around, gaping.

The sight of the real world through minish eyes is one that I've seen several times, but I can still remember when I first looked on it. There's a strange sort of majesty in the incredible size that objects take on. More so, the world suddenly becomes a much larger place, a place where impossibility can exist far more easily, and where everything is unexplored. There's something about becoming minish that makes you feel like you're suddenly a child again. Because now the world isn't understandable and quantifiable. It's new, and different, and just waiting for you to explore it.

"This is incredible," He says, staring up at the massive trees. "It… it should be scary, but it's just… amazing. I mean, look! Everything is so huge!" he laughs, and runs over to a leaf that's connected to a branch. He grabs hold of it and pulls, digging his feet into the ground. After a few moments, he pries it loose, and, grunting, holds it up. "Look at this!"

I lean in, and see the sunlight trickle through the green leaf, revealing hundreds of tiny viens running through it. With human eyes, I would never have been able to see them.

He sets the leaf down, and looks around again. "I feel like just running around, looking at things and touching things. Everything is so different. But… in a good way. Not that the other world is bad. But I feel like I've already explored minish woods as a human. Now, I wanna explore it as a minish."

Hesitantly, he glances over at me. "I know that I said I'd go, and I will, if you tell me to. But… could I keep traveling with you? I… I feel a lot better, here. I can't really explain it very well, but I feel like… when I'm traveling with you, I'm coming closer and closer to finding my Dad. Please?"

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the heavy spread of emotion that comes at his declaration. I know that if he stays with me on this journey, there's a very real possibility that he will get hurt, or worse. And I know that eventually, he will figure out who I am. But I just can't deny him this. I've put him through far too much. And if I forced him out of this world after only a brief glimpse, I would be putting him through even more. I just can't do it.

"You can come," I say, smiling hesitantly.

"Thank you!" He shouts, throwing his arms around me. I stagger a bit at his weight, but regain my footing. I smile, and pat him on the back gently.

He lets go of me, looking around in contentment. "Really… Thank you," he says softly.

"Yeah. Just… be careful, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

"I will," He says, nodding. "And you should be careful too. I know you have magic, and such, but you're not indestructible. I haven't known you for too long, but it's like you're already my friend. And I could use a friend right now."

I nod. "I don't know where the element is, but this is the area marked on my map. We're just going to have to explore a bit to see if we can find out where the element is."

He just smiles, and begins roaming around, looking under random objects and investigating things. Shrugging, I do the same, being sure to keep in close vicinity of him. We do this for a long, long time, but he gets so excited when he discovers new aspects of the minish world, and I just enjoy watching him.

By the end of the day, we still haven't found anything. Sighing, I light a fire and build two different beds out of some big, soft pieces of grass. By this time, Jaden's so exhausted from running around all day that I just tuck him in, covering him up with a flower petal to keep him warm. He smiles in appreciation, then nods off to sleep. For a while, I just look into the fire, feeling content.

"He's a lot like you, you know," Ezlo says gently.

I smile, and nod. "Uhm, Ezlo? Do you have any idea where the last element is?" I ask hesitantly.

"I know that there are five different types of minish; castle minish, forest minish, lake minish, mountain minish and sky minish."

"Wait, sky minish? As in, minish that live in the sky?" I ask, startled.

He nods. "I've never seen one, and for all I know, they're a rumor. But I'm guessing that they know where the last element is."

"Hmm. I wonder how we could contact one…"

"You could try asking," I hear a voice call from a few feet away. I turn, and from a cluster of leaves, I see a small form emerge.

He looks human, for the most part, and he's about Jaden's age, but very, very thin, and his hair is long, and white. He's wearing a simple tunic that fits around his slight form, as well as a long, blue cape. But strangely, I can see a skin-colored tail waving behind him, moving as he walks towards us. I can't help but stare a little bit; even after all of the things I've seen, a person with a tail still catches me off guard.

"Hi," he says, smiling at me.

"Uhm, hi," I reply. "My name is Link, and this is Jaden and Ezlo," I say, pointing.

"Pleasure to meet you. Now, you said you were looking for the Sky minish?" He asks.

I nod.

"Well… hi," he says, laughing. "I'm a sky minish. My name's Korra. What can I do for you?"

"Uhm, would you happen to know where something called an elemental essence is? It'll be a glowing gem, probably blue or white in color."

"Sorry, don't know of anything like that. Our realm is pretty big, and I haven't explored it much," he replies.

"Your realm?"

"We live in the clouds," he says casually.

"But, uhm, you don't have wings… How do you fly up there?"

He laughs, then jumps. His body flies upwards for an impossibly long time, and it takes almost a minute for him to come back down. He grins at my look of astonishment and says, "We're really light."

I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off. "I know, it's not enough to get all the way up there. There are these magical things that we call Gusts, which continually spit air upwards. Sky minish can just ride them all the way back to the clouds. There's actually one a little ways away."

"Incredible," I whisper, laughing.

"Yeah. You're way too heavy to ride one up, but if you'd like, I can look for the "essence" for you," He offers.

"Actually, there's something else you could do for me. Do you know what portals are?"

He nods. "I've seen people down here use them before."

"If you would come into a portal with me, I can use its magic to make myself light, like you. But I need you there, so that the portal can understand how to make the transformation," I explain.

"Wow," He says, his eyes going wide. "You must be pretty powerful."

"It's not a hard spell," I murmur.

He laughs. "Sure, I'll come to a portal with you. Do you know where one is?"

I nod, then hesitate. "Would you mind waiting until morning? Jaden's tired, and I'd rather let him sleep," I say, gesturing to my son.

"Uhm, sorry, my family is expecting me tonight, and they'd worry if I didn't come back. But I'm sure we could find him a place to sleep pretty quick up there."

I sigh, then nod. Gently, I nudge Jaden's arm, and he awakens immediately; like me, he's a light sleeper.

"What?" he asks groggily.

"We need to go somewhere now. I'll explain on the way," I say gently. He nods, and rises to his feet.

"Jaden, this is Korra," I say, gesturing. He looks over at the sky minish, and his eyes widen.

"Pleasure to meet you," Korra says, shaking Jaden's hand.

"Wow. Are you a real minish?" He asks, sounding excited.

"Yeah…" Korra replies slowly. "Just like you."

"No, I'm human," Jaden laughs.

"But your eyes…" Korra cuts himself off as he sees the withering look I'm shooting him.

"What about them?"

"They're nice," he says awkwardly.

"Err, thanks."

I smile, and without any more discussion, our strange little group continues towards the portal. It takes us about an hour to get there, during which I explain to Jaden that we're going to become Sky minish so that we can search for the last element. The whole time Jaden stifles his yawns. I wish I could just let him sleep, but the Sky minish's arrival is too good an opportunity to pass up.

We enter the portal, and easily, I direct the its power at the sky minish so that it can compare us to it, and I draw two sets of symbols, one around me and one around Jaden, creating a total of eighteen symbols at once. We both slowly rise off the ground and, in a flash of magical light, the portal changes us, and we fall down slowly.

"Woah," Jaden says, looking down at himself. He's become incredibly twiggy, and now has a skin-colored tail, just like me. He sees his tail, and turns himself around a few times trying to get a better look at it. It reminds me vaguely of a dog chasing its tail.

"This is so weird," he says.

"Trust me, being a lake minish is way weirder," I reply, laughing.

"Can you show me?" He asks eagerly.

"Another time."

He smiles, and nods. Korra clears his throat, and says, "The Gust isn't far from here. I'll show you the way."

With that, he leads us to a small, stone circle resting on the ground. He looks over at us, and frowns. "Uhm, you guys don't have capes," he says.

I nod, a bit confused.

"They make it a lot easier to navigate. So… you'll just have to be really careful on your way up." With that, he walks over to the stone circle and presses his hand against it. Immediately, air rushes out of the stone and pushes him into the air at an incredibly quick rate. After a few minutes it stops, with him far out of sight.

"Let's go together," I say. He nods and, standing very close to eachother, we walk onto the platform. I lean over and touch the cold stone. Air rushes out, thrusting us into the air.

Immediately, we fly upwards at an amazing rate, our light bodies traveling into the air. Jaden yells in excitement, but I remain focused on staying in the middle of the draft. Korra was right; the air keeps trying to throw me out, but I remain in the middle by making little adjustments.

Jaden, on the other hand, slowly moves away from me, towards the edge. "Jaden!" I shout, reaching out for him. He almost grabs my hand, and then, before his fingers touch mine, he's thrown out.

Desperately, I throw myself out of the stream and follow him. Our bodies fall at an amazingly slow rate, but we start picking up speed. I close my eyes, and focus on summoning my power. I know that I don't have time to draw out a symbol, so I simply summon my magic and trust it to do what's necessary.

Wind appears underneath Jaden, and pushes him up to me. Breathing a sigh of relief, grab onto him, and use my wind to push us back into the gust. This time, I keep a tight hold of him and make sure we both stay in the center. "Thanks," He says, sounding a bit subdued.

I nod, trying not to shake too visably. The fact that my son could've easily fallen to his death terrifies me.

We make it to a dizzying height, then are gently deposited on a fluffy, white surface. It vaguely feels like a giant pillow, except if I step too hard, my foot starts to go through it. The platform we're on is small, but I can see others, leading like a stairway to huge mass of white up above us. I can't help but feel a sense of disbelief at my surroundings; I'm at the top of the sky, literally walking across the clouds.

Korra is waiting for us up top. He grins our bewildered expressions. "Welcome to the sky," He says grandly.

"That is so cool!" Jaden says, laughing. He jumps up and down a few times, his light body bouncing quite high in the air. He stops jumping after a few moments, yawning.

"Here, let's find you a place to sleep," Korra says gently. Jaden nods gratefully, and we follow Korra across the cloud. When we reach the edge, he jumps over to the next one, a little ways up. I grab Jaden's hand, and together we jump up to it, moving easily thirty feet into the air. We follow Korra in this manner for quite some time, eventually reaching the huge cloud at the very top. I can't help but gape at what I see there.

It looks like there's an entire civilization up in the sky. The ground is made up of clouds, but on top of them, there are strands of thick, heavy fabric making up the floor, and I see hunderds and hundreds of houses that all look completely different from one another. Some are made up of fabric drawn between poles of some sort, others are done with a soft, white material that looks like condensed cloud, and the rest are just made of random materials. I see a few houses made of leaves, some of twigs, and even one made of gold-leafed wood. Beyond that, there are shops, and schools, and all sorts of buisnesses in every direction. It's very late, so there aren't really any people running about. But the sheer amount of life within the sky is incredible to me.

"Do you live here?" Jaden asks, looking over at Korra.

He nods. "My family is a few blocks away. We have some beds that we can spare. Come with me."

He leads us to an impressive house, made up of leaves and sticks that form an enclosed space, and inside, I see two other Sky minish waiting, both wearing blue capes.

"Korra!" The man shouts. He grins, and Korra and his parents embrace.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" His mom scolds, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, I know, I'm in trouble. But first, I brought some friends from the surface, and they need a place to stay," He says quickly.

His parents look at us for the first time, bearing somewhat quizzical expressions. "You do realize those are sky minish, right?" The man asks Korra slowly.

"Actually, we're not. I just used a bit of magic to make it so we can come up here. I'll explain that all to you, I promise, but my, uhm, friend here needs to sleep," I say, gesturing to Jaden.

"Of course, of course," The mom replies kindly. "Here, I'll show you to our guest bedroom."

Jaden smiles gratefully, and lets himself be led away. After a few moments, I hear loud snores coming from the other direction.

The mother quickly returns, and sits herself down. After a brief silence, she says, "We haven't even been properly introduced. My name is Kierra, and my husband's name is Serral."

I smile, and reply, "My name is Link, and the boy I came here with is named Jaden."

"So Link, what are you doing so far from home?" Serral asks.

"I…" I hesitate, unsure of how much to tell them. Uncomfortably, I ask, "If I were to tell you… certain things, would you kindly refrain from telling Jaden?"

"Why?" He asks, frowning.

"I… I can't really explain until I have your word."

Korra's parents look at eachother for a few moments, then turn to Korra. "Off to bed now, Korra," The mom instructs firmly. He opens his mouth to object, then thinks better of it, and walks down the hallway, looking a little bit sulky.

"All right. You have our word," Serral says gently.

I nod, and, in a quiet voice so that I'm not overheard, I tell them my story. I tell them about my life in the human world, about my family, and my curse, and about all that I've done to try and break it. I hold back nothing, not even the fact that I'm half Dharkin. Something about these people makes me feel like I can trust them. Maybe it's just the fact that, like me, they're parents who clearly care deeply for their son.

They listen without interrupting, and after I'm done, they just look at me for a while, examining me thoughtfully. Finally, Serral says, "It's hard to believe such things are possible. And yet, I can feel that you aren't lying." Beyond that, he doesn't speak.

"Are you going to keep my secret?" I ask quietly. They look at eachother, then nod.

"Still… you don't have to lie to him," Kierra says, frowning.

"And bringing him here was very irresponsible," Serral adds in a lecturing tone. "The minish world is dangerous enough for minish, I can't even imagine how it would be for someone who thought they were human their whole life. Not to mention bringing him up here-"

"I know!" I shout, louder than I intended to. "I know, okay? I know that it's dangerous, I know that I'm being stupid and I know that if I was even a half-decent father I would have sent him home ages ago. But… I just can't send him away. Before all this happened, he wanted me to teach him to be a warrior. And I told him he wasn't old enough, that I would train him when it was time. I hoped that he would pick another occupation. Any other occupation. Because what could be more dangerous than living as a warrior of the king, under the constant promise to die in order to protect your charges, which in the case of castle guards, means everyone in the kingdom? I was so desperate to keep him out of danger. And… all I did was leave him with empty promises that I may never be able to fulfill. When I was sitting on the forest floor, he… he started crying. I saw my son cry because of how much all of the things I never did with him hurt. I just… I can't send him away again. I can't do it. I know it will hurt him, and I think I've hurt him enough already. And… I want to spend time with him. It's selfish, and petty, and stupid, but I want to spend this time with my son." I whisper.

They both open their mouths to speak, but I cut them off. "Until you've been through what I have, you have no right to judge me," I say, looking Serral straight in the eye.

He nods. "I just wanted to wish you luck," He says, his tone repentant. "And offer you a bed for the night. You look exhausted."

"Thank you," I reply. "And… sorry for snapping at you. I've not been myself lately."

"It's okay," Kierra says, patting me on the shoulder. She helps me up off of the couch, and leads me into the bedroom where Jaden's sleeping. There are two beds, both made out of soft, cloudy material resting on top of a wooden base. She gently tucks me in to the empty one, and as I lay my body down on the impossibly soft surface, I suddenly understand the phrase, "sleeping on a cloud". I've never felt anything so very soft, and comforting. She pulls a blanket of the same material over me, and I can't help but sigh in comfort.

Kierra pats me on the head, then walks out of the bedroom. I glance over at Jaden, and see him sleeping with an expression of peace on his face. I smile at seeing him look so happy, and I let his snores lull me into a gentle sleep.