Author's note: Erm, Sk27, that review was a little … oh, never mind. On with the story! (And, just out of curiosity, how does someone fall UP the stairs? Are you sure someone didn't just push him up the stairs to keep him from falling down?)
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Chapter 15: Tower of the Sky
(or, Leo Meets My Custom Character)
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I approached the tower I'd seen. A plaque on the front said:
Note: Lighting under repair
Not letting that deter me, I pushed open the doors and entered. Nobody was inside, though it was rather dark, so I shot a Light Feather into the air, lighting up the room for a moment.
The tower was just as big on the inside as it was on the outside. Of course, it'd have to be. The decor was enviable, and a large spiral stairway in the center led clockwise up to the higher levels. I decided to try to climb to the top.
Up, up, up I went. When it began to get dark again, I shot another Light Feather. The staircase was very long. I don't know how many steps I climbed- about five hundred, I suppose, maybe ten- but I finally reached the top floor of the tower.
Upon reaching the upper end of the staircase, I practically collapsed. "Next time," I said to myself, "I'm going to take the elevator. Say, what's up here, anyway? Got to be something important."
I shot another Light Feather to light the room. Looking around, I found that the only noteworthy thing in the room was a ladder leading up to the roof of the tower, so I took the obvious route and climbed up the ladder to the roof of the tower.
From the roof, I looked around at the view. It was a little disappointing; I couldn't see much other than clouds. All the clouds were at about the same level as the top of the tower. One small cloud was separated from the rest, and someone seemed to be standing on it, so I flew over and took a look.
The cloud-rider turned out to be a purplish-blue wolf figure wearing a white scarf. "Hello," I greeted him. "I'm Leo. And you are …?"
"Skyler," he introduced himself. "Skyler the Wolf, master of the clouds."
"Master of the clouds?" I repeated. "A wolf? I find that a little strange. I mean, wolves aren't as adapted to the skies as birds such as myself. Come over to the roof of the tower and show me just what you can do, Skyler."
I flew back over to the Tower of the Sky. Skyler jumped from cloud to cloud and was within my view in a fairly short time. For the final jump, he caught me by surprise a little: he curled into a ball as soon as he left the cloud, just as I always did.
Skyler landed quite smoothly. "You look a little startled. I'm not through yet, though. It's time to show why I'm the master of the clouds."
With a pointing gesture, Skyler made a small cloud, about the same size as the one he was standing on when I first saw him, appear in the air. Not one to pass up an opportunity for a little fun, I shot one of my feathers through the cloud.
When the feather went through the cloud, the cloud was punctured, and let loose with a gush of rain. "Heh, you're clever," Skyler commented. "Now, how about showing me what else you can do."
"I'll do that," I responded, "if you can make another cloud like the first one. By the way, you know that feather I just shot? I can also shoot feathers of fire, ice, and light."
Without hesitation, Skyler pointed, and made another cloud. I started my wings and hovered a few feet above it, then shut them all of a sudden, and curled into a ball myself as I fell. I broke right through Skyler's cloud and landed on my feet.
Skyler smirked. "Not bad, Leo. How about doing that again?"
"Sure," I replied as Skyler created another cloud. I flew above the cloud and dropped down as before. As I did, though, Skyler took a running start and ball-jumped into the cloud. We both went through the cloud at the same time, and I think we collided, though I'm not sure.
When I landed, I felt a little strange. "Skyler," I said without looking at him, "what did you do that for?"
"I figured you were right; a bird is more suitable for the role of master of the clouds than a wolf is," Skyler explained somewhat cryptically. "You don't mind me borrowing your body for a moment, do you?"
"Borrowing … my …?" I finally turned to look at Skyler, and was startled to see my own robin body in Skyler's color. "Skyler!" I shouted with anger. "That's my body!"
"Hey, don't wig out," Skyler replied coolly. "I'm going to return it. Besides, until then, I left you some collateral."
"Huh?"
"Figure it out for yourself. In the meantime, I'm going to try out this new body. I'll let you have it back if you can catch me, though."
Skyler started his new wings and flew through the clouds. I had seen an old mirror in the Tower of the Sky, so I climbed back down and looked in it, revealing that I had the body of a wolf (well, one of my own red color). When Skyler stole my body, he'd left me with his own!
I growled in frustration. "I had better find Skyler if I'm ever going to get my body back." I rushed back up the ladder.
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Hm, a bit of interest already, eh? Sk27, if you want to use Skyler in that story of yours, just e-mail me with Skyler's name in the subject line.
Quote of the Chapter:
"Take a good look around, you two, because it'll be the last thing you'll ever see!"
-Hooded Claw, The Crazy Carnival Chapter, Ch. 2