The climax chapter hath arrived.
Sorry about my so-called "fight scene" in the previous chapter; I'm terrible at those xP
So therefore sorry about the so-called "fight scene" in the current chapter.
Disclaimer.
-Mitti
- - § - -
I opened my mouth, and four pairs of eyes laid on me, expecting another "I'm sorry".
They wouldn't get that.
"HICCUP! YOU CAN GET FREE!"
Shadow noticed that I was telling my friend something important, so he tightened his grip on my throat and raised me until my feet were dangling off the ground.
"PUSH OFF THE WALL! USE THE LIGHT!"
With that one more sentence leaving me breathless, I wasn't able to see the realization dawning on Hiccup's face as black crept across my vision and made me go limp.
- - § - -
Hiccup stared, horror-stricken, when Blizzard's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her shoulders slumped, leaving her arms dangling. The mirror shard slipped out of her hand and landed on the floor with a loud clatter, making Dawny shriek and start thrashing from within her magic constraints, while Toothless roared in either panic or anger.
Shadow chuckled darkly, his grip on the blood redhead's throat loosening. "Foolish girl," he snarled before tossing her carelessly to the side.
"Blizzard?!" Hiccup cried, looking desperately at his friend. Relief washed over him when he saw the faint rise of her chest, but it was too erratic to mean anything good.
Push off the wall . . .
Use the light . . .
What light?
What did she mean?!
The brown-haired boy looked over at Toothless, who was strewn on the ground not too far from the fallen girl. His tense muscles indicated that he was desperately trying to move closer to her, but Shadow's magic seemed to be getting more powerful by the minute as he strode towards the altar again, intentions unknown to the three in the room (that were conscious).
Hiccup knew that all hope would be lost if he didn't somehow get free of the magic. He tried pulling his wrists away from the wall, only to have them twitch in response. He could move his foot and prothetic, but they had a limit to how far they could go. Panic fluttering in his chest, his eyes flashed to Shadow to Blizzard to Toothless to Dawny to . . .
Darkness.
What?
Hiccup backtracked his vision until Dawny appeared again. Her silver eyes had regained that silver fire, and were looking at him with an intensity that made him want to shrink away. When he didn't, the UnderIce dragon blinked.
On impulse, Hiccup did the same.
His eyelids closed for a mere half-second, if even, yet still once he reopened them he was in a completely different world. A mangled-sounding cry emitted from his throat as he stumbled, miraculously freed from the magic that had bound him. Surprise made his heart leap in his throat, but as he looked around his mind calmed a bit.
He was in a misty place, with no definite ground or sky or horizon or anything, minus himself. Everything was this soothing off-whitish-gray color. When he cautiously took a step forward, it felt as if he was walking in a marsh, with the ground being unstable and squishy.
"I apologize for frightening you so."
Hiccup jumped as he heard the voice, sounding at ease with an echoey vibe. "You mustn't worry so; time at the moment is not changing nor moving. You are safe here."
From the mist came a very strange figure indeed; she had subdued blonde hair that curled into spirals, falling all the way down to her hips, with strange green highlights that looked unnervingly real. Her eyes were both a sunshine-yellow and an emerald-green, looking overall warm and passionate. Her complexion was utterly beautiful, with perfectly fair skin and slim figure. She wore a green dress that reached her ankles, swaying with multiple layers. A golden choker necklace hung around her neck.
"You must be nervous," the young woman said with a soft voice. "But please do not be. I am merely here to give guidance so you may save yourself and your friends."
"Where . . . are we?" Hiccup asked, looking around once again. It was the first question that had come to mind out of the millions swarming his thoughts.
The woman laughed lightly. "That is of no concern," she said, waving off the query. "What you must be wondering is why the girl spoke of this 'light'."
Hiccup blinked. "You mean Blizzard? She said something about 'use the light' but the only lights in the cave were the crystals."
"She meant the light that is not seen by your mortal eye. It is fascinating that she was even able to see such a thing in her dream! Who knew she could see it when she gave it to you . . ." the woman trailed off, staring with a dreamy expression into space, leaving Hiccup to gather his scattered - and confused - thoughts.
'I know I shouldn't have gotten you caught up in anything, and I shouldn't have entered your mind that one night, even if it was accidental . . .' he thought, recalling what Blizzard had said before she started screaming. Apparently the time when she had entered his mind, which seemed was rather freaky, was connected to what this woman was saying to him.
"Can the light help defeat Shadow?"
A quiet, delicate-sounding chuckle. "Oh yes, of course. The Shadowed One is from the depths of darkness, where the Light is from the rays of sun that shine down upon your world . . ." the woman gave a dreamy sigh. "Your world has so many flaws, yet is so perfect. It is a wondrous experience."
"How does this 'Light' work?" Hiccup prompted further, desperately hoping for answers to save his friends.
"Just trust in the same feeling the young girl had when she gave it to you. She treasures your friendship, and I would assume you are the same?" the woman's eyes drifted around as she spoke, but when she voiced the question her gaze was back on him. "You may not trust what I speak. However, if you want to save your friends, then you must hurry before the Shadowed One brings the knife upon the stones on the altar. If he does, the haven of the underneath shall become your tomb."
Hiccup shuddered, but before he could say anything else the woman's figure started fading. "Wait!" he cried, reaching out but ultimately falling flat on his face, tripping on some unknown object. "Wh . . . what?" he said breathlessly, not sure what he was asking about. Before he could even blink again, he took a sharp inhale and with a dull, pounding ache in his forehead he was back in the majestic Spirit Room underneath Depth Island.
He took a heaving breath and tensed up when he noticed Shadow was turned his way. The air around the dark creature was tinted darker, as if the crystals dimmed when he neared.
"You have been deemed worthy the presence of a spirit." everything in Shadow's tone was mocking and sarcastic. "I would be concerned if they could give you any helpful information. However they are powerless to me now. I have defeated the girl, and the light within her." A cackle followed the sentence, but Hiccup had stopped listening after he said the word "light".
The light within her . . .
But the woman clad in green had said that this "light" had been given to him by Blizzard, presumably in a dream. Shadow had nearly killed Blizzard, and from what he just spoke gave the impression that he wanted to destroy the light, which he thought had just happened.
But it hadn't.
So this light really was the key to destroying Shadow.
However it worked.
"Just trust in the same feeling the young girl had when she gave it to you." the words the woman had spoken floated to the front of his mind as Hiccup looked down at the binding magic around his wrist. It was moving, which unnerved him, but in a lazy manner, as if Shadow had not bothered focusing his energy on keeping him captive. Said creature had turned back to the smoothly-carved stone altar, drawing out a knife from his cloak.
Hiccup took a deep breath in, still looking uncertainly at the dark magic.
But it was now or never.
The teen Viking twisted himself discreetly until his foot and prothetic were set against the wall, tensed up and ready to push off. He had never been exactly strong, per se, since he had often been considered the most useless and weak of his entire village before Toothless had come along.
This was no time to be thinking of such things.
"Just trust in the same feeling the young girl had when she gave it to you."
"Just trust in the same feeling . . ."
Screwing his eyes shut in nervousness, Hiccup pushed off the wall with his feet (or foot and foot-like device) and shot himself forward towards the mirror shard lying on the ground, reflecting a bit of the crystals' light.
- - § - -
Toothless's eyes widened when he saw Hiccup break free of the constricting magic, but what surprised him more was the strange light that was glowing in his green irises. It was not adrenaline, most certainly not anything he had ever seen before in anyone's eyes; it seemed to send shock waves down the boy's limbs as he rocketed himself off the stony wall.
Dawny made a bird-like sound again, panic consuming it. The Night Fury had enough courage to look up at Shadow, who had just noticed what had happened and had blistering fury and hatred rolling off of him.
"No!" he hissed angrily, dropping a stone from his hand that fell to the floor with a loud thunk. "CURSED BOY!"
Hiccup had seemed utterly surprised himself that he got free of his bindings, but he made a clumsy dash for Blizzard's nevertheless. Toothless throated a noise encouragingly, eyes wide with hope. He didn't need to glance at Dawny to know that she was eyeing the boy with the same gleam in her gaze.
Blizzard was still out cold.
Just as Hiccup reached the mirror shard with that same whitish gleam in his eyes, Shadow floated over in rage. His hand held his own knife, which glinted dangerously as he growled, "That pathetic girl is smarter than I anticipated, but also more foolish. Giving the Light to another that she doesn't wish to perish?" he laughed insanely. "THE GIRL IS WRONG!"
Shadow swiftly moved to Hiccup, preparing to strike down on his head with the knife, but Hiccup, panicking, ducked under his arm and raced over to the Night Fury. Said dragon looked up to him with relief, but the green-eyed boy was working too quickly to notice it.
The mirror shard glinted an interesting whitish-gold color, Toothless noticed, before it was brought down onto the strain of dark magic around him. A huge pressure that had rested on the dragon's chest was lifted, making him gasp with the feeling of freedom. It did not last long, because Shadow had appeared beside him and lashed out at the duo, his knife catching them both.
It snagged Hiccup's right arm, making a tiny hint of blood stain the green fabric of his shirt, while it scarred Toothless on the lower side of his face. He couldn't see it, but he felt the blood well up. Fury grew as well as his eyes narrowed, preparing to fire at Shadow.
Naturally the creature beat him to it.
"Don't. Move," Shadow hissed, and both Hiccup and Toothless froze when they saw Blizzard. The cloaked figure was grasping the back of her neck, holding her up, a knife pressed to her throat. Her eyelids fluttered, but otherwise she remained unconscious and silent.
"Or the girl dies," he added unnecessarily. Toothless growled, but otherwise didn't make any move to attack him. In his peripheral vision, he saw Dawny thrashing violently within her own dark binds, her eyes wild and desperate.
Hiccup narrowed his gaze at Shadow, who just laughed lowly.
"Now, you two mortals," he said, emphasizing the last word. "Give me the Light, and the girl is yours. If you refuse . . ." the knife against the pale girl's throat dug a bit more into her skin to prove his point, causing a drop of blood to form on her neck. Blizzard's mouth parted slightly as she let out a shaky and hardly audible breath.
Toothless glanced despairingly at Hiccup, who mirrored his expression. Both were stuck; they had no way to attack Shadow or help Dawny without Blizzard paying the price.
Shadow chuckled darkly, as if he knew that they had no solution. "Drop the weapon, boy," he hissed. "And move towards the altar, unless you want her throat to be the same color as her hair." Dawny roared, seething fury, but she was still unable to get free. Frustration was beginning to get the better of the UnderIce dragon, and she lashed out more wildly, causing her energy to drain quickly.
Hiccup slowly set the mirror shard down. Toothless realized that the same unnerving gleam in his eyes was still there, but it seemed different than just a moment ago. He couldn't explain it, but . . .
"Move!" Shadow said in an unearthly voice. Toothless growled and crouched to the ground, tensed up, but he didn't go in to attack. Rather, he slinked after Hiccup towards the smoothly carved stone stairs, and the intimidating lone altar.
He hesitated going any closer when he smelt the familiar tang of salt, before quickly remembering that there was a hole leading out to the ocean . . .
Right behind the altar . . .
The infuriating grip of helplessness threatened to strangle the Night Fury. The escape was right there, right in front of them! Yet they could do nothing as long as Dawny was bound down and Blizzard had a knife to her throat.
They needed a plan. They needed to get Blizzard away from Shadow so they could go free Dawny and -
Thunk.
Toothless winced when he stepped straight on a hexagonal stone, smooth to the touch. It had a perfect oval-ish raindrop engraved on it, and it jogged his memory to remember that he had seen this stone before. It had been on the altar, along with several other stones with different engravings . . .
Of course, one of those stones had unleashed Shadow. Toothless felt quite a bit guilty when he realized that this was mostly his fault.
Yet he didn't dwell on it. Rather, he quickly scooped up the stone in his mouth, hiding it from Shadow's view. He could only hope that the dark creature hadn't seen his slight delay in pace, because otherwise the fragile web of a plan that was slowly forming in the Night Fury's head would be shattered . . .
- - § - -
Hiccup felt despair gnawing at his chest as he shakily walked up to the altar, unsure of what Shadow was planning. The mirror shard lay, dejected, on the ground behind the cloaked figure who still held the unconscious Blizzard by the nape of her neck.
Toothless had stumbled a pace back, but he had not thought much of it; his own mind was quickly trying to come up with something that would get their blood redhead friend away from Shadow. That was all they needed for them to successfully get out of the tunnels.
Hiccup saw the small pool of water a short distance away from the altar, and faintly smelled the salt of the ocean. It reminded him of the same pool that he and Blizzard had used to enter the tunnels in the first place. That had felt like so long ago, yet it had maybe only been, what, a week, if even?
"Now, I want you to witness the destruction of your own world." Shadow's voice was smug, as he seemed pleased with himself. "This island is to be the last I shall overtake. But I will take it over, and this underground safe haven is to be your tomb."
Click.
Hiccup inhaled sharply as he stared at Shadow. Said creature was unbothered, and most likely didn't even notice. The words sparked a memory in the boy that seemed to, as strange as it sounded, make his eyes hurt. They felt as if he had not blinked for years. He did though, and again and again, hoping to rid the feeling.
It didn't work.
His eyes stinging, he missed Shadow floating up the stairs, Blizzard still in his grip. He missed Toothless's growl as Shadow neared the altar and the duo. He missed the blade taken away from Blizzard's throat and being pointed towards the stones on the altar.
Hiccup did not miss Toothless's sound of preparing to fire.
When the sound first arrived at his ears, echoey and high-pitched, he was positive he was mistaken. Yet the sight of the Night Fury proved he was incorrect; Toothless was arching his neck and building up the blue-hot fire in his mouth. Shadow growled in annoyance, bringing his knife closer to Blizzard's throat again, but Toothless didn't give him the chance.
He fired.
A blue-and-white blaze shot in front of the brunette, and he felt its heat as it passed him by and headed for Shadow. It seemed to be a rock of some sort, and how Toothless got or even wanted a rock in his mouth was beyond Hiccup. His surprise at the flame that was so close to him disintegrated when he heard a bone-rattling and nerve-wracking scream.
It wasn't from Dawny, it wasn't from Blizzard.
It was from Shadow.
The rock had hit him square in the chest. His dark cloak quickly caught the flames, making the dark aura around the creature die at the fiery light. The scream was never-ending and achingly painful to ears, so Hiccup clasped his hands over his own, grimacing. Toothless flinched as well, his floppy black ears twitching again and again at the noise. Blizzard, though still not awake, wore an expression of discomfort, while Hiccup didn't catch Dawny's face.
Soon, a distant roar was heard by the boy. Toothless noticed it as well, and realizing the unmistakably strong tang of salt in the air, nudged Hiccup with wide eyes. It took the teenage boy a minute to catch on, but when he did, his breath caught in his throat.
The tunnels were filling up.
To prove his words, a wave of water crashed into the cave. Dawny hummed with terror, making Hiccup see that she was still bound down by the magic and could not escape.
Shadow was slowly sinking to the ground. He let go of Blizzard, who fell to the ground in a disorderly heap. Her head lolled to the side, paler than pale, as she took another shallow breath.
"Toothless, get her out of here," Hiccup instructed. The black-scaled dragon blinked with another moment of panic before determination set in, and he spat fire at the still-burning figure - causing another shriek to penetrate the air - before gently lifting Blizzard up onto his back.
Meanwhile, the green-eyed boy had moved towards the mirror shard. Water was pouring in fast from the tunnel, and already it had reached his mid-calf. The crystals' light reflected on the water, making the cave brighter. Dawny's eyes were also mirroring the light, but they were filled with a hyperventilation. As Hiccup grabbed the mirror shard in his hand, he quickly moved towards the half-drowning dragon.
"Hold on," he said, before taking the mirror shard and slamming it down onto one of the magic binds. His eyes sparked with pain that trailed down to his arm, before all pouring into the mirror shard and making the dark magic break with a loud shattering noise.
Dawny stretched her iridescent-scaled wings in delight, her expression full of peace and joy, before realizing that the water had reached her stomach - and midway on Hiccup's thighs. This amiable phase faded as quick as it came, and she motioned for the boy to get on her back.
Hiccup was delighted to know that she trusted him, but as he climbed aboard her he did feel her tense up a bit. She, however, ignored the strange feeling of a person on her back and jumped towards Toothless and Blizzard near the altar. The Night Fury had lain Blizzard on his back, and her head was seated on the top of his own as her arms draped over his sides.
"Ready, bud?" Toothless's eyes gleamed in affirmation, before glancing at the stones on the altar. Hiccup did the same, and realized that they all had different carvings on them, symbolizing something different.
Except for one; one didn't have anything on it at all.
Toothless quickly jumped into the pool without a second thought. Dawny hesitated following, looking back at the rushing water and then up at Hiccup, who was looking at the half-drowned cloaked heap of Shadow, mirror shard clutched in his hand.
"Let's go, Dawny," he said, not taking his eyes off of the presumably dead villain. Dawny did as instructed; she neared the pool before inhaling and jumping inside, feeling Hiccup's hands grasping her neck.
Hiccup kept his eyes closed and didn't look back.
After a few blind moments he felt his air slowly seep out of him, and his lungs started aching for a fresh breath. Dawny was swimming with an alarming speed, he could tell, since the water rushed up in his face. The UnderIce dragon had been named correctly; she seemed to have plenty of air left.
He did not catch any notion of Toothless or Blizzard until they broke up to the surface. Coughing and spluttering, Hiccup looked around with bleary eyes, hoping to see the black-scaled dragon with a tousle of red hair.
He was let down.
"Toothless?" he called, before realizing where he was. Not too long of a distance away was Depth Island, and Dawny was slowly swimming towards it, keeping herself in the water and Hiccup out. He realized this with gratitude at her selflessness, and continued craning his neck for a sight of their friends.
"Blizzard?" he received the same answer; the sound of choppy waves. The sun was blocked out due to the thick air around, but it was obvious that it was daytime. What exact time was unknown.
A gust of wind made Hiccup shiver. The water had certainly been cold, but with the adrenaline beginning to fade he just now noticed it. Blizzard's signature mirror shard was clasped in his hand, and the edge had punctured his thumb, making a slow trail of blood trickle down his hand. He paid it no heed.
"Toothless!" as they neared Depth Island's shore, Hiccup raised his voice to call for him. The second Dawny had stepped onto land, he had almost literally thrown himself off and dashed up a few steps onto shore, looking around worriedly.
"TOOTHLESS!"
That familiar, heart-warming, relief-inducing roar answered.
Dawny perked her stiff ears up, eyes full of a pleasant attitude that made her eyes once again amazingly beautiful. She chirruped like a bird, before letting out a soothing hum. Her long tail swished in the water.
From around Depth Island came the bounding Night Fury. His eyes were wide and jovial, and he had a slumped Blizzard still on his back. Whether she was unconscious or not was unknown to Hiccup, but he didn't really care at this moment.
They were alive.
Dawny trotted up to stand beside Hiccup, who had taken a few steps closer in the direction of Toothless but had let the dragon do most of the traveling. Now that everything was finally over . . .
That made him smile widely.
Everything was finally over.
They defeated Shadow.
And they were all alive!
When Toothless reached the other two, his scales were mostly dry from his swim in the ocean. How Blizzard had managed to cling on was unknown to Hiccup until he realized she was slowly stirring. Her eyelashes fluttered and her lips and fingers twitched. Dawny immediately went to her side, clicking a few times in her throat before humming again.
One pure, teardrop-colored eye slowly opened. Then another.
And then Blizzard vomited up mouthfuls of seawater.
She ducked to the side of Toothless so he wouldn't get all wet, but by the way the Night Fury was responding to her awakening Hiccup assumed that he wouldn't have cared either way. Dawny matched this ecstatic face, and lastly the brunette boy couldn't help but mirror it.
"Blizzard!" he cried out, patting her shoulder comfortingly when she finally took a huge gasping breath in. "You're alive!"
Violent coughs followed the convulsing, but the blood redhead blinked blearily at him and said in a croaky voice, "H-Hiccup?" she spluttered a few times before looking at the dragons. "D-Dawny? Toothless?" her voice soon became filled with relief as she slumped against the dragon she was on. "Oh, thank the world!" she threw her arms up to the sky. "What happened? Why're we on the surface?"
"Toothless defeated Shadow." The Night Fury straightened up at the praise. "He threw a flaming rock of some sort at him, and I guess the rock had some magic in it because it made him melt to the ground."
Blizzard blinked in disbelief. "Then why are we here and not down there?" she pointed a bony finger towards the ground.
"Water started rushing in," Hiccup explained. "We freed Dawny and then all got outta there. The whole tunnels must be underwater by now."
A overly guilty expression crossed Blizzard's face. Her cheeks lit up rosy pink, and she cast her gaze down. "I'm sorry," she finally said.
"Sorry?"
"Your sack was in there."
Realization dawned on him. The rucksack that held the ink-filled book that seemed to be in the far past, with a copy of the Book of Dragons, and with several other necessaries (like food) was now floating around the tunnels. He had completely missed the fact that he had left it down there.
Hiccup sighed. "It wasn't too important," he finally said. "I wasn't able to get any more information out of it. Besides, meeting the real dragon is much better than a book." a smile formed on Blizzard's lips when she realized he was not angry, but she still looked sadly out into the ocean.
"Those tunnels were my home," she murmured softly. "I guess -"
A thunderous BOOM interrupted her. The foursome jumped. Dawny finally clicked, but still looked as confused as the rest until Blizzard gave an audible gasp.
"Depth Island!" she cried. "It's sinking!"
It was the truth. The shoreline had slowly started growing closer to them as the huge and towering mountain shook. Fear laced the four's feelings, but the most shaken was most likely a tie between Dawny and Blizzard. Dawny had been on the island longer, but Blizzard had thought of it as more of a home.
"We have to get out of here!" Hiccup shouted over the crumbling of the mountain. "Toothless -"
"Wait!" Blizzard interjected, her eyes bright with sadness. "I have a basket of fish buried near that mountain. We could take it somewhere at eat it."
The prospect of food appealed to everyone, and their stomachs voiced their own loud opinions. When Hiccup nodded, Blizzard led the group in a dash over to the side of the mountain, and as soon as they reached the soil ground, Blizzard fell to her hands and knees and began clawing at the dirt. Dawny was soon to assist, while Toothless and Hiccup watched from the sidelines, knowing that too many diggers would be a problem.
After a moment of the girls' search, Blizzard held up a grass-woven pack.
"Found 'em!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "I buried this just before you came, so it couldn't be that old."
Hiccup opened his mouth to give an optimistic reply, but was cut off by the island's rapid sinking. He gave Blizzard the look that said we need to leave and she just nodded, lowering her gaze.
"I'll miss this island," she murmured almost inaudibly. "It was my true home. I guess I'll just have to find another one."
Without another word, she climbed aboard Dawny with rather awkward and clumsy movements. Hiccup did the same with Toothless, smiling at the familiarity. He quickly lodged his foot and prothetic into the gadgets, relieved to see that no equipment was broken (which was practically a miracle).
As Toothless took off with Dawny on his tail, Depth Island slowly sank lower and lower into the ground as the tunnels collapsed as well, until not even the tip of the mountain was visible under the ocean's choppy waves.
- - § - -
"I am sorry that I spoke to the boy, but please note that everything has returned peacefully, and that the Spirit Stones are safely at the bottom of the ocean where no one shall ever find them."
The leader spirit, Star, hummed thoughtfully as Leaf pleaded for her case. "You were told against it," Star finally spoke, "But considering that everything has turned out on positive notes such as these, you are pardoned."
Leaf felt relief brush over her as she bowed deeply to Star, who was seated on his throne. "My sincerest thankfulness," she said softly before turning to leave.
"And Leaf?"
The green-clad spirit stopped, before turning back to the eyes of her leader. "Yes?" she responded quietly.
Star had a small smile on his aged face. "You have proven yourself, despite your young age. Perhaps you should finally pay a true visit to the mortal world."
Leaf gasped, her face still relatively unmoved. "This is truly meant?" she asked, gazing at the elder spirit. "I could return?"
"Do not use words such as 'return'," Star chastised, and Leaf shrank back. "You have never been to the mortal world, so get it drilled into your head."
"Of course." Leaf bowed again, but suddenly remembered a question she had. "But also; Star?" she asked delicately.
"Yes?"
"How did the stone destroy the Shadowed One?"
Star sighed. "The stones represent us, you know. The stars, the leaves, the wind, the earth, the clouds, and the ocean. The Ocean Stone had hit the Shadowed One, and its power unleashed. Perhaps it was because the girl was there as well . . ."
Leaf looked mildly interested. "The Ocean Stone can respond to one other than a spirit?"
"It is unknown."
Leaf nodded, but refrained from biting her lip. Rather, she kept her arms at her sides and asked another question; the question that had been haunting her ever since she had gotten to the Spirit Room.
"Star, if I may ask, what was the blank stone on the altar representing?"
Star's eyes hardened. "You are not to ask," he snapped at her, shooting her a glare that made her want to fall to her knees and apologize. "The blank stone is one of the past, and it is never to be mentioned from you. Do you understand?"
Trembling and keeping her gaze down, Leaf whispered, "Yes, I do."
"Good. Then you are to continue with your job." Star's businesslike manner returned, masking the previous one. "Perhaps you can keep an eye on the girl and her friends. They may need a tree for fire to cook their mortal food, and I believe that the Light has transferred itself into the improper being. It may need your help to go to the right person."
"The 'right person' meaning by what the girl's mind thinks?"
"No, not the girl's mind. Our minds. Now go."
As Leaf bowed and exited, she felt a twinge of pity for the girl. 'She shall not like that decision,' she thought to herself, and suddenly felt a rebellious streak spark within her, a rare feeling for a spirit that almost scared her.
'But if she fights me, perhaps I will not fight back and give it to the person she wishes.'
After a moment of silence, she murmured to herself, "Oh, what am I saying. Not 'person'. It's plural for her."