Step… by… step.

Tham dragged his legs forward, forcing himself to slowly walk towards whatever lay outside their sleeping quarters.

His eye wounds had been treated by some physicians there at Kaijin Base before he went to sleep, and so he wasn’t in danger anymore, but… they’d said he wouldn’t be getting his sight back. His eyes had been damaged beyond repair.

Tham knew it was early in the morning, because he could feel the sun on his skin, but not as hot as it’d be later, there in the desertic expanse. What was he to do? He was pretty much useless without someone to guide his step.

Echosense.

Kayden’s words from the other day kept playing back in his mind.

Tham sat down on the floor, folding his legs. Darkness. The physicians last night had given him a cane to guide himself and a black bandanna to cover his eyes. But Tham’s few steps forward just now had been enough to make him lose both. He breathed out shakily. This was gonna be hard.

But he was a Spacebender. The few times he’d used his powers before, he’d been able to feel the objects he was Spacebending, not just see them. Why wasn’t that working now?

He tried hard to extend his consciousness the ways he’d done before. He tried to feel the cane, to sense it. But it was no good. Without seeing it he couldn’t muster the willpower needed to feel it.

Tham winced. He’d never see again. He’d never see his friends again. His dad… Tham wouldn’t be able to look at him when they reunited. He punched his leg in frustration. It all hurt.

Tham didn’t know how long he spent sitting on the floor, face-down, but eventually, he felt something. A presence, a person, right behind him. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he flinched.

“Hey,” Hassah’s voice said, apparently sitting down next to him. “It’s me. How are you feeling?”

Tham winced. “Hey. I wish I could see you right now.”

A short silence.

“Wanna know something cool?” she then asked.

“Uh, sure,” he shrugged.

“Do you trust me?”

Tham nodded.

Nervousness filled his body as he felt Hassah slowly push his legs to one side, rotating him. And then, the floor disappeared, and his legs were left hanging over who knew what as he sat on what seemed like the edge of the wooden platform.

“We’re pretty much sitting on the top of the world right now,” Hassah said as Tham’s heart quickened. “Don’t move forward too much or you’ll plummet down quite a bit. We’re on one of the highest platforms of Kaijin Base, so we’re probably above every other building in Athoren.” She paused. “Well… maybe not Anthalopus, as that’s a city atop a mountain. And, uh, the Skylands are still above us, of course.” She laughed. “But it’s still kinda cool.”

Tham let out a slight laugh as well. “I guess you’re right. Can I ask you a question?”

Silence.

“...Oh,” Hassah said after a short while. “Sorry. I nodded. Sure, what is it?”

“What are we looking at right now?”

Hassah giggled. “Not much. An endless desert for as far as the eye can see. I believe I can see some Skylands high on the horizon, though, which I believe is pretty interesting. If I look up behind me, I can see this massive hunched Kaijin head, down from which stream several brown wooden platforms like the one we’re sitting on right now. To my left, there’s you! And beyond you, our living quarters for the time being. Kayden and Merdilen are still sleeping, the Mimicker is comfortably sheathed, and a big cool spot was found for Haroken on Kaijin Base’s opposite shoulder, I think.”

Tham smiled. “You make me feel better.”

“I’m glad,” Hassah replied. “It’s important for all of us to stick together, you know. Even if I’d managed to escape the Unbound air mines on my own, I wouldn’t have survived a day out here alone. Not because of my physical capabilities; I think I’d have gotten by. But because we all need each other to keep moving forward with a smile. Because none of this has been easy. We still suffer, and the world suffers too. Even so, we need to smile, Tham! We can’t give up who we are.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Tham nodded slowly. “...Yeah. You’re right. We can’t… lose ourselves. Yeah. We’ve got each other. We’ve got this.”

– – –

Tham spent most of the day sitting around, idling to the back-and-forth of Kaijin Base’s colossal steps. He didn’t dare to stay standing for long, not even with his cane –the slightest misstep could be fatal at this height.

Lunch was pretty good. Tham didn’t know where they’d gotten the meat from, but it was a luxury he didn’t want to question. It was delivered to their sleeping quarters, which Tham appreciated.

“Man,” Kayden sighed from the bunkbed atop Tham’s as he gulped down the last of his food. “I missed this.”

It was especially weird to hear his voice from above Tham without being able to see where it came from, but he was slowly getting used to it.

“How’s group morale, guys?” Kayden then asked.

“Thumbs-up,” Hassah said. Tham had several times heard her say the gesture she was making so he would get it too.

“This definitely beats my Transmutation cooking,” Merdilen agreed.

“Yeah!” the Mimicker exclaimed. “I can’t taste what you’re having but I like this place!”

“Heh,” Kayden said. “That’s great. I was talking to Haroken earlier today, too. He’s recovering from his Anthalopus wounds, and is in a pretty good mood, all things considered. I asked him if he felt lonely down there, but he said he was all right. Besides, he said he’d been, uh, communicating with Kaijin Base. Like, with the actual colossal humanoid. I didn’t quite get that but dragons will be dragons, I guess.”

A short silence. Tham guessed the rest were probably nodding, or smiling, or something. It hurt not to see them.

“What about you, Tham?” Kayden then asked.

“Me?” Tham said. “Uh, yeah. I’ve been doing good. Getting used to all the ‘the world is pitch-black now’ thingie.”

“It’ll get better,” Merdilen said. “Give yourself time. You know, I lost an arm once.” He chuckled. “It was pretty horrible. I eventually recovered it –pretty long story– but, the thing is, I got used to living and fighting without it. It’s a process, as with everything. But don’t give up. Don’t stop doing what you do. Find a way to keep moving forward, Tham.”

“...Yeah,” Tham nodded. “I guess.”

“That’s right!” the Mimicker said. “I don’t have eyes and I feel things anyway!”

Tham paused. “...You’re… Oh. You’re right! Could you, uh, teach me how you do it?”

“Sure!” the Mimicker said. It sounded excited. “I’ll show you how!”

Tham smiled. “Thanks, Mimicker.”

Hurried steps approached.

“Excuse me?” a young male voice called out from somewhere to the right. “Kayden Almerth?”

“Yeah,” Kayden said. “What is it?”

“Varokan requires your presence at Strategy Room 1,” the young voice said.

“Sure,” Kayden replied. “I’ll be there.” He hopped down from the upper bunkbed and patted Tham’s shoulder. “Well, guys, see you later. …I’ll be right back.”

– – –

The next week for Kayden was tense, to say the least.

Even though Varokan apologized for his first-day behavior and welcomed the Skyguard into the Libertatum Brotherhood, there were some things Kayden and him just couldn’t agree on. It was fine not to agree on the forced lunch schedule, but with the bigger questions, things got rough.

Would they kill the Everbender if they got the chance? What would they do with the Oath of Megalo if they were to find it? Would they even search for it? What would be their next move, and when would they carry it out?

Kayden didn’t know. But there was something tugging at him to make the right call, and soon. It was Tham.

The teenager had been training with the Mimicker to develop a passive Echosense, to feel things with his Lawbending. He couldn’t see with his eyes, but he was achieving something else. That was even stronger.

But Tham was getting desperate. He had told Kayden on several occasions that he feared for his father’s life, and for that of his fellow villagers. He was getting impatient. They had to come to an agreement, and soon.

A certain day after lunch, Tham approached Kayden discreetly. He was getting better at feeling the world around him. He was getting stronger.

“Kayden.” Tham’s voice was firm. “I’m really sorry, and I hate to throw this weight upon you, but… I’m leaving. Tomorrow. I’ll go save my father and as many villagers as I can. You and the rest of the Skyguard can come with me if you want, but that won’t change my choice. I’m tired of waiting. And I’m tired of running.”

Kayden froze. “But… but you can’t see! You’ll have no idea where to go! And even so, you’ll need an army to break into the Unbound air mines and actually save your village. You know how tough of a time we had by even visiting Unbadda. You better than anyone know that there’s no way you can do this alone!”

Tham remained silent for a moment. “Then you’ll have to come with me. We can’t wait forever, Kayden.”

“We haven’t gotten to a decision yet, but we’re working on it!” Kayden said, getting afraid.

Tham sighed, wincing. “Kayden… There are some journeys we just need to face. And I’m facing this one. Whether you guys come with me or not.”