The Lone Traveler's Diary and other Short Stories

Sky Log #37: A Risky Gamble

So, I got a good scolding from my Sky family for making them worry and keeping them in suspense. They were worried about how I was covered in black shards and whether they were hurting me. It didn't hurt. The unfortunate thing was that I was starting to lose my eyesight.

Then, Anna and Shaz recommended that I lose all my stars in the rain. They always had the craziest ideas, but this was the craziest one I had heard so far. My healer was on board with this idea because being in Hidden Forest was like a milder version of being in Eden. If I lose my stars and have the others pick them up before they get lost, my body would be left in the rain to be cleansed out of the darkness. It was a precarious idea, and there was a high chance that I would become one of the lost children in Eden if we missed the right moment.

Val was apprehensive about me. She had met me when I was a fledging Sky kid who only knew how to fly solo and never knew what it was like to be in a group. Hence, she was like a mother figure to me. She didn't stop this outrageous idea because... it was the only way. The rainwater was no longer effective when the darkness overtook nearly half of my body over the last few months. I couldn't move then. Also, the blackouts didn't appear since my healer was always on my side.

As for David, he updated what findings he found about the dark children. I wrote about them in the last entry and how my sickness could have a connection to them. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that could guarantee a plausible theory. But, finding information about the dark children could wait since we had Anna and Shaz's idea to test out.

However, this operation needed the whole Sky family since... I had many wings I had amassed over the years as a veteran Sky kid. I was sure I had more than a hundred and fifty wings since I had 11 wedges on my cape. While the others can absorb them as safekeeping, they need to chase after my wings when they pop out of me. While the rest of the family needed to settle their stuff before coming to Hidden Forest, my healer decided to work on the dark shards growing on me.

On closer inspection, they were hard exoskeletons. The type that is usually found in the dark krills and crabs. It didn't hurt no matter what they did to my dark shards, so they tried to cut off as much as possible so that I could move unrestrained. Next was my limbs. They were stiff from the dark shards growing on them, and I couldn't feel them much anymore. So, I had to practice swimming in the pond outside Grandma Spirit's home, where the rainwater was concentrated at. Also, with the help of my friends, who took turns holding onto me, I practised flying around the clouds. Those exercises helped my mobility immensely. Now, I could walk and fly a bit.

When it came to the day of the vast operation, I was nervous, but I didn't want to give up. Compared to being overcome by darkness, I preferred being drowned in the rain and dying as a child of Light. However, I was confident that this would work out somehow.

Friends and family came. Some acquaintances even came. However, since my eyesight was relatively poor, I couldn't identify everyone and could only count on Anna and Shaz to help identify them. When everyone arrived, quite a few were taken aback by my appearance but still agreed to help me out. Unfortunately, a few couldn't accept my appearance and went home without a word. Since they were passing friends, we didn't keep them, and their reaction was understandable.

We transferred to the Boneyard, as there was a huge water body that was shallow and plentiful, and began the operation. I expended all the light energy in my cape and waited for the light to drain out of me slowly. Then, I heard the familiar sound of my wings escaping me. I closed my eyes as I felt the coldness of the water seeping into my bones, a rare sensation I had not felt ever since I started to lose my senses. Yet, this means that Anna and Shaz's idea was working.

My family and healer kept a close eye on me when I was gradually down to one star. It was the original star we are born with and formed our core. This was the most critical moment because the moment it was depleted by the rain, they would have to bring me in, or they would lose me forever.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my core.

A pain that I hadn't felt in years, but it was a familiar feeling, like an old friend that had revisited me. I gripped the core in my chest as I writhed in pain. Many frantic hands reached out to grab my body as I suddenly thrashed about in the water. The pain was too much that I passed out.

I dreamed of the one dark day I had first gotten this illness. I remembered... my hand being released from his grip, tumbling down into the graveyard, the dark krills and crabs feasting on me... and someone... someone looking at me. But it wasn't that kid because I knew his silhouette.

Then, the fever dream ended. I groaned as I sat up from the bed and looked outside. I wasn't quite sure how I reacted then, but it was the most beautiful sunrise I had seen.

Shaz teased that she saw me silently crying while gazing at the sunset. I kept quiet because I didn't want to point out that fresh tears were pouring out from her eyes as the whole family hugged me. I think she knew, but everyone's eyes were watering too.

It turned out that I was thrashing so hard in the water that they couldn't bring me into the shelter in time. I nearly flatlined right there if someone had not deep-called to provide warmth and light to me. It was chaotic, and nobody remembered who did that last saving grace.

I was glad I survived that.

The darkness receded into the core, and my wings were returned. Sadly, the core remained as dark as ever.

There were still a few more checks before my healer finally discharged me. Already, my itchy ass was screaming at me to leave this place and start exploring quietly. Unfortunately, I was threatened that they would hurt me down and drag me back if I did. Then, I would have to undergo this drag of shame all the way to their burrow. The image sent me rolling on the floor with laughter. Still, I stayed.

Friends and families came and went as they visited me. Some who had appeared once during the operation and left immediately before it began never appeared again. When I casually asked about them, their friends could never give me a clear answer. I only put a little thought into this since we don't interact much. However, I could feel the subtle shift in how they talked to me. They seemed... afraid, but as we talked some more, their uneasiness was laid to rest.

Anyway, I had an ominous feeling that this cure would be the only time.

The pain was too great at that time. And mysteries about my illness thickened. So far, David only found myths about the dark children, and I hoped there might be more since the Sky Kingdom had fallen once before the Sky children (which is us) appeared. Perhaps the Elders may know more. I would probably have to transverse across the Golden Wasteland to the Forgotten Ark to find the wizards and look around Graveyard to find the one in my dream.

... I hope things will turn out for the better....