A Lilliputian Perspective (reupload)

Chapter 5

Johanna, now well aware that the Raven wasn't any ordinary bird, didn't mind having him visiting. She opens the window and he -courteously- hops inside, hoping he wouldn't break anything while inside. He was still a bit wary around Johanna, but couldn't really blame her for their last encounter.

"That bird just talked," Frida says, stating the obvious. Hilda, David and Alfur just glance at each other.

"Don't you remember the Bird Parade? I told you a girl was riding the Great Raven," David comments, "that was Hilda."

"I'm only taking this smaller form because I'd probably tear off the roof otherwise," Raven claims nonchalantly, "you're Frida, right? I'm the Great Raven, just Raven, actually a Thunderbird, but Trolberg needs something to believe in."

"Wow..." Frida mutters in awe, "you guys did quite a lot while I was with the Marra, huh?"

"Just met some weather spirits and of course, the nisse. We stopped that nasty storm from a few months ago, pretty long story," Hilda shrugs.

It took some time for Hilda and Alfur to explain their plan to the Raven.

"Then, Hilda, have you even been outside yet?" Raven asks. Hilda shakes her head. She felt so much smaller looking out the window now...

"We could walk you around the city so you could get used to it," Alfur suggests.

Hilda stares at the towering buildings from the window, her ears starting to nervously twitch.

"O-okay..."

"I can't imagine how the buildings look from that height," David wrings his hands, "I'd get serious vertigo..."

Johanna looks down at Hilda.

"You're going to go? Right now?"

"No, I think we all still need time to prepare. Think of this as kind of a practice run, " Hilda states, "but I'm hoping that by the end of this month I'll have found the way to become human again."

Alfur and Hilda walked outside together, Twig leading them forward and Raven flying closely behind.

"No one can see us," Alfur tells Hilda, "unless we purposely initiate contact with any creature that hasn't done the paperwork, they can't touch us, either."

Alfur sees a man passing by. He does a calculation in his head and stops when they get close enough. Hilda gasps and clings to Alfur, pulling at his arm and whimpering. Twig notices a bit too late and lets out a yelp.

"NO! Alfur! Move, he's going to crush-"

They merely phase through the person in flashes of blue as he continues forward, unaware.

"Us...?"

Alfur laughs.

"Remember what I said about it not hurting whenever you stepped on us?"

"...Ohh. Well, that was still deeply traumatic," Hilda scolds. "Makes me wonder what would have happened if Jorgen stepped on our cabin in the wilderness with us inside..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry," Alfur leans down, smoothing out the frazzled strands of Hilda's blue hair, holding her shoulders, "I simply wanted to show you that it doesn't affect us, but I understand that might've been too far, so I apologize. If you ever feel overwhelmed, talk to me or Raven. Just don't let go of my..."

They look down at their linked appendages. Hilda looks deeply disturbed.

"...How are we doing this?"

"Best not to question it. For the sake of convenience, my hand; don't let go of it. Especially not when we're crossing the street."

Hilda nods, rolling her eyes at the last bit, and they move forward.

All folks could see were Twig and Raven- mostly Twig as Raven was airborne, but it thankfully didn't raise much suspicion. They spotted Trevor and his gang in the park at some point and at Raven's urging, went into stealth mode. Alfur, much to Raven's (and Twig's) surprise (and slight ire) made friends with a stray cat and named her Sanna. Unfortunately, separating them was difficult as Alfur makes emotional attachments very quickly and his already unwieldy love for nittens (the miniature variety of cat) did not help.

Eventually, they got tired and Raven flew them back home. Twig was still fine enough to run after them and stopped to sniff things as they went.

"You're both so small that I don't even have to transform to carry you," Raven exclaims.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Hilda inquires. Raven shrugs.

"I just gotta keep track of ya and be careful so I don't lose ya."

They agreed to meet up again the day after tomorrow to find the necessities for the spell. Raven is just about to take off when Hilda stops him.

"Oh, I almost forgot! The elf-to-human spell called for a Thunderbird feather as one of the five things we needed."

"That's coincidental," Raven starts, spreading out his wings and taking a feather that was already falling out to give to Hilda.

"I know," Hilda holds the giant feather in both arms, "but thank you!"

"I miss Sanna," Alfur says sadly, ears drooping. Twig just licks him, drenching him with drool, "Thanks, Twig," he replies, fixing his lopsided hat while Hilda and Raven can't contain their laughter.

Evening fell, and Hilda gazes at the moon shining through the large windowpane of her bedroom, Twig sitting beside her. She couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. On her human bed she had a little plate of sandwiches- teeny tiny cucumber sandwiches, courtesy of Johanna- and two little thimbles of peppermint tea. Alfur (all cleaned up, might I add) was sitting on the edge of the bed, sipping his tea and humming to himself. It was cute.

Hilda tries to pick up a sandwich but keeps dropping it.

"Alfur, how do you do this!?"

The older elf glances back at the girl, smiling sympathetically.

"Don't think about it."

Hilda silently curses her handless limbs as she joins Alfur at the edge, trying to keep a sandwich in her mouth and ultimately failing, as the cucumbers inside slide out onto the floor and are swiped by Twig, and all Hilda gets is the slightly stale rye bread.

Alfur doesn't laugh, thankfully. He just watches, probably feeling secondhand embarrassment.

He lets Hilda lean on him, doesn't question her when she starts to cry, and holds her and strokes her hair when she clings to him for comfort.

"You're not... going to tell me not to cry?" Hilda asks. Her face was red and damp with tears.

Alfur disregards the dark red smudge on his outfit, half-smiling.

"No." There was a little laugh in his voice.

"I thought that was kind of a customary thing."

"I don't dismiss folks' emotions. When you're sad or scared to a point, sometimes you need to cry. I have no reason to make you feel small over tears..." he scoffs, "ugh, I realized what I just said. Unintentional pun, sorry," Alfur's voice was soft and kind while talking to Hilda. She couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy in return. Most adults belittled the feelings of children, but Hilda felt fortunate to have adults in her life that made her feel validated.

"Anyway, crying is necessary. I understand that you're scared, there are lots of things you don't know and neither of us can tell what the future holds, but I want you to remember that it's all right to feel bad. You're still just a little girl and now the world is ten times bigger than it was, but you know... that means ten times the adventure, doesn't it?"

Hilda just hugs Alfur again.