Himari Chiba

"You think you can tell me how you met the Tengu on the way?" Sachi curiously asked.

"Hmmm... Not really sure where that story would start." Himari pondered.

Himari continued. "I guess you could say it all started 5 years ago."

"That long? You two must be really close."

"I wouldn't say we're close honestly, but I wouldn't be here today without him."

Sachi gulped. "What does that mean?"

Himari went silent. A conflict in her heart.

Sachi noticed Himari's hesitation and a knot formed in her stomach. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be asking such things. I'm really sorry."

Sachi's chest began to tighten. Guilt and shame eating away in her mind. How could I have been so rude. She probably hates me now. Maybe I should stop talking. I shouldn't bother her. She's going to leave me.

Sachi's mind full of thoughts, not giving her a moments rest.

Himari took a deep breath. "There's something you should know about me before I can tell you how I met Nobu."

Himari's words bringing Sachi back into reality.

Himari continued. "I don't know how it is where you come from, but here in this world, everyone has magic. I told you before that the people of the sky have blue eyes and those on the surface have green eyes. Well people also have magic. Those in the sky can wield the wind and have powers of light."

Sachi remembered seeing the kids play with balls of light and the towns people doing things that only magic could explain.

"What about the people on the surface. Do they have the same powers?" Sachi asked.

"They say the surface people manipulate the earth itself and use shadow magic instead of light magic."

Sachi's curiosity peaked. "They say?"

"No one from the sky islands has ever seen someone from the surface or the surface itself and no one from the surface has ever come to the sky islands and seen the people. Some people here even think there aren't people on the surface."

"How come?"

"I mean there's no way to get to the surface from the sky and I can imagine there's also no way from the surface to get up here. I mean think about it, to get to the surface we'd have to fall thousands of miles below the clouds and hope we land."

"You can't use your wind magic?"

"The thing about magic is that it's limited unless you train very hard and the only people that do that are the royals and royal guards. But even those that have trained, I doubt they could use their magic to get below the clouds. Plus, no one knows what's in the cloud barrier, some people say there are monsters and that's why the birds stay away from the clouds. Oh, that's another thing I should tell you. Have you seen the birds around here?"

"The really big colorful birds?"

"Big birds?" Himari confused by Sachi's statement. "Are birds not that size where you're from?"

"Not at all. They're maybe this big." Sachi held her hands to measure the size of her world's birds.

"That small?! How do people ride them then?!"

"We don't ride birds..."

"How do people get to faraway places?" Himari's curiosity now peaking.

"We use things like cars and trains."

"What's that?"

"Uhh..." Sachi paused, not knowing exactly how to explain how cars or trains work. "It's a machine that moves..." Nice Sachi you sound real smart right now. Her own brain giving her snide remarks.

"A machine? That sounds really fancy. I don't think we have anything like that. We only have birds here."

Still embarrassed by her description of cars and trains, Sachi moved the topic back to Himari. "You were saying about the birds?"

"Oh right! Well, the birds are our companions. Everyone has their very own bird. By the age of ten the children of the sky are thrown off the island-"

"Thrown off?!" Sachi interrupted.

Unfazed, Himari mimics throwing a child off an island. "Yeah, like this. It's so while the child falls their wind magic naturally takes over and calls a bird to rescue them. That's how you get your bird companion here, and from then on you can use your magic to call your companion and they'll always show up."

Sachi didn't say anything, still thrown off by the fact they throw children off the island.

Himari took another deep breath. "Of course, you can only have a bird companion if you have magic, otherwise you can't call for one."

"What happens if someone doesn't have magic?"

"It's unheard of. There's never been someone who didn't possess magic and who couldn't call upon a bird."

Sachi sensed melancholy in Himari's voice.

"But that all changed when I was born." Himari sighed. "I was born without magic."

Sachi's breath got caught in her throat.

Himari continued. "I was born into a high-class family. Reputation meant everything to my parents. My father is a scholar of magic and trains the royal guards with his knowledge. My mother is part of the royal guard, a troop commander. Magic is everything to them and with how skilled they are, it was only natural for them to expect their offspring to be a legend. But I was born instead, not quite the legend they expected." Himari chuckled, but her eyes were distant.

"I don't see you any differently now that I know you can't use magic." Sachi interjected in hopes to be comforting. 

"I'm sure it doesn't change anything for you but in a world that revolves around magic, not having any is like a death sentence."

Sachi's head lowered. She felt useless that she couldn't offer any comfort. 

Himari noticed Sachi. "You don't have to feel bad. I'm not upset by it. To me not having magic is not a handicap, but instead an adventure. I'm living in a world that wasn't made for me, to me that's exciting."

"It doesn't bother you that you don't have magic?"

"Not one bit. I know I'm different from other people and it's harder for me to live in this world, but personally I think that makes me cooler."

"Makes you cooler?" 

"Being different and living my own way makes me happy and to me that's all that matters."

Sachi's heart felt a tinge of warmth. 

"What happened with your parents? Did they accept you?" Sachi asked.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm sure you can imagine my parent's disappointment when I showed no signs of magic. Magic usually develops around the ages of 5-6, but by age 12 I still couldn't produce any wind or light no matter how much my parents trained me. Then, one day, my mother finally had enough." Himari remembered back to her past.

-

Himari's mother held her head in her hands. "She is 12 years old now. Your teachings and my trainings are obviously not working. She needs something more serious."

"I agree with you, but I think we should be more patient, there are many late bloomers when it comes to magic." Himari's father defended.

Himari's mother snapped. "No child of mine is not going to have magic. The townspeople have already started to talk about why we haven't enrolled her in school. It's only a matter of time before this gets out. It's making us look bad." 

Calmly, Himari's father tried to negotiate. "There are better teachers out there, maybe she needs a different instructor." 

"Stop babying her!" Himari's mother paused for a moment. "No... What she needs is a real-life lesson."

Himari's mother stormed to Himari's room, taking Himari by the wrist and yanking her with her.

"Mama, you're hurting me" Young Himari cried.

"Darling, what are you doing it's the middle of the night?" Himari's father questioned.

With fire in her eyes and anger in her heart, Himari's mother dragged young Himari outside. "Even the latest of bloomers are able to call upon a bird by age ten. Even if their magic isn't developed, calling a bird has always been proven to awaken even the latest of bloomers."

Himari's father blocked her mother's path. "I will not let you do something crazy. Yes, the calling of a bird can awaken underdeveloped magic in those that have shown even the slightest bit of signs, but Himari hasn't shown any signs. This is too dangerous."

Himari's mother used her light magic to strike Himari's father, knocking him out cold.

Himari's mother continued to drag Himari to the edge of the island. "Listen to me Himari, you need to unlock your magic, stop playing games already. If you don't become strong like me then you will ruin me, your father, and everything we've built."

Young Himari's tears rolled down her face. "I don't want to ruin anything. I am trying mama."

Her mother's anger took over. "It's not good enough! You are not good enough! You need to be better! Why won't you listen?!"

Young Himari cried harder. "I am listening. I can be good mama. I promise."

"You promise?"

Young Himari nodded her head through her tears.

"Then show me how good you can be." Himari's mother pushed young Himari off the island.

Young Himari flailed about in the air, trying hard to focus her mind and soul to connect to her magic.

Himari's mother watched from the edge.

But Himari showed no sign of calling a bird. Fear quickly taking over her heart. 

"Mama, help me!" Young Himari screamed out. 

Himari's mother glared. 

Young Himari continued to cry and scream out to her mother. "Mama please!"

"You are no child of mine." Himari's mother turned her back and left, leaving Himari to fall.

"Mama..."

-

Sachi felt her heart fall into her stomach. "She just left you?"

"Yeah, can you believe that, I could've died."

"What about your father? Did he come save you?"

"No, Nobu did."

"The bird Tengu man?"

"Yes. I fell right into him, and he ended up catching me and taking me back to the island. After that, he vowed to always catch me whenever I fall. He gave me this necklace that only he can hear to call upon him since I couldn't call a bird."

"What happened after you got back to the island?"

"I was too scared to go back home actually, so I begged Nobu to take me to his home and teach me magic so I could go home keeping my promise to my mother. He reluctantly agreed after some serious begging. Honestly I'm more ashamed of the begging I had to do than of my whole sob story." 

"Did Nobu get you to use magic?"

"Not even close. But after 3 years I figured I should finally face my family and see if they would accept me."

"Did they?"

"No... They replaced me instead. I saw that they had another child whom they were doting on, and I couldn't bring myself to go back to that life. They were happy without me, and I was okay without them. I was determined to live a happy life without them, so I left that island for good and started traveling the other sky islands with Nobu's help. Two years later, here I am, with you now."

"Do you think you can live a happy life without them?"

"I would say so. Sure, I miss them from time to time. But I can finally be myself and live how I want, so in the end I think it was all worth it."

Sachi's voice wavered. "You're so brave. I wish I could be like you..."

"I wouldn't say I'm brave. I'm just trying to follow the things that make my heart happy."

"Even doing that seems impossible..." Sachi's voice barely a whisper.

Himari caught Sachi's words. "Why?"

"I don't know what makes me happy..."

"Then you just have to find it."

"How do you find it?"

"You keep trying and keep exploring until you find things that fill you with joy. It took me a while to find things that make me happy too but once I started finding some, I didn't want to stop. I haven't found everything that will make me happy, and I don't know what those things will be, and that's exciting to me. There's endless possibilities." Himari smiled.

Sachi stopped walking. Her head lowered. Her mind conflicted. What was the point in trying when disappointment was all she could ever find? But what if she tried and there was happiness on the other side? Her hope quickly diminished. It's impossible for me. I'm not strong like Himari. I could never find happiness.

"I hope you know, you're one of the things I've found that makes me happy." Himari said taking Sachi's hand. 

Sachi raised her head. "What?"