So, Esu...or Esudein now, became a Guardian. And to be honest, if anyone should be one, he was the guy…beast. I mean, his naming was no big surprise. He deserved it. At least that’s what I thought while I was regenerating my burst eardrums.

“Zeew,” Idleaf addressed Miros sitting up in the branches, and my blood ran cold as one scary thought crossed my mind. She couldn’t be thinking about...about naming her, could she?

The tree’s spirit shrank in size, matching Zeew, and flew up to perch on the branches opposite the massive eagle. “We’ve only known each other a short time, yet you have taught me much. I’m thankful for that and wish you’d show me even more. The elders nag me not to be rash, that I have all the time in the world. But why wait, right? I wish to see the world and soar through the sky with you. Will you be my Guardian, even though you know where my interest lies? Will you show me the world as it is while shielding me from above?”

Fuck! She actually asked her. 

I wasn’t the only one thrown off by it, though.

This was the first time I saw this proud Miros so caught off guard. I assumed she would jump at the chance to become a Guardian right away, but she hesitated. Zeew even glanced at Esudein, seeking his advice and approval, knowing full well that the credit he and she had for the awakening of the World Tree was more than disproportional. Hell, I’d say I had more to do with it than she did.

“If Idleaf, see you worthy, I have no reason to...say otherwise,” Esudein spoke, once again showing his benevolence. 

I wouldn’t be so willing if I were him. But that was me, a mere flightless chick in her eyes, a weasel. Let’s just say I didn’t get along with that massive eagle and feared that after being named Guardian, Zeew’s arrogance would skyrocket, and she’s going to be even harder to deal with. My only hope and wish were that after all this, once she flew off to the world, I would never see her again.

“I’ll show you the world,” Zeew sang, her chest puffing with pride. “I’ll take you wherever the wings and the wind take us, guard you from above, and prove my worth. I will be your Guardian.”

I couldn’t help but sigh as my heart sank. Quite rude given the moment, I was aware. Yet I couldn’t get rid of the nagging question: Why the hell her? Why did it have to be Zeew, proud Miros that showed up here not even a few hours ago? She tried to kill me, tried to kill the mossbears, and actually destroyed the forest around Idleaf. 

If she had to pick another Guardian besides Esu...damn. Sorry Esudein, I still couldn’t get used to the change. However, it didn’t change my point. 

If she had to pick another Guardian besides Esudein couldn’t she choose someone else other than her? There were so many mossbears to select from, mother mossbears who were no weaker than Zeew and surely spent much more time with her.

Sadly, I had no say in Idleaf’s choice, and to open my mouth now would be pure madness.

Okay, my dislike of her aside, I actually could see why she didn’t pick another mossbear. While one of the mother mossbears would be a worthy Guardian, she wouldn’t add to, let’s say, the diversity. It would be foolish to have a hundred similar Guardians. No matter how strong they would be, they would have the same shortcomings and weaknesses. Plus, if Esudein stays in Esulmor, I think Idleaf could count on the protection from the other mossbears as well.

And if I knew this World Tree even a little bit, which I did, then there was the fact that Idleaf loved the variety. Whether it was just her quirk or virtue of all the World Trees had to remain unanswered until I met the other World Trees, but she loved to meet new... creatures whatever they were, explore new things, the world around her.

Well, Zeew was an opportunity for her to do that. And Idleaf took it. As soon as she was ready to do the thing, she rose from the branch and flew to a very excited Miros.

“I name you, my Guardian,” she declared for all to hear and gently touched her forehead. As she did so, a wave of violet energy swept across Zeew’s feather from her forehead to the tip of her beak, all the way to her tail feathers. Not even her long head feathers were spared the magical splendor. And as in the case of the naming of Esu, the faintly glowing, dangling, streaming clusters of flowers above my head shone for a fleeting moment so brightly it blinded the eyes. Not mine, though. This time I was ready and closed them.

When I looked at Zeew again, her eyes, like Esu’s, glowed with faint violet light, and her feathers were covered here and there with similar glowing runes. As if it wasn’t enough that she already looked like a magnificent creature, this gave her a magical vibe.

Idleaf took her time finding her name, struggling a bit with it. But her earnestness was hard to miss, and one cannot fault her for the holdup. Definitely not me, who barely knew the intricacies of names and the difficulty of actually finding the right one.

“Zeewet, the Guardian of Idleaf,” the spirit declared for all to hear when she succeeded.

Now that the secret of the names had been unveiled a bit to me and knowing what to look for, what to focus on, I felt...the power that rolled off her tongue as she spoke the name. Both of their names. And let me tell you, it was weird. To say what the story was behind them was beyond my ability, though.

In that regard, I was like a child who had just discovered that there was more to the letters on the pages of books than just plain black symbols printed on paper. Those characters, like the names, contained stories and whole worlds within them, but to discover those places, I had to learn to read them first.

My attention returned to the treetop as Idleaf gestured for her second Guardian to introduce herself to everyone. Of course, expecting a painful shriek, I pressed my ears to my head, not wanting to lose my eardrums as soon as they regenerated.

I worried for nothing, though.

When the proud Miros announced her new name, she sang. “I am Zeewet, eternal Guardian of Idleaf.” Besides daring to call herself the eternal Guardian, she kept on singing. It wasn’t a song about her, exactly. She sang mainly about the Miros and their virtues. A pride mainly among many others like it, as you can imagine. However, she also sang about how wonderful it was to be able to return to their nests with a glorious name like hers.

Basically, she was full of herself, and as I feared, pride got into her head.

However, I had to give it to her, if one passed over the content of that song, her singing was beautiful. Unlike Es-Esudein’s roar, this was a treat to my ears. Thanks to these big floppy fluffy things on my head, I could hear all the detail in tones and in a larger range than I was used to as a human.

Thinking about it, back on Earth, I could do well in the music industry with them. Perhaps even as a concert conductor. I was too much of a klutz to play any instruments, and my singing was awful.

Enough about me, though. This was Zeewet’s moment, and while I may not have liked it, she deserved appreciation and respect. So, although not as enthusiastically as the two northern eagles, whose eyes shone with awe for their evolved kind, I gave her my respect, trying my best not to show my disappointment.

 

***

 

That was it. Idleaf had her two Guardians. One to protect this expanse and the woods around with his family at all times, and one to travel the world with her. They were both incredibly powerful. In fact, to the point where I dared say there was no man or group of men brave enough to stand up to them. At least not in the Sahal Empire.

I wasn’t sure about the elves and their strength, though. They surely must have already known about Idleaf growing here amid Esulmor, the woods sprawling beneath the Granora mountain range on the western edge of the human empire. There was no doubt that this would cast a shadow of lust among their kingdoms and pose a challenge to the Sahal. The way I saw it, the Empire had no choice but to stand its ground.

Judging from what I was told about the elves, skirmishes with them were inevitable. They will covet Idleaf, and while it may not be all of them who will come, some of the eleven elven kingdoms will try to claim her for themselves.

I sincerely hoped that the elder World Trees stay out of it or, better yet, help Idleaf. The thought of them sending their Guardians here sent shivers down my spine. In my mind, those trees were hundreds if not thousands of years older than Idleaf, and so were their guardians. I’m not saying Esudein was a young beast, and neither was Zeewet. Yet, could they have been a match for someone like Casoow, who became a Guardian back when Zeewet was a mere nameless chick? And worse, at that time, he had lost a fight with the already named Guardian. So I hope you understand my concerns.

I didn’t even want to think about what it might mean if one or more of the Guardians were actually elves.

Anyway, now that Zeewet and Esudein had become Guardians of this enormous tree I was standing by, I was even more out of place here than ever before. This was no place for someone weak and insignificant like me, and I was well aware of that fact. I was the third wheel and felt about the same as Deckard did when Lightfeather and I talked to the beasts.

Speaking of which, it was time to go back to where I belonged.

Making use of the fact that I was still able to fly, I gently flapped my wings so as not to make too much of a fuss, rose into the air, and glided to the human side.

Actually, I was glad that this night full of stuff from legends and myths, things completely beyond my imagination, was coming to an end.

“Korra? Where are you going?” asked Idleaf, whose spirits appeared flying next to me. I should be used to her little trick by now. Yet I wasn’t, and so once again, she scared the shit out of me. This form of hers was a bit of a mystery to me. I hardly heard it. My instincts didn’t pick up on it, nor did I perceive it in my domain.

This wasn’t the time to ponder that annoying quirk of hers, though.

Nor did I want to go through the shit while flying. No matter how much my instincts were helping me, I was still new to it, not yet fully confident in my wings. An amateur, if you will.

Excuses, excuses.

I just needed to feel solid ground under my feet while I was about to say goodbye to her. Farewells never sat well with me. So, while looking for a way to say it without hurting her, I landed on one of the roots sticking out of the ground and covered in moss.

“You seem sad, Korra?” Idleaf piped, landing beside me. “Thoughtful, too thoughtful.”

“My bad, sorry,” I said, giving her my best sincere smile. “It was great to meet you, Idleaf. Even though it was a rough road to get here, I experienced a joy I hadn’t had in a long time.”

“I too had fun. Fun, good, too serious, boring.”

“True. Well, thank you for that. I had a great time here with you...damn, you made me fly. I’ll never forget that,” I said, fluttering my wings to emphasize and show my gratitude. “How long does it last, by the way?”

Idleaf giggled. “As long as you’re within my reach?”

Giving her a look, I then glanced over to the tree itself. “I’m guessing you don’t mean your...spirit form?”

“You are not so silly, Korra.”

“How far can you reach?” I wondered how long I could enjoy the ability to fly.

“Not far,” Idleaf said, slumping her shoulders. “Still weak. If I reach out, I can barely make it to the edge of the woods Esudein has grown.

“Wow, not bad at all. In fact, that’s incredible.”

“Elders, much stronger,” she argued.

This time I laughed. “Look at me. My reach is only a few steps.” I was referring to my domain, whose outer range was a measly ten meters. “I should be the one saddened by my weakness. Come on. You can laugh at my expense all you want, and while you can...” I said and stopped short as I realized what I had let out of my mouth.

“Were you leaving Korra?”

Here it was, the moment I’d been dreading. Most likely because I was the one who woke her up, Idleaf was attached to me. And to be honest, I liked her too...sort of like the little sister I never had. You know, the annoying one, better at everything she does and able to cheer you up when you need it.

“Yes, Idleaf. I was, and I am leaving. I can’t stay here forever. The night is coming to an end, and so is my time here. I came here to train, and I did, learned as much as I could. Thanks to you, even more than I expected.”

“...but, you are leaving?”

“It’s time for me to go...no need to be sad, though. I’ll be back with the next full blue moon.”

“I’m not sad,” Idleaf objected, pouting a bit that I thought she was. “I’m confused. I thought you were gonna tell me your story as you promised, that we’ll laugh more together. I wanted to go with you to that place where humans live and peer into that...annoying things that caused me so much pain. I was hoping you’d be the one to guard my sanity and make sure I didn’t become a boring old tree like the others. Thought we were friends.”

“We are,” I said before I could think it through. It was just the way I felt about the two of us.

Idleaf smiled, delighted to hear that. “Then...” she said and poked me in the side. “Will you become my Guardian, Korra?”

“W-whattt...?” I was prepared for a whole lot. Crying, anger....hell, even being reduced to a bloody mess. Not for this, though. I know, I know, Zeewet hinted at it...but I didn’t take that proud eagle seriously. The idea was simply too ridiculous. “Y-you want som-meone....someone as weak as me as your G-guardian?”

She thought about it, only to grin. Then her spirit vanished before my eyes. “Brute strength is not the only thing asked of the Guardians, Korra,” she said as she appeared behind me in the size of Esudein, flexing her muscles. “There are far more things I can’t deal with on my own, requiring more than pure power to tackle the issue. I need Guardians who can see beyond their own strength and keep me as who I am,” she said, her voice carrying the fear that one day she would become someone else. 

“The elders are yelling at me right now that I’m making a mistake, but they were the ones who told me about the young ones who woke up a long time ago only to wither away a few cycles later because they lost themselves. Even the elders are not spared from this terrible slumber. Two have been silent for many cycles, and I have not heard their voices yet, only felt their weakening minds lost to the dreams. I fear that, Korra.”

Idleaf shrunk back down to my size, her grim expression turning to one of joy again. “But you showed up when I saw no reason to wake from my slumber. You kept me from withering away when my dreams were slowly but surely taking me away,” she said and actually cringed at the memory. “I need someone like you by my side to make sure that I’ll never fall into that dream again.”

“...and y-you think I can?”

“Yes, you can,” she said without a hint of doubt. “You already guarded me once without me asking you to...please, Korra. Be my Guardian.”

“I...” I stammered and stopped. I really wanted to say yes, but...but there....what was actually stopping me from saying so?

That I felt too weak to be a Guardian? Compared to her, to Esudein and Zeewet, most definitely. But Idleaf just told me I was strong in my own way.

Was the issue that I would be bound to this enormous World Tree? She could be my way back home one day.

That being a Guardian would make me even more of a fucking freak than I already was? Why not? There was no turning back for me, anyway. On the contrary, I was of the opinion that Esudein and Zeewet looked even cooler now.

Was it the knowledge that it would put an even bigger target on my back that held me back then? Perhaps. I’d probably be the easiest to get Guardian in history. But at the same time, I’d be more protected than ever. As I understood it, the World Trees were connected to their Guardians and could summon them to their side at any time. In simple terms, an easy way out of any situation. Like...like those returning crystals that Ward prom Shadowbreakers and that Thought Fuddler used to get out of Esulmor.

So what the hell was holding me back? Me, myself. My indecision. Fear of the unknown and of taking that step further when big decisions were at stake. And the one suffering from it was Idleaf. She poured her heart out, begging me, and I was unable to say a word.

Come on, Korra, make up your mind!

Man up!

Open your damn mouth!

“I-Idleaf...”

“Yes, Korra?” she squeaked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“...sorry...I am sorry...sorry for the hesitation. I shouldn’t have...yet I did. One of my failings, one of many...”

“I don’t mind, Korra. I have mine, too, or I wouldn’t need the Guardians.”

I gave her a weak smile. “Do you really think I could be a good one?”

“I’m sure of it,” she said with absolute certainty.

“Then, my friend...” I said, taking a breath to calm down and stop my voice from shaking. “...I’ll be your Guardian. I’ll make sure you stay true to yourself and never fall into the thrall of dreams.”