A warm wind whipped Jordan's hair about his face, causing him to frown in annoyance as he brushed it out of the way to get a better look at the instructions before him only to have it flutter right back. He pushed his sunglasses closer to his face, hoping this was the problem, but sadly, it wasn't.

"Can't people try to write these things in English?" He muttered to himself, annoyed as he read the same paragraph over again for what seemed like the tenth time.

He sighed, leaning his head back as he ran his hands over his face in defeat.

The sky was steadily growing darker, and along with the warmer winds, Jordan could sense a storm coming.

As he looked up, he began to calm as the rustle of leaves above him comforted him as they always did. He gazed up at them, admiring how the light turned them semi-transparent, casting a green tint on the oak platforms twisting up his tree. If he looked closely, he could make out every vein embedded in each delicate leaf.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts to once again focus on the parchment in front of him. However, the words soon seemed to swim around on the page, turning into even more of a mish-mash of mumbo-jumbo than before.

Groaning, he threw the sheet down and turned away.

He needed a break.

And he knew just how to take one.

He ran up the steps, grateful to get away from that headache.

He strapped on the lightweight jetpack, securing it tightly over his armor. The armor would probably weigh him down a bit, but the one time he had tried going without any, well, long story short, he had nearly been killed.

Plus, he just liked how his armor looked, with its weight and toughness, he felt like a tank.

He secured the cords that ran down each of his arms, making sure each trigger rested comfortably in his palm, yet secure enough not to fall off. He pressed the button, only holding it for a second so as to listen for any problems with the jetpack. When he heard none, he tensed himself as he pressed down on both buttons at once, causing the engine to flare to life and the propulsion rockets to flare with sudden intensity.

He felt his stomach lurch as he shot upwards, but the feeling faded the second he changed direction, replaced by adrenaline.

He could never get over the feeling of flying, even emitting a small laugh of joy as he shot forward, the trees a blur beneath him.

He didn't know where he was going, nor did he care. The jet pack had a full charge that could last him a couple hours.

And he meant to make the most of it.

The afternoon sky had faded into the dark hues of evening by the time Jordan reluctantly decided to return. On his way back, he noticed the quickly moving dark storm clouds ahead.

"Oh, great."

Absetmindedly, he wondered whether his jetpack could take the rain, or if he would be safer walking the rest of the way.

His thoughts were interrupted as a drop hit his nose, causing him to flinch and accidentaly let up on the right trigger, sending him veering to the left before regaining control.

"Too late to go back now." He muttered.

Pressing all the way down, he shot forward, allowing his memory to guide him home.

By the time he reached the tree, it was pouring. Thankfully, the jetpack had held up, though it was making a worrying sputtering noise.

The tree was abnormally large, standing out like a sore thumb amongst its many smaller cousins. Neat oaken walkways wrapped themselves around the tree's thick trunk, leading to the top where a neat doorway lead inside. The emerald covered branches draped themselves lazily over the paths, providing a natural, yet effective, umbrella.

He alighted on the closest platform, his fingers, numb from the cold rain, pried themselves off of the trigger, causing the engine noise to fade thankfully along with the sputtering.

He would have to spend tomorrow fixing that, he thought with a sigh.

He stood still for a moment, letting the water drip from his body as he listened to the thunderous torrent of rain.

He looked down, peering at the large river wrapping around his tree as the rain pelted it furiously.

"Great, now the river's going to flood." He muttered darkly, silently cursing the sudden onpour.

His hips were starting to ache from the weight of his water-logged scabbard, not to mention the heavy sword it already bore. He unbuckled his soaked sword belt and scabbard, sliding out the shimmering blade from within as he welcomed the lessened weight. He looked at the gleaming blade in his hands for a moment, admiring the light the gleaming blade produced.

He turned to head upstairs, and froze.

He hadn't realized where exactly he had landed.

He walked stiffly to the small grave, planting the sword in the neat spanse of earth, almost using it as a support as he knealt reverently, his knees hitting the soft patch of grass that buried his friend, the stone memorial enveloping him in its dark shadow.

He bowed his head, smiling softly at the fond memories of his friend, though his teeth were also clenched as he realized they would never make another.

I'm sorry, Jerry. I should never have left you alone.

He stayed like that for a moment, letting the downpour of rain drown out the thoughts that threatened to consume him.

However, the rain was unable drown out one sound.

To any other person, the sound would have been looked over, but Jordan knew every sound his tree made.

Creeeeeak

And that hadn't been one of them.

Jordan froze, raising himself stiffly and slowly. As soon as he felt he was standing up far enough, he whirled around.

Slowly, and methodically, he looked around without moving his head, hoping the perpetrator would think to catch him unaware.

That's when he heard the second sound.

He spun to his left, just in time to see the edge of a blade being directed straight for his head.

He lept to the side, listening numbly as he heard the weapon that had nearly killed him sink deep into the floorboards where he had been standing seconds before.

His heart began to pound heavily in his chest, his breathing quick and eyes wide as he realized how close to death he had been.

He stepped back to get a better look at his opponent, but tripped over the abandoned scabbard, cursing his clumsiness.

He looked up, coming face to face with the dagger which was a fear-inducing sight. It's blade was jagged and made of what Jordan swore looked like a bone, yet its sharpness was proven by the way it had slid through the wood like butter. He couldn't get a good look at the hilt, however, as a pale hand was gripped around it.

The owner of the hand was a terrifying sight in itself. Its entire body was pale, too pale, almost ghost-like and his skin was tattooed in swirling gray patterns. Its eyes were hollow blacks and where his lips and nose should have been, the skin was flat, his mouth defined only by a thin line. Its breathing was ragged as it easily slid the dagger out of the floor and stood over Jordan, looking down at him blankly.

"Who are-" Jordan cut himself off as the creature lunged again, barely missing Jordan's chest as he rolled to the side, wincing as his armor bit into his arm and waist.

He propped himself up with his arms, glaring at the ghost-like creature.

"If you didn't want to talk, you could have just said so." He grumbled.

The creature tilted its head, almost as if in amusement.

Jordan took advantage of this as he leapt upwards, momentarily unbalanced by the fact that one wing of his jetpack had broken off, sparks fizzling off the severed spot.

He reached for his scabbard, but cursed himself silently as he realized he had taken it off only moments ago to relieve the weight. He glanced at Jerry's grave, trying to make out a way to get to the glimmering sword without getting himself killed.

The creature walked slowly toward Jordan, twirling its dagger lazily as if toying with him, sparking Jordan's anger.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, he charged the creature, pushing down on the buttons still secured to his wrists. He felt the engine whir behind him and with a horrible sputtering noise, he shot forward, surprising his attacker into leaping backwards, but not fast enough.

"Leeroooooy Jeeeeenkins!" He screamed, a smile crossing his features.

Jordan barreled straight into the thing, sending it flying backwards with a resounding crack as it hit the railing, nearly tumbling over its edge. Jordan took the opportunity to snatch the sword from the earthern grave, swiping it experimentally through the air as he turned back to his opponent.

The creature's eyes seemed to widen. (yet it didn't have eyes, so its hollow's widened? Whatever, the thing looked surprised.)

The creature leapt up with sudden furiousity, but Jordan was ready, deflecting the deadly blade inches from slicing open his chest, however he didn't anticipate the second swipe. He hissed in pain as the blade bit into his exposed lower arm, but refused to let down his guard.

However, it soon became apparent that Jordan had underestimated his opponent.

He was tiring, he knew it, and the creature seemed to notice as well. It advanced, going completely on the offensive.

Jordan parried and blocked frantically, his movements focused solely on defense. With each block, he felt the creature's strangth jar his arm painfully, his reactions coming slower and slower with each impact.

Jordan cried out in surprise as he felt the sharp pain of the blade cutting into his side. He looked down numbly at the severed straps to his armor, feeling the side fall as he moved away from the creature, attempting uselessly to stem the blood with his hand. Knowing it was now only an obstruction, he shook off his chestplate, listening in horrified surprise as the jetpack fell with it, tugging at the cords tied to his wrist.

He cursed the annoyance, reaching for his sword to quickly sever the cords before the creature could get to him.

But he wasn't fast enough.

He cried out in surprise as he was shoved to the ground from behind, his sword clattering uselessly out if his hands as the creature used its body to pin him down. Its left hand gripped Jordan's hair, pulling his head upwards as its right hand bore the dagger that now tickled his neck, causing him to hiss in pain. Jordan flinched as he heard the creature's raspy breathing tickling his ear.

Was this it?

He had always known he would die someday, and he had prepared himself for it to not be the most peaceful of deaths. But he had not been expecting this. To be killed without reason by a complete stranger was..

Unacceptable.

On a sudden impulse, he pressed down hard on the buttons still secured in his hands, wincing as his knuckles scraped against the rough wood, unable to avoid it as his hands were pressed under him.

The jetpack sputtered, then began buzzing and whirring, not moving.

He could almost feel the smugness radiating from the creature as it pressed the blade closer, causing a thin stream if blood to trickle down Jordan's neck.

But Jordan was smiling.

The creature frowned at his victim's expression, and that's when things exploded.

Literally.

It was bigger than Jordan expected, crying out as the sudden heat singed his face and tiny pieces of shrapnel buried itself in his skin. His knew his ears were bleeding, his head aching at the ringing silence. The jetpack had been pushed to the limit, soaked in water and crushed during the fight, so Jordan had relied on it being pretty close to exploding by this point and hadn't been disappointed.

The creature leapt up in surprise, freeing Jordan who quickly jumped up, retrieving his sword as he choked painfully on the acrid smoke. His hearing completely useless as he realized his ear drums had popped.

The creature, however, seemed to be unaffected by the thick smoke and explosion as once again it charged, brandishing the dagger now lightly tipped in Jordan's blood.

Jordan sidestepped the charge, whirling back around so that his opponent's back was facing him.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Jordan rushed the creature's exposed back. It turned to defend itself, but it was too late as Jordan plunged his sword straight through the creature's chest, its mouth open in a wordless cry of pain.

But he didn't stop there.

He kept pushing, shoving the creature straight into the thick oak trunk of the tree, pinning him to it.

The creature struggled for a little longer, before becoming completely still, its body sagging against the tree. Jordan pulled the sword clean from the body, wincing as silvery blood poured out from the gaping wound.

Jordan dropped the sword, exhaustion settling in as his adrenaline faded and pain took over.

He turned numbly, simply grateful that the whole ordeal was over with.

But then he heard another sound.

Not only had the jetpack's explosion caused a distraction.

It had started a fire.

He stared in horror at the sight before him, his blood running cold. He had been so distracted during the fight, he hadn't noticed that the explosion had ignited a pile of rope nearby, licking up the walkway's railing and into the branches above.

"Sh*t!" He cried out, pulling off his tattered jacket.

He knew the effort was hopeless, but he beat at the flames with his jacket, eyes wide and fearful.

His home was burning.

And then he heard a sound he never wanted to hear.

Limbs of his tree were snapping, falling in small blazes before his eyes.

As he listened in horror, a resounding crack sounded from above.

Slowly, he looked up, fear freezing him to the spot as the thick branch above him fell.

Planks snapped beneath his feet, a searing pain embedding itself in his back as the walkway supports snapped under the weight of the fallen branch, sending both the walkway and Jordan flying.

Jordan.

Falling, flames covering the tree in a blaze of destruction, the sounds of branches snapping and crushing intricate walkways.

This is only a dream. A memory.

All his fault.

Snap out of it.

Jerry.

ENOUGH!

Jordan's vision became dark, was he unconscious?

Suddenly Jordan saw an image.

He was floating above trees, the ones he had grown up walking through, climbing or flying over, but that's not what he was looking at.

He whimpered at the sight. The tree, no his tree was still standing. The trunk was seared in several places, several half broken limbs hung sadly from its sides. Planks jutted out from odd places, blackened and cut off at jagged ends. The river below was covered in the charred remains of his home, the normally crystal water now polluted by ash and debris. All of the leaves on the lower branches had been incinerated, yet the crown of the tree still bore its emerald sea of foliage, contrasting darkly to its surroundings. The rain had been helpful in one aspect it seemed.

He remembered now, he had been attacked, that's how he had ended up in the river. And his tree.

Oh God, he had burned his home.

This was not what I wanted.

Jordan turned in surprise, looking for the source of the voice.

Forgive me, I am unable to show myself at the time being.

"Who are you? And what do you mean this isn't what you wanted?" Jordan demanded, his eyes still darting around.

I am the one you call Mianite.

Jordan paled.

Oh crap, had he just yelled at a god?

And the 'creature' who visited you that fateful night was sadly sent by none other than me.

"What?!" Jordan yelled, his anger boiling over, no longer caring that it was a god he was yelling at.

"You sent the creature to kill me!?"

I did not send him to do as he did, please believe me when I say that it was far from what I intended.

Jordan was silent, eyes narrowed in angry confusion.

In truth, I should have suspected it. The creature was a favorite of my brother's before he... changed. I did not realize that it still held loyalties with him, and that is where my fault lies.

Jordan's anger still bubbled furiously, but now he was no longer sure who it was directed towards.

"But why me? Why care so much about what happens to me? Why not ruin another guy's life?" Jordan asked, his voice both angry and pleading.

I have been watching you for a long time, Jordan, and I need your help. I had sent the 'creature', as you call it, to invite you to the Realm, however as we now see, this didn't go as planned.

"Why would you need my help? You're a god for Pete's sake!"

I do not know of this "Pete", but this is for his sake too, I'm sure. For all our sakes. What I need your help for is something a god cannot do.

"Which is?"

I need your help to free my sister.

"Your sis- oh, Ianite? So she is real then?" Jordan frowned, curiousity overcoming his anger a little bit.

She is very real, but soon, she will not be, unless you help her.

"Why me of all people? Why was I attacked? Why do I have to help you?"

Do you have any other choice?

Jordan was silent, glancing back at his smoldering tree, his anger quickly fading to grief.

"What do I do?" He whispered, making a decision as he turned away, determined not to look back at the ruins of his old life.

You decided so quickly... Why?

The surprise in the god's voice was obvious, yet it also held relief.

Jordan shuffled his feet, or at least as much as he could whilst floating.

"Well it's not like I have a home to go back to, and according to rumor, you guys are the only ones who can send me back. I don't think you're willing to do that either."

Mianite said nothing to this, and Jordan took this as a confirmation to his suspicion, his stomach sinking as he forced himself once again not to look back at the smoldering ruins behind him.

He took a deep breath before continuing, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Also, I believe owe her a debt."

The god paused, as if temporarily stunned.

What are you referring to?

Jordan sighed deeply, but he had committed himself the second he had opened his mouth.

"Well, at first I had simply assumed it had been the priest who had healed me since he can apparently do some knar-buckle stuff. But then, Declin mentioned something that sparked a memory."

Go on.

"Well." Jordan continued, a little more confident now that the god had agreed with him. "Declin described Ianite, uh, I mean, your sister, as a being enveloped in violet. I don't really remember much from the time while I was unconscious, but I do remember the pain disappearing after I was surrounded in a flash of violet similar to what the priest described. Also,.. there was a hand that grabbed mine that was small and delicate, not at all like the priest's nor, I assume, yours. Am I correct?"

Mianite hesitated for a second, as if slightly surprised Jordan had made the connection so easily.

It's true, though I advised against it due to her greatly decreasing power. However, my sister has always had a righteous heart.

"What's wrong with her?"

That is something I am unable to tell you at the moment. I understand that I am truly granting a great responsibility on your shoulders, but balance must be restored, and I believe you are the one to do so.

"But how?" Jordan was never the one for riddles, wishing only for a straight answer.

That is for you to decide.

Jordan groaned.

Of course he wasn't going to give a straight answer! What more could he expect from a god?

Why couldn't people just speak English?

A/N

#JordanDidIt

You guys are pretty legit. Thank you guys so much for the encouragement with this little old story of mine! Your comments have really pushed me to try harder with this story.

Thank you guys also for supporting this story despite my horrid lack of updating skills. I realized how annoying my updating schedule is while waiting for stories in my library to update.

This doesn't mean that updates are going to come faster (sowwy!), but I'm going to work harder at making sure that they're worth the wait by giving longer chapters!

Welp, anyways I need to get caught up
on Mianite and thirty other things whilst wasting my life Minecrafting, so I'll see YOU in the next chapter!

Bai bai!

~Turtle