Help from the OtherSide

8: Small People welcome us

We stood rooted in our spots anticipating an ambush. Except Grant's knives we are to fight bare hands. Which would be a breeze since we're in a magical forest with magical predators.

"Do we have anything else for a weapon?" I whispered.

Team appeared confident until I asked the very specific question. Now I had four people searching each other's bags and pockets like delayed airplane passengers searching for their passport.

Amidst our search, bushes around us rustled suspiciously.  A short child with a bright pink pointy cap and clown clothing peeked from behind a tree trunk. Following it, another child peeked from the other edge of the trunk. Suddenly more and more children appeared out of the bushes.

"Someone left the nursery door open." Grant snorted. 

"And that doesn't concern you? There are children, in a FOREST!" Amelia cried.

"What do you want me to do-- Find their parents? Do I look like their nanny?" Grant and Amelia began arguing.

 "If they are really lost, we must help them." Yumiko spoke in a quiet voice.

"Or we could just leave and pretend we never saw anything." I suggested.  Liam nodded agreeing with me. 

I slowly made my way to the children nearest to my group and squatted, reaching their eye-level.

"These are some old ass children here." I claimed. Not out of disrespect, but they just looked  wrinkly. Others peered cautiously at the child I was talking to.  

"He looks 5 and 50 at the same time." Liam giggled.

As if understanding what he said, the child  furrowed his brows and communicated something to the others and they began closing in on us. 

"You made them mad!" Grant smacked Liam's head. 

"Deccan called them old-ass first! " Liam ducked away from Grant's reach.
The children deepened their frown on hearing old-ass  the second time. 

"Now they're furious!" Amelia complained.

The child Liam called wrinkly, picked a long twig off the forest floor and pointed it at Liam like a sword. As if on cue, others hiding in the bushes grabbed rocks, branches and anything that could hurt us.

Ironic.  Me and wrinkly kid are gonna get along great.

Yumiko rushed in front of me and raised her arms beside her, a sign of surrender.

"Are you sure Yumi? We can take them out." I whispered inching closer to her. She shook her head indiscernibly. Amelia understood Yumiko's strategy and did the same. 

Soon  Grant, Liam and I laid down our weapons; also known as male ego.

The kids seemed to understand our gesture and wrinkly number one, presumably their leader, walked up to me and lifted his hand almost like a handshake. 

"Take it." Yumiko urged.

Alright. 

I took the child's hands and mimicked a handshake. A smile slowly appeared. He tugged me and pointed at a mushroom roofed-hut which I hadn't notice before. 

Before I could discuss with the others, he pulled me towards the hut. I panicked and turned to look at Team who were also being pulled by other pointy-capped kids. They looked confused as well. 

As we neared the hut, more kids appeared, busy with their chores. They stopped dead in their tracks, staring at me and wrinkly number one, since we were several strides ahead of others. Wrinkly conversed with a female of his height which is around my knees.

He climbed a rock to reach my level. He pressed a hand on my head, forcing me on my knees.

 The woman he talked to, tugged on my jacket collar pointing at a small curved wooden door-- also the height of my knee.

"In there? You want me to go in there? " I asked incredulously. She nodded.

 Seeing no way out of this embarrassment I began crawling my way through.

"Ooh, look at that booty!" Amelia teased making the everyone laugh.  

Inside of what seemed like a small hut a whole community of weirdly dressed kids going about their daily chores. And that's not all. I could stand.
Meaning the hut that seemed as high as my chest was big enough to fit me and Team who came crawling in after me.

"What in the Peter Pan is this place?" Grant whistled appreciatively.

We took a moment to admire the interiors of Neverland. Many floors of smoothened greyish-brown clay were held together by columns of fresh wood, where leaves of big trees served as curtains to a well cut out window. 

"I feel like a giant between them." Yumiko stood next to me.

"I doubt these are kids." Grant said overhearing her.

"You're right. We are not."

I jumped a feet high.

 Stunned expressions swam on my friends faces. A manly voice filled the room.

Wrinkly number one who shook hands with me stood directly near my shin. I took a small step away and others followed suit. 

"You-- You speak our language?" Amelia stammered.

"Yes. Starting now." Wrinkly puffed up his chest and placed his hands behind his back.

"What do you mean 'starting now' ?" Liam questioned.

"There's a lot of perplexity written on you, so let me clear everything." The short man reverse walked to his hoard who were staring wide eye.

He opened his arms wide showcasing this hut and it's residents.

 "Welcome to our humble abode."

Humble indeed.

"I am Frioren of Norlis Woods and these are my people. We are, in generic terms, a Pixie ." He smiled.

Multiple eyebrows shot up around me. Team cast a bewildered glance, mostly because Frioren addressed to me.

"Pixie as in Tinker Bell?" Amelia asked appalled.

"Who's bell?"

"Never mind."

"Back up-- You are a Pixie? How's that possible?" Grant gave a 'am-I-crazy-or-is-this-actually-happening' look.

"Our kind is very much aware of what the Humans think of us. It is debatable to a certain extent because of your extreme capacity for imagination and limited rationalization, but I assure you we are very much real.
Just because your kind hasn't seen us, doesn't mean we don't exist at all. That would be a little presumptuous on your part, don't you think?" Frioren wore a polite smile all along.

"Although the last time we co-existed with your kind-- it didn't turn out well." His eyes glinted dangerously.

"Oh! Could you tell us what happened?" Yumiko asked with sympathy, or at least a show of it.

Frioren chuckled lowly, watching our confused, eager and blank expressions. "I will."