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Description
Jane's voice rasped softly in the darkness. "Sho. Sho!"
Sho gave a slight nod as a response, but his mind was focused upon the weak link between him and Arrietty.
"Sho! Can you hear them talking?"
Another nod was replied, the intense look on his face unfazed. He had exchanged left-ear-connections with Arrietty, so he could hear out of her left ear and she could hear out of his left, and he had taken her left eyesight only in the slightest, so he could do a little guesswork upon where she was with the blurry and dark images his mind received. Jane was helpless – she could only pass thoughts with Maribel, and even those were not very clear. The two human beings sat next to the river where the two borrowers had left them. The soft gushing of the water calmed them, and the white noise wiped away any awkward silence. Sho winced slightly as Arrietty lost her footing as she navigated the dense forestry with less than adequate sight for doing so.
Arrietty clambered up with Maribel at her arm, pulling her upright. She couldn't see well enough to trek through the dark woods. Especially since she was a tiny borrower; she could not see very far beyond a meter radius.
"Hey, Arrietty, you okay?" asked Maribel, slightly worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Arrietty winced as her foot stung with pain. "My twisted ankle from before hasn't healed fully yet. I shouldn't be doing this."
"Don't give up on me now. I don't want to call Jane here to carry us out."
"…is that a light? I can't-"
"By golly, it is! HEY!" shouted Maribel, waving for all she was worth. "HEY! It's Arrietty and Maribel! We're borrowers!"
The sound of wood creaking echoed through the darkness, and a deep voice rumbled with both excitement and suspicion, "Arrietty and Maribel? Of the Clocks?"
Arrietty shouted back, in hopes whoever it was would recognize her voice. "Yes! Pod and Homily are my parents, as well as Maribel's!"
Slowly, the figure approached. The bow he was holding was relaxed, and the arrow placed in its quiver. A smile was worn tiredly upon the lips of the borrower that advanced. "Hey, you two. What're you doing here?"
"Spiller! It's been so long!" shouted Maribel in glee, and she rushed up to hug him. They were once friends, long before Arrietty knew Maribel or Spiller.
"Maribel. You haven't changed much at all, have you? Still remember our password?"
"Dreadful Spiller, Meticulous Maribel! Of course, how could I ever forget?"
Sho watched and listened with interest through Arrietty's senses, and he slowly relayed information to Jane, whom sat next to him. She had lost the connection with Maribel the instant Spiller had appeared, but Sho kept streaming vision and sounds.
"Spiller is now taking them to the elder… Arrietty just told him about us… He does not look happy… He's telling us to sever the connection… Maribel is pleading no… He's shouting at Arrietty…"
Jane jumped up and attempted a dash towards the three teenage borrowers, but Sho's reaction was faster. He grabbed her arm, and spoke commandingly. "You mustn't. You'll only mess things up further. We weren't expecting Spiller."
Pouting, Jane sat back down with a thump. She didn't like this new Spiller person which Maribel had never mentioned before, especially not when he was ordering her friend's friend around.
"I think Spiller is giving in… He says that we must not do anything… That the elder will know if we try to talk to the borrowers… so we should remain quiet and only listen and see… and that he will come to see us soon… Arrietty asks me if I got all that… Oh! Yes, I heard what Spiller said. Yes. Okay. … Spiller is leading them into the forest."
"Maribel just told me that it will take about 5 minutes for them to reach the borrower's central neighborhood."
"Arrietty said 4, but she thinks if they ran they would make it in 3. I've told her there is no hurry. Spiller is still uneasy."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait here then," sighed Jane, weary of all the mind talking.
For once in his life with Arrietty, this was a time which Sho could really calm down and think about her. He had never really imagined life with a borrower as some sort of magical or mystical adventure. He had thought that it would be fun, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. But now to think of it, Arrietty wasn't really a normal human being. She was likely as complex, if not even more, as a 'normal' sized human being. Yet modern science would not allow that. How could she, with a brain the size of an almond, have the same mental structure as a brain with possibly billions more neurons than her own? How did she have such strength with such tiny muscles and bones? Scientifically, it was impossible. Yet here she was, a tiny little borrower with her tiny little borrower friend, sharing ears and eyes with each other. Maybe this world was a lot more complicated than anyone thought it was. Or, maybe humans just-
Jane interrupted his thoughts. "Sho? You awake? They just reached the clearing. They're headed towards the elder's house now."
Sho snapped to attention. 5 minutes had gone by so quickly, and he was lost in such deep thoughts that he nearly lost the connection with Arrietty. "Okay. Spiller is warning us not to even whisper to them."
Quietly, Jane said tensely to Sho, "It's all up to you now. You're the one receiving the most data." A curt nod was the only response.

"Greetings, three young 'uns. Please, sit!" spoke a hoarse voice, creaky and windy, yet full of excitement. "You've come to ask some questions, yes? Hehehehe. I can see it in your eyes. The girl clad in red, please come a little closer. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. …Ah, yes. Arrietty. You've grown quite a bit, now. The girl clad in blue, you too. Mm… I haven't seen your face around here for quite a long time, now. Let's see… Mari…Maribel, yes? Good, good. Spiller, I can feel your radiating aura from afar, no need to step forward. Please, now, children, be seated."
The elder sat on a straw throne, which rustled with his every movement. From fear or nervousness they did not know, but not a single borrower spoke. Somehow, the elder held a very high authority, and even adults dared not oppose his word. But he didn't appear scary; he seemed old, frail, and even gentle. He was an old man, face bearded heavily and wrinkled like crumpled paper. Yet, his gleaming eyes did not lie – his mind was as healthy as any other. Maribel nudged Arrietty, and Arrietty took a deep breath.
"Great Elder of Borrowers, I-"
"Just elder will be fine, or you can call me by my name if you wish. I am Dore."
"El-elder, my friends and I wish to ask you about human beans."
"Ah, the many curiosities children have nowadays. Human beans, eh?" The way the elder said bean made it seem like a completely safe and possibly fun thing.
"Yes, elder."
"And what exactly do you wish to know?"
"What happens between-" Arrietty dared not speak further.
"Come, child. Ask me anything. Do not worry, I have not the energy for rage nor hate. I can simply answer with what I know."
Arrietty was already quite shaken from being in the elder's presence, and she could not continue. Maribel tried to carry on.
"What happens with a borrower and a human bean become friends?"
Arrietty felt a little tingle in her left ear. Sho was listening more attentively now. Her vision returned a little, as Sho no longer needed it. He had seen all he needed to. The elder gave a very large grin.
"Children, did you really believe I would be that ignorant? It is obvious to these old eyes of mine that you already know some of it, and maybe even experienced it. Arrietty, tell me. Is it a boy or girl?"
"He's a boy," she said, quietly dipping her head.
"Maribel?"
"My friend is a girl."
"I can smell human beans on you two. They carried you here, did they not? I know they aren't in the forest, for that is where my senses end. But I know they are waiting. And something else still runs through my senses, but I cannot lay my finger upon it just yet."
Jane gasped. "The elder knows," she said to Sho, but it went unheard.
The elder sighed. "I myself have never been graced with the legendary abilities. But I know them clearly, so listen close."
The borrowers crowded closer, and even Spiller was enthralled by the amazing abilities of the elder.
"When a borrower first meets a human bean, they will run away unless they are caught. If they are caught, they will never be able to unlock the fabled abilities unless they agree to be caught. If they run away safely, they retain the key to the lock. If the borrower then returns to that first bean, he or she may begin a special bond that goes beyond friendship to the point where they mistake each other for siblings. Sometimes, it will all end there.
"However, if the borrower is then heartened by some action of the bean by a great amount, the door unlocks. The longer the two spend together, and the more things they experience together, the wider the variety of abilities are. I've heard that the first ability is the natural borrower's ability to hear each other from afar. The second mythical ability to gain is the sharing of feelings and emotions. The third ability is communication and sharing of memories between the two minds, which is already a very difficult feat to accomplish – or so I've heard. The fourth is sharing one or more of their five senses.
"And if I recall correctly, there is a fifth ability. This one truly is a legend; no one for several borrower generations has had this ability, or they did not speak of it. The sixth ability is control of the other's body. Supposedly, a human can manipulate a borrower to reach certain areas which under normal circumstances the bean could not reach and the borrower would not wish to go to. This is when most of these friendships break apart. The elder that lived when I was a child said that he tore apart the bonds between 2 such borrowers – they were controlled by their human friends, and they were afraid of it."
Maribel stared, dazed at the differences between herself and Arrietty. Arrietty had already reached the fourth level – she and Jane were only at the third, and just barely at that. She relayed this information to Jane, who glanced at Sho in surprise. He smiled a little, but remained focused.
Arrietty broke the short silence. "Elder, can you detect borrower and human bean bonds?"
"I believe I can. Why do you ask?"
She bit her lip, quickly asking Sho at the same time. "Answer me if you think he should know."
The elder waited patiently as Arrietty awaited the silent reply. Jane gave a quick but uncertain nod, and they both replied Arrietty and Maribel at the same time.
The two borrowers simultaneously answered: "Because we have one right now."
The elder smiled. "So that is what it was." He closed his eyes, and leaned back upon his chair. "Sho and Jane. I hear them now." He glanced upon Arrietty's left eye and left ear. "Your eye is not focused – your ear is a bit pale. I suppose you've shared everything with Sho? And I suppose he heard everything." He turned to Maribel with a hint of amusement. "And you try to speak in code to Jane. Sadly, the meaning is all the same." He finally settled his eyes on Spiller. "But you, Spiller, have no such bond. You led these two here out of pure friendship. Now lead them out. I am tired."
Arrietty quickly mumbled, "I hope we haven't angered you, elder."
A hearty laugh was heard from the elder, and he replied, "No, no! I've had such fun! Go and live your lives with your friends! But make sure no one else from the village hears. They'll go crazy!" Still chuckling, he waved the borrowers away.

Sho and Jane waited for the borrowers to arrive. The sun was sending its first messenger rays out into the sky, and the trees were a beautiful shade of red and yellow. The two had long since severed their eavesdropping connections, and they sat by the stream, listening for the calls of the borrowers. Sho soon was caught up upon the previous thought he had left off. What if humans were just highly inefficient and the borrowers were a race of humans which were more efficient than any other life-form? Or maybe borrowers were just borrowers, another form of life? The possibilities were endless, and Sho was only brought back to his surroundings when he heard Arrietty calling for him. After that agonizing half-hour, hearing her voice with his own ears brought tears to his eyes. It didn't matter what Arrietty was. She was his friend, and that was what mattered.

Description
Jane's voice rasped softly in the darkness. "Sho. Sho!"
Sho gave a slight nod as a response, but his mind was focused upon the weak link between him and Arrietty.
"Sho! Can you hear them talking?"
Another nod was replied, the intense look on his face unfazed. He had exchanged left-ear-connections with Arrietty, so he could hear out of her left ear and she could hear out of his left, and he had taken her left eyesight only in the slightest, so he could do a little guesswork upon where she was with the blurry and dark images his mind received. Jane was helpless – she could only pass thoughts with Maribel, and even those were not very clear. The two human beings sat next to the river where the two borrowers had left them. The soft gushing of the water calmed them, and the white noise wiped away any awkward silence. Sho winced slightly as Arrietty lost her footing as she navigated the dense forestry with less than adequate sight for doing so.
Arrietty clambered up with Maribel at her arm, pulling her upright. She couldn't see well enough to trek through the dark woods. Especially since she was a tiny borrower; she could not see very far beyond a meter radius.
"Hey, Arrietty, you okay?" asked Maribel, slightly worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Arrietty winced as her foot stung with pain. "My twisted ankle from before hasn't healed fully yet. I shouldn't be doing this."
"Don't give up on me now. I don't want to call Jane here to carry us out."
"…is that a light? I can't-"
"By golly, it is! HEY!" shouted Maribel, waving for all she was worth. "HEY! It's Arrietty and Maribel! We're borrowers!"
The sound of wood creaking echoed through the darkness, and a deep voice rumbled with both excitement and suspicion, "Arrietty and Maribel? Of the Clocks?"
Arrietty shouted back, in hopes whoever it was would recognize her voice. "Yes! Pod and Homily are my parents, as well as Maribel's!"
Slowly, the figure approached. The bow he was holding was relaxed, and the arrow placed in its quiver. A smile was worn tiredly upon the lips of the borrower that advanced. "Hey, you two. What're you doing here?"
"Spiller! It's been so long!" shouted Maribel in glee, and she rushed up to hug him. They were once friends, long before Arrietty knew Maribel or Spiller.
"Maribel. You haven't changed much at all, have you? Still remember our password?"
"Dreadful Spiller, Meticulous Maribel! Of course, how could I ever forget?"
Sho watched and listened with interest through Arrietty's senses, and he slowly relayed information to Jane, whom sat next to him. She had lost the connection with Maribel the instant Spiller had appeared, but Sho kept streaming vision and sounds.
"Spiller is now taking them to the elder… Arrietty just told him about us… He does not look happy… He's telling us to sever the connection… Maribel is pleading no… He's shouting at Arrietty…"
Jane jumped up and attempted a dash towards the three teenage borrowers, but Sho's reaction was faster. He grabbed her arm, and spoke commandingly. "You mustn't. You'll only mess things up further. We weren't expecting Spiller."
Pouting, Jane sat back down with a thump. She didn't like this new Spiller person which Maribel had never mentioned before, especially not when he was ordering her friend's friend around.
"I think Spiller is giving in… He says that we must not do anything… That the elder will know if we try to talk to the borrowers… so we should remain quiet and only listen and see… and that he will come to see us soon… Arrietty asks me if I got all that… Oh! Yes, I heard what Spiller said. Yes. Okay. … Spiller is leading them into the forest."
"Maribel just told me that it will take about 5 minutes for them to reach the borrower's central neighborhood."
"Arrietty said 4, but she thinks if they ran they would make it in 3. I've told her there is no hurry. Spiller is still uneasy."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait here then," sighed Jane, weary of all the mind talking.
For once in his life with Arrietty, this was a time which Sho could really calm down and think about her. He had never really imagined life with a borrower as some sort of magical or mystical adventure. He had thought that it would be fun, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary. But now to think of it, Arrietty wasn't really a normal human being. She was likely as complex, if not even more, as a 'normal' sized human being. Yet modern science would not allow that. How could she, with a brain the size of an almond, have the same mental structure as a brain with possibly billions more neurons than her own? How did she have such strength with such tiny muscles and bones? Scientifically, it was impossible. Yet here she was, a tiny little borrower with her tiny little borrower friend, sharing ears and eyes with each other. Maybe this world was a lot more complicated than anyone thought it was. Or, maybe humans just-
Jane interrupted his thoughts. "Sho? You awake? They just reached the clearing. They're headed towards the elder's house now."
Sho snapped to attention. 5 minutes had gone by so quickly, and he was lost in such deep thoughts that he nearly lost the connection with Arrietty. "Okay. Spiller is warning us not to even whisper to them."
Quietly, Jane said tensely to Sho, "It's all up to you now. You're the one receiving the most data." A curt nod was the only response.

"Greetings, three young 'uns. Please, sit!" spoke a hoarse voice, creaky and windy, yet full of excitement. "You've come to ask some questions, yes? Hehehehe. I can see it in your eyes. The girl clad in red, please come a little closer. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. …Ah, yes. Arrietty. You've grown quite a bit, now. The girl clad in blue, you too. Mm… I haven't seen your face around here for quite a long time, now. Let's see… Mari…Maribel, yes? Good, good. Spiller, I can feel your radiating aura from afar, no need to step forward. Please, now, children, be seated."
The elder sat on a straw throne, which rustled with his every movement. From fear or nervousness they did not know, but not a single borrower spoke. Somehow, the elder held a very high authority, and even adults dared not oppose his word. But he didn't appear scary; he seemed old, frail, and even gentle. He was an old man, face bearded heavily and wrinkled like crumpled paper. Yet, his gleaming eyes did not lie – his mind was as healthy as any other. Maribel nudged Arrietty, and Arrietty took a deep breath.
"Great Elder of Borrowers, I-"
"Just elder will be fine, or you can call me by my name if you wish. I am Dore."
"El-elder, my friends and I wish to ask you about human beans."
"Ah, the many curiosities children have nowadays. Human beans, eh?" The way the elder said bean made it seem like a completely safe and possibly fun thing.
"Yes, elder."
"And what exactly do you wish to know?"
"What happens between-" Arrietty dared not speak further.
"Come, child. Ask me anything. Do not worry, I have not the energy for rage nor hate. I can simply answer with what I know."
Arrietty was already quite shaken from being in the elder's presence, and she could not continue. Maribel tried to carry on.
"What happens with a borrower and a human bean become friends?"
Arrietty felt a little tingle in her left ear. Sho was listening more attentively now. Her vision returned a little, as Sho no longer needed it. He had seen all he needed to. The elder gave a very large grin.
"Children, did you really believe I would be that ignorant? It is obvious to these old eyes of mine that you already know some of it, and maybe even experienced it. Arrietty, tell me. Is it a boy or girl?"
"He's a boy," she said, quietly dipping her head.
"Maribel?"
"My friend is a girl."
"I can smell human beans on you two. They carried you here, did they not? I know they aren't in the forest, for that is where my senses end. But I know they are waiting. And something else still runs through my senses, but I cannot lay my finger upon it just yet."
Jane gasped. "The elder knows," she said to Sho, but it went unheard.
The elder sighed. "I myself have never been graced with the legendary abilities. But I know them clearly, so listen close."
The borrowers crowded closer, and even Spiller was enthralled by the amazing abilities of the elder.
"When a borrower first meets a human bean, they will run away unless they are caught. If they are caught, they will never be able to unlock the fabled abilities unless they agree to be caught. If they run away safely, they retain the key to the lock. If the borrower then returns to that first bean, he or she may begin a special bond that goes beyond friendship to the point where they mistake each other for siblings. Sometimes, it will all end there.
"However, if the borrower is then heartened by some action of the bean by a great amount, the door unlocks. The longer the two spend together, and the more things they experience together, the wider the variety of abilities are. I've heard that the first ability is the natural borrower's ability to hear each other from afar. The second mythical ability to gain is the sharing of feelings and emotions. The third ability is communication and sharing of memories between the two minds, which is already a very difficult feat to accomplish – or so I've heard. The fourth is sharing one or more of their five senses.
"And if I recall correctly, there is a fifth ability. This one truly is a legend; no one for several borrower generations has had this ability, or they did not speak of it. The sixth ability is control of the other's body. Supposedly, a human can manipulate a borrower to reach certain areas which under normal circumstances the bean could not reach and the borrower would not wish to go to. This is when most of these friendships break apart. The elder that lived when I was a child said that he tore apart the bonds between 2 such borrowers – they were controlled by their human friends, and they were afraid of it."
Maribel stared, dazed at the differences between herself and Arrietty. Arrietty had already reached the fourth level – she and Jane were only at the third, and just barely at that. She relayed this information to Jane, who glanced at Sho in surprise. He smiled a little, but remained focused.
Arrietty broke the short silence. "Elder, can you detect borrower and human bean bonds?"
"I believe I can. Why do you ask?"
She bit her lip, quickly asking Sho at the same time. "Answer me if you think he should know."
The elder waited patiently as Arrietty awaited the silent reply. Jane gave a quick but uncertain nod, and they both replied Arrietty and Maribel at the same time.
The two borrowers simultaneously answered: "Because we have one right now."
The elder smiled. "So that is what it was." He closed his eyes, and leaned back upon his chair. "Sho and Jane. I hear them now." He glanced upon Arrietty's left eye and left ear. "Your eye is not focused – your ear is a bit pale. I suppose you've shared everything with Sho? And I suppose he heard everything." He turned to Maribel with a hint of amusement. "And you try to speak in code to Jane. Sadly, the meaning is all the same." He finally settled his eyes on Spiller. "But you, Spiller, have no such bond. You led these two here out of pure friendship. Now lead them out. I am tired."
Arrietty quickly mumbled, "I hope we haven't angered you, elder."
A hearty laugh was heard from the elder, and he replied, "No, no! I've had such fun! Go and live your lives with your friends! But make sure no one else from the village hears. They'll go crazy!" Still chuckling, he waved the borrowers away.

Sho and Jane waited for the borrowers to arrive. The sun was sending its first messenger rays out into the sky, and the trees were a beautiful shade of red and yellow. The two had long since severed their eavesdropping connections, and they sat by the stream, listening for the calls of the borrowers. Sho soon was caught up upon the previous thought he had left off. What if humans were just highly inefficient and the borrowers were a race of humans which were more efficient than any other life-form? Or maybe borrowers were just borrowers, another form of life? The possibilities were endless, and Sho was only brought back to his surroundings when he heard Arrietty calling for him. After that agonizing half-hour, hearing her voice with his own ears brought tears to his eyes. It didn't matter what Arrietty was. She was his friend, and that was what mattered.