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don’t say i could change.
‘cause even if you stayed,
we’d still be climbing up this mountain,
so let us go our ways.
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Sumeru’s sunset is beautiful. The golden, marigold-hued light passes and cascades over every still and moving shape alike, illuminating them in a splendorous shade of honey. The breeze is calm today, slowly and surely snaking through the jungle’s fields. In such, there’s not much for him to listen to, save for the quieting birdsong.
His thoughts run rampant without them, without sound to rely on. They’re sensitive like that, swiveling to-and-fro, yet content on the simple melody of the wild. An olive gaze preens over the spores in his palm, giving a pleased hum at their attributes before stopping to set them back down.
“All seems well here. I do wish there was more time for these types of gardens back home..” Tighnari taps his forefingers against the soft surface of his chin, fluffy fennec ears flicking at the sound of motion. Though, it vanishes just as suddenly. Likewise, it could just be an animal, or a bird landing. There’s no scent of danger that he can detect, and his fur doesn’t seem to be standing on end. The bungalow swings overhead, homed creatures leaping from its vined-surface.
He’s known a lot of these animals for a select majority of their lives, having brought them to this sanctuary in a select part of the nation. They were endangered, he adds, and he wishes to provide them the hidden haven they so wanted.
So Tighnari brushes whatever that sound was aside, languidly leaning back down with a lithe crouch to sift through Sumeru flora and fauna alike. He’s careful with each of his smooth movements, eyes blinking in surprise at the sudden shift of black-hued..ears, he thinks, in his peripheral view. He’s not acquainted with this, save for the fact it looks mildly like..his own. Are they facing backwards?
“I’ve not seen you before, little one. Who are you? Or, moresay, what are you?” His tone is soft, kind and cautious so as to not startle the being as he hovers his hand overhead. The ears don’t whisk or move like his do in response, continuously just sitting there. “Are you awake?”
There’s still no response. At this rate, Tighnari is beginning to fear that perhaps this animal, whatever it was, is dead. Dead in his garden, no less. Did something happen? Did it not have a home, and need to get somewhere safe and figured to die? That’s lonesome, he remorses, running a solo thumb over the flat of his inner glove.
Tighnari lowers his hand, patting the top of the creature’s head. It’s..not furry, nor scaly. It’s fabric-y, like someone’s cloak or jacket. Which is a bit odd, because the last person to come in here was him and he doesn’t think he could scent anyone else in the wind. He wiggles his hand on top, clenching at the fabric in a sort of panic. It upholds within his grip, raising as he holds it upwards.
“...mh.”
-!! The various color-hued boy flinches, halting and immediately retracting his hand. So this wasn’t something, but rather, somebody. How come? How come he couldn’t sniff this out, and why weren’t any of the other animals concerned about it? He’s not introduced any of them to his friends in a long while. In fact, had they seen his friends now, they would be more excited and audible rather than this relaxed attitude.
“Ehm..Hello.” Tighnari greets after a long, long silence. Awkward silence, interrupted only by the same song of the jungle that filled his senses moments prior. The figure, that he now realizes is a thin-figured male flattened against the ground, makes an effort to get up only to fall back down immediately. “..Are you okay?”
“...hhmmelph…” Comes the voice of the form, in which Tighnari’s acute hearing can pick up to be quite nice, actually. Solid, yet euphoniously pleasant. If not edged by the tiredness in his tone, lightly husky. Of course, this isn’t the most valid of his assumptions. Whoever this was, clearly, had just woken up under this awfully odd circumstance. “..wa..ter.”
“Oh! Yes, I’ll get you some right away.” Tighnari takes a minute to process what had just been said, flopping one of the ears on the boy’s hoodie between his hands back and forth. Amusement, slightly, by its silly contrary look compared to his own. His ears were something alive. Living, active, and feeling. He gets up, nonetheless, to fetch this stranger something to drink.
Without such, the dryness in the stranger’s throat would be sure to sting when he tried to explain. After all, water was a necessity for every living thing, regardless of their stance, and the jungle came in abundance with it. Tighnari is fond of his home in this jungle, content with its ever changing atmosphere. Life can grow dull, and uninteresting without this constant flux. He knows that, in the desert, life was not so kind. While the establishments there were ones of grandeur, as it was much easier to construct, he was never partial to its heat. And while the jungle itself isn’t particularly cooler, it was much more forgiving with its lenience of temperature.
“Here you are. Please, feel free to drink this as much as you like.” Tighnari brings the wooden bowl of water to the stranger, offering it to him with a gentle tilt of his head. While the stranger is still a mystery to him, he must keep his kind gestures for others no matter how.. strange they may seem. So, he must not discriminate against those less informed of their world. “When you can, feel free to explain. I will..be tending to the sunflowers.”
The stranger, a boy with a wolf-like appearance, turns his head downwards. He brings the curving bowl to his lips, and takes a few gulps of the liquid. Tighnari makes no remark, and the stranger merely rests back against the ground. It almost makes him wonder. The feeling of familiarity, although more a vague one, was more present with the other. They were similar, in a way he can’t quite place.
The atmosphere goes quiet again. Not quite silent, no, because it’s never silent in Sumeru. Whether it be the constant run of quill-wielding students within the Academia, or the chatter of wildlife within their home. Silence never fell in any of those seasons, either.
Tighnari ghosts an attentive touch over the blooming yellow of a sunflower, gaze sharpening fondly at the appreciation of its hue. All seemed well with it, as flourishing were the rest of his plants and all that which lies in between.
“Cyno.”
He stops.
“..Cyno?” Tighnari echoes, testing the syllables and pronunciation on his tongue. It wasn’t very complicated of a name, and it’s relatively brisk length wise. He doesn’t think he’ll have much difficulty with it. Whoever this was, apparently Cyno, doesn’t seem like he’d mind, anyways.
“Yes. My name. My name is Cyno.” The boy repeats, and Tighnari turns to get a better view of him. There’s shoulder length hair, in shades of that same wolf-platinum that looks really fluffy. What peers back at him is a striking, rufescent gaze that is equally sharp as it is painted in shades of ruby. Tan skin, and the air of the torrid desert itself. Perhaps this is the Anubis legends-old had preached of. “Thank you for the water.”
He blinks out of his trance, watching with a suddenly dry mouth as Cyno gets up, dusts off his knees, and starts making his way for the exit. Was he already leaving? So soon? Wait, was he even in a state to leave?
“You can’t go yet. Stay here for a bit longer.” Tighnari sighs, deeply and in an exasperated manner as if he’s seen this occur before. This, really, was quite the interruption in his research. The biology surrounding him, however much intriguing, would have to wait until the boy in front of him had been truly settled and sent on his way. “I am Tighnari. The lead ranger for the Dawson Rainforest. If you intend on surviving out there, I direct you to the Dawson Rainforest Survival G-”
“I’ve already read it.” Cyno cuts him off with a curt, short cough before adjusting the hooded cloak around his shoulders. The ears on top do not seem to flatten, regardless of the pressure exerted upon them for lengthy periods of time. “Though I appreciate the concern. I ..I think..My student. Collei, she..she wanted to be a forest ranger. For whatever reason.” He rolls his shoulders, almost shrugging as he takes a few paces forward.
“Collei..?” Tighnari’s thoughts and memory begin reeling back, to remember the face and name of who Collei was. He remembers the name, and he believes he remembers a girl. Cyno has already met by his side by the time he can remember, the plumed tail behind him swaying easily in a rhythm. “Oh, yes, I recall. Mid-length green hair, purple eyes..? A bit ambitious?”
“Yes, her. She was my student. Although we still gather from time to time, I can’t say it’s the same. There’s a lot that she’s been through. Can I ask you to keep a watch on her, Lead Ranger?” Cyno leads, crossing his arms comfortably over one another. The long shadows of his cloak covet his silhouette, yet still noticeable. Tighnari can additionally see that if he looks hard enough, Cyno’s stare grows warmer at the mention of his pupil. Familial.
“I..suppose, I can do that. Though, first, I ask of you a favor. Cyno.” What Tighnari doesn’t tell him is that he’d already accepted Collei just the other day. The moon is rising now, sunflowers closing their open arms in the process. Of course, Cyno wouldn’t realize that Collei had already been accepted into the jungle’s troupe without prior knowledge.
Cyno stops, turning to look back over his shoulder, his eyelashes fluttering lightly. For a moment, the boy appears hesitant, though the weight of his gaze lingers upon Tighnari with a familiar look. Cyno, with a deep breath in, turns fully back to face Tighnari. There’s a blush on his cheek, the color of a darker persimmon. There is an odd calmness in his visage.
“I’m listening.” Cyno proceeds, looking from behind a curtain of his bangs.
“What are you really doing here, Cyno? And why were you in here? ” Tighnari asks, raising a curious eyebrow, almost laughing as Cyno’s intricate glance turns into one of exhaustion. He can tell there’s a flurry of thoughts swirling around in the opposite’s mind, in the way he fixes the hood around his neck once more. Perhaps it was a nervous habit. “It’s difficult pretending I don’t know you, after all. A desert icon, all the way in the Dawson Rainforest? It wasn’t just Collei.”
“I got lost.” The red-eyed boy replies, sight narrowing noticeably at Tighnari’s curled lip. “I’d hoped Collei would be here, but I settled for you in the end.” Now Cyno is reaching up to adjust the gilded collar plated along his neck, oddly enough. His typical, traveling outfit was a lot more casual than what else he would wear. Tighnari feels a bit grateful for this.
“Would it be wrong of me to say I’m glad you showed up?”
“Yes, it would be.” Cyno gives a low huff as he sets his hands on his sides. Collei’s fine, Tighnari knows this. Collei is capable and has been fine since she first even arrived in the rainforest to start with. What she carries with her is an intriguing blend of power that he’s only seen twice in his entire life.
He has no intention of harming Collei, as he’s already made that mistake once in the past. Cyno had made him promise to look after her. It was a solemn promise made from afar. No. He was there for her. If anything were to happen, Tighnari would take his turn in the same regard. For her, if not for Cyno. It would be a lie to him if he were to pretend otherwise.
“..I like your ears.” Is the other almost ashamed response Cyno gives, reaching out with his hand to observe the lean shapes of Tighnari’s ears. They swerve at the approach, almost jaunting before he relaxes and permits the other to touch them. This wasn’t a regular occurrence, day-wise, but everytime Cyno visited he would say this same thing. Or something along the lines. That he liked Tighnari’s ears, or that he liked Tighnari’s tail. So many attributes about him.
Even with this settled as a norm, Tighnari cannot exactly help the faint blush that rises to his face. It tans an already tan complexion, carving out vermillion shapes to trace his cheeks with. He hopes that Cyno doesn’t really notice, in this light. A dying sun, drowning into the horizon as the moon takes its spot didn’t offer much light anyways.
“....And your tail.” There it is.
“I see.” Tighnari replies, feeling himself begin to fidget in the grass. It’s been a while since he last spoke with someone, really. He’s forgotten how they feel. “Well, I want to know how you even got this far. Not your odd form of flattery, Cyno.”
"I wanted to see you." Cyno says, the edges of his lips curving into a frown the slightest bit. Even the way he stands has a certain weight to it, as if he’s ready to make a sudden move in some cases. An ambush, if not a sprint. It was as if the red-eyed boy was waiting for an attack.
It would be a logical assumption, of course. His pupils were dilated and his mouth slightly ajar, his eyelids still heavy. Tighnari otherwise was, after all, on edge with how quick Cyno had seemed to take forth so easily into the Dawson without a scent to mark arrival. Collei’s only as far away as an hour's journey, but Cyno had already crossed a few.. Many miles by the time Tighnari had caught a glimpse of him. Tighnari wasn’t too sure where he was planning to head towards.
“..Can I kiss you.” Cyno continues to stare back at him, running thin fingers deftly over the furred surface of Tighnari’s ears. The blooming blush, blossoming on his cheeks only continues to grow. Wasn’t it always like this, though? They were so far apart, separated by the distance of land, but always remembering. Maybe Cyno can kiss him. As a treat.
“You can.”
It took a while to love. This is a human thing, Tighnari knows that, too. When you’re busy, constantly with research that envelops and racks your brain just as anything else does. By the time he became aware of this love the first time, Cyno already had his lips pressed against Tighnari’s. It wasn’t a sudden act, however, and neither was it a forceful one. It was just as natural as the other’s arms moving to envelop the other’s back, one in place of the other, their hands grasping into one another’s.
Cyno gave the sweetest of kisses. Highly different to his stoic demeanor, but welcome and cherished all the same. They tasted of honey and the faint trace of smoke. Every embrace carried the scent of jasmine and sandalwood. Each kiss was a promise, one potentially broken. Cyno was dangerous, like a thunderstorm. But perhaps it was Tighnari’s natural curiosity, that natural desire for knowledge, that urged him forth.
The moment in time he fell in love with Cyno, Tighnari couldn’t have possibly expected it. The moon was close to full, but his lips were still soft as they parted, so warm. Just as they were now. This sandswept man had been staring at him as he had then, under the stars. Under heaven's watchful eye.
“Tighnari...” The voice is far quieter than usual. If he weren’t to have heard it, so precisely, then it would’ve sounded as though it was only the whispering breeze. “I want to tell you something.”
“I’ll listen. I always do.” The boy with the peridot gaze keeps his attentiveness pinned to Cyno. The fading shades of his hair brushed aside with a single motion, fluffy ears waving in single motions. His tail, like the brush of a scaling tree, nearly wags behind him.
But there’s reluctance in the typically neutral and blank disposition of Cyno’s eyes. There’s hesitance, and there’s a bit of guilt. What, exactly, does that emotion entail? Was what he wished to speak of so vital, so important that it came off in a manner of guilt like this?
“The desert and the jungle won’t be able to continue this for much longer.”
Oh.
“I’ve scanned over each horizon. I’ve watched and analyzed that which I can. Yet, slowly, I think I am beginning to see this wilting continue. It’s getting closer. But you’re this forest ranger. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to tell you, first?” Cyno drawls, not exactly cautious but not like he’s giving a report, either. He knows how much this jungle and its inhabitants mean to Tighnari. If not as a lover’s knowledge, then a best friend’s. A rival, as they’re meant to be.
“It just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?” Tighnari raises his hand again, the paw-like textures on the inside concealed by another flower’s petals. “My Dendro energy can only support this ecosystem for so long. Not all of us are trained for such acts.” His expression is solemn. This is his dedication. This is what he’s worked for. He doesn’t want to throw it away because of others. He wants to be the one to decide.
It’s always been this way. All of them had been working so diligently to keep this place from fading to black, from vanishing into the ashes of this land. They work tirelessly, thanklessly. There’s only so much the mere intervention of humans can do. And certainly only so much those cast aside by a god’s judgment can, either.
He could feel Cyno’s lament through the air.
This isn’t just about the forest.
“..I’ll see you again, at some point. Wherever it may be.” Tighnari swallows down more of the rich, intense feelings. He’s aware Cyno has never been one for such sympathy like this. Empathy, like this. He used to be a being that thought solely for the sake of justice and himself.
“I know you will. Whether it be moonfall or sundrown.”
Cyno begins walking through the brush again, passing a hand over the planted articles there in such a lamblike manner. Perhaps he’s scared he’ll burn them. Embers and vines, intertwined, but prolonged contact would only lead to ashes. And a forest full of fire. As if Sumeru’s climate would accelerate his heat, he does not dare get so close to the hidden green.
As he leaves, the versa figure of Tighnari blinks in epiphany. It's a somewhat upsetting, troubled epiphany as his ears flatten against his head in a motion repetitive and telling of his thoughtlessness without.
Cyno never says ‘I love you’, does he?
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bricks we’d laid into this path,
yet the house remains undone.
flooding at every cloud,
and withering in the sun.
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