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Jiaoqiu had been traveling throughout the lands of Liyue for a few days, on his way to make a delivery to the illustrious Gandarva Ville. He was on his third day when he finally reached The Chasm, to which he sighed in relief. His journey would almost be over, and he’d grown sort of tired of lugging the box in his arms over the various hills and valleys that Liyue was known for. Luckily for him knowledge of the surrounding Liyuean flora, made his journey fairly simple, as he’d spent some time using abandoned Hillichurl camps to prepare himself food. Though… the Hillichurls abandoning their camps hadn’t exactly, well, been voluntary or done with much violence. A mischievous smile found itself on his face at the thought, and he entered the cavern before him.
Jiaoqiu supposed that he could’ve avoided the cavern entirely as he made his way through the dark, avoiding any possible altercation that he could possibly find himself in, seeing as he was holding a crate of herbs and wouldn’t be able to get out a weapon or use his Vision quick enough if one should come to be, so it was best if he just avoided confrontation at all. Avoiding the cavern entirely would also have been impossible, seeing as Sumeru was almost cut off by the very cliff wherein the Chasm resided. Jiaoqiu could climb, don’t get him wrong, but with as steep of a cliff as those were, climbing while also holding a crate would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, so he just opted for making his way through the cave.
Either way, the traversal through The Chasm went off without an altercation ever happening, though Jiaoqiu’s tail did snag on a rock at one point, leaving a tuft of fluff, though he hardly felt it, due to being gifted with a fairly fluffy tail, so losing a tuft of fur didn’t really irk him all that much. Smiling, Jiaoqiu continued walking through the cave and soon enough saw a light peeking through the otherwise pitch black cave, resulting in an involuntary tail wag as he headed towards the light
One thing that became immediately apparent to the salmon-haired Foxian as he finally stepped forth from the cavern, was that the flora of Sumeru had a luscious green hue to them. Indicative of having more water content, he thought as he hummed to himself. His hand brushed across the assortment of Liyuean herbs, and he noticed their distinctly more yellow tone, usually more indicative of being drier. He picked up one of the Qingxins and gazed at its white petals and green stalk. In Liyue, used most commonly in cough medicine, but Jiaoqiu wondered if in combination with a Sumeran plant it could create a new kind of medicine
It’d be experimental if anything, but he had heard of a local botanist who lived in Gandharva Ville, so maybe he could even ask him his opinion?
Even if it doesn’t make a new medicine, it could even make Qingxin cough medicine taste better. Jiaoqiu glanced around at the Sumeru flora surrounding him, and he noticed a purple flower. He crouched down and picked up the flower, and he immediately noticed it’s pleasant smell. If it has such a pleasant smell, would it also have a pleasant taste? Hm, that’s one thing to test. Maybe he could ask the elusive botanist about it? Jiaoqiu put the purple flower in his pocket and then continued on his quest. He glanced at the Liyue herbs again, Qingxins, Violetgrass, Silk Flowers and even Glaze Lilies greeted him. He wondered again if any of these could be combined with Sumeru herbs, whether in a medicine or cooking sense.
As he walked throughout the jungle, he started noticing people going about their day, talking to each other about their days, what they did and whatever else. It was about midday at that point and Jiaoqiu was more focused on all the flora he was being subjected to, coming across more types of flowers, some growing on cliff sides which almost reminded him of Violetgrass, which was infamous amongst travelers for being difficult to find. He didn’t doubt that travelers would hate those flowers too, he thought with a mischievous smile on his face.
However, that sparked a thought, could Violetgrass and that flower possibly go together? Hm, it was definitely an interesting concept.
A flash of yellow next caught his eyes. The lotus was not unlike the colour of his own eyes. Curiousity piqued, Jiaoqiu walked over to the lotus, lying quietly on a lilypad. Of all Sumeru flora, he’d actually heard of this one, the Nilotpala Lotus, most commonly found on lilypads like this one. Jiaoqiu picked one of the lotuses and added it to his pocket with the purple flower from earlier and then continued on his journey to Gandharva Ville, only stopping to pick more interesting plants that he came across. Such interesting plants included some sort of fruit which he took a bite of. The taste was pretty average, and would probably function better if it was included with a meal.
Jiaoqiu had to admit that he wasn’t exactly surprised when he saw that Gandharva Ville was situated on a tree. It seemed like most of the villages and towns were built in or around trees. Though, how exactly the town managed to be built on the tree in first place was unclear to him. The buildings themselves also seemed to be made out of wood, too. He blinked. Note to self: Be careful about using my Vision here. All it would take for the entire village to go up in flames was a misplaced breeze or a Pyro user going haywire. Jiaoqiu also found the fact he was currently balancing on a tree, a bit anxiety inducing, but he pushed through and walked up to what appeared to be the main house of the little village.
Jiaoqiu looked at the house, it appeared empty, though that was shattered by the presence of a young girl with green hair scratching in a drawer of the house. She was seemingly looking for something. Jiaoqiu decided to avert his gaze and wait, looking around the fairly small house. Well, it appeared small at the very least, though there were remnants of herb on the desk, so clearly the owner had experience with plant matter. Jiaoqiu looked down at the herb box his hands. He didn’t have a specific area to take them in Gandharva Ville, though this house seemed important, so he had decided to bring them here
Though he’d want to give them to the house owner, and he wasn’t exactly sure how well the young girl would know about the various Liyuean herbs he had with him. His ears twitched when he heard movement and he lifted his head, the girl had stopped scratching and was now looking into the side room off of the main one. “Mr. Tighnari,” the girl asked. “Where did you put the spare arrowheads? Amber was in need of some, and I know we have some in here so I was wondering where they’d gone?”
“They’re in the drawer in the living room,” another voice answered and Jiaoqiu’s ears twitched again. This new voice had a somewhat pleasant sound to it. “And please, I’ve told you many times before, it’s just Tighnari.” The way the voice softened when talking to the young girl almost reminded Jiaoqiu of a tone not unlike one his parents might’ve used when talking to him.
So, these two were like parent and child…
The sight brought an amused smile to Jiaoqiu’s face, though the owner of the voice had not yet revealed himself. The green-haired girl then nodded and started to walk off before ‘Tighnari’ spoke up again. “Remember to be careful with the arrowheads, they’ve been freshly sharpened and you don’t want to hurt yourself.” The girl nodded and smiled.
“I’ll be careful, I promise, plus I’ll be making arrows together with Amber!” She agreed and then disappeared deeper into the house. Jiaoqiu was still standing outside of the house, waiting his turn, though he did look a little pathetic because of it. Also, the herbs in his crate were starting to wilt a bit from the lack of water, but water was far away by this point so he couldn’t really water them. Instead, the girl reappeared and noticed him standing there, causing her to freeze.
“I’m just here to deliver some herbs to Gandharva Ville from Liyue,” he explained, not wanting her to freak out. The girl narrowed her eyes in suspicion, her grip tightening on the bag with the arrowheads like she wasn’t afraid to whip them out if need be. “I’m Jiaoqiu,” he added and a flash of recognition flashed in the girl’s eyes.
“The chef and healer from Liyue?” The girl asked and Jiaoqiu nodded. The girl turned back in the house and looked at the side room again. “Tighnari! The delivery from Bubu Pharmacy is here! Says his name is Jiaoqiu!” The girl then walked over to him and smiled. “I’m Collei, sorry if I caused you any inconvenience, the Forest Rangers are taught to be cautious. Anyways, I’m off to see Amber, if you need any help ask Tighnari!” Collei then walked off with a spring in her step and Jiaoqiu turned his attention back on the house.
Taking a step inside, Jiaoqiu put the crate on the table, where he took some of the water present in house and watered the wilting flowers with it. Hopefully the home owner wouldn’t mind. It wouldn’t bring the plants back to life, but it would make them look less dead. “Assortment of Liyuean herbs, eh?” His ears twitched at the voice of Tighnari and he turned around.
Tighnari was quite short, and made up for it in his ears which towered above his head. In comparison to Jiaoqiu’s own, his tail was quite thin and not as fluffy. His eyes were a pale brown fading into a light turquoise as he ran a finger through the gathered herbs with a curious expression on his face. Jiaoqiu smiled his signature smile and gestured to the herbs. “Freshly picked. Well, as fresh as you can be when you’re three days old and have had no water. There’s a good amount of Qingxin, picked from the highest mountains, Violetgrass from the same areas, there’s Glaze Lilies and Silk Flowers picked from around Liyue Harbour and Wangshu Inn.” Tighnari’s eyes then found Jiaoqiu, and the later felt a slight prick in his chest.
“There’s a lot more Qingxin than anything else,” he observed. “Does Liyue think we need lots of cough medicine? And there’s not a lot of Violetgrass…” Jiaoqiu simply smiled.
“I don’t really know, I guess Qingxins are my favourite flower, and they have other useful properties besides cough medicine. They can add a wicked flavour to certain soups and have an interesting after effect when added to certain dishes. Or… put another way… they’re good constipation medication, if I say so myself. Violetgrass on the other hand, may be good for stomach aches, but it is quite rare and difficult to scavenge.” Tighnari’s expression deadpanned.
“You don’t like gathering Violetgrass, do you?” He said in response and Jiaoqiu merely chuckled. Tighnari then blinked. “‘Good constipation medication’, eh? What? You’re poisoning people?” Jiaoqiu couldn’t hold back the chuckle that statement brought forth and he brought out his fan to hide it.
“I never said it was poisoning, but it does have a very specific effect that makes it seem like poisoning. Just not lethal poisoning.” Tighnari’s ears twitched.
“Actually, the fact that Qingxins can have that effect could actually be useful. I don’t know how exactly you’d turn that into actual constipation medication and not just poisoning people’s food but…” Tighnari turned around and started searching for something, finding it fairly quickly and opened the notebook. Jiaoqiu’s eyes scanned the pages.
“Your handwriting is all over the place,” he commented as Tighnari started scribbling on a new page. Though, at this comment, his ears flopped down and he deadpanned.
“Is yours any better?” Tighnari asked, a teasing tone slipping out. Jiaoqiu’s ears twitched at the comment before he smiled.
“Let’s just say… it’s… legible, and nowhere near Baizhu’s,” he responded, and Tighnari actually smiled back. “Though I have yet to find a solution for that curious ailment of his… regular Qingxin-related cough medicine doesn’t seem to have an effect at all on it. I think he’d need something stronger. Though he’s not the only patient where I don’t have the cure for them just yet, but I’m trying to.” Jiaoqiu then suddenly remembered the purple flower he’d picked up earlier and took it out his pocket. “That reminds me, I found this delightfully smelling flower and I was wondering if it could possibly be added to cough medicine to enhance the flavour.” Tighnari stared at the flower.
“The Sumeru Rose? Hm, it’s used in a few delicacies here, so it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s ever been specifically in a medicine sense. It’s worth a shot though, seeing as cough medicine can have a pretty poor taste at times. Collei said you’re a cook?”
“Part-time, yes.” Tighnari looked thoughtful for a second.
“Maybe if I teach you some recipes that use a Sumeru Rose, you can get a feel for how it tastes and then decide if we should add it to cough medicine? Or if it would even have a difference in medicine at all. Like, the flavours could quite possibly cancel each other out. You never know until you try, right? In terms of the Violetgrass… there’s a root here in the desert that also helps with stomach aches, maybe we could combine those? So needing so much Violetgrass won’t necessarily be necessary?” He looked back at the crate. “Anyways, thank you for bringing these.” He stood up and put the crates away and then returned to him. “Do you have any place to stay?”
“I live at Bubu Pharmacy,” Jiaoqiu responded. “Unless you’re offering for me to stay here overnight?” Tighnari looked at the darkening sky.
“That would probably be best, unless you want to walk home in the middle of the night through the dark forest. As a member of the Forest Rangers, I highly advise against that. The forest is dangerous at night and,” he paused to look at Jiaoqiu’s salmon coloured hair and tail, causing Jiaoqiu to feel a prick again, and then looked back at him, “you’d be a beacon to any creature willing to harm you.”
“I suppose that’s true, what do you suggest, Forest Ranger? Where should I stay overnight?” Tighnari’s ears twitched.
“Here. With me and Collei, you’d be in the guest bedroom, since Cyno isn’t here at the moment.” A wave of embarrassment passed over the salmon fox at that moment, but he didn’t show it. Instead, Jiaoqiu nodded, and Tighnari smiled. Tighnari then turned around, but as he did so, his small tail brushed Jiaoqiu’s, causing him to feel a slight buzz of electricity.
This will be fun.