Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Before the River
Off kilter. That was all Jend could describe himself as right now. Everything felt light and bright and loud. The familiar roughness of the inside of his mask was gone, the silence of the night was gone, and he couldn’t even braid his hair and tie it up. Another routine he’d lost.
Find a use. That’s what he’d been taught, drilled into his skull through years of harsh teachings and even harsher punishments. An old wound in his sternum ached. Right, put yourself to use. That’s what he was supposed to be doing right now.
Jend put himself up to keep watch from the tower’s peak. The gentle breeze from on high swung his hair into his eyes, drawing curses from his tongue. He’d been considering cutting it, with all its dead ends and unwieldy sickness. But he had found himself rather unwilling to let go of this small piece of his past.
As Master Kalidasa had told him, one must throw oneself into all they do, lest they do nothing. Focus was key. And Jend had always had a particular gift for a clear mind and a sharp focus. But recently, no amount of meditation or containment could keep his mind from slipping through his calloused fingers. Every damn time, a fragment of an image would repeat itself in his head.
His purple cap. Black to the naked eye, but beautifully purple in the sun. Those big eyes. Those eyes, pure black and devoid of even pupils, somehow radiated innocence and wonder. The small flowers he would grow and pick off for the Pikwib children, the gentle voice in his head - wait, no! Jend didn’t care! It was a mushroom! A mushroom. He does not care about a sentient mushroom. A friendly, gentle, sentient mushroom, but that doesn’t matter. It must be those damn spores that make the pit in his stomach grow warm. It only happens around Rotveil after all. What else could it be?
His mind clings to the memory of that day. It was sunny, with a light breeze bringing the scent of the water to the tower. The moat surrounding them was glistening blue and clear with the bright sky. Jend took some time to eye his new “party”.
Skivvens and Skkavens were watching little Skivvens and Skkavens play in the clear blue water near the shallows. Big Skivvens was crocheting more hats and a new dress for their pets? Children? Jend wasn’t exactly sure what the two sentient rats thought of the two non-sentient rats, nor did he care. Just more mouths to feed, in his opinion.
Jeff, on the other hand, wasn’t bonding with children; he was trying to scare them into joining the Cult of the Willow Man. Was it working? Jend didn’t want to know. The whims of green children were not his problem.
Arden was gazing wistfully out into the water, probably lamenting about Jesus Crock. Jend didn’t understand how someone could still think highly of the one who threw up in their mouth. He could still smell it…
Rotveil was currently wandering, Jend could only assume the mycelian was looking for a suitable spot to root and soak up sun, even though Jend had gone through all the trouble and got itchy red puffy eyes to wake him up in the first place! Honestly he doesn’t know why he even bothered waking the thing in the first place.
Rotveil was currently letting the ugly green children ride on his cap and shoulders as he wandered. Jend didn’t understand why the Pibwik’s had such an odd fascination with Rotveil. They’ve moved from wanting to dump him in a giant pot of boiling water, to following him around riding on his cap or asking for his flowers.
Rotveil had found a suitable spot directly in the sun's rays, and had rooted himself down. Jend still caught some Pibwiks drooling slightly as Rotveil “slept”, when his eyes were closed he just looked like an overgrown mushroom. Jend wasn’t worried though, he knew that the mushroom roots were too strong to be uprooted by the Pibwiks, as they were hard to remove for even Jend some days. NOT THAT HE WOULD BE WORRIED EITHER WAY! HE DID NOT CARE THE SLIGHTEST BIT. Why would he care if the mushroom got eaten? Then he wouldn’t have to deal with his stupid spores.
Jend’s eyes wandered to the little purple flowers growing on Rotveils cap. Rotveil always smelled like mint. No matter what weather or condition they were staying in, Rotveil always smelled like mint and rain. A rather comforting smell Jend always liked- NO! JEND HATED MINT AND RAIN! HE HATED THE SMELL OF THOSE SPORES!
Around mid afternoon Jend told everyone to get their lazy asses up. He grabbed Jeff by the scruff and dragged him away from the Pibwik children. At the first call Arden walked over and began to set up the raft. Jend looked at Rotveil, still rooted peacefully into the ground. Jend sighed and got on the raft staring at Rotveil. Might as well let him rest. One less person to worry about that's all! Jend thought, attempting to rationalize his thinking.