Chapter Text
Collei made her best effort every day to rise with the sun, however that didn't typically happen. In her defense, there was nothing more comfortable than a big bed full of blankets and pillows. But with the power of Fontanian innovation, she was actually able to wake up.
From her desk, the alarm clock rang out. a repetitive buzzer that would force her up and out of bed to turn it off. Collei groaned as the alarm shook her awake. She rolled over in her sheets, hugging Cuilein-Anbar close to her chest as she willed the sound of the alarm out of her head. Anything but starting the day.
After a few moments of ignoring her fate, Collei dragged herself out of bed. Only to stumble in her half awake haze and bang her knee against wooden floor. That was certainly the jolt she needed, as now her brain had totally woken up. Biting back a few words Celestia would not approve of, she rose to her feet.
With a couple less than graceful strides, she turned off the alarm. Collei took a look around her room as she stretched. Her muscles were sore, she noticed. Which was slightly confusing, as her patrol had been relatively light yesterday.
The morning was playfulling peeking through her curtains, painting streaks of gold onto her shelves. She drew back her blinds, letting everything be illuminated. Collei smiled to herself, fill the room with good energies and that will fill you with good energies.
Collei sat down by the window as she brushed her hair and fixed her hairpiece in place. Her diary sat untouched on her desk, just where she left it last night. Absentmindedly, she wondered what she’d add to it tonight. By the door, she had a stack of reading materials she was due to return to Cyno soon. Readings that she, with a lot of guilt, had barely started.
Standing back up, she moved to make her bed. But before she could take a step, she noticed something odd. Something she had missed in her sleep deprived stupor.
The edges of her blankets seemed to be singed. Collei’s brow shot up at the relevation. How could that have happened? She brought the blackened parts of her quilt up to the sun. Without a doubt, her initial assessment was correct. Her plain brown blanket had been burnt. Collei ran her fingers over the char and watched as it crumbled away onto the floor, releasing a scent that made her nose scrunch up.
Unexplicably, a cold dread filled her bones.
Collei disregarded the blankets for a moment. She crouched down to investigate the frame of her bed. Similar burns were found there too. Along the edge of her bedframe and down the posts were unnatural scorch marks. She shivered, tracing the patterns with a finger.
The burns wrapped around the wood in almost circular patterns, much like a plant growing around a trellis. She followed them down to the floor, where she saw another burn spot. A small circle, maybe half a foot from the base of her bed.
As Collei retrieved a broom to clean up the soot, she was full of questions. How did a fire get set in her home last night? Followed up with, why did it result in such specific patterns? A once over of her house showed all her lanterns had been put out. As well, her windows had no glass, not like buildings in the city, so it couldn’t have been due to concentrated sun beams.
She stared at the circular splotch on the floor like it owed her money. Never letting her eyes wander as she swept. Just looking at it made her stomach queasy. The feeling lessened as the char faded.
The marks came off the floor easily, and in a moment there was no evidence they had ever been there. With her hands, she brushed off the patterns on her bed and quickly discarded the ash.
She put away the broom and returned her mind to getting ready for the day. Collei put her gloves on and fastened her cloak before sitting down to slip on her stockings and boots.
But her mind was distracted, her gaze kept drifting back to where the marks had been. Just how would… she thought, it didn't make any sense. If something had caught fire, the entire house would've burnt, being made of wood.
The markings also indicated the flames started and ended at her bed, excluding the isolated spot a bit away. A quick look in the mirror confirmed Collei sustained no injuries. With every angle she looked at the problem from, she was met with a dead end.
At least, she sighed, nothing major was damaged. Maybe she’d look around the House of Deana next time she visited the city. The records seemed to hold all the information in Teyvat. Taking the good out of the bad was the best way to make it through each day, so she would put the strangeness out of her mind.
A knocking on the door drew Collei out of her ruminations.
“Yes! Coming!” she squeaked, rushing to the door so fast she sent her desk chair tumbling over. She winced at her own clumsiness. Two times is a coincidence, but she didn’t want to regain her reputation for being a klutz.
She fumbled with the lock for a moment, before finally getting the door open.
Tighnari stood outside, illuminated by the morning sun. His ears perked up on top of his head, and the same serious yet lighthearted expression Collei had come to love adorned his face.
“Something important happening in here?” he questioned in a teasing tone, looking past Collei to see the discarded chair on the ground. She hoped she didn’t look too frazzled from her earlier thinking.
“Master!” Collei groaned in embarrassment, "I didn't expect you to come over so early…” she quickly stepped out of her house and into the damp rainforest. Exiting with care as to not to let Tighnari see what other messes she may have left inside.
Tighnari stepped back to allow Collei space on the boardwalk. The wood was slightly wet, Collei noticed as she nearly wiped out from the lack of friction. Luckily, she found gloved hands bracing her fall.
“Oops…” Collei muttered, looking up sheepishly. Further embarrassment spread through her, dusting her ears a light red. Maybe it really was a pattern… gods damn it what had gotten into her.
With a guiding hand, she was back on her feet, “Are you feeling okay today?” Tighnari asked. His tone was casual but Collei could see the worry in his gaze clear as day.
She appreciated his concern. Honestly, after her history with Eleazar, shes not surprised he checks in whenever he sees the slightest signs of her illness returning. The curing of Eleazar may have been a miracle, but that was no reason to believe it couldn't come back.
“I’m a-okay!” she reassured, brushing herself off, “Perfectly ready to start another productive day! Lets just… forget about my previous tumbles…” Collei gave a weak thumbs as punctuation to her sentence.
Tighnari tilted his head to the side, analyzing her with the precision only a teacher can. Collei stood there awkwardly, sweating slightly as Tighnari looked for a problem that didn't exist.
She wasn't guilty of anything! But having Tighnari investigate any signs of her lying about her condition sparked a shame in her gut. His tail gave away his anxiety, fur puffed up and stuck out in all kinds of directions.
Finally, Tighnari relaxed, and Collei let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in.
“Alright, it seems everything's in order,” he smiled, and then began gesturing towards the center of Gandharva Ville, “lets go have breakfast.”
They walked leisurely along the boardwalk, soaking in morning aura. No matter how long she lived here, Collei doubted she would ever get sick of the way the forest seemed to come alive at dawn. She stared out into the depths of the jungle, not seeing much more than a few dusk birds perched in the trees, which was disappointing. Collei was sure though, that today was going to be a good day despite the strange start.
Just before they made it into the morning bustle of the main street, Tighnari stopped and put his hand on her shoulder, “Collei, remember you can tell me if anything is wrong. Cyno too, we've promised to always be here for you, despite living apart.” he whispered. Her heart warmed at the sentiment, she would never be able to repay either of her guardians for what they’d done for her.
“Mhm!” Collei nodded in return, “I know master! You've done so much for me… and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.”
With that they fell into a comfortable silence as they strode down the street. Gandharva Ville was waking up with life. Aunties stood in the streets, hanging up laundry to dry in the rising sun. Some were sweeping outside their homes, while others were sat down on rugs, eating their morning meals.
Street vendors were parked along the road, preparing to-go meals for a town full of Forest Rangers. Tighnari stopped by the stand of a middle aged man Collei didn't quite remember the name of. He chatted while the vendor prepared two servings of manakish, topped with za’tar.
With a quick thank you, and the transfer of a handful of mora, the master-apprentice duo continued down the road. Eventually, sitting down to eat in the cover of the town hall. They received a friendly wave from Mrs. Umm who was already standing at her post by the doors.
Collei sat on her knees, while Tighnari took a crosslegged position. He handed over her morning meal and they both began to eat. The food was good and filling, a perfect dish in her eyes.
“Collei,” Tighnari broke the silence, “have you considered taking a rest day today? You’ve been working very hard recently and I believe you deserve a break.”
She mustered up her best disappointed side eye. The exact face Tighnari made on the daily at annoying Akademiya officials trying to butt in on rainforest politics, and incompetent travellers who eat toxic planets they find in the forest.
Collei didn't want to rest just because her day started off on the wrong foot. She knew that's more why he was bringing this up. They were both stubborn people, and he was trying to see if he could wear her down.
With every moment, Collei was growing older. Eventually she’d leave behind her time as a Varana trainee to study and the Akademiya. It was a life she’d dreamed of, but one she couldn't imagine would come so soon. It was only a year till she would take the entrance exams, and she wasn’t going to waste a single day, even if her master was being pushy.
The thought of leaving her quiet life in Gandharva Ville stung, but Collei had accepted it. That’s how life worked after all, things would come and go. She just had to treasure each and every moment.
That was especially why Collei found his proposition to be so offensive.
She didn’t even need words before Tighnari relented, “Alright, I wont pester you anymore.” he sighed. He was never sly about what he wanted, it was clear as day he was concerned for her.
With the birdsong as background noise, the fully satiated Vanara got up. They quickly washed their hands at a pump stationed on the side of the road, before making their way to Tighnari’s hut.
The inside was beautiful. Instead of Collei’s wood door, Tighnari’s was fashioned out of leaves. That had something to do with an incident involving a jank doorknob and a broken claw, but she wasn't privy to all the details.
Specimens were pinned up on the walls, an arrangement of pressed flora and preserved fauna. The dead animals tended to freak Collei out, reminding her of places she didn't want to go back to. But the plants were some of her favorite things to look at.
Back when she had arrived in Sumeru, Tighnari would take time every day to explain a lifeform on his wall to her. Until she had inevitably memorized them all. On quite a few occasions, Collei found herself dozing off to the sound of his lecturing.
It served more than just comfort though, Collei had realized months later. The exercises had prepared her for the work she would be doing in the actual rainforest. Master Tighnari was such a genius sometimes, it only motivated her to work twice as hard to make him proud.
Collei took a seat on the short stool next to the stove. Her knees bumped up against her torso, which was a slight annoyance.
Tighnari filtered through a stack of papers across the room. Forest Ranger assignments, she assumed. On most days, Collei patrolled with her master. But more and more often she found herself teaming up with other Vanara. Likely due to the curing of her eleazar, Tighnari trusted her more to not get injured on the job. Collei also took it as a sign that she was improving, getting closer to being a fully fledged Vanara.
Expressions rotated through Tighnari’s face, mostly neutral but interrupted by the occasional one of annoyance or joy. Eventually, he stopped parsing through the papers and picked one out. It was a small thing, a half sealed in an envelope that didn’t bear the usual markings of the Adventures’ Guild or Akademiya.
“I’m going to be giving you a more personal assignment today.” Tighnari said with a hint of regret in his voice, “but it will be easy, and I hope you’ll have fun.”
He passed over the letter with a gloved hand, “Kaveh wants to investigate some old outposts down South by Adravi Valley. I’m sure he can give you more details later.” he explained, “we were both going to accompany him but it seems I’m needed elsewhere today.”
He set down the stack of papers, cursing something about the Chasm and miners under his breath.
Collei skimmed the contents of the letter. Which, speaking more accurately, was a note. Considering the length and quality of the handwriting.
Everything Tighnari said seemed to be in order. A day trip down to Northern Adravi Valley and back to Gandharva Ville. Kaveh’s trip back to the city seemed to be dealt with by a merchant group passing through late in the afternoon. It was a trip she had made hundreds of times.
“Master?” she questioned, “how long will it be until Mister Kaveh gets here?” the chicken scratch on the letter was a bit hard for Collei to read as it trailed towards the end. It would be easier to ask Tighnari who was used to decoding Kaveh's writing.
Tighnari came closer and bent down, squinting at the paper, “I believe that says he’ll be here about an hour after sunrise?”
She shot up out of her seat and scrambled for the door, nearly knocking into the stove on her right. It was ironic how this had happened twice today.
“Sorry Master Tighnari! I have to get my bow!” she yelled, already halfway out the door. She tore through the streets, running as fast as she could while maintaining enough control to not knock any poor passersby over.
Archons above, she bemoaned, she was going to be so late.