Work Text:
The sea breeze lightly swayed against the dancer and the dragon as they waited for the ship to dock. They waved their arms enthusiatically in attempt to be seen by their friends, who were suppose to arrive on the incoming vessel.
Then two heads popped up, one waving back at them. She took out her umbrella and whispered something to Kirara, which made her tranform into her cat form. The tall blond grabbed the cat around her arm and opened her weapon, which made them lift into the air.
Nilou and Durin watched them with look of disbelief. The dragon spread his wings and got ready to catch them, but Navia seemed like she had practice with this sort of maneuver, because the wind carried them to the docks with little to no trouble. She landed on the wooden planks, let go of Kirara and tucked away her umbrella. Then with a beaming smile she gave Nilou and Durin a group hug and twirled around.
“It’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed with delight.
“It’s good to see you too!” Durin replied.
“Welcome to Sumeru. Dormant Port to be exact.” Nilou smiled warmly. “You’ve never been, right?”
“Not yet, but I heard many things about it from Emilie. She said you have some of the most magnificent flora.”
“The plants in the rainforest are very beautiful.” Nilou agreed. “We can stop by Apam Woods or Pardis Dhyai if you’re interested.”
“Absolutely! I want to see as much as possible.” Navia nodded excitedly. Then she paused. “Hold on, didn’t you write in your letter than Hat Guy will be coming too? Did he not make it?”
“Hat Guy went to get maps for us.” Durin interjected. “He should be here any minute now.”
Speak of the devil…
“The ship hasn’t even boared yet here you are. So which one of you started causing trouble?” They heard a tired voice. All the heads turned to person with a wide brimmed hat walking down the dock, carrying three scrolls. He stopped next to Durin and looked between him and Navia with a suspicious look.
“Ah my bad, I just couldn’t wait to see you again.” Navia apologised. “But no worries, I do this all the time back in Fontaine! And the worst I’ve ever gotten was a fine.”
Hat Guy sighed. “Not like it’s my problem. I just didn’t want to waste mora on someone who was gonna get themselves locked up on their first day here.” He replied and handed Navia, Kirara and Durin each a scroll. “This is a basic map. It’s so that we don’t have watch you like hawks all the time.”
“Thanks Hat Guy.” Durin told him.
“That’s very thoughful of you.” Navia added.
Wanderer scoffed and hid his face under his hat.
“I’m a little suprised you didn’t get me one.” Nilou commented, making the student turn to her.
“You don’t need one. You can navigate the main road just fine. Besides, unlike them, you can acess the map through the Akasha.” Hat Guy replied.
Nilou’s lips twitched. “Right, almost forgot about that.” She looked to the side and nervously combed her hair.
The rest of the group cocked their heads in confusion.
“Akasha? What’s that?” Durin was the first to ask.
“It’s a device made by the Dendro archon.” Hat Guy explained. “It gathers information in Irminsul and distributes it to whoever wears the terminal.”
“It caused some trouble for the people of Sumeru, so Lesser Lord Kusanali was forced to shut it down.” Nilou added. “But then had it start running back in order to save our Nation.”
Hat Guy briefly glanced at her before looking away and crossing his arms. Nilou didn’t know the other reason Nahida had to shut down the Akasha was because she gave away to Dendro gnosis. But he wasn’t about to reveal that fact.
“Ah so it’s a device that administrates wisdom!” Navia clasped her hands, as if she finally got it. “We have someone like that in Fontaine. Only that it administrates justice instead. It also had to be shut down though.”
“Wow, good thing we don’t rely on any fancy machines in Inazuma.” Kirara commented. “All the archon-made devices must be quite brittle if they’re all suddenly loosing function.”
“Well not all of them.” Durin argued. “Hat Guy and Nilou just mentioned the Akasha is working again.”
The ship Kirara and Navia arrived on finally docked, making them turn their attention towards it.
“Let’s leave the talk of machines behind us now.” Navia announced. “We’ll get our things and then you can show us the placed you talked about, Nilou.”
“Right.” She nodded with a smile.
The two women started walking back on the ship to get their things. Durin followed them in an attemp to help them, but Kirara looked like she was handling carrying everything by herself pretty well. It wasn’t much, just a few change of clothes, but the courier insisted she could carry it.
“Apam Woods is the closest, so we should probably head there first.” Nilou stated, pointing towards the general direction of the woods.
“Oh, me and Hat Guy were there once!” Durin piped up. “We met some strange monsters though. Are you sure we should go there first?”
“It was just Fungi. Nothing we can’t handle.” Wanderer dismissed him.
“Fungi?” Navia cocked her head, looking away from her map. “What’s that?”
“They’re like these little flying mushroom creatures.” Nilou explained. “They’re usually in the wilderness of Sumeru. Sometimes they cause trouble, but I heard some people made the effort to tame them. I think it’s uh— part of Amurta study?”
She looked to Hat Guy for conformation, but he just shrugged.
“Ooooh now I kind of wanna see one!” Navia’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “We should ask these Amurta people how they go about taming them.”
“You’re welcome to try.” Wanderer scoffed. “Pardis Dhyai is basically their main base of operation, which is where I’m assuming we’re headed after?”
He looked at Nilou, who nodded.
“Pardis Dhyai is super pretty!” Durin added. “It’s also got this big greenhouse, which is very warm and comfy.”
“That sounds nice.” Kirara purred. “I love warm and comfy places.”
As they chatted, Hat Guy and Nilou took a turn down the shorter route towards the Apam Woods, which lead to the centre of the rainforest. The group watched with wonder as they got closer to the towering trees. Navia even hummed along some of the bird noises they heard in the distance.
Hat Guy glanced around, noticing some of Aranara popping their heads to look at the visitors, but hiding away as soon as they were spotted. Hat Guy was sure they remembered him, Nilou and possibly Durin, as Hat Guy tried to introduced them to the dragon, since he was sure he would be able to see them. But they never got the courage to show themlselves to him, so he eventually dropped it.
Kirara suddenly rose to attention. “What is that?” She asked with a hushed tone and pointed towards a long brown tail hanging off one of the higher tree branches.
“A Rishboland Tiger.” Hat Guy answered simply. “Should be fine as long as we don’t distrurb it.”
Him and Nilou put a finger to their temples and stared at the branch for a moment.
“It looks like it’s asleep.” Nilou stated quietly. “And according to the updated Forest Ranger maps this route is safe, so there shouldn’t be any overly agressive predators on this road.”
“They were quick with it.” Hat Guy commented, crossing his arms. “Tighnari sure is efficient.”
“You have different maps?” Kirara cocked her head and pulled out her own, as if to see if there was any additional information she missed.
“It’s just some notes from the local Forest Rangers to keep everyone safe.” Nilou explained sheepishly. “It’s not that different from your map, I promise.”
“No dangerous enemies… does that mean no Fungi?” Navia asked with a disappointed frown.
“There’s still a chance we’ll see some.” Nilou replied, trying to cheer her up.
“Hey, I have an idea.” Durin offered. “Since I’ve been here before, how about I go on ahead and look for some Fungi while you look at the scenery? We could kill two birds with one stone.”
“That sounds like a good idea to me.” Navia mused.
Kirara shrugged. “As long as one of the people with exclusive maps stays behind I don’t mind.” She replied, which made Nilou chuckle.
“I’m coming with you.” Hat Guy told him decisively. “Otherwise you might get scared by a crystalfly and burn down the forest.”
“Hey! I’ve gotten way better at controlling my fire.” Durin defended himself.
“But not your reactions.” He retorted, then looked at Nilou. “Stay at the edge of the woods and head towards the bridge, so it’s easier for us to find you.”
“Got it.” Nilou nodded, while Navia and Kirara checked out their map behind her, the tall blond going over it with her finger to singal their future route.
After that the two men took to the sky. Durin quicky stole one last glance at the sleeping Rishoboar Tiger, before following his friend.
“I remember when you first took me here back when I was still a storybook dragon. I never knew trees this big could exist before!” Durin recounted with the same sparkling wonder in his eyes as he did back then.
Hat Guy hummed. “I would think you’ve gotten used to them by now. You’ve been to other places.”
“I don’t think I ever will. Even the tallest tree in Mondstadt doesn’t compare to the heights of these ones.”
“So childish.” Hat Guy muttered absend-mindedly as he stared at the ground. He spotted some movement, but it was either just regular animals or overly curious Aranara. It took about fifteen minutes until he spotted something akin to small group of Fungi. “Look down there. That should be it.”
He gestured towards the group and Durin looked. “Oh Wow you noticed them from so far away! I can barely see them. Did the Akasha tell you where they were?”
“No, my eyes did.” Hat Guy snapped with annoyance. “Let’s land for now and take a small break before we head back.”
Durin nodded with agreement and they settled on one of the platforms under the tree crowns. Durin stretched, while Hat Guy adjusted his hat.
“Sorry, but the Akasha sounds pretty incredible. I mean, you get access to so much knowledge like it’s nothing.”
“It’s a tool. It can be good for some things but it shouldn’t replace your brain.” He replied and crossed his arms.
“Of course! I’m just saying it would be nice to have something that answers your every question.” Durin argued. “Figuring it out yourself can be sometimes so confusing.”
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. Wanderer watched him for while with a blank expression. He understood where the dragon was coming from, but after everything that happened he didn’t want him to be tied to Irminsul like the rest of Sumeru was, including himself. With a sigh, Hat Guy went on: “The Akasha doesn’t have all the answers. You were able to live without it all these years, so you’ll be just fine.”
After one last look at the group of Fungi, Hat Guy declared: “Okay, break time’s over. Let’s head back and find the others.”
“Ookay…” Durin whined. Hat Guy could tell he wasn’t fully rested from the flying yet.
They managed to find the group rather quickly. Navia’s golden dress and large boat-shaped hat stood out like a sore thumb. The pair landed near them and they met up under one of the large trees.
“We found a small group of Fungi just the west of here. It shouldn’t take too long to get there.” Wanderer reported and pointed towards the general direction they were at, when they noticed the group of sentient mushrooms.
“Then we should hurry, before they get away!” Navia concluded in haste, grabbing Nilou by the wrist and rushing towards the spot Wanderer pointed to on Durin’s map. The others followed. Kirara tranformed into her cat form to gain more speed, while Durin and Wanderer took the aerial route.
Once they got there, they hid behind the nearest tree so the Fungi wouldn’t see them. Navia was practically buzzing with excitement, but was able to contain it enough to not draw attention to herself.
“They’re so cute!” She squeaked in a hushed tone. “They remind me of jellyfish we have back in Fontaine.”
“They definitely feel less threatening than the Rishboland Tiger we saw earlier.” Kirara whispered.
“You could tell how threatening it was based on just the tail?” Durin asked softly.
“Nekomata have a nose for this stuff.” Kirara whispered back and booped her own nose.
“They don’t look agressive.” Nilou pointed out, her tone veiled with relief.
“They’re not.” Hat Guy confirmed. “As long as we don’t make them feel threatened we should be fine. So nobody make any sudden noises or movements.”
“I wonder how you tame these guys?” Kirara pondered, her tails swinging from side to side. “Do you treat them as pets or as house plants?”
“Um… I think I heard they use some special kind of food? But it’s still a work in progress.” Nilou replied and look at Wanderer, hoping he would know more as someone who attends the Academiya. He just shrugged in response.
“Aw but I would love to have one as a pet. Their little hats are so cute.” Navia continued gushing, being the only one in the group taken by their supposed “cuteness”.
The group of Fungi eventually started to move and Hat Guy decided it was time to head out. “Enough gawking,” he told the group more sharply. “If we want to make it to Pardis Dhyai before sunfall we need to head out.”
“Oooh yes! Time for warm and comfy.” Kirara purred with satisfaction.
Although Navia looked dissapointed that she had to leave the little mushroom creatures, she followed along. They chatted idly, Nilou and Hat Guy leading the way, as they passed the bridge and headed towards the greenhouse and gardens the Amurta scholars used for their studies. The sun was already setting by the time they got their, staning the sky with warm colours.
“There’s no way we’ll make it to Sumeru City before night comes.” Hat Guy stated. “I hope none of you expected to sleep in a comfy bed tonight.”
“I’m used to it.” Kirara shrugged. “I can settle for the greenhouse.”
“I don’t mind either. I would love to sleep under the stars! I used to do it with my friend Clorinde all the time.” Navia chimed in.
“Alright, let’s see if anyone’s around.” Wanderer sighed and walked on ahead.
There were a couple of students with a Sumpterbeast, who looked like they were prepared to head out. Hat Guy briefly spoke with them and they looked relieved somebody would take care of Pardis Dhyai, so they didn’t have to. After they left, Nilou and Hat Guy showed the others the greenhouse, where Kirara and Durin settled. Nilou, Navia and Hat Guy spend some time in the gazebo chatting, before the two women also fell asleep.
Hat Guy watched the gardens from the rooftop. After a while he noticed movement. Expecting an intruder, he was suprised to see it belonged to a small ruin crab. It was scanning its surroundings and walking carefully around.
He kept an eye on it, but since it didn’t look dangerous, he left it be. He wasn’t about to hear a lecture about how he acidentally trashed someone’s research project.
The next morning the students slowly started to pour in. Nobody was awake yet, so Hat Guy had to explain to the Amurta darshan members why there was a cat and guy with wings sleeping in their greenhouse and that, no, they weren’t dangerous to their research.
Once the others had finally woken up, Navia explained their situation. The Amurta members thought for a moment, before one of them spoke up:
“If you’re looking into the specifics of Sumeru’s wildlife behaviour, Paz might be your best bet right now. He worked in that area for few times and seems to know a thing or two. Otherwise you’d have to go to Sumeru city and ask in the Academiya, if there’s anyone who specilizes in taming Fungi.”
“Surely there is.” Navia then clasped her hands and smiled with delight. “Those little guys are so cute! Who wouldn’t want to spend all day with them?”
The researchers looked at each other with puzzled expressions, not knowing what to say.
“Thank you for the help, we’ll go talk to him now.” Nilou gave them an out. They nodded and left to focus on their research.
When they found Paz and told him what they were looking for, he thought for a moment before saying: “I remember they used some sort of capturing device and then fed them special jellies. We don’t have that device anymore, but I think I saw a recipe for the jellies. Hold on…” He placed two of his fingers on his temple and closed his eyes. Everyone waited in silence. Nilou’s brows knitted with concern. “Aha! Got it. It’s pretty simple, I’ll just write it down for you. Now where did I put my notebook?”
As he was looking for his supplies, Kirara pulled out her map and showed him the blank side. “If you need a spare paper, you can write it on one of our maps.” She offered.
“Hold on, Nilou, Hat Guy, you both live in Sumeru…” the student suddenly realised. “That means you have an Akasha! I can just send you the information through that!”
“Um, it would probably be better if you just wrote it down.” Nilou smiled apprehensively. “You know, for our non-Sumeru friends.”
“No it’s fine, this is faster anyway.” He waved his hand.
Hat Guy glanced at Nilou, who was combing her fingers through her hair nervously, then looked at the student with a deadpan expression. “Not if we need to play third party. Make youself useful and just write it down for us.”
“Huh?” Paz looked startled by Hat Guy’s sudden insistance. “I can’t— I mean, I would have to find my notebook first.”
“If you can send it through the Akasha then you can write it down.” Hat Guy snapped and slammed his own notebook against the other. “Now get to work, we don’t have all day. Just be glad someone is indulging you in this nonsense.”
“Fine, sheesh.” The student sighed and turned to walk to the nearest table, mumbling something like: “That’s rich coming from a Vahumana student.”
“Was it really necessary to force him like that?” Navia asked with confusion and concern. “Maybe he was right. He could’ve send the information through the Akasha and then you could’ve wrote it down on our way to the forest.”
“I’m not going to support his laziness.” Hat Guy scoffed. “If we weren’t here, he wouldn’t be able to use the Akasha as an excuse to not do his job.”
“B-besides, this will be better for you. This way, you can study it and make up a plan on how to get the jellies to the Fungi.” Nilou offered.
“We’ll need to make the jellies on our own anyway.” Kirara commented with a shrug. “He said he just knew the recipe, not where to get them.”
“Oh you’re right.” Navia rested her chin against her thumb. “Thankfully I always carry my portable stove with me, so if we need to cook them, we can do it anywhere.”
Paz eventually returned with the notes and handed them to Navia. The tall blonde and Nilou carefully read the ingredients list and the instructions given.
“We should be able to get most of these around here.” Nilou said, then turned to the student in blue clothing. “Hat Guy, you know the wilderness quite well, right? Could you get the ingredients for us?”
Hat Guy took the notebook from Navia and skimmed the list. “Should be easy enough. Durin, want to come with?” He looked at the dragon, who perked up when his name was called.
“Sure!” He nodded with a small smile. “Where are we going?”
“Towards Gandharva Ville.” He replied simply and tucked the notebook into his haori.
After the two men set off into the sky, Paz left the rest of the group in the gazebo to wait for them, but not before looking over at Navia and telling her:
“Oh yeah, you’re from Fontaine right? I heard someone lives there by the name of Haniyyah, who’s working on a project to domesticate Fungi or whatever. You might have some luck with her.”
“Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind.” Navia beamed.
As they waited, Nilou put on a little imrpovised performance for them to pass the time. The two women were absolutely entranced by her dancing. Then she took a bow to indicate she finished, to which the two women reponded by clapping excitedly.
“That was amazing!” Navia exclaimed with a giddy expression. “When you visit Fontaine, I need to get you to the Opera House. They would love to see you dance.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think I could do that just yet.” Nilou replied bashfully.
“Why not?” Navia pouted from disappointment.
“Too much of a crowd?” Kirara asked, her tails swinging on the bench from to and fro.
Nilou nodded jerkily. “That too, but I also never performed outside of Sumeru. I don’t think I would do very well.”
“Ah I see,” Navia hummed with a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I guess that means I just need to bring my Fontaine friend over here to see you perform then!”
“We would love to have you.” Nilou chucked.
After sometime the guys returned, carrying armful of fruits and plants. While Hat Guy looked the same as he did when they left, Durin had a few leaves stuck hair.
“Durin? What happened?” Nilou asked and pulled out one of the leaves.
Hat Guy set down the fruit and helped her pick the leaves out of Durin’s hair. “He tried to pick some Nilotpala Lotuses and got stuck in the vines.” He explained in a exasperated tone, while the dragon gave them a guilty smile.
“But we got everything on the list!” Durin proclaimed with satisfaction. He wanted to show her the literal fruits of their labour, but some of them spilled out of his arms as he tried to lift them.
“You did a good job.” Nilou patted him on the head. “Now let’s make the jellies.”
Thanks to Navia’s expertise in cooking (and some tips from the Amurta researchers), they were able to make the jellies pretty quickly. Everyone ended up carrying three. As they left Pardis Dhyai, Hat Guy and Durin flew on ahead to find some Fungi, while the girls formed a plan. Once they met up, they discussed their next form of action.
“Okay, so what we’ve come up with is this: We’re gonna set up a trap for them. Kirara will lead them towards the trap, where the jellies will be. Once they’ve eaten some, I’m gonna make a geo barrier around them and then we’ll feed them some more.” Navia proclaimed proudly.
“Or attack them if they get agressive.” Hat Guy added.
“But that won’t happen! I’m sure of it.” Navia didn’t let his pessimism deter her, still smiling proudly. Hat Guy just sighed.
“So me and Navia will be waiting at the trap with the jellies and Hat Guy and Nilou will be looking for Kirara?” Durin asked.
Navia nodded. “Precisely!”
“Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed at the trap?” Nilou asked puzzled. “I mean, Durin can fly. He’s much better at scouting.”
“No! You and Hat Guy need to be the ones who watch the Fungi.” Navia insisted. “You can scan them with the Akasha like you did with that Rishoboar Tiger. Then you can tell us if we need to be food-ready or battle-ready.”
“Right…” Nilou replied, still looking a little unsure.
The group got to building the trap, carefully placing the jellies on a spot of grass they marked out. After they were done, Kirara went ahead to find the fungi, while everyone hid. Hat Guy flew Nilou over to one if the higher branches, so they would have a better view of the trap.
After a moment of long silence, Hat Guy looked at the redhead and quietly said: “What’s on your mind?”
Nilou broke off her intense stare at the pile of jellies on the ground and turned to the man sitting next to her: “Huh?”
“You looked like you wanted to say something all day. There’s noone to interrupt you now, so spit it out.” Even though his words sounded harsh, his tone only carried a calm insistance. One that told Nilou she didn’t have to share, but that she had the oppurtunity to.
She smiled bashfully and looked at the ground. “It’s nothing really. I don’t really know how explain it to someone who wasn’t there.” She admitted.
Hat Guy raised an eyebrow with curiosity, but stayed quiet. He waited for her to tell him the actual problem instead of giving him an excuse, but Nilou just left it at that. He sighed deeply and raised his head to look at the tree tops.
A few more minutes passed and they suddenly heard the soft bouncing of little feet. Then the cat in the box appeared in Nilou and Hat Guy’s vision, leading a group of about three Fungi. Hat Guy grabbed Nilou’s hand to help her get off the tree as soon as Kirara passed them, then they waited for the creatures to notice the jellies.
Kirara circled around the trap, shepherding the Fungi towards the bait. It didn’t take long for them to notice and curiously poke at them. One brave small flying electro Fungi took a bite and the others soon followed. Once there was only one jelly left, Navia created the geo barrier, which seemed to startle the creatures.
Hat Guy touched his temple and activated his Akasha. The scan showed fluctuations between low and medium threat level. He then entered into the Forest Ranger notes, which told him that these kinds of signs mean that the Fungi were curious, but wouldn’t attack. “It looks good on my part, what about you?” He glanced at Nilou, who he noticed hadn’t had her Akasha ready. She held her hands towards her chest with a hesitant expression. “Nilou?”
“Huh? Wha—?” She jerked and looked between Hat Guy and the Fungi. Then she hurriedly touched her temple and nodded. “Seems good, yeah.”
They walked towards the trap and met up with the others. After Hat Guy gave his report, Navia’s eyes sparkled like two sapphires.
“That means the jellies worked! Great job everyone!” She gave the group a thumbs up. “Now we just need to give them more jellies and see if they trust us.”
It took about an hour, before the group was confident enough to lower down the geo barrier. Once they did, they Fungi floated around a bit, experimenting with their new found freedom. But once they noticed Navia and the others again, the rubbery creatures approached them.
“Awww they’re so cute! Look at their little arms. Oh how I wish I could take at least one back to Fontaine.” Navia looked like she was pratically melting on the spot. Akin to someone reacting to a kitten. “Maybe I could even make small cannons for them like the mecha-hounds and have them join the Spina.”
“Your dogs have cannons?” Kirara perked up. “Ours only carry swords.”
“Oh, are they also robotic?” Navia asked.
Kirara shook her head. “Nope, just regular ol’ shibas!”
Navia gaped. “So people in Inazuma know how train animals to carry weapons? You need to show me how it’s done!” She beamed and took Kirara’s hands.
The nekomata looked at her startled, the fur on her tails standing on its ends. “I-I don’t know how they do it! Their under the Yashiro comission, which I’m not part of.” She quickly explained.
Navia’s excitement faltered for a moment, before being picked up again. “But you’re basically a cat who learned how to do human tricks. So there must be some tips you can give me.”
Kirara blinked from surpise. “Ehh I’m a not trainer… I’d love to tell you, but I have no idea.”
The blond thought for a moment. “I remember seeing some members of the Spina playing with dogs and teaching it how to fetch,” she pulled out a small oval metal device. “Maybe we can treat it as a game and see how they’ll take to it before I speak with that professional in Fontaine.”
Kirara eyed the device, her tails swinging with interest. “Wow, that’s a really small canon!”
“Oh this not a canon, just a smoke granade I carry around in case of emergency.” Navia explained with a chuckle.
She turned towards the floating creatures and showed them the little smoke bomb. The Fungi stared at it curiously for a while, one of them tried poking it, but once Navia attemped to hand them the device, it fell on into the grass. They watched for a bit, waiting if it did anything and promptly lost interest when just laid motionless on the ground.
Navia frowned as she picked up the device. “They don’t look very interested.”
“Well it is a very small.” Kirara pointed out with a shrug. “I mean, they don’t have fingers, so they can’t really carry it. I probably would’ve lost interest too.”
The tall blond thought for a moment, before her face lit up with an idea. She pulled out her umbrella and opened it, which caught the attention of the Fungi and the Nekomata. Both of them looked terrified.
“This should do it, right? It even kind of looks like them!” Navia said with a grin, adjusting the umbrella a little bit so it could stand better on its own.
The Fungi got curious again and floated around the umbrella. One of the smaller ones even got under it and then pushed it into the air. Kirara turned into her cat form and jumped on the umbrella, just so the little creature wouldn’t fly away with it.
Durin, Hat Guy and Nilou watched the rather chaotic scene unfold in the background. Durin and Nilou looking worried, while Hat Guy kept his poster indifference.
“We won’t get in trouble for this, right?” Durin asked with concern.
“Probably not.” Hat Guy replied with a shrug, then glanced at the dancer. Even though she was watching Navia and Kirara interact with the Fungi, her gaze looked distant, like her mind was somewhere else entirely. Hat Guy looked back at the dragon and quickly told him: “Go make sure those two aren’t doing anything dangerous. We’ll get some more food for the Fungi.”
He then grabbed Nilou’s hand and dragged her out of the forest towards a near by Archon statue.
They sat down into the soft swaying grass. Nilou hugged her knees, while Hat Guy used his hands to support himself as he laid back.
He looked at the dancer with a patiently calm expression. “Okay, spill it. Something’s been clearly bothering you all day, so just tell me what it is so we can deal with it.” He told her plainly, trying his best to sound neutral, but even his best attempt would have drops of annoyance and concern in it.
Nilou smiled weakly at him and pulled her legs closer. “I appreciate you worrying about me.”
Hat Guy scoffed. “I’m not worried. Just… miffed. I don’t want to deal with whatever scheme Navia will come up with to try to cheer you up.”
“Is that it? I find her plans rather charming.” Nilou commented, relaxing her clam-like pose a little bit.
“Then you might be the only one.” Hat Guy narrowed his eyes.
She chuckled. “I think you might be the outlier actually.” She teased lightly.
Hat Guy rolled his eyes. “Great, you’re in a joking mood, which means you’re ready to share. So get on with it, before Durin comes looking for us.” He rushed her.
Nilou’s smile then dropped. “Well it’s— The Akasha might not mean much to you, since you haven’t had it for long. But before it was shut down, I had it almost my entire life. I barely remember a time without it. So it was such a strange feeling to suddenly be without it. I don’t know how to describe it. Like someone cut off a limb I didn’t know I needed until then.”
She looked at her hands and took a deep breath. Hat Guy stayed quiet, he knew it wasn’t time for him to speak yet.
“But I was also relieved. I— There was— Before you arrived to Sumeru, the Academiya tried something very cruel. A horrible experiment on Lesser Lord Kusanali and the people of Sumeru. And they used me as one of the catalysts for it. I was meant to dance at the Sabzeruz Festival, to honour the birth of the Dendro Archon. It was also a way for me to remind people that we still have an Archon. One that we should value. But the Academiya they— they used my dream to trap the people of Sumeru into a never-ending cycle. All to replace Lesser Lord Kusanali.”
She put her face in her hands and he could hear soft sniffles coming out of her.
“Everyone in Sumeru got hurt because of me. Dunyazard could’ve…” she wouldn’t dare finish the thought. “And I didn’t know about any of it. Were it not for the Traveller they would’ve kept using me for their horrific plan. I wouldn’t be able to stop it.”
She hugged her knees again and he noticed a few tears running down her cheeks, falling into the sunlit grass underneath them.
“I was relived when the Akasha shut down because it meant that nothing like this will ever happen again, but now that it’s back… I’m worried someone will use it to hurt the people of Sumeru.”
He stared at her with concerned expression.
He knew. Nahida told him.
Back then, he believed that it was a fair sacrifice. Just trampling few insects while taking a step towards something greater. He traced his fingers against his vision, which glowed slightly.
Sacrificing your own people in pursuit of something greater. Is that how all gods think?
Clearly not, because he knew one that fought against that very notion, twice.
“They won’t.” He replied with a steel resolve. “Kusanali won’t let that happen. You saw what she was willing to do for her people. She broke the rules of this world just so the people of Sumeru wouldn’t be erased by the false tree.”
She looked at him, blinking away her tears.
“The Akasha is in the hands of someone who cares more for her people than wisdom. She will never let what happen then occur again.”
Nilou looked up at the statue with a fond smile. “Yeah, you’re right. We’re so lucky to have an archon like her.”
Hat Guy followed suit and also looked at the statue. The small hooded figure resting against the small ball. He saw many different archon statues at this point: Electro, Cryo, Geo, Anemo. Even Columbina’s statues in Nod Krai. Yet none of them felt as lenient as the statue of the Dendro Archon. Maybe it was a way for the Academiya to mock the god they felt was unworthy of their “glorious” nation.
But looking at it now, after seeing Nahida as the kind, nosy, strong and incredibly determined person that she is, the blithe position didn’t come of as someone who carried no worries because she carried no wisdom, but rather she carried no worries because she had so much wisdom and therefore had nothing to worry about.
And Hat Guy realised, Nilou was similiar in a way. Because of her own sharpness and creativity, she was able to solve problems that others would find impossible or get stuck on for weeks.
He certainly knew a few Sumeru scholars who could tell you the whole history of the Archon War but wouldn’t be able to figure out the colour crisis in a fairytale book even if their life depended on it.
“She’s lucky to have people like you too, you know.” He told her. “People who don’t give up on her. Who still aknowledge her as the archon and who work hard to celebrate her birth.”
Nilou looked at the ground with a bashful smile. “She deserves to be cherished.”
“And you deserve to feel safe.” He replied. “Talk to her. If you aren’t sure about the Akasha, tell her. I’m sure she’ll find a way to ease your worries.”
She wiped away some of her remaining tears. “I will, thank you. Could I just ask you to… come with me?”
Hat Guy stiffened, then quickly hid his face under his hat. “Sure, whatever.”
Nilou took another deep breath and looked towards the woods with a fond smile. “We should probably get back now.”
“What? Worried about what you started, Goddess of Creation?” Hat Guy teased with a smirk on his lips.
“Stop that! I wasn’t the actual Goddess of Creation. I was just mimicking her power,” Nilou replied with a chuckle. “That’s not the same thing.”
Hat Guy let out a huff. “You’re right, I guess it’s not.” He looked towards the woods. “Let’s go, I can already see Durin fretting.”
Once they returned, a big head of a small purple Fungi was pushed into their face. Behind it appeared Navia, holding the little electro Fungi like a proud parent.
“I named this one Clorinde. It’s so adorable!!” She announced and proceeded to to smother the little creature with affectionate hug. It looked a little confused at the gesture, but it wasn’t attacking, which was good.
Nilou looked around and then asked: “Where’s your umbrella?”
“Oh I left it with Kirara and the others.” Navia pointed towards the group behind her.
The nekomata was still in her cat form, riding on the head of one of the bigger Fungi, who was holding Navia’s umbrella gun. Two more Fungi were floating beside them. Next to them stood Durin, who looked like he was prepared to step in the moment it would get out of hand, the problem was that he didn’t look like he knew when they would cross that line.
Nilou and Hat Guy watched the scene with eyes like saucers.
“They seem to really like it.” Navia pointed out with a radiant smile. “I think they would really like some of the muskets the Special Security we have back in Fontaine uses.”
“We’re gonna have to report this to Paz.” Hat Guy said, not taking his eyes off the group.
“Good idea.” Nilou nodded.
…
Hat Guy set down an envelope with the the Amurta Darshan’s seal on the Forest Ranger’s desk.
Tighnari’s ear flicked at the subtle noise and then his eyes darted from the envelope to the Vahumana student. He stopped writing his research notes and looked up: “What’s this?”
“A letter from Amurta researchers.” Hat Guy answered simply with a shrug. Then he went on with a half-smile as Tighnari picked up the sealed message. “Durin’s friends asked them a favour and then when we gave them a report about how it went, they hurried to write something down and asked us to give it you. It’s always quite a sight to see those idiots in the Academiya look freaked out.”
He opened the envelope and started reading. As he did, Hat Guy turned on his heel and started walking away.
“Oh, by the way, you might want to start working on new Forest Ranger maps,” he called out. “The friends that recently visited armed a small group of Fungi near Apam Woods.”
Tighnari stilted. He turned around and looked at the student, who was half-way out of the door. “What? What do you mean by that?”
The other just shrugged, with all too amused expression that Tighnari couldn’t see.
“Hat Guy, come back here! What do you mean they armed the Fungi?! How? With what??”
But that was for him to find out.