Submission (#3906) Approved

After her last excursion, Athena was made painfully aware just how lacking her understanding of Silveil forest and the surrounding areas were to her. Not only did she need the assistance of a stranger who wasn’t even a local in identifying edible flora, but she herself had trouble with recognizing her surroundings. Why, every tree in the dark starry forest looked just the same to her, that she was sure if she ventured any deeper, she would have gotten lost.

And so, she had taken it upon herself to familiarize herself with the place she called home. After all, would it not be a shame if she, an actual resident of this place, not be able to even find herself through the forest, let alone need to rely on random passersby to be her guide.

“Aww, look at you with your brow all furrowed. So cute.”

Athena resisted the urge to crawl under a hole and hide. 

“Mother. Please.”

Much to her chagrin, her mother had decided to tag along. Her reasoning being that she had delighted in the dish Athena had prepared for her, and wanted to know which ones they were so that they could partake in similar dishes in the future, though Athena knew it was more than likely her mother would just make it a note to request it from the chefs of the restaurants she frequented. Come to think of it, she very rarely tasted her mother’s home cooking, and wondered if the excuse was not due to her own busy schedule, but more to the fact that her mother perhaps lacked any cooking finesse. Regardless, Athena did not intend to let others accomplish tasks for her. No, one day she would be fully independent and would need to be able to take care of herself without the assistance of others.

It seemed she had taken too much time in her thoughts, as she suddenly felt a paw on her shoulder, and looked up to see her mother smiling at her.

“Sweetie, I tease. But if you spend any more time just moping about, I fear we may spend the rest of our lives here. Heaven knows how deep your contemplations can go.”

Athena huffed. She supposed her mother would have also quipped that the “night wasn’t getting any shorter”, which she supposed was apt, due to how Silveil was eternally blanketed in an eternal starry night that it was nigh impossible to tell day from night. At least, even more so within the forest. Even with a canopy of stars above, unfiltered by barren trees, it was still dark as could be. The light offered by the bioluminescent flora was decent at best, illuminating no more than a few feet even when densely clustered. 

That said, she had another goal in mind in addition to familiarizing herself with the forest. It was said that if one frequented a specific region enough, they could increase their affinity with it enough to acquire specific mutations that weren’t present at birth. She heard it was still being studied on the types of mutations each region yielded, and that there were constantly new ones being found, along with different possibilities to obtain them outside of regional affinity. She knew Silveil was known for specific ones related to stars, which may explain how both she and her mother both had the suffusion gene. She also heard that the luminous trait was one known to Enmir, which meant she would need to travel in the future to obtain it. There was still so much to study out there, and she had full intent of going out to travel one day.

Well, thoughts aside, she supposed they should make some progress, lest they waste any more time. Athena proceeded to march forward, which prompted her mother to follow along.

As they walked, her mother regaled her with tales of her life, most of which Athena already knew, but she supposed the chatter helped to fill the silence. She could hear the cawing of crows in the distance, as well as the soft rustling of tiny paws pitter pattering across the ground. Passing by a cluster of shrooms, she noticed some had nibbles taken out of them, and wondered what sort of creatures would willingly ingest the bioluminescent flora with no ill side effects. It was probably a silly question, as one would imagine things would learn to adapt as time passes, whether this be them learning to take on undesirable traits to ward off would-be predators, or indulging in things that would deter most.

After some time, the chattering seemed to slow to a lull, and Athena wondered if her mother had run out of things to say, or assumed that Athena was no longer listening, which she supposed was a half-truth. 

“Mother.”

“Hmm?”

“Have you ever gotten lost in the forest yourself?”

There was a pause, and then laughter.

“Why, Athena, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you assume your poor mum to be incompetent at taking care of herself.”

“Mum please just answer the question.”

Another laugh.

While she waited for a response, Athena looked around, doing her best to memorize landmarks. Had they passed those clusters of bioluminescent mushrooms already? Did that gash in the tree trunk look familiar?

Several minutes passed with no response, and Athena wondered if her mother had somehow forgotten. When she turned to inquire, she noticed her mother was right beside her this time, looking at her and smiling.

“That’s why we’re both out here in the forest together, isn’t it?”

Athena sighed. Well, she supposed that answered one of her questions. They were both inevitably lost.