Submission (#5482) Approved

Kyendi, Kyendi, Kyendi…

Why was he here, again?

Oh, right. The only way that that old-as-dust elnin would give him the information he needed for that thing he was searching for was if he went out into the deep, dark jungle of Kyendi and found this ultra-specific type of flower they wanted. It took him so long to find that elnin in the first place, so many weeks of tracking down scant threads of clues that took twice as long to string together, and he’s given nothing more than a fetch quest for his efforts. Surely it would be enough to make anyone forget their respect for their elders, as Sohail most certainly did when he spat out a few choice words in response to their request. “Youth is wasted on the young,” he’d heard them mumble beneath their breath as he stormed out the door in irritation. He’d do it, of course - he’d worked too hard to just give up now - but he wasn’t happy about it.

It took him almost a week to get to Kyendi from the old ‘nin’s cabin in Zevija, and a few days still to make out the nonsensical “map” - if one could even call it that - they’d given him. It was apparently a bunch of symbols that some locals explained to him were an old, oft-unused form of map-marking. Thankfully, they were able to translate it quickly and he was on his way.

After half a day’s trek through what was, in his opinion, an unnecessary amount of foliage, he came to the end of the map. Instead of finding the flowers he had been sent out for, he was met with the face of a cliff covered in moss and vines. He checked the map again; he didn’t know Kyendi all that well, but he didn’t think he made any mistakes in following it. Great. He’d have to retrace his steps and try to figure out what went wrong. He picked up a nearby rock in frustration and chucked it at the wall, as if it was its fault for not being what he wanted. The sound it made was not one you’d expect from striking stone against stone.

Curious, he approached the supposed cliff to inspect the area where the rock had struck, running his paws along the surface. It only took a moment for him to realize it wasn’t stone at all, but wood painted and hidden by vines. A secret entrance. Who would have thought?

He plied the wood from where it was stuck to the cliff edge. He pressed forward through the revealed tunnel that was just big enough for a kittom his size to squeeze through, the very tips of his ears brushing lightly against the rugged ceiling. They twitched from the sensation. It was quite dark in here, the path lit dimly by the soft glow of his mana. Eventually, some plant fronds tickled his nose, and he realized the other side of this tunnel was blocked by thick bushes. Grumbling, he shoved himself through the bothersome bush and then light flooded his view to reveal…

…A small, hidden cove, surrounded on all sides by rocky walls and overflowing with jungle flora that somehow looked more vibrant here than it did in the rest of the forest. Light flooded down from high above the cavern, likely a hole in one of Kyendi’s signature rounded mountaintops. Multi-tiered waterfalls fed into a large pond from up above and looked cool to the touch. Floating on the water’s surface were delicate, purple-colored flowers that matched the description the elderly elnin had given him to find. He imagines it’s probably an objectively beautiful area and he’s lucky to have found it. To most ‘nin traveling through, the sight before him would be absolutely breathtaking.

To him, the view makes him grimace. He can’t help but be reminded of where he came from - a land of crystal-clear water and cascading waterfalls - and the reasons he left it behind. Too much water, too little anything else. It felt suffocating and isolating. He shakes the thoughts from his head.

Now that his moment of sudden dramatic backstory has passed, he could focus on what he came here for. He took care in picking the flowers from their stalks atop the water, not out of respect for the plant itself, but out of not wanting to go all the way back just for that old coot to tell him they were too damaged and didn’t count. 

The fish here are different than the ones back home. Smaller, thinner, less colorful, but enough meat on them to make a decent meal. He supposed he might as well set up camp here and get something in his stomach before he made the journey back.

So he set to making a trap. Unraveling palms to make thin strands, which he then tied back together in a mesh attached to sticks he found in the underbrush. Quick and a bit shoddy, but it’ll do. He places the trap at the far side of the pond along with some berries he found for bait, just in case the fish happened to eat them. 

And now he waits. He sits down on a cushy patch of grass and tries to ignore the sound of flowing water by thinking about his next steps. Hopefully he’ll get enough info out of this quest to find what he’s looking for. If not, well… he’ll figure out some other way.

Half an hour passes before he hears splashing. He pads over to the trap and finds a good-sized fish flopping about the mesh. As he chews his admittedly not-that-tasty dinner, he stares at the flowers and hopes that this will all be worth it.