Submission (#918) Approved

She wasn’t sure what to think of this phenomenon. 

There weren’t many things in this world that truly interested her beyond a means to make a living. Fortunately, one of the few things she was truly fascinated by - rare and priceless relics, vegetation, treasure - was her job. Hunting the things people - rich people, mostly - desperately wanted, but were too busy or lazy or weak to go out and get themselves. Things like a legendary plant rumored to cure all diseases, a long-lost family heirloom that may or may not have been given to this person and sold to that merchant and ended up who knows what or where. Sometimes people, too, as missing persons or for debts or other things. There weren’t many gigs she wouldn’t take, honestly. 

It was right after she returned home (she calls it that loosely; Enmir is merely the one place she’s stayed in long enough to even come close to having that title) from one such job that the streaks of lights appeared. 

At first, the flitting embers on the twisted log beneath her haven looked to be grounded fireflies or glowing spores or one of the other iota of bioluminescent things that inhabit this region. But then she looked up, surprised to find dozens of lights falling, slowly, gracefully, past her nose and down to her feet. 

She retreated back inside the hollowed-out tree she tentatively “lived” in and scurried up the staircase to the flattened rooftop where lightning or some other force of nature must have wrenched the trunk in two. From here, high above the mossy ground and half marsh below, she could examine these falling lights more closely. 

They seemed harmless enough….

But one of the first rules of a treasure hunter was to never trust things as they first appear.

Failing to look deeper past the surface was how you missed tracks, overlooked secret passageways, and counted yourself out of what could have been a brilliant find. This goes for potential dangers, as well: don't step paw across a bridge just because one side looks safe, don't eat an unfamiliar berry just because it looks good. You investigate, you check your corners, you never leave a single stone unturned. 

Frustrated by the lack of information she could find out here on her own, she descended down the trunk once more and set out on the hour or so long trek to the nearest treetop village. Seclusion was her ally on all days but those rare ones when she needed outside assistance. 

The vast swath of green surrounding her calmed her nerves whenever a mote of light landed too close to her for comfort. The softness of the moss underfoot, the occasional squelch of wet grass, the unending maze of twisting trunks and vines and thick palms that was so very easy to get lost in if one didn't know their way - she enjoyed it. She’d seen virtually every corner of this world and she couldn’t imagine setting up a primary locale anywhere else. 

After a bit of reconnaissance upon reaching the village, it seemed like everyone else was just as perplexed by the lights as she was. Most, to her displeasure, were content to ignore the possibility of any potential long-lasting harm and revel in its supposed beauty. Like awed bystanders standing with gaping mouths on a beach with a quickly receding tide; too distracted by the discoveries in the sand below them to see the rising danger above. 

She sighed. She didn’t want to be careless and ignore whatever the lights could mean - current theories ranged from exploding shooting stars to the goddess herself shedding tears - but she wasn’t one to hide in fear over something she couldn’t control, either. And she wasn’t really scared either; just… cautious. She didn’t like going into anything unprepared. 

For now, all she could do was wait and see what happens, and then do what she could when something did. Until then, maybe she’d take some time off her usual work....