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Leaves rustle as a light breeze envelops him. The sun is out, blazing brightly. It’s quite a bright day but the shade that the open hall provides and the many trees surrounding them keep the environment cold and bearable.
“As each of these elements react differently, you have to be mindful of which element application would be necessary for each situation.” Tighnari looks over to the board with his notes, pointing at the drawings. A few heads nod at his words, seemingly understanding the lesson.
Today, Tighnari has to teach a group of Amurta students about elemental reactions with Fungi. The class is specifically for Vision Holders interested in researching the Avidya Forest, as the Dendro Archon herself had written to him, so Tighnari has carefully prepared the content for the class.
With the Withering now under control, Tighnari has had more free time on his hands. Now, he’s taking over a few Amurta classes to help his Darshan and the students who are interested in caring for the forest.
“With that, let’s conclude our lecture for today.”
All students stand up and bow to him with respect. Some hurry out for a break but quite a few stay over for further questions.
Tighnari doesn’t mind spending extra time to answer their questions. It reminds him of a time when he shared the similar curiosity as a young student.
“— about Pyro and Dendro —“
“Forest ranger Tighnari.”
A voice interrupts the question, unexpectedly.
Confused, Tighnari looks to the entrance to find Hazm there. “Hazm, is there an issue?” he asks, voice lingering with confusion. His tail swishes behind him with anxiety and one of his ears twitches.
It’s not a circumstance that he was expecting. Usually anyone would wait until he is outside by a bench to seek his audience instead of interrupting his class.
It must be an emergency.
“Forest ranger Amir is looking for you.” Hazm answers. “He is waiting by the entrance.”
Tighnari nods. He had asked Amir to only look for him during an emergency, so his intuition was correct.
“I have to leave for today.” he announces, grabbing the few books he had brought. “Write down the questions you have now and share with me after our next class.”
The students are smart enough to not inquire him further beyond his words and make space for him to leave.
Tighnari finds Amir walking back and forth by the entrance to Pardis Dhyai.
Is it extremely bad?
Tighnari quickens his pace, almost jogging towards the end when he reaches Amir.
“Amir! Amir!” he calls out. “Is something wrong?”
Amir’s head perks up at his voice. “Master Tighnari!”
Tighnari pants lightly as he stops in front of Amir and looks up expectantly, impatient for answers.
“Miss Collei is asking for you, Master Tighnari.”
He feels his blood turn cold. “Is — is something wrong with her?”
“No! No… Don’t worry much Master Tighnari.” Amir’s voice shakes. It’s something that happens when he’s lying, Tighnari had noticed before.
Is he lying because the situation is more serious than he lets on?
Did something bad happen to Collei?
Anyone?
If it is a serious situation that needs immediate attention then Amir would know better than to keep the information away. That would mean that it is some sort of news.
Did something happen to Cyno?
Earlier this week, Cyno left for the desert for a couple of weeks, saying that a whistleblower informed them about a treasure hoarder group that has unusual activity at an abandoned hospital. He was supposedly unable to return for a couple of weeks.
Initially Tighnari has been upset, having wanted to spend a day during his birthday week with Cyno and Collei. He wanted to make dinner and invite some mutual friends, like Kaveh. However, his tight schedule on his classes made it impossible to celebrate on his birthday.
Did Cyno get into some sort of trouble?
That would explain why Collei asked for him. She can recognize Cyno’s secret letters.
“Let’s leave.”
When they arrive at Gandharva Ville, Tighnari’s ears perk up. They twitch in different directions trying to pick up any conversation for information.
“— people came — Why?”
“ — Tighnari — busy — Pardis Dhyai.”
“Isn’t — his house —“
While he skips steps as he hurries to his house and picks up bits of conversation with many faces turning towards him, he fails to notice anything different about his room.
Surprised at the few shoes left at the entrance, he enters only to be greeted with —
“Surprise!”
Cyno, Collei, Kaveh and Faruzan all wear wide grins as they await his response.
Blinking slowly, he looks over his shoulder to find Amir scratching the back of his neck and looking at his feet, unable to look at him in the eye. Amir is in on this too.
Yet, despite the scare they gave him, he finds himself unable to stay mad at them. There’s a mat laid on the ground, full of several dishes he likes: biriyani, baklava and candied ajilenakh nuts. It seems like they actually gave much thought to it while planning. Sighing, he whines. “You guys really managed to scare me off.”
Cyno grins, coming in for a hug. “Happy birthday, Tighnari.”
“Was the trip a lie?” Tighnari asks, head on Cyno’s shoulder.
In front of them, Kaveh is animatedly telling Collei and Faruzan a story. Well, he is sharing with Tighnari and Cyno too but they’re in their own world. Not that Kaveh would notice. Faruzan is listening attentively while Collei laughs at whatever he says. Kaveh’s stories are always quite entertaining.
“Partially.” Cyno admits. “I was supposed to go to Aaru village for some investigation but I made up the reason and the time.”
“Since when did you guys plan for this?” Tighnari asks, curiously.
“I talked about your schedule with Kaveh last week and he came up with the idea.”
Tighnari groans. “Of course it was Kaveh.”
Cyno laughs at his exasperated voice.
Tighnari couldn’t help but join his laugh. Kaveh is always good at coming up with ideas as long as it doesn’t involve Alhaitham. Since he’s not here, the idea was carried out easily.
“Ah!” Tighnari perks up. “The Traveller and Paimon.”
“What about them?” Cyno asked, confused.
“I prepared food for them beforehand and delivered it alongside a letter because I thought that I won’t be able to host a dinner tonight.”
Cyno hums at his answer. “Why don’t we host a small party together next year and invite them too?”
There’s a glimmer of hope and a deeper meaning beyond his words.
Tighnari nods, understanding. “Let’s do that.”