Malati knelt down besides the small stream and dipped her hands into the cool water. She marveled for a moment at how perfectly clear it was. Between its swift movement and the hundreds of plants with their roots dipping into it, the water’s clarity should not have surprised it, but she marveled none the less. Quickly cupping the water in her hands, she splashed it on her face and relished as its crisp, cool touch rushed across her red skin.
For all the ways in which this place was similar to the wilds of the Highlands, it was different in a hundred small and large ways. Not the least of which was the humidity. Malati did not mind the heat, the foothills of the Highlands could certainly get warm in the summer. And Laeto was not especially hot right now, but the humidity seemed to be drawing out as much sweat from her body as the hottest of summer days usually did. She splashed another handful of cool water over her face, wiping away the new layer of sweat that had already formed.
Yet, despite the humidity, she could not help but enjoy the world around her. When she’d entered the jungle, she had come to deal with a would-be-merchant who thought to ‘convince’ some of the native inhabitants of this land to harvest rare materials for him. It would have been one thing if the merchant had paid them, or offered them anything in return. But he had been taking advantage of these peoples, and that was not something Malati was willing to put up with.
Thank the Gods that had not come to violence. Her yellow eyes quickly darted over to where she’d laid Windsong down next to her. She loved the weapon dearly, but she hated to use it to kill or harm. Or, now that she thought about it, maybe her love for the weapon was the reason why she hated to use it that way. Sullying her blade with blood seemed disrespectful of the gift her mother gave her. Of course, it was a weapon, it was meant to kill, and she’d used it towards that purpose more than a few times. She just hated doing it. A couple words, a quick tap of Windsong on her palm, and the merchant got the idea that things would not go his way if he pushed his luck and it all ended more quickly than it began. With a job well done, Malati had decided she should be rewarded. She wasn’t the type to take pay for the kinds of thing she did, but she would give herself some time to explore this rain forest.
It was simply amazing to Malati that she had lived just a bit to the northeast of this place for the entirety of her life and yet had never come here. With the water still dripping down her face, Malati dipped her hands back in and splashed it over her hair. In The cold water soaked into the hair on her right side, while spraying across her scalp and scar on the left. A slight shock of cold rushed through her, with a wonderfully pleasant shiver. There was so much of the world she had not seen because of…well because of circumstances. And she was done letting those circumstances determine what she was going to see and do.
Finally feeling a measure of relief from the humidity, Malati reached over and grabbed Windsong, using it to push her to her feet once again. She closed her eyes and let the sounds and smells of the jungle wash over her. Creatures flew through the air, swung across the trees, and trampled through the underbrush. The scent of a dozen different flowers filled the air, each one individual and a part of a whole. The whole rain forest was alive and moving, and a part of Malati felt as though she were a part of it. It was almost as if she tried the forest could be an extension of herself, that they were one and the same.
She opened her eyes as her stomach rumbled loudly, and couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at the sudden grumble. She’d seen quite a number of fruiting plants on her way here. But without spending some time watching the animals here, she was not confident in her ability to pick out a non-poisonous plant. The last thing she wanted to do was to fall ill because she ate bad fruit. With a sigh Malati settled for some of the rations she had packed in her bag. Next time she went into a strange place, she was going to pack some fresh fruit to bring along with her.
