A different perspective

What's taken for granted

Jasmine looked at his reflection in the waterfall, sighing. The sun was just above the horizon, warming the treetops surrounding him. He was sitting on a large rock in the middle of the stream, right next to the edge of the waterfall. It was small, and surprisingly smooth. Jasmine reached up and pulled his powder blue bangs back, pinning them out of his face with a clip. He then stood up, adjusted his cape, and walked back to his camp to report to general Maroon. Jasmine's group had been searching through these woods to find an ancient artifact supposed to be powerful enough to create and control life. Most of the legion didn't really believe it, but they were searching anyway.

Now, Maroon wasn't the nicest person. He was stuck-up, and bossy, and despite Jasmine being his second-in command, he treated him like just another one of his lackeys. Even if he was a 'favorite lackey' he still got all Maroon's responsibilities pushed onto him. Now, he had to deal with his mockery and snooty attitude for another 12 hours. If he was picky, he'd be sent to look around the forest for clues, or scout for the corruption. The corruption was an opposing legion lead by a tall guy the corrupted soldiers called their 'king'. They had a larger camp than Jasmine's, because they'd been there for a while before they discovered there was an artifact hidden there somewhere. He was originally very friendly, but Maroon decided to play the jerk card and they turned sour.

Jasmine walked through the brush and towards the platform that Maroon usually stood, and waited for a while. Soon, he came grumbling up to the platform and glanced at Jasmine.
"How long have you been standing there doing nothing?"
"Since sunrise. I've been waiting for your orders." Jasmine responded calmly.
"Couldn't you have been doing something? Like, I dunno, patrol?" He huffed
"You specifically told me to wait for your orders every morning." He replied.
"Ugh, right. Go, eh, search the northern woods some more. You found stuff there yesterday, just keep going in that direction 'till you find something I guess." He waved his hand dismissively.
"Yes sir." Jasmine responded.

He walked out of the camp again, and towards the area he'd seen some sort of rubble covered in thick moss and plants. After a half hour of walking, he found it again. Still covered in moss, but there. He looked around and soon spotted a little bit more, and then a bit more a little farther away. He continued walking in the same direction, looking for something that stuck out a bit more. Nothing really caught his eye until he found an almost intact pillar. It was covered in vines, but he could still see the white stone underneath. It was simple, but elegant. He looked farther and found another one, less intact, but recognizable. He traced a triangle symbol on it with his finger, and moved on.

As soon as he reached another clearing, he found what seemed to be an old wall and a path. He looked closer to see drawings and writing, indiscernible in origin. It looked like a bunch of scribbles until he looked closer, and he could tell what it was. He couldn't read it, but it gave him a pleasant sort of nostalgia, something he couldn't really place, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He looked closer at the drawings, moving from one to another as he looked over them. A motif in all the drawings seemed to be the triangles, and five shapes. Four resembled him and his colleagues before he left to be a part of this expedition, and the last looked monstrous at first. But the longer he looked at it, and the more drawings he saw, is perspective changed. It seemed to be a cursed shape, driven mad by the power of the artifact. The four heroes went to defeat him, and eventually succeeding, after apparently dying and being resurrected.

It went on to show that they defeated him, and brought him out of his insanity. Jasmine's eyes lingered a little longer on one mural, seeing the square shape that he seemed to resemble offering his hand to the shape, giving him a second chance. He traced the carving with his fingers, longing for something he couldn't quite define. He was... longing for something. Someone? It was a vague feeling, small yet... it didn't want to go away. He let the feeling sit there for a while, and continued walking. He found many more short paths throughout the thicker part of the forest, and more stories with those five shapes. They seemed so... confident. They were independent and free, fighting beasts and traveling together. He eventually found a small broken building with more murals, and what seemed to be a tombstone. It had more unreadable text, and a simple circle with horns engraved on it. These murals depicted sadness, and longing. But also gratitude. The building must be a memorial of sorts to this monster turned hero.

He continued walking, and eventually found what seemed to be a dead end. The path seemed to continue underneath a particularly thick section of brush, so he pushed forward. He was blinded by the light from the nearly setting sun, as he pushed his way into a large clearing. Here, the trees were scarce, and light shone through the leaves, lighting up the old cobble pathway beneath him. He continued walking forward, to where the path bent, and turned on it. He soon saw a large broken gazebo come into view, and the entrance partially obscured by more vines. Once he'd entered, he saw the room was rather spacious, with moss growing on the floor and orange sunbeams peeking through holes in the roof. In the center of the room was a large stone pillar, 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It was decorated with a multitude of symbols and murals, depicting a god and the four shapes portrayed as angels. The fifth wasn't included here, however.

He shifted to move around the pillar, to get a better look at it, when a figure caught his attention. He was tall, regal, and had a pleasant demeanor. They both did a bounce-take, and Jasmine got a better look at him. He had a dirty shade of pink hair, and two uneven eyes. He had a pretty, pale pink crown on his head, and he realized that this was the leader of the corruption legion. He couldn't believe he didn't recognize him from their previous meeting, when General Maroon made things sour between them.
"Uh, good afternoon." Jasmine said, sheepishly.
"Good afternoon." He replied.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...I, uh, never got your name, did I? My name's Cinnamon." He offered his hand to shake.
"O-oh, my name's Jasmine, sir." He replied, hesitant to shake.
"I guess you're not a handshake person." He chuckled
"..yeah." Jasmine smiled awkwardly, pulling his hand back.
"Anyways.. what brings you all the way out here? There's hardly anything of interest, unless you like looking at the murals." He glanced at the carvings on the pillar. "You guys say that there's an artifact in these woods, right?"
"That's what my general said. Most of us are, well, kinda skeptical of that." Jasmine replied honestly.
"Yeah, we've never really found anything magical here. It's all just ruins and old history. The only treasure you'd find here are the writings, if you figured out how to translate them." He smiled, chuckling. "I imagine your 'general' sent you out here?"
"He did. It's better than listening to him mock us all day." Jasmine sighed. "It's rather nice out here."
"Mhmm." Cinnamon agreed. He looked at the sun setting, and almost panicked. "Aw shoot! Lilac's gonna kill me- I'll see ya tomorrow! Heh." He went to dash out the door, but stopped. "You are coming here tomorrow, yeah?"
Jasmine nodded, blushing slightly. Maybe he wouldn't tell Maroon what he'd found just yet... He watched Cinnamon dash madly in the direction of the corruption camp, and chuckled. He was a real silly character. A nice change for once.

Jasmine trotted back to camp and made it back just as Maroon was asking where he was.
"General." He saluted
"Jasmine. Tell me, why were you gone all day?" He lifted his eyebrows.
"I found some more clues. Old murals and a bit of stone path. I haven't found much else yet, but if I should search there again tomorrow, I'm sure we'll make more progress." He reported calmly.
"Oh, so you actually found something of interest? Impressive. Report to me tomorrow morning before you set off, and search farther. Take a journal with you and summarize what you find in the murals." Maroon grinned like he was the one that found it. "Retire for the night. I'm sure you must be tired."
"Yes sir." He saluted again and walked off to his tent. He was looking forward to seeing Cinnamon again, and getting some more info about the past as well. He gathered his stuff, and went to sleep.