»]|I{• 𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 •}I|[« // Tighnari x (FEM) Reader

»]|I{• 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒅 •}I|[«

"Collei, you know what to do, right?" Tighnari asked, quickly counting the heads in her group.

She nodded eagerly in response. "Yes, master! It's all on the list you gave me. I'll be off then!" she confirmed, giving Tighnari a quick salute before motioning for the students to follow her.

"Wait...what about me..?" you asked, watching in confusion as the students left.

"You'll be accompanying me," Tighnari said, rummaging through his bag. "You're a transfer student from Spantamad, so I assume you've never seen this before?" He pulled out a thick book almost the size of your head. The cover read "The Avidya Forest Survival Guide"

"Well......I've heard of it..." you replied.

"When?"

"Today....but why does that matter??" you asked in return, quickly changing the subject.

"Just as I thought, you're clueless when it comes to anything related to nature," he mused, placing a hand on his chin.

"Okay, I'm not completely clueles-"

"That's exactly why you'll accompany me," Tighnari interrupted, handing you the heavy book. You almost dropped it because of its surprising weight. "I'll teach you the basics. Instead of observing flowers, we're going to tend to some plant overgrowth by the other end of the river, okay?" he said, walking off before giving you a chance to reply. You internally groaned before quickly catching up to him, almost dropping the thick book again in the process.

As the two of you moved through the forest, you found yourself quickly getting bored. Making sure that Tighnari was in front of you, you quickly pulled out a bottle of potions you had smuggled from your lab. It hadn't been tested yet since you were kicked out the day after you created it, but if it worked, it could potentially turn plants into something much more valuable.

A pretty purple flower caught your eye and you bent down beside it before opening the vial and slowly pouring a few drops onto the flower petals. You watched it eagerly, eyes scanning to find results - if there were any. Disappointment slowly grew in your heart as seconds ticked by and the potion burned straight through the petals before disintegrating. Oh well, at least it didn't explode this time.

"What did you do to that poor  flower?"

You looked up from your crouched position to see Tighnari looking down at you with his arms crossed, and a skeptical expression on his face. You quickly closed the vial and stood up, straightening out your clothes before responding. "Nothing, just another failure," you sighed, sadness evident in your voice.

He lightly chuckled before examining the half-dead flower. "Is this one of your experiments? I've heard they have quite the...result,"

Your cheeks turned pink from embarrassment. Just how much did your professor tell him?? "I swear, it was so close to being finished!! Especially that last one I did. If that dumb rat hadn't snuck in and made everything explode, I could've found a way to turn rock into diamonds!!"

He smiled skeptically as he shook his head before continuing on into the forest.

"I'm being serious, you know! It could've really happened!!" you yelled, as you ran to catch up with him. You clenched your fists, cursing that rat in your head once more. As the two of you walked on, you decided to let yourself get distracted by the environment around you.

You weren't a big fan of the bugs and poisonous plants, but you had to admit, the Avidya forests definitely had its moments of beauty. A squirrel that quickly scampered across your path caught your eye, and you were immediately reminded of what happened last night. The confusion, the fear, and....the warmth you felt as you were carried back to Gandharva Ville. The relief you felt when you saw Tighnari's reassuring eyes last night was incomparable to anything else.