°•¤'Missing Piece '¤•° (Scaramouche X Reader)

Chapter 10: The Forest Rangers

You soon learned from the map that Sumeru city was quite the distance away from port Ormos. It would take you days to reach there. But you were really motivated to give it your all after coming out from the cold and darkness of Snezhnaya. You gathered the bag of mora around your waist and headed for Sumeru city. 

The waverider that you got could only go up till Gandharva Ville. you got off the wave rider and looked around.

Gandharva Ville was a lush green forest. The trees reached high up in the skies and the clear pond water was speckled with lotus leaves. The forest air smelled fresh after breathing in the cold musty air of Dottore's lab. There were several root bridges intertwined towards different tree houses.

"Hi!" A chirpy voice greeted you.

You turned and saw a girl about your age. She had moss green hair and carried a bow and arrows.

"Are you new here?" she asked.

You were still in your clothes from inazuma. The blood stains still existed down your shirt. A little embarrassed, you just stared downwards. You still couldn't talk. it would be weeks before the potion's effect wore off. However, in sumeru, no one had to know that you were here for Scaramouche. You would do this right this time around. Your grip tightened on the letter in your pocket. You would lay low as you had been instructed.

"I'm Collei," the girl replied "I'm a trainee forest ranger. You look hurt. Are you okay?"

You nodded your head.

"You know what? You don't seem okay to me," Collei said as she stared you down, her gaze fixated on all the dried up blood. "Come with me please."

You did not wish to stir up any more trouble. In fact it was a good thing the potion was working. That saved you from saying anything that might impact Scaramouche's big plans. You followed Collei silently.

You both started walking up a root bridge and reached a tree house slightly larger than the rest. Collei knocked on the door.

"Master Tighnari?" She called out, "You should take a look at this."

After a few seconds, a man came out. He had dark green hair and a pair of tall green fox ears stood out from his head. This was the first time you were seeing a species like him. In inazuma, you only had Guuji Yae who seemed like a fox lady.

"What seems to be the problem, Collei?" the green haired person asked. But Collei didn't have to answer. One look at you and his expression turned into a frown.

"Please come in," he said to you in a somber tone. "Thank you, Collei. you may go back to your duties."

You went inside the treehouse as Collei departed.

"I'm Tighnari," the man went on. "I am in charge of maintaining peace in the forests of Gandharva Ville. You seem like a traveller?"

You nodded your head in approval.

"Where do you come from, traveller?"

You stood there silently. At this point you knew well enough not to force yourself to talk. It already hurt a lot.

Tighnari raised his eyebrow and gave you a strict piercing look.

"Are you unable to talk?" he asked.

You nodded again, thankful that you won't have to be doing any explaining.

"Okay then," Tighnari pulled open a drawer and procured a parchment and a quill. "Let's converse in writing."

You shook your head sideways. It was just easier to pretend you couldn't write either.

"You can't write either?" Tighnari said. But you could get a feeling that he wasn't buying your lie. "Fair enough. I'll just examine you. Nothing to worry. Just standard protocols for travellers entering into Sumeru. I hope you understand?"