Zai: "To find all of these, we just have to follow the trail of this river… If any of you gets lost, just try to find the river, okay? Now let's go."
"Oh We won't get lost" swan said looking at his sideyes
Zai leaned closer to her face and squinted his eyes
"We'll see about that"
Lana : seriously? Are you gonna act like this all the way ughh
After hours of walking in the forest…
Lana and Swan were walking beside each other, while Zai walked ahead of them.
Zai overheard them talking about the event when they got kidnapped, met Leon, and saw that mysterious woman.
The part that caught Zai's attention was Lana's description of the woman—specifically, the ribbon and blindfold.
He stopped for a moment, turned aroundat them, and said:
Zai: "Looks like you met the First River… She's an illusionist. She probably trapped you two in one of her illusions."
Lana: "The First River?"
She snapped her fingers as if she suddenly remembered something.
"I've heard that name a lot from others. The Rivers are three known siblings that have been working with the shadows for a long time
She crossed her arms
" Almost all the creatures we met along the way despise them because they work for the Shadows."
"Not all of them," zai muttered to himself.
As he turned back around and continued to walk
Lana: "What made you think that woman I'm talking about was the First River, though?"
Zai stayed silent for a bit then said
"I know that description by heart…
Then he clenched his jaws and his voice got deeper
"Let's just say she's my childhood trauma."
Lana was intrigued and curious as he was dropping random hints of his story
She quickened her pace to walk beside Zai.
Lana hesitating and contemplating wether to say this but she wants to test how much he knows
"…I hope you don't mind me asking, but can you explain more about this 'Rivers' thing?"
Swan narrowed her eyes, looking annoyed.
Swan: "Tch… More walking, less talking."
She shouted, "I'm going to fly ahead to find somewhere for us to rest before sunset."
She took off into the sky.
Zai and Lana kept walking in silence.
Lana stayed quiet, but her face clearly showed she had a lot of questions.
Zai's fingers were twitching and he was nervouse from the silence so he broke it "So… uh, you know, the First River doesn't show herself for trivial reasons—let alone show up in some random village and trap two random travelers in her illusions… That is, if you're not random. Is there something I should know?"
Lana shrugged : "Uh… no, I have no idea why the shadows would want us…
Thinking back on it… the whole village was in on kidnapping us.
They said something like…
'We can't let them get away. Master won't let this slide this time.'"
Zai raised an eyebrow, thinking.
Zai: "Perhaps the Shadows are looking for someone and instructed that village to jail any outsiders for the First River to investigate."
Lana: "Aha… that makes sense."
Zai: "How did you get kidnapped by mere villagers? I can sense your skills merely from your essence
Plus, the fact that you're a traveler with experience gives you the upper hand."
Lana out her fingers on her chin remembering : "Ahaha… I don't remember it well… but It felt like the moment they kidnapped me, everything went black, and I couldn't move…"
Her eyes widened in realization.
"Maybe she did that too—she trapped me in an illusion to help the villagers kidnap me and take me to a secluded place underground…but why?"
She kept spiraling in her thoughts and questions
Zai : "…."
He stayed silent stealing glances at her as if he is holding back from saying something important
Lana: "Come to think of it, a lot of things didn't make sense… What was Leon doing there? Was he kidnapped too?
Was he the one the River was after?
I don't know."
She shook her head and stoked her hair.
Zai looked at her from the corner of his eye.
"…Who is this Leon?"
Lana replied without thinking
"An old friend…"
Zai: "…" Silent again
Lana: "Your silence is concerning… Did I talk a lot? Oh no, I feel like I said too much to a stranger."
Zai: "It's alright… Keep talking. Your stories are… interesting."
Then he picked up his pace waking a few steps ahead of her. then he turned his body to face her, walking backwards with ease , a grin on his lips
"We're not strangers … we're travel companions now"
The he turned back around and continued to walk forward
Lana eyes widened from his audacity and raised an eyebrow
"Haaah" she scoffed
Then Swan came back and told them she had found a safe pond just up ahead.
Zai crossed his arms
: "And how do you know it's safe?"
Swan gave him a deadpan look.
Zai: "No, I'm serious. I'm not trying to get on your nerves."
Lana: "Swan's never wrong about that. She always found safe places for us to rest throughout our travels.
Zai slowly shook his head from side to side and just went with it
"Interesting… Oh well…let's go"
Sunset had arrived.
They reached the pond and rested for a bit.
Then when the sun came down
They gathered bunch of woods and Lana lit it up with her flaming powers
Then she sat on the soft grass and crossed her legs ready to listen to zai
"So… since we're no longer walking… can you tell us more about the Rivers?"
Zai rolled his eyes "Why are you so interested in this topic?
he shook his head
"Then again, who isn't interested in them, besides you just got horrified by one"
Lana cupped her checks with her palms and rested her arms in her knees
" keep talking…"
Zai raised his eyebrows then gave a slight smile
"alright …"
They are creatures that can embody almost any form of being they meet and connect with.
They have a strong ability to sense , see and read a creature's essence and link to it.
They're extremely rare—only born once every thousand years, if at all.
Lana asked : they live for thousand of years
Zai : yess until a new trio arrives
They die and leave all their memories in the hands of their descendants
The Shadows acted quickly and took them in as children, using them as weapons to this day."
Lana facial expression switched to a seriouse one listening attentively
While spiraling questions in her mind
: "… and why are they called 'Rivers'?"
Zai shrugged and wanted to brush off the topic : "…I'm not sure."
Swan : "tech..tech..tech.."
She stood up " let me educate you kids"
Zai then also crossed his legs
And choked his cheek a with hit fingers ready to listen
Swan : Somewhere high up in the sky, there's another realm—a realm where specific high-energy beings live.
The way their realm is connected to ours is through three rivers that flow across the world.
Somewhere in history, some of these creatures started coming down to our grounds,
taking the forms of local creatures and even multiplying with them.
Other creatures saw them as a threat and began killing them.
That disrupted the energy balance of the rivers, and the connection shut down completely.
Lana blurt out : so the creatures who have descended can no longer get back to their realm
Swan : precisely
Though
Their bloodline now secretly runs through beings of this realm.
Those beings are called Neyvari.
So the Rivers are basically Neyvaris—pure-blood Neyvaris that belong with the sky creatures.
That's why they're called 'Rivers'—because the rivers were once the link to the upper realm,
Are you following with me?
"Yes" Zai and Lana noded
though Zai seemed like he already knew some of it.
Lana: "You knew all this and didn't tell me…?"
Swan: "You never asked."
She tucked her head under her wing.
"Good night."
Zai: "Lana, I'll stay up tonight. Get some sleep."
Lana raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah… no. What if you run off?"
She chuckled. "Just kidding. But I'm not risking it."
Zai: "Alright, if you say so…"
However … if you found it in your heart to trust me in the future
Let me do the night watch
I have abilities that keep me sharp and awake at night
Then he walked away and laid down
Then Swan peeked out from under her wing, looked at him, and muttered:
Swan: "I'm watching you… hmfff."
She tucked her head back under and went back to sleep.