Heavenfall

Taochusu sat by the falls, overlooking the pool below. The roar at the top was undoubtedly quieter than the one at the bottom, so talking should be much easier. But the visible rainbows in the pool were just as beautiful from the higher vantage.

He had set up a small campfire there. Not that they needed light or warmth, but it was a comfort to him to have the smell of burning wood. Made him feel safer since he used fires to protect against predators in the wild. He toyed with the logs using a stick, making sure they were burning evenly while he waited for his friend.

Mai came carrying something wrapped in cloth and a pair of stead buns. She bowed and smiled happily. "Tao-kun! It's finished! Your gift!"

She offered him the wrapped...thing, and sat close to him. Perhaps a bit closer than before. She relaxed rather visibly. One bun offered to Tao, the other a bite nibbled out of.

If opened, the package would reveal a carefully carved wooden mask. With pointed fox-like face, upturned nose and large ears, it was clearly a bat, albeit stylized. The mask even had two tiny little teeth made of bone.

Accepting the gift and the bun, he sets the bun on his leg while he looks over the mask.

"It's a bat," he says nodding and recognizing the creature. "Seen more than a few in my day. It's really nice. Thank you. Means a lot to me that you took the time to make this. I ain't been given a gift in many years," he says with a warm smile.

He puts it to his face and looks at her, his voice becoming muffled through the wood. "How's it look?"

"You look like a Bat!" She leaned closer, wrapping her arms around him. "Did you know the fruit bats up do this? They hold on tight and protect each other with their wings." She leaned her head against him of he would allow it.

It was something he was almost entirely unfamiliar with. Made him feel a bit nervous but he also trusted Mai so he didn't try to push her away. "I seen some bats do that before," he replied, his voice quiet. But he didn't really know what to say beyond that. Physical affection between his tribe members back in the day tended to be patting and bumping. Not really a prolonged contact. He had hugged his mom a bunch, and an aunt a few times so this made only the third person that had ever embraced him in that fashion.

She let go, "members of the Bat clan don't typically do that. I just want the gift and the embrace to remind you I will always protect and provide for you in the ways I can."

She continued, "I think of you like my clan's animal. Some people may look at bats and think them scary, but they are just misunderstood. They are gentle, loving creatures that protect and care for one another as they know there is strength in the ties that bind. Perhaps, that is why our clan was named after the Bat."

"Whatever you decide, I consider you family."

"That's kind of you," he says as he sets the mask aside, somewhere safe so he doesn't accidentally break it.

"I haven't had family for a long time. And honestly, it's not really easy to picture having a family again. Been alone for so long, that's all I can really see."

"I hope someday that thought pattern changes for you. It won't replace the family you once had, but it will be a family, nonetheless."

"Other people though," he says with a sigh. "Other people are difficult for me to understand. I like talking with them and it can be nice, but it's hard to know what they want. I don't think I'd know how to give other folks what they want or need. We took care of each other in the village, not that I provided a lot as a kid, but it was easy cause we just told folks what we needed and that was the end of it. Get that thing and make someone happy."

"My Clan does a lot of that. At least the craftsmen do. I make what others ask for. They want a thing, and I try to exceed their expectations. Simple requests filled, yet they make people happy. Nazo and her priests do some odd things but they also make people happy so there is that."

"There's no point in not working towards a better life. Gotta find joy where you can."