5: Ambassador

"I am an ambassador of the forest. I can guide humanity and nature towards peace."

Cioara Yaanve was a con artist. She travelled around the world using her silver tongue and deception to make a living. She had swindled thousands of silver out of foolish investors and swiped numerous precious treasures from collectors and today was no different. She wore silk robes she had stolen from the previous town alongside a meticulously crafted flower crown from various flower gardens to make herself seem authentic, alongside using a deeper tone of voice to disguise herself while sounding more legitimate. She dangled her legs daintily over the side of a fountain in the middle of town, sitting on the rim of the ancient marble, her thighs resting just on the edge prepared for the event where she would need to make a quick getaway.

"But an ambassador needs to keep themselves alive. I would be incredibly grateful for any donations you could spare."

She talked to nobody in particular, but her eyes quickly caught people out, one judgemental glance sometimes being enough to get a few coins. She had been doing well so far; by the time lunch had come around, she had enough money to last her for twelve days. Feeling satisfied, she began looking around for a last few donations, looking around until she locked eyes with a man wearing overalls with a pink shirt.

"Do you have any spare change you could donate? It would make a big difference."

The stranger seemed confused for a moment, before coming closer cautiously, as if he had been told to not trust strangers a few minutes prior.

"What does donate mean?"

Cioara's friendly smile turned into a small frown for the first time in four hours.

"Donate means to give out of charity, or because they want you to succeed."

The stranger scratched the top of his head, the confusion still stuck on his face.

"Why should I donate to you?"

Cioara curled her fists, but her face remained neutral, slowly progressing back towards the friendly smile that she had perfected. For a moment she felt an urge to kick the main in the groin, but somehow she managed to hold back.

"Because I'm working to bring peace between the forest and the people. I simply need the money to eat and have shelt..."

By the end of her first sentence, the stranger already seemed enchanted by her words, his confusion turning into a joyful grin and an overenthusiastic shuffling through the multitude of pockets on his overalls. After a few seconds, he grabbed something out of a low pocket and shoved his closed fist towards her lap, wrist facing upwards.

"Alright, I'm on board. This should be a good starting point."

"Starting point? I'm al…"

Cioara looked down to see that he had opened his hand to reveal a dozen of tiny, sparkling gems. They were opaque but reflected the sunlight off of them like a mirror, shaped in perfectly geometric patterns. She caught her hands unconsciously wandering forward but she managed to suppress her urge to snatch the valuables and instead placed a look of shock onto her face.

"I can't possibly accept this. At least allow me to buy you lunch."

The stranger opened Cioara's palm gently and placed the gemstones inside, which the woman almost immediately stuffed into the bottom of her pockets as gracefully as one could.

"That sounds nice. It feels like it's been a few years since I've eaten properly."

Cioara raised an eyebrow but assumed it was a joke and stood up, grabbing the stranger by the sleeve and gently tugging him along the cobbled street, marching towards the town square with a strange conviction. Once they reached the middle of the town, Cioara nervously looked around the somewhat populated streets, desperately trying to find a place for food.

"Where are we going?"

"There's a good place nearby. It's…"

She quickly swivelled the road which looked the fanciest and marched forward once more.

"… this way."

For a second Cioara paused, looking down at her pocket and checking the contents before continuing. Behind her, the stranger scratched his chin with his spare hand, but he continued to get dragged on anyway. After a few turns and some guesswork, they arrived at a quaint restaurant that specialised in soups and from a quick look around it was obvious to see that she wasn't going to find anything fancier.

"We're here."

She quickly pulled out a chair and gently pushed him down into it before taking a seat across from him around the small wooden table. The restaurant itself looked somewhat cheap, but it had a good sense of style and a quiet atmosphere, with the only other customers being on the other corner of the outdoor seating. Cioara quickly picked up the menu and scanned it from head to toe before handing it to the stranger, who seemed to have a more difficult time understanding it. After half a minute or so of awkward silence, Cioara decided to intervene, wondering to herself if she had picked up a crazy rich person or a crazy, rich person.

"I'd recommend the b'own mouche. It's based around mushrooms that grow in the forest."

She omitted the fact that they grew almost everywhere else.

"Sure."

The stranger put the menu down and Cioara hailed the waiter, a scrawny looking teenager who didn't fit the fancy uniform given to him. He shuffled over and opened up an expensive looking notepad, preparing to scribble down their order.

"Two b'own mouche. A bottle of wine while you're at it, something strong and uplifting."

As quickly as he came, the waiter disappeared behind the counter leaving the two essentially alone. Almost instantly Cioara turned towards the disinterested looking stranger, pushing the impulsive desire to pick pocket him away and to instead think about the long term.

"I realised I haven't caught your name yet."

"Nem."

Nem looked towards the rooftops of the buildings, clearly more interested in the numerous birds that littered the tiles than the person sitting across from him.

"So, Nem. I was wondering why you're so interested in the forest."

Almost immediately the man swung his head towards Cioara with excitement in his eyes, before calming himself with a cough and speaking in a slower, deeper voice than before.

"I believe that… by making peace with the forest, we can… exist in harmony and expand progress as a coun…"

Cioara failed to contain her laughter, bursting out for a few seconds until she managed to calm herself down. Wiping a tear from her eyes, she faked an entertained smile and also lowered her voice.

"It's okay, just relax and I'll answer your questions. I'm sure you have a few floating around in that head of yours."

Nem scratched his head for a moment, failing to see the comedy in the moment, but understood that his attempt to be serious had failed.

"Well… what made you want to be an… am…"

"Ambassador."

"Yeah, that."

Cioara fiddled with her hair as if she was recalling a distant memory, her gaze deliberately pointed downwards.

"My parents were florists. I think that might have had an influence on why I'm here, but I don't really have much of a distinct awakening moment."

Cioara looked back up to see that Nem seemed completely enthralled by her boring backstory. She almost reeled backwards when she found he was leaning forward, on the edge of his seat, but she managed to stop herself.

"What's your favourite animal."

"I'm a cat person, I guess. I also do like otters."

Nem nodded slowly and gracefully as if he had just heard the greatest poem ever created.

"What are going to happen to the donations?"

"Well, I'll need to go to the bank and convert them into money. I'm sure there will be worth a lot, so maybe I can expand my business. Maybe I'll hire an assistant, someone who can take note of my interactions with the beasts in the forest."

Out of nowhere, Cioara felt numerous tiny stings in the side of her leg and her body quickly became limp, with the paralyzation spreading from her leg to the rest of her body in seconds. She flopped onto the table, her arms reaching across the table towards Nem who crossed them around her head.

"These little guys aren't money. They're biju bugs."

Nem stuck his hands into her pockets and pulled out the dozen of tiny gemstones, now with a small opening that allowed for a stinger to poke through and a single tiny eye to be visible from inside. Once they were exposed to the sunlight, the stingers quickly retracted and the shells closed. He moved around to the side where Cioara could see him, where he tilted his head to the side to match hers. He seemed disappointed yet confused, like when a child imitates their parents trying to teach them a lesson.

"They can smell liars with inject them with a deadly venom. I was hoping someone like you could get them to stop attacking humans, but I guess that didn't work out. It was nice meeting you though!"

Cioara made a desperate attempt to speak, but the most she could manage was a groan before Nem was out of sight. As her eyelids became heavier, she felt the world around her freeze over, with the last thought in her mind echoing continuously for what seemed like an eternity.