A secret Santa gift for @lonedeewolf, featuring her OC Kaera. A retelling of the Vietnamese folklore "The Star Fruit Tree" (https://www.vietnamtourism.org.vn/attractions/culture/myths-legends-folklores/the-golden-star-fruit-tree.html)
A long, long time ago, when tigers still conversed with men and dragons frolicked through the oceans, there was a little girl named Kaera. She lived with her parents and her grandmother in a village to the southeast, a village hidden by the emerald-spotted boughs of the banyan trees and the hazy air of the jungle heat.
In those days, her village and many others were under the control of the empire. An empire that spanned seas and lands of far-away. Yet, still it hungered for more to control, its army prowling for new territory to gobble up like an alligator lurking in the water. Such work was highly demanding of people and goods and money, and so the emperor sent out his lords and his lords sent out their soldiers and the soldiers went to many cities, towns, and villages to gather tribute and taxes. They came to the mountain villages built on sheer cliff sides, they came to the fishing villages that bobbed up and down in the river waters, they came to the villages of the central plains where the grass grew so tall and thick that a child could be lost within a field for three days before they were able to find their way out.
And eventually, the soldiers came to Kaera’s village too.
When the troops arrived after slogging through muddy roads and mosquito-infested jungles, they were greeted not by a large horde of goods and tribute as they had expected, but by a group of farmers and hunters with dour expressions. The village chief and Kaera’s father stood at the forefront of the group. The chief’s face was lined with disguised worry but Kaera’s father had his arms crossed and his scowl was dark and heavy with displeasure as he looked up at the soldiers on their horses.
A carriage came to the forefront of the troops. The gilded doors opened to show a man decked in silken finery and outright disdain for the little village he was in. The messenger sneered at the thought of having to step down onto the muddy ground and so stayed within the carriage.
He whipped open his silk fan and eyed the villagers suspiciously. “Where is the tribute for our emperor?” Emissary Hê asked impatiently.
The village chief stepped forward with hesitation in his voice. “My esteemed lord, the village begs for your forgiveness but we are unable to supply tribute at this time. Our crops have not yet recovered from the harvest for the last round of tribute.” He swept his hands towards the empty fields that surrounded the village. “And our people have grown exhausted from searching in the jungle every day to find what the emperor desires. Please, grant us mercy and a delay this time!”
“Pah! Who do you think you are to defy me, Emissary Hê, most valuable servant of our great and gracious Emperor himself? Do you think your words may sway me?! Need I remind you the price for refusal to pay the Emperor what he is due?” and at his last words, the soldiers behind him placed their hands on their spears and swords menacingly.
Kaera’s father then took the opportunity to step forward. “Our chief is right!” he spoke in a loud voice. “We barely have enough to feed ourselves! Where is the wisdom in forcing us to kill ourselves to serve the empire? Are we not his people too? If we drop dead from toiling all day and night in the fields and the jungle, who then will grow and gather the food to feed his precious army?”
A chorus of murmurs rumbled from the crowd, all agreeing with Kaera’s father.
The envoy sputtered in rage. “H-how dare you question the will of the Son of the Heavens?! Soldiers, seize that man!”
“Ba!” cried out Kaera for her father. But her grandmother held her back, her gnarled hand an eagle’s claw, digging into her shoulder and preventing her from moving to reach her father. Kaera’s mother held both her hands over her mouth as she watched in horror.
As strong as Kaera’s father was, his body was weakened by the diminished meals that the village ate in order to save enough food for the tax; he was no match for a group of able-bodied, well-fed soldiers that quickly surrounded him, knocked him to the ground, and bound his hands behind his back. Five other men were rounded up in the same fashion.
“In a week’s time, if you do not gather the required amount, then I will order these men to be killed!” Hê commanded. “And every day that fails to have tribute being gathered, they shall receive twenty lashes each!”
~~~~
The village was in a frenzy, trying to gather as much as they could. Every day, Kaera’s mother and grandmother would leave in the pre-dawn light to work in the fields. Every night, they would return home late to eat a meager bowl of rice for dinner before heading to sleep. After seeing the bags beneath Kaera’s mother’s eyes grow darker with each passing day, little Kaera resolved to do her part as well.
As one of the best climbers in the village, Kaera had experience foraging in the jungle for its bounty. However, her usual pickings of fruits and nuts would not be enough. She needed something big. She needed to hunt. She needed to venture out, farther into the jungle than she had ever before. Her father, before they had become too busy gathering food for the empire, had begun to teach her the ways of the hunter: how to tread carefully in the jungle growth so that deer would never bolt at her clumsy steps, how to read the hidden signs of her surroundings so that she could find the rabbit’s trail, how to stand so still that she might have been the rocks lining the riverbed. Poor fish—they would never know that they were nibbling at her feet until Kaera’s hands moved like lightning and flung them out of the water.
And so, she set off to check on the traps she had laid out a day ago, hoping that there might be something worthwhile.
As she drew nearby one of the locations of her traps, she heard the sounds of struggle. The sound of branches snapping and a bird’s CAW! echoed in the air like a wound.
An animal? Kaera quickly crouched to her feet and softened her footsteps. She drew out her hunting knife and crept forward, hiding in the shadows of the vegetation, carefully peeking through the leaves to see what she had caught.
“CHẾT MẸ!” Kaera almost shouted. But a lifetime of being scolded vigorously by her grandmother’s straw broomstick for cursing made her mouth clamp shut. She chose to stumble to the ground instead.
A giant crow was caught in the trap she had set, its clawed foot tangled in the rope snare lain on the ground. It thrashed about and beat its wings, trying to free itself. When it spied Kaera, it gave an almighty screech—a screech that was as much a plea for help as a cry of frustration.
“Sorry, sorry!” Kaera bobbed her head down in an imitation of a bow as an apology as she set to cutting the bird loose. She didn’t know how formal one needed to be to ask an animal for forgiveness but since the crow easily dwarfed her, it didn’t hurt to err on the side of caution.
With its leg finally free, the crow began to attack Kaera.
“Cái đệt!” Kaera yelped (so loud that in the distance, her grandmother jerked her head up and instinctively reached for a weapon) as she tried to dodge the swooping claws and alarmingly large wings of the crow. In her movements to avoid being pummeled by a giant bird, her satchel opened up and out tumbled a star fruit, something that she had managed to find while on the way to her traps.
The bird spied the fruit and ceased its attack. It stood there silently, examining Kaera with its dark eyes. Then it motioned to Kaera’s bag on her hip.
Kaera hesitated. Perhaps the crow was hungry? Or wanted a different form of apology? But the star fruits that Kaera had in her bag were meant to be brought back. Fruit that could be added to the pile of tribute so that her father would not have to face the sting of the whip today.
The crow pointed at Kaera’s bag again, more insistently (Kaera could see the threatening gleam in the crow’s dark eyes). “May I have some?” it asked.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you my star fruit. It’s for my father you see,” Kaera said apologetically. Then she backpedaled hurriedly when the crow reared its head in anger.
The crow cocked its head in confusion. And Kaera found herself explaining to the crow about her village’s tax and why she needed to gather all that she could to save her father.
“If you let me eat that star fruit,” said the crow, “then I will pay you back.”
“Really?”
“A kindness for a kindness. Gold for gold. In exchange for feeding me, I will reward you. Return to this place tomorrow, right at dawn, with a sack measuring about three hands’ worth and I will give you what you desire.”
When faced with a talking crow, what did she have to lose?
“I’m Kaera,” she said while holding out a star fruit to the crow to eat.
“Seti. I am Seti!” the crow introduced herself as she pecked at the fruit, the yellow juice running down Kaera’s small hand.
~~~~
The next day, the crow was waiting deep in the jungle as promised when Kaera arrived with a bag of rough yet sturdy cloth, sewn together by her grandmother’s own hands. Her startled bà nội almost whacked her granddaughter when Kaera threw open the door of the family’s home in a hurry, panting and asking her to sew a three-hand bag to take to a giant crow. But once the old woman had heard the whole story, she agreed it was best not to keep the crow waiting.
“Climb on my back,” said Seti.
“Where are we going?” asked Kaera.
“To your reward.” And with a whoosh, the crow took off to the skies. Higher and higher they went until Kaera was sure that if anyone from her village looked up, she and Seti would only a black speck in the sky.
They flew over mountains, they flew over streams. Over old-forgotten temples enshrouded with vines and waterfalls that crashed and thundered hundreds of feet down below. Over the sea the crow and the girl flew until the sun was high in the sky.
“How much farther?” shouted Kaera over the wind.
“Wait and see! Wait and see!” said Seti.
“See what though?” Kaera questioned as they continued flying. But then, the mist from the waves suddenly parted and Kaera could understand why the crow had asked her to be patient.
Before her eyes was a dazzling island of gold. In the noontime sun, the island glittered, a jewel with a thousand sparkles in the midst of the cerulean sea.
They landed and Kaera slowly slid off the crow’s back, almost dropping to her knees in amazement. The island was covered in gold rocks, some as small as a grain of sand, some as large as a boulder. Just taking a handful of the gold would be enough to pay her village’s debt for months.
“Gold for gold,” Seti cawed. “What did I tell you? Take whatever you need and put it in the bag you have.”
“This is amazing! But why hasn’t anyone else found this island?” Kaera asked. “How has it remained hidden for so long?”
“Well you see,” Seti began, “we’re in the territory of sea serpents. They love to play around here. They splash and swing their tails all around until the waters churn and make these great big clouds that cover this part of the sea for miles around. Even if a ship was smart enough to dodge those overgrown water snakes, they’d never find the island unless they came at a time when the day is hot enough to burn away the mist. That, and if they had someone with such great eyes, they could spy a huge pile of shiny rocks in the middle of nowhere,” Seti puffed up her chest feathers.
“However," Seti continued, “we only have a few hours before it cools down enough that the mist comes back. I can still find my way back to land, but even I’ll have a tough time getting back if my wing-feathers are clogged up with seawater. Little girl, you and your bag might even be too heavy for me to carry.”
Kaera laughed and gave Seti a great big hug. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t take too much with me. Thank you! Thank you!”
Seti preened. “Oh, if you really want to thank me, you could give me some more star fruits.”
~~~~
Back at the village, Emissary Hê was displeased. He watched in disdain as the last villager added another meager offering to the carts holding the piles of tribute. Today’s collection was smaller than yesterday’s, and the official could feel his stomach churning with dread at the thought of presenting this paltry amount to the imperial court. How could he profit from this? How could he hope to gain the attention of the Emperor this way if this mess could not even impress the dogs at His Majesty’s feet?
“Is that all you have?” the emperor’s servant raised his voice, shrill and high so everyone could hear. “Lowly villagers, you dare to repay the emperor’s magnanimous protection and generosity with scraps from your floor?! Perhaps I should lash these men myself to give you more motivation!”
“I have something!” spoke the voice of a girl in the midst of the crowd.
The villagers parted and Kaera marched forward, her eyes blazing with confidence. She opened her humble bag with a flourish.
“Here! Your tribute!”
Everyone gasped as the gold inside shone bright like the sun. Even Hê could not help himself, leaning forward for a better look at the dazzling sight, until he remembered where and who he was. He hurriedly straightened himself and snapped open his fan to hide his expression.
So much gold! How could a scrawny girl come across such riches?! Why, if he had that amount, then he would no longer have to deal with this disgusting jungle heat, the mosquitoes, and the smell of these dirt-ridden villagers. He could be where he truly belonged: in the central government with its magnificently opulent gardens and palaces. His path up the ranks of the imperial court would be easy enough with this gold paving the way.
The crooked official harrumphed. “Ahem! I see that this little girl has managed to bring more than the rest of you combined! At least someone here seems to understand the demands of their duties. However!” And he gave Kaera a condescending look. “I’m afraid that this amount is only enough for today. This village is still short of the total required of this round of tribute.”
The villagers protested and even the soldiers seemed confused at his statement. But Kaera did not pay attention to them. Like her father taught her, “The jungle has a thousand distractions but a true hunter always knows their target before they begin.”
Looking into Emissary Hê’s eager eyes, Kaera saw that greed had taken control of him like a parasitic vine wrapping him in its green coils, refusing to let go until it had infected every fiber of his being with the urge to squeeze every last coin from the blood and tears of the citizens. Perhaps greed had commanded him from the very start, long before the emperor had sent out his many demands and soldiers.
Men like this were dangerous. Men like this would never be satisfied with what the world gave them. Greed gave them endless hunger—to take and take and give no respite to the villagers sacrificed for their ambition and greed. Kaera knew that she had to put a stop to him.
Kaera bowed her head so that Hê’s beady eyes could not see the idea beginning to form in her head. “Most Important Messenger Sir: if the Emperor wishes to have more, then I can tell you where to find more.”
~~~~
A few days later, Hê fanned himself impatiently at the edge of the jungle as he waited with Kaera. In the pale gray light of daybreak, the jungle was beginning to come alive but the chirping of songbirds and the rustling of leaves were not what he was waiting for.
“Where is this crow of yours?” he snapped, “she had better hurry if she doesn’t want to find out the price you’ll pay for lying to me!”
“Oh don’t worry, Seti will be here any moment.”
True to Kaera’s word, Seti descended smoothly and landed before them.
“Hey Seti, thanks again,” Kaera said as she stepped forward and offered the bird another star fruit, which Seti snapped it up in a flash.
“Are you sure about this?” murmured the crow to the girl.
“Yes, just let him take as much as he wants and don’t stop him. It’ll make sense later on,” Kaera whispered. She stepped back to allow Hê to climb up onto Seti’s back.
“Sir! Don’t forget this!” Kaera bowed and handed him some bags sewn by her grandmother and mother. Two beautiful bags of silk, of six hands in length and decorated with dragons and phoenixes and other intricate embroidery.
The official nodded in approval. “A bag fit for a king’s messenger!” he declared. “Now let’s be off!” Hê rapped his folded fan against Seti a few times; the crow almost squawked in indignation at being treated like a common horse.
They flew once again towards the sea, back again to the island of gold. The mist parted and Hê was blinded by the splendid sight of so many riches. Seti hadn’t even landed fully when Hê leapt off her back in excitement and jumped to the ground. He began shoveling the precious metal into his bags as if it would all disappear before he could grab them.
“Gold!” Hê cackled as he held up a fistful to the sun so he could see the light reflecting off of it.
“Hurry, hurry!” Seti cawed in warning after a few hours of watching Emissary scrambling to stuff as much gold as possible into his bags. “The mist will return soon! We must leave now if we wish to return safely!”
Hê grumbled but relented. He huffed and strained with the effort to drag his bags back and load them onto Seti’s back.
Seti flapped her wings and took off. Slowly, they rose higher into the sky for their departure. Down below, the mist crawled back to cover the island like a soft veil.
Emissary Hê was filled with glee over his fortune. Visions of sumptuous feasts, elegant clothes, and jade sculptures danced in his head. So delighted was he by his daydreams of luxury and leisure that he didn’t notice his bags were slowly unraveling.
The silk bags that had been filled to the brim with gold pieces began to tear. Bulging bags with loose stitches that would easily come apart if, for example, they were stretched beyond their limits. Loose stitches, disguised as decorations by an old woman and a vengeful wife under the instructions of a clever young girl.
“No! My gold!” Emissary Hê wailed as he tried in vain to catch the falling pieces. But in his hurry to catch some, more fell out, falling faster than shooting stars to the earth.
“Hey, can you stop moving back there? I’m trying to fly!” cawed Seti. She beat her wings more vigorously to try and shake off the moisture clinging to her. With the extra weight on her back, it was more difficult to gain more lift.
But the greedy man ignored her. The gold continued to fall out of his bags and Hê stretched out and out to catch it—
—and slipped right off Seti’s back.
The man screamed as he fell. Down and down he dropped, into the turbulent waters that stretched for miles around, where sea serpents played and an official whose desires outweighed his limits drowned along with his bags of gold.
~~~~
With Emissary Hê gone, Kaera’s village was saved. Her father was freed and her family reunited joyfully beneath the banyan trees. The gold that Kaera brought back was enough to pay off the village’s tribute—and the soldiers that might have returned for more soon became too busy fighting elsewhere in the empire’s conquests to bother with a little village in the middle of the jungles.
Kaera lived happily afterwards. She had many more adventures: some on her own, some with Seti, some close and some far, but that is a tale for another time and a story for tomorrow.
🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?
A mix of AC: Origins, a Viet-Egyptian model, and Spike from Cowboy Bebop! I think I had just finished AC:O and was doing a rewatch of CB, and I absolutely loved Spike’s and Bayek’s personality -- I wanted that casual laziness and confidence Spike had mixed in with Bayek’s humour and charisma. Design-wise, Kaera’s hair and the shape of her eyes were decided before I even drew her for the first time
🌱 SEEDLING - what is their most vivid memory from childhood?
Most of Kaera’s memories come and go. She’ll remember. Throw it to the side. Then move on with her day. Rinse and repeat. Some days though, her thoughts will linger on certain memories, such as one where a family of three (alongside her father’s eagle proudly watching over them) spent one of their last few moments together
🍃 FALLING LEAF - do they enjoy being in nature? what is their favourite outdoor activity?
While Kaera doesn’t think much of nature, she does love the warmth of the sun and, at night, the feeling of cool air breezing past her. It’s not from trekking through forests, or scaling mountains, but rather, parkouring through cities and towns, or climbing the tallest buildings to get away from everyone; all while Seti flies above to keep her company
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