Chimper #2842
Mawata remembered the feeling of absolute silence more than the cold. In the high mountain drifts where they were trapped, every sound died, swallowed by endless snow. It was a scholar's dream turned nightmare. Then Kawa found them, half-drowned at the bottom of the great falls, babbling about lost archives. Kawa, who smelled of fish and laughed louder than the roaring water, dragged them onto their boat and began a different kind of lesson. The scholar's hands were useless for mending nets, but their ability to channel light helped spot shoals in deep water. Kawa taught them the river's language; Mawata taught them that even the most obscure knowledge has a purpose. Kawa still calls them 'the Snowbound'—a joke about the chimper who once nearly froze to death. Mawata doesn't mind. The name is a reminder of a life they escaped, and the friend who thawed them out.
