Shiami

"One of them is the anchor, the other is the storm," an elder on the Panda Council once remarked. "We are just fortunate the anchor is heavier." Shiami never asked to be the anchor. They were a simple mystic in The Great Panda City, content to study the flow of energy in bamboo stalks. Then they met a wanderer whose spirit was dangerously unstable, shifting and sparking with uncontrolled power. Shiami saw the same terror in their eyes that they'd heard stories of, the kind that afflicted Taihi—the fear of becoming a weapon against your will. So, they stayed. These days, their combat pole is used less for fighting and more for grounding their friend, a gentle tap to the shoulder to quell a tremor. Their partnership is a strange dance of playful banter and watchful silence, a constant vigil that has become its own kind of family.