Kai'el Brat "Guardian of the Light"
Xiaoyu
Braze was on an errand today, tasked with finding all the things his father, Kaito, had requested. He had been assured the list was simple… though the paper in his hand suggested otherwise.
The sheet bore Kaito’s delicate handwriting, the sort of notation one might expect from an apothecary’s working diary rather than a market list. Braze slowed beneath the shade of a stall awning and read again.
Moonroot — fresh if possible, the pale variety that grows where the soil stays cool.
White sage bundles — properly dried, not the brittle desert kind.
Ghostcap mushrooms — young specimens only; avoid those with darkened gills.
Silverleaf petals — sealed in wax paper to preserve their oils.
He traced further down the page, brow knitting faintly.
Star anise pods.
Juniper berries.
Nightshade seeds — intact, not crushed.
Black hellebore root.
Braze paused there… fingers lingering on the line. Some of these were gentle enough... herbs for fever teas, oils for calming the nerves, leaves used in salves that soothed aches after long days of training.
Others… Well... Nightshade did not earn its reputation by accident.
Black hellebore, if mishandled, had a talent for ending things rather than healing them.
Braze tilted the page toward the light as if the ink might reveal some hidden note explaining why Kaito needed them. His father’s methods often balanced along that narrow edge where medicine and poison differed only by the smallest measure.
He continued down the list.
Lotus pollen.
Angelica root.
A small vial of distilled myrrh.
Blue lotus stamens.
Poppy seeds — untreated.
There were a few small marks beside certain items, little symbols Kaito had made in the margins… shorthand Braze only half understood. Some indicated drying methods, others extraction. One mark—a thin spiral—usually meant the ingredient held a stronger potency than it first appeared.
Braze lowered the page slowly, gaze drifting across the market rows.
Baskets of herbs hung in loose bundles from wooden frames. Clay jars stood open on tables filled with crushed leaves and fragrant powders. Small glass vials caught the sunlight where merchants displayed oils the color of honey, smoke, or deep forest green.
Even here, surrounded by it all… The list still seemed impossibly long. How was he meant to gather every one of these before Kaito returned from his journey? Braze folded the paper carefully, though not quite enough to hide the ink. His father had trusted him with the task. That mattered. If Kaito was to have a proper place to work—somewhere clean, quiet, and well-stocked where medicines could be crafted with care—then Braze intended to see it done.
He slipped the list back into his hand and glanced toward the next line of stalls.
Somewhere in this market, he hoped, someone would know where to begin.