33^rd Gerdagon 1136, Ranghai

The evening sky was crisscrossed by wispy clouds, and their pink flames mixed with the rippling clear blue lapping at the fountain’s edges. I watched as grey dulls and blue lazuli that had been tossed into the water danced at the bottom of the basin and wondered how many of those wishes had come true, and how many were already forgotten. It was a curious feeling looking at those coins. They were like tokens to someone’s past, someone’s dreams, or nightmares… I may not know who those coins belonged to, but felt that each had clinging to it a little window to someone’s life; this fountain was a crossroads of destinies. As I continued to gaze at the shimmering surface, I wondered where the previous owners of all these different coins were at this moment. I looked at Barus; he had his arm plunged in the water. 

“What’re you doing?” Taivas asked, putting his quill and journal back into his pocket. 

“Can’t hurt to pick a few lazuli,” Barus replied, drawing back his arm and counting a handful of coins. 

“Oh come on man!” Taivas protested. 

Barus rolled his eyes, then looked sorrowfully at Taivas. “But Taivas… these coins… they’ll be all alone… no one to take care of them… just sitting in a cold, watery grave…”

Taivas frowned.

“So cold… so cold…” Barus continued, shivering now. “We can’t just leave them like that, right? You’re no monster; you’re not that cruel!” Taivas let out a sigh, and Barus pocketed the coins. “I don’t get why you complain. You’re always the one wishing our pockets weren’t so light.”

“I care a little bit about the how we fill them, that’s all.” 

“Right. You float the idea of stealing from nobles, which is a crime that could land us in prison, but picking a couple lazuli from a fountain, no, that’s too far!”

Taivas grumbled in reply.