The last time Tsui came to her homeworld, a planet somewhere within her constellation, she had realized two things about her past self. The first and foremost was that her past self and Sybil, whom they now suspected to be Kallichore’s past self, shared a friendship that had not only linked their homes together, but carried on to their current lives. Tsui seldom believed in destiny, but to see a friendship that transcend time and death (and rebirth) itself made a pretty good convincing case of it. The second thing that Tsui learned was that her home was a mess, and it was more than time to get to cleaning it out!
She made the trip back home on her own today, and it wasn’t as though she’d not welcome the company, but she didn’t want to drag anyone else along with her in a little spring cleaning. That was her responsibility, and while her room at home was an unholy mess, Tsui felt that she couldn’t leave her past home in the state that it was in now. Especially if she planned on bringing Sutai up with her the next time!
So, she got immediately to work, giving her eager tigers a welcome they deserved and moving into the temple to sweep out all of the old autumn leaves. Those that followed her in kept close until they reached the main chambers, and two of which hid in the shadows of the tree as the great white tiger trudged through the leaves and scratched at the door at the tree’s base. Tsui paid little attention to him, knowing that he wanted to go to Kallichore, but she wasn’t sure if anyone was even there. Not that she had the heart to tell him that, and she gave an annoyed spat when one of the smaller, yellowish colored tigers jumped about in the corner she was slowly getting to. “Ah, don’t do that! I just managed to clear out this area- you’re going to push them here and ruin my hard work!”
Not that she expected the tiger to obey, but to see him digging at the leaves tickled her curiosity. What on Tsui was he doing? The way another tiger trotted over only made her curiosity worse, and she was forced to set aside the broom and made her way over as well, hearing the tiger’s claws striking something solid and concrete. “Hm? Another secret passage, perhaps? This planet’s full of wonders, ain’t it?”
Finally, it seemed that the small yellow tiger found what he was looking for, and Tsui was surprised to see him turn to her, holding what looked to be box or square-shaped device in its mouth. She held out her hand and waited for him to drop it instead of reaching in and grabbing it. She may have been the Senshi of Tigers, but she wasn’t going to try prying anything from a tiger’s mouth. It fell into her hands and she brushed the dirt and grime off of it, as the two tigers loomed over her, as if equally curious about the artifact that she held.
Honestly, Tsui had no idea what it was. It was a golden box, though centuries of neglect tarnished its luster, and the running a hand over the engraved surface revealed the tiger-like design, which hardly surprised her. But she had no idea what it was, and she felt a crease on the side where she could dig her fingers in and pop it open. A foolish thing to do, considering whatever inside could have been deadly, but even with her increased rank and experience, Tsui could only be Tsui, as she popped it open and took a gander inside.
Empty. There was nothing inside, nothing but what looked to be a dried up, velvety surface, and she was about to toss it back into the leaves until she noticed the other side of the lid and how it was embossed in the same design as the engraving on the lid itself. Suddenly, it dawned on her, and she flashed her tigers a lopsided smile. “Congratulations! You found what I guess is a stamp!”
Yes, a stamp. What else would it have been? Granted, she had no idea what the importance of finding this stamp meant, but for the moment, it wasn’t too heavy on her mind. She closed the stamp and wedged it between the pelt and her belt at her waist. Discovering whatever the importance of this stamp was would simply have to wait until she brought it back home, assuming she could take it back to Earth with her. She gave the tiger that found the stamp a stroke behind the ears as its reward, and she went straight back to work. Too bad he couldn’t have found a rake to make her spring cleaning a little easier!
Word Count: 812
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