Yaks slowly graze on juicy shrubs along the lakeside shore. Festive colored and brown flocks of birds peck and chatter. They seek a last snack before darkness falls.
On one side of the lake, the snow glows blue with twilight. The other is alight with fiery orange and fierce red to mirror the setting sun. The sight is one of harmony between the bounty of nature and all living things: peaceful, serene, sacred.
And then you hit the water with a blast.
The birds shriek as they flee into the sky in a black cloud of wings. The yaks bellow and stampede but they are no concern of yours.
You’re deep at the bottom of the lake contending with the shock of crashing into ice-cold water at breakneck speed. But you’re only disoriented for a second. You rise to the surface for a deep breath before you duck back down.
The water is pristine. You can see its wealth of life as you search for the keys — colorful fish and animals of all shapes and sizes. Waving plants with graceful tendrils tickle your arms as you swim and search. But your body is slowing down. The numbing effects of the icy water weave through your fur and muscles to your very bones.
You can’t do this on your own.
You rise back to the surface and splash an intricate beat into the water.
Nothing happens.
You try again.
Nothing happens.
“Ishii!” you yell.
A slow whirlpool forms to your right. It starts small but quickly widens to catch you in its deadly wake.
“Ishii!” you scream again at the top of your lungs.
Something huge and oily black rises from the depths. A serpentine head the size of your entire body is followed from the lake’s surface by a long, sinuous neck.
“Hello, little Yeti,” Waves break forth from the rumble of her voice to splash against the shore.
Your fangs chattering, you tell the tale of what transpired.
Ishii starts to sway and whip her tail. Stronger, brutal waves crash high on the shore. They turn to ice and shatter on contact with the frozen slopes.
“I have not known such evil since I left my native land.” Ishii hisses. “I never thought your kind would be as awful as the humans.”
Many years ago, Ishii left her home, a seawater lake in islands of the farthest east. Humans had somehow destroyed everything around it with a heinous weapon of mass destruction.
She’d escaped at the last minute when she saw fire in the sky dropping straight towards her. Diving to the deepest realms, she spent weeks swimming through ocean currents and underground rivers to find safety in the Hidden Ridge.
“Well, they’re not really my kind,” you protest. But you know she would not really understand the difference.
“Why do you disturb me with this tale, little Yeti?”
“Help me find the keys,” you beg, feeling the signs of hypothermia. Water freezes your fur into icy clumps and you cannot feel your paws anymore.
“Grab my neck,” she instructs. You do so with your forearms. She raises her gigantic body from the water and shakes you onto her back. She exudes warmth from her shiny hide, healing and restoring you. She takes you to the shore. You slide off her.
Ground is good. You like ground.
“I believe I’ve just paid back my debt to your father.” She turns and glides back into the lake. You watch her tremendous body begin to disappear within.
“Ishii!” you yell once more. “When you came to this land, the Yeti feared you! It was my father who understood you and calmed them!”
You watch the lake cover the top of her head.
“They would have killed you, Ishii! Yes, my life is important, but so are the lives of all innocents! All the Yeti are my family. You must help me or you will help the evil that destroyed your home instead! It is the same power!”
Yes, it is all too clear to you now. The evil that corrupted the Bigfoot is the malicious lust of power about which the Elder spoke. How can you make Ishii understand?
Suddenly, her voice rings through your mind.
“I cut through evil like a double-edged sword, And chaos flees at my approach. Balance I single-handedly upraise, Through battles fought with heart and mind, Instead of with my gaze. What am I?”
You howl the answer.
But Ishii does not reply. The crystal depths lie still as glass.
Suddenly, shards of ice and freezing water drench you as her neck whips from the surface with an enormous splash. Her eyes of black obsidian stare deep into your own. Rows of razor teeth gleam blue in the dusk as she drops the keys in front of you.
“Your father risked his life to save me. You risked your life — rather foolishly, I must say — to save these Yeti. These keys I grant you as a boon because of your honorable intent. But next time, I will demand payment.”
“Yes, Ishii,” you bow. You know her to be a gentle giant. But you also know her to have exacting standards and to be angry when those are not met. You wonder what she will want from you the next time you call on her.
Read more Legendao Lore:
The Premise
Introduction of the three Yeti
Kwaneg
Mahukwa
Richter
The Prelude — The Roar and the Lair:
Chapter 1: — The Cave
Chapter 2: — The Trail & The Cliff
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