Tarashiko

In The Great Panda City, they say a lantern only shows the path, it doesn't choose the walker. Tarashiko once took comfort in that wisdom, believing their only duty was to hold the light steady. Because of their gentle nature, Pinku trusted them with a vital secret: a map to a hidden sky drifter enclave, a place of pure tranquility. Tarashiko was tasked to guide a single, brilliant scholar there to document its wonders. But on a high, freezing mountain pass, a sudden gale extinguished their guiding flame. In the disorienting dark, the scholar lost their footing and fell into the abyss. Tarashiko never heard them land. These days, the lanterns on their back are not for guidance; they are a memorial to the one they led into silence.