Chimper #3664
Runari the Disciple did not come to The Great Panda City to learn the eighteen folds of a perfect dumpling. Their wings were forged to shield comrades from sorcery, not to collect flour dust in the city’s freezing winds. But after a failed protection detail left them purposeless, the Panda Council offered a new post: apprentice to a master chef. At first, the kitchen felt like a prison. Their hands, shaped by the sword hilt, struggled with delicate wrappers. Their wings, built for aerial combat, knocked over jars of spices. Yet, they learned. They became a disciple of a new kind of vigilance: watching broth instead of borders. The locals find the stern, winged cook endearing, but sometimes they catch Runari staring at the horizon, a guardian’s habit that never quite fades.
