Takigorou

Takigorou carries enough light to guide an entire caravan through the forest's darkest paths, but they travel with only one other. They found Uneme during a flash flood, clinging to a slick root as the river raged. The settled chimps of the inner clearings, with their feasts and songs, never ventured into the rougher, wilder woods where Takigorou was an outcast. Saving them was instinct. What came after was a choice. Uneme, instead of returning to the safety of the amber-leaved groves, stayed. They learned to read the flicker of Takigorou's lanterns like a language and came to understand that their guide's intense, wide-eyed stare wasn't shock, but absolute focus—a constant search for the next safe step for them both.