While they traversed the secret path, Samarah told them all about the tribe's current enemy: the pink rot.
Satis have faced many vicious enemies and natural disasters, but none was so great as this single rot plaguing the underground. It cannot be eradicated via social distancing, nor does it work to exile those who've caught it, as it does not infect the living. Much worse: it infects rocks and stones, the natural food source of the satis.
"This whole madness started not so long ago. We've tried ignoring it at first, but when it started engulfing our mineral deposits, its threat level became apparent. We've tried fighting off the rot, but… well…"
Eighty. That's twice the number of the Sati Tribe's population. That's also the number its population was before the pink rot.
The brothers and sisters of the tribe went together to destroy the infectious gemstones. Unfortunately, they didn't know about its special defensive mechanism, which creates a crystalline copy of the creature's reflection.
Forty satis died that day. It was a massacre.
"Since it cannot be defeated, some of them decided to try and live with it. Some satis went so far as to recommend we eat the pink gemstones, as it seems to bear the necessary nutrients to survive. Suchreet was the loudest voice of this idea."
"I take Soma was the opposite?" Tanuki asked.
"The old man asked us to try changing our diet to something more plant-based. He goes away from time to time in search of something edible. It seems that despite our very unique stomach, we possess the ability to consume plant-based materials."
"Does that extend to flesh?"
"No. We can't consume flesh. Nor could we consume plants, were we to follow the elders' path. It's said that a sati's job is to eat minerals, create gems out of them, then give them back to earth so it may grow even more minerals."
"Grow more minerals?" Tanuki thought to himself. "She's talking about those gems like they are seeds."
"So, as you might've guessed, Soma and Suchreet are basically two sides of the same coin. Both want to help the tribe in some way. One wants to stay true to the elders' path while another wants to stray away in hopes of survival."
When they arrived at the end of the tunnel, Samarah opened another secret entrance and revealed a large room to Tanuki. Its walls were made out of pink gem, though moss and mushrooms covered its surface. A small stream of water ran in through a small hole and escaped through one very similar.
In the middle of the room towered a one-and-a-half-meter tall stone cube. The sculpture of a woman stood on top of it. She wore what appeared to be a Japanese kimono, made even more apparent by her traditional tied-up hairstyle. Many different rings decorated her fingers, ten necklaces hung from her neck and three unique earrings hung from both of her ears. Despite the fact that she held up a small mirror to her face, her eyes were shut.
"There." Samarah pointed towards the woman's sculpture. "That's the waystone."
Tanuki was taken aback by the sight. The underground hole was cozy and beautiful, but the sight of another human being, even if just the sculpture of it, has brought a tear into his eye.
"How long has it been?" He ran his eyes down the woman's figure, then the same way back up. "I almost forgot what another human being looked like."
Approaching the sculpture revealed a message to Tanuki.
[ Discovered 'Shrine of Takara' ]
Takara. This wasn't a name he has heard before.
"I found it while doing some… research." Samarah gave way to the two. "Don't worry! Only those with the special ability can use waystones. So even if I wanted to use it to escape this stupid hole, I couldn't. Oh, and how much I hate that fact…"
When Tanuki touched the waystone, he was presented with an option.
[ Teleport to… ]
[ -> Gaia Core ]
It seemed like the Gaia Core could be teleported to, despite it not being a waystone.
"How did you know?" Tanuki turned to Samarah.
"Know what?"
"That I could use the waystone to teleport."
Samarah was hesitant to give an answer. Instead, she let out a loud sigh and approached the exit to the room.
Tanuki raised an eyebrow but accepted her silence as an answer. After all, if he has learned anything today it was to not just trust any strangers you meet.
Still, he had one more question on his mind. Though he was smart enough to figure it out by himself, he wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.
"Soma or Suchreet! Which one do you support?"
Samarah didn't stop nor turn to face the boy while she gave an answer.
"Both are fools! If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose to throw myself off a cliff! Maybe I'd get lucky enough to die before getting to hear another word from those two idiots!"
Tanuki chuckled. This woman had the same bitter and exhausted attitude that his grandma used to have. Ironically enough, it was enough to calm him down before he returned to the Shrine of Takara.
Unbeknownst to him, Samarah chuckled too. She was satisfied with what she's seen and that gave her a little more reason to believe in that out-of-reach happy ending.
"Hachiro, eh? Cold enough to retain your first name. Oh, how this reminds me of another human…"