"The Story of Bright Edge" or "Curiosity Killed the Cat" Prose in World After Tiamat | World Anvil

"The Story of Bright Edge" or "Curiosity Killed the Cat"

The following is a tabaxi fairy tale that was first recorded by an unknown author in 3100 BT. It has persisted in various forms as a commonly-told tale to this day.  
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful calico tabaxi who loved to explore. She would wander through the deepest parts of the forest, climb the tallest trees, and delve into the deepest caves. Her mother worried about her terribly, but her father was proud of his brave daughter and gave her the name Bright Edge.   As Bright Edge grew up, she continued exploring the world, but eventually she felt that she had seen everything that there was to see. "I have been everywhere," she bragged to her friends one night around the campfire, "and I've seen everything in the world."   At this, a stranger visiting the clan asked, "Have you ever been to nowhere?"   Bright Edge was confused and replied, "Nowhere is not a place. It doesn't exist and so no one can go there."   "How do you know if you've never tried?" the stranger asked with a smile.   Bright Edge knew that the stranger was talking nonsense, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. What would nowhere look like? How could she get there? She had to know.   So, she took a boat far out into the ocean and asked the North Wind: "Mighty north wind, can you tell me how to get to nowhere?"   The wind replied: "I have never been to nowhere, but I have also never been under the ocean. Nowhere may be somewhere I cannot go. You should ask the Sun."   So, Bright Edge went to the top of a mountain and asked the Sun: "Brilliant sun, can you tell me how to get to nowhere?"   The sun replied: "My light has touched nearly every surface in this world and I have never found nowhere. But I have never been underground as that is the domain of Darkness. You should ask him about nowhere."   So, finally, Bright Edge descended far down into the ground, traveling further and further into damp and cold that she could feel in her bones, until she found a place where no light could touch. There, she asked the Darkness: "All-encompassing Darkness, please help me. I need to know how to get to nowhere."   The darkness replied in a whisper: "I have been to nowhere, child. But it is not a place you can go alone. I can take you there, if you're sure that's what you want."   Bright Edge clapped her hands in delight, "Of course I'm sure! I've seen everything there is here and I want to go somewhere new."   And so, the darkness wrapped itself around Bright Edge and carried her to nowhere. But there was nothing to see or feel in nowhere; there was nothing to learn and no experiences to have. Bright Edge could not even feel her own body or hear her own thoughts. She was scared and begged the darkness, "Darkness, please take me back. I don't like it here."   But the darkness responded, "You cannot go back, child. You have to become nothing to go nowhere. And nothing can never become something again."   Bright Edge then cried at her own folly for she had not appreciated the world she was given. It was in vain, though, as Bright Edge was never seen again.

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