6. TOMARANG TRUTH

Bua Bun Ma: I was beginning to think you weren't going to come visit me. Come inside, girl from across the ocean. I'll make us some tea and we can have a chat. 

Bua Bun Ma: I had to read through my mother's diaries to refresh my memory. She always loved telling stories about her youth adventures and discoveries. Well then, the tea is ready. We can begin our story. I'm just not sure if this will be a story about treasure. That's something you'll have to find out yourself.

Bua Bun Ma: I'm sure you've already heard the legend of Khun Mae. However, I'm convinced you don't know the whole truth. But let's start at the beginning. Long ago, the locals were attacked by the Beasts. Khun Mae accepted the quest given to her by the Elders to find the Watcher and save the village.

Bua Bun Ma: Legend says Khun Mae was transformed into a tiger by the Watcher, gaining ferocious strength and agility. Yet she couldn't defeat the Beasts alone. By the time she returned with help, they'd destroyed one-third of the land, some never rebuilt.

Bua Bun Ma: Still, the land healed over time and the forests grew back. But back to Khun Mae, in her tiger form, she pleaded with the tigers for help. Together, the tigers and the people drove the invaders back, but as time passed, the Great Mother grew weaker and weaker.

Bua Bun Ma: According to drawings found in the caves, the Beasts were unfortunately beginning to win. Then an Elder stepped into the battle, and the Beasts lunged at them. The Great Mother shielded them with her body, but a Beast's blow split her in two, separating her human and tiger forms.

Bua Bun Ma: That sacrifice ultimately defeated the Beasts. Khun Mae lived for a long time afterward and protected both the people of Tomarang and the tigers. They say her soul travels through generations of tigers, checking if her promise to protect these animals is still being kept. And that's it, for the legend.

Bua Bun Ma: However, according to my mother and her discoveries, it wasn't the tigers who helped the people of Tomarang, even though everyone will tell you otherwise today.

Olimpia: If it wasn't the tigers, then what helped the village?

Bua Bun Ma: Pirates!

Olimpia: Pirates?!

Bua Bun Ma: My mother knew a story passed down through her family for generations. It told of how, during the time of the invasion, a ship with a pirate flag sailed into Tomarang Bay. It was called the Tiger Lily. Khun Mae made a deal with the pirates so they would help her drive our enemies away.

Bua Bun Ma: In exchange, the pirates were allowed to use the local caves as their hideout.

Olimpia: The Tiger Lily! Of course! So that's why the stories later said that the tigers saved Tomarang!

Bua Bun Ma: That's most likely how it happened. 

Bua Bun Ma: Although in diaries I also found a version that perhaps the pirates were actually the Beasts... In any case, over the years there were plenty of rumors about pirates staying around Beard Beard Cave. And where there are pirates...

Olimpia: There could be treasure, too!

Bua Bun Ma: Exactly.

Olimpia: Then the next stop in my search is Beard Beard Cave! Ms. Bun Ma, I don't know how to thank you.

Bua Bun Ma: Find the treasure first, child. There will be time for thanks later.

The next day, Olimpia woke up in a sad mood. However, she quickly remembered that she had a cave to search today.

Getting to this part of the coast wasn't easy. Luckily, Ollie was a very good swimmer. On the beach, she managed to find a purple tassel. Even though she was still skeptical about the idea of collecting them, she tucked it away. It might come in handy. Meanwhile, the cave was waiting.

While exploring Beard Beard Cave, Ollie came across a beautiful relief, a heart hanging from the talons of a flying parrot, with the initials PCT and JWBB inside. Whoever they belonged to, they must have loved each other very much. Just in case, Ollie took a picture of the relief.

Before she knew it, night had fallen, and with it came the tide. The rocks in the cave became slippery as the water rose. Ollie tried to climb onto a dry rock ledge, but she fell to the bottom of the cave. Luckily, the exit was already close. Bruised and dirty, Ollie called it a day. 

After her adventure in the cave, Ollie cleaned herself up and headed into town. Tomarang really came alive at night. And all under the watchful eye of the Great Mother.

Olimpia: What are you hiding from me, Khun Mae? Will I really find treasure in the caves? Or is this just a dead end? What's your secret?

Vanesha: If you're talking to a statue, then either you've really immersed yourself in our culture, or you're really tired.

Olimpia: Is it possible that it's both? Today really wore me out.

Vanesha: I know a nice place with good food. You can tell me what happened. What do you say?

Vanesha: So, tell me. What did you discover?

Vanesha: Pirates, not tigers? Really?

Olimpia: The theory makes sense. There are plenty of stories about pirates in these waters.

Vanesha: Hmm... If you think about it, Beard Beard Cave might have gotten its name from that famous pirate, Beard Beard. His name was John Wilson.

Olimpia: Wait, wait, what did you say? Beard Beard, John Wilson? Look at the relief I found in the cave. See the initials? JWBB! That would fit! The heart and the parrot must definitely be a pirate symbol. But who is PCT?

Vanesha: PCT? That doesn't ring any bells.

Olimpia: It has to mean something, and I'm going to figure it out! I feel like I'm close to a breakthrough. And to think that just a few days ago I didn't have a single clue, and now I don't even know which lead to follow first. Come on, we have to celebrate! 

Olimpia: PCT... PCT... I feel like I should know it...

Vanesha: Maybe... I don't know... Penelope Caliente?

Olimpia: What? Like those sisters from that reality show? But I don't think there was any Penelope! Besides, it doesn't have to be a woman...

Vanesha: True!

Olimpia: PCT... I'll find out who you are eventually.

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