The Cycle of Petals: Roots of Twilight🌸
The first sign came with the rain.
It was gentle at first — a mist that softened the forest and set the petals shimmering. But as it fell, the ground beneath the cherry trees began to hum.
Low, faint, and ancient.
Sakura stood barefoot beneath the blossoms, her hair unbound and heavy with dew.
The raindrops that touched her skin left faint trails of gold that faded as quickly as they appeared.
She closed her eyes. The hum beneath her feet grew stronger — not threatening, but calling.
> "It's been centuries since I've heard that sound," she whispered.
The spiritwalker, standing at the edge of the garden, looked up from the bundle of wood in his arms. "What sound?"
> "The world dreaming."
He frowned slightly, setting the wood aside. "You mean the roots again?"
She nodded, her expression distant. "It feels different this time. Not restless… more like it's remembering."
A pause. The rain slowed. The forest seemed to listen.
Then, from the depths of the earth, came a pulse — like a heartbeat.
The petals shivered. The river rippled backward for a moment before finding its flow again.
The spiritwalker moved to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
> "You think it's the gods?"
> "No," Sakura murmured. "Something older."
She looked up at the sky — and for a heartbeat, her reflection appeared in the clouds: her eyes glowing with both violet and crimson light.
The faintest whisper brushed her thoughts, a voice neither divine nor mortal.
> "Child of the Bloom… did you think balance meant stillness?"
The voice faded, leaving only the sound of rain.
---
That night, as they sat by the fire, the spiritwalker carved a charm from fallen cherry wood — a small token of protection, as he used to make in his wandering days.
Sakura watched him, the firelight catching in her mismatched eyes.
> "You're worried," she said softly.
> "When the rivers move backward and the ground hums like it's alive?" He gave a faint smile. "Maybe a little."
> "It's not evil," she said. "It's… change."
> "Change is what started all this."
She reached across the fire and took his hand. "Then we face it. Like before."
For a moment, the world felt simple again — just them, the warmth, the gentle rhythm of falling rain.
But outside, beyond the glade, deep in the heart of the forest, the roots of the old tree pulsed again — this time brighter, the glow reaching through the soil like veins of molten gold.
Something ancient was stirring beneath the world — something born not of gods, but of the earth itself.
And in the whispering darkness of those roots, a voice sighed, neither threat nor blessing:
> "Bloom and decay… are but two halves of the same song."
The petals outside began to fall faster, glowing faintly as they hit the ground.
Sakura rose, looking through the window toward the dark forest beyond their home.
Her voice was soft — half prayer, half dread.
> "It's beginning again." 🌸🌑