Advent of K

Morning light filters through the old oak as Kurana wakes rested. He descends from the broad limb, cloak settled around him, with the silver purse and tiny iron key secure beneath it.

Damp earth guides him between black pines and fern beds. Birds call overhead, while fresh prints mark the passage of rabbits and other small game toward a hollow.

The trail ends at a clear spring cupped between mossy stones. Its water runs cold and drinkable, and nearby brush bears enough tracks to promise a meal if he follows them carefully.

Far behind, Veyra enters the same woodland trail, moving quietly beneath the trees. Thick trunks and tangled undergrowth keep her out of sight, though her careful search follows the marks of his passage.

At the spring, a rabbit track disappears beneath a screen of reeds. Beyond it, something small rustles once, then falls still, leaving Kurana the quiet choice of water, pursuit, or patience.

Kurana leaves the spring and searches beneath the pines, inspecting shaded roots, mossy stones, and sunlit clearings with a hunter’s patient eye.

He finds tart red berries growing above a fallen log, then gathers tender sorrel leaves and several pale edible flowers from the damp edge of the hollow.

Kurana tests each plant by scent and careful familiarity, discarding anything bitter or suspicious. Soon a small meal rests in a folded corner of his cloak.

Above and beyond the fern bed, Veyra watches from behind a thick pine trunk. Her silver half-mask remains lifted toward him, but her hand never reaches for a weapon.

The forest stays peaceful. Kurana has food, cold spring water, and no visible pursuit as he settles near the stones to eat beneath the morning trees.