Rememberance

The sun was past its highest peak by the time Ironroot 1A straggled out of the shallow Vein. They trailed up the north wing path like mining ants: boots scuffed, tunics dusted white, chalk smears on cheeks, their chatter rising and falling like the buzz of bees after rain.

Rio bounced from foot to foot at the head of the line, swinging his empty water flask like a trophy. He kept twisting around to grin at Kaiden, Peggy, and Nerim — each grin bigger than the last, as if the Vein had gifted him a secret only he could shout.

Behind him, Kaiden felt the warmth of the surface air mixing with the Vein's cool hush still clinging to his skin. That hush settled behind his ribs like a seed tucked into soil. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the roots brushing his fingertips — the way stone and memory coiled together when no one else was looking.

They drifted back to the old courtyard behind the training stones. It was an Ironroot courtyard: rough-flagged, shaded by a sprawling silver-leaf tree that cracked the paving with slow roots. Mrs. Maiven waited there, arms folded, leaning against an old rune-carved post.

She didn't say a word as they shuffled in — boots squeaking, packs thumping to the ground. They weren't alone; kids from the other guilds stood in clusters, each showing off scratches and scraps to Mrs. Maiven. A Skyward trio had laid out glinting ore bits like coins on velvet. A Dawnseeker boy tugged at his ruined lantern strap, glaring at the Ironroot sprouts like they'd hexed him from below.

Ironroot 1A was the last to arrive. Mrs. Maiven cracked one pale eye open as the children made their way to her.

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"Well, my students?"

"What did you bring back?"

Rio nearly fell over himself raising his hand. Without waiting, he thrust out his chalk-smeared fist. Inside sat a tiny pebble — no bigger than a tooth — etched with his troll ghost rune. The lines were wobbly. Half the 'wings' had smudged off.

[ Rio ]

"Proof!"

"It didn't eat me!"

"Troll ghost, zero!"

"Rio, one!"

[ Mrs. Maiven (giggle) ]

"So I guess you punched the ghost, Rio?"

[ Rio ]

"The ghost was too scared to come out!"

Peggy made a sound halfway between a snort and a laugh. Nerim pushed his hair out of his eyes, rocking on his heels, and proudly held up a spiral chalk rune, now smudged on an old pick blade.

[ Nerim ]

"Mine hummed back at me."

"It's… happy."

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"A happy reunion, then?"

[ Nerim ]

"Yes!"

"A reunion..."

A soft hush threaded through the circle — a ripple of belief, like everyone leaned closer to hear a Vein's secret hum.

Peggy gave Nerim her flat look, but didn't cut him down. She just popped a calloused palm open, showing an old copper rivet she'd pried from a cracked support beam.

[ Peggy ]

"It looked lonely."

"So I took it with me."

"Now it's mine."

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"Loneliness is indeed inside every Vein, Peggy."

"That is why you should never delve alone."

[ Rio (grinning) ]

"You're collecting junk?"

"Hey, maybe next time you can find a whole wall!"

Peggy flicked him in the forehead, hard enough that he nearly toppled into Kaiden.

[ Irna ]

"I..."

"I only brought this back."

Irna hesitantly showed a string of worn æsther fishing line.

"It sang a lullaby..."

"I think."

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"Yes, Irna."

"Yes..."

"They do sing."

"Sometimes."

[ * Kaiden * ]

"I could almost hear it — the faint hum of the old æsther threads, like wind in hollow bones."

"Maybe... even lullabies leave a mark."

Kaiden suddenly felt the eyes shift to him — Mrs. Maiven's calm lake gaze, Rio's bright spark, Irna's wide, searching stare from the back. He hesitated, thumb brushing the inside of his sleeve. The Cradle Vein Scrap was safe — locked away behind Voidspace. But he needed to show something. He dug into his pocket, pinched out a fleck of chalk dust — barely a smudge on his fingertip.

[ Kaiden ]

"The roots remember."

"This was enough."

Irna squinted. For a heartbeat, her eyes glimmered like she could see the hush behind his chest — like maybe she could slip through the cracks if she asked the right way.

Mrs. Maiven didn't miss it. She folded her hands behind her back, her voice softer than the courtyard breeze.

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"The Vein gave you a mark, and you gave it one back."

"That is the first rule of a true dungeoneer."

"Who remembers the rest?"

Nari Aeolian, Skyward's top sprout, rose on her toes. Her braid flicked like a banner in the wind. She sniffed at Ironroot's dusty knees like they were still damp from the Vein.

[ Nari ]

"Remember your mark."

"Leave only what the Vein allows."

"And return before the memory fades."

Mrs. Maiven dipped her chin once — no praise, no correction, just an echo. Her eyes flicked to Kaiden — not unkind, but measuring. The chalk rune on the back of his palm still glowed faintly, hidden under his thumb.

[ * Mrs. Maiven * ]

"So it chose you too…"

"Nik, your roots run stubborn."

A hush spread — then cracked like ice when a Dawnseeker boy stepped forward. He was older, a final-year at least, wearing a silver-edged sash and the smug grin of someone born under better candles.

[ Sullivan ]

"Shallow Vein or not, you look like you crawled through a ditch."

"Try delving real ruins next time."

"Your little 'roots' would snap."

It was Sullivan MacGowen.

One of the Dawnseeker's Vein Buddy.

Rio's shoulders squared. He puffed out his chest like a bantam rooster.

[ Rio ]

"At least we're not scared of the dark!"

"Your fancy lanterns don't mean squat when the Vein buzzes back!"

A giggle slipped from Nerim. Peggy barked a single laugh and flicked a chalk pebble that pinged off Sullivan's boot.

Mrs. Maiven didn't have to raise her voice. She just lifted one palm — calm as dusk. The courtyard fell still.

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"Each Vein has its depth."

"Each delve has its purpose."

"Mock the shallow ones, and you mock the rest."

"Is that understood, Mr. MacGowen?"

[ Sullivan ]

"Yes, ma'am..."

The Dawnseeker boy's sneer curdled. He stalked back to his cluster, silver sash snapping like a wounded snake.

Mrs. Maiven turned, tapping the old slate near the training stones. New runes glowed there — branching lines, deeper veins etched below the courtyard map.

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"Next lesson."

"You'll pair with older delvers — real pairs, real depth."

"Shallow Veins are the Academy's heartbeat."

"But the deep Veins…?"

"That is where the old world sleeps."

Peggy shifted, eyes gleaming under her fringe.

[ Peggy ]

"When?"

Mrs. Maiven's lips twitched — a crack in her frozen lake.

[ Mrs. Maiven ]

"When you're strong enough, Peggy."

"And when the Vein remembers you back."

◈◈◈

The courtyard scattered like spilled sand. Skyward drifted off first — boots clean, chatter sharp. Dawnseeker melted into the shade, glancing over shoulders as if the Vein might grab an ankle just to remind them who owned the stone.

Rio tried to lunge at the sneering Sullivan, but Peggy snagged him by the collar.

[ Peggy ]

"Save it for the next Vein, hero."

"He is twice your size."

[ Rio ]

"Size doesn't matter, Pegs."

"One clean right hook and I'm good."

[ Peggy ]

"Trust me..."

"It does matter, in your case."

Kaiden lingered by the low wall, tracing his fingertip over the root knot he'd chalked into the stone. Three simple lines, branching. The hum was real — a warm pulse under his skin.

Irna perched beside him, skirt brushing grit off the flagstones. She held her sleeve tight to her wrist, voice soft.

[ Irna ]

"Your mark's still bright."

"Even when you're not touching it."

Kaiden shrugged, half-smiling.

[ Kaiden ]

"I guess it wants to remember me too."

Irna pressed a tiny daisy into the chalk lines — careful, deliberate. A root knot crowned with white petals.

[ Irna ]

"Then don't forget it back."

He watched her skip to find Peggy, hair bouncing like dandelion fluff. Nerim ambled over, shoving a chipped crystal into Kaiden's palm.

[ Nerim ]

"For luck."

"Not everyone comes back shiny, yeah?"

"Hehe… I found one for each of us."

Kaiden turned the shard in the light. It gleamed faintly — an echo of the hush that settled deeper behind his ribs.

[ HEART ]

[ Cradle Vein Scrap ]

Durability: 1/1

Market Value: Nil

Grade: Common

[ Passive ] +0.0002 INT (Vein)

Resonance: Awaiting

[ HEART ]

[ Nerim's Shard - Unique ]

Durability: 10/10

Market Value: Nil

Grade: Common

[ Passive ] +1 LUK (Bond)

Resonance: Awaiting

A hush pulsed back. Stronger. Hungrier.

[ * Kaiden * ]

"A shard I didn't find…"

"And yet it grants a whole point."

"What are you trying to tell me, old man?"

"Resonance?"

"Roots?"

"Bonds?"

"What is it?"

He pocketed the crystal — but in truth, it slipped into that hidden hollow only he could touch.

◈◈◈

That night, the dorm buzzed with half-dreamed stories — ghost trolls, roots humming in the dark, marks that whispered names. Rio sprawled across his bunk, snoring so loud the beams creaked in protest. Nerim lay curled under his blanket, tracing Vein spirals onto the wood with a chalky fingertip.

Kaiden lay awake. The hush pressed close, humming like the Vein's distant breath.

Two seeds waited behind his ribs — scraps of old stone and Nerim's unexpected gift. A hush that said: Roots remember. And he would too.

He drifted off with his fingers brushing the rune on his palm. Outside, the merantis trees combed secrets into the wind — and the Vein below shifted, storing his mark deep in the world's old bones.

The roots ran deep.

And far below, it whispered his name back