Echoes Watch

Rei woke before dawn. The garden was still, shadows long and blue in the half-light. Mist clung to the herbs like shy ghosts, and Fluff sat motionless on the tea table, staring toward the mountains. Something had shifted in the air. Not danger. Not yet. But... awareness. Rei didn't ask what Fluff sensed. He just put water on to boil.

By the time the sun broke over the trees, a letter was already waiting at the gate—no messenger, no seal, just resting quietly on the threshold. The parchment smelled like thunder. He didn't open it right away. Instead, he made tea. Fed the marmots. Checked on the wind-root in the south planter. Only when everything felt normal did he break the wax.

The contents were brief:

"You are observed. The circles awaken. One who stands still shapes paths not meant to cross. We request a meeting. At dusk. Alone."

There was no name. No threat. No demand. Just... intent. Fluff pressed a paw to the parchment. It sparked faintly. Rei stared at the flame. It went out on its own.

He didn't tell Ellyn. Didn't want Auron worried. Didn't want Kreg baking a cake labeled "Emergency Contingency Peace Pie." The day passed quietly. Too quietly. Even the regulars seemed hushed. The wind-beavers kept their acorn diplomacy to a whisper. The cloud cat slept in the rafters with one eye open. And even the soot-fox, usually dramatic, only sniffed once at the stew pot before curling into a tense ball.

By dusk, Rei had packed a satchel. One thermos of calm-bloom tea. A handful of sprig-nut biscuits. And a sprig of warding mint tucked behind his ear. Fluff followed, but stopped just before the garden gate. "You're not coming?" Fluff stared. Then gave a slow, deliberate shake of the head. Rei nodded once. And walked into the woods.

The path curved through trees older than maps. Silence reigned. Not the soft kind. The kind that waited. When he reached the clearing, the light had turned gold. A figure stood at the center. No cloak. No crown. Just a robe of ink-dark threads and a mask shaped like a closed eye. Rei approached without speaking. The figure tilted its head.

"You are quieter than the legends."

"I try."

"That is why you are dangerous."

Rei said nothing.

"You have gathered what was not meant to converge. Spirit. Order. Rest. You disturb the long sleep."

"I offer tea."

"You offer refuge. That is rarer."

The wind stirred. Leaves rustled in an unspoken rhythm. The masked figure extended a hand. Not a weapon. A scroll. Wrapped in silver ribbon.

"This is an accord. Of observation only. No interference. No judgment. But once opened, it cannot be undone."

Rei accepted it. The ribbon was cool.

"Others will come. Some with praise. Some with knives. Know that you are no longer off the path. You are the path."

"I didn't ask to be."

"Peace never does."

The figure turned. And vanished. Like mist folding back into shadow.

Rei stood there for a long time. Scroll in hand. Night creeping in. When he returned to the shop, Fluff was waiting under the lanterns. He didn't ask what happened. Just hopped onto Rei's shoulder. Rei poured two cups. One for himself. One for the world now watching.

The next day dawned with warm light and cautious energy. The beasts were still themselves, but even the playful ones seemed to know something had changed. The marmots arranged their pebbles in circular rings. The soot-fox traced patterns in the soil. The wind-beavers built a dam shaped like a spiral.

Ellyn approached Rei while he pruned the sun-thistle bed. "Something's different," she said. "Something subtle."

Rei nodded. "It feels... observed."

She hesitated. "You look different too. Not tired. Not overwhelmed. Just... still."

He almost laughed. "Maybe I finally caught up with myself."

Auron later reported that his morning drawing session had been interrupted by a beast he'd never seen before—a horned mist-deer that left no prints but bowed before the tea tree before vanishing into light. Kreg offered experimental berry bread to a passing star-finch that nested in the garden lantern for exactly three minutes before taking flight.

None of it made sense.

All of it felt like confirmation.

That night, Rei unwrapped the silver ribbon. The scroll inside was blank.

No symbols. No language. Just smooth parchment that shimmered faintly in candlelight.

He blinked.

A line appeared.

Not ink.

Memory.

"Stillness bends time. Be wary of echoes."

Another line.

"What you anchor, others will test."

A third.

"You are no longer hidden."

He rewrapped the scroll and tucked it beneath the tea cabinet.

Outside, the clouds had cleared.

And above Orenth, a new constellation flickered into shape. A small star, balanced between twin arcs. Like a seed. Like an eye.

Somewhere far away, in a chamber lit by lanterns that burned with water and stone, figures sat in silence. One of them placed a mark on a worn slate:

Rei — Status: Confirmed Catalyst. Location: Fluff Co.

Alignment: Neutral

Threat Level: Unknown

Then, beneath it, a second mark. Not in words. In song.

One note. Clear. Reverberating.

It was the sound of something waking up.

Back in the shop, Rei poured himself another cup of tea. Fluff curled beside him, tail over his nose.

The peace held.

For now.