Sakamoto's Age: 4.5
Location: En route to Frostline Pass — deep inside the Whispering Woods
Season: Winter wind, thick fog at ground level
Party: Sakamoto, Aelira, Ravian, Ireina — no turning back
---
There are forests that grow.
And there are forests that remember.
The Whispering Woods?
It remembers you.
Even if you were never here before.
---
Entering the Fog
We stepped into the tree line at sunrise.
The moment we crossed the moss gate… the light dimmed.
Birds stopped.
Wind slowed.
Even our footsteps stopped echoing.
Aelira lit a mana-flame in her palm.
> "This place feels like walking through someone else's dream," she whispered.
Ireina nodded.
> "Not a dream. A burial. These trees are grown over memory."
---
The First Echo
It hit me fast.
A flicker of light through the trees.
Laughter.
Familiar.
I saw myself — older, smiling, laughing with someone I didn't recognize.
Then I blinked… and it was gone.
> "Sakamoto?" Ravian asked.
> "I'm fine."
> "You're sweating like you saw your own grave."
> "Maybe I did."
---
Aelira's Memory Trap
Midday. We stopped to rest.
That's when Aelira vanished.
She walked behind a tree.
Didn't come out.
Ravian and I followed.
We found her frozen — staring at a younger version of herself.
She was nine, scared, hiding behind a stone wall, her hands glowing wildly with untrained magic.
> "They locked me in a cellar," she muttered. "Because I couldn't control it."
> "Aelira—" I reached for her.
The vision turned and screamed.
The trees caught fire.
Her mana reacted — exploding outward.
---
First Encounter: Bladesister – "Inkveil"
As we got her under control, Ireina's eyes narrowed.
> "Someone else is here."
Then we saw her.
A woman wrapped in black paper robes, mask of crimson ink, no feet — floating inches above the dirt.
> "You carry the sword that should have stayed asleep," she said.
> "Name?" Ravian asked.
> "Inkveil. Third Sister of the Blade Choir."
> "Purpose?"
> "Take the Vessel. Leave the rest."
> "Not happening."
She smiled beneath the mask.
> "Then bleed for memory."
---
Combat – The Price of Instability
Inkveil moved like smoke.
Her attacks didn't cut — they erased.
Parts of the ground vanished where her blade passed.
Ravian held her back.
Aelira recovered and sent binding roots.
Ireina tried to isolate her with spatial folds.
But it wasn't enough.
> "Sakamoto, now!" Aelira yelled.
I drew Niris.
But the moment I did—
A thousand voices screamed.
The sword pulsed.
My head split.
And I dropped to my knees.
> "Not yet," Niris whispered.
"You're not ready."
---
Final Scene: The Retreat
Ravian struck Inkveil in the chest with a mana-dagger.
She laughed.
Vanished into ink.
> "She let us go," Ireina muttered.
> "Why?"
> "To watch you fail later."
I looked down at my hands.
They were trembling.
Not from fear.
From something deeper.
Doubt.