"When the wind speaks louder than the trees, even the strongest roots must hold their breath."
—Camp Codex, Entry: On Rain and Reckoning
Afternoon, One Day After the Threadseal Awakening
The clouds rolled in with intent.
Kazuto had noticed the temperature shift long before the sky turned gray. A faint pressure in the air—more than humidity, less than dread. The birds had quieted by midday, and the cedar tree's crown no longer swayed with the usual breeze.
Rook returned from the west path with a soaked tunic and a tight jaw.
"There's something wrong in the marsh hollows," he said. "No frogs. No buzz of flies. Even the reeds aren't swaying."
Kazuto nodded once. "Storm's coming."
"Yeah. But not just weather."
They stood beneath the tarp structure between tents. The new structure blueprints from the Camp Codex—the Threadloom Shelter—required a rare material: Griefroot Resin. The Codex had marked the closest potential source as a grove nearly a kilometer southeast, past the dark marsh line where the forest thickened unnaturally.
It wasn't urgent yet. But it would be.
The Codex displayed a passive system warning:
▸ Camp Status Warning
Barometric Pressure Drop Detected
▸ Probability of "Hollow Storm": 73%
▸ Mirage Activity Level: Rising
❖ Recommend: Construct Threadloom Shelter within 48 hours to ensure settler mental stability during nightfall storms.
Kazuto weighed his options.
He looked at the map overlay, checked their remaining materials, estimated how long the rain might last if it arrived tonight. All signs pointed to one thing:
They couldn't delay the resin collection.
But they also couldn't send anyone else.
Lessa was still mentally fragile from her link with the Threadseal. Yui and Ren had exhausted their warding materials. Rook was dependable, but he wasn't yet attuned to the Codex—and Kazuto didn't trust what the Codex hadn't acknowledged.
No shortcuts. Not in a forest that watched.
He turned back toward the group.
"I'm going."
The Resin Grove
The southeast path bled into fog faster than expected.
Kazuto moved carefully, hand on the haft of his walking staff. It wasn't a weapon, but it was reinforced with hardened oak tips, and one end carried a small metal spike for anchoring tarps in rock. Not glamorous. But practical.
He hadn't brought a sword.
If something attacked, he wouldn't win in a fight. But he wasn't here to fight. He was here to learn, observe, and extract.
Rational. Always.
The Codex pinged quietly.
▸ Terrain Entry: Rain-Slicked Weald
▸ Atmospheric Reading: Moderate Veil Distortion
▸ Local Mutation Risk: Contained (for now)
Warning: Memory bleed is possible if exposed to Griefroot Resin without proper anchoring structure.
▸ Recommendation: Limit exposure time under 20 minutes. Anchor mind with physical grounding (e.g., scent, rhythm, firelight).
Bonus Insight: Firelight rhythm best matches known human meditative breath cycles.
— Codex Addendum: "He who remembers too much, forgets who he was."
Kazuto knelt beside the first resin tree.
Griefroot looked ordinary on the outside—similar to a sycamore with curled bark and pale vines—but when cut, it bled a slow, gold-red sap that smelled faintly of old soil and wet cloth.
He didn't touch it.
Instead, he unpacked a small firestarter kit, lit a coil of cedar and herb bark beneath his scarf, and began collecting the resin with a stone-and-silk filter pouch. His breath matched the fire's crackling rhythm, steady, clean. It kept his mind clear.
One bag. Two.
On the third, he noticed the shift.
The Mirage
It stood ten meters off. Humanoid. Long-limbed. No eyes, no mouth. Its body shimmered as if underwater. It didn't move—but it shook, ever so slightly, like a figure trapped between moments.
The Codex didn't ping.
That scared him more.
He didn't reach for a weapon. He didn't yell. He simply stood, resin bag half-sealed, and began to walk backwards. Slowly.
Always observe. Don't assume threat. Let logic lead.
The thing didn't follow. But its shape... it bent light wrong. As though its presence warped the memory of the trees around it.
Kazuto reached the edge of the grove in just under a minute.
Then the Codex chimed.
▸ New Entity Logged: Mirage Shade (Unanchored)
▸ Description: Entity formed from collective memory distortion in rain-thickened zones.
▸ Behavior: Passive unless provoked or approached by memory-rich individuals.
▸ Risk: High for emotionally unstable settlers. Minimal for grounded mindstates.
▸ Logged by: Kazuto Yamada
— Field Observation Notes Attached
Codex Trait Gained:
▸ Observer's Calm (Passive)
– Effect: Slight resistance to mental strain from Codex-linked anomalies.
– Note: A calm mind is the sharpest blade.
Return to Camp
Rain had begun to fall by the time Kazuto reached the edge of the fire boundary.
Yui and Lessa rushed toward him, cloaks up, eyes wide.
"You were gone over an hour," Yui said.
"I kept track of time," Kazuto replied calmly, lifting the sealed resin pouches. "Three samples. No mental noise."
"Did you see anything?" Lessa asked, voice tight.
He didn't answer right away.
Only once they'd returned under shelter and lit the fire, Kazuto told them—every detail. The figure. The silence. The distortion. He didn't dramatize. He didn't minimize.
Just truth.
When he finished, the others were quiet. Even Rook, who had returned from reinforcing the tent lines, looked subdued.
Kazuto looked them all over. He spoke slowly, clearly.
"I will never lie to you. Not even to protect you. You have the right to know what's beyond the safety we build here. That's the only way we survive. As equals."
Yui's shoulders relaxed. Rook nodded silently. Lessa smiled just a little.
It wasn't grand leadership.
It was integrity.
Camp Codex Entry Unlocked
Structure: Threadloom Shelter
▸ Materials fulfilled. Construction may begin.
Trait Gained: Shelter Architect (Kazuto)
– When MC initiates structure build personally, gain bonus ward strength.
▸ Bonus:
"He builds with clear eyes. Even the shade cannot follow."