Lucy moved behind Jude and wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek resting between his shoulder blades. "We should stay here for now. Near the river. Near the flower."
Sophie nodded. "We should build."
Natalie added, "Together."
And so they did.
The rest of the day passed in a haze of gentle motion. They didn’t speak much. They didn’t need to. Hands found stones, vines, branches. The forest gave willingly - nothing thorned, nothing resisted. The trees offered long leaves perfect for weaving, their bark soft and pliable. The vines bent with a touch, strong and supple. It was as if the island had watched them, and now provided everything they might need.
They built near the river, just beyond the water’s reach. A low, circular structure of woven branches and smooth wood, open to the air, the heartstone flower visible just beyond through the trees. Inside, they laid moss and flowers, warm river stones and hanging lights that glowed of their own accord, like the island had bottled bits of starlight and left them for decoration.
When night fell again, they didn’t return to the forest clearing. They curled inside the new sanctuary, warm from exertion, glowing still from the current running through them. Lucy pressed close to Jude, her bare skin a balm to his still-awake senses. Beside them, Stella and Grace whispered to one another, fingers interlaced. Rose curled against Sophie, the tension between them easing at last into sothing softer.
No words were spoken about what had blood. Not yet.
But every glance carried the weight of it.
Jude slept with Lucy’s breath on his neck and the soft warmth of the river not far off. His dreams were different now - less chaotic, more... shaped. He dreamt of a fla held in his hands. Of roots that pulsed with laughter. Of a child’s voice calling out, not in fear, but in joy. He heard his na.
And hers.
And all of theirs.
When he woke, morning light poured in through the woven slats of the sanctuary. He wasn’t the first up. Rose and Zoey were already outside, walking slowly along the riverbank, their hair catching sunlight. Stella was stretching, her body lithe and feline. Lucy was still asleep, draped over him like she was part of his skin.
He didn’t move.
Not yet.
He needed one more minute of this.
The stillness. The warmth. The peace.
Because deep inside, he knew - sothing was coming. A change. A becoming.
But for now, there was Lucy.
And the island.
And the promise that whatever ca next, they would face it together.
Zoey called his na first, her voice playful but with an undercurrent of curiosity. "Jude. You awake yet?"
Lucy stirred against him, her leg sliding slightly over his thigh as her lips brushed the curve of his shoulder. "Mmm... do we have to be awake?" she whispered, her voice husky with sleep.
"We do," Jude murmured, stroking his fingers through her hair. "But maybe just barely."
She nuzzled closer for one more mont, then exhaled and stretched. "Fine," she said with mock resignation, lifting herself lazily and propping up on her elbow. "Let’s see what the glowing river fairies want."
He smiled, kissed her softly, then rolled out from the nest of moss and woven leaves. Outside, the river glead with the sa warm shimr it had carried the night before, but now the light seed to gather in denser pulses around Zoey and Rose as they stood knee-deep in the water, both of them gazing down.
"We found sothing," Zoey said when she saw him approaching, her hair dripping in dark wet strands, the golden sheen still sparkling faintly across her shoulders.
Rose didn’t look away from the water. "More like... sothing found us."
Jude stepped into the river beside them, letting the warm current sweep around his legs. "What is it?"
Zoey pointed, and beneath the surface, sothing shimred - coiled and pale, long like a vine but fluid like a creature. It moved in slow spirals, not fleeing, not approaching. Just watching.
"It’s been circling us since dawn," Rose said, her tone neither worried nor reverent. "It feels... familiar."
The others began gathering along the bank. Lucy ca barefoot, her wrap hanging loosely at her hips, her hair catching the morning light. Natalie joined her, blinking sleepily, followed by Grace and Stella, both already carrying small baskets filled with fresh berries and nuts. Susan lingered furthest back, cautious but curious.
"It doesn’t look dangerous," Grace offered, peering into the water. "But it doesn’t look natural either."
Jude crouched down, his hand hovering just above the river’s surface. The shape beneath moved closer, coiling gently in his direction but never touching. It undulated slowly, its glow flickering with each movent.
Emma stepped closer, her tone sharp and steady. "Is it alive?"
"I think it’s... awareness," Rose said. "The island. A piece of it."
"Trying to talk?" Sophie asked.
"Maybe just show us sothing," Lucy murmured.
Then, as if responding to the idea, the shape below stilled. It pulsed once - twice - and then dissolved like smoke in the current. A few seconds passed, and then light began rising from the riverbed in small bursts, golden droplets floating upward, drifting between them like fireflies. One of them hovered near Jude’s face.
He blinked - and saw.
Not with his eyes, but behind them.
A flicker of a place he didn’t know.
A glade.
A circle of black stones.
A hollow tree split down the center, its inside pulsing with gold.
He gasped and stepped back, water sloshing. "Did anyone else - ?"
"I saw it," Lucy whispered.
"So did I," Stella added.
Rose looked at him. "It’s calling us again."
Jude stood and nodded, brushing the water from his thighs. "Let’s go."
They moved together as they had before, dressed in what little the island offered - woven strands of vine, silk-soft leaves, the occasional wrap of fur or bark. The sun climbed higher, but the air stayed temperate, thick with floral scents and drifting light.
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