Sodeko

The ancient sabre on Sodeko’s back has never been drawn in The Heart of the Forest. The locals, busy with their feasts and songs, barely notice it. To them, Sodeko is just the quiet wanderer in the crimson cap, the one with wrinkled lips who smiles at their dancing but never joins. They help gather roots and listen more than they speak, blending into the amber-leaved calm. But sometimes a visitor, new to the clearing, will ask about the blade. Sodeko simply touches the hilt, their eyes never losing their resting gaze, and replies, “It remembers a different kind of quiet.” The question is never asked twice. In a place of such life, some things are best left buried.