The Vale homestead was quiet.Eve sat up slowly, her blanket still tangled around her legs, the warmth of sleep clinging to her skin. Somewhere inside, Valery breathed steadily in the other room—peaceful, resting, as was her mother. But Eve couldn’t sleep. Not yet. Something pulled at her. Quietly, she stepped into her boots and slipped outside.
The night air on Eshan was colder than she remembered. A gentle wind slid through the silvergrass fields like a sigh, stirring the stalks in slow waves that shimmered beneath the moonlight. The sky stretched wide and sharp above her, stars scattered in pale constellations across the black. Eve hugged her arms around herself and stepped away from the house, her breath catching in her throat.
She still smelled faintly of the hot springs; mineral warmth, pine resin, something wild and old. The steam had long since left her skin, but its calm lingered in her muscles. And yet, even after all that, something restless flickered behind her ribs. She moved to the edge of the clearing, where the trees began to reach out like arms from the darkness. A branch creaked. The grass hushed. Then, she felt it.
A presence, quiet, feather-light, brushing at the edge of her senses like mist curling around her ankles. Not a threat. Not even a greeting. Just... curiosity and observation. The Force hummed, faint and steady. Her silver eyes shifted toward the treeline.
And there it stood.
A fox, its coat a shimmering, near-luminescent white, silver eyes catching the moonlight like mirrors. Black stripes marked its body in graceful arcs, fading into the shadows at its feet. It watched her in stillness, its head tilted just slightly, ears twitching in the breeze. Eve didn’t move. Her heart beat faster, but she said nothing, did nothing. The Force wrapped around her like breath, urging her to remain still. The fox took a step forward. Then another. It was silent, surreal. A creature carved from the Light itself.
She realised then, this was the same fox she had glimpsed on the ridge, just before they left the springs. She had thought it a dream. A trick of the steam. But it was far from her imagination. She dropped slowly into a crouch, her hands resting on her knees, not reaching, not asking, merely being. The fox came no closer, but it stayed. Eyes locked. Breath shared. A moment passed, long and suspended. The wind shifted, stirring the grass again. The fox turned its head slightly to the side, watching her the way she might watch a leaf drifting down a river.
Then it blinked, slow and deliberate.
And vanished into the trees.
Eve remained there, unmoving, her fingers curling against the earth. Her heart was thudding in her chest. But she didn’t feel afraid. She felt... seen. Not like a Jedi. Not even like a girl. Just as Eve.
She stood after a time, exhaling softly.
The wind had changed. Something had begun.
