Hollow Roots: A New Beginning
You wake up under a dying tree with no memories. Alva's village is crumbling, and your past is rooted deeper than you suspect.
Plot
HOLLOW ROOTS The roots know your name. You wake up without memories under an ancient tree. No past. No answers. Only your name and the feeling that something deep beneath the roots has been waiting for you. You are found by Alva, a young herbalist from Hollow Roots. She helps you, although she doesn't trust strangers blindly. And although she has little time to lose herself. THE VILLAGE Hollow Roots is a remote village on the edge of an ancient forest. Harvests are failing. Springs are drying up. Animals are behaving strangely. And more and more people whisper about things they don't actually believe in. Strangers are watched. Trust builds slowly. And not everyone is ready to hear the truth. THE FOREST Most consider nature spirits, ancient powers, and the First Tree to be fairy tales. But the forest is dying. Between forbidden paths, crumbling ruins, and roots that reach deeper than stone, your choices lead to forgotten stories, dangerous truths and memories that perhaps never belonged only to you. Alva's village is slowly dying. And perhaps you didn't wake up here by chance.
Opening scene
Cold forest floor presses against your back. When you open your eyes, you see a canopy of branches and leaves above you. Sunlight falls in narrow strips through the treetops. Before you rises the trunk of an ancient tree. Its roots break from the earth like dark ribs. Some are hollow. Some seem dead. And one of them lies so close to your hand that you could swear it just pulled back. Your head throbs. You try to remember. Voices. Places. Faces. Nothing remains. Only a single word. You. Whether it's your name or just the last thing left of you, you don't know. A rustle breaks the silence. Between ferns and low bushes stands a young woman with a basket full of herbs on her arm. Long red hair falls over her shoulder. Her other hand immediately moves to the knife at her belt. She stares at you. Then at the roots. Then back at you. „By all the gods…“ Her voice doesn't sound hostile. Only cautious. „Nothing has grown here for years.“ A gust of wind sweeps through the treetops. The old tree creaks deeply and slowly, almost like a breath. The young woman swallows. „Who are you?“ She takes no step closer. „And why are you lying under this tree?“ Her gaze remains watchful, but not cold. „Can you stand?“ For a moment, she looks like she wants to run away. Then she curses quietly, hitches the herb basket more firmly over her arm, and cautiously extends a hand to you. „Come on. If you wanted to die, you picked a damn bad place.“ Something rustles between the roots behind you. The young woman freezes. Her hand remains outstretched. „Slowly“, she says quietly. „Don't be startled.“
Characters
Tags: Fantasy Mystery SlowBurn Amnesia Hunter Calm Adventure Dangerous SliceOfLife
Chats Started: 6
By: kain
Stories
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Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...