☯ Spirit Tales ~ Day 01

[spiritworldly]

A cool breeze blows, carrying the faint sound of a wind chime. A warm light filters through the dense foliage in small bursts of yellow rays. The ground is springy soft underfoot, like fresh moss. The world is surprisingly silent; no birds signal the rising sun, no chirps of cricket-cicadas. Unnatural. The morning mist lies thick and close to the ground. When Korra wakes, she finds herself alone with a familiar red scarf wrapped around her wrist.

There is a narrow stone path that leads deeper into the forest. Along the path are tags—streamers of parchment, silk, and linen fluttering from the branches of trees, each one with a prayer or wish written in bold brush strokes. Following the path, it seems to grow lighter as though there were a break in the forest canopy. In the other direction, faint strains of music carry on the breeze, along with soft chimes.

A gold token lies in the center of the path. On the front is the symbol of a tall mountain with a palace on top. Engraved upon the back are three lines of verse.

On high peaks, it stands alone, abandoned, empty and cold.
The palace, gilt in fine gold, finds the lost, and binds them in.
After all, what abandoned palace, lacks abandoned people?