Morning light filtered through the canopy, soft and golden, scattering across the crystal saplings Lira had planted. Tiny shoots glimmered faintly, their edges refracting the sun like miniature prisms. Fluffy padded among them, tail swishing, inspecting each new leaf as if approving the arrangement.
Lira knelt beside one of the larger saplings, brushing a hand over its delicate crystalline petals. The juice she had made from the fruits of the crystal world seeped into the soil, faint rainbow veins spreading through the roots. Already, the Grove seemed to hum more fully, a richer, deeper resonance that intertwined with the Great Tree's own pulse.
Renkai leaned against a nearby trunk, arms crossed but relaxed, a small smile playing on his lips. "You've really outdone yourself," he said softly. "The Grove… it feels alive in a different way."
