Chibi discovered spring in the mud.

He stood in the narrow alley behind the house, staring down at a spreading patch of brown sludge where snow had sat stubbornly only a few days earlier.

He poked it with a stick.

The stick sank halfway in.

“Excellent,” he said with quiet approval.

Mara appeared beside him, barefoot as usual despite the cold stones beneath her feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Science.”

She looked down.

“That’s mud.”

“Yes.”

“That’s not science.”

“It becomes science when you poke it.”

Mara crouched beside him.

The air smelled different today. Not the thin, sharp cold of winter anymore, but something softer. Somewhere nearby someone was baking bread, and from the square came the distant sound of raised voices arguing about vegetables.

“Listen,” Mara said softly.

Chibi tilted his head.

“What?”

“The birds.”

He frowned.

“What birds?”

Then he heard them.

Small quick chirps echoing between the rooftops.

He looked up just in time to see a dark shape streak across the sky.

“Oh.”

“Yes,” Mara said.

“They’re back.”

Chibi watched the swallow vanish beyond the roofs.

“So winter’s finished?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Then why are the birds here?”

Mara thought about that.

“Because something else is starting.”

Chibi looked thoughtfully at the mud again.

“Is it the mud?”

“Partly.”

He nodded with great seriousness.

“That makes sense.”

They wandered out into the square.

Altdorf felt different today.

Not quieter.

Louder.

The fountain that had been frozen all winter was running again, meltwater rushing through stone channels toward the river. Children had already gathered around it.

One had found a hoop.

Another had found a particularly impressive stick.

A small argument had already begun.

“Spring,” Chibi announced confidently.

Mara smiled.

“Maybe.”

Across the square a cart loaded with early green leaves had drawn a crowd of adults shouting about prices.

Chibi wrinkled his nose.

“Adults get very strange when plants appear.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“They’ve been waiting.”

“For leaves?”

“For the world.”

He watched the adults for a moment longer.

“They don’t look happy.”

“They look hopeful.”

“That’s different?”

“Yes.”

Near the wall something white caught Chibi’s eye.

He crouched down.

Small flowers had pushed their way up between the stones.

“They came through rock,” he said, impressed.

“Yes.”

“That’s stubborn.”

“Yes.”

He stood slowly, watching the birds circle overhead.

“So the world wakes up every year.”

“Yes.”

“Then why do adults act surprised?”

Mara laughed softly.

“Because they forget.”

“Forget what?”

“That winter isn’t forever.”

Chibi nodded thoughtfully.

Then he looked back at the mud.

“Well,” he said.

“That’s good.”

“Why?”

“Because I have plans.”

“What kind of plans?”

He pointed proudly at the puddle.

“Scientific ones.”

Mara sighed.

And smiled.

Above them the swallows cut across the sky again, black arrows over the rooftops of Altdorf.

And for the first time in months,

the city sounded alive.

---

SPRING & REBIRTH
🜍 Month 3 · The Turning of the Year
🜍 Week 1 — The world wakes
🜍 Life returns before anyone understands it

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game — The Old World

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