[[[Back Log - Ksenia is an Adolescent]]
She wanted to say goodbye to her parents, to her siblings, but she couldn’t. When the noble approached her, spoke to her, she was sent off on the naming quest who her father had once told was a time for adventure. She moved quickly over the lands of the swamps, inching closer and closer to the border. Her once short, stubby white legs were now longer. She still moved a little awkwardly on the ground as she was not technically fully grown, but she moved quickly none the less.
The sooner I get done with this quest, the sooner I can get home to my family! she thought mentally to herself.
She did not know how long this quest would take, or even where she should begin at. How was it suppose to work again? She tried to remember what her father had told her when she was younger. “You get to chose a name for yourself, just like your mother and I have done for you and your siblings,” the words reminisced in her mind. “You get to choose a name for yourself,” she repeated out loud, jumping over a log as she slowed her speed to a brisk trot.
Her bright blue eyes looked around, this was home. Already names began to come to her, but she was sure that was not how things worked.
“Go on an adventure, the spirits of the swamp will be with you on this journey.” Her father’s word rang once again in her mind. She didn’t need to find a name while she was in this swamp still. She shouldn’t need to worry about what may lie just outside these boundaries. After all, if her father’s words were true, she would never really be alone.
As she neared the borders, her trot became a walk. She really didn’t want to leave, but this was something all young adults went through. Didn’t Talahm mention that to her as well? Maybe her siblings were also on their naming quest, and they could meet up in time and travel together. How nice would it be if they all had names that related to the same site or sound they saw. Parents would usually confuse the most different of names, but that would really throw them off.
“If only!” Ksenia said out loud, stopping at the border. She turned around, looking at her home. Just yonder past those tree lines was the ‘secret pool’ which wasn’t really a secret, that her father and her had gone to one day he had found her sneaking out of the den, following him. And just past there, a whole bed of small purple and white flowers that her mother loved. Maybe she should have grabbed some of those before she left, that way, she could always have a little reminder of her mother with her. And then there was the area where her siblings had always played in.
“I remember we would run around in the swamp, getting all dirty and then mom and dad would have to clean us all up!” She said aloud again, sitting for a minute. She was blessed to have such a dark pelt that would cover some of the mud on her, but cursed as well by the long white stockings clad on each one of her legs. Heh. Those were the good old days, weren’t they?
The sun was just in the middle of the sky now. The day seemed to have gone by quickly. It was only this morning when she was just out catching a hare dinner for herself, not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, but her she stood! It was funny how things sometimes worked out, whether it was for better or for worse.
She sat, listening to the wind in the trees, and the rustling of the grass. There was a soft padding of noise coming from the left, causing her cornflower blue eyes to shift that direction. There, she noticed a gray male adult slinking her one. He wasn’t intimidating, he seemed rather small in size, but the full grown cream colored mane indicated the proper age of the male.
“Beginning your new life?” He said quietly, a small smile caressing his maw.
Ksenia only nodded, “How did you know?”
Ender’s smile widened somewhat. He didn’t say ‘he had a vision’ or that ‘he saw her face in the hollowed out tree’ but rather shrugged his shoulders and spoke, “I caught a glimpse of you running. Well… more so your legs running.” He laughed quietly. It was true, while you would probably miss the dark pelted female against a shaded area, there was no missing the bright white pelt that was bore on her legs.
“I remember when I set off for my quest…Good luck! It may seem confusing at first, but soon, you’ll know what to do.” He said the ever present smile. With a quick wave of a paw, he headed away from the borders, his fleeting gray form just present ever so slightly amongst the darker tree line before it eventually disappeared altogether.
Ksenia would have asked for his name, or had given hers, but
the conversation was just so quick she did not have time. She did manage to get in a small wave goodbye, before his form disappeared back into the pride. “Good luck,” she quoted the male. Even though her parents were not here, she was sure that is exactly what they would say to her right now. At least when the male showed up it was as if the whole pride was saying goodbye.
She needed to head off. This was the end of one chapter, but certainly also the beginning of a new.
“Don’t worry home. The next time you see me I will no longer be Ksenia, the wanderer! I will be someone anew.” She stood once more, bowing her head slightly to the swamplands once more before pivoting on her heels and loping off. She would return…one day.
[[FIN - Word Count 1005]]
