Welcome to Gaia! ::

Radscha had been waiting for this moment ever since she could remember. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, it was finally here. It was the moment she would at last get to declare a rank! She’d always thought about this moment, always wondered how it might play out. She knew the basics of the ceremony, of course. Everyone knew. Go to the warehouse of stones, find the one that called to you, and join the rank based on it. Pretty simple really.

It wasn’t the ceremony itself that Radscha had been waiting for but, rather, the end to her wondering. Wondering which rank might ultimately call to her. Because, as it stood, she felt pulled towards two seemingly separate ambitions. Part of her desired to be a Mender, so that she might help and heal. Yet another part of her- the more brazen one- wanted to do more than that. It wanted to protect the herd with everything she had. To give it her all so that any enemy would never seek to harm them. It was a constant battle with herself, flipping back and forth between the two rankings, reasoning out the pros and cons to each. Radscha had yet to determine a clear victor in this private war of hers. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she ever would. Not unless the stones gave her guidance. Which is why she had always looked forward to this moment. Now, standing amidst the stones, she would have her answer.

Radscha stood in the center of the warehouse, focusing on the call of the stones around her. She felt a soft tug here and there but nothing definitive at first. Then, in an instant, there was an intense pull towards a grouping of stones at her right. There were mixtures of blue, purple, red and orange mixed in the stones, denoting them as water and fire stones. Her heart leapt at the notion of having either be her affinity. Mender and Protector were very real possibilities! The question for the moment was- which would she be? More waiting. More wondering. She glanced from one stone to the other, curiously trying to find which called out more. Except...she couldn’t. Fire and water. Water and fire. Both sets drew her to them, deigning that they be hers. Was that even possible? Radscha wasn’t sure. It wasn’t uncommon with Technicians to feel a kinship to all the stones, but that was due to the specifics of their role. It was necessary for them. But for her? Was it possible that she could be both Protector and Mender? That she could perhaps even combine the two into a singular notion somehow?

Clearly, the water stones and fire stones had claimed her. Their call was too strong to deny it. Maybe...just maybe...she’d been trying too hard all these years to become solely one thing when, in fact, she was meant to make two into one. Protector and Mender...Mender and Protector. A warrior healer. Yes, that did have a nice sound to it...

Her heart was thundering a staccato just beneath her ribs and her eyes widened to take in the thrilling sights before her. Finally, after what had felt like such a long and excruciating wait she was being shown into the stone warehouse in order to learn her place within the herd as well as to meet the destiny that awaited her. How long had she dreamt of this precise moment? Long enough to believe that she already knew exactly which of the stones would sing to her.

Fire. Fire was her element and she knew that it would call to her. Sure she hadn’t actually practiced any combat and didn’t even truly know if she would make for a skilled warrior, but fire was the strongest and most beautiful in her eyes so it HAD to choose her.

Both her mind and her heart were set as she approached the collection of fire stones with a knowing smile. Any minute now she would feel a rush of heat, see sparks dance before her eyes and hear the crackling song of flames. Any minute now. Any minute…

After a few long moments spent staring at the brilliant oranges and yellows of the fire gems she felt a tightness in her chest that she wasn’t familiar with. Nothing was happening. The stones were not reaching out for her nor were they singing their song to her.

“I don’t...I don’t understand…” She whispered to herself while turning to the other members of the herd who had come to assist her in this coming of age rite. None of them moved or made any kind of sound but one, the one who stood out above the rest, Ametrine smiled softly at her and bobbed her head in an encouraging fashion.

Her gaze slipped back to the fire stones and still nothing happened but Ametrine, their leader, hadn’t seemed to be saying that it was time to give up. Then, just as she was about to glance furtively to the knowledgeable matriarch a second time something soft caused her ear to swivel.

It wasn’t a sound she was familiar with but for some reason or other she knew it. It was a call. Something was calling to her.

Stepping gingerly around each pile she tried to shake off her earlier defeat and instead follow the sound, comforted at least that it seemed to be coming from one of the stones.
There!

Her eyes caught on something flashing beneath a grouping of other stones and she dug carefully at it with her paw, unearthing it bit by bit until a light stone was blinking excitedly up at her.

“You?” She asked the stone as though it would actually form words.

While it did not speak it still flashed and carried on, the song it sang never quieting until she touched it with her paw and felt a rush of energy spread all throughout her body. It was as though the song seeped into the core of her being and tangled itself with her soul, filling in a piece of herself that she hadn’t realized was missing.

“But…” She said after the rush seemed to calm, confusion still whipping around her like a sandstorm.

“Sometimes the stones know us better than we know ourselves, and sometimes it is through them that we learn who we are truly meant to be and what it is that we have to offer.” Ametrine’s voice called to her gently. “Perhaps, just as light does, you are meant to bend and blaze brightly down a different path.”

Disappointment still lingered within her breast but she could not deny the mare’s wisdom nor the fact that, perhaps, this would be an entirely new adventure for her. She was not one to quit and though she was not positive how she would do as an acolyte of the light there was one thing she knew for certain, she would give it her all.