Lumikani could not believe what she was seeing. All around her, the sisters' voices rose up to a monstrous roar. It nearly felt physical, the sound of their voices as they cried out for their new mother and the future of their tribe. Lumikani kept silent, although it was hard to resist raising her own voice and joining in with the bloodlust. Instead, she moved her smaller form around her sisters and to the front, where she could get a clear view of the small child held in their matron's hands.

It was a bloomed child, but it was no Alkidike. The girl and grey skin with pink extremities, and hair the color of rubies. Her eyes, which cracked open to curiously look around, were bright green. Although physically she appeared of their race, her coloring and the extra antennae were a clear sign of difference.

Just as Elzira was different from Aisha, so were these girls. Although they held the roots of the Alkidike, they could not be considered so.

Their future as a cause would live on, but their bodies would change to this new race. The thought sent a jolt of stark reality to the smaller Alkidike.

Lumikani, who had always followed Aisha blindly, was at a loss. Aisha had sent them away, and although her seed provided life, it was in the form of this new being. Elzira, a cousin tree to their own, blessed them with a chance for change. Lumikani was uncertain when the tree bloomed, but now she felt even more detached.

Walking away from the cheering crowd, and the face of their future, Lumikani went to her hut deep in their village. She settled down and tried to wrap her head around things, and realized she was in a bit of a shock. Aisha was gone, and they were left with this new tree. Grown from the root of her past, her future was a new direction. She could only follow Elzira now, only follow the pace of this split. Maybe, before, she could see a chance to join her sisters across the sea.

But now, there was no more option.

This day marked the official severing of the extremists and the Alkidikes. And in a generation, their group would be no more. They would become the nameless grey figures, born in the soil of a foreign land and raised on a cause that broke apart mothers, daughters, and sisters. Never before had Lumikani felt so torn.

If she thought about it long enough, she could easily place her confusion to her undying love for Aisha. That, and the fact she knew that Elzira was one in the same. The same power, the same figure, she was a cousin. And the fact that their Matron heard the voice and knew when the blooms would occur...well...who could deny such a miracle? Lumikani would be foolish to turn away from her sisters now.

Yet, Aisha was her mother. She was the reason Lumikani grew strong and moved out to this land. She was the reason Lumikani had bloomed and she was the reason Lumikani fought. Her past was all Aisha. How could she turn away from her mother and fight for a cousin instead.

"Elzira, bloomed from the mother. Maybe Elzira was given to us by Aisha to guide us. A reward to those who showed true faith and power. Aisha cannot reach across the sea...so maybe she blessed us with a seed to start anew. Maybe Aisha knew...that her race was dying from the rot of their ways...and Aisha wanted to give life to a new cause."

Could this be...her sacrifice? Lumikani was surprised to find tears falling from her eyes. Never had she cried, not since she realized she was to march to war. She never cried for her lost sisters, mothers, or tree. She never cried for her fate. Yet, here she cried as she realized this was Aisha's ultimate gift and sacrifice.

Aisha was giving them life as a reward for all of their actions, and now it was time to have faith in her mother's choice. Elzira may not be her true mother, but maybe she would help guide the young blooms from her roots. It was up to Lumikani to provide for their future, a future she may not understand. Stuck between her past, and the future of the race, she was merely a guide. To continue to educate the young ones on Aisha's ways, but to also cultivate them so they might embrace Elzira.

Elzira, their future.

Oh what a bittersweet realization she had. Lumikani cried for the pains of her past, but opened her heart up for the potential of her future.


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