Chapter Text
“Alora wake up.” I woke up blinded by the sunlight from grandma opening the curtains.
I stirred, barely moving and pulling the covers of my bed over my shoulders to shield me from the cold.
Grandma sat on the edge of my bed and lightly brushed my hair out of my face.
“You have a big day ahead of you.” She smiled. “Get up and get dressed, I left the undergarments on your dresser. The rest of the garments will be put over them tonight so you shouldn’t need help. Your father is making breakfast; it should be done by the time you’re finished.” She kissed my forehead and walked out of the room.
Today was my 20th birthday, in my city this marks the coming of adulthood. Since I am a noble regarding the church I must wear all of the sacred garments during my ceremony. For generations, my family has run the church and basically the city too. Sure we have a small government, but everyone I know believes that our goddess is the true power. Therefore, they believe more in us than they do some guy in an office.
My great grandmother never expected it to go that way, but years ago, before I was even born, there was a great drought that almost wiped out our entire population. One day during those trying times, a group of women claimed that they were building a shrine in hopes of a god shining their light on them. Two goddesses came to their aid and bared their true form to these women, granting them with knowledge and new abilities to help them survive. The first goddess was Inara, our goddess of the sun. The one we worship today. And the second was Akari, the moon goddess. They claimed that as long as they used their powers in assistance of others, being selflessly kind and generous, they would get to keep them from then and generations to come.
One of those women were my great grandmother’s mother, there were three women total, all sisters. The first was blessed by the sun goddess, granted the power to speed up the growth of any living thing. The second was blessed with the power of invisibility, while invisible she couldn’t even be heard, no matter how much noise she made. This was done in hopes of helping her hunt for her family. The third sister’s power was decided by both goddesses together, she got the power of celestial wisdom, she had been gifted all the knowledge of mankind and gods alike. Even knowledge that was foreign or in different languages.
The first two sisters immediately used their powers to feed their village. Germinating mass produced crops and hunting large animals. The third, however, felt her share of power was unfair. She never voiced it to her sisters, as she didn’t want to lose it, but their mother could tell. As time grew on though, she felt useless. Nobody needed her ability so she got no recognition for her help. Eventually she grew tired of living in the shadows and disappeared. Nobody has seen her since.
Ever since then, the people have worshipped the goddesses to the nines. The descendants of the invisible sister decided to live outside of the city, in the forests. They supply us with livestock when in need and we provide them with endless crops out of thanks. We’ve been thriving in peace ever since. My family and I are descendants of the first sister; the women in my family have variations of her power. I get to find out what mine is today.
I finally got up and put on the garments, a simple bra-like top and a slip skirt. I walked downstairs into the kitchen where some food was already on a plate for me.
“I made something lighter so you can feast all you want tonight.” My dad winked at me as he sat down with his plate and a drink for me.
It was some simply seasoned chicken and rice, with some greens in the center of the table for everyone.
I began to eat and was hugged from behind, “There’s the girl of the hour!” My mothers voice.
“You mean woman.” My grandma nudged me with her elbow as she walked past me to join us at the table.
My mom laughed, taking the seat next to me. “Of course, how could I forget. Did you sleep okay sweetheart? I hope you did; we’re going to be up real late.”
I nodded with my mouth full, clearing my plate quickly.
“Woah there little lady, don't eat too fast, it won't digest right! We’re not postponing the party if you get indigestion!” My grandma yelled to me as I put my plate in the sink and hurried my way to the door.
My mom shouted to me. “Where are you going in such a rush?”
“To the church to see Thorne, where else?” My dad waved me off while finishing his breakfast, telling me to stay safe.
I said bye and ran out the door, only I wasn’t going to the church. I told my parents that Thorne was a friend from church on the other side of the city so that they wouldn’t worry. They’d lock me in a sterile bubble if they could, and they’d definitely do it if they found out I was going to the forest by myself to meet Thorne, the black and blue furred wolf I found when I was ten. He was an unusual wolf, he was a bit taller than me. Barely smaller than a horse, and despite knowing him since I was ten, he hasn't seemed to age at all. He’d always seemed big to me, but I think that’s just because we grew up together. We grew parallel to each other. When I was 16, I reached my max height, but he kept going. It was only last year when I noticed he had stopped.
I think he’s a blessing of the moon goddess. Goddess of the night, fertility and the hunt. It would make sense since wolves are nocturnal hunters.
I found him in his usual spot, the den I helped him craft because when I was little, I was worried he’d freeze in the night without shelter. And I couldn’t exactly smuggle a six-and-a-half-foot wolf into the church stables. That night I built a fire and accidentally fell asleep on him in the den. My parents were hysterical upon my return, and I had told them I fell asleep in the stables. It was believable because the previous night I told them that’s where I was running off to.
“Hey big guy. It’s been a minute. I’ve been so busy prepping for my ceremony, I’m sorry.” He nuzzled against my chest as I hugged him.
“Today’s my birthday you know, I’ll come find you after the party and we can go to the hot spring how does that sound?”
He stepped back and sat down. I can never tell his feelings based on his expression, but we have some kind of connection that allows me to just know.
I started walking to the den behind him, grabbing my bow and quiver from inside. “Just don't be shocked by my appearance later, for the ceremony I have to cut all my hair. It’ll probably go up to here.” I craned my neck and pointed behind my ear. “Don’t worry though, I’ll still be the same. Who knows? Maybe it’ll suit me better.”
“Enough about that, what do you say to a morning hunt?” His emotion now was clear; he growled once and wagged his tail. Bowing down for me to get up on his back.
I got on his back, and I told him to sniff out a plump rabbit. “I’ll make you some stew with it and keep the foot for myself for good luck.”
After about a half hour of tracking, he knelt again for me to slide off. We both proceeded silently. Past the brush was a rabbit. It was black and white though, I had only ever heard of them. I’ve never seen one before. I drew back my bow from behind a tree and loosed the arrow. It hit the mammal right in the side, I walked over to inspect the kill. It was a quick and painless death; I hit it right in the heart, I think. I retrieved my arrow and handed the rabbit to Thorne.
Before climbing back on him, I noticed the sun was straight above us. “Shit, I need to be at the chapel. I need you to be fast, c’mon.” I hopped up on his back and put all my extra stuff back in the den, running straight to the church.
I busted through the doors and my grandma was right inside waiting for me. “Well look who decided to grace us with her presence! You were almost late!”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, I’m just glad you made it. Go to the dressing room so they can take your measurements. You’ve got a few hours of tailoring ahead of you so brace yourself.” She pointed me in the direction of the dressing room even though I basically grew up in this place.
I walked in and was greeted by an older woman with measuring tape around her neck and a pincushion bracelet. She guided me to stand on a stool and began measuring me and pinning fabrics over my clothes.
I spent hours in that room, the garments had to be sewn directly to me. It made the ceremony more special. The skirt went to about my ankles, it had tons of layers and was a beige color. Made of real animal hides with lots of fringe so it would move more while I danced later. The top was the same material and sat like a shawl, it was off the shoulder but stopped at my inner elbow. The ends were finished with more fringe and atop of it was what took the longest. A beaded top, hand woven and sewn just today out of wooden beads made from a tree that was planted for me when I was born. For the finishing touches, my hair was braided and will be finished with my life cord. A cord my mother started when I was a baby, each charm and bead representing the firsts in my life. When my hair gets cut later tonight, the cord will be hooked to the waist of my skirt and a lock of my hair from the very bottom will be turned into a tassel to finish off the cord. Marking the end of my childhood with the last of my baby hair.
Finally, we were done with the clothes and it was time for my makeup. The makeup wont take nearly as long because there will be three people working at once. One to paint each of my arms with sacred sigils and one to do the family crests on my face.
My family crest was the crest of the sun goddess, an abstract drawing of the sun itself. Inspired by the ancient drawings of it.
When we were finally done, it was late evening. The sun was halfway through setting already and it was time for the real ceremony to begin
My mom was the only person allowed to see me before the ceremony. She has to be the one to put the cord in my hair per tradition. She’s the one who made it and me so it’s her way of sending me off into the world to make a woman of myself.
“You look beautiful.” She walked in with her arms out, tears welling in her eyes.”
I stepped down to hug her, when she pulled away, she pulled my life cord out of her pocket and asked me to sit.
She gently pulled my braid up and wrapped the cord around my braid, pinning it in place and grabbing my shoulders. She sniffled. “Alright, no time for tears. Everyone is waiting, we should get going.”
We walked out of the room to the front of the church where two horses were waiting for us.
“No carriage? I thought we were supposed to-”
My mom rubbed my arm, “I thought one last ride with my little girl would shake off some of her nerves.” She smiled and helped me onto my horse.
Once she got up on hers she shouted. “I’ll race you!”
It was on, we galloped through the streets until we made it to the woods. The ceremony was to be held in our most sacred ground, the location where the goddesses descended and saved our people. It wasn’t long before we made it to the edge of the site, where the dirt road started. Hopping off our horses, my mom put her elbow out for me to grab her arm as we made our way down. The ceremony was set up like a traditional wedding. Everyone sat on either side of a central aisle while the subject, me, made their way to the altar. My dad joined on my other side right at the start of the aisle and we made our way down. All the guests were sat in the grass and I was the center of attention. I’ve been used to it, growing up as a descendant of blessings, but tonight something about it made me unusually nervous.
At the end of the aisle was my grandmother, next to her was a stool which I was to sit on. My parents released me at the end of the walkway with a hug and some exchanged happy tears. I stepped up on the small platform and took a seat on the stool with my back to my grandmother. It was tradition that the oldest woman in our family cuts the hair, had my great grandmother died a year later than she did, it would’ve been her.
Grandmother picked up a sickle, made of bone with a leather wrapped handle and an amber stone embedded into the end of it. She removed my hair from its braid, setting the life cord aside and grabbing my hair by the fistful. She took the sickle and made one swift slice, cutting my hair completely. Twenty years of growth, removed.
A city elder came up to the altar with a book and blessed the remainder of my life, pulling tools out of her bag to make the charm out of my hair. After some time and lots of soft cutting noises, I was asked to stand.
The elder called my mother to the stage and handed her my life cord, which she then hooked to my waist.
My grandmother stepped in front of us. “Now for the fun part, let the party begin!”
Her and my mother waved their hands, vines sprouted from the ground, creating beautiful arches and sprouting flowers of all kinds.
An uproar of cheering and applause came from the crowd which consisted of extended family on my father’s side and old family friends.
I stepped off the platform and music began to play, to kickstart the party. I walked over to a table with food and took a few pieces of cheese to snack on before being approached from behind.
“So what do you think it’ll be?” I choked a bit on my food from being startled, turning around and seeing a cousin of mine.
“What?”
He rolled his eyes. “Your power. Duh.”
I swallowed my bite, “Oh right, I’m really not sure. I haven’t even thought about it.”
He blinked. “So you’re telling me you haven’t even tried figuring it out today? Like at all?”
“No, I’ve been busy with all of this.”
He began to walk off. “Well let me know when you find out! Catch you later.”
I rolled my eyes, “Sure!” most of my dad’s family only really cares about the powers. I feel like a zoo animal around them sometimes.
I was mid snack once again when I heard a howl. I stopped chewing and turned to look at the forest, it was just an empty dark abyss. Just as I was about to turn my attention back to the party, I heard a crunch from the same direction.
Whipping my head back towards the forest, I was met with the face of a woman. She was inches from my face, startling me to the point of falling backwards. Her face was pale, the same shade as a full moon, with prominent eyebags and what looked like smeared makeup on her eyes. The front of her hair was tucked behind her ear, pulled across her face to reach it. the rest of her features were hard to make out with the hood she had on. She wore a robe concealing most of her figure and carried a staff with a stone intertwined in the wood at the top that would glow periodically.
She didn’t say a word, only slowly made her way towards me. Out of caution I began to crawl backwards, but she waved her hand and suddenly I couldn’t move. My heart began to beat rapidly, she crouched down in front of me and went to grab my wrist. She yanked it towards her so hard that it hurt, from beneath the robe she grabbed what seemed to be an oversized needle.
She began to inspect my features, then quickly pricked my arm and smeared the blood now coming from my bicep, taking a large whiff of it. By this point some of the people of the party had taken notice and the noise began to die down, the focus turning to me once more. She stood back up and shuffled under her robe once more, this time pulling out a blade and going to lunge at me with it.
I closed my eyes waiting for an impact that never came. Once I opened them I saw the woman absorbed in a tree a few feet away, the only part of her exposed now was her face and one of her hands. That hand flattened itself on the tree and the tree dissolved. Like nothing I had ever seen before, she walked back towards me with no change in expression. Like she does this kind of thing every day. She waved her hand once more and her staff was back in her hand, a light shot out of it and it lifted me into the air. I felt like my insides were beginning to heat up.
Screaming in agony, I could feel something rush through me. Like a powerful energy, the last thing I remember is falling to the ground and seeing the woman with a burnt hole in her robe and Thorne standing between the two of us before he picked me up and began running into the forest.
I woke up briefly and it was morning; I sat up and right ahead of me was another girl. Her skin was a pleasant blue color, and she had long black hair. It went almost down to her mid-calf. She was wearing a tube-top shirt that was white with only underwear on her lower half. Just as she went to squeeze out her hair, she saw me. She seemed surprised and began to run towards me.
The elbow that I was using to prop myself up gave out, and I was about to hit the ground before she caught me in her arms.
“Don't push yourself Alora, you let out a lot back there.”
“How do you know who I am?” My words were weak on my tongue, barely audible, but I didn’t have the strength to repeat myself.
Her gaze was gentle but demanding, that’s when I noticed her eyes. White Irises with a deep blue where there’d normally be white.
It clicked. I had been subject to this gaze before.
I could feel my consciousness begin to slip once more. Before it faded, I managed to get out one word.
“Thorne?”