Chapter Text
Each child arrives in the land without name, all of them alike in stature and stance, with only the command to bring light to the earth and free those trapped in the darkness ringing like a bell in their ears. But as they travel through the cycle, rising and falling in an endless race, they begin to change from their prototypical forms, personalizing their appearance to match their souls and experiences.
The same goes with their names.
Names are very special. Every child knows that a name is a one note embodiment of your soul, and should only be chosen after many journeys through Orbit and The Light, when your experiences have given you age and wisdom.
Isu remembered everything that happened the day that she discovered her name.
She spent most of her time in the Isle of Dawning after she gained ten stars on her cape, looking over the dunes and helping various strangers find spirits, light ghosts, and open the doors in Daleths temple. She didn’t give out many candles, preferring instead to gather wax from memoriam candles by herself when she needed to, and meditate in the lantern cave if she wasn’t helping a fellow child.
“Little light,” Daleth pulled her aside one day as she did her daily meditation before his altar, “you spend so much time here in my domain, I feel that I know you well. Why do you tarry here when there are so many that you help that leave you behind?”
She was quiet for a moment, contemplative. “I enjoy helping others,” she said slowly, her voice that of the manta in the Library, “it’s my purpose. That is why I am here. I’m waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” The elder asked. “I am the spirit of the start, perhaps I may be able to guide you.”
The child was quiet, their thoughts hidden by their mask, the light behind their eyes unblinking.
“I think…” they said tentatively, “there's a secret hidden in your lands, hidden by clouds and buried beneath the dunes.”
The elder stared at the child. The young soul looked back at him, their soul white with innocence. How could she know?
The child went on. “Your magic might be able to blow away the sands and the mist, that might be a beginning.”
The elder hesitated, then nodded, standing to their full height. “If a beginning is what you seek, look no further than I.”
They lifted their staff into the air, and summoned his familiars. A gust of wind blew past the child and through the doors to his temple, sending a trail of birds down into his lands.
“Follow my familiars, little arrow, and point your light towards whatever you seek.”
The notes of his words struck a chord in her chest, and her light crackled in her mind as she turned to leave.
“Thank you Elder.”