Ruka - The Pact
"If thou wilt heed my plea, answer me thy pact."
Ruka stood in a small clearing behind her village. Many of her fellow clansmen stood around watching her. But there was barely contained disgust in their eyes. 'This will not turn out well' one mumrmered. 'The Valesar bring nothing but destruction' another muttered. She shook her head and tried to ignore them, but the words and sentiment cut deeply. Her ears laid back and some of the sorrow crept into her face. Directly across from her, a man she had come to trust explicitly smiled encouragingly back at her and responded.
"What is it you desire?"
Her ears flicked back forward in surprise and one twitched nervously. She hadn't expected a question in the oath ceremony. What was it she wanted out of this? Well, it was simple, really.
Hearing her answer was not much of a surprise. But it still warmed his heart to hear it. So simple, perhaps naive, yet with the possibility to change the world for the better.
"Then such will bind our pact. If thou be willing to bear my burden, call out my true name."
He could see Ruka's eyes firm hearing that statement, the nervous twitch stilled. She had spunk, determination. Though she still knew precious little of what was truly being asked of her. In time she would learn, would grow and be able to bear weight of the land, perhaps even that of the world. But he prayed she would never lose the spirit of what bound them this day.
"Let thy burden become mine. You will no longer bear it alone, ..."
The soft breeze turned into a swirling gale, obscuring to those around her pronunciation of his real name. At the same time, a thick mist stung up around them. Ruka squinted, trying to see her new partner, but all that was visible was a elongated sphere of light that narrowed into a cylinder then vanished. Suddenly, a great weight settled on her shoulders. Oh, the staff physically laying there was light and flexible enough. But she could now feel his burden, the worry of the impending doom he saw coming. Her knees almost buckled from the onslaught, but she forced herself to bear it. His sorrow at having forced this upon her also filtered though. But again, she shook her head, she had chosen this, and wouldn't be just a pawn. Then as suddenly as it had come, it all vanished. The experience having totally drained her, she now fell to her knees, head down and breathing heavily.
A hand on her shoulder brought her back to her senses. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder back at him. Around her she heard gasps and shuffling feet. A look of concern looked back at her as confusion spread across her face. "Demon", " We knew this would happen", the people of Anoria muttered to themselves as they took their leave. As she was helped to her feet, she was beckoned to a clear puddle of water toward the edge of the clearing. Shock was apparent as she gazed down into her reflection. Where once her namesake bright blue irises were, now iridescent red pupils glowed.
