“My uncle was to me like Yeva is to you. I told him everything and he understood. Some stuff still hurts. And some things only hurt because he is gone.” she said when Norani gave advice and offered to listen. “But I will keep you in mind if I need to talk.”
“I’m Rithari who got magic.” Kaiko said, then realized that would sound so stupid if you did not know her family. “Where I come from magic is tightly monitored, very dangerous, and that is the world they grew up in. They got rid of their beasts somehow when they were young is what uncle says. They claim to never have had a beast. Likewise they tried to get rid of my beast. Finding out I am not human. Finding out I am Rithari with an aquatic beast, was the best day of my life. I was free and they tried to take it. They paid some mage a lot of money to remove my beast. But I would not let him. Instead I asked him to give me Animis. Which he did”
That night was when her life changed. When her family started to despise her and treat her as if she were a curse. All because she went against them. She had to steady her nerves as her anger at the past grew. “I kept away from them at first simply because I was upset they tried to change me. But when they found out I went against what they ordered and got a mark of controle they were so mad. They never got over it.” she would listen as Norani talked of her loss and would give an understanding nod. Loss hurts but it is better to honor the person through how you lived than it is to let the loss bring you down.
When her statement of being out of her element was challenged she would tilt her head and listen. She was amazed at what Norani was doing. Fog from air, water from fog, and a new uncomfortable dryness left behind. The same kind of water that tried to kill her. Then it would be much more comfortable as the water disappeared. The next bit of water was different, it was familiar and definitely more of the kind she preferred. Kaiko would poke the water out of curiosity.
It took no thought to decide what she wanted to learn first. “Can you teach me how to make water?” she said. “Like you just did. Then probably how to catch food. Or stop monkeys.”
