Rah
Legacy Name: Rah

When it came to the ceremony of abilities, Rah was worried about Orrin. Most Tae already guessed what ability they possessed by the time it was officially announced, but so far Orrin hadn't shown any signs of having, well anything.

"Are you SURE you can't change into anything? How about a deer? You're almost there with those antler things anyway. I'll bet it is that. Or well, are you POSITIVE you can't feel what I'm feeling right now?"
"Is it the need to relentlessly annoy me?"
"It is not! Orrin come onnnn. You've got to have something. Maybe you have one of the rare abilities that we don't know about yet."
"Or maybe it's no ability at all."
"Shhhh Orrin, don't SAY that. Every Tae has an ability. And I suppose not everyone figures it out before the ceremony. You're just a late bloomer, probably. Like Higgle."
Orrin made a noise somewhat like a grunt of indignation. "He's not a late bloomer, he's just an imbecile."
"That's not nice, Orrin. You shouldn't say things like that about other tae. It will hurt their feelings."
"Feelings. Why are you even so sure that's your ability. You've never been able to read /mine/. Thankfully."
"I've told you, I don't know why I can't sense anything with you. I wish I could, you could do with my help the most. It's strange, though. It's like...you're foggy. I can't see through to the other side."
"Well maybe there isn't anything on the other side. Maybe I'm just broken."
"No come on let's think of some other abilities you cou..."
"NO! Just LEAVE ME alone for 10 minutes! Or better yet, the rest of the day. You're so damn annoying, Rah."

Orrin shoved Rah away from him, where she had been feeling his forehead, and she tripped back, falling roughly. Her look was that of confusion - he had never been so rough with her before. Orrin looked reproachful for a second, but then turned and ran away. Rah watched him go.

The Ceremony of Abilities was a yearly tradition where young Tae were brought before the rest of the community and told which special ability it was they possessed. Taes purpose in life is to assign themselves to a creature that needs them, and do their very best to comfort them in times of need. There were several common abilities that Taes could possess; changelings could transform into other animals. Emoters could sense and calm the feelings within. Weatherers could bring warmth or coolness, moisture or dryness. Providers could make food grow from nothing. Healers could mend wounds. There were a few abilities that meant a Tae was not to go out into the world, but instead stay within the confines of the pod system. Classifyers were the Taes that announced the abilities - these were rare, there only needed to be one every 100 or so years. More common were the pod-leaders and teachers, who would be imbued with the stories and history of the taes, to pass down to the next generation.

Rah was certain she had the emote ability. Apart from Orrin, she had been able to sense the emotions of 5 other Tae so far...well, 4 really. Higgle didn't really count as it was kind of obvious to anyone that his emotion would be 'hungry'. Rah wasn't yet able to calm the feelings within other creatures, but she'd learn that when she was put in her teaching group.

The next day was the ceremony. Rah hadn't seen Orrin since his departure the night before, but had met up with Foxglove, her best friend within the Taes.

"Do you have any idea what you'll be, yet, Fox?" Rah asked, wiggling her toes in front of her as they both sat on the grass in front of the prepared clearing.
"N...n...No. N..not yet. I d..don't think it's weathering, I'm ALWAYS too hot or too c..c...cold!"
"What about healing? You did wonders with my nettle sting last week."
"B..b..but I just used a d..d..doc leaf. I d..d..don't think that c..c..counts! I just hope I'm not a p..p..pod teacher." Foxglove thought out loud, "I really can't speak in p..p..public!"
"Haha, you can! Just you get worried is all. You needn't have to, no one cares about your stutter. I understand you fine, you know."
"I n..n..know, but you're an emoter for sure. It's your j..j..job to understand me!"
They both laughed.
"I wish you were an emoter too, Fox. I hope it's just late coming, I'd love for us to be in the same class."
"M..me too. But if we're not, I'll still c..c..come see you all the time."
"You'd better!"

Suddenly there was a lot of hushing over the crowd as the resident Classifyer took to the center of the clearing.
"Welcome, welcome, to all the young hopefuls here today! I think we've got an excellent batch this year, and it's going to be a fun year of teaching, I can see!"
"She says that /every/ year" whispered an elder Tae to Rah's left.

The Classifyer, whose name was Tae-Sandlewood, or Sandy, began calling the young Taes up to be classified. The tests were fun to watch, some were figured out very quickly because they already had an idea what they were, and some took longer because Sandy had to go through each test individually to deduce the right ability. She had a brilliant knack of being able to do just the right thing for each Tae to bring their skill out into the open. When Foxglove went up, Rah cheered and watched gleefully. Sandy made her hold a torn flower and concentrate hard on it...but nothing happened. She gave Foxglove a pot of dirt and asked her to think of her favourite food and how hungry she was, but nothing happened. She poured a bowl of water over Foxglove's head and told her to think of being dry, but Foxglove did not get dry (in fact she screamed at this point). She made a huge CRASH sound with the empty bowl by hitting it suddenly against the pot of dirt...and something happened. Foxglove's tail twitched. The hairs stood on end, and it suddenly puffed out, long and soft and very fox like.

"Ah ha!" Sandlewood cried. "Changeling!"
Foxglove looked around at her puffy tail.
"Not much to speak of, just yet, but you'll learn! NEXT! Griswald that's you, up you get!"

Rah watched Foxglove hop back as Griswald got the bowl; refilled with fresh water, thrown in his face.
"A changeling!" she said, 'The first one today! Although we know for sure that Leander is going to be one, he's been turning into an Alsatian all week. Very advanced."
Foxglove just sat there, bemused. "I had n..no idea!"
"Hey, once you figure out how to do it properly can I get a ride? I've always fancied my own steed!" Rah teased.
The two sat giggling whilst waiting for Rah's turn to come up, Foxglove also trying to change her tail back to normal.
"I wonder if I just n..need another loud noise...." she wondered.Rah's turn finally came, and as she stood before the water-bowl brandishing Sandlewood, she quickly remembered to say what she thought she was.
"An Emoter, ay? Ok, the test for that one is simple, hold on." She put her hands in her pockets and drew them out again."Ok, Tae-Rah, which one of my hands is full of emotion right now?"
Rah looked at both paws, they looked identical but she put her own paw over one of them and concentrated on the feelings. She couldn't sense anything, but when she moved her paw to Sandlewood's other fist, she immediately sensed...indignation?
"That one. It feels annoyed that it's awake!"
Sandlewood opened the paw with a smile. In it lay a small emerald green beetle, that shook it's little body and jumped back into Sandlewood's pocket. "Right, indeed! It does seem that you are an emoter. It's a tough ability, little one. Feeling the feelings of others and learning to control and calm them is tough - it's hard not to get swept up in it! But that's what we're here for. A lot of learning will have you on the right track!"
"Yes, Tae-Elder-Sandlewood!" Rah replied, happily.

Rah started walking back to her seat beside Foxglove but then stopped, a question suddenly popping into her mind.
"Uh...Tae-Elder?"
"Yes, dear?"
"You missed out Orrin. He didn't get classified."
"Orrin isn't...you're right, he didn't. If he wants to speak to me about it he can. Right now I'm not worrying myself over a Taeling who hasn't shown up."
"But Tae-Elder!"
"That's enough, Rah. Sit down and respect the Tae that /have/ chosen to come to the ceremony.

Rah frowned, but shrugged and walked away with Foxglove. They had plenty to talk about between themselves, and Rah was still mad at Orrin anyway. He'd probably be classified privately later, she'd find out when she was good and ready to speak to him again.

As it was, Rah didn't see Orrin again for another three days. Her classes were just about to start, where she would learn about all of the emotions of the creatures of the world and be taught to calm and protect them.

Hello friend snail, be careful on the path ahead, you don't want to get trod on!