Initiation

Eyvan dashed in the room, embarrassed at being late again, especially on this day. Linden had told him it was important, though she would not tell him why.
The slender aesku was watching him as he bowed to her shortly, a very faint smile the only sign of her feelings. He hung his cloak on the hooks by the door.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he started breathlessly, but she just shook her head, silencing him.
"I expected nothing less, Matteo," she answered, her rich alto as silky as ever. "In fact, you are fifteen minutes earlier than I had planned for you to arrive."
Eyvan considered this for a moment. "Only with you," he finally said, fingering nervously at the edge of his harpcase. She raised an elegant eyebrow, and he shrugged.
"Could I be early by being late," he said, the side of his mouth twisting up in an awkward smile.
"Ah," she responded, and he blushed a bit as she gestured him into the side room where they held many of their lessons.
The soft scent of incense permeated the room, and Eyvan could feel tense muscles relax, though he was still unsure what about this room was so pleasant. Linden used it as a study as well as a workroom, and it was usually crowded with stacks of books or bits of paper she was working on. Today, however, the only thing on the desk in the center of the room was empty except for four bowls covered loosely with cloth.
Eyvan set his harp by the door as Linden brushed by him and closed it firmly behind them. He looked at her expectantly as she settled behind the desk, watching him as closely as she had the first time they had met in this room. He felt much more confident about meeting her gaze than he had then, though he still looked down long before she spoke.
"Come closer," she finally said softly, and he approached the desk and the mysterious bowls atop it.
"You are about to enter a new level of skill with the elements, if one of them is willing to accept you," she said calmly, watching his face. He raised an eyebrow slightly, trying not to show his surprise. When she had first agreed to teach him the ways of the elementalist he had been thinking of this as a purely academic exercise. The deeper in she had gotten to the teachings, though, the more of an affinity he had felt for what he was learning from her. He had not thought, however, that he would ever get to the point of becoming an initiate.
Linden nodded, once, as though reassuring him. "Close your eyes," she said, softly, and Eyvan obeyed readily. He could hear her moving behind the desk, and the soft hiss of the cloths as she pulled them from the bowls.
"When you began learning we did not think of you as an acolyte," she continued, echoing his thoughts as she took one of his hands gently, "so we did not find out then which element you were most drawn to÷or which was most drawn to you." Her fingers rubbed at his palm firmly, deepening his relaxation. "Because of this we are doing the testing late, and we may indeed find that none of the elements will have you." Her soft voice lulled him, and he could feel his chin sinking a little as though his neck were too weak to support his head. "I cannot tell you how it will go. Only that which speaks to you, in the heart of you, will determine whether you are acceptable or not."
"Yes, I understand," Eyvan heard himself say, his tenor barely more than a whisper. The relaxation was pleasant, though he could feel a÷power÷he was unfamiliar with in front of him.
Linden gently pulled his hand out so it was palm-down over the desk, then released him. "Move your hand in the shape of life, Matteo, slowly, and we will see if there is an answer for you."
He obeyed, cautiously forming a clockwise circle with his hand, then another, the movement delightfully easy in his entranced state. He began a third circle, unable to worry whether or not there would be an answer, then was abruptly startled out of his reverie when his hand was struck with a wet slap.
His eyes opened and he looked down at the bowls. His hand was hovering over one that was filled with the clear water that was dripping from his fingers. The other three held representations of the other elements: a bit of burning incense for fire in the second with the smoke coalescing in the third to represent the air and several chunks of earth in the fourth. He looked at Linden, to find the slender aesku looking at the bowls.
"Water, then, though I might have thought...well, nevermind," she said, looking up and smiling slightly at him.
"What does it mean?" he asked, hesitantly, though certain it was a sign of some sort.
"It means that, if you wish to continue your learning, the water lords may be willing to take you on as an initiate," she responded.
Eyvan nodded, remembering what little she had told him about the rituals. He found he was a bit frightened, but wanted to continue.
"It may not be as deep a calling as yours," he began, uncertain of the etiquette of this situation, then fell silent as she shook her head at him again.
"Student, I feel you are ready for the next level of your training. I feel obligated to warn you, however, that if you somehow err with the elemental lord you seek audience with you may be driven mad÷or you may not survive at all. Do you understand?" Linden said, her tone indicating the deadly seriousness of the question. Eyvan found he had to suppress a nervous laugh.
"Teacher, I understand, and I accede to your greater knowledge. If you feel this is the time then I am willing," he responded, the ritual words he had studied coming easily back to his mind, though he had not thought to say them at the time.
Linden nodded. "Then in the morning we will leave. Be prepared to go on the ocean. Leave your harp at home."
Eyvan looked at her for a moment before responding.
"Very well," he answered, though he could not resist a glance at the instrument he was only rarely without.
"Go home, then," the slender aesku said, her face absolutely serious.
"And Matteo," she added, as he stepped to the door, and he turned to look at her questioningly.
"Don't be late tomorrow," she finished, her expression still severe as he looked at her in dismay. He opened his mouth to answer, and she startled him by giving him a rare smile as she waved him out of the room.

They were sitting on one of the small islands by the lighthouses, both of them dressed in simple robes. Linden was sitting with her back against the only rock on the place, Eyvan looking out to sea, watching the sunset and thinking on all the things they had discussed. Much of it had to do with the kind of responsibility he was taking on, though the last little bit before Linden had told him to contemplate all he had learned was a bit disconcerting.
"Water is not my element," she had told him, "and that puts us at a bit of a disadvantage. Normally your Teacher would warn you of what to expect, but I simply don't know."
He sighed, his hands automatically reaching to his right for his harp, before he realized it was waiting back at his room in the Greybird. He felt somehow naked without it.
Linden had begun softly chanting behind him, and he closed his eyes, feeling the heat of the sun on his face, the solidness of the earth he was sitting on and the cool ocean spray the breeze brought. It was easy to forget how integral the elements were, he thought as he relished the sensations.
He looked up at Linden as she set her hand on his shoulder.
"It's time," she said, looking out to the waves. Eyvan drew himself to his feet, and followed her gaze.
He found himself drawn to the ocean's edge, and was in up to his armpits before he thought to remove the robe. Its weight was uncomfortably confining, and it was a pleasure to shed it, to expose his skin to the coolness of the water as he sank down below the waves. He felt a moment of panic as the water closed over his head, the salt stinging his eyes, but it passed as he realized he could breathe normally, and he relaxed into the calming waters.
He could feel the water buoying him, gently caressing his skin. It brought him warning of something approaching, the pressure changing enough on his back that he turned, wondering what was there.
A silvery shipfish had stopped when he turned, and it watched him briefly before continuing its approach. Eyvan watched it with curiosity, having heard of these large fish that led ships to harbor when the lighthouses were out, or who saved drowning sailors, bringing the men to land when they thought all was lost. It came closer to him, finally bumping him gently with its head, which when he touched it was surprisingly smooth÷more like skin than the scales of a fish.
It circled him, once, watching him expectantly, then swam a bit away. He considered it for a moment, then hesitantly pushed off the sandy bottom to follow. It moved a bit further away, then came back to him and opened its mouth, exposing its sharp teeth and clicking at him. Eyvan frowned a bit.
"I'm sorry," he told it, not feeling the slightest bit silly and somehow understanding it, "I can't possibly keep up with you on my own. I never learned to swim, other than a bit of dogpaddle."
It jerked back, clicking at him again, then came closer and butted him with its head again before moving away again. It circled him, clicking and whistling slightly, three times before coming in to bump at him again.
This time when it touched him Eyvan felt himself change÷a swift mutation into another shipfish, before it÷no, he, Eyvan thought÷swam off again, and Eyvan followed easily, his body lifted and propelled easily by the water. He chased his companion for a long way, seeing the way the water nurtured the smaller fish that he somehow knew breathed it in as he occasionally needed to take in air. The water nurtured more types of life than he ever would have thought possible, and he delighted in the way it soothed and calmed his skin after he had taken a breath.
They swam up a deep river part way, days seeming to pass as they watched the way the surface dwellers depended on the water to cool them down, healing the parched skin of the sick, or for the healing of land where it was too much exposed to the air or the sun.
Finally they came back to the place where Eyvan had begun, and he was changed back into himself. It did not surprise him when his companion also changed, into one of the most stunning young men he had ever seen, despite his translucent blue skin. He looked at Eyvan, studying him.
Do you understand? Eyvan found himself asked, seemingly by the water itself. He nodded, and the water lord tilted his head at him.
If you understand tell me what your promise to me must be.
"I vow to always be a nurturer, and a healer, of all that can be cared for. That is where much of the power of water lies."
The water lord nodded at him, indicating that he should continue.
"I must always try to foster change, and always remain flexible. No matter how difficult I must be hard as ice when conditions are right, while remembering that the slightest change in those conditions should bring me back to a much more fluid state. Water that lies stagnant for too long is easily corrupted, and even the ice in the high mountains melts occasionally."
"My promise to you includes being a foe of all those that would damage the water÷for example, well poisoners and those who carelessly dispose of their waste, or are careless with the cargo of their ship. I must remember that water can be as destructive as any other element, and vow to always use that power on any defilers I should happen to encounter."
He took a deep breath, thinking, then shook his head slightly. "This is all I can think of."
The water lord smiled slightly at him.
Such a promise we are prepared to accept, though it is not as binding as that which we might tie one of our priests to. We understand that where you are as devoted as they, you will not be calling on us as often. However, there is one other request we will make of you.
Eyvan looked at him for a long moment, expectantly. The smile widened slightly, charming him completely.
You must learn to swim properly.
Eyvan was still chuckling slightly about his final comment when he was gently deposited on the shore by the waves.