The past shows me what kind of person I have been, the present shows me what kind of person I am now, and the future shows me possible outcomes of who I could possibly become. |
Ki'toka was born the second daught to Kissa while she was enslaved as a breeding slave. Her older sister, Ki'via had already been taken away from Kissa so Ki'toka never got a chance to know her sibling. Ki'toka took after her mother right away, flowing blonde hair, shimmering forehead scales and bright green eyes. She was also touched at birth by Rak'keli just like her monther. It took the slavers a few months to realize the gnosis the young konti had as the cuts and bruises covering her mother slowly started to disappear despite her continued abuse. Once her value was know, they pried her from Kissa's arms, leaving her mother distraught at having lost yet another child. Later that year the slavers disposed of Kissa as the konti became deathly sick and unbreedable.
As Ki'toka grew, she lost her memories of her mother, all except the fact that she had one and that the slavers had killed her. They continually held that over her head, warning her not to fail them like she had. Ki'toka's living conditions as she grew were far from pleasant. A small iron cage was made that would just barely fit her. She could neither stand or lay down flat in the cramped space and a collar was always around her neck, locking her to the iron prison should she find a way past the bars. She was dressed in rags that barely covered her and hardly kept her warm. Scraps would be thrown to her once a day, if she got lucky she'd get a little extra but that rarely happened. The only time she was allowed out of her little iron prison was when they deemed her stench bad enough that they had to soak her down and clean her living space or when new slaves were brought in that were injured. Ki'toka was forced to heal those slaves so that they would be at a somewhat healthy state so potential buyers would actually purchase them. Being guided by Rak'keli, healing the other slaves didn't bother the young konti, but her gifts were small and she was still rather young that all the healing wore her down. She was always tired. Whenever she wasn't able to heal someone they instructed her to, Ki'toka was punished by the whip to her back.
Using her own healing gifts on herself was the only reason Ki'toka lasted as long as she did, but just like her mother and sister, the abusive lifestyle wore heavily on her and soon her mental state became too much even for her healing skills at that age could handle. She soon stopped eating, started crying over those that were hurt or sick instead of healing them as she just didn't have the energy to spare for them.
She was almost lost completely to the world when Nel'fi found her. A warrior medic konti part of a freedom fighters group. There was smoke and fire all around her along with screaming. Loud, drawn out screams of those who were burning. Ki'toka just sat huddled in her cage, crying throughout all this, putting up no resistance as Nel'fi broke open the cage, removed the collar around her neck and carried her out of the death filled camp.
Nel'fi was a konti who was also touched by Rak'keli, but Ki'toka was so far gone, so close to death that Nel'fi climbed onto her horse and left the rest of her group once the fighting was done. None tried to stop her as they knew how treasured children were to the konti. Nel'fi rode hard despite Ki'toka's weak state, using her own healing whenever she could just to help the child hold on a little longer. It took nearly eight turns of the moon before they finally came in sight of Mura, home of their people.
Little explination was needed from Nel'fi as to what had happened. It was known that Nel'fi hated slavers and had talked about joining a freedom fighters group all while she studyed at the Opal Temple. With the state Ki'toka was in, they knew where the young konti had come from. It took weeks of their combined healings to bring Ki'toka back to perfect health. She was still plagued by horrors at night as memories flooded her mind.
Nel'fi decided to take a break from her Calling and took it upon herself to raise Ki'toka until she was old enough to have a place of her own. It was through Nel'fi that Ki'toka first got to feel the joys of being in the ocean. As time passed, her swimming abilities grew and grew. She would spend most of her days on the beach, playing in the sand or drawing in an old book Nel'fi had given her. She drew the ocean and all its waves, she drew shells, treas and animals. She drew a picture of what she thought her mother looked like based on a discription from Nel'fi, who had a special konti gift that allowed her to see the faces of a person's immidiate family and the last few years of their lives. She also drew a picture of Rak'keli, Avalis and Laviku, the three gods that she'd come to worship. These drawings were completely her own as she took a guess at what they looked like. She also leared about medicines from Nel'fi as the older konti had to calm her down on bad night.
As the years past, Ki'toka grew into a healthy young konti woman, old enough to move out of Nel'fi's house and find a place for her own, though she was always welcome to stay at her house if need be. Seperating from the other konti was difficult, but Nel'fi was ready to return to her Calling though she promised to check in on her. Deciding that she was sure about joining the Opal Order, Ki'toka gave up on the idea of finding a place to call her own and followed her feet to the Temple steps, eager to see if they would welcome her as a student. |
To summarize seasons as they come to pass. |
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