Doc says Rawr!

Another tale of Roiya Shadowpaw, “To Walk a Shadowed Path” in its early chapters takes place roughly concurrently with some of the events of “Ties that Bind” but with a decidedly different theme–that is, Roiya’s calling as a priestess of Elune and all that her calling entailed.

To Walk a Shadowed Path

Goddess guard my steps while I walk in places where your light shines but dimly,
Goddess guide my steps as I move through the shadows you provide to guard my passage,
Goddess protect me as you have chosen for me to protect my people,
Through your Gift, Elune, I am become shadow,
Your hand in dark places and guardian of my people in the darkest of hours.
Goddess, light and love incarnate, forgive me for the actions I shall take in your name.
Let your light cleanse me and lift me, remove from my shoulders the weights,
May your mercy be the balm that soothes my soul, your power burn the blood from my hands,
Elune, grant me grace and peace in the shadow of your light.

- The Cant of the New Moon

            Innocence is never lost in a single moment.  Some may try to say that it is, but they’re wrong.  Deluding themselves.  The loss of innocence is always a process, a progression.  Sometimes, the progression can be stopped.  Other times, it is inevitable.
            I used to try to believe that my loss of innocence was inevitable, but ten thousand years have told me a different tale.  I made a choice on a summer day that set me on the road I walked my whole life, the road that brought me to Mount Hyjal on that dark day when we faced the Legion in force once again.  In many ways, it is the only path I’ve ever known.
            My innocence has long ago faded, but my faith remains strong.
            This is my story.

            Rain.  It was raining in Suramar as the sun was going down.  Thunder growled in the distance.
            Lovely night for an outdoor ritual.  Simply fantastic.
            They were dark times, dark hours.  Something foul was stirring at the Queen’s palace.  Some of us could feel it, something hateful tugging on the trailing threads of our consciousness.  If I closed my eyes and reached out, I could almost…
            “Roiya.”
            I opened my eyes, bowing reverently to the elder priestess.  “Did you have need of me, Sister?”
            Nessiana was as old as Elune’s shadows were deep, I was certain of that.  No one could remember when she had been a novice—not even the head priestess here in Suramar.  She was a harsher, harder mistress than most, and of course my mother had chosen her for my guardian here.  Of course.
            Her nod came slowly.  “You will not be attending tonight’s ritual.”
            I blinked, wondering briefly if it had been cancelled.  No.  If it had been cancelled, she would have told me it was cancelled.  Not told me that I would not be in attendance.  I nodded slowly.  “What am I to attend tonight, then Priestess?”
            She smiled a brief, rare smile that for the barest moment reached her eyes.  “The most important event of your young life, child.  Come.  It’s time to learn the other legacy of that ink on your flesh.”
            I rubbed at the pawprint tattooed on my wrist, staring in confusion as my pulse quickened.  I hurried to follow in her traceless footsteps.  I thought I knew the legacy of my blood.
            I was wrong.

            I had never before seen the room that Nessiana brought me to was one I’d never seen before, though it wouldn’t be the last time I entered the chamber—not by any stretch of the imagination would it be my last time walking into that place.
            The only light in the room was a dull orb in the ceiling, one designed to catch and intensify moonlight.  It glowed but dimly that night; with the storm there was little light to catch.  We were alone in the chamber, and plunged into gloom as Nessiana shut the heavy door firmly behind us.
            My eyes adjusted slowly.  “Priestess?”
            She took my arm firmly and guided me down the shallow steps into the bowl-like center section of the room, below the orb, where a round, dark pool stood, the surface like a mirror, reflecting the dim light from above.  “Listen, now, and speak only when I command it.”  She pressed me against the rim of the pool.  “Your hands.  Flat against the stone, splay your fingers out.”
            I did as I was told, taking a shallow breath.  The light from above traced along the edges of my hands—I could just barely see them against the stone.  Something stirred in the water and I stiffened.  What’s down there?
            “A healer you’re certainly not, Roiya, that is for certain.”  Nessiana was moving, making a slow circuit of the bowl.  I could hear her near-silent footsteps on the stone, hear the hem of her robe whispering against the floor.  “You know that.  I know that.  We all are more than adequately aware of that fact.  Did you ever wonder why your talents in that regard are so meager?”  She paused, watching me.
            I nodded slowly.  I had always wondered why I could not seem to draw healing energies like so many of my sister-novices could.  I accepted that Elune must have had other duties in mind for me beyond healing, though I could never figure out quite what those duties might have been.  I was a priestess.  Priestesses were supposed to heal the sick and guide our people along the path laid out for us.  How could I function properly without the ability to do the first?
            Nessiana smiled another rare smile.  “Elune chooses some for other purposes.  Some when they come to the priesthood.  You, child…your purpose was defined at birth.”  She vanished.
            Then her voice was in my ear and I was pressed tighter against the rim of the pool.  “You walk the shadowed path.”  She pushed down against me, hard, shoving my head and shoulders down, toward the pool, where all I could see were teeth and a flash of a silver-red eye in the depths.
            Something screamed.