The Next Anaiide

20250602

Prompt from #PrideOnThePage

The hall was divided into two halves; the men’s half and the women’s half. There was no barrier marking the boundary, for none was needed.
Each half had a rug laid out for the children who moved freely around the hall. You were a child until you felt ready to choose a seat. Most choose their side easily. Some took a while to be certain.
Perry was nearly nine when they got up from the mat and took a seat - not on any of the wooden benches carved into the hall itself, but on the beaded folding stool.
A lull rippled out. Adults scrutinised. Did the child understand what this meant?
Yes. Yes, the child understood.
So they turned back to their conversations. While across the room, on vir other stool, the current Anaiide examined the proclaimed apprentice.
But, while choosing any seat was the first step on a lifelong path, choosing the stool meant laying claim to the guarding powers. It was a Serious Matter. Once that mantle was laid across your shoulders you couldn’t lay it down until the next Anaiide was ready. And there was no telling when another liminal soul would be gifted.
So the next day, the Anaiide took Perry to the Giving Maw. The cave where, long ago, their people had first encountered The Giver and received fire and the guarding signs.
For a man, the cave was blindingly bright such that shielding your eyes did nothing, and the blistering heat was worse than the height of summer. For a woman, the cave held darkness which no fire could illuminate, and an aching cold sharper than the depth of winter.
Without hesitation Perry walked into the comfortable twilight. And the Anaiide smiled.
The cave meandered left and right but always curving down. Until finally Perry turned a corner and found vemself gazing into a giant amber eye.
{Ah. Welcome home.}
The voice reverberated, heard through the bones rather than the ears.
For the first time Perry felt uncertain. But ve took a deep breath and asked “Are you The Giver?”
{I am. And you are the next Anaiide.}
Oh. Well. That, in many regards, was that. But in other regards it was only the start, for there was a world of difference between an Anaiide and a good Anaiide.
{There is. I breathed into you a liminal soul. Gifted you an existence between boundaries, allowing you to see and touch and shape the guarding signs. But a soul is a seed, child. Do you understand?}
Perry pressed a hand to vir chest and stared down at it, brows furrowed in earnest thought. Then ve looked up and smiled. “Not yet.”
The mountain rumbled with approving laughter. {Very good. You understand that you have much to learn, and that is the greatest understanding of all. Go. Turn that ravenous curiosity to the signs and what lurks beyond them. Learn from old Sasha. Return when you have your beads. I expect them to be marvellous.}

Prompt was “Origin”.