Wave

Wave knows what it's like to be born special. Not in the derogatory sense, mind. When Wave was born she caused quite a stir in her home clan. She was gifted by the Tidelord, see, as the Bounty of the Elements surged across the land. Even as a hatchling, she attempted to steer her clanmates away from disaster. Wave's prophetic visions tended toward doom and gloom, but she seemed to have an uncanny ability to predict the downfall of others. Warriors tended to listen to her after a while; the more superstitious tended to bring her gifts. Soon, the clan whisked her away, pulling her ever more into the lap of luxury while the other hatchlings went hungry. She wasn't allowed out. Mustn't damage their precious oracle. Mustn't let her come to harm. She pushed the visions away. Constantly seeing the deaths of those she loved took a toll on her young mind.

A gilded cage was still a cage, and soon enough, Wave had had enough. For the first time in her life, instead of just letting the visions roll over her, Wave leaned into them and started to swim.

Her world opened.

Futures untold spilled over and over her mind. An infinite sea of possibilities spilled over her, most of them ending with her getting captured. A guard here, no, there. Quiet here, shout... NOW! Backtrack around through the secret passage... since when had the palace had a secret passage? The visions and possibilities threatened to overwhelm her, but she was a daughter of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. She was born to swim. Wave darted down into a trench and lay in the shadows, finally letting her brain drift. She'd never done anything like that before, and swimming against the visions was exhausting. She dug her claws into the sand and let it ground her, as she slowly drifted back to herself.

Visions of her possible futures drained past her head. Her parents, encouraging her to breed... never mind that her Sight had been caused by a pure random chance pooling of magic, and not any genetic information she could pass down. Then less than gently encouraging it. A parade of suitors, all blessed or cursed like she was, forced to breed to satisfy their home clans. A Plague clan, survival, fighting... blindness in almost all her futures, curious... there. What was that one? Wave snatched at one of them before it could float away. She was looking up through a pool at another female Imperial. Deep green scales, blazing Fire-orange eyes, and the most beautiful smile Wave had ever seen. Wave was in love. She held that vision in her teeth and swam up off the seafloor, winding her way up to the surface of the Sea of a Thousand Currents.

Wave had never breached its surface. The moment she did, her world went black. She dove back down, and her normal vision returned. Curious. Wave grabbed hold of her Sight again. In almost every future she saw, if she stayed underwater, her family would capture her again. If she braved the surface, she earned her freedom. And, in no vision did she ever meet the green imperial if she stayed in the Sea. Wave had a vague distrust of her Sight... but, she mustered everything she had and took her first gulp of air.

It burned at first, but it would never be as bad as she'd imagined. Her Sight rolled her over again, warning her. Something was coming. She had to move.

Wave beat her wings, operating on pure instinct and leaning into her gift. Certain doom if she moved a wing this way, better futures if she tilted that way. Wave literally flew blind for what felt like weeks. She used her breed's natural ability to soar to her advantage, but her sheer terror at moving so much without her vision prevented her from relaxing. Wave learned to back off her Sight and view broader pictures; this way would be a hard road, that way would be easier but longer, this other way would lead to happiness. Wave considered her options as she felt the wind buoy her up. She had some time to think... despite never having flown before, her gift allowed her to see and feel all the trial and error without having to go through any of it.

Why had she not done this before? But the living, breathing, mundane part of her still quavered at the thought of flying without her mundane vision. She stopped for the night, landing where her Sight told her it was safe. Eventually, she stumbled around and found a river, which she gratefully sank into. Seeing the fading light of a sunset through the silt provided a welcome and much needed sanity break.

Suddenly, Wave had her entire life ahead of her and an entire world of possibilities at her clawtips. She had decisions to make. Did she want to pursue fortune? Happiness? Stability? That was back the way she'd come, and she didn't relish it one bit. Did she want to be worshipped as a mini deity, with a shrine in her honor? That was in the cards for her, if she wished to pursue it. Wave shook her head no. Then, she asked herself one simple question. Is there a future for me where I can be fulfilled?

There was.

Does it involve the green imperial?

It did.

The next day, Wave breached the surface and once again powered her way through the sky. It took her years and years to find her way-- she sheltered in Plague territory for a while, then ended up in the Ashfall Waste, then finally took to the air once more. Her gift steered her into a massive hurricane-- the water pelting her face gave her flashes of mundane vision, and Wave panicked anew, seeing the ground so far away underneath her. She took a hard left turn into the Shifting Expanse. The rain stopped, but the Lightning did not, and Wave smacked into the side of one of the massive spires.

When she came to, Wave rested at the bottom of an artificial pool, staring up through the water at one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen. The other imperial's skin was like stained glass, her clothing like bronze.

Wave craned her head out of the water, a broad smile on her face. "Hello. I'm Wave."

"Maela." the green imperial replied. "I pulled you in out of the storm. You might want to get your eyes checked... you flew right into the tower with nothing but clear sky around you."

In that moment, Wave knew she was home.

When Wave came in out of the storm, with her special eyes, she knew that Maela understood what a burden it is to be born special. They grow closer day by day, and Maela reserves her finest silvers and blues for her new favorite. Wave lets Maela spoil her... but she knows Maela is spoiling her because Maela likes who she is, not because of her gift. Maela, in turn, knows that Wave courts her not for her heritage, but because Wave likes who she is. Both gals are absolutely giddy about each other, and nobody would be surprised if a marriage announcement were to come out...