The wind swirled about the entrance, and I looked down into the watery cave with dread. There would be no wind there, and yet it was adamant that I descend. It was dawn when I went in, and past dusk when I finally found my way through and appeared in the Inn once more.

I was separated from the wind so long I was afraid it wouldn't find me, but as I walked into the streets it met me with it's cooling embrace, and then pushes me along towards the trainer.

The wind is eager it seems, though I really do wish I knew what it had planned for me. No matter though, I am it's servant, pledged to it wholly, and I trust that it will not guide me wrong.

A silence fell over the room, and I looked around bewildered at the looks of horror from those around me, then found my father, a look of resignation in his eyes, then back to the clan elder, the man swallowing nervously before he asked the question I knew was coming.

"W-what did you say young man? Surely I mish..."

"I choose the path of the whispering winds"

Someone screamed and ran from the tent then, and soon after people seemed to come to their sense, torn between horror and confusion, the whispers as the gossip began filling the room didn't shake me in the least. "A follower of wind can you..." "Oh the poor Stribog's, how they must be..." "I knew he was trouble since the day he was..."

-----

But perhaps this doesn't make sense... Allow me to explain a bit further.

I come from a clan of vagabonds who follow the whims of the elements. It's not that we don't believe in the gods, quite the opposite in fact. We revere the gods greatly, and look at the elements as their stewards, their messengers.

You see the gods are a busy people, and aren't to be troubled by every little concern of men, and so one day one of our ancestors was praying, and found that the earth shook beneath his feet. And he declared that in the gods place the elements themselves gave him an answer. And so he gathered others similarly elementally inclined, those mused by water, drawn to fire, and thrown by the wind, and brought them together, following the whims of their elements, trusting them to guide them safely through life. And things were good for a time, generations in fact.

One day however their was an argument between the elements, the day I was born in fact. The earth shook, and the flames rose from the mountains, but it was the wind that carved through our tribe. Those that followed the wind attempted to reason with the wind, not certain what upset it, but the wind became irate to find it's followers attempting to stand against it, and so it pulled a talon from the sky, from it's realm, and with it's fury flung them far, to their doom.

And so it was that I was born that day into a family that strictly followed the earth, my mother being a convert from a water musing family and my father being descended from the first. But as I grew up I never heard the earth speak to me, rather than wind would run playfully through my hair, and quite often my father would find me running aimlessly through the fields.

"Son, what in the Gods' great names are you doing, the earth is alarmed at your behavior"

"Following the breeze father, see how it dances?" And I pointed then at a small dust devil as it weaved back and forth through the field, stirring up the earth with it. It as a gentle thing though, barely as high as I was, but it was enough to fill my fathers heart with dread.

I quickly found myself locked up in my parents tent, forbidden from leaving, but the wind had other ideas. A strong gust tore through the caravan where we were settled, and the tent was torn literally from the earth around me, leaving me sitting in the open, a wild grin on my face.

And so it was that my father tried other means of separating me from my adopted element, teaching me of the earth and taking me on walks into caves, and it was here that I first saw the lies. We came across my mother in an underground pond, staring aimlessly at the water and whispering to herself, my sister nearby with a small fire, staring into the kindling with a broad smile, her own selection due a mere week away.

My father spent some time talking with each of them, and found that both felt stifled by the earth, and had secretly been drawn to their own elements, my mother said she had always loved the water, and in truth only converted to being an earth warden out of love for my father, and my sister spoke how she was always drawn to the fires, but hesitated for shaming our families legacy.

He spent a good time mulling it over, then agreed to let them choose their own path. My mother was sworn to the earth, and while it was a lie, there was no changing that. But he allowed her to play with her muse, even encouraging her to take me with her so that I could play with my whispering friend. My sister became the first in my family to select outside of the earth, much to the surprise of the elder, but the village happily accepted her choice.

Then came my selection... since the day of the wind talon none had spoken to the wind. Indeed the idea was considered blasphemy to my clan, but it was my fate, and I wasn't going to let them deter me. So on my sixteenth summer I made my decision, and immediately became the most shunned person in the caravan, for a time at least.

Soon though they found the winds became favorable to travel once more, no longer pushing against us, and for 2 more summers I became a bit of a prodigy, everyone suddenly loved me, and I was considered my father's greatest honor.

Then one day we reached a fork in the road, and as their elements drew them to the left a sudden strong gust of wind came and pushed us back. I turned my head to the wind and listened to it's whisperings, the wind running from behind me to the path to the right, and the caravan came to a brief stop as I spoke with the council.

It was my father then who came up with the answer, a mixture of both pride and sadness in his eyes. It was just like the day I was born, the wind choosing a different path from the others. However he encouraged me not to follow the masses, but go with the wind, lest I face the fate of those who came before me. And so he and the others help me gather supplies, and with many teary goodbyes I set out on my own path, the wind at my pack urging me along.