Aliyah woke with a groan. Her entire body ached and she chose to stay in bed. 

After what could have been hours, she chose to get up. She walked on sore legs towards the dresser in which she had found the tunic, hoping to find fresh clothes. The door which had fallen off, was mysteriously attached to the dresser again, yet as soon as she tugged the handle, it came crashing to the floor once again. 

Peering inside, she tried to find fresh garments only to be disappointed. Where yesterday had been clothes, now only lay towels. 

She wasn't sure what to do with them, since they weren't clothes. So she just took two of them, in hopes of finding a bath. She reasoned that she may have missed a door somewhere, for if there were towels, there had to be a bath.

Opening the door out of the bedroom, she was once again greeted by a bowl of food, and a jug of water on the stone slab. Instead of porridge, the bowl held some questionably prepared near and some vegetables. 

After a breakfast which felt more filling than the one before, she decided to look for the bath. Looking around the room, she noted only the two doors which she had used previously. Deciding to try the hallway, she opened the door, only to freeze.

Where before the door had led to the seemingly endless hallway, now the door led to a bathroom. It was built from the same featureless grey stone as the rest of the rooms she had seen. On the right side of the room was one of those fancy flushing toilets, a sink and a mirror. The left part of the room was completely occupied by a pool of steaming green water. Under the surface she could make out some slightly glowing runes.

Aliyah was more confused than scared. The door which should have led to the hallway, now all of a sudden led to a previously unseen bathroom.

Deciding not to question things she had no hope of finding out, she did her business and stripped down for a relaxing bath.

After depositing the towels a few meters away from the pool, she stepped towards it slowly. The water had a slightly green color, yet didn't smell of any kind of bath salts.

Dipping her toes into the water, she found the temperature perfect. Yet as soon as she lowered an entire leg into the water, she jumped back with an "EEK". The part of her leg which had been submerged, started itching like hell. Deciding that not being clean was preferable to whatever was up with the water, she clothed herself and tried to leave the bathroom. Unfortunately the door refused to open.

Now sufficiently scared, she started crying. At first it was just silent tears, yet the longer she cried, the louder her sobs became.

" Mommy...... uuugh....*hic* " The

After about half an hour of crying she slowly regained her proper breathing. As the door refused to open, and the temperature in the  bathroom seemed to slowly sink, she decided to enter the bath, itching be damned.

The unbearable itch returned as soon as her leg was in the water. And instead of the usual itch, which could be satisfied by scratching, this one seemed to be inside her leg.

After another half an hour of 'leg dipping' she decided to just jump in. In the time she had been idling the bathroom slowly grew colder, to the point her breath became visible as little white clouds.

As she sat in the green water, the unbearable itching slowly abated. After the unpleasant sensation went away, she let herself relax in the water. Despite never having bathed by herself before, it was quite easy to use a bar of soap.

30 minutes later the water slowly lost its temperature and Aliyah was forced to leave. While drying herself off, she noted that the room was back to a standard warmth, instead of the frigid cold it has been just half an hour prior.

Opening the door, she stepped into the bedroom again, instead of the expected room with the stone slab. The dresser door was also, suspiciously back in place. As the door crashed to the ground once again, Aliyah noticed that the contents of the dresser bag changed as well. Now lying in the place the towels had occupied, was another fresh tunic.

After leaving the bedroom Aliyah once again traversed the corridor, to end up in the courtyard.

The courtyard was the same, yet the practice spear was missing.

Yet as soon as she stepped into the circle, something changed. The storm that was perpetually raging up above, stilled for a moment.

As she stood inside the circle, the air pressure rose. Every movement needed slightly more effort, ever step was slightly harder, and ever breath felt heavier.

Yet some movements took less effort than others. The left foot a bit forward, the right angled to the side. Her back straight like she was taught in her lessons, made breathing just a bit easier. And after testing the optimal position for her head, she looked up. Instantly she was entranced. The dark grey clouds, rolling through each other, the wind howling and the flashes of lightning snaking to and fro.

Storms had always been her favourite. If she managed to sneak out, she would always just sit in the rain and look up at the boiling clouds. This time, something was different. The storm seemed to call to her. It wanted her to move. To come together and become something greater.

And so she moved. Her feet slid along the ground in confusing zigzag patterns. Her breathing became slow and powerful. Her upper body slacked and swayed in the wind. Her arms moved around her in accordance to the wind, sometimes swiping, sometimes punching, spear hands, chops or palm strikes. She did not move consciously, she let the one guide her. The longer she moved, the sharper her movements became. Slow adjustments in angle, how deep she should breathe and how her back should stay limber. The movements became easier the longer she did them. When she misstepped, the wind let her know, so she entrusted herself to the storm and danced.

The Dragon statues in the courtyard watched with a proud glint in their eyes as the little mortal danced.

They hadn't expected the connection to be this deep. Her first time actually watching the storm, and she started walking the path.

Expectations rose, yet were crushed by a burning need to help. They couldn't let the mortal figure out everything on her own. She would need help, and they needed hers.

They decided then, that as soon as her soul was ready to accept mana, they would reveal themselves, and teach her everything they knew.

She was the first one to be worthy to embody the storm.