A/N: Well, I have a sad truth to tell anyone who is reading this that has also read my other story, 'Harry Potter and the Companions of Lore'. I've hit writers block. BAD writers block. So, that one won't be updated until further notice. I thought of this one last night though... I think it has potential, and best of all, it is a pure Mercedes Lackey fic. No cross-overs for me this time. So, please review if you read this. I would really appreciate it. (I've made slight changes to this chapter after someone pointed out a plot-hole to me. Nothing big though.)

Kas stared around the small clearing dejectedly. The area in the circle of pine trees was littered with arrows. Both the large trees and the moss-covered ground were scattered with them. However, there was one spot that was noticeably empty of arrows and arrow-marks; a single tree across the clearing from where Kas stood. The 2 foot wide circle of paint on the large tree taunted the eleven-year-old, remaining untouched by all the arrows. Kas sighed despairingly. The girl walked from her position at one end of the clearing and resolutely began to pick up her arrows. The oaken bow she had been using lay cushioned on a bed of moss. Every so often, Kas would turn to look at the circle and glare at it. If looks were arrows, it would have resembled a pincushion.

Kas turned back to the bow, unstringing it with care. After she had finished that, she placed her arrows back in her quiver one-by-one, watching how the fletching fell against each other. That task done, the girl slunk away into the forest, not a whisper betraying her passing. Kas arrived in a small circle of huts. Slipping into one of the larger ones, she walked up to the dark-haired woman who inhabited it. She approached the kitchen-like room and spoke quietly to the woman for several seconds. After a quick embrace, Kas padded over to a ladder placed on the wall. Scurrying up it like a squirrel, she slithered into the 4 foot tall space. She crawled over to the pile of blankets and fell asleep.

Kassiani Ashkavel. To the people of her "village", if you could call it that, she was a quiet young girl. Fairly tall for her 11 years, her only real skills were her astounding tracking ability, her enormous amount to natural stealth, and her riding skill. Any one of the village's three horses would calm under her hand, including the youngest, a fiery roan mare, which the trainers were still breaking to saddle. She could sneak up behind anyone unsuspected, and could track anything. To her two brothers, however, she was plain Kas, the girl they were unfortunately related to, who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with an arrow even if she was 2 inches from it. The villagers saw the black-haired girl as an asset, however strange she was. Her brothers saw her as an embarrassment. Her strange eyes made relations between them worse, and coupled with her lack of archery skill, well, let's not even go there. Kas' left eye was a normal, if a bit striking, midnight blue. Her right eye, however, was like molten silver, pure and untainted.

The sun rose early the next day, and with is rose Kas. It was with a resolute heart that she took one of the three village horses out for a gallop. It was the younger of the two saddle-broken equines. A large bay, the stallion was spirited. Kas let him have his head as they flew through the forest. More than an hour passed before they neared the edge of the territory Kas was familiar with. Gently, Kas turned the stallion's head toward territory she knew. Many thoughts ran through her head as she guided the horse back to the stable. Most prominent was the thought of what she wanted to be. 'I can't be a Bard,' she thought. 'I don't have the Gift or any musical talent. I don't want to be a healer either… I doubt I have that gift though. Herald is out of the question. I mean, what Companion is going to choose Kassiani Ashkavel, who can't even get her brothers to respect her and who can't shoot a bow for her life!'

'A week,' Kas thought. 'I've been trying every day for a week, and I still can't even get near the stupid target! What am I doing wrong? I'm never going to get any job that has to do with fighting… let alone one that I would get to ride in!' The moss below her feet cushioned the bow as Kas threw it to the ground in frustration. She stalked off into the forest, almost walking over a cliff due to the fact that she was absorbed in her thoughts. She plopped down on the edge of the cliff, dangling her legs over the 60 foot drop. The sunset threw deep colors across the sky, a myriad of golds, reds, and purples.

An hour later, after watching the sun slink to its resting place, she picked herself up off the ground and wandered through the woods back to her house. Without a word to anyone, she climbed up the ladder to her loft and went to sleep.

The next morning, Kas climbed down after a restful night's sleep to see the disgruntled faces of her two brothers.

"Kassiani," her mother asked, "would you go and help your brothers gather some mushrooms? Thank you." Kas nodded her head to her mother and silently followed her brothers out the door.

Kas glanced around as the three picked mushrooms. She spotted another, smaller, mushroom patch a ways away, and walked over to it with her basket, happy to move away from her brothers. As she settled herself to pick some mushrooms, a wave of disorientation passed over her, leaving her unsteady. As she reached out to grab the nearest tree, she looked around. She had seen something, that much she knew. But nothing around her looked out of place. It was a normal peaceful day in the Pelagirs. About 30 seconds after the first wave of disorientation hit her, another came. With it was a vision that passed too quickly for her to see what it was, but slowly enough for her to know it was a vision. Waiting for about another half a minute, she was rewarded with another vision. This time she saw it. A wild boar, charging through the underbrush. Somehow, without a doubt, she knew right where it was headed. For her brothers. Paralyzed with fear for their lives, all she could do was mentally scream 'MOVE' as she watched the boar move swiftly, still locked in her vision. Her brothers started, and then looked around. Seeing her glassy-eyed state, they grabbed their mushroom baskets and ran to her side. Still hearing that strange voice talking in their heads, they grabbed her basket as well and, one having Kas on his back, ran toward the hut. When they charged into the house, their mother looked startled.

"What happened?" she exclaimed.

"Something startled us and we looked over and saw Kas like this. So we brought her home. We're going to head back out now, alright?"

"That's fi-"

:NO!: shouted Kas, sitting bolt upright. She nearly fell back over again from the dizziness that over took her, but she fought to stay upright. :There… There was… There was a boar out there.:

Her brothers looked at each other in confusion. "No there wasn't. We would've heard it."

:Trust me… for once, please trust me. I saw it… I don't know how, but I did. Please believe me!: Kas all but begged her brothers, not knowing she was using mindspeech.

One looked at the other, then both shrugged. "Fine by me… We'll go and finish that chair that we were working on."

Kas heaved a sigh of relief when they agreed to not to back to the forest. She then promptly passed out form mental exhaustion.

It was 3 days later when Kas blearily opened her eyes to see some fuzzy blobs of color standing above her. Startled, she thought 'What is that' and suddenly, she wasn't seeing fuzzy blobs anymore… she was seeing her mother and the 'village doctor' standing over her. She wasn't seeing it from her own eyes though… she was seeing herself! With a jolt, she 'threw' herself back into her body and passed out again.

"I don't understand it… Every time she wakes, she experiences some sort of mental trauma, and she passes out again… If this keeps up, I don't know what will happen to her," the doctor regretfully informed Kas' mother.

As the woman opened her mouth to respond, a whicker interrupted her. Both the mother of three and the doctor ran out of the room they were in to find a white horse knocking impatiently on the door with a hoof. Too shocked to do anything but what was obviously expected of her, Kas' mother opened the door. The horse gave her a look of what could only be gratitude and walked over to the room where the unconscious girl lay on the pile of cushions. The stallion nudged her shoulder and the glazed eyes opened as they always would when she was nudged. Only this time, when Kas was shocked out of herself and saw the room from above, she didn't pass out. Before she could, endless sapphire filled her vision and she heard a voice speaking to her mind, heart, and soul.

:You need not fear yourself any longer Chosen. I am here. My name is Raihadenereth, and you are my Chosen.:

Kas shakily lifted up a hand, to the shock of the two spectators, and softly petted the glowing white head. "Rai…" she whispered, the loudest she had ever spoken to anyone. Rai nickered, and said softly :Sleep, little one.: So she did.

A/N: So, that's it for the first chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it, I'm trying really hard not to 'Mary-Sue' Kas. As a point, if you are even interested, Rai's name is pronounced 'Rai-ha-den-er-eth' with the stress on the 'er'. Thanks for reading. I would also appreciate it if you would take the time to review. Also, if you think my grammer, spelling, or sense of a plot-line are really bad, you could voluenteer to be my beta... but if no one cares, then I'll just go through this again at some point and revise.