Author's Note: I own nothing. We're gonna see something new now! Yes I am doing something new with Rook's people we don't know a whole lot about them to begin with and I've already hinted that in this reality they're a bit more tribal than in the original show.
22 In The Stars
If someone was asked to describe Rook Blonko the first word to come to mind was almost always patient. He had spent the past few years at the Plumber Academy, rising quickly through the ranks and excelling in his studies. But then the Vreedle brothers had snapped after a failed test and decided to blow up the entire academy. Luckily by some miracle no one had been harmed, but the Academy itself had been destroyed forcing the current graduating cadets to finish their courses in a Plumber way station. Scout didn't seem too bothered by this he was still deciding where he wanted to be stationed. He frowned over a star chart on his data pad.
"I think I figured it out!" The Loboan exclaimed a smile on his face. Rook looked up from his own paperwork.
"What have you figured out?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"I'm going back to Anur Transyl." Rook blinked at that.
"Why? It took a great deal of effort to get off Anur Transyl, why go back?" Scout scratched behind his ear and shrugged.
"Because they need me. There's not a whole lot of law in the Anur System since the Vladats went extinct. And they weren't the best law to begin with. I can help my people, just like Jen Ten did! Earth's going to Open system next month, there's already a colony under her town. Maybe I can at least start something similar for the Anur System." Rook smiled at his roommate.
"That is an honorable mission my friend." Scout grinned his tail wagging behind him.
"What about you, where will you go?" Rook took a deep breath. The good thing about being a Rookie Plumber was that, within reason, they got to pick their first station. It wasn't always the one they got but the Plumbers did their best to honor those requests.
"I will return to Revonnah." It was Scout's turn to frown.
"Thought they didn't approve of your career choice?" He asked lightly. Rook nodded.
"My father wishes me to stay on Revonnah and farm the fields my family has worked for generations. My people are very traditional, he will expect me home for my seventeenth birthday." Scout shook his head.
"You're not giving up being a Plumber are you? You love this job!" Rook smiled.
"Fear not my friend, I do not know if I intend to stay on Revonnah, but there is a tradition I wish to participate in that Revonnahganders of seventeen years may do." Scout raised an eyebrow.
"Is this something I can know about or is it like a closely guarded secret?" Rook shook his head.
"You are one of my closest friends, I have no secrets from you. It is a traditional trial that those who come of age, at seventeen once they have lost their bi'nthak and learned the ways of adult Revonnahgander, may choose to take. Some chose not to." Scout frowned.
"I thought you guys were all about tradition why would someone chose not to participate?" Rook set down his data pad.
"Because it is a tradition that can change someone forever. On my world we have a concept we call Amar, it does not translate well as there is more to the word than a single word can encompass. But I suppose the easiest way to describe it is mated souls, created to balance each other. Two souls meant to find each other for the harmony of both." Scout nodded.
"We have something similar, we call them Mates!" Rook grinned and nodded.
"Exactly. The trial is meant to assist one in finding their Amar. Many chose not to participate because they believe they already have found their Amar. They do not wish to be proven wrong as many have been." Scout nodded.
"So, you don't think the girl you left behind is the One then?" Rook frowned at his friend's question. "Your Amar I mean." Rook shook his head.
"Rayona is lovely, and it is a match our parents approve. But I cannot help but feel that my destiny lies somewhere beyond Revonnah." Scout nodded as Rook picked up the data pad again.
"So what happens during this trial?" Rook shook his head.
"That I do not know, only what happens after. If the signs point to Rayona being my Amar I will propose when I return from the mountain where the trial takes place. If they do not, then I must apologize to her and take steps to find my Amar, my harmony, for my own peace of mind if nothing else. Some who take the trial never find them, but I have hope." Scout grinned.
"I hope you do find them, your harmony. It sounds like a really good thing to have. But what if she's not on Revonnah? The universe is a big place Rook." He nodded.
"I know. I will pursue my career as a Plumber and search as I go, I can only hope my Amar appears to me someday. What was the saying we learned in Earth studies? Ah yes. All good things to those who wait." Scout laughed at his friend as they finished up their paperwork.
Within the week Rook was back on Revonnah, his family was overjoyed to see him, though his father kept sending disapproving looks at the things he'd brought with him and scoffed when he learned that Rook would not be returning home fully, since he would be living at the small Plumber base. The celebration of his seventeenth birthday was lovely and as night began to fall he bowed to his parents.
"I have chosen to take the mountain's trial to guide me to my Amar." His father raised his eyebrows but looked pleased that his son would not be abandoning tradition all together. He nodded.
"Go forth my son, the trial awaits you." It was the traditional farewell for this trial. His mother took down a bow and quiver from their place on the wall along with a spear.
"May the stars guide you to harmony." She said handing him the weapons. They were more of a traditional gesture then for true protection, the Muroids went after the fields not the people of Revonnah, though some who went on this journey stayed gone for days attempting to reconcile the signs they were given. He knew what he had to do next as he nodded to his siblings. They nodded back, Rook Shar had one hand on Young One's shoulder holding him back from either following Blonko or asking the million questions on his tongue. He hadn't lost his bi'nthak yet and as such had no knowledge of this tradition. Rook headed to the temple of Revonnah Kai where he was met by Master Kundo who narrowed his eyes at him but ever bound by tradition nodded and silently led him to the path at the base of the sacred mountain several miles outside of the small town.
"May harmony find you." He managed to almost not sound bitter as he stepped aside so Rook could enter the pathway. The forest here was dense, but Rook had training for many a different kind of terrain thanks to the Plumbers and reached the top of the mountain without difficulty. A small cave entrance sat there, steam billowing out of it. Rook set down his weapons, no weapon was to ever enter this sacred place. He also took off his shoes, he'd always been told that was part of the trial as well. He was glad for the first time since removing it to be without his Plumber issued armor. It was warm in the cave and his armor would have put him at a disadvantage. The loose robes that were traditional for his people were much cooler. It was also dark and he almost wished for his flashlight, back at Plumber base. But he shook his head and headed down the tunnel. It was going down, quite steeply. This was where all the stories he'd been told left off. No one spoke of what was in this sacred place just the steaming entrance. He knew by that description that he had the right place as he began to sweat, he could not imagine what waited for him at the end.
Eventually he emerged in a cave that had to take up most of the mountain. It was so large he couldn't see the top. His excellent night vision did nearly nothing to help him in the near blackness of the cavern. It was only when his bare feet met a pool of liquid that he paused. The liquid rippled and shimmered like silver despite the lack of light. Steam plumed in greater mass and Rook tensed slightly as a voice echoed around the cavern.
'You have come seeking knowledge.' It wasn't a question, but the voice was not threatening though he could still not find out the source of it. It was wispy and ethereal as if not of this world. 'Step into the water Rook Blonko. See what you wish to see.' He did not feel any fear as he stepped into the water which was still shimmering silver. On instinct he laid back in the water once he was out far enough. He couldn't tell how deep the water went but still he felt no fear as he stared up into the steam. After a moment he blinked. The steam was forming into shapes that raced around and vanished before he could make any sense of them. The voice echoed around him again.
'You search for your harmony, but you will not find it here. Your harmony is a very long way away.' Stars spun in the steam but vanished too quickly for him to identify patterns. 'A warrior of great merit. She defends the stars, as you will too. A lonely one among thousands. Your balance is among the stars Rook Blonko, find her. You will need each other.' The voice faded, the images in the steam disappeared leaving Rook blinking at the edge of the pool of water. More questions than answers flooded his mind as he pulled himself out of the water and shook off the sparkling drops. But he had one answer, his destiny, his harmony did not rest here on Revonnah. He made his way slowly out of the cave and took his time pulling his shoes on. He picked up the weapons carefully. He took his time heading back down the mountain. It was nearing dawn as he made it back to town, still damp from the pool. His family was still awake, all but Young One who slept with his head in Rook Shar's lap. Rayona was there too and he felt his heart twist slightly, he liked her but it wasn't love and if she was not his then she had her own harmony to find and he would not keep her from that.
He knelt before her laying his weapons before her. She closed her eyes, disappointment written on her face. This was not how Revonnahganders proposed, quite the opposite. He bowed his head.
"I must offer my humblest apologies. I am not your harmony and will not keep you from finding them, as I hope you will not hold me back from mine." Rayona swallowed her tears and nodded, taking his hands and pulling him to his feet.
"I will not keep you from harmony, may it find you someday soon."
"May harmony find you as well." She dropped his hands and turned away, walking with grace back to her family home. The trail was over. He could tell no one exactly what he had seen, but if he chose to he could share hints at the signs he'd seen, but finding his Amar was up to him. His father looked almost resigned but Rook Shar had the curious light in her eyes that he often saw in the mirror. It was no surprise when she knocked on his door later that day.
"Shar."
"Blonko, I know you cannot tell me exactly what happened but will you tell me something?" Rook Blonko nodded.
"Within the next few months I will be transferring to a new Plumber base." Shar stared at him.
"Why! You have just returned home and now you are leaving again! Is it because Rayona is no longer speaking to you? I do not believe that is a reason to flee the planet!" Rook Blonko shook his head.
"No Shar. My harmony is elsewhere, not on Revonnah." Shar blinked. The implication of this was staggering. Revonnah did not have colonies like over planets, there were no Revonnahganders off planet. If this was true Rook Blonko's Amar was not of their species.
"Do you have hope you will find them?" Shar asked her voice small. She'd never had a lot of interest in the subject of Amar's, she was much more interested in the minutia of becoming a Plumber, much to the chagrin of their father.
"I will always have hope sister." She smiled and hugged him.
"Then you must go out into the stars and find your harmony brother." He hugged her back and nodded.