When Chief Dawali asked if the vision was just for her, Ralla's ears flicked back with disappointment that it could not be true. "Sadly...no, Chief Dawali. Shamans from where I come from cannot divine their own futures. It is forbidden and impossible." Believe her; if Ralla could've divined her own future, everything would've been far simpler. She would be more sure of herself and what she was doing, and how she had even found the courage to leave her previous packlands to start a new life. However much she wanted to believe the Wayfarer sign just for her, it could not. The best she could hope was that it concerned the entire tribe and, by extension, maybe her as well.
"You alone tend to it?" While Ralla had understood the system--just like the Shamans and their disciples were the only ones allowed near the Sand Pits (where they carved in the sand the current paths of the stars and heavens)--she did not understand why no one in the large tribe she so wanted to call home did not step forward to do the duty. To all others, it might've been a bothersome duty to do--to merely tend and keep the flames going--but Ralla saw the fire as a sacred icon already, and one that so mesmerized her... And then she saw her path to usefullness and getting nearer to the Great Fire.
"Chief Dawali...? Could I perhaps be of use by learning this?" Ralla had scarcely heard of the profession paths in the tribe--only being alerted to them by Susquehanna her first day--but she had a vague idea of their purpose. Everyone was placed to help the tribe function and survive together, and since Ralla's strengths lied with Shamanism, she did not see how that would help the tribe survive on a day-to-day basis. She wanted to do something meaningfull for the tribe, even if she could only keep their spirits and beliefs high. "I want to work hard for the tribe... I want to be of use." While she did not yet know of the full implications of taking the path, Ralla felt determined to make it happen.
Even another Shaman could not have predicted how much meaning it would later have to Ralla herself.
Moon walks. "Moon talks. Moon thinks.
