Challenge #04528-L144: Eye of the Needle

Seeing the pain in their eyes, the tailor promised this.
"I will love this child as my own blood, care for them to the best of my ability, and ensure they have a good life. But, they will know, you are also their parents. Even away, you will be in the heart."

-- Anon Guest

Kismet Foundling's first memory was the careful flash of a needle and thread through soft cotton cloth, dyed with madda. Rennie was her seat and the pilot of the needle. Gentle, callused hands kept Kismet's tender fingers from the sharp metal. She teethed on a piece of silver Dragonscale, part of the charm of protection that she wore whenever she was awake, and hung over her crib for sleep.

When Rennie read her stories, Wraithvine was always "Unty Wraithvine," and sometimes ze told her of Uncle Bibrid and their rescue of Kismet when she was a baby.

She was six years old when she learned that babies had other ways of coming to their families.

When she was eight, Unty Wraithvine and Uncle Bibrid came to visit. As far as walking legends were concerned they looked... stunningly ordinary. Patchy, tattered, and a touch dirty from travel. But they were also warm and friendly and very glad to see Kismet doing well.

Uncle Bibrid had an amulet for her, made out of silver Dragonscale, threaded on braided Elf hair, and engraved with special runes. He said it would keep Fate from tapping her shoulder until she was well able to fight for herself.

She didn't understand what that meant until she was grown. Many visits from her co-parents later. An orphan with a tragic past and an otherwise humble upbringing was almost bound to be called by Fate to fight evil with a band of misfits. And, if necessary, special powers at their beck and call.

It was just as much of a pain in the butt as Unty Wraithvine said it was.

At least she got the chance to grow up before it happened, and recognised the call to adventure before refusing it could put Rennie and her hometown in peril.

The most annoying part was that part of the adventure was the friends she made along the way.

[Photo by ROCCO STOPPOLONI on Unsplash]

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