"Sundi, can you tell me which God granted you your blessing?" I asked in a serious tone. She looked at me a little confused then said, "You know it isn't smart to tell people about your abilities right?" I gave her a look and responded, "Seriously? You've been watching me use mine for how long now? The least you can do is humor me here. You don't need to tell me about your blessing, I just want to confirm something about your patron god." She seemed a bit apprehensive and took a second to respond. "I suppose if we're going to be working together, then you should know what I'm capable of… My blessing is called Wandering Waves. It allows me to manipulate water that I touch beneath my feet. I can walk on water and also create waves. If I wanted to, I could even create a wave that can push this ship to your destination. But most importantly I can use it to travel beneath the surface of the water at high speeds. If you imagine my body to be a buoy, I can pull myself beneath the water and then shoot forward and up from below the surface. That was the movement technique that you saw when I first approached you. My specialty is obviously water warfare, but I can still utilize my ability on land whenever it rains or if I get my feet wet." She said as she lifted up her foot and showed me that the sole of her foot was wet. I didn't even notice that there were small puddles of water across the deck of the ship just from waves slashing against the hull. I wondered if that was why she could move so fast… "Ahhh, I see. That is a very interesting blessing. So I guess your patron god must be the God of the Ocean or some other water deity right?" I said with a slightly disappointed tone. She seemed a bit annoyed with me after that and said, "Well, for your information my patron God is not necessarily a deity of water. The Goddess who blessed me with this incredibly USEFUL blessing, was none other than the holder of the pale moonlight… The Moon Goddess." She said proudly as she stood up and raised both of her palms towards the beautiful full moon above us.
It was safe to say that I was utterly shocked. Sundi's patron god was… Livana!? "Wait, then that means…!?" I exclaimed as I put my hands on my head. My mind began to race and I thought back to when I had first met the Moon Goddess. She said something about me meeting someone eventually, and that I needed to control myself. What the heck does that even mean? Sundi seemed pretty surprised by my reaction and asked, "Is everything alright Sid?" I looked back at Sundi as the moonlight shined down on the deck, fully illuminating her. She looked utterly beautiful as her purple hued eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. It was at that moment when Livana's words seemed to echo in my mind, Control yourself… Control yourself… Control yourself. My face turned beet red as I began thinking something I shouldn't have, and smacked my face with both of my hands. "Uhh ahaha… Yes. I am fine. Your goddess sure is vixen…" I murmured. Sundi didn't hear the last part of what I said and just continued to look at me confused by the way I was acting. "Ahem… Anyways, did you by chance visit a shrine for your goddess in the enchanted forest?" I asked while trying to look away and hide my embarrassment. Sundi's eyes lit up in shock and said, "How in the world do you know that!? I didn't tell anyone about that, not even members of my own organization. That is the reason why I was the first to respond to the missing report of our ally's member. I was the closest in proximity while I was in the forest, but there is no way you would have been able to know something like that…" She said as she became somewhat suspicious of me. I realized how that could have sounded, like maybe I was actually aware of her far before she was aware of me. "Oh! No, please don't take it that way. Actually… I have met your goddess before, Livana. I also visited that same shrine almost directly after you did. I think we may have missed each other only by minutes." I said, trying to explain this strange situation. Sundi seemed even more surprised when I said the name of the Goddess. "You… You really did meet her… She wouldn't even show herself to me… Just what did you do that made her descend!?" She said in frustration. I didn't know that Livana wasn't appearing for her own apostle. I wonder why she would do something like that… "Well, I was there under somewhat special circumstances. I was accompanied by someone who Livana favored immensely. That was the only reason she appeared and helped me. I swear to you. Do you know of any reason why she may not be showing herself to you?" I questioned carefully. Sundi seemed like she may have been holding something back, and was hesitant to respond. "In truth… I do know the reason why. There was an incident where I had a choice, and I made the wrong decision that led to her disdain towards me." Even as Sundi spoke, the sorrow in her voice was palpable… This woman seemed to truly be in pain. I needed to help her somehow. "Well look, I understand if you don't want to talk about this any further. But… I think right now is a better time than any for you to let it all out. We're sitting here under her moonlight after all. I'm sure she will hear you and understand." I said with sincerity. When I thought about that time I visited Livana's moonlight altar, I could clearly remember the way she had spoken about Sundi. When she referred to the person who had visited before us, she did not speak in a way that would indicate any kind of ill will. It actually seemed like the opposite. But for Livana to just ignore Sundi entirely, that was rather curious. Sundi looked at me with her beautiful sorrow filled eyes and said, "Maybe you're right Sid… It would be better to speak about it aloud rather than hold it in. I want to reconnect with my goddess, I want her to understand me…" I gave her a reassuring smile and put my hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I will not judge you. I certainly have made horrible decisions in the past… So don't feel like you're alone."
Sundi started by telling me about the situation. "Some time ago when our leader initially wanted to reform our tribe and bring it back to its former glory, he enacted a plan to steal precious artifacts from a very renowned and powerful person. When he first introduced this plan, there was a certain older member of our tribe who opposed him. It was the last elder remaining of the generations before us. He was a bit eccentric, but always held the tribe's best interest at heart. His name was Dobbin. Dobbin had basically raised most of us, and I truly saw him as the only parental figure in our lives. Our leader however, would not take no for an answer. He used force to intimidate the other members of our tribe into joining him. My choice was to either side with Dobbin or follow our leader on this incredibly dangerous mission. My initial choice was to side with Dobbin, as I felt he understood that risking the lives of our brethren was unnecessary. My belief was always to preserve the lives of our people, that should have always come first. Our leader however, held a different ideal. He felt that the only way we could ever recover what we had lost, was to put our lives on the line. Eventually… This led to a major clash between Dobbin and our leader. It was a violent and deadly fight that ended in Dobbin nearly dying. Our leader wanted to kill him for a betrayal that never happened…. That is when I stepped in. In order to preserve Dobbins life, I told our leader that I would join them in his plan as long as he spared Dobbin's life. Our leader agreed, but instead of killing him… He cast him out instead. Dobbin was banished from our tribe and was told to never present himself as a member of our tribe. Just hearing it broke my heart into pieces, as Dobbin loved our people more than anyone… But Dobbin accepted his fate, and left us never to be seen or heard from again. I have tried to find him on numerous occasions, but I fear he may have succumbed to his wounds or been captured. Either way, I feel that it was my fault. If I had been more decisive and just went along with our leader to begin with, then maybe the fight between him and Dobbin never would have happened. The reason why I feel that Livana resents me for this, is because the Moon Goddess was also Dobbin's patron god… We shared something incredibly special, and yet I turned my back on him and my ideals. I just didn't want to lose him, and yet I lost him in the end anyways… My wish is to return our tribe to its true ways, and make our leader see how his actions have strayed so far from who we truly are. I wish for that more than anything, and I know that I cannot do it without the guidance of the Moon Goddess, or help from someone who understands my cause…" Sundi finished with tears in her eyes as she reached up into the night sky, reaching out to the moon.