Kachina

Just like the other progeny of the Children of Echoes, Kachina grew up surrounded by adorable Tepetlisaurs, spending her time digging shiny gems out of the bowels of the mountains and listening to her elders passing down the legends of heroes.

She learned the mountain paths like the back of her hand, developing a great instinct and talent for finding minerals buried deep beneath the ground. When she had some time to kill, she'd be with all the other kids, running off to the music studios where artists were recording their newest tunes to just cut loose and dance freely to the pulsing rhythms.

Growing up in this environment, the occasional bump and scratch was unavoidable, and Kachina would cry out in pain when she hurt herself, just like any other child. But long before any other kid would have recovered, Kachina would have wiped away her tears and stood back up again.

In the eyes of others, of course she was a good kid. But Kachina still struggled to understand why someone as ordinary as herself was given the Ancient Name "Uthabiti."

Just what part of her was worthy of the ideals of strength this great name carried? Young as she was, she was unable to puzzle it out.

But having been granted this great honor, she had an obligation to participate in the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame. Moreover, returning triumphantly from the Pilgrimage and rising up like the heroes of legend was the dream of every warrior of Natlan — including Kachina.

As she experienced failure time and time again, not only was she overwhelmed with sadness, but she couldn't even lift her head to face the disappointed looks in the faces of her friends. Nevertheless, she would wipe away her tears, and stand up once more.

But having already failed so many times, could she really achieve success in the Pilgrimage? Kachina, who always gave everything she had, to fight on, felt doubt creeping into her heart.

Other than the required applicant information on the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame pre-registration form, there is also a page for providing optional information about the candidate. The information it asks for includes, but is not limited to, hobbies, personal experiences, and so on. The original purpose was to make it easy for the promotional team to create materials to hype up participants, but practically everyone already knew all the info on the hottest contestants, so trying to find out that way was completely unnecessary. And so, over time, nobody took the supplemental form seriously. It seems like only Kachina would carefully fill in every blank on the supplemental form every time.

"Hobbies: Dancing."

Every member of the Children of Echoes knows a thing or two about dancing, and a stereotype the other tribes have about the Children is that dancing is in their blood. The moment music sounds, the children of the Nanatzcayan will start subconsciously swaying. But even among them, Kachina is a gifted dancer, with great control over her body even from a young age. Her movements as she shifts her weight to the beat have always been as smooth as a swimming Koholasaurus. Even Pochtli frequently praised her, and Pochtli is not someone given to giving out compliments. Actually, Kachina really wanted to write that down too, to prove she did have something to write about, but since she was worried it would look conceited, she let it go.

As for her other hobby, she hesitated for a long time before finally deciding not to put it to paper.

Digging.

What she found embarrassing was that, like most members of the Children of Echoes, her favorite thing to do was dig around in tunnels. Whenever she discovered a vein of ore in a dark tunnel, a warm feeling would well up in her heart. Everyone in the Children of Echoes understood this warmth, but she thought writing "digging up minerals" in the "hobbies" section would only make it look like she lacked personality.

"I really don't have any strengths." She wanted to sigh.

The next box was about the people closest to you.

"Dad, Mom, Ayo..." She began to fill in her family's names.

Other than her parents, who gave her so much love and warmth, the one closest to her was her Tepetlisaurus companion, Ayo. The one by her side the first time she tried digging alone was none other than Ayo. When her parents were recounting the legendary tales to her, and when she was out causing a ruckus, the one following close behind her was always Ayo. Just thinking of him, Kachina couldn't help but smile.

She wanted to add a few other names between the lines, like Mualani, who always encouraged her with a smile, and Kinich, who always extended a helping hand when she needed it most, and from her own tribe, Uncle Pacal... But she couldn't fit that many names in the space provided, so, she had to let them go.

When she finally finished filling it all in, and handed the supplementary form to the staff member on duty, they were absolutely flabbergasted that this pocket-sized little girl had actually filled out the entire form.

"That page is optional, you know. It's okay if you don't write anything down," they joked.

Her response was: "That's fine. Everything I can do well, I want to take seriously."

Tepetlisaurs and the Children of Echoes have been living together since before the time of Kachina's grandfather's grandfather. It is the custom of the people to work and live alongside them, and become companions.

This means that for the Children of Echoes, Saurians are not like the livestock whose lives and deaths are dictated by humans, nor are they like pets, beholden to the whims of their masters. They stand as equals to humanity.

Most bonds between Tepetlisaurs and humans are formed willingly, just like Kachina and Ayo.

Tepetlisaurus nests are never too far from Children of Echoes dwellings, and this proximity ensures Saurian and human are often running into one another, with the latter considering the former to be friendly neighbors, never thinking it odd to meet one occasionally.

For a time when Kachina was quite young, she'd often run into a robust young Tepetlisaur at the crossroads on the way to the mines. To Kachina, these simple, honest neighbors were a group worth greeting, so she'd always say "Hi!" to him.

After a time, it seemed like the little Tepetlisaur remembered her, and she began running into him more and more different places. Practicing dancing in an open field, gathering grainfruit, catching fish in the river... After so many encounters, the young Saurian and human would not only greet one another, but also sometimes exchange gifts.

Winning the little Saurian's friendship wasn't a complicated affair. Kachina didn't need to worry about trying to prove her worth to him, or offering him special rewards. They simply felt comfortable hanging out together, so they spent time together.

Until one day, the little Tepetlisaur just naturally followed Kachina to her home, after which it became her family's companion, and Kachina gave him the name "Ayo." The whole thing was totally normal, no less natural than how fish must swim in water or how birds must soar through the skies.

From then on, Ayo always showed her the loyalty and affection he shows to friends, unlike some of the playmates she grew up with. They didn't hesitate to start keeping their distance after she failed time and time again in the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame, and some even mocked and ridiculed her. But Ayo has always stood firmly by her side with his sharp horn, never wavering.

"Uthabiti" carries the meaning of toughness and tenacity. At first, Kachina did not think that she was at all worthy of such an Ancient Name, brimming with honor.

After consulting the ancient woven scrolls, and learning just what kind of people the ancient heroes who had borne the name before were, she felt even more perplexed.

They all possessed incredible power, and would always remain bold and spirited, no matter what dangers they faced, for which they were revered by later generations; they had maintained their noble character despite enduring the harshest of conditions, protecting their homelands with naught but their own strength, never wavering in their duties or abandoning their responsibilities until their last breath. Looking back at herself, she felt she didn't have the strength of warriors of the Collective of Plenty, nor did she possess the agility of the Riders of the Flower-Feather Clan. Even though she didn't want to appear weak and easily bullied, in the face of constantly being belittled and even degraded, she couldn't help but cry and snuffle.

"Do tough people really cry all the time like I do?"

She really was a long, long way from being anything close to "tough." After reaching this conclusion, she was despondent for some time, drowning in despair. But she quickly let go of those feelings. Not because she trained until she became a powerful warrior, or because she suddenly understood some profound truth. And though her friends and family did show her a lot of care and concern, her choice was mostly dictated by her own habits.

No matter how badly you fall, the first thing you have to do is just get back up again.

When she was even younger, every time she fell, she would already have stood up when any other child would still have been wailing on the ground. Yes, the wounds still hurt, and her tears were still splashing to the ground, but these were just innate physical reactions. She consciously felt she should stand up and look at the rock that had tripped her before carrying on crying.

And the same is true now. Facing with a future without much hope, she felt intense fear, and was frustrated and lost. Being so young, she didn't yet understand how to conceal her own feelings, and so she wore her negative thoughts and emotions on her sleeve. But she would still stand up once more, sobbing and sniffling, her face painted by her tears and bruises, and keep practicing, keep pushing forward.

She herself understood this as being able to take a beating, but in the words of Uncle Pacal, who was both more mature and more eloquent:

"Though people are weak, it is through their bravery in facing this cruel world that their greatness is truly revealed."

Maybe Kachina really is tough.

After returning from the Night Kingdom, it was as if the other households of the tribe looked upon Kachina's family in a new light.

Some who had never spoken to her family before began to take the initiative, greeting them when they ran into them. Those acquaintances that before had only ever politely offered some small talk when they met now actively sought them out to socialize.

Whether or not Kachina was there, the conversation would — intentionally or otherwise — invariably turn to her. They would laud her bravery and toughness, praising her from the tip of Ayo's tail to the points of her ears. In fact, those rather distinctive ears, which had once only been seen as a common "atavistic trait," now became proof of her having been special from birth.

Having experienced so many setbacks, yet in the end finally returning triumphant, she was the epitome of persistence and perseverance against the odds. All her previous failures and defeats became little more than footnotes to her feat, buried amongst the paeans.

Something felt off to Kachina. Her mistakes and tears were being ignored by everyone, even though they plainly existed, concealed by the light of her success.

Others could forget about all the countless failures she had endured, but she herself could not, nor did she think she should.

She always thought she simply couldn't compare to those heroes who were victorious time and time again, and her triumphant return this time was intrinsically linked to the support of her friends. There was no way she could suddenly become the idealized version of herself who existed only in the praise streaming forth from others.

She was still the Kachina who couldn't stop herself from crying when dispirited, and she still wanted to be that Kachina who would always charge forward, getting back up again no matter how many times she falls.

"Not getting knocked down is definitely one type of tough, but maybe not losing yourself in all the flowers and praise is another."

And so, Kachina added another footnote to her understanding of the name "Uthabiti."

Every child of the Nanatzcayan has heard fables about raw ore and gems, and Kachina's parents related one such tale to her before bed.

Before the raw ore had been unearthed by the Children of Echoes, it had slept soundly in the depths below the mountains, alongside mud in its matrix.

At first, it didn't know it had the potential to become a gem. It only endured the long dark and loneliness, and never called itself as such.

"I'm just a chunk of totally ordinary rock." That's what it thought.

Until a great gale had blown away the topsoil, the raging rivers had washed away the silt, an earthquake had sundered the strata, and finally, the drills of the Children of Echoes split it off from its place in the bowels of the mountain... Even then, it still hadn't realized it had a certain splendorous radiance glittering within its own rocky heart.

As it was smashed and polished, the ore felt immense pain. As chisel and grindstone carried away many of its parts, and its ordinary rind was carved off, the patterns that represented its timidity were smoothed away. In the eyes of the Children of Echoes, this was a process filled with joy and beauty, but the ore knew not what was happening, or what would come next. As its tears flowed, it asked the chisel and grindstone:

"Why must this happen to me?"

To reveal your true nature as a gem.

But those words remained unsaid. Unlike the ore, the chisel and grindstone had participated in the cutting of countless gems and witnessed the moment when the rays of light burst forth, and so they kept their silence.

Until the work was complete at last, and the ore could finally see what it looked like in the eyes of others: a beautiful gemstone.

As she walked alone through the Night Kingdom, Kachina kept thinking of this story. She remembered that she had asked her parents: What happened next? What should a gemstone look like? But the chill of the Night Kingdom blurred her memories, and she couldn't remember the rest of the fable. Fortunately, the memories of being with her parents gave her warmth, allowing the fire of her soul to burn on. She decided to stop soul-searching, for whether she was low-quality ore shattered by the chisel or a gem that yet held hope, she had to continue onward. She had many more things she wished to do, and many people she wished to see again.

At the moment she was bathed in sunlight once more, and saw the outstretched hand of the Traveler, she knew what a gemstone should look like:

A strong, sturdy structure, capable of holding up the world even in the darkest hour.

Possessing unquenchable hope, lighting up the pitch-black world.

Now, she has returned triumphant from the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame and proven herself. The day when others gaze at her with admiration has finally come, and she can bring them faith and courage. The Pyro Archon herself told her, the name Kachina will be woven into the banners by the Masters of the Night-Wind, as a part Natlan's heroic saga, flowing into the Ley Lines, becoming an eternal legend.

Thus did tears and courage finally smelt the gemstone named "Kachina."

We recite the names of the ancestors, we sing the names of the heroes.

The brave warriors who inherit the name of "Uthabiti," we record and weave their words.

The first strand of golden thread we offer to the sword-wielder who first created the name, a homely girl no taller than a child.

She once held back the collapse of the cliffs with her own two hands, bearing the people of an entire tribe upon her shoulders.

In spirit and in thought, she was many times greater than the tallest and sturdiest warriors in the entire history of Natlan.

The bright fire of this hero's life burned out quickly, yet even at death's door, she laughed freely and uproariously, the lingering sounds clear and bright, like a great river breaching a dike.

Though her breath ceased and her heartbeat stilled, the weavers could still hear the sound of waves pouring forth from her shriveled body, only fading after seven nights.

The second strand of golden thread we offer to the shield-bearer who lifted the name from the river of concepts once more, he who never once put down his shield.

Though he himself was slim as a reed, he stood and fought together with his shield for years after year, and never wavered no matter how time passed.

His body was as silent as his shield, but his soul was wont to bellow over the battlefield.

Even within his urn, his ashes still attempted to solidify and burst through the vessel, leading all to declare he could not fit into such a small tomb.

Finally, his remains were scattered amongst the mountains, the glittering ashen gravel echoing like thunder as it struck the stone walls.

The third strand of golden thread we offer to the anonymous ones lost between the layered banners, whose deeds have been hidden by history.

Were it not for the Wayob's revelations, it would be difficult for us to clearly see the traces of the blood and tears they left behind.

The final moments of the great heroes were peaceful, and we offer our sincerest prayers that they burned themselves out in happiness and contentment.

The fourth strand of thread is woven with Saurian feathersilk, and we offer it to the spear-wielder who held the name high above the Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame once more.

In the Night Kingdom, she traveled with the souls of the warriors who battle eternally, traversing the creeping dark and returning in triumph.

Tears do not lessen the glory of the name "Uthabiti," and her return was inseparably linked to the start of a new age.

We recite the names of the ancestors, we sing the names of the heroes—

"The one that dares stand firm as a mountain, their bones like battlements, and hold the sun's gaze — it is they that shall be given unto eternity."

"Fear itself should instead fear me, for my body is like a roaring blaze; destined to melt down all that is mean and lowly, then cast it once more as an epitaph."

It was after her first Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame. Kachina's first Pilgrimage had ended in failure, all the lofty expectations from before having come to nothing. Everyone around her doubted her ability, but more painful still was that she began to find it harder to control her doubts about herself.

Maybe even the Wayob occasionally got it wrong? Could she really "melt down all that is mean and lowly" like in the poem? Or maybe she was actually the kind of mediocre child who should be melted?

It was then that she rediscovered what digging meant to her.

She had always loved drilling to the depths of the mountains, seeking out treasures, but this time, she didn't dig with any kind of particular goal. She just carried her drill and bored forward, as though as long as she just kept going, disappointment and sorrow would be unable to bore a hole into her heart, but instead became the drill in her hand, punching a hole into the heart of the mountain.

She felt much happier moving forward endlessly through the darkness, where she might still turn up something good, rather than just enduring doubt and defeat. But in the world aboveground, that Pilgrimage would not be erased, and her defeat would march forward alongside time, a stamp Kachina could never rub away. Whether hiding down in the darkness, or standing upright in the sunlight, she was still completely dejected, and if she had to choose, the former was harder to bear. Because there, the word "failure" constantly echoed in her head, and it was far more painful for her than any of the tears and sweat she had shed in her training for the Pilgrimage.

The people of Natlan have a saying, that the Children of Echoes are a stubborn lot, and their lives are like the horns on a Tepetlisaur's head, soft yet sharp, and always charging forward. And much like the saying implies, stopping was never an option in Kachina's mind. All she knew was moving onward.

Perhaps the heavens had decreed she could never become a towering hero, so all she could do was trudge on forward, shifting and testing and trying to take one step, then another.

Of course, what she didn't understand then is that while thrusting out your chest, holding your head high, and shouting your certainty of victory while charging forward is certainly something people aspire to, setting your jaw, gritting your teeth, and inching forward, bit by bit, one leaden step at a time, is also something truly awesome.

While underground, that was precisely what she was pondering.

But at the same time, she would also occasionally dig something interesting up.

Like her Vision.

When she received a Vision of her own, she was naturally quite happy, but she had already experienced a similar feeling of excitement before, and that was when she had received the Ancient Name "Uthabiti."

Neither the acknowledgment of an Archon nor of the Wayob meant that she would definitely accomplish some great deed, she had learned at least that much from reality, but what she hadn't learned was:

When the legends of heroes are in their embryonic state, they aren't the least bit noteworthy, nor are the tales very encouraging, being dark and gloomy instead. But all the initial motivation they need to achieve greatness is already present, and as long as the protagonists keep on moving forward, the future will shine brightly for them.

But those in the stories can never know the ending beforehand, so as they run forward with everything they have, come what may, the tears they shed are all the more beautiful.