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Description
The Soul Pool, they called it. The pool where tokotas went to speak with their ancestors or trip on some super weird water, probably infested with glow-worms or fermenting mushrooms or something else like that. Caribbean Spice had never fully cared about the mythical pool, whose waters were said to allow a tokota to meet with their Soul Companion, which could be one of five different beasts. At the end of the Rites of Dominance, this soul creature would call forth one of their species - for Pimento, it had been a bear. After her previous romp in the woods, where she had discovered a massive iron helm jutting forth from the earth, she had gone to her leader and requested information on the Rites. As far as she could tell, she had begun these Rites and the discovery of a massive metal, human made thing was one of the rites that tokotas who met with the Raven often went through. This made sense, she supposed, as she had seen a piebald raven settled on the head, though she had mistakenly assumed it was a crow.

It did have a voice that called to her and didn't quite sound corporeal.

Nevertheless, she had not let the knowledge be as it was. She sought out Pimento further, inquiring about what else she might have to do. He mentioned the Soul Pool, though he gave no personal experience of the pool, stating that he had found his Soul Companion without ever having entered those caves. So, with little more than rumor supporting her thoughts, she had dived into the caves that held the Soul Pool, soon coming across a deep cavern of water. Rocks around her told her nothing and Spice recalled no instruction on what to do when she arrived.

So, she did what she did best. Improvised. She dived into the water and kicked off the side of the pool, pulling herself deeper and deeper into the inky water. Her paws brushed what felt like it could have been rock before suddenly a blinding light filled the area. She blinked once, twice, second eyelids feeling as if they were fogging over. Something was in the water with her, a majestic presence that she could feel through her very bones. She supposed she might have had some of the liquid seep into her mouth and down her throat in the initial dive, but all criticism vanished as her mind cleared and she saw the keen eyes of the beast that was not a beast.

Its beak opened and it breathed life to her, air flowing around her face and filling her lungs, which had begun burning - craving oxygen more than she'd ever experienced. That pain melted away and she floated in the water, rump far higher than her head, though she didn't seem to mind or care. The Great Raven was speaking to her, brilliant blue light curling around her and lifting her towards the surface, its song coming through the water to her ears. She surfaced and gasped in air, clawing for the side of the water before dragging herself up and over, soaking wet. It was then that she realized that the brilliant blue was gone, left with a ghost of it - and a trail of glowing clawsteps that led to the exit. She shivered and followed them, mind picking through what she'd just been through.

(566 words)

Import link and name (including ID) of Tokota: Caribbean Spice 15733
Chosen soul animal: Piebald Raven
Prompt (copy pasted from this journal): 9. Your tokota is nearing the end of their quest to dominance and they make a final stop to visit an elder shaman or elder tokota (any of the original starters.) They are instructed to make a journey to the cave where the spiritual waters of the Soul Pool can be found, where Aippaq is said to have taken its first breath. Drinking from the waters will reveal the animal most closely to their soul, the raven.
Link to HP confirmation: comments.deviantart.com/1/6133…
Previous tasks:

Description
The Soul Pool, they called it. The pool where tokotas went to speak with their ancestors or trip on some super weird water, probably infested with glow-worms or fermenting mushrooms or something else like that. Caribbean Spice had never fully cared about the mythical pool, whose waters were said to allow a tokota to meet with their Soul Companion, which could be one of five different beasts. At the end of the Rites of Dominance, this soul creature would call forth one of their species - for Pimento, it had been a bear. After her previous romp in the woods, where she had discovered a massive iron helm jutting forth from the earth, she had gone to her leader and requested information on the Rites. As far as she could tell, she had begun these Rites and the discovery of a massive metal, human made thing was one of the rites that tokotas who met with the Raven often went through. This made sense, she supposed, as she had seen a piebald raven settled on the head, though she had mistakenly assumed it was a crow.

It did have a voice that called to her and didn't quite sound corporeal.

Nevertheless, she had not let the knowledge be as it was. She sought out Pimento further, inquiring about what else she might have to do. He mentioned the Soul Pool, though he gave no personal experience of the pool, stating that he had found his Soul Companion without ever having entered those caves. So, with little more than rumor supporting her thoughts, she had dived into the caves that held the Soul Pool, soon coming across a deep cavern of water. Rocks around her told her nothing and Spice recalled no instruction on what to do when she arrived.

So, she did what she did best. Improvised. She dived into the water and kicked off the side of the pool, pulling herself deeper and deeper into the inky water. Her paws brushed what felt like it could have been rock before suddenly a blinding light filled the area. She blinked once, twice, second eyelids feeling as if they were fogging over. Something was in the water with her, a majestic presence that she could feel through her very bones. She supposed she might have had some of the liquid seep into her mouth and down her throat in the initial dive, but all criticism vanished as her mind cleared and she saw the keen eyes of the beast that was not a beast.

Its beak opened and it breathed life to her, air flowing around her face and filling her lungs, which had begun burning - craving oxygen more than she'd ever experienced. That pain melted away and she floated in the water, rump far higher than her head, though she didn't seem to mind or care. The Great Raven was speaking to her, brilliant blue light curling around her and lifting her towards the surface, its song coming through the water to her ears. She surfaced and gasped in air, clawing for the side of the water before dragging herself up and over, soaking wet. It was then that she realized that the brilliant blue was gone, left with a ghost of it - and a trail of glowing clawsteps that led to the exit. She shivered and followed them, mind picking through what she'd just been through.

(566 words)

Import link and name (including ID) of Tokota: Caribbean Spice 15733
Chosen soul animal: Piebald Raven
Prompt (copy pasted from this journal): 9. Your tokota is nearing the end of their quest to dominance and they make a final stop to visit an elder shaman or elder tokota (any of the original starters.) They are instructed to make a journey to the cave where the spiritual waters of the Soul Pool can be found, where Aippaq is said to have taken its first breath. Drinking from the waters will reveal the animal most closely to their soul, the raven.
Link to HP confirmation: comments.deviantart.com/1/6133…
Previous tasks: