It was barely the day, but it was the day. He got up and prepared himself for the day, and ceremony. He packed a change of clothes and a specially prepared meal, then headed out toward the lake. The lake was a few miles away, and he had to be back at dawn for the ceremony. He took a deep breath of the cool, clean morning air, but then noticed the dark clouds almost in paradox to the air. It was a good sign, it meant more cleansing for him, but he did not relish the idea of walking back in the rain.
He finally arrived at the lake. He hadn't been here in a while, and had remembered it bigger, if only because he was smaller then. He quickly undressed to the waist, then started wading in. The water was chilling. It was all he could do to stop from turning around now. He forced himself deeper into the water, with gritted teeth. He slowly makes his way deeper into the water until he is up to his neck in it, and shivering badly. He takes a deep breath, barely able to though because of the cold, and plunges his head into the dark water. It was like he had entered another world. The cold was almost overwhelming, first pin-and-needling him, then numbing him and turning his limbs into lead. He stayed there to make sure this part of the ceremony was complete. He slowly started to try to lift his head after what seemed like forever, but found he couldn't. His lungs were starting to burn, despite the freezing cold. He started to panic, bubbles streaming out of his mouth and nose now. He fought against the numbness and lead, struggling to bring his head back up. He let out a desperate cry, causing a flurry of bubbles, but his head somehow broke the surface of the dark water. He slowly made his way back to shore, tripping on some rocks on the way and almost falling flat into the water again.
When he makes it back to his bag, it starts raining. He looks up at the clouds when he notices the rain is coming down almost sideways, despite there being little wind. As if he needed any more water. It must be made by magic, but who would have conjured it? They would need to be nearby to affect the weather so and Aeridus did not know any blue mages powerful enough to effect a whole region. He stares at the clouds, puzzled, for a moment more, then shakes his head and heads back to the village, soaked and chilled to the bone.
