Outside the Window (Sequel)

Sheepdog provided a wonderful addition to the short prompt "Outside the Window" a few weeks ago, and it intrigued me so much that I decided to run with it. 
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"A... what?" The musty, stale smell of the room was completely at odds with the words hanging in the air between them. Wind Dancers. Sister Ethel, small and thin, with sharp eyes and bony hands, was holding a feather. The feather was attached to a faded, but colorful braid and at the end there was a silver clasp. A hair decoration, thought Jessica. She liked it, but she had a feeling about it. A weird feeling.


"A Wind Dancer." Sister Ethel's voice was patient and much quieter than the tone she used in class. She offered the feather hair decoration thing to Jessica with a faint smile. "You'll understand better if you put this on."


"I'll understand better? Why would putting a feather in my hair make me understand better?" Jessica took the feather, because she didn't know what else to do. The air was stagnant and still and the girl felt like she might suffocate if she stayed here any longer.

"It will. Trust me." Sister Ethel removed her wimple. She looked less like a penguin without it, but Jessica could only stare. She had never seen any of the Sisters without their heads covered, and this seemed... practically irreverent. There were feathers in Sister Ethel's hair. Not just one, but several, braided into her hair on both sides. They were small feathers, though, not like the one she was holding.

"Why's this one bigger than yours?" she asked impulsively.

"Because you're still new, and need more help to See," answered Sister Ethel, her tone slightly less understanding and patient this time. "Put on the feather, and you'll understand."

Jessica hesitantly obeyed, choosing a lock of hair near her temple to clip the feather to. At first, nothing happened. She waited expectantly, feeling foolish. What if this was some kind of stupid joke, and she had just fallen for it? But then, the air seemed to... come alive. It was still as stuffy and claustrophobic as before, but there was something else in it. Like a smell she could feel, like a feeling she could see. There was no way to describe it in words that fit in her mouth.

"Now you See," said Sister Ethel, sounding very satisfied. "This is why we do this in a closed room, where the Wind can't carry you away. The new-awakened are always the most vulnerable."

"New-awakened," echoed Jessica faintly, overwhelmed by the flood of information that didn't seem to come from any of the senses she was used to. It didn't make sense, but at the same time, it did. It was like she had lived her entire life with her eyes closed, and had only just discovered how to open them.

"Yes. Welcome to the Sisterhood, young one."