Bonds
> “What can I say? I like him. He’s funny, but he’s also serious.” ~Enza
It had been a week since Frein arrived on Brymeia.
He woke up earlier than everyone else, allowing himself a moment to adore a sleeping Katherine and snatch a kiss from her. By the time the first rays of the white sun appeared from the east, Frein was already at the front gates, doing stretches and pumping his blood flow for the morning jog.
Minaveil Manor was strategically built at the center of the town. It stood on an island of a small river that divided Minaveil Town in two. A bridge heading south led to the residential area where houses were packed together, giving small room for narrow streets and spare main cobblestone roads.
Frein decided to head over the northern bridge, the other half of Minaveil Town reserved for the marketplaces, parks, and eventually opening to the province’s agricultural pride.
He peacefully started his jog on the path by the riverbank overlooking the farms and fields on one side and the steady flow of the river on the other.
He had grown accustomed to the provincial feel of Minaveil, but not with the changing colors of the sun. Although he had accepted that this is entirely a different world, its few similarities with Earth constantly gave him a surreal feeling as if he was merely in a dream. He was quick to notice familiar creatures like dogs, cats, cattle, birds, insects, and the like. Their features rarely diverting away to the ones he knew from his home world, but there were also some species that could’ve only existed in his dreams.
One in particular was a colossal, flying, manta-ray-looking creature that appeared a few days ago during one of his solo jogs. It was supposedly a Nightmare—Katherine had noted after he excitedly returned that day. A Floating Dream Amidst the Nightmare. The creature was one of the rare few that was docile enough to be allowed to roam free by the Order. It was also one of the few capable of surviving outside the Nightmare Lands, much like the Forest Jaws.
Today, the Floating Dream chose not to appear. And with that, Frein turned his attention somewhere else.
He spied an old farming couple guiding muscular yumas as they plowed a section of the land. Aside from the awkward irony of finding a carnivorous creature big enough to eat their owners helping on farms, Frein realized not everything—at least in Minaveil—was done through Meiyal Arts. He supposed that Bennie was an extreme example, but the more he mingled with the common folk, the more it became more apparent that most people who excelled in Meiyal Arts were either trained knights or adventurers.
He had met and casually sparred with a few of them. After Flimeth had to leave, he basically had no choice. With Schrodie’s guidance no longer with them, Katherine refused to spar with him seriously. So, he had to turn his attention convincing energetic knights and adventurers to help him hone his fighting instincts.
The province’s children were fiercely curious. Today, just like the days before, they flocked around him like playful birds, joining him along the narrow path above the bank. He slowed down to make sure the kids kept with his pace, chatting with them at the same time until they got tired and waved him goodbye. Along the path, he met other citizens of Minaveil greeting him with a cheer. He had become significantly popular with the townsfolk simply because of his status as the Visitor.
While supposedly he was Irista Nation’s first, his title had become common knowledge due to Katherine’s familiar ties with the province. They said his arrival was a good omen, and that it brought the tide of war to their favor. He did contribute in their victory, but it was a detail Frein chose to hide rather than embellish. Regardless, he modestly accepted the insistent hospitality from everyone in Minaveil Town. It was pleasantly different from his simplistic life back on Earth.
Frein’s jog ended in front of a large farm shack. More yumas were inside, resting and eating and barking at each other. Despite the mundane conversations he could understand due to his meiyal system, they were still akin to wolves the size of horses and could fly. Add the fact that the shack contained an entire pack of them, it was logical for him to keep his distance.
He decided to take a break underneath the shade of a nearby tree.
Frein had kept his Siffera at minimum during the entire run. Even with that, the Art had fueled him with more than enough stamina. He jogged somewhere around a kilometer, but he felt like he just took ten steps.
This Siffera is crazy.
Basking in the cozy breeze of the morning, Frein decided to explore Siffera a bit further. Last he remembered, his frustrations and anger had echoed outward during the battle with Hal and Ral. Back then, his annoyance of the situation had turned into a real emotion that his Meiyal Art utilized. The effect had been absurd, but he couldn’t replicate it. Not on the same level of strength, at least.
His subsequent attempts had given sparse impressions of the first. Inconsistent, as far as Katherine’s observations were able to tell. Even the Seeker couldn’t replicate it. After numerous trials, the two had eventually settled on a sound conclusion; genuine emotions were of paramount requirement.
Despite the disappointing results, they found other avenues to explore. Schrodie’s quote ‘it can enhance everything of who you are,’ were words taken verbatim from Kristella, the second Monarch of Irista Nation and the one who had founded Meiyal Arts. Frein could only assume, that modernization had hidden away Siffera’s true form and purpose, muddled into a vague physical enhancement Art by fancier ones.
He turned the Art to focus on his awareness. The feel of the breeze amplified almost instantly. The smell of grass and the shack nearby intensified, assaulting his nose. The rustling of leaves from the tree, the soft footsteps from afar, and even the discussions between caretakers and yumas became clear and crisp to his ears.
His senses were past what counted for acute, but this wasn’t his only goal. Filtering which information to take and which to ignore was a challenge; too much at the moment. But before he could refocus the Art on his actual objective, he caught a hint of someone approaching.
They were still quite far away; a yuma and its rider trotting along the same riverbank he jogged on a few minutes earlier. Siffera didn’t enhance his eyesight in a way that allowed him to zoom into the distance, but it clarified what he could see no matter how far.
After confirming who they were, Frein decided to normalize his Siffera and meet them.
Kristel arrived atop her yuma.
“Want to have a look inside?” she asked and gestured towards the shack of yumas.
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“They won’t bite? They don’t know me.”
“They know me, so they won’t. Let me show you something.”
The yumas grew quiet as they walked inside, bowing their heads as they greeted the Princess. Kristel on the other hand, took her time giving them soft pats on the head.
“Shh…it’s the cute kid,” whispered one of the larger yumas.
“That’s the Princess of these lands, you idiot!” said the one behind him.
“Oh, Testra, my beauty! How honored am I to have gazed upon your exquisite form!” whined one of the younger ones.
“Quiet,” Testra—Frein assumed—growled subtly.
“But alas, my woos are left to be ignored once more.”
“Spend your efforts beating me on a race rather than sounding like a dumb-dumb.”
Frein simply couldn’t hide a grin.
“A yuma gave birth just a few days ago,” the oblivious Kristel said as they arrived at the final stall, a spacious room housing a large yuma and her litter. She ushered Frein inside. “I’m looking for potential owners.”
“You want me to adopt one?” Frein asked. While he was sure of the Princess’s implications, he questioned the wisdom of it.
“Depends. If you want one, and if one of them wants you back.”
The mother yuma seemed to understand the situation and opened her wings to four shy puppies. Puppies that were the size of Earth’s large-breed adults while sporting the adorable features of actual newborn pups. They fought against their mother’s urging, hiding behind one another. Their movements caused glitters of meiyal to sparkle momentarily before dispersing into nothingness.
“Hey, are you listening?” Kristel called out, nudging Frein from the side.
“Oh, sorry. I just—I’ve never seen anything like this. Up close, I mean.” Frein crouched over the litter, eyeing the smallest of the brown pups.
“Well? Do you want one?”
“I don’t even know how to take care of them.” He looked at the mother. “You wouldn’t want me to care for your pup the wrong way now, would you?”
The mother looked back and blinked a couple of times. “No, I don’t want that,” she responded.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“So, you can also talk to yumas…” Kristel interjected with a hint of jealousy.
“Oh, right. I’m not exactly used to it yet, but it’s hardly surprising at this point,” Frein said before turning back to the mother yuma, “Sorry, if I startled you.”
The yuma simply nodded. “It’s a surreal experience.”
Kristel couldn’t hide her awe. “I only saw you speak with the Forest Jaws. I still actually can’t believe we rode on one. Speaking of which, wasn’t it supposed to answer your questions? That’s the whole point of saving it, right?”
“She said she’ll wait on the other side of Mount Rindea. Katherine and I plan to go there the day before we set out for Central.”
“We’ll be going in two days. There are some things I must prepare first before we leave.”
“Tomorrow then. Want to tag along?” Frein asked as he turned his attention back to the smallest of the litter, extending a hand. It—she—decided to jump out of her siblings and cautiously approached his fingers, sniffing them then licking them a few times. She could literally bite them off if she wanted to.
“You’re an odd fellow. I like you,” said the pup.
“You and me, both.” Frein never considered adopting a dog, or any animal for that matter. But he found himself engaging in the prospect more eagerly than he anticipated.
“I’ll think about it,” said Kristel, interrupting unintentionally. She pulled out a belt collar from an old-looking strap bag and gave it to Frein. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen her use Spatiera at all. “Since you’re able to speak with them, it should be easy for you to take care of one. You’ll know exactly when to feed her, she can tell you when she needs to go, and you’ll probably have an easier time grooming her than Testra over here.”
“You just wet my ears too often,” complained the yuma.
“Testra said, you should clean her ears last. You wet them too often and she finds it annoying.”
“Oh. Maybe we can talk about that more later.”
“I’m starting to feel like I’ll be streamlined to a certain purpose.” Regardless, Frein looked at the collar the Princess presented, then to the pup. “Just so you know, we might not have together long.”
“What do you mean?” the pup asked, tilting her head in an adorably curious way.
“I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t have long in this world. A year probably.”
“Oh.” The pup drooped her head, but almost immediately popped up. “That’s fine!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! I already made my choice! That’s not my problem for now!”
“Okay, then.” Frein turned to the mother yuma. “I’ll take good care of her. Promise.”
“She likes you. I don’t see a problem with it.” The mother stood and snuggled her pup one last time. “Be a good girl, okay?”
“That depends.” It deserved a light padding paw on the pup’s head from her mother.
“So, what’s her name going to be?” Kristel asked.
“Enza.” The pup stared at him for a while, then at the collar in his hands. “You don’t like it?” he asked.
“It’s fine. I like the sound of it.” She sat obediently, allowing her new master to place the collar around her neck.
“Enza it is. Here.” Kristel passed a pair of black gemstones. Frein and Enza’s names shined inside of it; meiyal engraving work courtesy of the Princess.
He found a small depression around Enza’s collar and intuitively locked the gemstone inside it.
Something pulled on his meiyal core, threading a line to the gemstone. It continued around Enza’s collar, flowing through around and inside her body. Something deep within her fur glowed, spreading its light and ending its display to her eyes as the hue of her pupils shifted from black to blue.
It was as if Frein had two bodies, intuitively knowing how his yuma was feeling, where she was, and what she wanted at the moment if he concentrated hard enough. The light of union faded into nothingness, sealing the formation of bonds between master and yuma.
“This feels amazing.” Frein breathed out.
“Namestones are made when yumas and vorks shed. If enough fur and meiyal gather together, they solidify into these small gemstones,” Kristel started, impressed by the display before her. “They don’t have any unique qualities on their own, but the bonds they make depend on the participants that use them. Looks like you two are more than the average kind of compatible.”
“Do all yumas have them?” Frein asked out of a whim, not really sure if he should pay attention to the Princess or the yuma who demanded a hand over her head. He gave half of it to Enza.
“Namestones? Not the wild ones. They only work when there’s a master to form a bond with. Fittey has one.” The Princess pointed towards the mother, Fittey. Her collar looked exactly like Enza’s, as well as the gemstone with Liona’s name glowing faintly inside it.
A deep sorrow struck within his chest. Not the sort that ached, but he had to say something. “I’m sorry about Liona.”
The yuma drooped her head, but eventually responded.
“Your heart is kind, Frein,” Fittey said. “I deeply regret I was not there to fight with her. We made quite the distance during our time together. I know it’s not in my position, but might I ask if I can see her again? I wish to be beside her until the last moment.”
Frein turned to Kristel. “She wants to come with us on Liona’s burning.”
The Princess smiled sympathetically. “That’s the plan.” She rummaged into her bag and pulled a small orb. “Here.”
Frein took it, unsure of what to do. “What is this?”
“Meiyal-Operated, Bio-Integrated Life Enhancer. We call it M.O.B.I.L.E.”
Already, Frein’s head was filled with puns and humors, most of which he knew the Princess wouldn’t understand. “What does it do?”
“A lot. Communication for the most part.” She was making it hard not to laugh. “What’s wrong with you?”
Frein took deep breaths, pushing lame jokes and comedic lines out of his head.
“You are so lame; do you know that?” Enza was having the time of her life. Apparently, if she focused hard enough, she could understand his struggles.
“I’m sorry,” Frein said, taking a breather. “How do I use this?”
Kristel eyed him suspiciously but ultimately decided to move on. “Right. It’s already pre-registered to the High Palace Network, so it should connect you the moment you activate it. You just need to feed it your meiyal.”
Frein did as he was told. The orb lit up and projected an interface. The lame jokes and puns quickly vanished as the M.O.B.I.L.E. showed him what it really was. He looked at Kristel with eyes filled with excitement.
“This…this is amazing.”
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