Liliana stared at the form before her, her eyes and mind struggling to come to terms with something her soul and heart had already accepted as a fact. Time held still, sounds falling away until it felt like there was only the two of them, held suspended in a bubble of timeless eternity. Neither moved. Liliana wasn’t certain they breathed, as if they both wanted to preserve this moment for as long as they could.
Warm red and orange fur, colors of fall leaves floating on chilled winds, had faded to the dark black of a moonless winter night. Silver traced designs like constellations across his form, delicate and beautiful. Wings were held loosely to his side, ready to snap out at any moment and provide him a swift retreat. Five graceful tails swayed behind him, coated in the same inky dark fur as the rest of him and tipped with the starlight tinted silver. Time had changed them both, forcing a metamorphosis on them that showed both physically and mentally. And yet. Their souls still called to one another, no matter how much they had both changed.
“Polaris,” Liliana spoke the word again. A prayer, a request, a cry, a million emotions suffusing three syllables, one word. It held heartbreak, hope and so much love it almost seemed impossible for a human to fit so much in a single word breathed so softly it faded into the air almost as soon as it was spoken. With that one word, the fragile glass capsule of time they’d been encased in shattered around them. The wind stirred, tugging at the petals of the cherry blossoms around them and shaking them loose to fall like rain once more, filling the meadow with their sweet scent.
Liliana’s knees gave out, and she fell to the plush grass, tears wetting her cheeks, falling carelessly to water the ground beneath her. She almost didn’t want to believe this specter standing before her. Vehemently she refused [Identify]’s clarity. She wouldn’t be able to take it if it revealed that her soul was wrong, that this was not Polaris. Wasn't her Polaris. She’d lost him once, she couldn’t do it again. Couldn’t maintain her thin grasp on her composure if it was revealed to her this was nothing more than a Kitsune’s malicious trickery.
As if her tears were the last permission Polaris needed, he bound to her, forgoing hesitancy and carefulness when confronted with the pain swimming so clearly in Liliana’s eyes. He had grown in his time away, gaining size along with a new body. On her knees she was smaller than him, standing he’d perhaps come up to her shoulders. He bent his head and pressed a cold, wet nose to her face, replacing her tears with his slobber as his tongue licked them away. A low whine grew from his throat and something finally clicked in Liliana’s mind, acceptance that what her soul was screaming was true filled her entirely. Her arms shot out and wrapped around his neck and she buried her face in the plush fur of his neck and she sobbed. Tears of happiness, relief, and sadness poured out of her. Sob wracked her body as she held tightly to Polaris. She barely even registered that he’d sat down, or that his wings had extended to wrap around her, enveloping her in the safety he freely offered to her.
Liliana cried, because a piece of her soul and heart had been returned to her. Polaris had finally come home. This meadow, Minori’s domain, may have once been his home, but they both knew his home had become wherever she was many months ago. She cried because he had grown so much, and she’d missed all of it. She cried because as soon as she had lost someone precious to her, another was returned to her, and it felt so bittersweet she could scream. Liliana cried for the girl she had been when Polaris had last seen her, so full of anger and pain but still holding onto her innocence and naivety. And she cried for the loss of that innocence and naivety, things she hadn’t fully registered as gone until she was confronted with someone from a time when she still held those things inside of her, only to find them achingly absent upon his return.
Liliana wasn’t the girl she’d been when Polaris left. She was hardened, darker, colder. She’d seen too much death, had a hand in too many deaths to retain any of that softness she’d once had. But he had changed too. She could feel it. The intelligence in his eyes was more pronounced, and she’d be hard pressed to differentiate it with a human’s. His power was evident, rolling through his body, leaking into his fur that she had buried her face in. Power like that didn’t come without sacrifices made. Liliana knew that fact well.
When her tears finally dried out and her sobs petered out into hiccuping gasps for air, Liliana pulled back .She wiped at swollen eyes and looked up into Polaris’ eyes, seeing they too had changed colors. Blue, a distant echo of Minori’s, but darker, darker than even her own. The dark navy of an early night’s sky, speckled with silver like stars. They swirled with emotions and unspoken words, sadness and happiness, contentedness and love, and under it all, regret. Liliana could read the words he didn’t say, or couldn’t say.
I missed you. I’m sorry I had to leave. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me to be. I’m so happy to see you again, and I love you. I won’t leave again.
And it was the simplest thing to press her hand to his head, which he dipped low for her to reach. It was instinctual, the most natural thing she’d ever done, to initiate the Bonding Contract. And for the first time, it was written entirely by both parties, an effortless, silent communication written out between their souls.
I swear to walk this road of life together. Neither greater than the other, equal partners tied together by our souls and bond built on trust and respect. Should one fall, both shall fall. Tied together eternally, stronger together than apart. Where one may be weak, the other will be strong. Should one falter and fall, the other shall stand tall and lend their aid and strength for both to rise again. Support is freely offered. Pain for one is pain for both. Never can one turn on the other. Never can one abandon the other, or leave them to suffer. I freely offer to you my soul, my power, and my strength. As you too offer me yours. Your enemies will be mine and mine yours. Your troubles, your pain, your struggles will be as mine, as too shall mine be yours. So too will be your happiness, victories and triumphs be mine as mine will be yours. We shall share one fate, one future. Where one goes, the other shall be beside them. Never following, never leading, always standing side by side. This bond is formed not of subservience or dominance, but built of a bond naturally formed and preserved. Two pieces of a single soul, connected and combined forevermore.
It wasn’t as strict as her original contract, but somehow it seemed to be far more binding than any other contract. As if instead of simply binding them together, it would transform them both. Meld them more firmly than any bond had previously. Once accepted, Liliana knew this bond would never break, and something told her it was the kind of bond that could transcend lifetimes. As the final word was added, and both parties accepted it, something inside of her felt like it shifted. A puzzle piece settling where it was always meant to be. A part of her soul finally coming back to her and stitching itself back in place, melding seamlessly back into her as if it had never left. As it had been when she first laid eyes on Polaris, it felt like time paused and they floated in a bubble of eternity as the world shifted ever so slightly and Liliana felt like she was finally right.
Then came the pain, breaking through their bubble and shattering it for the second time. But this pain was different. As the flames of the bond consumed her from the inside out, there was something other than pain mixed in with the flames. There was a sense of borderline euphoria twisted throughout, and it made the pain bearable, made the pain seem justified. For the first time Liliana could remember she knew she’d made a choice that was undoubtedly correct, that was just as it should have been. She’d begun to discredit fate as a false idea, but this made her believe in some form of it again. Because as she burned, she felt like every step she’d walked since coming into this world had inevitably led her to this moment. Like this was always supposed to be, like Polaris was always meant to find her, to guide her, and then to come to her when she was at her worst moments, when she was at the most risk of truly losing who she was. As if Polaris had always been a part of her, just waiting for this moment to finally come home.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
When the fire left her, a sense of rightness, of completeness filled her, banishing the exhaustion and residual pain that bonding usually caused. Liliana’s eyes blinked slowly, and she realized that she had been curled into a small ball, Polaris wrapped around her, one wing laid over her. Even in the middle of his own pain, he’d shielded her. Even if this was his place of birth, knowing it was safe, he’d instinctively moved to protect her when she was at her most vulnerable.
‘Always,’
“Polaris?” Liliana asked, her voice shocked and far less tired than she expected it to be. The voice had felt like it was spoken, yet also felt in her mind. Heard, but not. Yet somehow understood. It was so very different from how she heard Nemesis, and how Minori had communicated. Yet it held some similarities to the Kitsune’s.
‘At your service,’ the amused voice floated through her, holding a hint of mischief she had always associated with Polaris. The voice was masculine, not surprising as she knew Polaris was male, but it sounded older than she expected. Nemesis’ voice had always a bit young to her, like a child trying to mimic how their parents talked. But Polaris sounded like a youth similar to her in age, perhaps a few years older.
“This is… weird,” Liliana murmured as she sat up. Polaris retracted his wing and shifted his own body until he was sitting facing her. Unlike with Nemesis or Lelantos, she did not have to focus to sense Polaris. It was as if he was just there in her mind, like an extension of her mind rather than a separate building connected by a hallway, as her other bonds felt. Yet she could still differentiate between the two of them, and actually locating his thoughts did take effort. It reassured her of her privacy whilst letting her know she would likely never be able to put up a wall between their bond as she had with her others. That provided her more comfort than it should have. Any time she had blocked out her other Bonds, it had never been good for her. She didn’t know if she’d have been able to handle a bond like this before now, however, and it truly made her believe hesitantly in some form of fate.
‘You will adjust. It was time,’ Polaris said, with a certainty that Liliana shared as soon as the words were spoken. There was little to justify the feeling, but it felt like the words were as much a fact as gravity.
‘We should go back. Mother wishes to talk, and despite her many years, she never really learned patience. It’s better to walk back than to have her yank you to wherever she wants you to be,’ Polaris spoke, before Liliana could compose her thoughts into enough of a semblance of order to ask the questions that had started to populate her mind. Polaris nudged her with his nose, forcing her to her feet and any fear Liliana had that all of his antics had been washed away by his changes were dashed when he circled her, bouncing on his feet and yipping like the fox he was. A genuine smile fluttered over her lips as she watched him, thinking back to warm spring days spent running around fighting nothing more dangerous than magical rabbits.
“So is this where you went?” Liliana asked as they began to follow the brook back, her attention was mostly focused on Polaris. Partially because she was still trying to catalog all his changes and enjoying his antics, but also partially out of self preservation. She saw how the scenery passed by far too fast in her peripherals for the meandering walk she was using. It seemed Polaris had not lied about Minori’s impatience, for Liliana had a niggling feeling that the Kitsune had more than a slight hand in the speed they were traveling at.
‘Yes, this was home. Mother will tell you more. She might act like she doesn’t enjoy it, but she loves telling stories and she rarely gets to tell her stories to those who have not yet heard them. We think part of the reason she sends us out is in the hope we’ll forget some of them so we won’t whine so much when she tries to tell them to us again,’ Polaris let out a yipping bark laugh that almost summoned a responding giggle from Liliana. But despite the happiness she felt, grief was still lurking inside of her. She could summon a rare smile, but laughter was beyond her yet.
“Will she be upset? About this?” Liliana asked, motioning between them to allude to their bond. She hadn’t considered the repercussions when she’d initiated the contract. It had felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. But now fear nipped at her. If Minori took offense to this, there was nothing Liliana could do to stop her.
‘No, she knew it was coming. When mother sends us out, she expects some of us to not even come home. It’s a risk she takes. This is easier than if I had never come home. She will be grateful, even if she perhaps will not say it herself,’ Polaris assured her, and the fear evaporated. Liliana was going to pose another question to her rather talkative bond when their walk came to an end. The feeling of Minori’s subdued aura hit her first, stuttering her breath for a moment even in its damped state. Liliana’s eyes were inevitably drawn back to the hypnotizing depths of Minori’s swirling blue and white gaze. She was sitting up, her eight tails flicking behind her in a twisting dance.
“So you found what you sought,” Minori spoke, and Liliana felt her knees lock in an effort to keep her upright. Her reprieve from the Kitsune had robbed her of whatever small resistance she’d built to Minori’s voice, even weakened. Her thoughts had scattered like ashes on the wind and it took several breaths for her to collect them again. Polaris pressed against her side and somehow, his proximity seemed to shield her from Minori’s presence, enough for her to at least process what the Kitsune was saying without needing to gather herself after every word.
“Yes, thank you,” Liliana spoke up, bowing her head to the Kitsune. Thanking her not just for the flower, but for allowing her to meet Polaris once more, and to form the bond they now held between them.
‘Just tell her already, Mother,’ Polaris spoke up and Liliana knew these words weren’t shared just between them. Minori’s tails flicked sharply, betraying trace annoyance at her offspring's impenitence. Liliana would’ve shrunk from such a display if Polaris hadn’t extended his wing behind her just enough to prevent such a retreat.
“You would rob me of all joy, child of mine. Fine, I shall tell her what you wish for her to know,” Minori spoke and Liliana would swear there was a pout underlying her words as the Kitsune’s tails calmed and lay still, she nodded her head towards Silas, who was still lying on the ground, a peaceful expression on his face for the first time in far too long.
“I shall tell you, but only because of the bond you share with my kin. This does not make you kin, but it provides you with some privileges. Your companion does not share these privileges, and shall remember none of what has transpired since we arrived here,” Minori told her and Liliana nodded, not willing to argue with a Rank 1 Kitsune who could smite her with a thought. If Minori had asked her to hop on one leg while mooing like a cow, she’d have done it. Keeping one more secret among the many she already did was no hard task. It was made easier knowing Polaris would share it with her.
Liliana and Polaris settled on the ground, Polaris extending a wing around Liliana as if he was still trying to protect her, though she did not mind it. One of her hands buried itself deep in his silky dark fur, his warmth doing as much to ease her fears and worries as the strange aura permeating this odd ever-spring domain. When they were both settled, Minori nodded and began her story.