It hurt. It hurt so much. Pounding head, muscle aches all over, stomach in knots. Awful sensations all around.

“Wa.. ...”

“..ke up ...se.”

“Plea..! ... ..ve to wake up!”

Gradually, the lids of his eyes were allowed to open. Shouri was being shaken by... something; it wasn’t quite a hand, though still bore enough strength to physically shake his form. And above him was a pair of concerned, sapphire blue eyes. His arms were tied behind his back with his legs bound together similarly.

“Taika...?” he asked, vision hazy.

“You’re awake!” There was relief in the unfamiliar voice.

“Taika?” Shouri repeated. He blinked once, twice and his vision cleared.

“What? No, my name is Pacifica.”

Sure enough, the girl hovering over him was not his own Resonator, but a different one.

She had long, but wavy sandy blonde hair, tied up in a side ponytail. Her small brown ears poked out of her hair, larger than human ears, but much smaller than Taika’s black vulpine ones. She wore a pale-yellow tube top with an orange sleeveless vest over it.

It was a bit of a struggle, but Shouri managed to sit up properly, continuing to study the girl next to him. Wherever he had ended up was dimly lit. His connection with Taika was severed, returning his vision to the human standard, forcing him to exert some effort to take in the features of his current conversation partner. His heart sank a bit as he discovered she was bound up the same way he was: arms behind her back and tied up at the feet.

Examining her further, he saw she wore what seemed to be blue swim-shorts and a long, thick tail with short brown fur covering the length of it. Studying the shape of her tail led Shouri to the conclusion that she had been using that to try and shake him awake previously.

“Are you okay?” she inquired.

“Head hurts like a motherfucker, but I’ll deal,” he grunted.

“What’s your name?” she asked with a smile.

“Shouri,” he replied, taking a look at his new surroundings.

His heart was racing, he already had an idea of what was happening but hoped otherwise. Closer inspection revealed the makings of a mineshaft, albeit an older most likely depleted one. A damp, earthy scent hung in the air, mixed with the distinct odor of mildewing wood. There was a single wooden door that was undoubtedly locked. There wasn’t much in the way of other objects in the room, just the dim lighting too far out of their reach.

His eyes returned to the awaiting Pacifica. He braved asking her the pertinent question: “Where are we?”

Pacifica stared at him for a moment, before averting her gaze. She knew that question was coming, but still dreaded having to answer. “Try not to freak out-” she paused to take in a deep breath. “-but we’ve been kidnapped,” she told him. Of course, he instantly panicked. “From what I’ve overheard, they plan to ransom us back to our families.” The more she spoke, the worse it got.

Shouri gulped. “Fuck.” It truly was the worst possible scenario. “I can’t let that happen.” He began violently struggling to free himself from his bindings.

“Wait stop!” Pacifica shouted, tapping him with her tail. “You’re gonna hurt yourself!” she exclaimed.

That didn’t seem to bother him, if anything it only served to intensify his struggling. “If I have to break my hands to get out of here, so be it. I can’t let them sell me back to my parents.” he grunted.

Pacifica’s jaw caught a bit of slack. This boy had his own story, and admittedly she was curious. Regardless, the more pressing matter at the moment was stopping him from injuring himself. “Stop it!” she demanded.

“No.” He continued his losing battle against the ropes.

The girl’s brows descended into a glare. It was obvious he wasn’t gonna listen to her. Out of real options, she did the only thing she could physically do given her current lack of usable arms and legs: she scooted as close as she could and threw herself on top of him.

“What are you doing?!” he barked at the girl who now laid atop him.

Lifting her head from his chest she maintained a glare of her own. “Listen to me, PLEASE!” she shouted back.

He fell silent, allowing Pacifica to speak.

Taking in a breath, she finally had the opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue with the boy. “You’re a Maestro, right?” she inquired.

“I am,” he replied. “But like an idiot, I left my tuner in my room at the MA office with Taika.” He averted his gaze.

“It’s okay, I’m a Resonator too!” Pacifica exclaimed.

“I see that.” He exerted the effort to lift his head slightly to see her tail. “You’re an... Otter?” he guessed.

“Yup! You got it! I’m a Water-Piercing Otter.” she seemed to boast; glad he was able to recognize her species.

“So, what are you getting at?” he questioned.

Her smile turned to a more determined smirk. “I wanna get out of here, and you wanna get out of here. We have the same goal,” she told him.

“Right, but we’re tied up,” he pointed out.

“Yes, but you’re a Maestro!”

“That I am.”

“Give me a spell.”

And now he drew pause. He didn’t know of any of the water spells off-hand, plus he didn’t have this girl’s tuner. She sensed his apprehension. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I don’t have your tuner.” He frowned.

“Ah.” She appeared shocked by that revelation. “Th-that’s right,” her voice quavered; hope dashed upon the rocks. She buried her face into his chest. “Damn it. I’m so stupid.” She lightly tapped his chest with her forehead, admonishing herself for her rash assumptions.

She raised her head, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. “I just... they’ve kept me here for god knows how long... and they haven’t been feeding me,” she told him. “So I just... I saw you were a Maestro and I...” Her head dropped once more. “I’m so hungry,” she whimpered.

Shouri gritted his teeth. This was so frustrating. Despite this girl being a total stranger to him, he wanted to help her. She was suffering and saw him as her last hope, and he was useless to her. There had to be some way they could be useful to each other. Some way they could reach their shared goal.

It then suddenly clicked. “Wait,” he spoke in a whisper. “I don’t need your tuner.”

Pacifica looked up once more. “You don't?”

“Um, I-” There was a strange hesitation from the boy. “-I read something once like, if your tuner gets knocked out of your hand in battle you can transmit rhythm and spells with a touch,” he trailed off, thinking that over. “Though I think it’s easier to do with a Resonator you’re properly a Maestro for.”

“I want to try it! I’ll do anything!” Pacifica declared. “I want to be useful.”

Resonators were strange creatures, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. “I guess our first problem is we’re both totally tied up.” Shouri closed his eyes, thinking about the situation. Despite being bound though, he still had some motion in his own hands. Sadly, not enough to untie his own ropes.

But-

“Oh!” His gaze returned to Pacifica, who was still lying on top of him. “Maybe we can untie each other’s ropes!”

Hope returned to the otter girl’s eyes. “Let’s try it!”

Finally sitting up, the pair positioned themselves back-to-back and began taking turns tugging at the ropes. They weren’t sure how long had exactly passed but after some time of painful maneuvering- “I got it!” Pacifica exclaimed, freed from her bindings. She quickly undid the ropes around her feet, then voraciously freed Shouri.

As soon as his ropes were removed, Pacifica tackled him again, hugging him and crying. “We’re free! Thank you so much!”

He smiled but tempered his expectations. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know where we are, much less how to get to safety.” Their captors certainly wouldn’t appreciate their new-found freedom - they could return at any time. The would-be escapees had to act fast and decisively.

Shouri rose to his feet. “Come on.”

Pacifica tried to do the same and ended up stumbling. “I-I can’t...” she whimpered, looking at her legs. “They won’t stop shaking.” Her whole body was trembling, Shouri could hear the fear in her voice. She wasn’t sure how long she had been trapped here, and it was apparent she was starving.

He had strength to spare and a heck of an adrenaline rush going. “I’m not going to leave you here,” he decided. Kneeling next to the girl, he wrapped an arm around her and helped her to her feet. “Lean on me,” he instructed.

“O-okay,” she squeaked, thankful for the low light hiding the blush on her face. The two shuffled to the door. With his free arm, Shouri gave it a tug and a push. Locked, as he had suspected, but surprisingly solid. Upon closer inspection, everything was fairly rusted. They could probably break through it. He glanced over to Pacifica who was starting to deteriorate. She had been putting on a brave face; she was in much worse condition than he thought.

“D-don’t hold back.” She turned to him with a pained smirk. “Use me,” she demanded.

“I don’t know any water spells,” he admitted.

“I know two of mine. Ghiacciolo is ice, Idrante is water,” she told him.

“Okay, aim at the lock.”

Pacifica nodded. Her vision swam, but she needed to focus. “Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” Try as she might though, she couldn’t feel anything.

“Nothing’s happening,” the otter-girl noted.

“I know this is possible! Why isn’t it working?” Shouri fretted, growing more anxious by the minute. Maybe he got the pronunciation wrong?

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” He tried again.

Silence.

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” he cried out desperately. Pacifica by this point had turned her attention back to him, brows turned up in worry.

It wasn’t working. He couldn’t feel any kind of link with Pacifica like he did when he cast spells with Taika. His mind began to race with possibilities. What would happen if their kidnappers returned at this exact moment? What if it wasn’t working because Pacifica was too exhausted? How long did she have? Was he going to watch her die?

“Shouri.”

Pacifica snapped him out of his panic attack. “Maybe you have to be touching me in a certain way,” she suggested. He studied her for a moment. She hadn’t given up yet, and neither should he.

“Let me think for a second.” He propped her up against the wall for a moment, examining the door and then stepping back from it. Spells could be sent through direct touch, that was a fact. What else did he know about rhythm? It travels throughout the body as long as one lives and continues to regenerate while the user is in good health.

It travels through the body...

Through the body...

“I got it!” He stepped towards Pacifica. He sheepishly averted his gaze, the implications of his idea drawing pause in the young man. “I believe I have an idea of how to get you to use your spells.”

The otter girl brightened up. “Really? How?” she questioned.

Back and forth, his eyes swayed as he avoided looking the girl in the face. He took a moment to find his words before speaking: “Well, I think if I’m right, I have to put my hand over your heart.”

“My-” She looked down at her own chest. “-heart, huh?” She gulped. She found her determination very quickly though. “Go ahead.” She closed her eyes. Her embarrassment only served to spotlight what he was suggesting, making his face flush with fluster. They had to deal with it though. An uncomfortable moment was leagues better than the alternatives. Slowly Shouri reached out, but right before he made contact with her, he yanked his hand away.

“I have a less... intimate idea,” he said suddenly. He once again stood next to her, but rather than holding her up as he did before, he ran his hand up the back of her vest and then her top, placing his hand on her bare back roughly where her heart should have been. She jumped slightly at the sudden clammy touch. “Sorry.” He turned his head away.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It's okay, just your hand was cold,” she admitted. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but besides that, there was a new feeling slowly invading her. “Let’s try it again,” she urged him.

He took a deep breath, his own heart calming ever so slightly just from holding her up as he was. “Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo.”

There it was! He felt the sensation that he experienced when he had Taika cast spells. And sure enough, Pacifica found herself creating ice needles with her free hand. With a flick of her wrist, she sent them lock-ward. The ice did a small amount of damage to the lock, but it remained firm.

Pacifica released a held breath; eyes wide. What a rush! This was way better than using crystals to cast spells, it wasn’t even close! Maestros were awesome! “Again! Again!” she demanded, unable to suppress the excitement in her voice.

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo Staccato!” Shouri commanded. “Break it down!”

The rhythm flowing through her from Shouri’s fingertips was addicting, and now the feeling was persisting. He said some extra stuff, maybe that’s what was doing it? Either way, she had the power to keep casting her ice spell now and threw a flurry of needles at the lock. It began to crumble under the pressure of the attacks until finally-

Click!

Shouri stepped forward with Pacifica and they were able to pull the door open. “Ah, Shouri!” Pacifica pivoted around and hugged the boy tightly. “We’re free!” She couldn’t help the flow of tears. Shouri hugged her back but knew better than to celebrate a preemptive victory. He broke off their hug and held her at arm’s length.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he reminded her.

“R-right.” She nodded.

Through the now open door, they were in a mine-shaft. Like the room they had been trapped in, the lighting of this cave left a lot to be desired. The passageway was narrow, with a set of minecart tracks leading the way.

“If we follow these tracks, we should be able to find the exit,” Shouri reasoned out.

“That makes sense to me,” Pacifica agreed.

With Shouri continuing to support Pacifica, the two trudged through the depths of the mine they had been stashed in. It was hard work, both young adults were covered in a thick sweat, breathing hard. “How far... did they take us?” Shouri wheezed. He probably could have made it the whole length of the cave with minimal complaints, but he was carrying Pacifica. She was doing her best to contribute but was nearly dead weight all the same.

“I’m sorry Shouri...” she breathed out.

“Don’t apologize. Those fuckers did this to you,” the boy growled. He had a small suspicion of the culprit, however, at present he was simply too exhausted to pursue it.

Pacifica flashed a confident smirk to the Maestro. “We’re gonna get through this,” she stated. He returned her confidence in kind, nodding shortly.

Her smile faded though as a certain sound hit her ears. “Hide! Hide!” she squeaked.

Hastily, Shouri ushered Pacifica into a dark crevice in the wall. He pulled her in and held her tightly while trying to flatten themselves against the wall as much as he could.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap

Pacifica clung to Shouri, her eyes tightly closed, head buried in his chest, all while shivering fearfully. Shouri had a vice grip around the trembling Resonator. He had all but stopped breathing, eyes wide open despite how badly he wanted to close them.

Two large men walked by, one a Resonator, and the other a Maestro. Shouri recognized them as the men that had run him off of their “territory”, confirming his earlier suspicion of who had attacked them.

The territorial men passed by without taking notice of the smaller pair huddled in the shadows.

As soon as they were gone, Shouri and Pacifica went in the opposite direction, moving at just barely a run despite Shouri still supporting Pacifica’s weight. Neither spoke a word, tears streamed down Pacifica’s face as they both fled in absolute terror.

But the fear gave way to the light of hope as the entrance to the mine came in to view. They picked up the pace even further, though now from excitement rather than fear. Finally, they saw the light of the rising sun.

“Ah... what a beautiful sunrise,” Pacifica gasped as she got her first breath of fresh air in a long time.

“We gotta keep moving.” Shouri continued to push them forward. In her state he had to get her somewhere safe, he had to get her into town.

“Fuck I don’t know where we are,” he grumbled as he studied their new surroundings. They were higher up, but the forest around them was obscuring their direct view of any landmarks that would have aided their navigation.

“Let’s go that way.” Pacifica pointed down-hill from their current location. “I have a good feeling,” she clarified.

Shouri gave her a tired smile. “Sure, if you say so.” It had been a long night for the both of them and certainly, it was easier going down than up. Even if it wasn’t the correct choice, it’s the one they wanted to make. The cool morning wind blowing across the mountain was refreshing. The walk would have been picturesque if the two travelers in question weren’t in such dire straits.

Eventually, Pacifica perked up. “I hear people nearby – I think we’re near town,” she told the Maestro holding her up. Sure enough, above the treetops they could spot small plumes of smoke, signs of civilization. “We did it Shouri!” Pacifica exclaimed.

“Rullante di radice, Piano.”

Suddenly thick roots shot out of the ground, ensnaring Shouri and Pacifica. “GAHH!” the pair screamed out in pain as the roots contained thorns that dug into their bodies while crushing them all at the same time.

From behind the trees, one of the kidnappers stepped out. The second kidnapper, the Resonator of the pair, jumped down from the trees to join him. The younger duo could only muster up hateful glares at the perpetrators of their previous imprisonment.

“Thought you could make a break for it, huh city kids?” The elder man sneered.

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” Shouri responded.

Despite being bound, Pacifica had just enough freedom of arms to launch several ice needles at the pair. Though she couldn't commit all of the rhythm received to forming the needles, due to how they were bound the water-element had to spend some rhythm on propulsion.

“Corteccia Armatura” The Maestro spoke calmly. His Resonator seemed to grow bark from his body, encasing him in a set of wooden armor. Unfortunately for Shouri and Pacifica, the defensive measures were more than enough to deflect the weak water-element spell, shattering against the bark-laden surface. “Cute,” the kidnapper remarked with a chuckle.

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” Shouri cried out again. Pacifica launched more ice needles at the armored Resonator, despite the futility of the situation.

The kidnapper shook his head. “Yer wasting your breath, and rhythm.” He almost pitied the ensnared. Almost.

“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!” came another desperate shout. Pacifica let out a small cry of her own as she once again tried to send more needles at their attackers. These needles didn’t even stick in the bark armor, they simply bounced off the wood and quickly melted in the morning sunlight.

Having enough of his captive’s struggle, he decided to just end their resistance. “Foglie a Lame, Pianissimo.” The nature Resonator cast a flurry of bladed leaves toward the bound teens. “AAAUGH!” they cried out. Despite the roots that bound them, Shouri managed to pivot their bodies around to take the brunt of the spell.

“Sh-shouri... stop,” Pacifica wheezed. “I’m the Resonator, I can take it...” she breathed out.

“You’re in no shape to,” he countered. “We’re gonna get through this right?” He gave her a weak smirk.

“Yeah.” She returned his smile with one of her own.

“Foglie a Lame, Pianissimo,” the kidnapper repeated. Once again, Shouri and Pacifica were assaulted by a flurry of sharpened leaves.

It hurt, it all hurt so much. Even with Shouri taking the majority of the damage, Pacifica was growing weaker by the second. “D-damn it... I can’t keep my eyes open,” she whimpered.

“Stay with me, Pacifica! Please!” Shouri cried out, doing his best to shield the girl from any further harm.

There was a sadistic sort of pleasure the man was getting from watching these two deteriorate. However, he needed to hurry this along before any curious looky-loos decided to investigate the noise. “Foglie a Lame, Piano.”

A stronger flurry of leaves assaulted the pair.

“Shou...ri...”

The otter girl went completely limp. “Pacifica?” Shouri’s heart stopped. He struggled against the thorny vines, trying to shake her awake, but there was no response. “Pa-cifica?” his voice cracked, trembling fearfully as tears poured down his face. She no longer struggled with him; silent, no longer protesting their situation. Had he actually witnessed this girl’s final breath? “PACIFICAAAAA!!” It was all too much to bear and the only thing he could do was scream her name.

As if summoned by the anguished cry, a black blur flew through the underbrush with a fist making impact with the much larger nature Resonator. A fist that easily shattered the bark armor that had protected the Resonator from Pacifica’s icy needles. A fist that sent the larger man flying away from his Maestro.

The Maestro in question stepped back. Before him was a small fox-girl, barely above five feet tall. She was hunched over and baring her fangs at him like a beast, the pupils of her eyes contracted so far, you could barely see them. Such bloodlust in her heart; it was bleeding out into reality as a tangible force. “Se gli fai del male... io ti uccido,” she practically snarled.

The Maestro glared at the small girl before him. She was a Maestroless Resonator right now, what could she possibly do? He raised his green tuner to issue a command. A costly mistake. Within fractions of a second, his wrist had been thoroughly broken from a savage kick delivered by the black-clad vixen. The tuner he once held having been punted into the woods, completely lost.

“AAAAAUGH!” Now it was the hunter’s turn to hurt as he stumbled back from a violent blow to his hand.

“LASCIARE!” she roared at the man.

Getting the hint, the former kidnapper swallowed his pride and fled into the woods, his Resonator getting up and joining his Maestro in the retreat.

“Taika!” Shouri yelled.

“Sho!” She turned to joyously reunite with her Maestro, but her jovial expression faded when she saw the state he was in.

“H-help, Taika... Please.”

The roots previously wrapped around him had faded away and in his arms, he held a girl Taika didn’t recognize. The girl in question wasn’t moving though. Taika rushed over and slid down to her knees in front of him. “Who is she?” The lunar Resonator immediately asked, looking the unmoving girl over.

“Pacifica - she helped me escape and was also kidnapped by those guys,” he told his Resonator. “But she was already basically on death’s door when they found us.”

That proclamation chilled Taika’s heart. “Maybe I can heal her.” Before he could ask, she fished their tuner out of her jacket pocket and handed it to her Maestro. Shouri eagerly accepted the device back, ecstatic to have it back in his grasp again.

“La Bella Vita, Rubato. Just focus on her,” he instructed.

Taika nodded and began projecting the healing spell on Pacifica. The physical injuries were fading, but the otter did not stir. On closer observation, she was growing pale, her breath shallow. “How far is the town from here?” Shouri asked, the fear in his voice apparent.

Taika looked up from her spell-craft. “Not too far. Less than five minutes?”

Shouri grunted as he hoisted the unconscious Pacifica up into his arms. “Come on!” he managed to get out.