A deep meow impinged on Ryan’s sodden introspection. Fury was scratching at the gate to the pool area. With a loud sigh Ryan lifted himself from the fluid succour the refreshing waters had provided. Judging by the state of his pruny skin he had spent quite a while sunk in contemplation. He hoisted his combat pants up and tightened the belt, noticing again that he definitely had lost some weight over the past few months. The meowing at the gate was unceasing, Fury insisting she be let in.

Ryan opened the gate and the furball pounced on him. The instant her tiny jaw closed around a fold in his combat pants a notification pinged:

Ding. Stalker Lioness (Fury), juvenile, Level 5, has initiated soul-bonding process. Soulbond with Fury, select Yes or No.

Yes

No

“Soulbond?” Ryan thought before immediately messaging Johannes asking if he knew anything about soulbonds. As far as Ryan could determine the bonds Johannes shared with his pack and the bond Alexis shared with Kira had simply been titled bonds and he was a bit hesitant to accept this new unknown. Before he received a reply from Johannes a message from John hit him.

“Ryan, if Fury finds you, accept the bond. Accept it. Once in a lifetime.”

Trusting the Spymaster Ryan hesitated no longer and mentally accepted the bond. Overwhelmed by the flood of memories, emotions and pure feline awareness that assaulted his consciousness he collapsed onto the floor, bereft of any and all senses. Next to him, Fury, in a similar but aggravated state was panting on the sandy ground. As the flood receeded Ryan slowly awoke slowly to a new being infringing on his sense of self. He didn’t feel like himself anymore, the new duality of sensations tearing apart his ego. He was Ryan, he was a cub, a predator, a father, a future queen of the savannah, a hunter, a helpless little baby, learning mathematics, stumbling around chasing butterflies, drinking his first beer, tearing into the warm raw meat mother carried into the den, making love to his wife, sniffing the silver river sand, throwing up on his ex, pissing herself in fright. Slowly the duality fused and then separated into two distinct but intrinsically intertwined streams of awareness, both regaining their sense of self but closely connected forevermore, interdependent going forward.

The duo further crystallised their own spheres of self in the duality of their sense of self. Ryan delineating his new expanded sense of self, defining where he ended and Fury began. The playfully curios intelligence of the little cub, less burdened by life, accepting the boundary while voraciously consuming the nourishment his wider field of experience provided, instinctively pouncing on anything that aroused her interest, growing at a speed that would have been frightening if it wasn’t a part of themselves. Further, ever further the two souls crystallised out of the common protoplasma until two fully formed individual souls metastased and separated. Each their own, forever bound by orbiting around their common sense of self, like two planets orbiting a common sun in close succession.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Ryan’s awareness of his surroundings resumed haltingly, his focus still laser focused on his?/their? core which closely resemble two sphere’s orbiting a diffuse aura of commonality, drawing in energy and sharing equally. To him it felt as if lifetimes had passed but the drops of water still glistening on his skin gave lie to the feeling. The experience must have lasted a bare moment but it had shaken him?/them? to their core.

“We’ll have to work on that.” Ryan thought to themselves. “Damnit, really work on it.” He thought to himself and Fury, consciously making the effort to differentiate. “Trippy.”

“Fury? I’m Fury.” a new thought impacted against Ryan’s brittle sense of self, radiating a smug sense of satisfaction. She had quickly assimilated her name and the associated concepts, proud that her first impression on them had been so valiant, so unrestrained in nature.

“Ugh, we clearly need to work on us.” Ryan spoke out loud to no-one in particular, the act of verbalisation further defining their new senses of self. An amused chuff the only confirmation Ryan needed that Fury, like himself, preferred to retain her individuality, proud of being herself. Leaning into each other the two spent some long minutes untangling the intermingled streams of consciousness, each further defining themselves out of their shared self. They found a balance soon, faster than either expected.

By the time Ryan could concentrate again the insistent pressure of a System Notification awaiting his attention had become an annoying distraction in the exploration of this new sense of self. Ryan summoned the necessary mental focus and opened the notification.

…achievement earned – Two are one…

Achievement earned by soulbonding with your companion. No rewards earned.

Soulbond: Two are one, two bonded souls forevermore share one self. Neither will die while the other remains hale. Injuries up to near total bodily destruction may be healed as one soul seeks refuge in the other. Soulbond companions always receive equal benefits from any actions that result in personal growth. May you walk the path together.

“That must be the weirdest Achievement yet.”, once again Ryan addressed the air.

The air, using the voice of John, answered. “Yep.”

Ryan and Fury near jumped out of their skins. They had been so engrossed in their new duality that neither the naturally sharp senses of the predator nor the enhanced senses of the Wild Shifter had picked up on the arrival of two beings.

“Jikes, don’t sneak up on us.” Ryan squeaked.

John’s calm “”We didn’t.” diffused the situation only marginally. “I sent that message as soon as I was coherent enough to do so. Clearly I wasn’t present enough to include a warning. You picked up on it right?”

“Jup, it’s functionally impossible to escape death, unless both companions die. When are we going to let the guild know?” Ryan cut to the quick of the matter.

“I’ll ask Lizzy to call for a meeting tomorrow to announce it. I’d like to game the consequences for a bit so that we can announce it in the most beneficial way possible. You should be aware what this knowledge could result in.”

Ryan pondered for a moment. “Not necessarily, but I’ll trust you to do what’s right. I’ll keep it quiet, but please inform William now. He should provide input and needs to know as soon as possible.”

“I agree. What are you going to do next? We haven’t gotten around to including you in the task schedule again, so you’re free for now.” John reminded Ryan that thanks to his experimental training regime he had dodged the majority of tasks that had been assigned to each guildmember so far, a chore he was not looking forward to.

“I’ll grab some more special meat and then head off to do a little hunting nearby, I want to see what we are capable of.”

“I know its Mom. You don’t have to pretend, you monster.” The icy sting of disapproval tinged with a certain note of slightly ironic self-awareness assaulted him. “She’d have eaten you too. Et victor manducat.”