295. FLINCHING: WIREMU.

Well, that is a strange sight. Tabitha and Dusk were racing around the camp, stabbing and whipping things from horseback. Modrica was throwing things at them, but Težka never even stirred when Dusk leapt over him.

Umreti looked like he was conducting an orchestra, but I guess it had meaning for the Hornets. Moja, Mbili and Tatu were pottering around camp, but I couldn’t see Ruku anywhere. I moved toward the wagons when a fast-moving object shot out of the lake, into the air, somersaulted twice and then smoothly dived back in. At least Ruku is having fun.

I had fun as well. I enjoyed the peaceful time observing the gorillas. My Animal Lore went up as well. I even interacted with them. The big old patriarch checked me out first and then ignored me. Slowly, over the day, some of the young ones got closer until I was in the midst of them. These gorillas are incredible. Strong, but peace-loving. I felt a connection, and I really felt Umreti made the wrong choice in his bond. Maybe not the wrong choice, but not the best choice.

We were all there for the evening dinner. The fish Ruku caught was delicious. He wouldn’t confirm whether he out-swam it in order to catch it.

I was telling them about the gorillas when Ruku said, “You seem very enamoured with the gorillas. Why don’t you try bonding with one?”

“Why don’t I …? What? I already have Tāoke and Puia. That is my limit.”

“Is it? But you are a Bond Master, and you have Bond Care to find the proper bond. Why couldn’t you bond with another animal? Gwaed had several bonds; don’t dismiss it because she was an elf. You have a Bond class and Skill.”

I paused. Ruku was onto something. Could I have more bonds? It would be tricky. A Rock and/or Lava affinity was rare. None of the gorillas would have lava, but they may have a rock affinity. They are more likely to be plant or tree irritated, but there is a lot of variety. I only had a Granite affinity when I bonded with Puia. It was close enough to be compatible. Would one of the gorillas be compatible, and would they want to bond with me?

With us. Tāoke and Puia are part of this as well. Tāoke was curled up by the fire, and I reached out through our bond to get a feel for what he thought. What he thought was, “Leave me alone. I am warm and sleeping while I digest dinner.” His middle did look distended as if he ate too much. This might have to wait for tomorrow.

I reached out to Puia. Puia was all for it, as he was all about wanting new experiences and flavours.

I looked around the fire, and everybody was looking at me. “What?” I asked.

“You zoned out. Lee was asking you a question.” Tabitha said.

Lee. I had forgotten about her. “Sorry, what did you ask?”

“I asked if you thought a gorilla would be a good bond for me?”

I thought about it for a moment and tentatively used Bond Care. “It is a matter of compatibility, both with what type of animal you like and how they fit with your classes. Have you been preparing for a bond?”

“Only for a couple of weeks prior to leaving the Republic.”

“You can come with me tomorrow if you like, but I think the main focus of your classes is Spying, and I get a lot of earthy feel from you. A big massive gorilla is probably not really going to be compatible.”

“I might come anyway.”

Ruku came with us as well. Tāoke was in his giant form, slithering along beside us and moving in and out of the trees. I got the impression that Lee was still uncomfortable with Tāoke’s giant form. Maybe a little scared. That is not a bad thing.

There were several family groups of gorillas in the valley and surrounding area. They were called Troops, not family groups. There was one dominant male and a harem of females and young. This larger group we were approaching contained several adult males in addition to the patriarch. Silverback was the correct term for the patriarch. A Silverback and his Troop. It was not uncommon for larger groups to have more than one male, but there was always only one Silverback.

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They remembered me from yesterday, but the others had to stay back. Tāoke came with me, causing a lot of anxiety among the Troop. The Silverback came forward loudly, demonstrating his dominance and trying to scare away the predator. I sat quietly at the edge of the clearing, and Tāoke curled up beside me. When it was clear we were not leaving, the Troop moved away to the other side of the large clearing.

I just sat examining them. There was a bond between them. It was focused on the Silverback and spread out from there. The Hornets had a network of bonds that strengthened and weakened depending on their interactions. This was not like that. It was more like Rodion's bond with his pack. He bonded primarily with the dominant pair and, through them, with the others. The Silverback had bonded with all the others, but there were weaker cross-bonding as well that seemed more flexible. Some of the Silverback bonds were stronger than others. The cross-bonding was overall weaker, and not every gorilla was cross-connected to every other gorilla. I couldn’t figure out why this was the case. I guess I would have to suspend several months here observing them to work it out.

Would any of them want to bond with me? Would any of them be able to bond with us? I am getting a lot of earthy and vegetation feelings from those bonds. That is no good. The Lava will just destroy it.

We sat for a couple of hours just watching. Then Ruku and Lee left to head back, so Tāoke and I moved further up the valley to find a smaller troop. We headed up the slopes on the side of the valley where the vegetation was thinner. This was the third and last troop before heading back. This Silverback only had three females, and I was getting rock vibes from him. If I bonded with him, would the females come too? I watched them for an hour, and he watched us back. I am going to a dangerous place. It is not a place for a whole family.

I decided to reach out and test it out. Bond Care was not giving me negative feedback, but it was not positive either. I reached out mentally toward him and felt him testing the fit. It wasn’t going to be like Tāoke or even Puia.

Then I felt him flinch back in rejection. I was too violent. My classes were primarily focused on killing, and these were generally peaceful creatures. He was right. I had two fighting Basic Classes, not one and two specialisation in killing. My main focus is Hunting. I wanted a peaceful life, but I am a Hunter and Killer.

Did my classes make me a killer? I started with the Hunter Class, but I have two specialisations from it that are not killing: Scouting and Bond Master. Yet I chose to learn Warrior. Is it my circumstances? Have I been forced down this path because I had to fight to get out of the Empire? Or is this who I am? What would I be like if I had stayed in my village and the slavers had never come? That is an impossible question.

I sat there watching the troop as the sunset, thinking about it and all the what-ifs. Tāoke thought I was mad. He just deals with what is rather than what ifs. I can’t change the past, so this is who I am, and I got this way because I want to free others. I could have stayed in Jern or Obalno or any other city, but I kept on, not for myself, but for strangers. For people who couldn’t help themselves.

Does that make me crazy? Tabitha would say so, but then she has followed me down this path without flinching, so what she says and what she really thinks are two different things. Ruku came because he wanted a purpose, and helping us help others gave him that purpose. I imagine he also saw two lost young people that needed guidance. A Dad. I haven't had a dad since mine was killed, but Ruku has been there for us, and he didn’t flinch either.

I am who I am because of the choices I have made. I have had help in making those choices and in dealing with the consequences of them, but I will own the choices, both good and bad.

Bond Master. It makes sense it allows for extra bonds, but there was no indication of that when I got it. Having just been through the exercise with the Silverback, it is obvious I can get another bond. Wait a minute. Wolfkin can form multiple bonds with similar species, canines. Cathkin are the same with Cat species. Avion with birds, and Mer with fish. Are Humans and primates the same, or similar enough? That is an interesting thought. I won’t be testing it today, though.

Getting back on topic. I can have another bond. Can I have more? Probably. I need to be looking for a hunter with a rock or lava flavour. That pretty much rules out birds and water-based creatures. Birds would be unable to fly with Granite bones, and water is fundamentally incompatible with lava.

Tāoke is proof the hunter does not need to be a mammal. Snakes and Spiders are some of the top hunters. There are other reptiles like the Komodo Dragon. They are solid reptiles that would be suitable, but I am in the wrong part of the continent for them.

There was the wyvern egg, but it would probably not be suitable with rock. There are ground-based subspecies of the wyvern, but I don’t know where to find them.

Then, there are the various rock elementals to consider. I have sensed a lot of them in various places. Most recently, in the Mushroom cave.

The revelation that I can get another bond does not mean that I need another bond. The three of us are happy enough.

I wonder if a Fire Elemental would be compatible enough with lava?