I held two silver crescent moons each with its own chain.
We stood there looking at each other. Neither one of us could determine where the pendants had come from. Rathan had not seen them when he went threw the glade the day before. He couldn’t even remember if there was a tree in the center of the glade.
The glade suddenly grew very quiet. Not even the wind stirred a blade of grass. The world seemed to stand still and hold its breath. We stood there, neither of us daring to say a word. Even if you ask me to this day, I still couldn’t explain what happened next.
Rathan seemed to be held in a trance. He dropped his backpack and came to kneel before me. I looked down into his hazel eyes, and almost lost myself in their beauty. I too seemed held in the same trance. Unable to stop myself, I raised the pendant in my right hand to the sky and spread the chain open between my paws.
With a start I looked up through the loop formed by the silver chain and looked into the sun.
After a moment, with the pendant held high, I placed it down over Rathan’s up turned head. As the pendant settled over his chest, he released the breath he was holding in a deep sigh and a shudder ran through his body.
Rathan stood and took the other pendant from me and I also knelt before him. He too raised the pendant skyward and spread the chain open. After looking deep into my blue-green eyes, he also held the pendant open for a moment, then lowered over my upturned head.
As the pendant settled between my breast, I felt a rush of what seemed to be power flow over me. Every hair on my body seemed electrified and standing on edge.
Rathan and I will swear to this day that we heard a voice above us. It fill my mind with light and air.
“Now the bond is forged. Two will become one and the land shall be healed. Blessings on you my children. You two have a long and interesting life ahead.” There was an almost a humorous note to the voice. Then the voice was gone.
As I stood, Rathan wrapped his arms round me. We kissed. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. The kiss seemed to last forever. Neither one of us wanted it to end.
The feel of his arms round me seemed to melt something in me.
There was an almost audible click as we came together. I felt my mind open a channel to Rathan. I knew to the depth of my soul that we were now bound together as no ordinary couple or pairing or mating.
Even to this day if we are apart for any length of time we suffer effects close to withdrawals.
The bonding was also mental component. From that moment on, I could feel Rathan’s emotions as clearly as if they were my own and he could feel mine.
Under the right circumstances we can even transfer thoughts. This rarely happens and only in times of great danger or stress. Luckily we wouldn’t find this out too much later in our lives.
We broke apart and stood there breathless. “Oh my!” was about all I could say. I was flooded with Rathan’s emotions. *Confusion, concern, love, disbelief, lust* Flowed through the lick between us. I was almost overwhelmed. My head had began to spin again and I felt the nausea begin to rise. I broke away from Rathan. I stumbled again and sat down hard on my tail.
You don’t know what pain is unless you’ve sat down hard on a stick or limb. I guess having a child is the only thing similar and I should know I’ve had three. Now imagine having a 5th appendage getting caught and kinked. Rathan winced in pain also as it flashed across the channel linking us. A startled look came over his face. I could see he was picking up my emotions too. I think fear and confusion dominated my mine.
We rarely communicate through the channel but we always knew how each other feels. There’s no doubting our feelings toward each other. It’s helped us through some rough times. Even when I finally told him of my origins, but that’s another story.
The pain cleared my head some and I looked up to see Rathan standing over me.
“What was that?” I asked in confusion. “Where did that voice come from? What did we just do?”
He looked as confused as I did and I felt it also through the link. “I don’t really know.” He answered. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“We seem to be linked mentally somehow,” I said. Fear rose in my voice as I thought that he could now read my thoughts. I started to get up to run and fell again. He caught me and placed me on my feet. It still amazes me how strong that fox is.
“Yes, but I’m only picking up your emotions,” he replied.
If he was picking up my emotions then he was getting a heavy dose of fear I had been experiencing all morning.
“You have nothing to fear from me I just want to help.” He said.
I could tell he was telling the truth through the link. We could never lie to each other. We can even tell when others try to lie to us.
I held up the pendant hanging from the chain round my neck. “What does this mean then?” I asked.
“Well usually when two life bond they exchange gifts, usually bracelets or sometimes necklaces, and some even exchange ear rings.” He tried to explain. “The gifts match one another and show others that the individuals are bonded. This would mean we are sort of life bonded.”
I felt my anger rise as he explained what he thought of the necklaces. He felt it to and tried to calm me. How could we be bonded? I didn’t even know this guy before this morning. But each time he holds me I seemed to melt.
“Come on, let’s find your camp. We’ll talk more later after we’ve found it.” With that he headed off towards the other side of the meadow. He walked off toward the far side and left me standing there with my mouth open. All I could read from the new link between us was concern curiosity and a little lust or was it love?
I had to run to catch up. I’m sure he felt my frustration and nervousness as we approached my camp. I had a hard time keeping up with him since I didn’t have any shoes.
As we got nearer to my camp, we found the clothes I had discarded on my way to the center of the meadow. I blushed again as he picked up my panties and turned to smile at me. I grabbed them and stuck my tongue out at him. He brow dipped and confusion clouded his emotions. I then realized that there was no equivalent to sticking your tongue on this world. He had no idea what I meant by it. He finally worked out the emotions he felt from me and smiled again.
I hurried round and picked up the clothes scattered about the camp and shoved them into my tent. “You must do a lot of camping.” He stated as he looked about my otherwise neat camp. I blushed again.
“I’ll just go change into some of my own clothes and give yours back.” I said and walked toward my tent.
“That’s ok you can keep them. I think we’ll be spending more time together than you think.” He replied. I again looked at him in confusion.
“Here sit down. I just remembered some more about life bonding.” He said as he took my elbow and guided me to a log to sit.
“I had a little time to think while we were on our way over here. I remembered something else. There’s another type of bonding called a Soul Bonding. It’s very rare and no one knows how it happens. The pair that Soul Bonds share an additional special bond. They are able to feel each others emotions and sometimes thoughts.”
“No one knows how this bonding occurs or why. It only happens once or twice a generation to any one family.” He explained. “When a pair soul bond it’s for life. The death of one is the death of the other. Its like one half cannot live without the other.”
I sat there in shock and listened to him explain more about life and soul bonding. I felt more and more afraid. His emotions helped sooth mine as he felt my fear at the new situation I was in.
“It must be the Goddess, she must have some reason for us to be together.” He said to me.
I remained silent trying to work out in my mind what was happening.
He knew what I was going through from the link we now shared.
He helped me clean up my camp and set his tent and camp up next to mine. Hardly a work was spoken since then. There was an attraction I now felt and was trying to resist it. Every time we got close, his scent would send my heart running.
I cooked a simple supper for the both of us and sat down. “There’s something I should tell you.” I said in a soft voice. “I’ve been living with a friend from the hospital and … well … she and I have been a little more than friends. She’s helped me out a lot after I first woke up.”
“You mean you’ve sleep with her as lovers.” He said with a rye smile. “I may be a Moon Dancer, but I’ve not been celibate either.” As he leaned over and kissed me again.
The emotions I got from him through the link set my heart running again. I couldn’t help myself, my nipples perked right up and poked out at the fabric of the shirt I was wearing. It was very obvious form that and my scent how he was affecting me. This was going to be an interesting night.