The girl frowned before turning away. I watched her limp away on her twisted ankle, wondering why I had been stuck with her.
Out of all the possibilities for my connection, I get stuck with a human.
Who I can't find while I'm awake.
And who has disliked me from the very first dream.
Aren't I a lucky taint?
I follow slowly after the girl, taking in the sight of her once more. For no matter how much I loathed my bond, I was still drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
“You might as well tell me your name, since its not like either of us is going anywhere.” I tell the girl, my voice bored. She turned her head in my general direction, unable to see through the fog as I could. I stared into her pale blue eyes, amused by her glare. “And why should I tell you my name, when you won't even show me your face?”
Her voice, though it held an angry tone, was soft.
And I suppose she did have a point. The only things she knew about me was my eye color, and the fact that I was a taint bound to her.
A bond which placed me in servitude to her, despite my attempts to fight it.
“If I revealed myself to you, then would you tell me your name?” I asked; dropping the bored tone from my voice.
The girl thought for a moment, brushing back a strand of her short dusty brown hair. “If you reveal yourself and tell me your name.”
I sighed, shaking my head despite the fact that she couldn't see me.
Because for my people, telling their bond their name was the final link in the chain. After I told this girl my name, she could use it to command me.
A prospect I wasn't looking forward to.
But the very idea of lying to my bond was literally painful.
“...How about I reveal myself and heal your twisted ankle?” I countered her offer, thinking of an ability I remember learning about as a child.
My human closed her eyes for a moment, possibly weighing whether or not a untwisted ankle was worth not knowing my name.
Then her eyes opened, and she nodded. “Fine. After you reveal yourself and fix my ankle, I will tell you my name.” She looked around, then sat on a fallen tree.
I watched her for a few moments, focusing my mind.
I had never healed before, and although it was a common ability for my people, I still held some doubt about if I would have it.
I gave a tiny shake of my head, then lifted my hand and gave it a slight twist. The fog imploded, rushing to my hand and disappearing. The girl blinked in surprise at the sudden clarity, then focused on me.
I kept my emotions hidden behind a mask of boredom as I walked over to the girl and knelt beside her. She continued to stare at me, and a long moment passed. I released an impatient sigh and gave her a look.
“Your foot? Or are we skipping to the part where you tell me your name?”
She blinked, then glared at me and thrust her injured ankle at me. I gently grabbed it, and pushed her sock down a little. Then before I could think enough to hesitate, I touched the revealed skin with two fingers.
And bit back a cry of agony.
My two fingers burned as if I had thrust them into dragon fire. Through the connection my finger's had created, I could feel every pain that this girl felt. The ankle, the bruises she had gotten with the ankle, the scratches on her hands from her frantic dash through the forest, and even the tiny cut on her ear.
And that was only what was on the surface.
I had no doubt now that I could heal her, but I found myself wondering if it was worth learning her name...
Yes.
I closed my eyes, and mentally called her pain to my fingers. I drew it out slowly, beckoning it out of the girl and into me. I watched the pain slide out of her and into me, resting in me where it had in her. I felt the scratches on my hands, the cut on my ear, the bruises and the ache of the ankle.
But only once all the pain was gone from her did I remove my fingers and open my eyes.
She stared at me, disbelief in her eyes.
I stood, ignoring the new pain in my ankle as I brushed dirt off my pants.
She could never know everything about how taints healed their bonds, or else she would never allow me to heal her again.
“So,” I began, my voice serious, “now may I have your name?”
She moved her ankle around, then stood, testing it. Then she looked at me with just a little more trust then before.
“Kathryn Scarlet.”
I tested the name in my mind, memorizing every syllable.
Kathryn...
“I still want your name, taint.” Her eyes were like shards of the sky, cool and distant.
I look into those pieces of the sky, and smirked.
“I apologize, Kathryn, but our time has come to an end.” I took a step back, and gave a mocking bow. “Until the next dream.”
Then everything faded to black.
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