|Weak Hero| Weaktober 2023

Day 11: Soulbound

Soulbound
Adjective
A deep, lasting emotional or spiritual connection between two characters, typically of a psychic or magical nature

Many centuries ago, Kingsley Kwan lived in a village. He was the son of the village's chief and was well-liked among many. He studied hard and had the highest grades at the academy. Although he was popular, he struggled to make real friends. Most people sucked up to him in an effort to try to get into his father's good graces.

He made his first real friend at seven years old. He had gone into the forest to collect some herbs for a potion and had come across a boy his age. The boy was on the extremely skinny side and wore tattered clothing. Kingsley felt bad and offered him some of his lunch.

"Why are you being nice to me?" The boy asked with distrust in his eyes.

"You haven't done anything bad to me and you look like you're really hungry," Kingsley answered. 

"The villagers hate me," The boy explained. "I don't know why. They all keep on saying that I should be dead,"

"I don't like the villagers either," Kingsley told him. "They all see me as a tool to get close to my father. Since you don't live in the village, do you want to be my friend?" He placed the bun in the boy's hands.

"Are you sure?" The boy hesitated. "If they find out you're hanging around me, you might get into trouble,"

"Then we'll be secret friends," Kingsley suggested. "I'm Kingsley Kwan,"

"I'm Donald Na," The boy introduced himself. "I'd like that. I'd like to have a friend,"

XXX

Kingsley and Donald were great friends. They'd mostly explore the forest together. Donald showed Kingsley the best spots to gather herbs and Kingsley lent Donald some books and taught him how to read and write. Apparently Donald's father died last year and had been constantly working to provide food so he hadn't had the time to teach Donald.

For five years they kept their friendship a secret. But eventually, they were found out. Kingsley's father, the chief, was furious and banned his son from seeing Donald again.

"Why do you guys hate him!?" The twelve year old demanded to know. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"He should be dead!" The chief snapped. "He died at birth and his mother was soon to join him, but his father used necromancy to sacrifice the remaining life of his wife to revive his son! That boy is a product of necromancy!"

"It's not his fault!" Kingsley yelled.

"You haven't been this disrespectful towards me before you've started hanging around that thing," The chief scoffed. "I should make things right and finish that brat off!"

"Leave him alone!" Kingsley tried to stop his father but was shoved inside the house and locked inside. 'They're going to kill him! I need to stop them! I can't let them kill Donald!'

Kingsley climbed out through a window and sprinted into the forest. He eventually bumped into Donald who had a few arrows in him already. "Kings...ley?"

"DONALD!" Kingsley caught him. "Donald, we need to continue running! You can't stop now or they'll kill you!" 'There should be a sacred site nearby. Violence is prohibited at sacred sites! Once we get there, I'll treat his wounds!'

Kingsley did his best to carry Donald and used his knowledge of the terrain to avoid the villagers. They made it to the sacred site but Donald's pulse had gotten incredibly weak and he had gotten even paler than before.

"D-Don't move!" Kingsley said. "I-I'll start treated your wounds now—"

"Kingsley..." Donald's voice was barely a whisper. "Thank you...for being my friend..."

"Donald?" Kingsley called out in a broken voice. "Hey...Donald, say something! DONALD!"

"He's dead," A teenager sat on the shoulder of the deity's statue. 

"You're..."

"The guardian deity of this site," The teenager hopped down. "Though you humans carved a statue that is nothing like me,"

"Bring Donald back!" Kingsley pleaded. "Bring him back to life! Please, you've gotta revive him!"

"I can't bring him back to life. I can't turn back the hands of time," Alistair shook his head. "What I can do, though, is reincarnate the two of you. You won't know what the future will be like, but you will still have a chance to find him again. The price is bearing the pain of both your memories and his memories of this life,"

"That's a price I'm willing to pay," Kingsley agreed. "I'll reunite with Donald in our next lives no matter what!"

"You'll be cutting your current life short," Alistair warned.

"I don't care," Kingsley said. "Donald is the only one that matters to me,"

Alistair snapped his fingers and Kingsley blacked out.

Word Count: 762