Two Sides of the Coin we lost

Chapter 8 - The Zeph and the bees

Ven and Mora walked through the forest for a while until they reached the river. The river spread far and its current was strong as if it had just rained, it gave the rivers its name: "Don't swim in it" river. Mora told Ven that they should follow the river until they reached a small village where the river spread thinner, calmer, much more easily crossable and a fully fledged stone bridge. They walked in silence for a good while until Mora, curious, asked Ven about his race.

"So, what's the thing with the marks again? I don't know many zeph."

"Oh, huh... When two zeph love each other very much they curl up in this giant flower that closes and becomes some sort of a cocoon of love where the zeph connect in a very intimate way and gain their marks and become bonded for life after they leave."

"That's the stranger metaphor I've heard for it."

"Metaphor?"

"Nothing, please continue."

"So, sometimes someone screws up, in this case me, and the bond doesn't happen, but you and your partner gain the mark anyway so they can't bond ever again."

"I don't understand, what changes?"

"Well, your mark glows and you're supposed to feel what your partner is thinking."

"That sounds... a little invasive, don't you think?"

"Not really, it's the most treasured feeling for us to have a bond that strong."

"Didn't you have a strong bond to begin with? You know, to go inside the thing and all? The 'love each other very much' part of it."

Ven stopped walking and had a confused expression.

"I guess.. I.. never thought about that..."

"Did you?"

"Huh?"

"Love your partner?"

"Of course! But..."

"But?"

"I was scared of doing it, I wasn't sure about it..."

Ven now looked sad while knocking both of his hands in fist form lightly against each other. Mora felt a little guilty, responsible for his distress. They started walking upriver once again.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to intrude so much and make you sad. I was just really curious. I guess I'm not that different from those two in the end..."

"It.. It's okay. You're helping me to fix it, I know there must be a way and the zenno may know about it."

"Right, I'm sure you'll find a way, you're the most determined little guy I've met."

"Thanks! By the way there's the last part I didn't tell you about."

"Last part?"

"When the zeph are bonded, when one of them dies their mark loses its glow and they say you feel your partner's death.

The bonding is the best thing for the zeph but it makes death much much worse."

"Oh. I didn't think it was possible to feel even worse than what I feel now. Maybe... it's for the best you couldn't bond."

"We all know about that and we do it anyway, everyone says it's worth it, but..."

Mora stood silent waiting for Ven to finish.

"That's what I was afraid... I was afraid one of us would die and make the other... like my dad..."

"You... Wanna tell me about it? It's fine if you don't."

"It's okay. In the end it's the reason why I met Leif at all. My mom had died and my dad couldn't take it, so he died a little while after.

I went to live in our orphanage where I met Leif... Who is kinda looking like my dad did at that time..."

"I'm sorry, Ven..."

"It's okay. Like I said, I just need to find a way to fix it quickly, so Leif can go back to normal and maybe... Bond with someone else..."

"What about you?"

"I don't care what happens to me as long as Leif's ok."

"Wow, you really care about him... I wish someone cared for me like that. It sounds like you would've been happy without the bonding thing."

"Well... Leif really wanted it so I think he should have it. And I'm certain someone will care for you eventually. Maybe."

"Maybe? "

"Well, you're kinda scary... But only on the outside!"

Mora stopped walking and burst out in laughter once again.