The beauty of the valley before her was both solemn and alluring. The forest had completely consumed any traces of the structures that had once stood proud, and replaced them with elegant vines and a rainbow of wildflowers that glowed dimly in the overwhelming darkness. They reminded her of stars nestled between magnificent tree trunks, lighting a path through the maze of nature. The full moon, barely peeking over the mountain, was showering the entire area in a beautiful white light that reflected off the tree leaves, causing a gorgeous shimmering effect. She had never seen anything like it in her entire life. Why hadn't this been here before, when her village stood bustling with activity? There had only been dirt fields, sparse trees, and the occasional patch of dying grass the entire length of the valley, not including the forest that her people avoided like the plague. Nothing like this.298Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0oOyrItfq
When she awoke he was no where to be seen. The darkness of night was in full force, and she was thankful for avoiding another confrontation. After eating all of the still warm meat that she assumed he had left for her, she contemplated jumping out the cave to end the entire situation when her eyes landed on the view that now had her questioning everything. Her need to have answers was far more powerful than the need to end the madness, and after hours of surveying the valley and pondering her existence, she began the climb down the rock wall.
When her feet touched solid ground again, she realized that the cave wasn't even three yards up. The darkness was so dense that she hadn't been able to see the ground from the cave entrance, even with the full light of the moon. The darkness seemed more like a fog, a foreign entity that her eyes couldn't adjust too and so registered nothing at all. The first hour of her journey through the forest was full of wonder as she attempted to track her way back to the location of her village's Protector Stone. The terrain had changed so drastically she was positive she was only getting herself lost, or going in circles, but when she suddenly stepped into a small clearing littered with glowing flowers, her eyes fell upon a ten foot tall stone structure covered in thorny vines and she knew she had found it.
Fear clawed at her chest as she proceeded towards the stone, the flowers giving off just enough light for her to see every detail of the vines. The vines were nearly 6 inches thick, and covered in large thorns that appeared to be very sharp, though she didn't want to find out for sure. Making her away around the structure, she spotted an area of the surface peeking out from behind the thorns. Maybe... just maybe. She reached out slowly....
An ear splitting scream pierced the air. Covering her ears, she crouched as low to the ground as she could. Within seconds it was gone, but the ringing that lingered covered up the sound of the vines as they unknotted themselves from the stone. One lashed out at her ankle, the thorns digging into her skin as it wrapped around her and lifted her effortlessly into the air. Her heart raced as the other vines swung back and forth, lashing out at her body one by one, leaving gashes in her torso and arms. She was helpless, hanging upside down, her arms wrapped around her head to protect at least a small portion of her body. The air suddenly rushed from her lungs and a sharp pain shot up her spine. The impact of being thrown against a nearby tree trunk left her dazed and confused, but out of range of the vines. Taiga attempted to slowly sit herself up against the tree trunk, but her arms wouldn't move. From her crumpled position she could see the vines wrapping carefully around the stone once more.
How DARE you return here, mortal.
The voice that echoed in her mind was familiar, but the pounding in her head made recognizing it more difficult than it should have been. Blood oozed out from multiple lacerations, and she briefly realized her ankle was twisted backwards before she felt the darkness start to overtake her. As her eyes rolled into the back of her head, one word flashed in her mind.
KODA
* * *
If the horrid screech hadn't warned him that something was wrong, the sudden overwhelming pain would've been more than enough indication. The piercing pain hit his arms, torso, and legs, and a deep growl escaped unnoticed as he attempted to manage the overwhelming emotions flooding in from Taiga. He searched her mind for any inkling of where she could be and was able to obtain a glimpse of her location. Pivoting, he dropped down on all fours and set off in her direction, his long limbs carrying him forward at astounding speeds. His shadow form was a flaming blur through the maze of trees and flowers. More than a few of the dimly glowing masterpieces that he had nurtured were trampled, but in his haste he couldn't have cared less. Taiga's presence was weakening. He was running out of time.
His face smacked the dirt and he rolled along the ground when the wind was suddenly knocked from him. As he rose, the lower part of his left leg vanished completely, rendering that limb useless to him. He pressed on, bounding forward on three limbs, thankful that when Taiga lost consciousness the pain he felt just melted away.298Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfFfAvYUpG
Koda
Her voice reverberated in his head over and over again. She was calling him, and it pushed him faster, fueling his desire to reach her. His body came up on the clearing far too fast, causing him to trip on a tree root and skid along the ground into the clearing. Koda was motionless, a flaming ball on the ground, before he slowly rose and crawled to Taiga's frame. She was dying, and that meant so was he. Not willing to waste any time, he pushed himself head first into her body, and his translucent black frame disappeared completely into her.
The emotions that over came him were deafening. Fear. Anger. Depression. Curiosity. 'Focus,' he screamed at himself, attempting to block out everything that was lurking around inside her. He saw memories, felt her feelings, was becoming her....
'Fight it.' He reminded himself. 'Fight it.... You've done this before.'
Pleasure. It was unexpected and he stopped fighting momentarily to experience it... It was something he hadn't really had a chance to feel in years. Pure pleasure, with no lingering fear or anger or regret. When he realized he was looking through her eyes, up at himself, he immediately rethought his decision. As he began to pull out of the memory, her orgasm consumed him. It was the most amazing feeling. The thrusting was demanding a response from her body, now his body, and their body was more than willing to comply. When pain split through the pleasure, he realized just how hard he had been squeezing her arms throughout that entire encounter, but the pain mingled so well with the pleasure that neither of them seemed to mind it. He braced himself, ready for the moment he marked her, and the pain that comes with the transformation. It was far too late for him to fight it now. He had lost all control.
Get out.
Everything was gone. Taiga had forced him out of her memory, and a certain sadness overcame him.
Taiga?
Get out of my body. Now
I can't.
What do you mean you can't. Don't fuck with me right now.
Your body has to regenerate.
Let me die.
No.
Fuck you, you don't know anything do you.
Well, neither do you.
GET. OUT.
As soon as you heal.
I'm holding you to that, fucker. You aren't welcome here.
Koda mentally sighed. You're welcome.
* * *
"Can we at least get back to the cave before we start this?" Koda grumbled. " It's not exactly safe out here."
The silence that lingered between them was more awkward than usual, and it drove him insane. After the regeneration process he had been far too exhausted to carry her body back to cave. They both woke up laying next to the tree in puddles of Taiga's blood.
"No." Taiga had a look of resolve set like stone upon her face. "I need answers." She had woken up an hour before Koda, horny from the memories she had relived the night before. Quelling her body's need had put her in a decent mood, and released some of the tension that plagued her.
"What do you want to know?"
"How in the world did you manage to keep the truth hidden for ten years?"
Koda smilied. They needed to get everything out in the open if they were going to proceed. "Well, I was originally going to bind myself to Krea, and..."
"What? Wait hold up a second." Taiga's face scrunched up in confusion. "Did you actually try too?"
"Ummm..." He was suddenly embarrassed. "I hate to admit it but, yes."
"Fucking nasty," Taiga growled, disgusted. She wished he had said no.
"She was too old, and her body couldn't take the transformation. It actually caused her to loose all her hair and develop some serious back problems." Koda stopped for a second to recollect his thoughts. "When it failed, I was certain I was going to die. Krea cared for me until I regained my strength. She taught me how to cater my appearance to resemble human growth. I hid in the forest for a couple of weeks when I witnessed the death of the Chieftain's son, the real Koda. I rushed to grab Krea immediately, and she told me that that was my opportunity to make the village my home. I took his place and she disposed of his body."
"But didn't you still turn into.... at night...." Taiga pressed.
"Well, yes, I did. I don't know exactly how she did it but that woman made some sort of magic juice, and even when I was gone, he thought I was there."
"Well, that explains why everyone thought he was sick in the head, and always talking crazy." Taiga grunted, suddenly pissed that her grandmother was the reason behind the Chieftain's mental issues.
Koda sat there quiet for a minute, digging through his memories of his ten years with her, when she broke his train of thought.
"Why me?"
"What?"
"Why me? Why did you do this to ME? Why was I the one you bound yourself too." Taiga spoke slowly, making sure he caught every word.
"Ah," He sighed. "It was never meant to be you, to be honest. When we started being friends I tried to keep my distance. I liked you too much to want to harm you. I was afraid if I tried I would accidentally kill you. When Krea found out how well we paired together, she insisted that you be the one to.... " He trailed off, his voice failing him for a second.
"To what, Koda?" Taiga growled softly. Her patience was unusually thin.
"Save everyone."
"Really? I was suppose to SAVE people?" Taiga blew up, "Does it look like I saved people to you?!"
"Taiga, calm down." He urged softly, and she took some deep breaths. "Look, I knew you were too young. So I waited. I wanted to make sure you were ready, that their was time for us to form a connection and really make this work. I wanted to give you the opportunity to make the decision yourself."
"Well that never happened." Her sarcasm was poison.
"Something went very wrong."
"Like what?"
"You weren't suppose to start your blood moon for another two years, Taiga. Something forced it on you." His turned around and looked over his shoulder and stared at the vine covered rock that sat motionless behind him.
"The spirit?"
"You mean the demon. The thing that was protecting this village was a demon. And he was aware that the Shades were close. He was going to consume your soul when they attacked, that way he would have the strength to save himself while the shade's ransacked the village. He had no intention of protecting anyone."
"How do you know that's the truth?"
"I was able to torture it out of him before I locked him inside the stone. He's now trapped inside it as he weakens. The vines were his last line of defense against me and I haven't been able to break through them yet." Koda chuckled softly. "He put up quite a fight."
"Wait, so this valley...."
"Yes," His eyes locked onto hers. "It all grew back when I locked him away. He no longer plagues this land."
Taiga's mind swam with the information she had just received. So many lies had been her truth for so long, she had a hard time believing that what came out of his mouth was the truth. Deciding a change of topic was in order, she veered into another sensitive subject.
"What did you do to me?" Taiga whispered.
"Taiga," Koda whispered back, "I saved you."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant," She growled with a new sudden force. "What are we now? What does being bonded really mean?"
"Well, that's a very good question. You see, this hasn't been performed in over five hundred years. I remember when the very last bonded couple were burned to death. I know very little about what we are or how this works." Koda closed his eyes and sighed.
"Who were they?" She asked, wondering if they had meant a lot to him.
"My father and his human partner."
"Okay, so. Five hundred years? How the fuck are you still alive?" She gasped suddenly realizing how old he really was.
"Our life spans are much longer than humans when we aren't bonded."
"What do you mean when you aren't bonded? This crap is complicated."
"When a shade does not bond to a human, he is invulnerable while in his true form, and much stronger than any human in his human form. Meaning, their was virtually no way to kill us. When bonded, if the human dies, the shade dies. If the human is hurt, the shade is hurt. We become an extension of your body."
So many thoughts flipped over in Taiga's head that she couldn't seem to get a grip on what she was actually feeling. Instead of attempting to control it, she just let the emotions explode in whatever order they chose. " So... So you only kept me alive because if I died it would kill you?"
"Taiga, no.... I... " Koda tried to get the words out but she quickly cut him off.
"How was I able to kill a shade if they are invulnerable... What was that fire? How? How did I kill everyone?" Suddenly she was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Taiga." His arms wrapped around her and she didn't fight him, crying into his chest. "The truth is I'm not going to let you die until you understand enough to make your own decision. I..." He was going to say it but choked the words back. "What you saw, what you did, is the reason bonded pairs were being executed. Our kind went through a huge civil war. It spanned over a hundred years of chaos and torture. When the opposing faction won and the dictator took over he was determined to live forever, and killed every bonded pair he could find, as they were his only threat. Now all real knowledge of the bonding has been lost. I only knew it was possible because of my father. The reason Shades are killing Humans... "
"To make sure a bonded pair could never exist again?" Taiga asked into his chest.
He squeezed her tighter.
"Exactly. I witnessed the fall of my people. Everyone who opposed him were either killed or enslaved, myself included. I ended up one of the lucky ones, and bought some time until I could figure out a way to escape. When I found my out, they tracked me for hundreds of years, and I wondered. I wondered forever until I stumbled across your village. Krea believed me. She believed me, and she realized that maybe there was a way to save both of our races. At the time I only wanted revenge and agreed to fight to kill those who had hurt me, who had killed my father. But ten years in your village taught me more than I had ever learned before, and I realized my race lost something very important. The ability to love, to feel, to actually live. These are the things I want to fight for now, Taiga. These are the reasons I chose you. These are also the reasons I don't want to do this anymore. You could die. And I don't think I could handle that."
"Koda?" She looked up into his eyes and saw the tears that had yet to fall. The fear, the loneliness, the pain, and the strength it took to do what he had done.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, "It was never meant to happen this way."
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