Ark and I had just stepped out of the school gates. The late afternoon sun was warming, casting shadows and making an oddly nice scene of shadows and light beams passing through the leaves of nearby trees.
Ark's tail swayed nervously behind him, flicking every so often like it couldn't decide whether it wanted to curl around his leg or lash behind him. It was cute.
Sadly, we hadn't even made it to the road before the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
'No. Not now…' I thought with annoyance
"Hey, Ark?" I said.
He turned to me, his sky blue eyes blinking innocently. "Yeah?"
"I'll meet up with you in a few minutes. I have to, uh… lose a tail," I said.
Ark tilted his head, confused. "A tail?"
I motioned my head backwards, and I knew he got the message because his ears flattened slightly and his concern deepened. "Are you… In danger?"
"No," I said quickly, forcing a smile. "Not really. Just… the one person I'd rather not deal with ever, and especially since it's me and you right now."
I looked behind me, turned back to him, and said, "I'll be fine, I promise. This won't be my first time."
Ark frowned but gave a slow nod. "Okay. I'll wait by the main road."
I nodded, then slipped away, ducking around the side of a building and into the shade cast by a part of the academy.
I waited and watched as her aura got closer to the courtyard.
A moment later, I saw her.
Agatha.
She stepped into the courtyard, her gaze sweeping the grounds like a hawk searching for prey.
She was wearing a light pink dress—far too delicate for school attire—and her hair was twisted into some complicated braid that looped and curled down her back like a ribbon made of snakes.
Shiver.
'She looks like a yandere character,' I thought with a shiver
I flattened myself against the stone wall, watching her through a sliver of space between the bricks. She looked around, clearly searching for me, her eyes sharp and far too eager.
Then, thankfully, she turned and began walking toward the arena.
Exhale.
'She probably thinks I'm still there. It's where most commoners are stuck during this period anyway…' I thought
Once she vanished from view, I stepped out from behind the wall and sprinted down the path.
Partially to rejoin Ark, and partially to get as far away from her as I could.
I caught up to Ark just as he was starting to pace.
"What was that about?" he asked, worry still etched into his voice.
"Agatha," I said with a sigh. "She was looking for me, but she's headed to the arena now, so we should be fine."
Ark paled. "She was…?" He shook his head quickly and muttered, "Creepy…"
"Tell me about it," I sighed.
We didn't linger. The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky as we made our way to Raventhorn.
The city buzzed with life. Street musicians played jaunty tunes, merchants barked out deals, and the scent of fresh bread and sizzling meat filled the air.
Ark stuck close to me, clearly a little overwhelmed but curious. His eyes danced from stall to stall, marvelling at the trinkets, fabrics, and strange contraptions on display.
We laughed, wandered, and occasionally stopped to poke fun at the more bizarre items—like a "self-cleaning" spoon that absolutely didn't work, and a "lucky hat" that looked like it hadn't seen luck in decades.
Eventually, we found ourselves at the games corner.
Ring toss, darts, axe throwing—each stall was surrounded by cheering patrons and curious onlookers.
A man running the darts stand waved at us. "No magic!" he warned. "We've got detection charms up. Cheating gets you banned!"
"Understood," I said, handing over a silver coin.
We started with ring toss.
We get five rings, and if we get four or more rings on, we get a prize ticket.
When we were done playing, we counted our scores, and I got two on the pegs, while Ark… got four.
Both the attendant and I blinked in surprise.
"Well now, someone's got a good eye. One prize ticket for you!" she said.
I patted Ark's back as he blushed and ducked his head.
Next was darts. You get one ticket for getting over 80 points, two for 125, and three for getting 150, with the bullseye being 50 points.
I went first.
Bullseye.
Bullseye!
BULLSEYE!
150 points. Three tickets!
Ark… well, he wasn't very good at this, only got 23 points.
He looked at me sheepishly, ears twitching. I just smiled and bumped his shoulder. "It's about having fun," I said.
He smiled back but was still embarrassed.
Then we reached the axe-throwing stand. We get one ticket for getting 20 points, two for 25, and three for 30.
Three throws each, and the bullseye was 10 points.
Ark went first.
His first axe… thunk!!… hit the bullseye... handle first?
Everyone went silent. Then—
"That's skill!" one person shouted with a laugh.
"What kind of throw was that?!" another added.
The staff woman chuckled, shaking her head. "That was hilarious. Ten points for creativity—and I'm giving you an extra ticket just for making my day."
Ark looked like he wanted to sink into the ground.
"Hey," I said, nudging him. "That was awesome."
He hesitated, then nodded. His last two throws weren't great, only one hitting the board, getting him 17 points in total, but he looked proud of himself when it was over.
I went next. First axe missed completely, second hit the outer ring, third stuck for 18 points. No ticket.
As we turned to leave, the staff member leaned in and whispered, "You missed on purpose, didn't you?"
I gave a noncommittal smile. "No idea what you're talking about," I said and walked away.
She laughed.
With five tickets in hand, we made our way to the prize counter.
Plushies, wooden trinkets, cheap-looking tickets, and so on… then I saw them.
Two pendants with gems set in them. One blue. One red.
They shimmered faintly, the kind of shimmer people wouldn't notice unless you knew things only I did.
"Those," I said, pointing.
The man looked over. "Ah, those... truth be told, I forgot we had those," he said with a laugh. "They're three tickets each, or five for both."
I glanced at Ark. "What do you think?"
He blushed. "Do… do you want them?"
"Only if you're okay with it," I said.
He nodded, still red, and we handed over the tickets.
The man smiled and passed them to us.
As we walked away, I studied the pendants more closely.
'This weight… the balance… this isn't some cheap trinket. It has to be some of them,' I thought to myself while smiling.
I let a bit of spiritual energy seep into mine. The pendant pulsed in response.
'I knew it,' I thought excitedly
Ark noticed. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," I said with a smile, slipping them both into my palm. "Take one. Whichever you like."
Ark hesitated before reaching for the blue one and took a closer look at it.
"This… feels heavier than it should for a carnival prize," he said.
"That's because it's not just some cheap prize," I said, grinning. "These are magic items, or rather, spirit artifacts."
Ark's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. Probably something someone couldn't identify, so they cleaned them up and tossed them into the prize pool. Only someone who uses spirit magic could even recognize it."
Ark frowned, looking down. "But… I can't use spirit magic."
"That's not a problem. They work so long as only one person who can is wearing them," I said.
"They can?" he said as he looked at his more closely before asking, "What do they do?"
I smiled. "Items like this are rare, and some can even grow stronger over time, but I believe these ones are bond charms."
"Bond charms?" he said, confused.
"They are items often given to people you care about, whether it's a family member, a friend..." I nudged him a bit, "or your boyfriend."
He blushed, and his tail wagged faster.
'He is so cute,' I thought before continuing.
"These items are normally made with enchantments through the normal magic methods, and are easily identified by mages, but since these ones are made with spirit magic, only people like me can do so."
"Ah, ok... but that still doesn't tell me what they do," he said.
"I'm getting there," I laughed. "Now, for what they do... well, I don't really know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked, somewhat shocked.
I shrugged. "I can tell you what the item is, but I don't have any training in item appraisal or enchantment analysis, so I don't know what they do. I haven't found many magic items, I didn't already know what they did, so I never had this problem before. Though that won't be a problem for much longer, but for now, I can only guess."
Ark looked at his pendant and asked, "If you were to guess, what would they do?"
I took a moment before saying, "I would guess the basic function would allow us to know where the other is, or if they're in danger. That is pretty standard for these."
Ark nodded and looked down at the time and paused. I noticed a complicated look on his face and asked, "Is everything ok?"
Ark nodded and took a moment before saying, "On my way here from Bestia, I saw several male beastmen wearing metal collars, of which I know to be slave collars, but the females wore pretty-looking ones with gems.
They were different than these, but remind me of them. I'm guessing they are slave collars too, but just look nicer, right?"
I stopped and slowly nodded.
He sighed and asked, "Do you think these are the same? Do yo—"
I grabbed him by the shoulders and held him tight.
"Ark.. Do you think I would do anything like that? Do you think I would ever let anyone I care about put one of those on?"
Ark froze, seeing my face, and looked down, ashamed. "N-no. I'm sorry."
I sighed and pulled him into a light hug.
After a few seconds, I spoke. "Ark, I'm not sure what you have gone through or why you have this outlook on things, but I assure you, I have no bad intentions for you or anyone. I am always here to talk, but you can't keep thinking like this."
Ark froze, hearing my stern tone, but after hearing what I said, he calmed down a bit and hugged me back.
"I-... I'm sorry," he said.
"It's alright. I will always listen when you need help, but you also have to understand you are safe here. You have me, Orin, Zek, Araki, Terra, my spirits, and many more people to help you. All you have to do is ask."
Ark looked into my eyes and blushed before nodding.
I smirked before adding, "Plus, if anyone somehow does manage to put a collar on you, I will burn the continent to the ground until I find them."
Ark laughed a bit, thinking I was joking, but I wasn't. It's not like I couldn't if I put my mind to it.
We walked a bit further and eventually found a bench.
I smiled and reached into my shirt.
He blinked. "What are you—?"
A silver chain slid out, with two silver rings clinking together as they slid around.
Ark looked at the rings in curiosity, but I spoke before he could ask.
"They're my parents' wedding rings," I said.
Ark stared, stunned.
I smiled and looked up at the sky that was now slowly turning orange. "I miss them. Every day. But with these… It's like a part of them is still with me," I said with a quiver in my voice.
He looked at me, eyes soft. "Are you okay?"
I smiled and looked down again. "Yeah. Just remembering," I said as a tear fell down my face.
I wiped the tear away and proceeded to unclasp the necklace, added the pendant, and put it back on.
"You got something to hang yours on?" I asked.
He hesitated, then pulled a necklace from his pocket.
It was an old-looking string with two wolf teeth hanging on the sides and a light green crystal in the center.
"My grandfather gave it to me before I left," he said softly. "Said it was important. But… my father found out before he could explain what it is."
His voice broke, and he looked down, tears welling in his eyes.
"My father found out I was leaving. He got so angry. Started yelling. My grandfather told me to run. Said he'd deal with him… and I ran."
His voice cracked, and the tears started to fall.
"My father shouted after me… said that he—" his voice cracking more as he started having trouble breathing.
I reached over, pulled him close, and said, "You don't have to say it."
He nodded, biting his lip.
We sat in silence for a while, the bustle of the plaza fading into background noise.
Then I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "You made it here. And you're not alone anymore."
Ark looked at me, tears still in his eyes, but he smiled.
And in that moment, everything felt still. Safe. Warm.
We didn't need words after that.
Just the pendants between us were proof of a promise neither of us said aloud, but both of us understood.