Soulbond: The Beginning

The jolly little gnomes bounced along the ground, running towards the safety of a swift river. Alternately laughing and panicking, they didn't notice when one straggler was plucked off the ground by a black gloved hand. Kicking and screaming he tried to get free, but the hand wouldn't budge. A large finger covered his face, so he couldn't see.
"Where are they?" a black voice demanded.
"Mmm hmm ummhmm," the gnome wormed through the hand.
"No, I won't let you go. Now, tell me where they are! I know you saw them. You reek of Soulbond," the voice went on. The fist shifted, allowing the gnome to breathe. "Where are they?"
"R-run-ning f-from the f-fire!" the gnome stuttered. Then, his eyes bulged under his cap. He'd given away the Soulbond's whereabouts! It was against the gnome creed! He would be stripped of his pointy cap and shamed!
"Well, that's extremely helpful," the voice drawled sarcastically. He shook the gnome. "Be more specific."
The gnome shook with fear. What was vague, but not vague? "They're heading towards the nearest water." Hopefully, the voice didn't know where that was. The gnome was fond of his new azterpalian hat. He fell to the ground with a thud as the voice released him.
"Thanks so much," it drawled, and then it was gone. The only thing left was a disoriented gnome in a large footprint.

A shadowed figure in a dark cloak strode slowly to the bank of a river. This figure, a man by the name of Vakrom, studied the dark landscape before him. This place was the nearest water source to where he had interrogated the stupidly jolly gnome, and yet he could see no sign of his former pupil and the Soulbonder boy. He doubted that the gnome would have dared lie to him, but that didn't change the fact that his prey was nowhere to be seen. He was about to take a step into the river, but hesitated for some reason. A hissing sounded from a emerald green amulet the man wore around his neck. <Vakrom...you know I don't apprecsssssiate water....> the hiss murmured softly into Vakrom's mind. <I would ssssuggesssst that you wait until dawn to find a...dryer way acrossss....however, Renyx issss about to arrive here any moment. Apparenly sssshe hassss a messssssage from your sssssecond in command girl.> Vakrom's eyebrows knitted together with frustration. Of all the times a problem would arise, it just had to be when he was hunting down his subordinate's sister. What an inconvenience... he thought to himself. A moment later, a falcon, as black as the night sky, alighted on Vakrom's shoulder. Uncharacteristically, his eye's widened as he focused on the bird, and immediately took of at a dead sprint to the east. The black falcon took only a few wingspans to catch up with him. It cannot be...it simply cannot be! Vakrom's thoughts were only these words, jumbled up and tossed together. He could kill off Aithne and Venser, but this pressing news took first priority. There was a war to be started, an allegiance treaty to be signed, and these things took priority - for the moment.

Running toward Aithne, I forced my mouth closed. How in the world...! That horse is heavy! Kanna got there first, checking Aithne's pulse. She looked up at me, nodded, then moved over to the body of the horse.
"Oh...oh...Panda....why..," she murmured, caressing Panda's head. Sitting down next to Aithne, I checked for signs of life, and was relieved to find them. Why is Kanna more worried with the horse? Checking my sudden anger, I took a breath and tried to think.
<It's probably something to do with her bond to the horse,> Venser commented.
<I suppose, that does make sense.>
<Of course,> he smugly replied. <Wouldn't you be devastated if I died?>
<No. Well, yeah, but you can't die. Well, not really die...Where are you anyways?> I asked brusquely. Pushing my arms under Aithne, I picked her up and lay her down next to the fire. Now what?
<Get some blankets. And try to wake her up. Don't want to catch hypothermia.> Venser faded from my awareness.
"Right," I muttered, hurrying towards the still living horses. Going up to Kanna's horse, I reached up, but stopped. Wouldn't Kanna be mad if I was just digging through her stuff? I looked over at her, but she was still unmoving before Panda's dead gaze. Maybe another horse... A largish brown mare was closest, and her packs contained two blankets, a wad of fabric, and a small package. Dragging the bag over to Aithne, I lay out one of the blankets, careful to keep a good distance from the fire. Grabbing Aithne to move her, I realized she still had her violin attached to her back with a leather strap. Oh my goodness! I hope it survived the river! I couldn't have two travelling companions overwhelmed with grief! Quickly, I removed the instrument case, and lay Aithne down again, putting the second blanket under her head. Gah! Her hair's just gonna soak it with water...Oh well. Her clothes were also more than damp, but there wasn't anything I could do about that either. I can take off the jacket and boots. Feeling slightly indecent, I looked over at Kanna, but she was dragging the horse's body, erm I mean Panda, out of the cave. I guess she's going to bury it somewhere. We both have a task then, I sighed. Gulping in the stale air, I carefully extracted Aithne's limp form from her jacket, and lay it out to dry. Good thing Venser's not here to eat the aloe. Speaking of which, I'd used the ones Aithne gave me earlier, and I left the wrung out leaves in the corner of the cave. I wasn't sure if Venser should have them. They would be a good bribe, but it's not fun being bonded to a hallucinating dragon that shouts "Balooga!"
Removing Aithne's boots, I dumped out the water, and stood them next to her jacket. Hearing my own boots squelch, I took off my own and put them next to hers, making them look really shabby in comparison. My bare feet made contact with the stone floor, reminding me to remove Aithne's stockings. When was the last time I wore socks?
Opening the small package from the saddle bag, I found a package of jerky. That's not going to help anyone right now. As far as I know, it doesn't bury horses or reawaken the subconscious. Right! Tea leaves! The aroma should wake up Aithne!
Jumping up, I dug through my boot, searching around the sodden mass of leather until I found a small bag of leaves. Now, where am I going to find a pot? My gaze drifted across Aithne's still pale face, and landed on her violin. Aha! Going over to it, I undid the clasp, dreading finding a wasted violin inside. Much to my relief, it was still dry. I took out the pot of rosin, and dumped the glazed puck into the case. I filled the pot with water, and set the leaves in it. Then, I screwed the lid back on, before dumping it into the middle of the fire. Immediately, a harsh smell began to float up from it.
I coughed slightly, and backed away. However, Aithne didn't stir. Sitting with my legs crossed, I felt her pulse at the neck. It's the same. Why hadn't it gone up? Revitalizing herbs generally always work. Unless...
Gah! Dummkopf! I smacked myself on the head, accidentally brushing the side of Aithne's as well. She was a bounty hunter, so of course she would know... I began to search through all of her pockets. Those who have a dangerous trade are practiced at going into the deep sleep. Unconsciousness is a way to escape pain. Some, like bounty hunters, have mastered the art of remaining that way, so that if they're captured by an enemy, they can't wake them to torture them. The only way to get them awake was to hit upon some really important memory that only a friend would know. That way, they'd only wake up when they were safe. Dumbfounded, I sat back. Nothing Aithne had on her hinted to what her waking key was. I didn't have one myself, so I wasn't quite sure what it would be. For some, it was names, but I couldn't try saying any, because I didn't really know any names associated with her. Hmmm....My gaze once again slid over to the violin. ....! Of course, the music from it would awaken her! That seemed rather impractical, but... Reaching over, I carefully took the violin and bow out of the case. You can do this. Just play a little, it shouldn't take much. You've played before. Yeah, I felt really under confident, if that makes sense. Bringing it up under my chin, I positioned my fingers on the bow; thumb in the niche between wood and hair, index finger crooked forward, third and ring finger rest on top, small finger lightly touches the frog, or just hangs off the end. I took a deep breath, the wooden smell bringing back memories. I shook my head, placing the bow on the A string. Not now. Just play a song.... Slowly, I began a classic piece, The Rose It began with long bow strokes and long tones, nice review for a rusty player. It was sad and mournful in the beginning, I guess to represent someones grave. Aithne's breathing was better, but she still wasn't awake. Picking up the tempo, I began the second part. The Rose was a piece made by a master craftsman in the Capital, and he taught it to me, a street thief, eight years ago. It was the story of a rose; it was planted on a grave, so it began with a funeral. Then, it began in a minor tone, portraying the gloomy earth, and eerie night. Then, the next part was complicated runs and trills that, although I could play them before, gave me some difficulty as I sat, trying to reawaken Aithne. The last bit was the budding of the rose, and it was a mixture of all out pomp and ceremony with lilting beauty. I was so wrapped up in it I didn't realized Aithne was awake. When I released the last note, I turned and jumped a little because she was sitting and staring at me.
"Erm, you were unconscious, so, yeah..," I attempted lamely.