"It's an ancient blessing given to us by the gods. You have the potential for one natural mate in your life time- if the gods deemed you worthy. Not everyone has one, and not everyone who has one will meet them. These matters are completely in the hands of our benevolent gods. You can also ask for the Mate Blessing during a special ritual where you and your chosen partner stand before the gods and seek judgement. If your souls are compatible, you will be blessed and live as a mated pair forever. However if they reject your proposal, you will not have access to the bond.
The Mate Bond is something mysterious. I heard that your soul will only truly resonate when you meet your natural mate. However the chosen mates can also have a bond, it will not be as strong, and they will have to maintain a good relationship to keep the bond in tact."
"Can you tell me more about the bond? What exactly is it?" I asked her.
"Imagine the bond being a small thread which connects your soul to your partner's. When your souls recognize each other and resonate, you will feel an indescribable pull towards that person that is nearly impossible to resist. You and your mate will be able to share thoughts, sensations, vitality, and memories when the bond is forged. I heard it's a truly magical feeling." She sighed.
"Do natural mates have to do the bond ceremony?" I asked, curious how the natural bond is forged.
"Kind of. So, chosen mates have to do a very long ceremony which can only take place during the solar eclipse on the day which precedes a full moon. Kind of a pain to keep track of, to be honest. Charlie and I had a tough time planning as neither of us were good at keeping track of dates. Natural mates have it easier though. Since they were blessed by the gods they do not need to seek approval. They usually just hold the hand fasting ceremony where they forge the bond, making a soul binding agreement to be loyal, faithful, and honest lest the gods punish them. And they don't have to hold it on any specific day either, which must be nice." She said, while she shoved some sunflower seeds into her mouth.
"What if you choose a mate, then meet your natural mate?" I asked.
"You would never know." She pocketed the seeds in her cheeks before continuing, "Once you forge a bond with one mate, any other potential bonds are closed off. There are those who fall in love with the idea of their natural mates and travel the world looking for them, only to come home empty handed - or not come home at all. Most of us choose a mate unless we happen to meet our natural mate before then. There is no shame in it."
"So you are only allowed one mate in your lifetime? You can never have another?" I said, referring to Dania's case. If she lives to be 200, then she will have to be alone for next 150. that seems too cruel.
"Okay, so there are exceptions." She said as she quickly chewed and swallowed the seeds. "You can only have one mate at a time, to be more specific. If, like in my case, your mate died, you can always forge another bond- or hope to meet a natural mate, i suppose. There are only a handful of individuals who have multiple mates, they are revered by all since the power of their souls is so immense that they were blessed with multiple partners to share it with. It's the ultimate blessing bestowed on Demi-humans."
"What if someone just takes multiple partners because they want to?" I asked, finding flaw with the honor system they seem to have.
She laughed at my question, "It's impossible. That would be breaking the bond you forged with your first mate, in which case your soul would face the backlash. In one case, the backlash was so severe that they died. It's also an affront to the gods, who blessed us in the first place. No one has tried to do something so stupid since waaaaaay back when." she said as she leaned back in her chair.
"So how do the ones who have multiple mates avoid the backlash?"
"They are usually recognized early on, when they have the coming of age ceremony, And they are then taken to the capital to be pampered. Demi-humans will come from all over to meet them, and they will either feel the natural bond and stay together, or they wont and that's that. These individuals can not have chosen mates due to the unique vitality they possess; They will have many natural mates, which they will meet, gods willing."
Interesting… "Can you be with someone and not be mates?" I asked her.
"Yes you can, but you can not reproduce. Those who choose to deny the bond are usually outcasted, as the tribe relies on each generation to produce offspring for the continuation of the species."
"That's.. a lot to take in."
"I imagine it is. Usually it's taught to children by village elders, but your case is.. unique." She half smiled at me then continued, "If you don't mind me asking, what species are you from? I've never seen someone like you: your ears look as if they belong to baby, and you have no tail…"
I'm not sure if I should be insulted.
"That is also something I can't remember. To be honest, I didn't even have these ears a few days ago." I said as I reached up to touch them.
"That's very strange. Usually after the coming of age ceremony, a child transforms for the first time and then inherits the attributes of their beast form. I've never seen someone like you. Have you transformed at all?"
"I'm afraid I don't know how.."
"Hmmm. This isn't something I know much about. There is a very talented alchemist in the feline's tribe, if I remember correctly. Maybe she could help? She's known to be able to treat the most rare and absurd of afflictions. Perhaps she has seen something like this before?"
"About that.. I am kind of lost. I got a little carried away and lost track of the Demi-wolf town I was staying in." I replied.
"You must be very lost to have ended up all the way out here. The walk to Hilraine takes at least 3-4 weeks."
"What?!" I asked in complete shock. At most, I was running for an hour or so. There is no way I'm that far off.
"Do you not remember how long you were in the woods for either?" She looked at me with pity.
There is no possible way I'm so far from town that I'll need to walk a whole month to get back. Dania has been very forthcoming, I don't think she's lying to me. There's two possibilities for this situation; either I ran so fast that I crossed a tremendous distance in a short time (which might be possible based on Marshall's speed), or that I was magicked here since that seems to be a thing. I looked over at the innocent Dania, happily eating her sunflower seeds, and decided to just believe her. It's a small leap of faith, so to speak.
"Dania, is there any chance you would want to come with me back to Hilraine? I don't think I can make the trip alone. There is so much I don't know, I would probably die along the way."
"I don't mind at all! I always wanted to travel! However, I think it might be smarter to visit the Feline's village first since it's closer."
As much as I wanted to hurry back to Marshall, if Lashwood was along the way, it would be silly to pass by.
"What is the distance to Lashwood?" I asked, mentally planning.
"It's about a 2 week walk, it's almost exactly the halfway mark to Hilraine."
"Alright, let's head to Lashwood first. Are you sure you don't mind coming with me? I don't want to trouble you."
Dania just waved her hand at me, dismissively. "Let's start packing tomorrow. Today, I'm going to gather some provisions. You need to rest those ribs. Feel free to read a book or something." She said to me as she walked past me towards the door.
Since she left no room for debate, and my ribs were still very painful, I went upstairs to grab a book.
In her gigantic library were mostly books about plants, farming, foliage, and cookbooks. They were all hand written, and some showed their age more than others. I grabbed a book that detailed edible and non edible plants and vegetation. This might come in handy on our journey. If I could at least be able to help gather, I won't be a burden.
The dire-wolves relied heavily on their sense of smell for hunting and gathering, which is why they couldn't teach me to help the gatherers. These illustrated books will help me a lot, maybe when I get back I will be able to help contribute to the town.
I sat on a large pillow on the floor of the guest room while I flipped through the book. Whoever wrote this was very thorough, they included everything from sight, to touch, to smell of the plants. Some of these even had imitation plants which looked similar but were poisonous. The book details how to tell if the plant is the imitation or the edible one. One was even as simple as, 'put it in water, if it floats, it's edible.'
I can't imagine the trial and error that had to occur to figure that out.