I have no idea how long I was unconscious for, yet it seemed as if a number of days had passed going by the stench wafting off my fur. Enjoying the soft bed I was sleeping on, I snuggled into it while nuzzling my face against the warmth. “Warmth?” Opening my eyes, I found myself currently curled up on top of a human’s chest. Scrutinising the room, I recognised the dilapidated furniture and overall dinginess to be that of Teival’s accommodation.

Upon concluding my location, I stretched my body and arched my back before yawning and sprawling myself out on Teival’s chest. It’s strange, but I hadn’t felt this comfortable since I snuggled with Mother and suckled on her milk. I suppose the correct word for this would be nostalgic, however I didn’t fully perceive my master to be a mother figure. “Master…? Is that what he is? I suppose so.”

Realising that the boy wasn’t going to rouse from his slumber any time soon, I mulled over what exactly occurred in the contract ceremony. I recalled the tremendous terror that controlled me and subconsciously shuddered. I never want to experience such a thing again! Thinking back to the dream revealing the human’s perspective on the ritual, I pondered over whether humans truly understood what it was that beasts experienced, or not. “Perhaps I should try to bring such a thing to light?” I immediately erased such ruminations as I understood how ridiculous it sounded.

After a few minutes of thinking, I then noticed something I hadn’t registered when I woke up: my senses were much improved from before the ceremony. Taking in my surroundings once again, I found myself pinpointing details I hadn’t picked up on earlier. Pricking my ears up to listen, I heard pigs oinking in the far distance – which greatly surprised me since I hadn’t even been aware of there being pigs in this village.

Jumping down from the human pillow, I immediately felt a connection to the land when my paws landed softly on the floor. Padding towards the door, I nudged it open with my nose and felt a soft breeze brush through my fur. “Ahh, that feels so nice. Hmm? It feels really nice, actually.” Enjoying the sensation of the wind, I felt my body thrum with an energy similar to when I ate the crystal termites; in other words, my body was permanently hyper-sensitive to my surroundings.

As I was wondering if these changes in perception were due to that crystal I was made to swallow, my ears twitched towards Teival’s direction as he stirred from his slumber. “Hmm…Did it work…?” He looked around and saw me staring at him from the ajar door. He flung his bed cover off before sweeping me off my feet and carrying me to the bed. Enjoying the sensation of comfort when in his arms, I wagged my tail before nuzzling him.

Once placed on the bed, I noticed my master wasn’t wearing that weird cloth over him anymore, and so absorbed every detail of his appearance. He had short, unkempt silver hair that could probably have done with a good grooming. His eyes were the colour of lush grass and his skin was paler than Dinara’s. His face was far more appealing than Dinara’s but, I mean, that’s not a huge deal when comparing against that traitor!

He seemed to possess a far more slender frame than the girls of this village which made me wonder if he was eating well – since I spotted some ribs poking through whenever he breathed deeply. As for any other noticeable features…his chin and eyes seemed similar to that ‘Teacher’ but the rest of him couldn’t have been any more different. At least, from what I had observed in my short time here, his hair was definitely an abnormality among the villagers. It kind of reminded me of the children from my dream, but I digress.

Thinking about how he seemed underfed, it reminded me of how my stomach didn’t have much of anything inside it at the moment. Since I had recently been reminiscing about the after-effects of eating those crystal termites, I then experienced pangs of hunger at the memory of how good they tasted. “Ah…I want to eat those again…”

“How could I forget? You must be starving, Kia.”

I watched as Teival got up from the bed and headed outside. A sense of emptiness and loss engulfed me as he strode further away, to the point I unintentionally started whimpering. Of course, such a sensation soon abated as my master returned immediately and held me in his arms. “I’m sorry. I forgot about the bond doing that.” He then carefully wrapped his arms around me before leaving the room.

Moving along the outdoor corridor, Teival sneaked inside the shadows of the large den before entering a room that permeated with the scent of food. Climbing up his chest, to his shoulder, then eventually perching on his head, I wagged my tail as I barked in excitement at getting a meal. “Shhh, we don’t want them finding out we’ve snuck in.” Teival whispered while steadily holding me in place as he clambered over some items strewn across the floor.

After opening a door that had some cold food in it, he took out a familiar smelling item before closing it and grabbing a red shiny orb from a wooden thing. With our mission of finding some food over, Teival hastily rushed back to our room before sitting on the bed. Reaching up to pull me down from his head, I licked his hand affectionately before nuzzling.

“…You’re such a glutton. You’ll lick any hand that feeds you, won’t you?”

I nibbled on his finger in protest before nomming on the mushed-up crystal termites he had taken out of that cold mini-room. I sensed happiness emanate from him at my response before he rubbed his hand over my head and began eating his crunchy thing. As I neared the end of my meal, I began to wonder what life was going to be like, now that I was bonded to this strange human. “I’m sure everything will be fine! What could possibly go wrong?”