It was a warm day in the kingdom of Teneantur, the world seemed to be at peace, yet the hint of celebration that was quickly filling the air; the young princess was coming of age to start her training to receive her Spirit Bound, a spirit who binds with their chosen mortal’s soul and remains a part of their lives until their mortal lives end. With each Spirit Bound, the mortal receives a mark on their body, signifying a successful bonding between the two spirits.
The kingdom was overly excited for this occasion; she was the only princess of the kingdom, and the hope that she would be granted the same spirit as her ancestors in the past: a majestic rainbow peacock. When the kingdom first began the Spirit Bound ritual over a millennium ago, the first rulers were bound to the majestic rainbow peacock of compromise and prosperity, and the great white owl of wisdom and strategy; two great traits that helped guide the rulers into creating the prosperous kingdom that it has become.
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Today King Grady, bound to a large brown stag, rules the kingdom with a kind heart; his crown holds the stag’s mark of a tree with roots that stretch outwards to the edges of the crown, showing that the various parts of the kingdom are connected to one another. The princess, the young Narala, is the kingdom’s most treasured jewel; being the first princess born into the kingdom in over three centuries, she has been guarded and protected from the outside world since birth. Not even being allowed to leave the palace grounds without a ten men regiment beside her and her four older brothers, Crown Prince Arash, Prince Conall, Prince Belenus, and Prince Guaire; her brothers already have their Spirit Bound, and have been telling her stories about the Spirit Temple, where the children who come of age enter and find their spirit guardian. Crown Prince Arash became bound to a red eagle, one who represents strength and determination and received the eagle’s spirit mark on his left palm; an intricate design of a knot weaving in and out of a circle. Prince Conall became bound with a grey she-wolf, one who symbolizes loyalty and family, and received her mark on his chest, just above his heart; an illusion of hands holding his heart. Prince Belenus became bound to a yellow parakeet, one who symbolizes joy and prosperity, and its mark in the center of his chest; a shape similar to that of the eternal sun, but with a more intricate spiral in its center. And Prince Guaire became bound to the large orange, black, and white speckled carp, one that represents nobility and strength, and it's marked on the nape of his neck; an eternal spiral.
In the neighboring kingdom to the North lives King Ciaran, Queen Brónach, and their son Prince Savio became bound to a large praying mantis, one who symbolizes strategy and cunning tactics, and its mark on his right wrist; a three-part pentagram that gives the illusion of constantly turning. King Ciaran and his wife, Queen Brónach, who are both bond to blackbirds, representing deception and sorrow. And long to “unite” their kingdom with King Grady’s, in hope of taking over the prosperous kingdom, by force if necessary; however, when the news of the princess reached them, they devised a plan to have their son marry into the kingdom, and take the throne from within by killing the four princes and, eventually, the princess.
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On the day her training was to start to prepare her for her Spirit Bound ritual, when she turns sixteen, five-year-old Narala managed to sneak away from her entourage and explore the town within her the kingdom’s walls; seeing the throngs of people and their spirits, made her more excited to begin her journey to get her very own Spirit Bound. However, she thought that she’d be able to find her brothers after her adventure was incorrect, to say the least. After leaving the group to explore, she became very loss and eventually became very anxious that she would never return to the palace. The day that started off with excitement and willingness to endure the hardships of preparing for Spirit Bound became a day full of fear and panic; the sunny sky began to darken and weep as if it too became afraid for the princess’s life. When the townspeople began to scurry from the oncoming storm, little Narala got swept away and thrown further off course from her hope of being reunited with her family.
After being thrown through the crowd, like a leaf in a stream, for a time that felt like an eternity to a child, Narala found herself being thrown to the railing of a wooden bridge and held on for fear of being pulled away from the smallest source of security she was able to find throughout that experience. Once the townspeople began to diminish off the streets and into their homes, Narala slowly turned to look around at her new place in the kingdom; she was sent further away from the safety of the palace, and her fear of being alone grew. She stared at her once colorful silk clothes, and found them covered in mud and dirt; she was now nearly unrecognizable as a princess. Many townspeople who were still out on the streets, as the rain continued to fall, saw little Narala but assumed she was just another orphan or street child that wandered the town looking for a hand-out. Many other children passed by with their parents or friends, and even they wouldn’t help her; some even, teased her or threw mud and harsh words at her until she cried. Narala began to feel discouraged and helpless and even began to believe that her family wasn’t going to come looking for her.
The realization that she may never return home, Narala sat on the bridge where she was and pulled her small knees up to her chin and cried. She tucked her head into her legs and cried even harder; the longer she sat on that bridge, the harder she cried. She cried and cried, her small body began to tremble and shake with each sob; the rain began to come down harder than before, and the child seemed to fade into the bridge. Not even the smallest glimmer of hope seemed to radiate from her now cold body, only dark fear and heartbreak seemed to cloud around her.
Then the rain seemed to lighten for a moment and the child unintentionally started to raise her head; as her swollen eyes gazed over her knees she began to see two feet standing before her. Two feet covered by a pair of white socks on top of a couple of wooden sandals, at the ankles she saw the bottom of a dark blue hakama. As her eyes continued up the figure, she saw the sheath of a long sword, a light blue and silver kimono with some sort of scaled design on the person’s torso and sleeves that were crossed over the person’s chest, which leads little Narala to think this person was a male. Narala lifted her head to see the man’s face and silver hair, thinking it was someone she knew, her wet eyes from the tears and rain showed disappointment when she didn’t recognize the man.
The man stared at her for a moment, then jerked his head to one side and started to walk away; surprised by the man’s jester, Narala moved to her feet and stared at the man’s back as he walked off the bridge. When she felt the loneliness beginning to return, she unconsciously took off running after him. She followed behind him as he led her somewhere; she didn’t touch him for the fear that this was just an illusion, yet felt that she had to continue with him. As they walked, the rain began its last pass through the town, as if sensing that the young princess was safe in this stranger’s company.
After following the man for a few minutes and glanced around trying to figure out where he was taking her, Narala began to feel a sense of recognition at the surrounding buildings and shops. Then without her knowing, the man had stopped causing little Narala to run into the man’s back. She half-stepped back and stared up at the man’s back, he didn’t respond to her facial impact to his back, but did grunt at her and slightly tilt his head forward indicating for her to move up next to him. She moved up to his side, her eyes still locked on the man’s face; he nudged his chin forward, Narala looked to where he’d gestured and took in a deep breath of relief. The man brought her to the palace gates, he brought her home. She raced to the nearest guard, who recognized her despite her dirty closes and announced to the rest of the patrol around the gate. Narala pointed out towards where she just was, but the man was gone. The guards ushered the princess back into the, but her eyes were still looking out for the man that brought her home.
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“Lord Seiryuu, that was unlike you to take pity on a small child. What changed?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Lady Suzaku is correct; you showed compassion on a mortal child! Ordinarily, you would have left such a pitiful thing to wither away!
“Hold your Byakko! That child is a princess, not even Spirit Bound.”
“You know nothing Genbu! Mortals, Spirit Bound or not, are weak and not worth any compassion!”
“Enough! From all of you!”
“Lord Seiryuu, that child…could it be?”
“Yes Lady Suzaku, that child is our Spirit Bound.”
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