Chapter 7
Several days later, Ben had bumped into Rey while skirting the lands for the giraffes. It was an awkward moment, as neither seemed to want to make any move to attack each other. Neither seemed to be interested in trying to stop each other.
Finally, Rey broke the silence and spoke in a cautious tone. "Ben….I'm sorry," she muttered.
Ben blinked, his expression unreadable.
When he said nothing, Rey spoke again. "I…I know I'm costing your family, and your entire colony, their lives if I retrieve all these Orbs for the Toxicspot Leopards. I'll be saving my colony, but at the cost of yours. And…at the cost of a good friend."
Ben knew she was referring to his father. Rey was well-acquainted with both of his parents since his mother was the sister of her Genomorph mentor. Growing up, he had barely noticed her, however, since his mother and her brother were always out mentoring people on animal-bonding and mastering the skills of a Genomorph for each species.
But now, she was all he could ever notice. In ways that infuriated him and intrigued him.
And right now, he never felt more intrigued. He listened as Rey lowered her head, looking forlorn.
"I'm…I'm sorry for how hard this has to be," she muttered.
Another uneasy silence passed. But before either of them could say a word, a Translucent Giraffe stepped out and nudged Rey affectionately. Ben watched as it sunk its projections into her shoulder and bonded with her. Then it vanished.
Ben clenched his fists. "Transparency…" he muttered. "That's what does the trick." He realized the giraffes bonded because they appreciated Rey's honesty with him. Yet, instead of feeling envy, he felt a surge of wonder. And admiration.
Then he felt conflicted with himself. He turned and stomped away without another word.
Rey ended up traversing the most dangerous parts of the territory and retrieved the Boundless Orb of Authenticity. However, she handed it to Ben, surprising him even more.
"I know it won't make a difference, since I have more Orbs than you, but…." Rey huffed. "Just take it anyway." Her face looked constrained and confused. And she walked away before he could say anything in response.
After another week, Ben, Draco, and Hermione were able to bond with the giraffes and move on. When they all transformed into the Translucent Giraffes, their ghostly bodies rode the wind, which took them higher into the sky until they found themselves surrounded by a luscious woodland that grew atop billowing white clouds. Lithe, long-bodied small creatures with feathery wings were soaring around.
They were in the territory of the Sky Ferrets. The last of the Five Elite species.
Draco gazed around, a smirk forming on his face. "Sky Ferrets. This should be easy-- as a man whose Birth Colony is a ferret species, I should have no trouble bonding with these guys, regardless of how much fighting or flighting spirit they have."
But as soon as he spoke, he noticed a group of five Sky Ferrets-- each of various colors-- hovered over to Hermione, Ben, and Rey. They were all letting out chittering, cheery noises, as if they were delighted to see the humans here. They each circled Hermione, Ben, and Rey, nuzzling their long, slender bodies against their necks and cheeks.
Hermione, Ben, and Rey were all surprised, yet also calmed. Hermione chuckled and stroked the fur of a maroon-and-pink Sky Ferret that pressed its snout against the side of her forehead, as if to give her a kiss.
Draco narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. But before he could allow any feelings of envy build up inside him, two of the ferrets circled him, chittering cheerfully and nuzzling their bodies against him. He suddenly felt at ease and found himself stroking their fur.
Finally, one of the Sky Ferrets spoke in hoxtongue. It was a golden-brown ferret. "Hello! My name is Sammy. Come….you must all be exhausted!" He gave a flap of his wings and nodded to the lighter-colored golden-brown Sky Ferret beside him. "Stella and I have plenty of room in our tree-- please get some rest!"
Draco, Hermione, Ben, and Rey followed the Sky Ferrets into a great tree that grew atop one of the thicker clouds. As they settled inside the hollow tree, the five Sky Ferrets dispersed to fetch them some food. They returned with berries, fruits, some remedial herbs for the wounds that they sustained from their recent escapades, and a bunch of moss and cotton to make bedding for each of them.
Then Sammy and Stella came back with a bunch of remedial herbs and they tended to their wounds.
As the four humans ate the berries and fruits, they watched with wonder as the Sky Ferrets worked industriously to make fluffy cotton-moss beds for them.
Hermione sipped her tea that one of the Sky Ferrets had offered. Though she felt at ease, she was still rather skeptical. "These Sky Ferrets definitely aren't on the flight-side…..which puts them on the fighting side. Perhaps they just have sneaky ways to fight us-- like killing us with kindness."
Draco scoffed. "Yeah, perhaps they poisoned that tea or all the food they've been giving us."
Rey sighed. "It certainly felt too hard to resist their kind offerings though…."
Ben narrowed his eyes. "Well if they are trying to sabotage us, that's exactly how they'd want us to feel."
Hermione sipped her tea again. "Yeah…." she sipped the tea some more. "Well….hoxian animals either like us or they don't. If they like us, they will emotionally bond with us. If they don't, they will keep us away from them, either by fleeing us or fighting us." She paused, then went on, "So if these Sky ferrets truly do like us, they should emotionally bond with us soon. Otherwise, they are against us and only want to get rid of us."
Several days passed, and the Sky Ferrets continued to display many acts of hospitality toward the humans. They were keeping them sheltered from the deadly windstorms that constantly swept through their territory, fighting off every tornado and twister that came their way. They even prevented many rainstorms from wreaking havoc on the tree that they kept the humans sheltered in.
Many Sky Ferrets were even friendly enough to give the humans a tour around the woodlands, and even playfully chase them around for fun. The four of them had much fun playing games and hanging out with the Sky Ferrets over the course of their stay.
However, none of the Sky Ferrets offered to transfuse their blood to the humans.
Hermione found herself feeling confused. And so were the others.
"I don’t get it," huffed Hermione as she paced around her fluffy bed. "These Sky Ferrets are so nice to us….it truly feels genuine, too. Like they have no ulterior motive to get rid of us. Why haven't they emotionally bonded with any of us yet?"
Draco scoffed. "I bet they're just trying to resist my awesome charm. They love me deep down, and it's just a matter of time before they bond with me before any of you." He gave her a wink. "Especially before you."
Hermione seethed. "You think you can beat me at bonding with them?! There's no way these gentle and kind creatures will prioritize bonding with an egotistic prick like you!"
"Well there's no way they'd want to bond with a self-righteous know-it-all like yourself," he sneered.
Ben gave a derisive snort as he stared out the window, narrowing his eyes at all the cheerful Sky Ferrets. "I wonder where they're Orb is hidden. I must get it before Rey….it's probably more powerful than all the other four Orbs combined."
Rey, who was journaling on her bed, looked up and flashed him a glare. "If you haven't been able to obtain the other four Orbs without me being nice enough to hand one to you, then you certain can't obtain the most powerful Orb in this territory."
Ben whirled around, looking livid. He transformed into Shadowbreath Wolf form and blew a black mist in her direction.
Rey instantly transformed into her Sunbeam Mustang form and released a burst of light rays from her mane, causing the black mist to vanish.
"Guys, stop!" Hermione gasped, backing away.
Draco sniggered. "No! Keep at it! Rey, blind his eyes-- he deserves extra torture for hogging up all the lychees from this morning!"
Hermione turned and fumed at Draco. "Shut up, Malfoy."
Draco turned and gave her a grimace. "Who are you to tell others to stop fighting when you are no better than a petty, childish brat yourself?"
Hermione instantly transformed into Whirlpool Otter form and sent a burst of water his way.
Draco instantly jumped and transformed into Snowfur Ferret form in midair. He sent a gust of snow from his mouth in her direction, to which she washed away with another burst of water.
The entire room was a raucous as Ben and Rey shot attacks at each other, and Draco and Hermione alternating between shooting attacks and physically fighting each other.
Then a gust of wind swept through the entire room, and all four of them were blown against the wall, pinned harshly. They all transformed into human forms and groaned in agony as strong swirls of clouds pinned their bodies against the walls.
Then the swirls of clouds vanished and their bodies fell to the ground. They all looked up to see Sammy hovering there, with the swirls of clouds returning to him and then fading.
The golden-brown Sky Ferret was gazing at them all with a look of disgust on his face. "Hmph!" Sammy grunted. Then he rolled his eyes. "Humans." He turned and hovered away. "You guys are despicable!"
Without turning his back, he swished his tail, sending another gust of wind in the room. But this time, the gust of wind blew everything back into place. Within seconds, the room was clean as it had been before.
Draco, Hermione, Rey, and Ben stumbled to their feet, looking startled and a bit confused.
Later that evening, the five ferrets who lived in the tree invited them to have dinner with some of their relatives they had invited over. Though they were confused, the four humans found themselves willing to attend. They met with the ferrets at the top branch of the tree, which was their great dining hollow.
The Sky Ferrets all had a joyful time, chattering merrily with one another and with Draco, Hermione, Ben, and Rey. Even Sammy seemed to be chatting cheerfully with them, as if what had taken place earlier hadn't happened.
When the dinner was over, Hermione walked up to the golden-brown ferret. "W-would you like us to help you clean up?"
"Nah!" Said Sammy. "Go and ride the gusts of winds with my Uncle Marty!" He nodded to the brown-furred Sky Ferret laughing in the corner with a group of other relatives. "His wind currents are so much fun to ride-- you guys are gonna have a blast!"
Hermione blinked. She looked at the long dining table full of plates and leftover food. "You sure you don't want any help?"
Sammy then shifted his eyes to her. Though he was still smiling cheerfully, his tone became rather annoyed. "You sure you actually want to help? Or are you just trying to win favor from me again?"
Hermione tensed. She realized he was asking rhetorically, as the ferret didn’t wait for her answer. He turned to face the dining hall, flapped his wings, and a gust of wind sent the plates and platters flying in various directions, until finally, the table was clean and organized, while the dirty plates were piled in a pool of water to soak.
Then the ferret turned and hovered away.
Hermione stared after the ferret, a bit disturbed by the annoyed tone in his voice. You sure you actually want to help?
She found herself replaying his words in her head. And then she felt a pang of guilt. She knew she only wanted to help the ferret to get on his good side. So that she can emotionally bond with one and gain their powers. And the ferret knew it. He knew she was trying to get at least one of the Sky Ferrets to bond with her.
"Hey…" Hermione called toward the golden ferret. "Sorry….and sorry about earlier. We didn’t mean to make a mess."
The ferret looked over his shoulder, looking amused. "Don’t worry about it. I like cleaning anyway. Even if I don't like the people I'm doing it for." Then he turned and hovered away to join two other giggling ferrets who were playfully chasing each other.
Hermione tensed again. She then realized why it was so hard to emotionally bond with these ferrets.
They're kind to us…..simply because they just enjoy being kind. Not because they actually like us. Hermione didn’t know if she felt saddened or frustrated. She watched as one of the purple Sky Ferrets hovered over to Rey and nuzzled against her neck. Hermione felt a pang of sorrow. Even when they snuggle and have a good time around us….it doesn't mean they like us. They're happy around us, because that's just how they are. We're not the source of their happiness-- they have their own inner joy and peace that fuels their kind and jovial behavior. Any attempts to add to their joy, to win their affection, are completely ineffective.
Hermione suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion. This was going to be the hardest species to bond with.