Page 145 of Moon Chosen

“But you’re not just an Earth Walker,” Nik said.

“Justan Earth Walker? See, that’s the problem. You might have stopped calling us Scratchers, but you don’t think we’re equal. How am I supposed to be friends with someone who thinks half of me is less than human?”

“I don’t think Earth Walkers are less than human. Not anymore—not after meeting you and Sora.”

“Oh, so now you like Sora?” Mari unsuccessfully tried to keep a smile from tilting her lips up.

“Bloody beetle balls no! I don’t like Sora. But I also don’t think she’s less than human. I think she could take on many Warriors of the Tribe and probably defeat them.”

“She’s actually not a very good fighter. She doesn’t believe in physical exertion.”

“She could definitely nag them to death,” Nik said.

“That I’d agree with.” They smiled at each other, and Mari couldn’t stop herself from adding, “Nik, if you ever really need me Rigel will bring me to you.”

“Just like he did before,” Nik said.

“Yes, just like that.” Mari found herself not wanting to turn away from Nik. Unsettled by the strangeness of her emotions, she blurted a question that had been circling through her mind for several days. “Nik, now that you know Rigel has chosen his Companion, won’t you bond with another Shepherd?”

“I wish it was that easy. The truth is Rigel didn’t stop me from bonding with another Shepherd, or a Terrier, either. No one knows why a canine chooses his or her Companion, only that the choice cannot be changed or undone. I’ve been waiting to be made a Companion for as long as I can remember, but it seems that’s not what fate has planned for me.”

“What do you mean? Is there a shortage of puppies?”

“No, nothing like that, but canines choose their Companions from Tribe members who have seen between sixteen and twenty-one winters. There are some exceptions to this, but mostly that’s because some Companions are chosen again after their canine died.”

“Dies?” Mari went pale.

Nik touched her shoulder in gentle understanding. “Be sure you and Rigel soak up a lot of sunlight. It doesn’t just give our canines and us energy—it lengthens our lives. Your Rigel can live thirty or more winters.”

Mari felt herself relax a little. Thirty winters! That was a long time. She met Nik’s gaze. “So, are you saying the only exception to the rule of a canine choosing a Companion after he’s older than twenty-one winters is if he’s already been made a Companion?”

Nik nodded and looked away from her.

“How old are you?”

“Last winter was my twenty-third. You see, it doesn’t appear that a canine is going to choose me.”

“I didn’t know. I’m—I’m sorry, Nik. Really sorry. Does that make things hard with your Tribe?”

“Yes, not being bonded to a canine keeps me in a strange, limbo state.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, one example is that I’m the best archer in the Tribe, but because no Shepherd has chosen me I’ll never be allowed to be a Leader, so I’ll never be acknowledged as Head Archer. Mari, I haven’t told anyone this, but sometimes it feels like I’m not sure who I am.”

“Can’t you just be yourself?” Mari said, acknowledging to herself the irony of giving this particular advice to Nik when she was not completely sure who the new Mari was, either.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, but who I really am doesn’t fit into what’s normal for the Tribe.”

“Well, I can’t help you with that one because I’ve never felt normal.”

Nik grinned. “That’s probably why we make such a good team.”

Mari grinned back at him. They stood there like that, smiling at each other, until it became awkward. Then Mari stuck out her hand and, in her best copy of Leda’s brisk, no nonsense voice, said, “I wish you health and happiness, Nik. Good-bye.”

Nik grasped the hand she offered, but instead of shaking it he turned it gently, holding it in both of his, and then he bent and kissed the pulse point at her wrist.

When he looked up their eyes met and held.