~*Collar and Leash*~

"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever." –Francois Mauriac

~*X*~

That wasn't her.

Was it?

Arietta stared at herself in the mirror, frowning, tugging self-consciously at the black material of her clothes. She wasn't used to this feeling, the weird sensation of wearing crisp and clean garments on top of having her hair straightened. Van had done it to her, this weird transformation from her normal self, so she could formally meet the Fon Master.

Apparently this "Fon Master" was going to help her learn the human—that is to say, her species' language better than the barest of minimums that Van had struggled to teach her. She was also going to learn "Fonic Artes" and…stuff…that apparently she had the capability of learning. She also had to learn how to write and read. The task seemed impossible!

She tried to search for the bright side of the current situation she was in, the silver lining to the cloud. True that this place, the "Cathedral", was way too empty and clean and cold for her tastes, but at least now she wasn't alone…right? And her friends, the other monsters, they were nearby. She could call them in at any moment, if she really wanted.

And, despite how strange it felt, being dressed up like this was actually rather…nice.

Arietta looked all around the room, wrapping her arms around herself and frowning. The chamber was large and devoid of anything but the barest of light, courtesy of a torch burning in the corner. Instinctively, she flinched away from it. Fire was bad. Fire was always bad. Her night vision was pretty impressive, and she had no problem seeing without the stupid fire…but, seemingly, everyone else needed it.

So far, the people of this Church hadn't done anything too bad to her…and the Fon Master thought she'd make a good Guardian for him, or so Van had said. The only people she remembered coming to see her during that somewhat-unpleasant-but-necessary session she had spent chained to the wall had been Van…and that boy she had bitten.

She felt her heart sink. Oh no. Had she bitten the Fon Master? From how Van had talked of him, that would be like her biting the Alpha…it was unheard of. Unthinkable! She'd have to apologize for such a thing as soon as she could.

For a while, she just watched the shadows dance against the stone walls as the flames flickered in and out. Then, she heard footsteps. She tensed instinctively, straining her sensitive ears for all they were worth.

Two pairs of footsteps, and the clink of a staff.

Arietta turned to the door just as it opened, and she saw Van standing there in the corridor. He stepped aside with a slight bow to let a boy half his height enter. The boy had dark green hair and matching eyes, and he was gripping a white staff topped with something like a golden V in one hand.

He surveyed her as if she was some kind of very interesting specimen. "Arietta?" He asked in a high, lilting voice.

She blinked, and then nodded. At Van's conspicuous cough, she hastily amended, "Yes, Fon Master?" The words sounded too soft in her throat, since she was far more used to the usual rough syllables of the monster language.

"…Come this way. We have a lot to talk about." He gave a slow smile that touched his eyes, though in a strange fashion.

"Yes, Fon Master." Arietta hurried to Ion's side as he turned and walked out. Van closed the door and followed behind them, a big shadow that didn't say a word. The maze-like tunnels that ran beneath the Cathedral fascinated her to no end. She imagined that a giant mole had carved this labyrinthine place out from the surrounding rock and the Oracle Knights had simply moved in.

Anyone that they passed either bowed or called out happily to the Fon Master, grinning widely. Ion always returned the smiles, but as Arietta continued to survey him as they journeyed on, she thought there was something dark hiding behind the green in his eyes.

"You may leave us here, Commandant." Ion ordered smoothly, looking only partially over his shoulder at the silent man that had been trailing them the whole time. They were outside a sizable flight of stairs that reached up into nothing.

"As you wish, Fon Master." Van inclined his head and then walked off, vanishing down a hallway.

Arietta stared questioningly at Ion, and he glanced at her, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. "Shall we?"

What was the proper response to that? She bobbed her head up and down mutely, and without another word, the Fon Master started up the steps. She noticed that he seemed to tremble a little, though he set his jaw against the evident pain and ignored it.

"Are you all right?" She dared to inquire. Arietta wasn't sure why this boy was in charge. He looked so frail, like one of the runts her Mommy had given birth to. Yet people still treated him with respect and even seemed to love him.

He came to a stop and looked directly at her. The dark shadow she had spotted earlier, the one that sought shelter behind the evergreen of his irises, came to the forefront and burned her with its strength. "Arietta," he began easily, his tone calm. "Did Van ever tell you why I decided to have you as my Fon Master Guardian?"

Oh no. Somehow his tranquil fury was upsetting. Had she made him angry just by asking how he was? Human mannerisms were so difficult…She shrank back a bit. "N-No."

"It's because you're perceptive," he finished lightly, though she had a feeling—as she often did concerning him—that he was hiding something. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"O-Okay." Arietta bowed her head and cringed inwardly, wanting to do anything possible to avoid that calm, searching gaze of his.

They made it to Ion's personal chambers without any more pauses or interruptions. His room was bare but still nice, hung with elaborate tapestries and a few decorative ornaments whose purposes she didn't know. Arietta hovered just within the room, unsure what to do as Ion closed the door and faced her.

She muttered something in the monster language that would roughly translate to; "I'm confused, what do you want me to do?"

He studied her in honest surprise. "Did you say something?"

"Oh, no. I'm sorry."

The corners of his mouth twitched again. Amusement was good. At least, Arietta thought so. Ligers sometimes kept their prey alive when they were amused by them, right? But Ion would never hurt her…

She didn't know why she thought that, but she did.

"You don't have to be so frightened," Ion remarked in that pleasant voice of his. He had a gentle, kind way of speaking that instantly made her relax, despite the terrifying intensity of the darkness in his eyes. It was gone now though, replaced by the harmless pine-green from before. Maybe…she had imagined it.

The Fon Master gestured for her to come stand in front of him. She did so, and he shifted his weight off of his desk as he straightened. "Social Lesson Number One. When people meet, they often shake hands. Can you shake?"

Arietta shuffled her feet nervously, rummaging through her small repertoire of known words. Shake meant…er…she was too unsettled to think straight! She knew it was there, but—

"That's okay, calm down." Ion put his hand out and after a few seconds of deliberation, Arietta put her hand in his. His grip wasn't all that strong, really. She had enough strength in her fingers to probably crush his hand if she so wished. Or at least cause some damage. "Good. Then you do this."

He brought their joined hands up and down a few times before releasing her.

"…I understand," Arietta told him shyly.

He arched an eyebrow. "Do you really? Shake." He extended his hand again and she mimicked his action from earlier. A smile was her reward, and she felt pleased with herself. "Good girl."

Abruptly, Ion turned her hand over and circled his fingers around her slim wrist. There were fading red welts against her skin. "How did this happen?" He asked without looking at her.

"I…pulled at my cuffs…" When she had first been found by Van and taken to the Church, they had had to chain her up since she had started biting and scratching everyone. She suddenly recalled her previous behavior with a yelp. "I'm so sorry Fon Master; I think I bit you earlier." Her face felt hot and she stared at the…the…soft-moss at her feet. The carpet?

Ion said nothing for several heartbeats, and then he tilted her chin up and smiled at her as their eyes connected. "Don't worry about that, Arietta. It was nothing."

She was transfixed by him, in this strange moment of close contact with a human male that she had never had before. She was unable to answer—(though she did open her mouth)—and eventually he just nodded and stepped back.

"I've got another Lesson for you…" He started, and as Arietta leaned forward with a highly attentive expression on her young face, he smiled again in a way that was quickly becoming very dear to her.

~*X*~

Ion wouldn't understand, but there was a Liger that was highly important to her, and she kept the big yellow feline with her whenever she expected trouble for her or the Fon Master.

Right now she was in her room, which was very close to Ion's, and she was curled up contently against the side of her Liger friend. She was happily conversing with him in monster speak, and the only way to even try and write down the name of her friend would be by calling him "Ragrr".

"Master Ion is very kind to me," she informed Ragrr with a timid smile. "Do you think he likes me?"

Ragrr turned one of his enormous golden eyes on her. "Perhaps."

"What is that tone supposed to mean?" She countered.

"I don't like how he looks at you," sniffed the big Liger irritably. He repositioned himself so that his head was on his front paws. The massive claws still poked out from his ruffled pelt, despite the fact that his nails were sheathed.

Arietta frowned and sat up. Her adopted brother merely swished his tail airily, the monster equivalent of a shrug.

"What are you talking about?"

Ragrr, however, had either fallen asleep or (more likely) was just feigning it, because all he did was exhale loudly.

~*X*~

"I have something for you," Ion told her one day with one of his special smiles. He turned away from her and went to his desk, pulling open a drawer and handing her a package wrapped in brown paper.

Curious, Arietta took it between her nervous, trembling fingers. She blinked sheepishly at her Master.

Ion sighed. "Open it."

"You want me to rip it?" Her voice pitched clumsily on the r and she winced, ready for a reprimand—(since she was still just learning after all)—but all he did was shake his head, dismissing it.

"Yes, you may rip it."

Arietta would be lying if she said she didn't relish the ability to finally tear at something. She even bit into it with her teeth, looking very much like a wild animal gnawing at its prey. She felt her face burn in embarrassment again, but when she met Ion's eyes, he merely smiled in that amused way of his. Reassured, she wiped the rest of the wrapping away and studied the box in her hands. Inquisitively, head tilted to the side, she pawed a flap open and saw what lay there.

It was a leather loop with a shiny silver clasp. Dangling from it was a circular metal disc with bright golden letters, as brilliant as her mother's eyes. The letters read, Arietta.

She stared at her Master in wonder.

"It's for you," Ion told her kindly, leaning against his staff. The smile lines around his green eyes crinkled again, as they often did, and she couldn't help but think that anyone that smiled so often couldn't be bad.

Ragrr had to be wrong…

"What do we say when people give you nice things?" Ion requested softly, his emerald gaze sparked like fire.

She shifted nervously, clinging to the package in her arms. "Th-Thank you."

"Good girl." The Fon Master approached her and helped put the necklace on. Arietta beamed at him as she examined the metal disc on her new accessory that so vibrantly proclaimed her name.

She hesitated, and then she threw caution to the winds. Arietta wrapped her arms around him and giggled blissfully, grinning widely and unknowingly showing off her sharp canines. "Thank you so much Master Ion!"

He stood still, indifferent to the affection. "You're welcome, Arietta."

Her smile faded and she pulled back with a frown. Ion's lips twitched upwards again and he stroked her hair, running his fingers all the way down to the edges. She leaned into his warm touch, feeling more than content.

She felt happy.

~*X*~

Arietta was standing just outside the Cathedral, with Ragrr at her side. Her brother Liger seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes as distant and yellow as the sun that rode high in the Daath sky. The Fon Master Guardian kept close watch over Ion, who was just a few steps down from her, smiling that strange smile of his that touched his eyes in a peculiar way.

"Master Ion is much loved," Arietta said proudly to Ragrr, puffing her chest out as if she was affected by this as well.

Ragrr yawned, exposing rows of deadly dagger fangs. "Perhaps that is true, but he does not seem fond of the attention."

"It must get tiring," Arietta sympathized.

Ragrr just harrumphed and extended one huge curved claw. He poked her pendant, which hung, shining with a polished gleam, around her neck as it had for a few weeks. "Do you know what this is?" He asked in obvious surprise.

Glancing at her brother out of the corner of her eyes, Arietta shook her head. No.

The Liger rolled his great shoulders, snarling. "I have seen many of the humans' dogs and cats wearing such things."

"What do you mean?"

"You are wearing a collar."

Arietta opened her mouth in surprise to argue with her brother, but just then Ion called to her. "Arietta, we have somewhere we must be."

"Coming, Master Ion!" She sprinted down the steps, and Ragrr sighed, padding after her and clearing himself a path through the crowds.

"If you must speak to your monster," Ion informed his Guardian as they continued down the stairs. "Try to do so quieter. It can be rather distracting."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right. Don't worry."

Arietta grinned at him, but the instant he looked away, she felt it falter. She touched the pendant around her neck.

Collar? A collar..?

No, that simply wasn't possible, right?

~*X*~

Arietta gazed sadly at her Master as she lay in bed, clutching her soft covers tightly in her hands. "I'm sorry Master Ion," she murmured.

"What for?" He seemed paler than before, but maybe he was simply worried. Worried for her?

Her mind traveled back to that dark corridor, where some Oracle Knights had uncovered some plan that Ion was apparently up to. She didn't understand…didn't understand what they were talking about. She was too afraid to ask him what they had been discussing exactly, since she had seen that dark shadow blaze back to life in her Master's eyes then.

But that hadn't mattered—what had mattered was protecting her charge. She didn't even have time to try any Artes, she simply dashed in front of him to take that sword strike…when she had come to, bleeding heavily but in the process of being healed by one of the priests, there had been bloodstains all over the floor and walls.

And Master Ion, he had been breathing heavily.

This is why he's Alpha, she thought, still feeling groggy. A cornered cat becomes a lion…or so they say…

"I lost my pendant." She touched the spot on her col—necklace where the metal disc had been.

"Your tag? Don't worry about it." Ion gave her one of his smiles again, but this time she was certain that there was no trace of the shadow that usually hid behind the green.

"Why did they attack you?" She murmured, gingerly prodding the wound on her chest. It was healing fast, thanks to magic, but…it'd still be at least a few days before she was at full strength again.

"Traitors," Ion muttered. His gaze became hard. "Rest now, Arietta."

"Yes, Master Ion."

He turned and left with one final ruffling of her hair, and Arietta sighed, eyes closed.

It was nice to not be alone anymore…

~*X*~

Arietta the Wild hugged the stuffed animal close to her chest, finding comfort somehow in its horrible leering face. Ragrr was a streak of tawny fur, striped with black, bounding across the plains with quick, easy steps.

"It was a collar," she told her brother simply.

"Yes."

"But…that's all right."

Ragrr flicked his ears. "Why is that?"

"Because…Because…" She shut her eyes tight as she let her brother carry her to the battle against Anise. "There was no leash. I was free..."

He growled quietly in confusion at the silence still lingering behind her words.

"I was unchained, and I was free," was all she replied with in response to his puzzlement. Ragrr rolled his eyes and roared, surging forward all the faster as the Cheagle Woods came into sight.

I was free, Arietta repeated to herself, rosy eyes narrowing with determination. And I was his.

Author's Note: Based off of the Tales of the Abyss manga. Just something I put together, mind telling me what you think?