Dusk turned the world to silence as a cold moon hovered above the earth. Not a creature stirred, even when the earth rumbled. In the distance, a brilliant light engulfed the horizon, and from it shot five lions, regal, large and proud. Into the air they flew, twisting and turning in intricate patterns. Suddenly, they branched off into pairs, performing even more strange movements.
At the apex of their ascent, four of the five paired together. A sleek, huge, black beast rested paw-to-paw with a smaller, pretty, green beast, their tails twining as they turned downward into a freefall, talon-like claws locked together. Next to them, a big, regal blue lion, smug in its movements, paired with an equally small red creature, who seemed stubborn at first, but relented, locking talons with the blue. The locked pairs spun in slow, lazy circles as they fell, gaining speed. At the very last second, they each pulled away, roaring their triumph to the sky, before pairing back together with the last lion, a formidable, sturdy yellow monster, eyes as bright as his coat. He was the only one who did not pair with a fellow lion, for his destiny was not tied like the others. The black beast stayed close to the small green one, keeping an eye upon her as the lions flew toward the horizon, eager to return to the other halves of their soul.
To any soul who had witnessed the queer act, they would eventually realize the truth of the performance. The black lion, the subsequent leader, willingly paired with the green for she was his mate for life now. The ritual was a successful soul-bonding, a ritual that had not happened since the original pilots of the beasts lived.
On this night, four bound souls were found, tethered to each other for all time.