AN:I had intended this just to be a oneshot but because of the small but positive reaction I got here and over on Tumblr I've decided to continue it with a chapter of moments between each person and their daemon. If you like (or even read this) please review just so I know it's being read!
Started with Jace because.
Cougars in Native American mythology symbolises leadership, courage, power, swiftness and balance. Astra means star.
Astra settles the when Jace is only ten, far earlier than most.
His father had just killed his pet falcon. The pet he and Astra loved with ferociousness. They'd raised it, tamed it, taught it and he had killed it without a second glance. Jace had been determined not to cry and so he stood there, fists balled and jaw set firmly, but he couldn't stop his eyes filling with tears.
His Father's tiger daemon, Juno had flicked her tail elegantly and let loose a rumbling growl of laughter at Jace's tear filled eyes and Astra had become a snarling lion, and they'd felt it at once. Almost, but not quite.
It had sent Jace's heart racing and Astra's fur had stood on end.
"Calm down, boy. You forget yourself," his father had scolded, smacking Jace across the cheek smartly. "Now get out of my sight." He'd commanded, and Jace hadn't needed telling twice.
They'd torn through their mansion and hadn't stopped until they'd reached the attic. Father never came up here; so it was his and Astra's private lair. He'd collapsed onto the floor and Astra had sat down next to him so he could bury his face in her tawny fur.
"Why did he do it?" he'd asked quietly between sobs.
"To teach you how to be strong," Astra had replied, her voice a low growl.
As they'd clung together she'd begun to change. Her fur had gotten less tawny and a more dusky brown; her body became leaner and smaller but no less powerful. They'd both felt it click into place. "Jace," Astra had said softly. "I think this is it."
He pulled away and looked at her, "Oh, Astra. You're a cougar."
She'd ducked her head slightly, "I know I'm not as big as Juno or a lion but..."
"No," he'd cut her off. "You're beautiful." And she was.
When their father died Astra howled and Jace sat numbly staring at the smouldering ruins. His daemon cried for their lost family and home but all Jace could think was at least he can't hurt us anymore.
Jace never realised that he and Astra were different until he met the Lightwoods. Maryse and Robert didn't treat their children the same way his father had treated him.
Maryse's lynx, Loxal and Robert's oceolot, Irinna were forever grooming and fussing over their children's daemons. And that wasn't all.
Jace had been taught not to lean on his daemon for support a lot as it betrayed one's true nervousness yet Alec always seemed to cling to his Nyx. They had also been taught that it was improper for daemons to address other humans but Izzy's Rinn had spoken more to him than Izzy had during his first few months there.
But the things that set them apart most were one, the fact that Astra had already settled and two, the fact that Jace and Astra could travel further apart from each other than anyone else they knew (accept Jace's father of course.)
Jace had first arrived at the Institute almost two months after Astra had settled and he'd been surprised when he met Alec and Izzy and found that their daemons were nowhere near settling.
Alec's Nyx was forever shifting between shapes all of them darkly coloured, panther, rat, coyote, lemur, snake, cat and a raccoon. He never seemed happy in any shape, though Alec had never seemed comfortable in his own skin. Black fox, hawk, black bear and raven. It had surprised Jace even more when he'd found out Nyx was a boy. Owl, jaguar, anteater and fossa. Nyx didn't settle until Alec was sixteen. Otter, dingo, tiger, eagle andwolf.
Izzy's Rinn had always favoured powerful, sleek animals of beauty. Big cats mostly, though most Shadow Hunter's daemons were big cats. He had settled when Izzy was fourteen, an Amur leopard. Jace and Astra had laughed. It was just soIzzy.
He'd felt awkward when he found out their daemons hadn't settled, Astra had immediately begun to snarl defensively. But Alec had said simply, "Well maybe you already know who you are." And Nyx, a black and white lemur clinging to Alec's shoulder had leant down to touch Astra's fur gently.
And Jace had decided that maybe the Lightwoods were okay after all.
But the fact that they could travel so far from each other hadn't been so easy to get over. It had happened in training. He was training with Alec; he'd never trained with a partner near his own age before and he was ecstatic. He and Alec worked flawlessly as a team with Nyx, a huge black owl with sharp purple eyes, hovering above them, acting as their lookout.
Jace had accidently fallen and his stele had flown out of his hands to the other side of the training room (which was pretty far away). Astra hadn't thought twice about running after it and it was only when Jace had turned to Alec, stele triumphantly back in hand and seen the other boy pale and clutching Nyx, squirrel shaped, to his chest that he'd realised something was off.
"What's wrong?" he'd asked.
"Y-You...You went so f-far away from each other," Alec had stuttered and Nyx had become a dark coloured ferret and wound himself around Alec's neck. "I've never seen anyone go so far."
Jace and Astra exchanged glances. "It's something we've always been able to do..." Jace mumbled and after a while Alec had calmed down and they'd gotten back to training. But Jace made sure to keep Astra closer to him after that.
When Jace met Clary Fray and her serval daemon, Kinath, his and Astra's opinions were divided for the first time.
Jace wasn't sure what it was about her but there was somethingthat made him want her for more than just fun. It was the same deep, protective urge he had towards the Lightwoods. The scary thing was he'd just met her. Astra loathedher.
"Her and that stupid daemon," she had muttered. "I'd be happier if you went for Alec. At least he's got common sense."
Jace had laughed and shoved at her and it hadn't taken long for Astra to fall for Kinath as much as Jace had fallen for Clary. And when they'd found out that they were siblings Jace had sat numbly while Astra raged and howled and destroyed their room in anguish and then she'd turned her tortured blue eyes on him and spat, "Why?"
And he'd just shook his head.
When they'd met Sebastian and his broken, twisted, lonely panther daemon that barely spoke and seemed to have little attachment to his human, Jace and Astra had promised never to let their bond be broken.
And then Jace had died.
And when he'd died Astra had vanished in puff of golden dust as Kinath screamed and tried desperately to put her back together again.
When Raziel had brought them back there was something different. They were still one. But there was something missing. Astra was beautiful as ever, so was Jace. They still spoke to each other without words, they still had the same affection for Clary and Kinath and the Lightwoods. But there was something.
They found out what it was when Jace had gone to that hotel building.
Astra had stopped in the lobby, blinking as though awakening from a deep sleep. "Jace? What are we..." a cold horror had gripped her heart. "No. Jace we have to stop!"
Jace had turned to her, eyes blank and unseeing. "No, Astra. I have to do this." And he'd carried on walking. But Astra hadn't followed and when Jace walked away she didn't feel the familiar tug of the bond that connected them.
They had been separated like the ancient witches of the North.
They were one still, but not one.
So Astra turned tail and ran to try and find help.