So this is my first story on here! Hopefully it turns out very well, but ultimately that's up to you. As is customary I must say that I do not own the members of Pentatonix in any way, shape, or form. If I did, well… I don't even want to start imagining. ;) This story will include some man on man loving. So if that's not your forte, either skip ahead or perhaps don't read. If you ARE into that, well good for you, me too! Though I may have to kill your excitement if you're a Scomiche fan, because this is NON-SCOMICHE man love. Sorry not sorry. Now if there are any readers left, enjoy the story!

Chapter 3: Bonds

The soul connects to those akin to it,

Forming a lasting bond.

These bonds create strength,

That a single soul cannot match.

-The Book of O

Mitch woke up in a rush. In an effort to get some actual sleep before the trip, Mitch had used an ability that he only used in emergencies: his shadow magick. Lying down in his resting nook, Mitch had uttered these secret words, "Al la ombroj kiuj insidas en profunda anguloj, ĉirkaŭas min, ke mi ripozu."

As he spoke these words, the shadows in the corners of his room lengthened to form a cocoon of darkness that shrouded Mitch from the outside ocean. After this, Mitch had slept soundly. In fact, Mitch slept so well that by the time he woke up it was midday. Rushing around his room to gather last minute items for his trip, he both praised and cursed the effectiveness of his magick.

Checking his pack and deeming it ready, he set out. At first he just swam upwards, content to lazily make his way to the surface. After all, his parents would be gone for a while. No need to rush.

A few hours after he departed from his home, Mitch decided that he had had his fill of swimming the normal way. Stopping high above the city, he closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Remembering what Leag had said about going slowly, Mitch thought carefully about which words to use. He opened his eyes, and went to speak. Yet his voice caught in his throat. Thirty yards away swam a very large Kentlefish, the biggest Mitch had ever seen.

Kentlefish were quite possibly the most dangerous creatures that roamed the ocean. These deadly fish featured two mouths on each side of it's' body, both sporting razor sharp teeth. In school, Mitch had learned that if he were to encounter one, the best thing he could do is swim away before it could see you. If it saw you, no amount of swimming would get you away from it. Once it saw you, you were as good as fish food.

Unfortunately for Mitch, this particular Kentlefish had already spotted him and was already gathering speed to catch him. Panicking, Mitch did the only thing he could think to do.

"Prenu min supren!"

The water beneath him exploded in a cloud of bubbles as he was shot upwards towards the sky. The giant Kentlefish tried to keep up, but quickly lost its' prey amongst the bubbles. Angered, the Kentlefish turned away to look for something else to eat.

Quickly approaching the surface, Mitch could only feel his relief at escaping both the immediate danger and his hometown. With the water zipping past him, he began to laugh in joy. The light around him began to grow brighter and brighter. Finally, he could almost taste his freedom. The surface loomed only feet ahead, and Mitch braced himself for the change of surroundings. With a loud splash, Mitch breached the surface and shot into the air. Ten, twenty, thirty feet into the air, Mitch realized that he ought to slow his descent or else he'd hit the shore that he saw down below. Mitch went to take a breath, only to gag on the air. There was no water to breathe!

Mitch's eyes widened in fear as he remembered once again what his friend had said, "For a while, it was hard to breathe since there was no water."

'No breath, no words… No words, no way to stop myself from hitting the ground…'

The air whizzed by him as he fell. Thirty, twenty, ten feet.

'Oh crap.'

The last thing he felt was the hard impact of the ground.

Kirstie woke up at dawn feeling utter joy. For the first time in her life, she was finally going on an adventure. Jumping up from her bed, Kirstie hurriedly got dressed. Putting on the last finishing touches of her outfit, Kirstie grabbed her pre-made pack and set out the door to meet the rest of the traveling group.

She looked around as she got to the spot where everyone had agreed to meet before the trip. Apparently, she was the first one there. Kirstie slung off her pack onto the ground and sat.

"Well aren't you just eager to get going, young one." Father Antaeus smiled as he walked up to Kirstie, "You're the first one here?"

"Yes, Father." replied Kirstie, "I wanted to make sure I would get here on time, so I woke up early."

Father Antaeus chuckled, "We wouldn't have left without you, child. But it is good you are prepared. Always best to be early, rather than late."

Kirstie nodded, and Father Antaeus sat down on the ground beside her. They sat in comfortable silence until, one by one, the rest of the group showed up. At midday, Father Antaeus stood to speak.

"As you all know," said Father Antaeus, "we are making our way to the town of Sprigga. It's a three day walk, and we will spend about three days there. Then it's three more days to walk back. All together that is nine days we will be gone, so hopefully you all packed accordingly. First day's travel will be easy, as we will stop once we reach the ocean in a few hours. Though the next two days after will not be so easy. If no one has any questions or last minute things to take care of, let us be off."

Everyone had prepared accordingly, though a few members had to complete last minute business. Once done, they set off.

"Stay close to me," said Father Antaeus to Kirstie, "though you will be safe within this group, outside people may not be so favorable."

Kirstie nodded and stepped a bit closer to Father Antaeus. She did not want anything bad to happen to her, though she could not imagine what.

Traveling through the forest was pretty uneventful for Kirstie. Apart from seeing new trees, there was not a whole lot that excited her. Until they reached their stopping point, that is. Only hearing about it in passing, Kirstie could not imagine the ocean as a whole stretch of the world where there was no land. To imagine all that water gathered in one place was inconceivable to her, so when she saw the ocean with her own eyes, she about fainted. Only the hand of Father Antaeus kept her from falling.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Father Antaeus looked down at her with a smile. "So foreign, yet so natural. What do you think of it, my child?"

"It's so magical," Kirstie said in awe, "it's more than I could ever think of. Can I go near it?"

"Yes you may," said Father Antaeus, "but be careful, you do not know what lurks beneath. Come back to the camp as soon as the sun sets, alright?"

Kirstie nodded eagerly and ran off laughing. She reached the shoreline and stopped. Kneeling down, Kirstie dug her hand into the sand, marveling at the new ground. She was so enamored with the sand that when she looked up she was surprised to see a person blast from the ocean. She spotted the figure sail into the sky. Her face lit up with joy, more joy than she had ever felt before. This was a real, live person that wasn't from the valley! It was the first that she had seen before, and they could even fly! Or so she thought…

Watching as the figure went up ten more feet, Kirstie's smile turned into a look of horror when the figure began to drop. She could clearly see that the person would not land back in the ocean, but rather hit the sand about twenty yards away from her. Though the sand was new to her, she knew that an impact at that speed would hurt. Not knowing what to do, Kirstie could only watch as the figure dropped, then hit. It was only when she heard the smack could Kirstie get up and run over to the figure. Once she got closer, she could see that the figure was a boy about her age. Praying to the moons that he wasn't dead, Kirstie knelt down and checked to see if he was breathing. She was flooded with relief when she heard the quick breath of air going into the boy's lungs, though disturbed at hearing a strange squelching sound.

'That doesn't sound right… I ought to go get help.' She thought.

She stood to call for help, but stopped when the boy started coughing up water. This was more water than a person should be able to handle, and it scared Kirstie. Fearing that the boy might drown, Kirstie knelt back down and smacked the boy on the back a few times. Water poured out, and with one last cough, the last of the water left the boy's lungs. Satisfied that he wouldn't die by drowning, Kirstie sat back in the sand to wait for the strange boy to wake up. Hopefully he wouldn't be in so much pain that he couldn't tell her where he's hurt. And of course where he came from. After all, he's new to her.

The first thing Mitch could feel after his impact was a massive pain in his chest. Actually massive doesn't quite cover the pain. It was more like a flaming sword sticking right through his chest. For a second he panicked. Would he die from this? Was he finally able to get away, to visit some strange place, only to die within five minutes of being there? He would never be able to tell his parents about his amazing adventure to the surface. Never tell them how wrong they were.

'Oh wait,' he remembered, 'I'm breathing air.'

Now realizing the cause for his pain, Mitch took slow deep breaths in an attempt to let the pain lessen. The more he breathed in, the less the pain in his chest was. After a bit, the pain in his chest went from the fiery pain to a dull ache. That was when he opened his eyes.

Bright light shone down from above, illuminating the white sands of the beach. Tall trees grew at the edge of the sand, which reminded him of the great coral forests underneath the sea. Turning his head skyward, Mitch saw for the first time the wisps of clouds floating way up high, creating shafts of light across the ocean. Birds flew across the sky, calling to their flocks in search of food.

'So beautiful…' he thought.

Mitch turned his head more, and looked right into a face that was not more than two inches from his. "Whoa!" Mitch jumped backwards.

"Hi, are you hurt anywhere?" Kirstie asked very slowly.

"No, who are you?" Mitch asked, frightened. From the look of the girl, she seemed to be a member of the Telchi tribe. Even though he knew his parents' ideas about the Telchi tribe were wrong, Mitch would admit to being a little frightened upon meeting an actual Telchi.

"Ah, you can speak my language. I kind of always thought sky people spoke to each other with bird calls or something." Kirstie said.

"Sky people? No, I'm not a sky person. I'm from the Belu tribe." Mitch said confused.

Kirstie frowned, "Belu?"

Mitch raised his eyebrow, "The Belu tribe, you know… from down there." He pointed towards the ocean.

Kirstie's eyes widened, 'That's why there was so much water…'

"You're from the ocean? Tell me about it, please!" She pleaded.

Mitch smirked, "You know, it's the ocean… there's lots of water and fish and stuff. Have you never seen it before?"

"Oh no," Kirstie shook her head, "this is the first time I've been anywhere before. I'm traveling for the first time with Father Antaeus and some others. I've only heard about the ocean in passing. Please, tell me about your world."

Mitch smiled at the strange girl, "Okay, but only if you tell me your name."

"Oh I'm so sorry," Kirstie giggled, "I never told you. I'm Kirstie."

"I'm Mitch," he replied.

Mitch regaled Kirstie with stories about life in the ocean. How light from the Father Star shone down in wavering shafts of light through the water. How people lived in towns made of carved coral. How people and fish swam side by side. He told her about his school, his home, his magick. He told her about his parents and their opinions of others. He even told her his secret desires to get away and explore what else the world had to offer. He told all of this to her, and when he was done, Kirstie told him about her home. How the flowers would dance when she would walk by the gardens. How the people of the valley would tend to the crops. How each night, the people would feast on the fruits of their harvest. She told him about the dances and the songs they would sing. She told him about her past, about Father Antaeus, her magicks, and how she came to live in the valley. She even told him about her hair.

After they were done, they sat in a comfortable silence. With nothing left to say, they took to looking at each other. They each looked into the eyes of the other and knew that they were quickly coming to be lifelong friends. In that moment, a strong bond was formed between the two.

Suddenly feeling very awkward, Mitch tried to come up with something to say. Before he could, Kirstie stood up.

"I have to go," Kirstie said abruptly.

Confused, Mitch stood, "Why do you have to go? Can't you stay for a while longer?"

"No," Kirstie said, gathering her meager belongings, "The sun has been down for a while, and I was supposed to be back by now."

"Oh," Mitch frowned, "So I guess this is goodbye then."

"Oh no," Kirstie smiled, "This isn't goodbye, merely a… see you later."

He smiled, "So I am going to see you again."

She laughed, "Of course silly, we're friends now. I wouldn't just abandon you. But I really must go for now."

"How will I know you'll be back here?" Mitch asked.

"Well…" Kirstie thought, then smiled. "Take this."

Kirstie held out her hand, and spoke, "Lumo de la suno, ili formas ŝtono de rilato, ke mi sciu mia amiko."

A small light appeared in her hand, illuminating the beach around them. Slowly, the glow faded as the light hardened to form a white stone.

Mitch looked on in amazement as he saw Kirstie manipulate light for the first time.

"Go on," Kirstie smiled, "Take this. Whenever I'm around, this will glow."

Mitch tentatively took the stone from her hand, and could feel the warmness of the captured light. Inspired, Mitch held out his hand, and spoke, "Ombroj de glacio, ili formas ŝtono de rilato, ke mi sciu mia amiko."

The darkness around them moved towards Mitch's outstretched hand and hardened. The dark stone shone with its' own anti-light in his hand.

Kirstie, just like Mitch, looked on in awe at Mitch's shadow magick.

"Take this," Mitch smiled, "When I'm around, the stone will get cold."

Kirstie looked up from his hand to his face. "You stole that trick from me, didn't you!"

Mitch laughed, "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. What are you going to do about it?"

Kirstie snatched the black stone from his hand. Grinning as she walked towards the forest, she yelled, "Someday I will get you back for that Mitch!"

Mitch only laughed harder as he ran back to the ocean. Just as he was about to jump into the water, he could hear Kirstie yell, "Oh, and Mitch? Thank you, for everything!"

"No problem!" Mitch yelled back as he dived into the water.

'Thank you, for being my friend.'

Well, that's it. Hopefully you all like this new chapter. Sorry for it being SUPER late, but work became my life for about a month and a half…. Anyways, it occurred to me that you all might want to understand what they're saying in the bold up there. It's in Esperanto, but to make it easier on you, I'm going to give you guys a translation at the end of every chapter. Or try to. If I forget anything, or you catch something weird in the story, or even if you just want to YOU CAN REVIEW! SO PLEASE DO!

PS: Review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, review, REVIEW.

Al la ombroj kiuj insidas en profunda anguloj, ĉirkaŭas min, ke mi ripozu.

To the shadows that lurk in the deep corners, around me, that I may rest.

Prenu min supren!

Take me upward!

Lumo de la suno, ili formas ŝtono de rilato, ke mi sciu mia amiko.

Light of the sun, form a stone of connection, that I may know my friend.

Ombroj de glacio, ili formas ŝtono de rilato, ke mi sciu mia amiko.

Shadows of ice, form a stone of connection, that I may know my friend.