Book 2 Chapter 68

Travelling on the back of Rotter was now a familiar experience for Willow. Watching the scenery as it went by with his senses fully extended and taking everything in was freeing in a way that he couldn’t fully articulate.

Maple wasn’t quite as appreciative of the experience.

“How much longer will this take?” She groused to Miss Mu, likely more upset about their eventual destination rather than the speed they were getting there.

He actually wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about visiting his grandmother either. Like his own mother she was more of a theoretical figure to him, but unlike his Ma he didn’t even have any stories to base things off of.

So he was more willing to see how things went when he eventually did meet her.

“As I said before, at least another week.” Miss Mu’s muffled voice answered his sister’s question from beneath her wide brimmed hat. Tensions between the two of them weren’t exactly high, but there had been some bickering as Maple got used to travelling in this manner and her anxiety about actually meeting their grandmother grew.

“And as I said before, if you just tell me where she is I can take Willow there much faster.”

Willow heard a sigh coming from his mentor’s covered face.

“We are not going over this again. I need to be there for the initial meetin’, and I’m not leavin’ Rotter behind. So tough it out, girly.”

Instead of replying, she just grunted out a noise of frustration and flew off, somewhat surprising to Willow, though not as much as it would’ve been before they started travelling together again.

Impatience and the urge to move had seemed to creep into most facets of his sister at this point. Which gave him the perfect opportunity to ask something he’d been curious about his mentor for quite some time.

“How much do the bonds with our spirits affect our personalities?”

Miss Mu groaned, upset that she wasn’t going to get that nap she obviously wanted, but the question seemed to have piqued her interest enough that she still sat up and moved her hat back to the top of her head.

“That depends on a lot of factors.” She started while loading her pipe with herbs and held it out for Eos to light, something both boy and spirit were more than used to at this point. Willow decided to let his friend stay out for the conversation since there weren’t any people sharing the road with them currently, and he felt that his friends were unfairly cooped up for the duration of his stay in Acerorazon.

After she puffed away on her pipe a few times she continued her explanation. “As you’ve probably noticed by now I have a bit of a vested interest in figurin’ that out. I bound Huey when I was quite young, and at this point I can’t be sure how much of his curiosity bleedin’ over has changed me as a person.”

She waved her pipe in the air, trails of smoke following it as she gathered her thoughts. “What I’ve determined is that there isn’t really any consistency on this matter. The age of the binder and the technique used seem to be the largest contributin’ factor, but since there are as many bindin’ techniques as there are stars in the sky I can’t get any clear data on what factor allows the spirit’s personality to spread like that. The fact I used the exact same technique to bind Rotter and Ros yet I haven’t been nearly as influenced by them implies that age is the more important factor, but I’m only a single data point.”

Mu let out a cloud of smoke as she sighed. “It’s doubly difficult to track influence like that since people are prone to change over time regardless. Take yourself for example, in the time I’ve known you you’ve grown and changed quite a bit. You used to have a bit of a perfectionist streak going on, but now you seem to understand that failure is a part of growth. Was that all you, did the twins influence you through your bond, or did you just take in the lessons of your teachers and finally ease up on yourself? Who can really say?”

Willow let that stew for a bit. He hadn’t ever been concerned about his friends influencing his personality, and even now he still wasn’t, but now he wondered what he’d be like if he’d only bound Eos and had never met Harmony and Change.

Then again, there would’ve been so many other changes to his life if he hadn’t met them that it was almost not worth thinking about. Maple likely would’ve been bound to a demon, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to mend his relationship with Yew, and he wouldn’t have become a Wanderer’s apprentice.

His life was changed for the better from their meeting, and if the price for that meeting was a subtle shift in his thinking over time then he paid that price gladly.

“For what it’s worth, friend, the nature of our bond means you’re influencing us just as much as we’re influencing you.” Change chimed in from his internal space, likely listening in and getting worried when Willow had gone silent following his mentor’s explanation.

Willow sent his friend a hug, along with a message saying that he wasn’t worried about their influence before relaying what Change had said to Miss Mu.

She puffed on her pipe in thought. “I suppose that makes an amount of sense. Your bindin’ technique is based on a promise of friendship, and the influence of friends goes both ways.”

The two continued to chat and share their views on the subjects for a time until Maple finally cooled off enough to come back.

After the corona of light faded around her she eventually apologized to Willow’s mentor and Willow himself.

“I’m sorry for being so snippy lately, I know the both of you don’t deserve it. I’m just impatient to get this initial meeting over with.”

Miss Mu gave her a tired smile. “I know this meetin’ is gonna be more than a little tense for you, but try to keep an open mind. While I can’t say that your Gran had no involvement in what happened to your family, she regretted what happened enough to risk separating from one of the most powerful men in the territories, and that ain’t nothin’.”

Maple sighed. “You’re right, but it doesn’t make this any easier for us.”

She unsteadily walked on the back of the moving snake and sat next to Willow, wrapping him in a hug which he returned.

“Ma didn’t talk about her family often, but the little she said didn’t exactly paint a flattering picture of them. Grandpa wanted her to be a docile little doll, while Grandma was in charge of training her how to fight, and she wasn’t gentle about it.”

Mu cocked her head to the side. “Teachin’ her to fight sounds counterintuitive to your grandfather’s goal, doesn’t it? Sounds to me they didn’t see eye to eye on many things involving your mother.”

Maple hugged Willow tighter as she continued to think.

“I suppose I’ll at least hear her out.”