"Before I take the offered hand, I must first say what must be said, and if the hand remain, it shall be accepted. There is long though somewhat dilute tradition here regarding the bonding with bird and beast. It is a gift given to few, and I never dreamed it ran in my own veins. In my own teachings, in the monastery at Nevarsin, I was told that these are our little brothers and sisters, perhaps less wise than we, but no less deserving of respect and love, for they two were the product of divine creation", he said.
Kay smiled, remembering how much of a surprise it had been (way back in her mid-teens) when she had made the same discovery. She was glad that it had been Master Merrick who'd answered the call, and equally glad to be able to counsel him. Some things were easier when a person didn't have to do them alone.
Ceroill gave her an odd look. Then he explained "I fear that I cannot truly see this linking as a religious path, but it is still a matter of the spirit and the deepest mind. Never would I tread on this passage lightly, nor would I seek to offend those who see it as you do. I will take your hand in friendship, as a supplicant for what guidance you may give, but I cannot bind myself to a faith I do not share as you do", came the explanation. "The owl will become as a part of myself, in fact he already is becoming so. ", he admitted. "I, too, have had a void in my spirit and heart, one that has waited many many years to find the right partner".
Puzzlement and confusion rose up in Kay's face. Perhaps she hadn't made things clear enough. "You do NOT need to worship the Almighty through the Goddess in order to form a bond. She is neither more or less powerful than Jesu Christophoros; just different", she told him, concentrating on being careful to form each word clearly, "The ways of Nevarsin would have done for you what the ways of the Goddess have done for me -- provide a way to train the mind in self-discipline and leave it open to being willing to consider that which lies beyond mundane perception".
"But were it not for your monastery training, and your faith in him who you worship, might ye instead have run from us in superstitious dread, screaming about demons loose in the city ?", Kay asked softly, "I've heard of such things happenning back on Terra, where an overstressed mind snapped when confronted with evidence of such things. Or where people were falsely called insane,and were persecuted for having such talents".
He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment or two, before speaking again. "It seems this is a night for miscommunication", he said with a slight chuckle. "Firstly, I know that a bond can be formed without your particular faith. This has been going on here for countless years, and there is a respected family whose specialty beastbonding is. I simply meant that I will not become as you are in order to gain your acceptance.
"Aye", she replied, "THAT is what I was trying to say ... though I've not heard that there were others with our gifts -- not in anything I didn;t dismiss as a child's fairytale or a drunken ramble". Voice rising with excitement, a question popped out before it could be muffled by self-doubt and caution. "Who ARE they ?", came the anxious demand, "and what else do you know of them ?". Hope bubbled up ike water in a newly-dug well. What if they were blood-kin ? The clue was almost too tempting to be more than a momentary distraction. Then, "Nay ... I forget my manners. I should let ye finish first. There will be time for such questions later", Kay corrected herself firmly, gesturing for him to continue.
Ceroill looked at her curiously, before once again picking up his train of thought. "Second, I fear you are under a fairly common misconception of the Cristoforos. It is not Jesu for whom they are named, but for Christopher of Centaurus, a form of the Terran Saint Christopher, patron saint of travellers. The man who founded the monastery was a follower of that sect, and many of the teachings have come down to us. We call him The Bearer of Burdens."
Kay blushed at her error. "Thank you for the correction, my friend", her soft voice replied, "I know little enough of your faith. My grandfather was sworn to Jesu Christoforos who is said to take the burdens of all his followers onto himself, I had thought this the same figure which my father spoke of when he'd once told me the story of how (as a young man) he'd been sent to the monks of Nevarsin for a season in order to learn to control his pride and temper. Both of them always claimed that faith was a private and personal matter, and that I should visit their place of worship if I wished to know more -- but I never did".
He nodded in acknowledgement, then began to speak again."Let us take hands, then, and share our wisdoms and counsels, be friends and co-discoverers of new dimensions of soul. Whether the goddesses and gods guided this meeting I do not claim to know, but how can they frown on such a thing? Let us make our journeys together."