Bonds of String: Round 2, SE

The sun hung just above the horizon, shining pale and yellow upon Shadow's Pass Graveyard. Its clear light illuminated ancient gravestones, twisted paths, and bare trees, transforming a dark, misty nightmare into a sad, yet peaceful dream.
And, within that graveyard, something strange enough to be a dream itself was occurring. Four enemies walked along a curling, meandering path together as friends. Admittedly, they were not chattering together or walking arm-in-arm, but they went in peace together, and somehow, not a tinge of animosity stiffened the air about them.
In silence the four walked until they came upon a tall hill, around which every path in the graveyard spiraled to a meeting point. Upon the hill was a round building, open-sided like a garden gazebo. It was obviously old and weathered, built of dark brown wood and a strange green-tinted stone, but despite its apparent age, it seemed well-cared for. Though plants and moss grew in wild abandon all about it, very little of the greenery had encroached upon the interior, which was shadowed by both the plant life and the sloping roof.
The group regarded it quietly, as they had done almost everything since waking up that morning.
Finally, as though she was afraid of shattering that silence, Annie asked, "what is it?"
"A memorial," Koa replied. "For the first bonded pair. It should be a safe haven – no plush worth its fluff will do battle in there."
"Sanctuary," Sienna said, and Kit nodded in reply.
Annie took three steps forward, then stopped and looked back on the others.
"Go ahead, take a look around," Koa said. "I'll be right with you."
Nervously, Annie shuffled her feet. Sienna glanced between Koa and Kit, the two of them staring at each other, and hurried forward to join Annie.
"I'll come with you," she said, and the human girls scurried up the steep hill together, leaving the plushes alone.
Almost as one, the two of them took breath and began to speak.
"For what it's worth, I – "
"I feel I must say – "
They broke off, and an awkward silence fell. At last Kit cleared her throat, and Koa nodded to her.
"I just wanted to say…I mean, I'm sorry – deeply sorry – about…well, your human, last night."
Kit took a deep breath and continued.
"I honestly didn't expect anything like her here, and I know an apology isn't much, but…I don't have much else."
Koa was silent for a while, gathering words himself.
"I think…I can forgive you that, if you can forgive me for the hurts your human suffered through your bond. Now, looking back with a clear mind, I should not have pursued battle. I am sorry also."
The uncomfortable silence returned, and Kit laughed shortly.
"We're enemies," she said. "By principle alone, we should be tearing at each other! But…"
The kitsune stopped speaking. Her eyes were trained on the memorial, but she obviously didn't truly see it.
Koa didn't need an explanation; he understood her perfectly, and this understanding was the last thing he would ever have expected.
Neither of them could think of the other as a dire foe, but there was too much distance imposed to feel connected as friends. They believed themselves on opposite sides of a war, and so the title 'comrades' was immediately scratched out also. They could only be…
"Strangers," Koa said aloud, drawing Kit's attention. "We're strangers – acquaintances at best. And for the sake of our Ladies, it is best we remain this."
"I agree." Kit paused a moment, then added, "Why do you call her that?"
"Who? What?"
"Your human, your bond. Why call her your Lady?"
"Because it is the sacred duty of a plush to protect his bonded one from nightmares and evil, as it was the sacred duty of a knight to protect his lady from dragons and the like."
Kit tossed him a surprised glance.
"You believe in that old creed?"
Koa gazed evenly at the kitsune with glossy black eyes.
"You don't?"
"It's just…it's so…outdated," Kit muttered, turned half-away from Koa and not meeting his eyes. "And it only lets you be disappointed. Some nightmares can't be prevented…and some are necessary."
"To my thinking," Koa replied, "honor is outside of time, and there is no such thing as a necessary evil."
"This whole battle is a necessary evil."
Koa shot Kit a sharp look, but said nothing.
After another moment, Kit heaved a sigh and faced Koa.
"Well, then…goodbye, stranger."
"Goodbye. We have not met, and may we never meet again."
"Right. Sienna!"
The red-haired girl appeared at the edge of the pavilion, looking questioningly at her bonded plush.
"Come on, let's go."
Sienna nodded, disappeared inside again to say farewell to Annie, and finally emerged in clear sunlight. She started to descend the hill, and Kit moved toward her. At the last moment, though, Koa caught the kitsune's side with one paw, stopping her for just a second of time.
"Take care of her," the koala admonished his enemy. "You often don't know what you have until you lose it – my Lady has been haunted by such a loss for a long time now, and it is my great regret that I didn't do anything to prevent it when I could have."
"Don't lecture me about loss – I've had my share," Kit replied quietly, showing her teeth along one side of her muzzle. "And don't tell me what to do concerning my own bond!"
Koa released her immediately, though his voice and bearing remained calm and casual.
"A piece of friendly advice, that's all."
Kit regarded him a moment longer, relaxed her muzzle, and with a quick snort of air, turned to leave. As she drew near Sienna, the girl threaded her fingers through the kitsune's neck ruff, and they set off down the path together.
Koa climbed the hill and stood with Annie in the memorial, watching the strangers until a bend in the path and a slope of the ground took them from sight.
"D'you think they'll be okay, Koa?"
Koa took Annie's hand in his paw, careful of his stone claws.
"It's hard to say, milady," he replied softly. "Few things are certain in this world – in any world."
"I hope they will be. Sienna was nice, and Kit…I don't know. Kit's scary…but not in a bad way."
"I think Kit is lost," Koa replied. "Like the knight in the story I told you once, the one in the misted maze. Remember?"
"He was so sad, he couldn't find the way out," Annie recited. "And he couldn't get out until he learned to laugh again."
"That's the one."
Annie was silent for a while, then squeezed Koa's paw and softly said, "It's not that easy, is it? In real life, I mean."
The little girl sat down, and Koa stroked her hair gently.
"No, not always. Kit thinks she needs to find the way out to be happy, and so does Sienna, doesn't she?"
"I guess so. But Koa," Annie craned her head back to peer up at her plush, "they have each other, don't they? Why can't they be happy that way?"
"I don't know," Koa responded, his eyes distant. "That's a question to ask them. Not me."
"Hmm. Koa?"
"Yes, milady?"
"Are…are we happy?"
"Yes. I know I am, at least. Are you?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, there you are, then."
"Koa? Does that mean we're getting out of the maze?"
Koa smiled and leaned his forehead down to touch the girl's.
"It means we were never in it to begin with."
"Oh, good."
When Annie next spoke, it was in a whisper so soft that Koa barely heard it.
"I really hope they're okay."
Koa hesitated just a moment before hugging Annie and whispering in reply, "I hope so, too."