Soulbound Ch 10: An Intense Feeling, Awaken In The Pink Cavern

(Kaida)

There it was again—that strange... tingle.

It started in my chest, then spread outward like soft lightning, zipping through every nerve ending in my massive body. My fingers twitched. My toes curled slightly, causing distant waves to ripple against unseen continents. My breath hitched. I wasn't even doing anything—just sitting there in the middle of an entire planet's ocean, trying not to break anything too important, and suddenly...

Warmth.

Not heat like a fire, or the sun, or even the core of a star. No, this was different. This was the kind of warmth that hummed through your skin and seeped into your soul—like being held. Like finally having the one piece you never realized was missing click into place.

I wobbled slightly. Oh stars, was I... dizzy?

I leaned back ever so carefully, catching myself with both hands pressed into the ocean behind me. Not that the water resisted much—it was already barely licking past my waist, and now it felt even shallower.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Had I just... grown?

I looked down at my legs—stretched farther than before, the shorelines hugging my ankles had been pushed back. I'd shifted entire coastlines. Whole ecosystems probably just had a bad day.

"Oops," I mumbled.

But this wasn't the time for guilt—not yet anyway. Right now, I knew what this was. I had read about it. Studied it. Dreamed about it, even if I told myself I didn't.

The soulbond had settled.

My other half... was inside me now.

And my body was responding. No one ever really taught us how it felt—probably because it was so rare. Most of my kind went their whole lives without finding their soulbound. We were simply too vast. Too scattered. Too... different. And now here I was, living the one moment we all secretly wondered about.

I felt like my skin was glowing. My bones buzzed. My belly—my very essence—was warm and full and soft, like I was holding something infinitely precious inside me.

It didn't exactly feel good. It was intense. Kind of like being stretched in places I didn't know could stretch—mentally and physically. But I welcomed it. All of it. This was our moment.

I closed my eyes, smiled softly to myself, and let it wash over me.

And then—clear as a crystal bell ringing out through the cosmos—I heard it.

"Where am I?"

I froze.

My eyes snapped open.

My head jerked up like someone had just slapped me with a moon.

That voice. That voice.

It wasn't one I recognized, not exactly. But it was. I knew it. I knew who it belonged to before he even said anything else.

It was him, my other self, my soulbound.

Oh, stars above, he was awake already?! That was way earlier than expected! The connection was still syncing, I hadn't even gotten a chance to practice my introduction yet!

I blinked a few times. Okay, don't panic. Deep breaths. You've definitely got this, Kaida. You've survived solar storms, hunted void beasts, and passed three galactic diplomacy exams. You can handle talking to your tiny soulbound without completely terrifying him... right?

...Right?

"Uh... hi..." I said, voice echoing awkwardly across the mental tether between us.

***

(Scott)

I woke up to... pink.

Just—pink. Everywhere. Not soft pastel pink, either. I'm talking warm, slightly glistening, alive-looking pink, like I'd fallen asleep inside someone's tongue.

"What the hell...?" I muttered, my voice sounding weirdly distant, like I was speaking inside a fishbowl.

The walls around me pulsed ever so slightly, like they were breathing. And they were wet. Not soaking, but damp enough that I felt like I was inside something organic. There was this faint shimmer to everything, like a sticky film clung to the walls, gently catching the soft glow that radiated from nowhere and everywhere.

"Where am I?" I said again, louder this time.

The second I spoke, the world around me shifted—except... it didn't. The cavern didn't tremble like you'd expect. It felt more like I moved. Like my body had just gently floated a few inches to the left, without my legs ever taking a step.

Weird. Really weird.

Then a voice echoed around me, soft and almost shy, like someone trying to whisper through a hallway made of clouds.

"Uh... hi."

I blinked. "Huh? Hi. Who... who is this?"

"I'm Kaida," the voice said. "You know... the person you saw before."

I squinted. "You mean—wait. That Titan? That was you?"

There was a long pause. Then:

"...Yes."

Oh man. My brain tried to picture that again—the sky-scraping woman rising out of the ocean like a living mountain, waves crashing off her skin, her head in the clouds, literal continents shifting when she sat down.

And I talked to that? She's talking to me?

My eyes widened as a much more disturbing memory floated to the surface.

Wait.

Wait a freaking second.

Didn't she... didn't she put me in her—

"Hold on," I said quickly, spinning around. "Where exactly am I right now?"

There was a small pause.

"That's... a long story," she said, sounding embarrassed.

My hands flew to my face as I tried to keep from spiraling. But that's when I saw my hands—and froze.

They were blue. Not just blue—glowing and semi-transparent, like they were made of freaking energy or plasma or something. They shimmered when I moved them, little ripples chasing my fingers like tiny fireflies.

And below?

No legs. Just this... floaty trail. Like a ghost.

"Oh my god," I whispered. "What happened to my body?"

"Okay—okay, don't freak out," Kaida said quickly. "I was just about to explain. You're not in danger, I promise. I would never, ever hurt you."

"Okay," I said, raising my weird glowing hands. "Okay. Just... tell me what the hell is going on."

"Right now," Kaida began gently, "you're in what we call a soul state. It's... the safest place you can be. No pain, no injury, nothing can touch you here."

I blinked. "So... am I dead?"

"No," she said quickly. "You're not dead. But you're... close to the edge, I guess. It's a space between life and death, tied to me now. Your real body is still intact and safe—useless for now, but you should be able to see it."

I turned slowly, scanning the pink, fleshy cavern. And there—off to the side—tucked gently between what looked suspiciously like folds of flesh, I saw it.

Me.

Or rather, my actual, physical body. Just... sleeping. Peaceful. Like I was taking the weirdest nap ever inside a space whale.

My glowing, floating form stared at it in stunned silence.

"Why?" I asked finally. "Why did you do this to me?"

There was a pause. Then, quietly:

"Because I had to."

I turned toward the voice, heart pounding. "Had to?"

"You're my Soulbound," she said softly.

I stared blankly into the air.

"...Your what?"