Lost Creek Hollow of the men

It was nice to have someone to talk to about this, to share with. Although this woman did not fully grasp what he was saying - she equated the aokatti to a marriage bond which was Kigipigak's fault; he had failed to explain adequately. Maybe it was a case of this particular bond being something profound and hard to quantify that made this difficult.

Marriage comes for many reasons, but an aokatti is.. different. He did not know how to explain it; his mother could have done so, had she been present. Kigipigak could not recall if she ever divulged who her bond was with, or if she had ever formed one. Such thoughts distracted him a moment.

These blood bonds are forged through combat, at least that is how I have understood it from teachings. They can occur between brothers and sisters who have a strong enough bond, or between companions, and it is a bond specific to those who share an intense trust. Yes, that was it - trust, that was the basis of the aokatti.

Sometimes it can take years to form such a bond. It is possible for someone to go through life without one, but I have not heard of many. It is... private, this connection. My people do not flaunt them but my village is small and secluded, so there is nobody to tell, really. He felt as if he had been talking too much; but the woman had asked questions and he wanted to give a suitable answer.

When the bond is formed the two halves cut their arms and mix their blood, forever linking one-another. They come to aid their companion whenever asked, and often fight side-by-side against their enemies. He smiles at this, as this was his favorite part of the story his mother had passed on to her children. Two strong beasts of Tartok united in battle.