Shadows and Bonds

This never should have happened.

This never has happened before.

Yet here they are, connected under the most unusual and baffling circumstances, with only brands on their ring fingers and the shadow-memory of a man in their subconscious to prove it's real. 

As if the feeling like their organs are being strung from their bodies, their ribs and spines threatening to snap if they dare step too far apart aren't indicators enough...

They're really Bonded.

And whatever happens next is going to suck.