Humans

This was a different pride than the one that had steered his life all this time. Rather than being too proud to do this or that, he had just been proud for the sake of being proud.

He hadn't felt anything when he learned he could make any Imprint under the sun with nothing but time, effort, and knowledge. He hadn't been proud when he realized he had killed an entire cave full of imps on his own.

Not after he stared down the assassin or stood up to Helga Grendeven. Not after taking down Garn Hedraple, who was twice his size.

In the moment? For the last three, maybe. But he never looked back on those and felt pride.

It was only a well-timed mental jab from Kravoss that shook him out of his daze, a mind-shaking squawk ringing through his head and making him wince from the pain.

'You done blowing a fuse?' Kravoss said disdainfully.

'The hell was that for, you feathery jerk?'

'Hey, you're the one flooding my mind with random feel-good confusion while I'm trying to read,' Kravoss countered. 'I tried to block it out, but it was too loud.'

Fate stopped himself before he said something. He also disliked being interrupted during reading sessions, and couldn't fault Kravoss for brushing up on his history.

The Dracok had started reading only recently, getting tired of wandering the town every day and needing something to do with his time. It benefitted both of them, as anything Kravoss learned was automatically part of Fate's knowledge as well.

'Of course you don't feel pride for those things,' Kravoss said.

The Dracok grabbed a bookmark with his beak and placed it carefully between the pages, flipping the book closed as he focused on this conversation.

'Pride in one's actions is to be felt when you overcome an impossible obstacle, when you achieve something no one has done before,' he continued. 'Failure was never an option for you, so success was guaranteed.

'But your past, like my scales, was something you worked for. Those days in the woods, those times you took down groups of bullies by yourself. Saving Samantha, saving Venden. You could've stayed inside, you could've walked away those days.

'Rather than being of proud of fighting two Masters, it's pride in helping your friends and standing strong no matter the odds against you that you should be feeling. I know that if you had to do it all over again, you would.

'THAT is something to be proud of. Why should you feel proud of something like fighting a Master? It's not like you won. If anything, you lost horribly and only got out of those situations because someone else saved you.

'But even knowing you might have died when you infiltrated the Grendeven estate, even when you could have given the antidote to the assassin for a guarantee at life, you didn't hesitate. You didn't waver.

'When the world wants to tear you down, you only stand taller. Why else would I tether myself to you as a Familiar?'

Fate stifled a laugh as he remembered Kravoss grooming himself, the image of a rooster bending its neck at awkward angles and flapping around in pools of water to clean itself seared into his brain.

That earned a glance from Samantha, but she didn't question it this time, knowing it was likely his Familiar.

'Thanks, Kravoss. I still don't know how you're so wise when you're younger than I am, but I'm glad to have you.'

'Remember that the next time YOU need help,' Kravoss sniffed, opening his book. 'Because next time, I'm not sitting on a roof while you play loner hero. I'll shove my help down your throat if I need to.'

'That's weird phrasing,' Fate chuckled.

Kravoss growled as he read Fate's thoughts, noticing that his master hadn't agreed. 'I mean it. Friends help each other. Families even more so. How can we call each other partners if you're the one doing all the heavy lifting?'

Kravoss never said anything about being cordoned to the rooftop that night Fate had faced off against Helga because he knew Fate didn't see that action in such a way, but he had been planning to talk to Fate about this for a while.

While Kravoss preferred independence, and respected Fate's own, he wasn't stupid.

The point of the Familiar-master bond was to have a companion to grow with, to cover your weaknesses, repair your shortcomings, and play and build upon the other's strengths.

Kravoss, having been raised to be a Familiar for most of his life, knew this better than anyone. A master that didn't take full advantage of their partner in study, battle, or thought, or a Familiar who failed to do so, was failing their master or Familiar.

It was no different from cutting off your own hand. It was a ludicrous handicap that Fate was trying to enforce on himself, but Kravoss wouldn't allow it.

With two minds working in tandem, two perspectives, two lines of sight, two suites of abilities, two worldviews, how could a Familiar and their master not be anything other than terrifying when used together?

They can spot facts or come to ideas that the other would never even think of, coordinate to devastate an lone enemy by exploiting their blind side, lessen the difficulty of fighting while outnumbered.

And Fate neglected to take advantage of it. Even just now, when he heard Kravoss' thoughts on the matter, it went in one metaphorical ear and out the other.

If his master continued such a path, he would come out weaker than he should be, not stronger.

Taking the world onto your shoulders was a heavy burden that no mortal could bear forever. While Fate wasn't 'mortal' in the sense that he had a Facet, he was still undeniably mortal in terms of death.

He could still be stabbed, poisoned, shot, drowned, and die to man's oldest enemy, time.

Unlike Atlas, whose immortality allowed him to persist and bear the heavens forever, Fate was human.

And humans could break.