Part One: Birth

Warmth and darkness surrounded the small entity. Secure within its physical
limitations, the tiny sentience sent forth tendrils of consciousness, barely
brushing against the currents of the dimensions. Her physical limitations kept
her consciousness from delving too deep, but she was happy skimming the surfaces
of the few thoughts she came into contact with. The habitat she was cradled in
possessed a small amount of energy, but it was more than enough to keep her
satiated as she sat, content and happy. After a while, a few thousand years or
maybe seconds, she brushed against a thought that felt different from all the
others. Feeling a rush of warmth, she slowly followed the thought and felt
others that went with it. The thoughts were all similar even though the emotions
they conveyed changed at times. Then suddenly the other consciousness was gone
and for the first time, the entity felt a sense of aloneness.

Turning this new feeling over and over in its mind, the consciousness no longer
found the other thoughts to be as pleasant. Instead, she waited, sending out her
wisps of consciousness in hopes of encountering the other mind once again.
Periodically, she would sense it, and a great joy would fill her being causing
her physical shell to glow. The other mind was methodical and yet filled with a
vast range of emotions, like beautiful colours shifting and changing in a
celestial dance. A great longing was the foremost emotion in the mind and that
longing began to fill the small entity too. It wanted very much to soothe and
satisfy whatever need the other consciousness had. The shell that once seemed to
fit perfectly, now felt constraining, as the small consciousness grew in its
thoughts and feelings. She longed now for more space and to be able to seek out
that other mind.

After a time, the mind came within range and stayed the longest that it had
yet. Gladness for its presences filled her being, her shell radiating more light
and warmth than ever before. Then, for the first time, she felt the mind brush
against hers of its own accord. Startled, she drew back instinctively, but then
very shyly, when the mind did not try to press further, she reached out to it,
hesitantly brushing across its thoughts. The thoughts met hers, entwining gently
while caressing her consciousness. Emboldened, the entity stretched herself even
further, meshing her thoughts with the other ones, feeling them flood her being
with a new sensation - love. Filled with this love, she grew, straining against
her shell, trying hard to reach the mind more fully. Her consciousness now
concentrating on one thing entirely, she caused her shell to begin to burn hotly
as she gave off energy. Finally, the shell could take no more, and in a moment
of ecstasy so supreme as to be both pleasure and pain, the entity burst forth,
letting herself be fully known and integrated with the other mind. She heard the
words through the thoughts of the other mind as it said, "I shall name you,
Swordfish."

Part Two: Ione

Life was good. The algontherine, Swordfish, was quite happy being aetherbonded
to the one called Laranda. He was a good bondmate. Together, they made a great
team as the two of them explored the vast reaches of Aetherspace, sometimes
alone, and sometimes together. Laranda's physical family were frequent crew
members and the Swordfish enjoyed them all very much. They made her laugh within
her thoughts at their funny witticisms and silly songs. They were always very
respectful of Laranda and trusted him completely as their pilot. As well they
should, because he was the safest, most careful pilot in the realms. Very rarely
did the shell which housed her ever explode, and when it did, no one hurt more
because of it than Laranda. The best times though were those in which it was
just the two of them. Laranda would often hunt and trade alone, his quick mind
and versatility allowing him to take on various crew roles as needed. Alone with
his gentle, intelligent mind was pure bliss. His joy at discovering new bubbles
was also hers and his frustration when something went wrong caused her sadness.
He took wonderful care of her and knew that she was conscious even though she
couldn't speak to him directly in his language. In return, she trusted herself
to him completely, responding to his mental commands without hesitation.
Together, they were conquering aetherspace as one.

Observing the creatures that frequented her physical self, the sentience could
not help but notice that they often came in pairs. Laranda had two of them that
he called parents, a male and a female and then a brother that was paired with
one of Laranda's proteges. It was interesting to watch how they interacted with
another, the thoughts and feelings of the pairs more enmeshed with one another
than with the thoughts and feelings of others. Apparently, the creatures needed
to physically and emotionally bond deeply with one of their kind. They were also
not able to reproduce without this physical bond. Laranda, however, seemed
content enough for now without it. After all, he had her.

After several happy years together, Laranda took on yet another protege. A
female of the same race as he. The sentience noticed that Laranda seemed
slightly distracted whenever his thoughts turned to the girl. The sentience was
worried about the distraction, not liking Laranda's thoughts to be ruffled. One
month shortly thereafter, Laranda brought his protege on board for a hunt. The
sentience was not very impressed. The creature was very small and weak seeming.
When she locked into a turret, her presence was barely felt in the sentience's
mind, so the Swordfish just dismissed her and listened to Laranda's commands.

Two months later, the wee girl was back, Laranda wanting her to try empathing.
The sentience was slightly apprehensive at such a young creature being in charge
of healing her. The girl locked into the module and sent out a small tendril of
thought towards the sentience. It was a thought of greeting! The sentience was
surprised and lightly brushed the girl's mind out of curiousity. As the girl
joined herself to the empathic grid, her thoughts and mind became more open to
the Swordfish and the sentience was amazed. The girl's thoughts and feelings
were much like her beloved Laranda's. The familiarity of them pleased her and
she pulsed with a warm glow. As she gently probed while the girl was acting as
empath, she discovered that the girl's thoughts were the same colours as
Laranda's and had very similar patterns. But where Laranda's were sharp and
crystalline, the girls were more nebulous, soft and rounded. Where Laranda
existed in the girl's thoughts, the sentience encountered a very deep emotion,
like her own bond with the man. She quickly focused on Laranda, searching his
mind for thoughts about the girl. She found his were the same, though not yet as
clear. Chuckling in her aetherthoughts, the sentience was amused that both of
the creatures were trying very hard to suppress their feelings.

More and more frequently, the young girl came to the Swordfish. Sometimes as a
crew member and sometimes she came to visit, at least that is how it seemed to
the sentience. When the girl's small, gentle hands worked the empathic grid, the
sentience felt safe, knowing that the girl was very attentive and listening to
Laranda. Very shyly, the girl began to sometimes talk to the sentience, just
simple things, like telling the Swordship that she appreciated how well the
swordship ran and how much she was growing to love the sentience. The Swordfish
too found herself becoming attached to the girl. Not the same sort of bond she
had with Laranda, no one could ever replace him, but still, she was very fond of
the girl. She watched and waited, knowing the fickleness of the young physical
creatures from observation, still acting slightly reserved with the girl.

A year passed and the girl grew mentally and emotionally, learning from Laranda
about life in the realms. The sentience noticted that the girl loved aetherspace
and its many adventures as much as she and Laranda did. Still, the girl and
Laranda were keeping silent about their feelings for one another. The sentience
was confused as to why, but kept quiet, watching to see what would develop.
Then, one month, everyone was on board and seemed to be celebrating. Apparently
the girl had just achieved some sort of maturation stage within one of the
organizations that Laranda belonged to. After everyone had left, Laranda was
alone with the girl and the sentience. Feeling the colours of Laranda's thoughts
swirling about in commotion, pulsing warmly, the sentience focused all of her
attention on the two creatures. After wasting a bit of time in trying to
communicate with one another effectively, much to the sentience amusement,
Laranda finally said, "I love you, Ione." They were three now. The sentience
gave a mental sigh of happiness, life was good.