Bonding

From Honorverse

Bonding, also refered to as adoption, was an enduring psychic connection between a human and a Sphinxian treecat.

The first bonding occurred when Stephanie Harrington, an eleven-year-old girl, and Climbs Quickly(Lionheart) a male treecat, met when she finally managed to figure out who or what had been raiding small amounts of celery from farms and greenhouses across Sphinx. It continued to develop for some time, especially during a fight they had with a hexapuma after she had a hang-gliding accident. Until her death, they remained inseparable. (HHA2.2: WPD)

On the instructions of Queen Adrienne whose life had been saved by a treecat, and who was herself a treecat adoptee, the Royal Manticoran Navy officially welcomed any treecat bonded to a crewmember aboard RMN vessels. In the Navy, as elsewhere, the nature of the relation between human treecat was easily misunderstood, often as pet and owner, producing resentments. (HH1)

The loss of a bonded partner was difficult for either party and often resulted in suicide of the treecat; a very few cases of "re-bonding" had occurred of which the best known was Samantha's adoption of Hamish Alexander some time her original person's death. This case was also special in that Samantha adopted Alexander after having known him for a considerable time –- normally, bonding seemed to happen within seconds after the first meeting between a human and the treecat adoption team. (HH10)