The Difference Between Bonds and Gifts

      Bonds and gifts are very different. Even with the technicallity of grammer, Bond is capitalized and gift isn't.

      A Bond is an actual tie between a person and something other than the person. There are four common different types of Bonds:
      The SoulBond - the rare Bond that connects one human being to another in a tie stronger than love. When two Bonded see each other for the first time, they can't help but stare at each other. It's the connection.
      The AnimalBond - the Bond that connects a human being to an animal, like the Bonds the BrotherMages have with their animals. You don't have to be a BrotherMage to have one, though.
      The MagicBond - the Bond that connects a living being with the magic energy that lies in the Earth and everything that resides on it. When trained, one can manipulate the energy that lies within oneself, and when trained to the highest form, Craft, can manipulate the energies of matter other than that of oneself. They're called mages.
      The ElementBond - the Bond that connects a living being with on of the Elements of the World. But instead of controlling it, it pretty much controls them.

      There are five Elements of the World: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Magic. Magic refers to the energy that is within everything. But if you have a MagicBond you do not necessarily have an ElementBond; the two Bonds act so differently that they are considered different.

      The fifth and most powerful Bond is the rarest of all: the HeartBond. But just because it is rare does not mean it is random. Starting with the first High King and High Queen, James and Evelina, every King and Queen have had a HeartBond between them, and only the King and Queen. If the heir is male, he will marry to his HeartBonded. If the heir is female, she will marry to her HeartBonded. But it is not cruel, though it is predetermined by the Lady Herself. The HeartBond is an extention of the SoulBond, only so different that it is its own Bond. So because of the SoulBond, the Bonded couple fall deeply in love anyway. But the first effects of the SoulBond (staring) do not go into effect with the HeartBond.

      Gifts are different that Bonds in the respect that they are the power within oneself to succeed in that area. Bonds connect you with something/someone else, gifts open you to the talent you have. The five gifts are:
      The Gift of Combat - that of fighting
      The Gift of Healing - the ability to Heal others using the energy that resides within the Healer
      The Gift of Feeling - that of sensing emotions of others, sometimes more
      The Gift of Music - musically talented people
      The Gift of Mind - having telepathy with others

      In respect, the Healing gift is much like the MagicBond, where the Healer uses the energy within him/herself to Heal, as mages do. But Healers cannot reach a level like Craft, where they can use the energies of other things like CraftMages do. The only way that would be possible is if a Healer were to work with a CraftMage.