The female with the brown skin and long braids folded her arms over her chest and shook her head. Drovo looked thoughtful and walked into the forest. A moment later he returned with a perfectly proportional walking stick for her to use.
“Where did you find this? It’s perfectly smooth and just the right height.” The female commented as she inspected it.
“I’m glad it is to your liking, Kayla. The goddess blessed me with this good find.” Drovo raked his hand through his hair as he gave her a nervous smile.
“Nice walking stick,” a tan female weighed in.
“Thanks, Anusha,” Kayla smiled as she put her weight on it, testing its strength.
“You want to walk together again,” Anusha asked.
Kayla looked up at Drovo and worried at her bottom lip. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“What about you?” Lumod smiled down at the smallest female of the group. “Are you going to deny my help as well?”
“I don’t know, are you up to the challenge? I hear it’s a very long walk,” the small female with the short black hair grinned up at him.
“Challenge? Carrying you will be no challenge. Come, climb onto my back and I will show you.” Lumod got down on one knee and the short woman climbed up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I could run the entire distance of the forest and not grow tired with you on my back.” Lumod grinned and I rolled my eyes and headed back to Gab-bae. I was afraid I was about to witness a whole new side to my hunters that I’d never seen before. If we could make it to the mountain without them falling all over themselves to impress these females I would consider it a miracle.
Gabby
Half a day into our journey and so far so good. Everyone was getting along, no one was bickering–except for Fatima telling Talia not to touch things–and everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
The guys kept a watchful eye on the women as well as our surroundings and Tarak held my hand and smiled down at me every time I looked up at him. I knew we might be moving fast, and I still couldn’t believe that I’d told him my heart beats for him too last night. It felt like such a bold proclamation to make for knowing someone for one day, but it felt right. As they say: when you know, you know.
Although our journey had been wonderfully uneventful so far, the women were starting to look tired. I heard a river nearby and the thought of splashing some cool water on my face sounded so refreshing.
“Can we stop by the river to rest for a moment?” I asked Tarak, and he nodded.
“We will stop at the river to eat and rest,” Tarak announced to the group.
It wasn’t long before we got to the riverbank and found a calm spot where the current was weak. Everyone found their own place along the river to rest and wash up.
“I wish there was more shade here.” Kayla stated as she held her hand over her eyes to block her face from the sun. The river was surrounded by trees, but with the sun being high in the sky there wasn’t much shade to be had.
Soon after her comment, however, the tree nearest her swayed, causing its branches to cast the perfect shadow in Kayla’s direction.
“Ah, that’s better,” she smiled to herself not thinking anything of it. I looked over at Drovo, who had a self-satisfied grin on his face.
Maybe now would be a good time to tell the women about the guys’ special abilities. I opened my mouth, but right before I spoke I caught Drovo giving me a panicked look while holding a finger to his lips. Maybe the guys weren’t ready to reveal their secret. It was their secret to tell after all, and although not telling the women felt wrong, it still wasn’t my place to reveal something that I knew to be very personal to these guys.
I settled back against Tarak, who handed me dried meat and fruit from his food pouch. The sun was shining, the cool water on my feet was refreshing, and I was back with my fellow abductees. Despite everything, life felt pretty good.
As I enjoyed the view I noticed Lumod, Drovo, and Axon seemed more than happy to interact with the women, but Brexl stood guard at the edge of the forest far away from everyone else. I wondered what had made the scarred hunter so skittish. He was always the last to speak if he spoke at all, and he always stayed far away from everyone. But there was a longing in his eyes when he looked at the women that made me think he stayed away for their protection and not because he didn’t like them.
Rhaz stood at the opposite end of the group, keeping a watchful eye out for any approaching predators. The short Sirret male carried himself like someone who had a grudge againsteverything and everyone, which made me wonder what had happened to him to fuel his anger.
“May I?” Axon gestured toward Ashely’s feet while holding what looked like a long bamboo leaf. Ashley had been rubbing her sore feet under the water, attempting to find some relief.
“Ah, sure. What’s that for?”
“The oil on this leaf has a slight numbing effect on anything it touches. It-” He stopped mid-sentence as soon as he touched Ashley’s leg. “You are incredibly soft.”
The curvy woman tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and looked down, trying to hide her very noticeable blush.
Axon came back to himself and lifted Ashley’s leg onto his lap and wrapped her foot in the medical leaf. “It can help relieve small aches and pains,” he smiled.
