Drema: The Crimson Moon (Version 2)

The Hot Spring

Araka never wanted to leave the hot spring. The comforting warm water and mist returned feeling to his fingers and toes. It also washed away the crippling fatigued induced by the icy weather of the mountain.

Lilly sat beside her reptilian companion. The hot spring's consents also rejuvenated her cold addled body. The tigress's limbs warmed and her sapped energy returned to her.

She turned to Araka and smiled, relieved he had survived. The blizzard had ceased when Araka was barely capable of walking. They reached the imposing gate when he collapsed onto the frigid ground.

"They were kind to allow us into the hot spring, without knowing who we are", Lilly said.

Araka flexed his fingers, "I would have lost several of these had they not."

Araka contemplated life without an arm or a leg. The struggles and challenges of lacking a vital limb were staggering. Araka thought of his ritualistic elixirs, and how concocting them would have become strenuous.

The crocodile also thought of what was to come. A confrontation with Shatterspear seemed inevitable. If Araka survived the hopefully short war, the journey home would also be an eventuality.  Both tasks would have been all the more lethal.

Peril was not something Araka was accustomed to.  His tragic, but peaceful life in the marsh was drastically different from the one he currently led.  Luck had played a role in Lilly's Ukin's and his own survival.  However, past events could have unfolded differently.

Tears dripped into the steamy water from his eyes.  Lilly's ears twitched as she heard the drops make contact with the liquid surface.  She turned to her companion to find him crying with his head low.

"Araka, what troubles you?", she asked with worry.

"My plan could have killed us all", he whimpered.

Lilly maneuvered through the pleasant water creating ripples. Once she was positioned before the crocodile, she reached out to caress his maw. She traced every bump and uneven scale that marred the surface of his lengthy snout.

Lilly attempted to press Araka's head against her bear chest. He resisted the action, his eyes closed as he refused to make eye contact with her breasts. Lilly always grew unnerved when nude in the presence of others. She also felt equal discomfort when others were naked before her.

However she felt neither of these sensations as the reptile conceded. A sense of emotional warmth washed over him. Lilly's touch was comforting to Araka as his was comforting to the tigress.

"I know guilt Araka", Lilly draped her arm across his nape. "Even though we survived, you feel guilty because you endangered us."

He ruffled Lilly's fur with a nod, his head not leaving her bare chest.

"If you made a mistake, you redeemed yourself long before you made it", her voice was sweet and almost maternal.

"I know you have felt responsible for your father's actions.  I know you have also continued to feel guilty for your own", Araka choked upon his spittle.

"I believe I will for the entirety of my life", Lilly whispered.

Araka repositioned himself to make eye contact with the tigress.  He stared into her mesmerizing emerald colored eyes.  He extended his scaly arm to cup Lilly's left cheek between his clawed fingertips.

"You have only wanted to atone for your actions and your father's.  This has been your task since I met you", Araka's words were filled with a truthful conviction.  However Lilly continued to believe herself irredeemable.

"I made the decision to kill the innocent", she stated without hesitation.  "I do not feel my actions will ever earn me redemption."

"The warlord you call a father's actions are his own", Araka said.  "In my eyes, you have already redeemed yourself for the choices you have made."

Lilly's heart fluttered as those words fell upon her ears.  Araka's stern and unwavering demeanor in this moment sought to reinforce what he believed.  Lilly felt faintly within herself that she may one day agree with his statement.

The reptile's craggy lips remained pursed, as he was prepared to speak further.

"I was fearful I would not survive the journey through the mountains.  Conflict surrounds us, and therefore I cannot forsake this opportunity to tell you something", he did not blink his amber hued eyes.

"What is it Araka?"

"I have come to care for you deeply; I love you", his green scales acquired a feint blood colored tinge.

Lilly had only known companionship and love from family that was deceased.  Since then, only one individual had offered her solace, kindness and affection.  Lilly had just offered comforting warmth to that same being, without pause.

"I love you too Araka", the words felt foreign to her, but she said them wholeheartedly.

He leaned forward, and Lilly found her muzzle drawn towards his own.  He pressed his snout against Lilly's to create a tender kiss.  The soft skin beneath Lilly's fur became awash with red.  The tigress felt nothing, but utter contentment in that moment.

Araka experienced only the same.  He had nearly lost his life on the mountainside, but he feared Lilly would have.  They were beyond grateful for neither of them would have shared this loving experience.

"I've never courted anyone before." Lilly had never been afforded the opportunity, nor had she encountered someone endearing enough.

"We shall both experience it together for the first time", he said whilst donning a smile.

They embraced again, arms encircling one another's torsos.  Their thoughts of happiness slowly faded to concern.  Thoughts of future happiness transformed into musings of dread.  They equally feared the war might tear them from each other's arms.