Nusantara: Taming a Dragon ✔

Without fear

Alright, darlings it's been a couple days more than I planned to but here is the next part of Aleera's little adventure. Again, no rant today - just my sincere hope that you'll all enjoy this chapter and leave me a little comment to let me know what you thought of it. Cheers~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤

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Taking comfort in that thought, she treaded the moonlit forest path leading up to the lake; and the closer she got the clearer she could hear the sounds of activity. Straining her ears in an attempt at discerning what  she was hearing, she found herself on the edge of the clearing so abruptly that the shine of the lake blinded her for a second. Letting her gaze adjust to the sudden intensity of the silvery light, she then glanced around only to find that no one was there.

...What? But she could have sworn she'd heard noises coming from there.

"If you're trying to sneak up on someone, don't do it upwind."

The sudden voice behind her had the redhead slapping a hand over her mouth to hold back from screaming in fright. Turning around to find herself staring again into the young Komodo's piercing glance, she took a deep breath to settle her pulse.

"Thank you for that heart attack." she retorted, pressing a hand to her racing heart. "Believe it or not, I know better than to sneak up on a Komodo."

When he stepped out from the shade of the trees, Aleera was almost oblivious to his arched brow – her mind was much too busy enjoying the sight of his toned body glistening in the moonlight with a thin layer of sweat, and his eyes sparkling like emeralds. It was when he brought up a hand to wipe the bead trickling down the side of his face that she noticed the whip in his other hand, and understood he had been training before her arrival.

"I... I brought you some food." she said, gesturing to the basket in her arms. "Mitra told us you couldn't join us for dinner tonight. And... I wanted to... I guess I wanted to thank you. You're the reason I'm standing here, breathing, right now."

For the briefest of moments she could swear he was almost pouting awkwardly when she delivered her gratitude, but almost immediately his face was back to his usual perpetual frown.

"The Yearly Hunt is coming; I don't have time to waste on pleasantries." he replied, sounding a bit harsher than he had actually intended, simply because being thanked so directly was making his cheeks warm up in embarrassment.

Confusion flickered over her hurt expression as she lowered her eyes and timidly fidgeted with pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. In the awkward silence Reksa took a moment to examine her features before his eyes darted to the basket. Damn his disposition towards being grateful that she'd gone out of her way for his sake. Wordlessly he gestured for her to follow him to the edge of the water, where he set down the whip and reached into the cold waters of the lake to wash the dust off his hands and arms.

"The Yearly Hunt is something my tribe has done for generations. Once a year, we go out and hunt a few of the largest Komodo Dragons on this island. It helps to keep the population under control, and makes more room for the younger ones to grow. It's also a good way to test our warriors, because we're not allowed to use our whips – just daggers and our own cunning."

Having seated herself on the grass a few steps away, Aleera listened patiently – albeit grateful that she had been spared his scrutinizing gaze for a short while.

"Back in my world you'd probably be hated for this." she replied after mustering up the courage to speak again, in wake of his calmer tone.

When he glanced over his shoulder at her, and she saw the curious spark in his eyes, she felt compelled to explain further.