Chapter Text
The alarm sounded. It wasn’t long until the dinner hall emptied out and all of Fang’s soldiers took their immediate posts. Skies swirled with dark clouds that day, threatening the village that was built at the feet of great waterfalls, who protected them from the Druun.
Namaari felt a disturbance in the wind. Her usual calm demeanor remained, but deep inside, her beating heart betrayed her. A soldier had come to inform her that the alarm came from deep within the underground passages where they kept their map to Kumandra, or what it used to be before the separation. Only one person could possibly be after that piece of parchment. But… it couldn’t be. The person in question should have been turned to stone by the Druun six years ago.
Guilt started to form itself in her stomach, and her throat went dry. Shaking away the thoughts, the Princess of Fang immediately sheathed her swords and headed straight for the gates, rather than the hallways towards their underground sanctuary. Her mother had ordered all their warriors to storm into the passages below, but Namaari knew that if it was who she thought- then the alarm might just be the perfect distraction.
The sound of rumbling thunder and soft rainfall accompanied Namaari’s nimbleness through the brush. The parched ground below had already absorbed any rain that fell, and the trees sang along with the wind that was clearly picking up. It gave her an edge over stealth.
A fresh set of barely visible footprints alerted the Princess of Fang of another presence. Had it not been for her years of training in tracking wild boar, these feather-like prints would have never been noticed. Namaari’s shoulders stiffened and her heart beat harder. Her stomach fell as she noticed a bit of blood trailing on a tree next to the trail. The footprints themselves looked like the person in question was starting to struggle, as they veered off to the side a couple of times.
If Namaari remembered correctly, the passages beneath Fang were littered with traps that contained their famous poison. The slightest nick of a poisoned dart could paralyze and possibly kill whoever it touched. Her feet picked up speed by themselves.
It wasn’t long before Namaari came upon the mouth of a small cavern on the outskirts of Fang. A cleverly hidden entrance to what might have been the home to some animal at the time, but now lay vacant… or at least, until the thief came stumbling in. The trail of footsteps continued inside the cave, but as muddy prints against the cold stone.
“I know you’re in here,” began Namaari. She unsheathed her swords readily before entering the cave with caution, “I didn’t think you’d come as far to steal a map that doesn’t mean much.”
Her taunting didn’t receive any reply. The silence was deafening, and for a moment, Namaari thought she might have perhaps been led on a false chase. However, something glittered in the back of the dark cave. It took a few seconds before her eyes could adjust to the darkness with the help of the dim light from the entrance of the cave. There was a figure laying in the back, slumped against a wall.
Eyes widened slightly.
Namaari quickly approached the figure. Still with caution, she didn’t know if perhaps this was a trap.
The rain had turned into a deluge as lightning lit up the ominous clouds and kept the Druun at bay. Within that split second of light provided by the sky, the shadow was momentarily visible to Namaari. A slender figure cloaked by a cape and face hidden by a large hat. A hand, clutching the map to Kumandra that Fang kept deep within its vault.
Eyes narrowed. They were now just a few feet apart, but her nerves were starting to get to her. For a long time, she sweated through blood and tears to build what should have been a warrior’s confidence and fearlessness. And yet, here she was now standing a few feet away from a ghost of the past, coming for what she had done.
Namaari gulped the lump in her throat before taking one of her swords and placed it at the lip of the hat. The mysterious figure had still not budged, save for the heaving breaths they took. Taking this as sign that they weren’t going to strike, the warrior flicked her wrist and the hat flew to the side.
Lightning tore against the entrance of the cave. Perhaps the Dragons truly were trying to give her a sign that the past had caught up to her. Namaari’s heart now felt like it would burst out of her chest. Her jaw dropped slightly. Fully illuminated was a face she dreamt about for years. Only now, it was no longer the face of a child, but that of a fully grown woman. Raya.
She’d recognize that face anywhere, even if it had matured- quite well if she could say so herself.
“Raya…?” Namaari called out.
“Mmm?” Raya’s eyes fluttered. She was completely out of it and barely responsive. A thin sheet of sweat on her face let Namaari know that the girl was in absolutely no shape to fight.
Re-sheathing her swords, the Fang warrior immediately lit a torch before placing it next to them as she assessed the woman that had probably also come to re-claim their Dragon Gem. Beautiful, long hair framed her high cheekbones before cascading down onto strong shoulders. How she had grown from that little trusting brat she had once befriended before betraying. Namaari once hated Heart, because they had everything while everyone else suffered and had nothing.
Raya’s conditioned seemed to worsen as she seemed to no longer have energy to sit up. Her body slumped towards Namaari who caught her just in time. Burning skin. Raya was burning up with a fever.
Ignoring her own reddening cheeks, Namaari immediately lay Raya down before removing her cloak to see where she might have been wounded by the dart. As expected, there was blood around her shoulder. She had to act fast. Back in Fang, many of their soldiers had already gotten the poison dart either by accident, or for training purposes, and the best thing to do was to siphon the poison out. And so that was what Namaari did, much to her own self-awareness of the whole situation.
The proximity to Raya was intoxicating. The girl’s hair smelled of fragrant jasmine flowers, and dammit, Namaari mentally beat herself up for letting herself get distracted.
The Princess of Heart groaned in pain, but she didn’t wake as the poison was slowly being siphoned out. That might be an awkward moment to wake up to. A piece of handkerchief was then ripped in a few strips to create a bandage. Raya was all patched up now, but unfortunately, the poison that made it to the rest of her body would have to be filtered out by her own system… and that would just require time.
The storm outside only intensified as the rain now felt like a waterfall. Namaari could barely see through any of it apart from the lightning the continued to rip through the skies above. Raya shivered in her arms. The warrior grabbed her cloak before carefully laying her back down and covering her with the thick piece of fabric. She took her torch and gathered pieces of wood littered across the cavern to make a little fire for them. A piece of Raya’s cloak had to be torn to make a makeshift rag that Namaari soaked in rainwater, then placed it on the feverish girl’s forehead. She was sure that the girl wouldn’t mind sacrificing a bit of her fashion in exchange for bringing her own fever a couple of degrees down.
Namaari couldn’t take her eyes off the girl who now peacefully slept next to her by the fire. The soft, warm glow softened the girl’s features. They were already quite beautiful to begin with, but it was evident that Raya took it upon herself to travel all the way across what used to be Kumandra to try and find something. Battle scars, and countless indications of a fight on the young woman’s body made the Princess of Fang’s guilt resurface. And now, here she was. With an unconscious and poisoned Raya, a ghost from the past, in a cave, and worst of all- her thoughts. If Namaari thought of Raya as a spoiled child, all of that had now changed. It had been all Namaari’s fault that the girl sought out revenge. And she didn’t blame her.
Fang had long suffered at the lack of crops and food and her people starved. She believed her mom only wanted what’s best for their people, and their people counted on them. The weight of being a Princess to Fang meant putting them first, even if it meant putting everyone at war.
“Namaari…”
Namaari’s head snapped to Raya. Had the girl awoken? A few moments of silence passed. Raya’s eyes were still closed, but she seemed to be deep in a dream. Was she dreaming about her? It could only be about killing her, or exacting revenge, she was sure…
For the following hours, Namaari stayed by her side. Occasionally changing the cloth on her forehead and making sure her conditioned improved until she started to stir.
Sunlight has broken through the thick clouds, casting light inside the cave. And like that, Namaari had gone. But not without leaving a gourd of water next to Raya and some Fang pandan cakes she had stashed during lunch time.
Raya who had previously slept the past hours opened her eyes slowly to the filtering sun that warmed her legs. Her head felt extremely heavy, but it didn’t compare to the pain she had felt before collapsing. Raya shook her head a few times. Right she had collapsed after getting grazed by one of those darts. Had she been lucky? Was the poison thankfully not as potent?
The girl looked around as her eyes adjusted through the blurriness of sleep. Some coals were still slightly burning in a camp fire. Next to her, a gourd of water and pandan cakes?! Raya wasn’t sure what happened, or who took care of her. She felt her shoulder being held together by something and soon realized it had been bandaged. Had she done this to herself before passing out? Her head hurt with all of the thoughts that swam inside her mind. One thing that remained burned in her brain, however, was the dream of Namaari taking care of her. The image of a strong, lithe, beautiful woman who had grown from the last memory she had of the young, self-righteous Princess of Fang that betrayed her. Raya caught a glimpse of her on her way to the vaults of Fang, and ever since, she can’t get her out of her damn head. How she hated the thought of having butterflies the minute she laid eyes on her. How convenient for her scumbag mind to replace whoever actually took care of her, with the image of Namaari, of all people. It didn’t matter. She had a mission, and she was going to fulfill it. For Ba.
Raya gingerly stood up before retrieving her hat and cloak from the ground. With a huge sigh of relief, the map she had stolen from Fang was in the pocket of her cape. Although a chunk of her cape had been torn out much to her annoyance.
The water and pandan cake were a blessing. Much of her energy had returned. Raya kicked the coals before leaving the cave with a bounce in her step. Unbeknownst to her, Namaari watched her leave, before making her way back to Fang.