ADURAS

Part 29: The Heart

"Hey, I'll find some wood to sit on. You got an ax?" ask Hazard.

Yena looked at her horse tied to an acacia tree. "Some, you just take it there."

"All right."

Hazard walked quickly towards the towering acacia tree—bringing his tree widened to form an umbrella— without seeing Yena's expression again. There he found an acacia tree that had fallen because it was old. Hazard immediately picked up the axe from inside the bag hanging on the horse's back, using it as a cutting tool for the wooden rod and making it slide. After that Hazard carried it.

Arriving near the camp, Hazard saw Yena arranging the branches of trees and leaves that had dried up to form a circle. Then rub each other until the sparks burn the rating pile and dry leaves into a bonfire. Hazard's wooden spindles release until it makes a loud bang, shaking the surrounding sand. They ended up sitting by the bonfire without saying a word until half an hour had passed.

"It turns out my guess is right. You, the desert killer." Yena hugged her knees, only to realize after seeing Hazard come out from inside the tent. Because when she ran away Yena did not pay much attention to her face.

"If you know, why?"

A puff of breath sounded from Yena's lips, so heavy. His right hand took a separate twig and then threw it into the fire until a small explosion was seen billowing black smoke and hugging his knee again. "I don't know" replied Yena.

Hazard looked at the bonfire as if it was so interesting, he did not look at it at all. "You don't want to ask about the incident?"

The question from Hazard made him even more awkward. Yena looked down until her face slipped into the folds of her hands, hiding something red on both of her thin cheeks.

"Some events at one time even I don't understand why one of them could happen. How do you think?"

Hazard's gaze turned on the girl at the side. Seeing Yena's changed behavior, it is certain that their feelings are almost the same. It's just that Hazard didn't expect that Yena would actually kiss him. "I've actually been planning this kind of situation from the beginning" Hazard said, not answering questions.

Head lifted. Yena looked at Hazard with her brows furrowed. Waiting for the next sentence.

Hazard's view was looking forward. He began to tell me, "Because from the beginning I had a cure for the black snake bite. If I wanted to, I could have healed myself before I ran away with you. Unfortunately, the bag containing my medicine and important items fell while we were being chased by the royal guards. I thought it would end here."

"Wait a minute" interrupted Yena, then moved from sitting up with your hands, "you planned this, but you were caught up by your own plan, so you mean?"

Hazard nodded slowly without a word.

"God! You ...." Yena ruffled her waist as she looked up with a bitten lip, "Actually what do you want? Why did I suddenly kiss you unconsciously?"

Hazard got up, staring at Yena's grey bead. His arms folded automatically at the chest, his breathing slightly heavy. "About that, it's kind of hard to explain. To be sure, you kissed me unconsciously, because we were bound to each other by fate."

Yena was speechless, her mouth gaping with a round bead. The words that came out of Hazard's mouth actually made his head throb. "I'd better get some sleep. If you want to sleep, just go in," said Yena immediately stepped in with her fingers pressing against the temple.

However, Hazard immediately grabbed Yena, grabbed her by the wrist and looked at her seriously. "I'll explain everything when I get to town."

"Yes, of course you have to explain everything. For now I want to rest. So, don't interrupt" Yena explained as she pulled her arm. He rubbed his wrist because of the pain of the scars. His gaze pierced, there was a sense of dislike that strengthened.

His net followed until Yena's shadow was invisible and then sat back on the wooden logs. Hazard threw some ratings into the blazing bonfire embers, emitting a gray gas. His breathing was heavy, because of the long journey. This incident is just the beginning.

While inside the tent, Yena slept sideways with her hands being her pillow. Remembering what happened when he was unconscious.

Suddenly, Yena got up, imagined the last picture before she was unconscious. Exactly when he saw a flash of light on Hazard's stomach. "True, there was something strange about him," said Yena, her fingers squeezing blankets, glancing out of the tent.

🍂🍂🍂

Reda city.

"Uncle, falafelnya four servings," said Yena while giving some dirhams to traders.

The uncle gave a thumbs up. Looks like he's wearing a dull white apron. "Ready, Miss," he exclaimed.

The merchant uncle started frying the falafel on a large frying pan with the furnace almost fused on the pan. Falafel is made from desert nuts that are ground and compacted into small circles. The color of the falafel turns brown, immediately drained. The uncle deftly took the flatbread and kept it on a clean wooden mat. Bread is filled with salty sauce and lettuce from the Tropical Country. The falafel balls are wrapped in flat bread. Lastly the uncle took a woven coconut leaf in the shape of a bowl. Falafel is inserted into the bowl and then the bowl is folded neatly.

"Please, Miss," said Uncle Pedangan, giving a packed falafel to Yena.

"Thank you." Yena received the order with a smile and quickly left the city market.

Yena stopped by her house and gave a portion of Falafel to Adam and his mother, she kept it at the dinner table at once.

"Waaa, thanks brother," cried Adam, directly sticking his ass on the black wood floor. Adam's carefree face was very clearly visible, especially now that he had entered his lunch time.

"I'll eat at the oasis house, ma'am. There's still a lot of work." Yena had to lie thanks to someone who was in her house right now. That's Hazard.

...

Hazard entered the oasis house through the front door and then sat cross-legged on the wooden floor. Her twilight hair looked wet, water droplets many times falling from the ends of the hair on her red shirt.

"Now, I bought a falafel for you," exclaimed Yena kept a wooden plate—containing falafel—and a wooden spoon on the table of the box whose surface was a little rough.

Yena's view cannot be separated from Hazard when eating lunch, especially on his stomach. He was curious to know about the strange light behind the stomach. He sat down in front of Hazard and asked, "Where are you bathing? Why come out the front?"

"I'm bathing in the lake" Hazard replied as if he didn't care.

"Well, why not take a shower in the back? There the water is clean because it is distilled directly from the water reservoir."

"You didn't say."

The answer feels annoying. Really am. He could've searched the bath position himself, right?

Yena's inner voice. Looking at Hazard was full of annoyance. "Okay, forget about that. I'd like to hear your explanation of last night's discussion."

Hazard didn't touch Yena a word at all, he was too focused on his food.

While the falafel was running out, there were only a few more bribes left. Yena actually snatched a wooden plate containing falafel from Hazard's side.

"You promised to tell everything after lunch, now keep your word" Yena said.

Storing a spoon on the table, Hazard stared fixedly at Yena. His hand was tied up on the table and said, "I told you, we are bound by destiny."

Yena rolled her eyes tired. "OK, if we are bound by fate, show proof."

Netra turned on Yena's left shoulder then looked at Yena again. "The evidence is in you. When the kiss took place only I was conscious. I saw a thread of light forming a spiral circle on your left shoulder," Hazard explained, appearing to be a single pink line emerging from his face.

Yena squeezed his shoulders. He uncovers the white shirt and glances to the left. His eyes were round, in disbelief. There's a strange, pink, spiral-shaped mark over there.

"Hows it? I'm not lying, am I?" hazard asked to hear Yena's confession, "if I still can't believe it, I'll show my body a spiral."

"Really?" Suddenly, Yena was already beside Hazard. He folded his legs parallel followed by a grin full of intent. Making Hazard's feelings unpleasant on his own.

Hazard slightly shifted his seat. He felt that Yena was getting too close. "Why so much spirit?" ask her with both palms touching the floor.

The look narrowed, Yena's face was getting closer. "I want to see that sign. Quickly open. Or do you want me to open it?"

"No, of course." And Hazard rejected it without compromise. Just after taking a shower, he felt the hot air again. And out there the sun is not too bright thanks to the clouds covering it.

"However, it's a little bit difficult because this sign is in—"

The red shirt was revealed without warning. Hazard stared at the wiggle of fingers that almost stuck to the skin of his stomach. He blinked deeply, then looked at Yena's serious face.

"Hn, so here's the shape. Similar, anyway," Yena said, she stared at Hazard intensely, "you're definitely not human?"

"That's ..," Hazard was a bit hesitant, but still showed the blue crystal on his forehead by exposing the hair, ". I'm not a human being, but I can't explain everything now."

His eyes seemed rounded, quite surprised by the facts. "Already I guess, you're not a human being," hardik Yena, quickly close back Hazard's shirt and then move while cleaning the food marks from the table, "you're full, right?"

"Yes, throw it away." Hazard covered his face with his hands, his gaze shifted to the side.

There was no reply from Yena, she immediately went back, intending to wash the former of eating herself— alone eating because Hazard has not come— and Hazard. The entire face instantly heated up and was perfectly red thanks to his own indiscretions.

How humiliating! I was too curious to forget he was a man.

Breath sounds heard. Yena slapped her cheek slowly every once in a while as she kept thinking about Hazard's overly ideal stomach shape. He washes dishes in the bathtub—on the stone floor—and if he can, all of you want to brainwash him too.