The Hearts of Dragons (Closed for DarkWarrioress)

[DarkWarrioress]

Zarya saw Lucian lift his hand and froze where she stood. Her eyes followed his. She changed her grip on her spear and held it angled in front of her with both hands. Her heart beat loudly in her chest as the sound from the jungle came closer. The bush parted and a wild pig came charging out. Zarya inhaled deeply and let it out. Until that point, she had been unaware that she even holding her breath. Just as Lucian stepped back towards her, she heard another soft rustle from the foliage of the jungle and saw several piglets join their momma in the opening.

"One crisis averted at least. What about you, Zarya, any lucky finding the temple?"

Relaxing her stance, she drew back her spear and nodded.

“Found it. I do not know about the jungle floor but the temple itself is covered in vines. It doesn’t look like anyone has been there in some time, but….”

She gave a shrug and let her words fall away. Lucian knew they couldn’t be too careful. She glanced up at the sky to note the position of the sun which she could barely see through the trees branches.

“We can make it there easily before night fall, but I would wait to enter until tomorrow. Thoughts?”

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Hearing that Zarya had found the temple made Lucian smile all the wider. Still, he let his gaze follow hers towards the sun, knowing that traveling through the jungle at night was almost certainly suicide. Hell, he'd almost died just trying to traverse it during the day.

Lucian heard Zarya's words of council and nodded at them before speaking. "If you think we can make it, then I say there's no reason not to, but I agree that we should wait until tomorrow to enter. If I'm right, and there is more to the temple than meets the eye, we'll want to be fully rested. If I'm wrong..." He offered up a small shrug of his shoulders. "...then it won't matter anyway." He tried to hide the disappointment that flashed across his face at that thought, turning around and heading to pick up his backpack. He slung it over his shoulders, and took a moment to even it out across his shoulders before lifting his blue gaze to find her green one once more.

"I'm ready when you are, Zarya." Lucian said, even as he took a long, slow, and deep breath. Yes, he was nervous, nervous as all hell, but it was as good nervous. He was hoping for the best right now, and not really thinking about the worst case scenario or what he was going to do if that was the case.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

I'm ready when you are, Zarya."

She nodded and turned to lead the way she had come. A quick glance at the sun that was crawling across the sky told her they had enough time to make it to the outskirts of the temple and set up camp for the night. She watched as he settled his backpack on his back and began to traverse the route she had found to the temple. With one eye on Lucian and the other watching the jungle floor, it didn’t take long for the temple to come into view.

“Tomorrow, we will search thoroughly, a path that will take us inside.”

Her eyes found Lucian’s.

“The temple has been here longer than we have been alive, Master Lucian. What awaits us inside, probably just as long. Let us set up camp for the night, get a good night’s rest and tackle the trials that await us then. If you wouldn’t mind, we have tents in our backpacks, would you set them up for us? I’ll go fetch wood for a small fire and if I’m lucky enough, I’ll get something for us to cook and eat as well.”

She had caught the look of disappointment on Lucian’s face before they had started out. She hoped she had given him some grounding in realizing they did not need to rush into anything. His look had been fleeting, but as always, Zarya was attuned to Lucian in ways she couldn’t even begin to understand.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Lucian's eyes were constantly scanning as he followed Zarya, scanning left, right, up, down, checking Zarya's position, and repeating. He was not about to get caught by another forest trap. Despite his diligence, he appreciate the frequent looks she gave back at him over her shoulder. They were in dangerous territory, and she was escorting somebody who was more than a little inexperienced in said territory. Their pace was slow, but the journey was still short. Still, he couldn't help the sigh of relief that came to him when the temple came into view.

The temple was smaller than he expected, even if he wasn't truly sure what he'd expected, maybe something the size of a mountain, or at least a castle? The entrance, even if they weren't on the side with the opening, was about ten feet tall and connected to another section that was twenty feet tall. From there, the structure was lost, as it was built into the mountain behind it. The entirety of the outer stone, including the stone slate roof were overrun with vines, not so much that you couldn't see the stone beneath, but enough that you could tell that the temple hadn't been used, or at least properly maintained in a VERY long time.

Zarya's voice pulled Lucian's blue gaze away from the temple. He found her green one and held it. He nodded at her words and smiled.

"Okay, but he who sets up camp gets the bigger tent." Lucian joked with a wink, trying to hide his disappointment at their not being able to reach the temple entrance tonight. He gave her shoulder a gentle nudge with his own and a wry smile.

"If you fetch the firewood, I'll have camp all ready for you when you get back, tents, everything."

 

[DarkWarrioress]

A small part of her mind worried about Lucian. He always seemed to find himself in some sort of trouble. A small smile played across her lips, however. If she was truthful about it, she found it kind of endearing. Then, she returned her undivided attention to the trek back to the temple she had discovered. While she didn’t think there were any traps along way, it didn’t hurt to be wary.

There was a small sigh from behind her as the temple came into view and they drew closer to it. That made her smile again. Clearing her throat, she turned and saw his disappointment when she suggested they camp for the night and tackle the temple in the morning. The corner of her lips turned up as he suggested he would tackle the camp if she went to find firewood. With a nod in his direction, she slipped off back into the jungle to collect the wood they would need for the night. Surely Lucian couldn’t get into any kind of trouble where they were. With a sigh, she plunged back into the dense jungle, collecting deadwood from the forest floor as she went.

Her mind idly wondered about the temple they would be entering in the morning. What could they expect? She knew it would be challenging, considering what he was looking for. Nothing about this was going to be easy. It all was to test not only their moral compass, but their strength of character and their resolve. How she knew that was unclear, but she trusted her instincts.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

With the duties of each agreed upon, Lucian set about his task without hesitation. He unpacked the tents so that he could see how big they were. That would help him figure out the spacing of the camp as a whole. He wanted to make sure that there was enough room for them to move around the tents, as opposed to putting the back or side of the tent against the temple wall. Yes, it opened up the possibility of them getting surrounded, but that required much more men, and thus gave the two of them more mobility as a whole. He cleared a space a space for the fire between the two tents, but ensured that the entrances of the tents didn't stare directly at it. This way, it wouldn't cripple their ability to see in the dim light.

When Zarya arrived with the first load of firewood, Lucian paused in his tasks to get the fire going. He made sure that there was enough room between the rocks surrounding the firepit and the rest of the underbrush, minimizing the chances of starting a forest fire. He then kept an eye on it, even as he turned his attention back to setting up the tents.

When Zarya next returned, both tents would be sturdily standing, the fire would be going, and Lucian would be sitting dutifully by it, keeping an eye on the backpacks waiting for her to return. He'd smile at her when he saw her, standing and moving to take the firewood from her if she'd let him so that he could add it to the pile. "Welcome back, Miss Zarya." He said softly.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Her eyes flinted around their camp. She was impressed with the prince. When he came close and relieved her of the last load of firewood, she let him take from her.

“Lucian,” her eyes moved over the raised tents and the freshly made fire, “this is wonderful. Thank you so much.”

Zarya moved to retrieve her spear and a smallish pouch to secure over her hip.

“I’ll go see what I can find in jungle for our evening meal.”

Her eyes sought out his.

“You’ll be okay here on your own for a little while longer?”

With his reply she moved off into the dense jungle, not wanting to go too far away but she knew game would not be close by. She would find some berries and other fruits as well. Hopefully. This part of the jungle she did not know.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Lucian couldn't help the slight flush that came to his cheeks at Zarya's compliment.

"And thank you, Miss Zarya, and you are more than welcome. It should do for the night I think." He said with a smile, turning back towards the small camp and then back to her, a small smile coming to his face before he turned to take the pile of firewood he took from her and moved to set it down and start stacking it near the firepit.

When he saw Zarya moving to grab her spear and heard her ask her question, Lucian lifted his gaze to meet hers, his smile continuing to linger on his lips. "Yes..." He started, nodding his head, standing up, and stretching his back a little bit. "I should be okay for a little while longer. Take all the time you need, but be careful out there."

Lucian let his break in his task continue as he watched Zarya walk the rest of the way into the tree line, only continuing to stack the firewood once she had disappeared from view.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Satisfied that Lucian wasn’t going to come to any harm for as long as it would take her to hunt, Zarya stepped back into the jungle and blended into it. She was looking for something small enough for the two of them. Maybe a rabbit or two, depending how big or small they were. It took her a few minutes to come across a fat rabbit just lazing about.

Standing behind a bush, Zarya judged the distance from her spear to the rabbit. It shouldn’t be a hard thing to accomplish. Sidestepping the bush slightly, she raised the arm holding the spear, drew back and let it fly through the growing night with deadly accuracy. The animals gave a death squeal before falling onto its side, its back legs giving just a small twitch. Zarya approached the animal, withdrawing her spear, kneeling beside the dead animal. She placed a hand on its fur and sent up a silent prayer and thank you for the animal’s safe journey to the other land and for giving its life so that they would eat. Then she set about cleaning and skinning it. Grabbing it by its hind legs, Zarya started back the way she had come, stopping only to collect some herbs to stuff the rabbit with as it cooked.

As she came closer to their camp, she called out so Lucian would know it was her then she stepped further into their camp and into the firelight. Holding up the rabbit she told him.

“I found our dinner and some herbs to stuff it with.”

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Lucian couldn't help but marvel at the way that Zarya effortlessly faded into the trees, even as he watched her. Yes, distance and the coming darkness helped, but he knew that, with her skills, she could effortlessly kill him in this forest if she wanted to, no matter how good he was with his blade, what his armor was made of, or how many maneuvers he knew. That thought didn't unease him though, quite the opposite really. He found it comforting to know that she was here with him, when he would otherwise be helpless, or as they'd found out, already dead to one thing or another.

When Zarya returned, she would find Lucian exactly as she'd left him, sitting near the fire, looking towards the woods she'd disappeared into. He rose when he heard her call, a smile on his face. His smile widened when he saw what was in her hand and heard her words.

"Well struck, Miss Zarya!" Lucian exclaimed excitedly, looking forward to the taste of fresh meat after their previous meal. "Is there anything I can do to help with preparations, or would I just be in the way?"

Lucian's question was genuine of course, but he also of course understood his limited skill set. He was of course eager to earn his keep, but would understand it if he would just be in her way slowing her down.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“Can you skin a rabbit, Prince Lucian?”

She asked him in all innocence. After all, she knew next to nothing about him, but she was learning. Zarya held the rabbit out to him along with the herbs.

“If you’ll see to that, I will see to a much needed bath. The river is just down there.”

She pointed to the slightest of trails visible to the eye. The day had been long and hot and a cool bath would feel welcome. If Lucian could handle the cooking, then she could take a moment to get clean.

“I feel like I should be clean before we enter the temple.”

And she did feel that way. The temple, no matter who it served or what they would encounter, deserved that much from her.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Lucian couldn't help but chuckle as he reached for the rabbit. "Can I...yes...Can I do it as well as you, I'd wager that no, no I cannot." Despite his admission, there was a smile on Lucian's face as he took both the rabbit and the herbs.

"Okay, but be careful." Lucian said at Zarya's mention of wanting to be clean when she entered the temple tomorrow. "Clean is good, but it would also be nice to enter it fully intact as well, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you that rivers can be a sneaky menace at night."

With his warning given, as unneeded as it likely was, Lucian pulled out his dagger and set to work on the rabbit. His breathing was slow and even as he worked, and his hand was steady as it worked. He had an extra cut here, and a missed cut there that he had to go back and do. When it was all said and done though, the rabbit was skinned and stuffed.

It wasn't until Lucian was done working on the rabbit that he realized that Zarya wasn't back from her bath yet. Yes, he'd warned her, and yes, she could take care of herself, but it was still hard for him not to be concerned for her. This place could kill you in so many ways, many of which would make almost no sound at all. So, with that in mind, he rose to his feet, dropped his hand to the hilt of his katana, and moved towards the trail she'd gestured to earlier.

The barely visible path had a slight bend in it, leading up to a small hill, of course with trees on either side. He could hear splashing sounds on the other side, but at this point, he wanted to visibly make sure that Zarya was okay, because anyone or anything could make splashing sounds. His hand tightened on the hilt of his katana as he walked up the small hill, but he was anything but prepared for what he saw.

The light was minimal in the setting sun, but it was enough to see a lone figure standing in the river, a female figure. He could see the wet and toned figure of her back, muscles glistening with every move she made. The sight of Zarya, standing like that, bare from the waist up as far as he could see, because the rest of her was below the water line, with her back to him, was enough to freeze him in place. What came next though, was almost enough to stop his heart. Her head, which had been bent over as she ran her hands through her hair, snapped upwards. Her red hair followed suit, like liquid fire until it stopped on her back, hanging all the way down to her waist, trailing water droplets behind it.

Lucian didn't know how long he stood like that, admiring Zarya's beauty from the shadows of the trail, but as he saw her start to turn, his inner chivalry finally broke through the spell that was holding him still, and he forced himself to turn around. He walked hastily back towards their camp, knowing now that she was safe. His cheeks burned with his own embarrassment, not just at what he'd seen, but how long he'd lingered. When Zarya eventually did return, she'd find him tending the fire, but not cooking the rabbit, out of fear of overcooking it, not knowing how long she'd be gone.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Zarya felt a prickle at the back of her neck. As if someone was watching her but as she turned her head and scanned the area around her, she saw nothing. Twilight was upon them. Maybe her imagination was working overtime. After all, they were that far from experiencing the first leg of their journey. It was hard to say what lay within those temple walls and she knew her imagination was working overtime with the thoughts of what they could encounter. The Universe had a way of testing people who entered their sanctuary to determine if they were not only honorable in their intent but also worthy.

She hurriedly finished her bath, dressed and silently returned to camp. She didn’t want Lucian to worry about her. Her footfalls were as silent as she could make them. The firelight of their camp came into view. There she saw Lucian tending to their evening meal as she softly sat aside her weapons and then drew closer to the fire and the prince.

“I am sorry I took so long, Prince Lucian. However, the bath was glorious and since I hadn’t taken one in several days, I lingered. I hope I didn’t worry you.”

The gentleness and softness of her voice reached him on the other side of the fire. She did not wish to startle him as she spoke. Slowly, she lowered herself to jungle floor and sat cross-legged, avoiding staring into the fire itself.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Just as he had been unsure of how long he'd stood there staring at Zarya, Lucian was equally lost to how long he sat and waited for her to return. He was grateful in a way though, because it gave him time to calm down, and for his cheeks to return to their normal color, lest she see him blushing and know the cause.

The sound of Zarya's voice, as soft and gentle as it was, still startled Lucian a little. Her step was just so soft, and further concealed by his closeness to the fire, that it was hard not to be surprised by the sudden sound of her voice. His blue gaze lifted from the fire to see her step from the shadows and lower herself to sit cross-legged on the jungle floor.

"Heh, you've nothing to be sorry for, Miss Zarya. I remember how refreshing my bath was after just one day in your jungle. I can only imagine how good yours felt after several days. I do admit that I was I got a little worried after a while, but I know that you can take care of yourself, especially in your jungle of all places." He smiled at her, noting the way her wet hair all but shone in the light of the fire.

Lucian managed to keep himself from staring this time, and gestured to their would-be meal. "I wasn't sure how long you'd be, so I skinned it and stuffed it, but didn't was afraid to cook it until you got back, lest I have to eat it without you or risk burning it."

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Setting aside her weapon, Zarya nodded in acknowledgement of Lucian’s words.

"I wasn't sure how long you'd be, so I skinned it and stuffed it, but didn't was afraid to cook it until you got back, lest I have to eat it without you or risk burning it."

As she moved to where Lucian stood, her hand came out and down on his shoulder, giving it a friendly and reassuring squeeze.

“It looks amazing, Prince Lucian. I’ll cook it, don’t worry. “

Soom Zarya had the meat sizzling over the open fire as they sat around together chatting about their plans for the next day. While she did a lot of exploring, this was her first time exploring a temple. To recognize that she was a bit nervous about it, would have been an understatement.

Her brow furrowed as she silently contemplated her inner feelings. The prince was someone out of her reach, but she was having a hard time fighting her attraction to him.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Lucian was glad to hear that Zarya was going to cook the meat. He could of course do it, but he always felt a little afraid cooking someone else's kill, lest he burn it and feel like their effort was wasted. He was glad about another thing too, an unexpected thing, the feel of her hand on his shoulder. It was so small, yet it meant so much. He was a stranger to her, to her lands, yet she wasn't keeping her distance like many would. Hell, she even gave his shoulder a squeeze as she did it, and sat beside him as she cooked the meat, instead of across from him like she'd done the previous night. Alone, each thing seemed small, but together, they painted a larger picture that stirred something within him.

The smell of the meat, and the herbs that he'd stuffed it with, pulled Lucian away from the thoughts that threatened to overwhelm his good sense. She was an amazon after all, and he was an outsider. What chance did he have, even if there wasn't a potential apocalypse looming over them? Just as these new thoughts threatened to depress him, Zarya started talking about tomorrow and what she had planned. Further more, she asked for his input! He was of course more than happy to give it, and soon they were chatting like old old friends, bouncing ideas off of each other, feeding off of each other's energy. The atmosphere around their tiny camp was electric as they talked about the temple, what was inside, and what they planned to do, and for the first time since all of this began, Lucian dared to hope that everything just might be okay.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Lucian had built up the fire in her absence and now it had died to a bed of hot coals which were just perfect for her needs. She set the meat over the fire and turned it on occasion. Zarya had no idea what the prince was thinking about, but the silence between them was a comfortable one. It was odd to her. She had been around the males of her tribe before, she had never felt drawn to any of them. She had never shared a comfortable space with any of them either. Maybe it was because she knew they were looking for something in and with her that had made her feel uncomfortable. Even their conversation seemed to just flow between them.

“So,” she started as she pulled their meal from the fire and with a bit of effort, tore a chunk off and extended it to him, “are you ready for whatever we may encounter tomorrow, Prince Lucian?”