(A/N: And now..... Namaari's punishment! Don't worry, like I said before, she's not going to die or anything (obvs, as if she did we wouldn't have Past Life!), it's just going to be a reasonable punishment. Feeling better now? Okay, lets go!)
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(Namaari's POV) (Come on, it's pretty obvious for this chapter)
It could be worse.
I could be rotting away in some cell, tied up in the town square and flogged till I died, or, Hell, maybe even thrown to the bottom of the river with a rock round my neck.
Yet, here I am, picking all the rice in Fangs massive field, by hand, all alone, no one allowed to help me.
Fair enough, I deserve this.
Took forever for everyone to decide even what to do with me. This was the new Tail cheif, Cahaya's, idea. At least someone there was reasonable.
I pick up the scythe, the only thing I'm allowed to use, and get to work, slicing the rice plants near the roots, taking them over to a different area, a one-roomed grey brick farm house with a thatched roof, the ground outside covered in rough calico cloth, and shake them out, small grains of rice flying everywhere. I repeat this process several times, sweat forming on my brow from the muggy, humid air no many how many times I wipe it away.
I keep working, and working, eventually ditching my shirt near the house. By the time the first stars in the sky I've managed to clear almost a section of the field.
"Okay, I need a break. Can't work in the dark and there's no rule saying I can't sleep."
The farm house is empty, with only a me-sized, thin matress on the floor, and a rickety wooden stool with a busted leg. All four walls are whitewashed, peeling in some places. Not the best of places to kip for the night, but it'll do.
The matress is so thin I can almost feel the floor through it, and it smells musty, but I'm asleep before I know it
==============(*time skip*)==========================
No breakfast, no water for my parched throat, just work, work, work. There's no use complaining about it, I did them wrong, and this is my punishment for it,
By midday I've cleared about a quater of one section of the field. My head feels so light, I can't stand up without everything spinning. I check round the back of the farmhouse. There's a well, and from the looks of it, some waters still left. Using the little strength I have left, I wind the lever around, and around, pausing when the buckets submerged, and winding it back up again.
Oh, yes, water, sweet beautiful water.
I scoop some up in my hands, washing away the dirt on my face and hands.
"Ah, much better."
Back to work, only pausing every few hours to hydrate myself.
When the skys a pinkish gold, stars coming out of hiding, I flop to the ground.
"Half.... way.... yessssss."
Man, I'm exhausted. I can't even get on my feet to go back to the farm house. Maybe I'll just curl up here and take a nap...
=====================(*the next day*)===========================
I wake up covered in a light coating of dirt. Almost there, I can do this.
Sure, I'm hungry as hell, I haven't had a shower in two days, and my hands are sore from gripping the scythe, but I'm still here.
Cut, shake out, cut, shake out, repeat. Gather up the rice grains in the cloths, forming a sort of sack shape. Soon I'll be all out.
Cut, shake out, cut, shake out, cut, shake ou-
CRASH!
Ow. There's cold, wet, gritty mud on my face again, some getting into the tiny spikes of the shaved down part of my hair.
Stupid warped rice plant. I cut the leaves away from my feet and shake that one out too.
Apart from that incident, its mostly just me still cutting all the rice plants near the roots and shaking out.
No more breaks, although I'm so tired. I'd do anything to get out of here.
Time moves so slowly here, but little by little, the field is clearing up. All of those goddamned fifty acres of rice plants.
I carry on well into the night, even though I can't really see what I'm doing.
One.... more.... then I'm done.
SLICE!
It's like its raining rice for a breif second.
Its over.
I did it. "Yessss....."
I collapse, panting. Covered in mud and dirt and sweat. But I don't care.
Man, I really need to start working out again in the mornings again.
=============(*time skip*)================================
Even though people stop by me in the street and ask to help me, I polietly refuse
This is my own punishment, and, for Gods sake, I'm perfectly capable of carrying bags of rice. I mean, c'mon, its not like they're full of stone.
The new Tail cheif stands at the throne near my mother, stern, proud. A tiny smile flickers at the corners of her mouth when she sees all the bags of rice.
"Well done Namaari." My mother smiles a little too, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Have you learnt your lesson?" Cahaya asks.
"Yes. I promise, I'll never do anything that'll hurt Kumundra, or its people, ever again."
"Exellent. Now why don't you go clean yourself up?"
==============(*time skip*)==================
I lie, arms flung out, on my bed, clean at last.
Hopefully we can all put the past behind us, like I did with Raya. There's going to be some people who might never forgive me, but I'm okay with that. You can't please everyone.
What day is it today? Working in the rice fields for like, three days, really makes you lose track of time. Upon glancing at my calender, I discover the words written in the box for tommorow.
Raya's birthday.
Oh dragons! I haven't thought of anything to give her. She's not going to hate me forever if I don't get her a gift, but still, I can't help but worry about it. The Sisu necklace is an option, but not a good one, bad memories could resurface once more.
Hang on, I know what'll work.
The hair ring of hers I found while searching for her out in Tail. It's been rattling around in my pocket, a small momento of the first time I met her, held her hand. I hold it up to the light, and it gives off a dull sheen.
"Yes, this'll be perfect."
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(A/N: There we go, hopefully Namaari learnt from that! Yeah, Ik, Namaari harvesting rice doesn't really sound like the best punishment, but hey, go easy on me, I was kind of outta ideas!
Jsyk, Cahaya is a Malay name, and it means light or radience.
Btw, the whole Namaari-returning-Raya's-hair-ring thing idea is based off a RATLD comic thing I found online. (I didn't make it!) I'll see if I can put it at the start of the next chapter.
Also.... happy August!)
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To Trust Again- A RATLD FanFiction
FanfictionSet some time after Raya and The Last Dragon, Raya's feelings towards Namaari have soured pretty significantly. But when Namaari asks if they can try again, will Raya be able to put the past behind her, and reconcile with her former enemy?
