The Games for Gaiathal (Part 3 of 'A Tale of People and Apples Trilogy')

Chapter 1: Alone No Longer

Luka and Calysa slammed and rolled to the bow of their cabin as the metal of their vessel beneath them screeched and bent, their bodies flung forth due to the impact against the sudden shore.

Both laid groaning in pain as their ship lodged into the land mass and their tumble subsided.

They struck a strikingly similar pose to when they first met in Orconia City, when Calysa knocked Luka over and fell on top of him when he was about to step inside his carriage, though this time she was even slower to get off.

"Are you okay?" She said to him, not-so-tenderly poking a fresh bruise on his forehead from their sudden crash, her black hair delicately draped over his chin and cheeks. Irritatingly to Luka, she was completely unscathed from their fall, the Wolf absorbing most of the impact from the Orca Host.

Though his head did indeed hurt, it was at the very bottom of concerns amongst Luka's list of pain.

"Groin... knee..." Luka wheezed, tapping vigorously on Calysa's thigh to alleviate where the weight of her knee was carelessly positioned.

"Oh!" Calysa realized with a snap and laugh, adding even more accidental weight to the sensitive region before her knee was removed altogether.

Luka's grimace turned into a smile as Calysa kissed his bruised forehead, the purple contusion erased after her lips gently left his skin. It was a Gift of Luka'a that thoroughly appealed to Calysa. Not only for the marvel of watching a wound disappear so quickly, but also that Luka, her Luka, was only ever in physical pain temporarily.

"Oh my Gods... I've just discovered a new Gift of the Orcas," She said to him with fake surprise and a grin.

Luke rolled his eyes and nodded for her to get to the punchline of her discovery.

"Orca kisses... they heal," She exclaimed and smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear as her eyes donned their usual mischievous squint which he loved so much.

"Wow Cali, what a discovery... so the virus my mother received from being bitten by a Wolf, acquiring its healing powers and passing it to me, that played absolutely no role?" Luka asked and joked with her as he stood to his feet, helping Calysa to hers as he began to scan the scene of their crash.

"Nope. All me."

Luka now joined her game, and said, "In that case Cali, my lips I... I think they're really hurt..."

She pulled him by his collar and kissed him again before he finished the sentence.

His hand laced through her dark hair at the back of her head, sending shivers up her spine as his other smooth yet strong hand held her neck. Her muscles fell limp as she surrendered to his embrace, her lips locked perfectly with his as his stubble scratched somehow soothingly along her smooth skin.

"Luka... we... should... find out... where... we are..." She said to him while laughing with delight through intermittent kisses, his hands unable to let go of her, his lips unable to get enough of her.

If this is a dream, just a little longer, Calysa thought to herself and pleaded to her potential sleep, wrapping her slender arms around Luka's neck.

It was an incredible moment for Luka. Trained from birth to always be hyper-vigilant, to survive at all costs, to be ready for anything and to kill or be killed, the Wolf couldn't care less about their accident or where they were. She was his weakness. His happiness. He let his guard down for her.