Six Years Before, Gay Ever After

Chapter 10

The next few months Raya stayed with the old woman, the trust she had for her grew, as Auntie Cai fussed around the house for her, slowly Raya learnt how to do some simple household chores, from mopping the floor to cooking rice. She was never taught about cleaning, as being raised royally she had helpers to do those things.

Raya can still not understand why this woman is helping her, those years of isolation with Tuk Tuk had made her wary of people, suspicious at first sight.

A year passed, and Raya, now fifteen, celebrated her birthday with someone in two years. She has never felt this much in her life, the presence of a mother figure in front of her made her feel loved. Raya still left in the afternoon during Auntie Cai's long naps in search for Sisu, returning late at night with her hair in a mess while Auntie Cai would ask her multiple times where she went.

Raya made up lies about exploring the other lands, now that the search in Fang was done, she was halfway through Spine. It is quite- no very cold there, Raya went to get a cloak from Heart before going there, which she still kept under her bed, it had a high collar with a blue stripe at the top, with little yellow details at the bottom. She often wondered in bed what would happen once she found Sisu, would she leave Auntie Cai?

Tuk tuk was now well fed, and grew even more, he slept outside the little house, where he'll guard the house like a security guard. Now that he was so big, Raya had a great idea to speed the search up. Together, she and Auntie Cai built a seat with handles like a motorbike, which clings onto Tuk tuk's shell at the sides, with a little compartment at the front for her things.

They finally tried it on him, Raya climbed on top, and held onto the handles tightly, "Okay Tuk, roll slowly, you don't want me to fall off you."

Very slowly, Tuk tuk rolled forward. Raya was on top, grinning from ear to ear. Slowly Tuk tuk went a little bit faster, Raya started to get used to the constant rumbling. Auntie Cai was whooping with joy as they went further and faster. They turned around and Raya hopped off Tuk tuk.

"That was awesome!!-" Raya then whispered and winked at Tuk tuk,-"We can go a whole lot of places muuuuucch faster, ye?" Tuk tuk grinned and nuzzled his face to Raya's, he obviously knew what she meant.

Now with the 'Tuk-mobile', Raya and Tuk tuk finished their search for Sisu in Spine in just 2 weeks! (There were a lot of crashings due to Tuk tuk speeding)  Now it was time to search in Talon, Raya was super excited to go there for the food and people.

The next day, her pocket with a pouch filled with jades, Raya climbed on Tuk tuk and headed for Talon. As they arrived, Tuk tuk rolled slowly due to the loose planks that looked like they would give way any moment.

Raya looked around in amazement, Talon was bustling with colorful lights and people, the smell of barbecued satay filled the air. Kids ran around and played with stray dogs, and the pasar malam had rows of clothes, foods, toys, jewelry, the list went on and on. The search for Sisu disappeared in Raya's mind, as she headed straight for the food stalls to buy satay and bak kwa.

After stuffing her face for half an hour, Raya finally got back up on Tuk tuk and rolled away to the nearest river. Talon being a floating market, and filled with people, it was quite hard to not knock over anyone on the way.

Suddenly, a big crowd of people created an opening for someone. Is it the chief? Raya thought, pulling back the handles to slow down. To her horror, she saw serlots, and a very distinctive person with a recognisable haircut.

Namaari.

Raya's eyes turned menacing as she saw the figure approach nearer, stopping in front of Tuk tuk who was blocking half the path. Namaari looked at the rolled up familiar brown shell on her left, Is that...? She looked up, and saw Raya, who was now staring so much her looks could kill.

Namaari didn't know what to say, she was so relieved that Raya was still alive. She looks hot as fuck oh my god, she thought to herself, not opening her mouth to say anything. Raya looked at her with a questioning look, her lips pursed, then she said sarcastically, "Well hello princess, didn't expect you to leave your place."

Hearing that, Namaari was lucky that the sky was dark if not Raya could've seen her blushing so badly. She wanted to shout, I'm so sorry. But she couldn't, she could see Raya's rage in her beautiful dark brown eyes.

Raya though, actually didn't want to say that, she actually missed Namaari. But the betrayal stayed fresh in her mind. The people of Talon watched this interaction closely, staying quiet and waiting for something to happen. Raya felt her face go hot, immediately gripped onto the handles and motioned Tuk tuk to roll. And soon she rolled out of Namaari's sight.

Namaari watched this and her eyes glistened with tears, as the regret in her grew. The Talon crowd began to dissipate, and fifteen year old Namaari ran off with her serlot and her protectors.

As she sped back to Fang, she had a new question, if Raya is living, then why was she at Talon in the first place?

Skipping the day of searching, Raya rolled back to Auntie Cai right after she left Talon. Auntie Cai questioned her early homecoming, but Raya shrugged it off with an excuse that she felt tired.

In her room Raya flopped on her bed and stared at the white ceiling. She couldn't forget how Namaari looked now. She's so muscular now holy shit. She buried her head under her pillow and drifted off to sleep.