The Wild Hunt (Part One)

Temptress

"Where did you get all of this?"

I dropped a bag of supplies at Sae's feet. She was leaning against a palm tree, admiring the sea green fabric that clung to her body like a second skin. I tried not to stare too long at where it hugged the curvier areas of her and the skin it didn't cover.

She used the knife I gave her to cut the long yard of fabric into two sections. One section she secured around her chest and tied off in the back. It's two long tail ends were pulled around her shoulders and held up by a intricate bow at the center of her chest. The other section of fabric she tied around her waist. It's large knot rested on her hip and it's billowy ends draped down the shaft of her exposed thigh, in a modest way. The makeshift skirt covered all of her right thigh and leg, leaving a large portion of her slender left leg exposed. Even though the tail ends covered it while she stood, when she walked it parted and her full leg was out.

I nearly broke my jaw when she came out from behind a thicket of trees, where she had been changing. She blushed, staring down at herself in a shy way that set my blood boiling, then mumbled something along the lines of... this was all I could manage, before walking past me. I found my eyes lingering on the sway of her hips before I snapped to my senses.

"Where did you get the money to purchase all of this?" She said, stooping down to rummage through the cloth satchel.

The leather belt that held her knife hung low across her hips and pulled the fabric of her skirt down below her navel. I felt my face turn red and averted my eyes.

Get it together Kona! I mentally slapped myself in the face.

"That old women I helped fish for back in Kobe gave me a few stones." It was a lie, but she didn't need to know. I knew she was flustered as is after we left that hut- over stealing from the blind. If only she knew the amount of things I had stolen with being apart of the Tewase. Most of the things I had stolen were ordered by Cheif Na-Wakee of course.

"Wow. How generous of her. What is this?" Sae held up a string of pearly white shells.

I felt myself blush and fiddled with the strap of the satchel. "It's.... It's nothing. It's for you." Damn. Why was I blushing so hard. It's just a necklace.

"I saw it and thought you might like it. It's a necklace. A souvenir, you know... that sort of thing."

I thought it was pretty and thought that it would look pretty on you. Gah! Who am I?

I nervously looked up at her and she gave me the biggest smile before pulling me into a tight hug.

"Thank you! I absolutely love it!" She beamed, pulling back.

I rubbed my neck. "It was nothing. Like I said, it's just a souvenir or sorts." I'm happy you like it.

She fixed it around her neck and went back to digging through the satchel. She pulled out two flint stones and rolled them between her palms.

"What are these?"

I grinned. "You ready to learn some basic survival skills?"

I watched Sae struggle to ignite a spark for the.... what number was it? Nine or tenth time? She growled, striking the stones over and over until she flung them to the side.

"What am I doing wrong?"

"Here, let me show you once more." I grabbed her hands and directed the movement of the stones against each other. "Now do it one more time. If you can't get it we'll move onto something else."

Sae knitted her brows in concentration and stroked the stones against one another. Sparks crackled and fell atop the kindling. They burned through the twigs and leaves and a steady stream of smoke unfurled.

"You did it Sae! Now blow on it like I showed you."

Sae smiled wide before bending down to blow into the small flame. She blew and blew until it grew into a decent sized fire.

"We'll there ya go. Sae, the fire starter." I mused.

She laughed and it was the sweetest sound. After we stamped out the fire, we made our way back up the sandy embankment. Sae couldn't stop grinning and I couldn't stop staring.

After our arrival in Murdock, we had wondered over to a thin strip of beach on the other side of the port. It was much more secluded and didn't have too many people milling about it. We found a nook of palm trees and decided to rest there for a bit. Sae wanted to change and I needed to go back into the market to gather supplies. Once I had returned we began to practice starting a fire and were at that for an hour or so, before both of our stomachs began growling in hunger.

"Next lesson is fishing."

Sae nodded eagerly. She seemed genuinely interested in learning. She kept her grey eyes on me the entire time as I explained certain maneuvers and steps to take, while demonstrating various techniques of spearing a fish. I enjoyed teaching her. She reminded me of myself, when Yetae would steal me away in the night to teach me new skills and hunting styles. Those long hours in the night where what I looked forward to during the week. It was when I felt the most free and normal. I didn't think about waiting on Chief Na-Wakee or if I'd get slapped for taking too long doing something. Yetae treated me as an equal, as a brother.

We now stood in a shallow reef a little ways from the beach. Sae had the spear we fashioned for her in her hand, poised above her shoulder. I stood a ways behind her, watching as she studied the water before her. Her eyes scanned the crystal clear water, searching for those shimmers of grey and blue beneath.

Her stance was impressive and I beamed on the inside with how quickly she picked up the technique. I held my own spear in my hand beside me. I would let her be the first to strike and hopefully provide us lunch.

She shifted her stance and her skirt- which she had pulled up some and tied off into a loose knot, rose higher on her thighs, exposing the apex of her left thigh. My mouth went dry and it wasn't from the salty air.

I head to steady my breathing or else I would... no! I wouldn't let myself desire her. I don't even know why she's effecting me in such a way. Living among the Tewase women I've seen more than just a glimpse of thigh. When I waited on Chief Na-Wakee, he usually had three or four Tewase women draped across him in nothing but hide strips of fabric that barely covered their ass or private areas. Most of the time they were nude up top. I had always averted my eyes when they came through to serve him.

It's not that they weren't beautiful, but that they'd pluck out my eyes in a heartbeat if they caught me staring too long. Tewase woman were ruthless and haughty. They were strong and confident. Their bodies were thick and muscular, ready for hunting or sustaining the desires of their massive male counterparts. In all honesty, they kind of scared me. Their bodies were beautiful in an animalistic way but their tempers were purely animal. Making love to them was like fighting a jungle cat. You'd walk away with scars down your back and shoulders. Bite marks would cover your neck and heck- some of your hair might be missing as well. I shuddered at the thought of bedding a Tewase woman.

"Agh!"

I snapped out my thought at the high pitch squeal Sae let out.

"I caught one!" She screamed, excitingly.

"Yeah and you'd scared away the rest," I said, chuckling.

She clutched the spear to her chest and sheepishly looked down around her. "Oops, sorry," she smiled.

I chuckled and she brought her spear down to examine the fish. I tried to hide my laugh. It was the tiniest fish I ever saw. I didn't even know how she managed to spear it, let alone avoid slicing it in half. This was a bite and half size fish, but I looked up at her and she was so happy that I couldn't help but match her smile.

"Well we can't eat it, but it would make for some good bate for line fishing."

She scrunched her nose and it was the cutest thing. Argh! Why am I thinking like this?

"Kona." Sae's voice dropped and her eyes went dark as she looked past my shoulder.

I turned around and saw a group of men standing at the waters edge, clad in golden armor, with the eye of Bayor stamped into their breast plates.

What the....