CHAPTER 109: DELULU AIYANA (2)

Interesting... Nova thought all the beasts of this island didn’t lust, but simply followed some instinctual need to mate and reproduce. Maybe that was a little presumptuous, especially considering she wasn’t exactly an expert. Even if she was Yohuali’s Serakai.

Nova glanced at the beauty now sprawled out on the grass, water droplets rolling down the sides of her bare, flat stomach, glistening in her long, silky black hair and perfect body. Sahco and Aiyana would make quite the pair... When she watched them together, they complimented each other with their differences, yet sharp, ferocious gazes.

But everything about this match just screamed WRONG to her. There was also something about Sahco Nova didn’t like, and she couldn’t figure out what it was. Usually, she was correct when it came to reading people.

Usually—don’t let one mistake, i.e Chad, fool ya. She’d been swept away by him with his wooing, and possibly being the first girl to ever catch his attention longer than three months. When he was well known for changing girls as frequently as her monthly cycle. Maybe her ego spoke louder than her intellect that time. But he’d been a good boyfriend in the beginning...

Nova cringed at the memories of Chad and the standards she’d lowered herself to.

That wasn’t the point right now anyway. Sahco. This was about Aiyana and Sacho. Bleugh- Their names together just don’t sound right! It was irritating her how she knew his name and why she was adamant he was not the right choice for Aiyana.

Although... Aiyana seems to have dismissed the guy as someone ’interesting’.

Nova scoffed at the term. "Interesting? He’s got the personality of a rock... Dry and boring..." Not like a certain jaguar shifter...

"You can’t say that after a brief encounter with him..." Aiyana hummed, closing her eyes as a small smirk tugged at her lips.

"Just... Eww..." Nova whispered then jumped at the twig tossed at her head. She scowled at Aiyana playfully, forgetting the girl had heightened senses.

"Crocodiles are efficient predators," Aiyana muttered. "I haven’t met anyone yet that can... take me on as well as him..."

Nova grumbled incoherently to herself, laying back against her rock with a groan and glared up at the canopy. "You need someone stronger than you? Is that all?" She braced herself, somewhat hesitant about her next words.

She didn’t want to ruin this blossoming friendship over something that might be a little too personal and brought up too quickly. She was also certain Aiyana didn’t really have girl friends, or any other friends outside of Yoa and Atia. It was either because of her intimidating presence and dry-witted commentary that could strip one down to nothing if she was in a really bad mood, or because she was the daughter of Chief Tamuari.

Nova swallowed down her cowardice, and blurted out, "Would your father really approve of it?" She glanced at Aiyana, her fingers reaching out for anything that could act as some form of a pillow to hide behind and peek around at the woman that could be rather frightening when she wanted to be.

"He might," Aiyana stated simply, her eyes opening as she too, stared up at the canopy. "The Oncari could have an alliance with the Apatka through a mateship between us..."

"Damn girl... You’ve really thought about this... I thought you only found him interesting?" Nova quipped, shooting her a grin.

Aiyana huffed and stretched her arms behind her, arching her back. Nova was pretty sure the jungle hushed in reverence to her beauty.

"I am a strategist before anything else, girl," Aiyana said with a lazy confidence, like she was stating something as obvious as the sky being blue.

Of course she’s a strategist. She probably strategised her way out of the womb with a five-step plan and perfect posture.

"What about Atia?" Nova asked then held her breath. Aiyana stilled, her expression becoming a little more guarded than before.

"What about Atia?" Aiyana asked, sounding too casual.

"I thought you two were... You know..." How did she put this...

"Nope," Aiyana interrupted Nova’s little thought process. "Never."

"But its like you could read each other’s minds... almost like Serakai mates-"

Aiyana sat up abruptly. "Don’t throw that term around so easily. It is a true gift from Caelomè to bind a pair together... All you see between me and Atia is a Tahraka." Her blazing gaze spoke volumes more than the words she spoke.

It was the first time Nova could read her a little better. Atia was clearly someone more important to her than she was letting on. The only problem was, she didn’t know why Aiyana was insisting on this.

Nova squinted at her then rolled her eyes. She let the subject drop... for now.

If anyone made the perfect match it was them. But she wouldn’t push her only girlfriend on the subject. "What is Tahraka?" Nova asked.

Aiyana released a breath, her shoulders relaxing and she plopped back down on the ground, completely forgetting that she was meant to be leading Nova back to the treehouse for the final part of this run.

"It is a bond created between two warriors... the perfect match. It makes our fights seamless..." Aiyana explained. "We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, can instinctively understand each other without words."

That just sounded like the Serakai bond, if Nova could fight as well as Yoa and the others, she was sure they too, would be seamless when attacked. But Nova didn’t want to state this to Aiyana whose guard was slowly going up.

"Do you have a mark like the Serakai marks?" Nova asked instead, slowly sitting up and wincing a little at the tightness now forming at her hips and lower back from being idle for too long.

Aiyana raised her wrist and turned it. Under the sunlight, there was a small golden band like a warriors wrist band. It had intricate details to it, spirals and sharp edges. It shimmered faintly under the sun and looked radiant against Aiyana’s caramel skin.

"And he has the same?" Nova asked, though she already guessed he had. Any hope she had for pairing them up deflated a little.

Aiyana nodded, already dismissing the subject as she ran her fingers through her damp hair.

Surely this was also a sign that they were ultimately perfect for each other? Ugh, so much better than her and that damned Sahco.

Sahco... Nova gasped as it finally clicked. Sahco was the crocodile shifter who was a marked one, in the trials to be the next guardian!

Nova turned fully to Aiyana, her legs crossing slower than she meant to, the struggle of her aching limbs becoming a little more known even now while resting. "You know Sahco is a little psycho right?"

Aiyana’s eyes burst open and she arched a brow at her. "And you know this how?"

"Because he failed one of the trials..." Nova dropped her voice to a whisper, realising she shouldn’t really be exposing this so loudly in an open space and one near Apatka territory.

Aiyana frowned. "Even so... That just means he is also formidable..."

"He killed-"

"We all make mistakes, Nova," Aiyana interrupted.

Wait... was she already aware of the Apatka’s troubling past? From how Yoa described the situation, the crocodile acted beyond bloodthirsty and they were only children.

Nova closed her mouth as she stared at the vicious beauty on the ground. Her eyes were half-lidded beneath the golden rays of the sun filtering through the leaves, the breeze stirring her damp raven locks.

They sat like that for a while, letting the silence settle in again. Dragonflies skimmed the water, and birds warbled high in the trees. The river moved slow and steady, and the reeds hissed like they had secrets to expose and whisper to them.

Nova stared up at the sky, the ache in her muscles slowly fading as her mind spun with the new information thrown at her about both Atia, the Tahraka bond and Sahco the little psycho.

Despite the run, despite the wheezing, despite Sahco’s annoyingly symmetrical face... this wasn’t the worst day she’d ever had.

Aiyana reached out and flicked a droplet of water onto her cheek.

"You did good," she praised surprisingly, and changing the subject now that the silence had settled between them.

Nova made a face but didn’t swat her hand away.

"Next time," Aiyana added, "we go uphill."

Nova let out a strangled sound and rolled into the grass.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Aiyana led the way, rolling her shoulders back and ignoring Nova’s inquisitive stare burning into the back of her head. She knew what Nova spoke of, and knew Sahco could be a brute. Gods, she knew well how much of a killer he could be. It was in their blood, and that was something that neither Nova or Yoa would understand.

Yoa was ridiculously righteous at times and Nova was still trying to understand this new world she was in.

Aiyana... well... she’d known Sahco a long while and since their first meeting she couldn’t quite forget him....