Reminisce

Sarr'ina makes her way back to her hut where Luca is resting, still bitter towards her father's reaction. She walks through the entrance and feels like screaming to air her frustrations, only stopping herself when she sees Luca propped up on the table and looking at her.

"You okay?" he asks, happy to see her return in once piece.

Sarr'ina storms up to him and hugs him, "No." she states.

Luca wraps his arms around her, unsure of what to really do or respond with. He really wanted to know if she'd caught any of the poisonous frogs in the pond, but decides to leave that for later as she looked pretty upset.

"Lu?" she asks, still holding him.

"Yes?"

"Tell me about your father."

...

Her words surprise him, he'd not thought of his Dad since he'd come to this place, nor how the old bastard would react to his disappearance. "He... We didn't spend much time together, he was always working and focus more on his career than his family." he says diplomatically.

"Career?" she asks, unsure of what it is.

"Er, he focused more on... Building things..." he corrects himself, having forgotten than Ina didn't know many modern words.

"Was he a good man?" she asks.

...

"No, he was not... He would... Steal food that I found, and ignored me when I had none. He did not blink an eye when my mother passed away, taking care of me out of some sense of obligation." he says, thinking about the past.

Sarr'ina holds him tighter when he speaks of his mother, having personally felt the same pain. "Tell me about your mother." she asks, more gently than she had done when asking about his father.

"She... She was an amazing person, somehow always knowing what to say to make everything better. The only bad thing I can say about her is her choice of husband." he says with a forlorn look.

The duo continued to talk about their pasts, friends, and family. Luca learned a lot about many of the hunters around the tribe, hearing about them from someone else's perspective really brings to light how little he'd cared to talk to them...

Luca himself spoke about some of the people he used to know in England, obviously leaving out the modern things that'd confused Ina. She was very interested to learn about other people, this is likely due to how social the tribe itself was, Ina probably knowing every name and face in the Sua'jiki.

Sarr'ina spent most of the day within her hut, preparing food and caring for Luca. No one needed her services which left the duo alone in each others company, Luca eventually managing to get her talking more in-depth about the magic her and her mother used.

Night quickly came and the duo drifted to sleep in the other's arms, neither being bothered by it in the slightest, simply enjoying the comfort it brought.

The temperature rose as small shafts of light shone on Luca's face, his eyes fluttering in irritation until he finally awoke. He tries to sit up but finds himself being held down, Sarr'ina's arms wrapped around his waist.

Usually something like this wouldn't trouble him, but the bedraggled clothing that allowed her to press her breasts against him had his other head waking up.

Sarr'ina feeling Luca shift slowly woke up aswell, momentarily noting that something hard was jabbing into her elbow.

"Morning Lu." she says with a yawn.

"Morning Ina..." he replies, the torture he'd experienced only a few days ago already feeling like the distant past.

Sarr'ina sits up, accidentally putting pressure over Luca's bandages and quickly pulling her hand away with an apologetic expression, "Sorry... Did it hurt?" she asks.

Luca frowns, looking down at his leg and shaking his head. "No..."

Sarr'ina places her hand back on his leg, looking at his face to see if he's in pain at all... Upon seeing no reaction apart from a small blush she starts unwrapping the make-shift bandages, "You should not be healed yet... Maybe I did something wrong." she mutters, wondering if she'd accidentally paralyzed his leg or something.

When the leaves as slowly pulled away the duo look down confused at the leg... Other than a jagged scar running along his calf it wasn't injured at all.

"Wow..." Sarr'ina mutters, tracing a finger along the scar.

"Maybe it was your magic?" he wonders aloud.

Sarr'ina shakes her head, "No... I am not as good as mother yet, it must be you somehow." she says.

Luca extends his leg slowly, feeling it to be completely fine and internally wondering if he'd died in his sleep or something... Though, the scar would suggest otherwise. He eventually gets up, walking over to his bear pelt and throwing it over himself and grabbing his spear. "I should get us breakfast... Wanna come? We could talk about what happened yesterday." he offers.

Sarr'ina quickly nods, haphazardly pulling her clothes on and retrieving her own equipment, not even an hour later the duo had left the village and were prowling their territory, keeping in mind to watch out for Wolf tracks or anything unusual.

"So... How did the plan go yesterday?" he suddenly asks as they walk.

"Ah! I was attacked by a huge monster by the Cursed Water!" she exclaims, realising she'd not told him yesterday.

"Wait, there was actually a monster?" he asks, cold sweat beginning to drip down his back.

She nods rapidly, "It was a giant frog, it tried to eat me, but I cut off its tongue!" she says, her cautious expression turning into a triumphant one.

Luca sighs, "Then, my plan..." he mutters.

Sarr'ina jabs him in the arm playfully, "I think it is time you created a bow..." she says with a thoughtful expression.

"A bow?"

She nods, "It might be early, but I think after you have trained, the both of us together can conquer the Cursed Water..."

"Are you sure? You know I'm not much of a fighter..." he admits, his combat abilities not matching even the weakest tribesman.

"I trust you Lu, with both of us together there is nothing that we cannot face..." she points at the bear pelt, "Being able to wear that is a sign of your strength, your potential... I believe that you can match, or even surpass anyone in our village." she says with a cheerful, yet serious look.

Luca smiles, "Thanks... Then, how do I go about making a bow?" he asks.

Sarr'ina points at his spear, "Start with this."

...

Luca looks over the spear, noting its everpresent slant that had been created when they'd been throwing themselves at the sapling used to create it. "Er, what?"

Sarr'ina walks up with her flint knife, chopping down on the tip of the spear to remove it and create a blunt end. Luca is about to object, but she cut down again, creating a small vertical cut in the newly created end. "I will not make it for you as our tribe forbids it... But, I can help a little." she says with a rebellious grin.

"I've corrupted you haven't I Ina! Makes you feel like when you were teaching me doesn't it." he says, struggling to contain his laughter.

Sarr'ina smiles as she remembers but ignores him, and runs a finger down the slant, "We will bend it the other way and tie the bowstring." she states, making Luca realise her methods of bringing down the tree in the past weren't completely random.