The History Of The Land Of Beasts.

"What is that?" inquisitiveness got a strong hook on him, but his question only made Rami let out a cute laugh.

"You will see it soon enough." she chided and took him to The Fall. 

Ren followed Rami through the dense, lush forest, his heart racing with anticipation with each step he took. The sound of rushing water grew louder with every step, until they finally emerged from the thick greenery into a breathtaking clearing. Before him lay The Fall—a cascading waterfall spilling into a crystal-clear pool surrounded by smooth rocks and vibrant emerald foliage. The sunlight broke through the canopy above, casting golden rays that danced on the surface of the water, making it sparkle like liquid gemstones. Mist hung in the air, cool and refreshing, adding an otherworldly glow to the entire scene.

Ren's breath hitched as he took it all in, "It's… beautiful," he murmured, almost to himself. But even the majesty of the waterfall paled in comparison when he saw her.

Reina emerged from the water like a goddess come to life. Her orange hair, damp and clinging to her tanned skin, shimmered in the dappled light, and droplets ran down her toned figure like liquid diamonds. Her tiger-striped ears twitched slightly, and her green eyes sparkled with a mesmerizing brilliance that seemed to pierce straight through him. For a moment, her gaze locked with his. Time seemed to stop.

Reina tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable, before she turned away, stepping gracefully onto the rocks. Ren exhaled shakily, realizing he'd been holding his breath. "She's more beautiful than I ever imagined," he whispered, but it was loud enough for Rami to hear, and it made her shift uncomfortably.

Shaking them both to reality, Reina's voice echoed, "I said I wanted to be alone." their eyes now fixed on the queen, in her natural state, without clothes and her brows furrowed lightly. Rami was frozen for a moment, even her beauty had captured her, but Ren stepped up for her.

"We humbly apologize, it was I who requested to see you." Reina turned to him, noticing he was dressed fine, and it was pleasing to her eye. She waved a hand to her right-hand woman and knowing what the signal meant, Rami bowed and took her leave almost immediately. Leaving them together.

Alone.

Out of the blue, she dived into the water and for what felt like an eternity but was only minutes, she emerged and was just an outstretched hand away from Ren.

"You were not patient enough to wait for me to come back at nightfall?" her voice held a soft tease, her gaze unbreakable as her tongue rolled around her lips. Ren, not in control of his body, bent to close the distance between them. He wanted to touch her so bad, the attraction he felt towards her was like that of dark magic. Unexplainable and unavoidable. But he held himself back and a smirk graced his features.

"How could I? Your people treat me well, but you are the only one that can satisfy me…" flirting again, he got a purr from her and an eye roll, "but that isn't the only thing I came from, the discussion is far more serious." his countenance changed and Reina saw he brought serious business, and she submerged herself back into the water. And moments later, she was away from the edge, pulling her form to a rock and sitting on it. She waited for him there, with Ren taking off his coat, knowing he would get wet, he made his way to her with only his loose pants.

"What do you want to talk about?" was how she broke the silence.

"The government, your people…us…" the last word caught her attention the most, her eyes meeting his before darting elsewhere, but Ren loved her eyes so much, he used his fingers to grab her chin, forcing her to look at him, "they will come after us, and your people. How will you handle an attack? You are just recovering."

Reina let out a heavy sigh, slumping her shoulders slightly, "we never used to be here, each beast has its own land, but our land was encroached by undead entities The Corruption created. We had to flee and take shelter in the forest." her eyes seemed distant, and only the water could bring her a sense of calm, "many of my people were lost and turned into undead creatures and my sisters…" she paused, many unpleasant memories washing up on her. Tears tried to force themselves out of her eyes, but she swore she would never cry so they never dropped.

Ren placed his hand on her thigh, bringing her a sense of calm, "your sisters, what happened to them?" he probed and with a deep breath, she let it out.

"We were happy Ren, beasts lived in harmony, in the natural order until The Corruption. A dark force that took over the beasts and turned them into vicious untamed monsters," as she spoke, Ren remembered when he first saw Nagini and Luna, they looked exactly like what Reina was explaining, "my sisters and I tried to fight it, but our eldest was taken captive and the natural order was disrupted. Soon, we fell to the plague of darkness. I fought my hardest but I couldn't save any of them. I am the last uncorrupted one. Although… I have slowly lost hope."

"You don't need to lose hope, there has to be a reason this happened, a way to fix it…" a strange feeling warmed his heart, never would he have found himself wanting to be different, wanting to be a hero. The old him wanted a normal life but after meeting her, he wanted to help her, to save her. Reina flashed him a small smile but really, she had given up on saving her sisters, "come on Reina, you got me. You know I will do anything for you." he took her hands in his, and it made her melt into a bigger smile. She was grateful to have him in her life.

"Well…if my sister can be freed, we can restore the natural order, and slowly we will return to our former power. Right now, I am weakened and so are the others but the only way to free my sister is if the rest of us come together to break the curse on her. Unfortunately…" her brows creased, "I have no idea where she is being held. As for the others, they would be in their kingdoms, scattered across the land."

Ren was silent for a very long time. If he understood well, one of the sisters was being held hostage, and she was in charge of the natural order, but to rescue her, the other sisters had to come together, but they were currently corrupted. He thought hard, and he believed that the only way to break the curse was to cleanse and tame them, just like he had to Luna and Nagini. That made sense right?

"You do not need to do this, you can live a normal life, if you involve yourself any more, you might never be able to return to your family…they must miss you so much…" her words reached his heart, he missed his mum so much but if his mum was here, what would she have told him to do? Help out anyway he could.

"Even if I wanted to, I can't. The empire will hunt me either way, and they wouldn't stop hunting you too. I love you and I will protect you with my life."