Part 1 Chapter 2

The breeze swept across my skin. I was like floating in the air but also my body felt heavy under the force of gravity. When I open my eyes, it was pitch black. First I thought I was dead. I stood up startled. But no, the pain was still there despite the numbness. It was quite a strange feeling with a tingling sensation. I can't say it was good because my stomach was really bad. Oh, this nausea!

I tried to calm myself by regulating my breathing. The thing I was on was swaying like a hammock. I tried to detect it with my hand. The soft tissue was slightly low under my weight. The rest sloped slightly upwards. It was really hard to say what it was. My attention turned to my surroundings.

There is a wind, howling slowly. The smells around the place were earthy. My arms floated in the air, trying to touch something. Where am I?!

"I don't remember coming here." My hands were on my forehead, trying to use my brain to connect the dots.

"Holy grumpy cat!"

...silence...

"Seriously, funk..." Funk? What the funk, seriously? In a constricted manner, I sighed.

Seriously Mavi, there's no one here and you try to not curse in this situation. What is the real matter here? Huhh... Calm down. Cool your head. Think! What time is it? Is it dark because it is nighttime? Am I where I felt down. There was a waterfall. But currently not. Perhaps, was that a dream? Or a mirage..?! Wow, that would be cool. Ahh but, it was a bad idea to climb this mountain, alone... The face that my close friend's "I told you so" appeared in my mind.

Now... now... my thoughts... all random.

"I should focus. I should focus!" I slap my cheeks.

Aw... it hurts.

Ahh.. Should I try to climb down? My hand went to my backpack but there was nothing there. My shoulders were as free as a bird.

"Fuck!" Did I drop it? If so, where?!

"Ughh!"I annoyingly tried to stand up but the thing that I was on too shaky and I fell back. Swinging in the air and it seemed to sway like forever. In the darkness, a rustling sound occurred. All my attention was on the sound, I cowered down motionless. I felt the soft web I was on stretching under the weight of something else. What is it?! Am I in one of Stephen King's movies? Bad news! Ba-ba-bad news!

As things got closer, I cried out with reflex.

"A-a-a-a-ah!" The movement slowed that it looked almost undecided. But his advance was not interrupted until one meter(?) away. My voice with a shaky tune :

"Wh-what i-i-i-i-is that?!"

Silence in the room made my hair stand on end. Even the wind had gone. Only, danger in the room and me remained. I felt like I was going to faint. Something touched my leg as I grasped it lightly. A scream was heard...it was me.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. Whatever it was, it stepped back startled.

There was zero energy left in me, I waited, resigned to my fate. Whatever happens, happen quick! Please... God, universe or matrix. Whatever is there! Please, be it painless.

Some time passed. Even though I couldn't see it in the dark, I knew it was there. The thing was still very near to me but it was motionless. I am sure of that... We were watching each other, waiting for each other to move first.

Please, no need to courtesy! Don't just sit there! It is even more scarier.

After a while, I somehow regained my courage and I stretched my hand forward. I tried to reach out to whatever was there. Very soon that thing held my hand.

I was startled but I did not withdraw my hand. Cause it held mine loosely. It was like it was letting me back out if I want. The grip was the same as with the human hand gripping.

Is it not human? It is confusing. I cant see a thing. Maybe it is chimp? But it is a very quiet creature. Is it bear?! No, it can't be.

The grip was cold and still. I extended my other hand and grasped what was holding my hand. It is pretty much a human hand! While I was confused, I tried to see ahead me. In a cautious voice:

"Can you come a bit closer?" There was a movement as if that thing understood me. My hand touched a cold body and brushed it as it approached me. I could feel low breathing. It was very low and slow. I can only hear it because it was very close to me.

Well, this is very much like a horror movie. Am I the character who dies in the first scene? This makes me feel even more awful.

My heart was beating like a wild beast I tried to collect my sense and calm down. My hand touched the face in front of me - I think it was a face- slowly and very carefully.

Yep! It's a human face.

Here is thin lips, flat-long nose, while my palm lands on carefully,

Here is the eye! The mirror of the heart. And pretty long eyelashes attached to it... Oh, nice.

And my hand touched the hair. It was silky. Help with my two hands I brushed the hair and dig all the way down smoothly. But my fingers couldn't reach the end. Pretty long hair. I see... Ugh, I am confused.

"Hello?"

-Silence-

Perhaps he or she doesn't use a common language? In a local language:

"Selem."

-Silence-

Or perhaps he or she just can't talk for a reason. With strange courage, my hands landed on her/his shoulders.

These are large and muscular. My hand landed on his cool chest, it made him startled slightly. I was between pulling my hands back or not; but then I calmly grasped his shoulders again. I didn't dare to let it go because I was afraid he would disappear in the thin air.

"Your hair is fluffy." After a short pause, a deep voice spoke:

"Maikaʻi ʻoe?"

"Huh?" He is clearly capable of speaking.

I didn't even realize I was holding my breath after I realized that the person in front of me was a human being, I let out a huge sigh with relief. Even tho he doesn't understand me... We can make it somehow.

While she was touching him; his heart had nearly exploded with fear and thrill.

And after she heard his voice, her confused face and tilting her head slightly to left was...

...Adorable. So adorable that I couldn't breathe for a moment.

Still his head in the clouds.

Now, a warm radiance appeared on her thin sunny lips. That small smile had relieved all the tension in his chest at once.

But then she pulled her hands back, his heart felt cold and ached. Luckily she couldn't see the distorted expression on his face. Or else it would fuel the fear in her. His strong countenance was one of a kind that contains cold and wild tones; it was enough to expel the enemy with one hostile glance.

She brought both of her palms together to her mouth. It looked like she was trying to drink something from her palm. He, with an unsure tone:

"ʻO kēia?" Water? After hearing the voice she repeated her move. She really looked like trying to drink water. The man carefully took her in his arms. This sudden move did not surprise her this time. After the fear had passed, the drowsiness had completely returned to her.

She waited patiently as he descended the net with ease. She tried to focus her attention on the environment but in vain. Everything was in the dark; there was no sound, no light in this place. As she waited in his embrace, she saw a faint light in the distance. Finally...

The sound of running water could be heard too. The smooth steps slowed down as they got closer to the light. She was two steps away now. He carefully laid her on the ground.

A few moments passed.

She couldn't understand at first, but she wanted to go to the light, so, she got up herself bracing from the wall walked a few steps and stepped out into the light.

Time was late and the moonlight was showering the wide area.

There was the waterfall she discovered before. She took a clumsy step forward but remembering the person next to her, she looked into the darkness.

Why wasn't he coming out of the light?

She stretched out her hand into the darkness. It was just like the encounter on the web, a hand softly grasped it. With a strange instinct within her, she clasped this hand. The hand did not resist her. She pulled lightly towards him and the long-haired man appeared in the light.

Long white hair falling from shoulders to body... His gray eyes shone on his doll-like face. Surreal wildness was all over him. But even more surprising thing was, his strong chest was attached to a strange animal-like lower body.

They both were unresponsive and looked at each other. The girl was in her head, trying to understand what she saw and the man was studying her reaction closely with a blank face but in his head, he was timidly ready to disappear at any moment.

The hand holding his hand lowered as the girl looked tired. Black bags under her eyes, wet with damp bangs on her forehead, she looked pale and weak under the moonlight. His heart ached at this sight. Trying not to startle her, he raised his arms and grasped the girl. He carried her up to the waterfall and placed her there. The girl looked emotionlessly near the waterfall in front of him.

He brought the water he had filled in his palm to her mouth. With that, the light came into her eyes, then tilted her head forward to drink from his hand. She looked frightened as weak as a gazelle obediently drank it. The water running down her face was refreshing. In the second handful, she was satisfied.

This time the girl herself bent her hand into the water. She tried to clean her face and try to relax from the humid hot air. But with that faint effort, she felt tired and stopped.

-silence-

She found the environment too quiet. Turning her head, she saw that the thing beside her was gone.

After her thirst quenched, she felt herself awaken.

There was no one around, her attention swapped to her own body. There was animal skin wrapped around her leg. Judging by the smell, it was freshly cut. Ugh...

She was surprised how she did not feel the smell before.

It was tied tightly with a white string and when she tried to look inside, a leaf came out. She realized that her leg was not wet because of the humidity. Something had been applied.

As she touched and checked her body, she saw that the rest was okay except her fingers. She remembered the moment that she was desperately trying to hold on to the ground while were falling. For some reason, her body was numb now despite all the wounds.

She weighed her situation while her hands covered head. If she had a good meal, she might have had a chance to survive.

She looked up at the sky, searching for an answer.

What to do next?

Was that beast gone?

Without delay, a rustle was heard across the cave. When the girl turned her head, she chose the figure that approached her. Beast's light gray eyes gleamed in the dark space.

He approached her smoothly pretty quickly. Although this aroused fear in her, she did not move or perhaps couldn't.

Now he was exposed under the moonlight, the beast placed the fruit in front of her within reach. She thought,

Two pomegranates three pears... They sure look delicious.

She put the pear in her mouth, ignoring the dust. She wanted to eat the pomegranate too, but she didn't know how to peel it.

The beast took the pomegranates in his hand, and with his strong fingers, he split the pomegranate in half and handed it to the girl. She had already finished the pear, which she gladly received. When he stood up, she watched timidly him go.

Aah.. This is so surreal.

She had no control over this situation. So, I will just watch and wait for now.

Miraculously there was no need for explanation. The fire was set up by the beast. The birds were put on sticks and rested on the campfire. The sound of the waterfall filled the room, and because the surrounding of the cave was pretty quiet except for the crackle of the fire and the howling of the wind, the waterfall was getting pretty loud. But it was the okay cause, it served to calm the timidity of the two strangers.

The meat that was close to the fire looked like it was cooked and ready to eat. She reached out to pick it up, but it was difficult to regain control of her body. The monster put its hand into the fire and handed her the stick. The girl carefully took it from his hand.

She ate thoughtfully, occasionally looking at the monster. As soon as the monster senses that he was being watched, he would respond with his glance. But there was no talk. He looked almost shy but at the same time, his pretty face was so cold, distant that it was hard to tell if he had any interest in her.

The girl's eye fell on the beast's body. It was quite a large body. Its body was dark and fluffy with black feathers. It was 5? meters long, 2 meters wide, and it was as high as an average human height from the ground. It was over 3 meters long in total but she couldn't remember exactly. She was sitting and enjoying the campfire with half man-half spider beast now.

From time to time she did check to see if she was dreaming. Tastes, smells, sounds, mild pain mixed with drowsiness, all of them were real.

She had tried to take it slow but nevertheless ate all the meat in a few bites. When he extended the third stick, she refused reluctantly. With strange courage, she gently pushed back his outstretched hand.

The beast stared at the meat for a while, he didn't seem like the food. Then he brought the meat to his mouth. Their eyes met as she looked at him curiously. The beast looked even more reluctant now.

She almost felt his shyness and turned her head towards the waterfall. After a while, her gaze returned to him when she felt that he had finished. The fire felt quite warm in the hot air. Without the coolness of the waterfall, the girl would melt like ice cream under the sun. The beast realized that the girl was not feeling well due to the fire and began to put out the fire.

Mavi looked gratefully at the beast, finally was able to breathe again.

She washed some parts of her body and drank more some. Looking up at the sky, she saw that the color had lightened a little. It must have been close to 5 o'clock.

The monster got up and came over to her, everything seemed peaceful as he lifted her into his arms. The female tried to calm her heart, thinking that it would be pointless to be afraid. Leaning her head against the beast's body, the female let him carry her.

Once again they entered the dark corridor. The whistling of the wind bid farewell to the humidity as they descended into the depths. She did not know whether her eyes were open or closed in this darkness. The weight of sleep allowed it to envelop her and protected her from fear.

He carefully placed her in his arms on sat down on the web. He placed his hand on her forehead as if to measure temperature. Since he is a cold-blooded creature, her fever was quite high for him. He couldn't decide if she was good or not. But judging by her facial expression, she looked better than the day he found her.