"Kael, what a lovely name," Ava remarked with a smile directed at Kael.
"Thanks," Kael replied, watching as Ava's smile added to her beauty.
Surveying the area, Ava noticed piles of fruits strewn about, ripe and unripe. It would be a shame to leave them behind, but she couldn't possibly gather them all. The ripe fruits were entirely red seeing that some of the fruits had insect bites and some were free of insect bites. They were likely safe to eat, the enticing vibrant color made the fruit seem particularly inviting.
Ava selected a ripe fruit and took a bite. The crisp sweetness filled her mouth, the fruit juice that slowly filled her mouth was so sweet that her eyes widened with delight. Turning to Kael, she inquired, "This fruit is delicious. What is it called?"
Lost in thought, Kael responded, "Mansu. The tree it comes from is called the Mansu tree, so the fruit shares the same name."
Though Ava couldn't recall encountering such fruit in her inherited memories, she eagerly began gathering the ripe ones, leaving behind any that showed signs of being unripe or damaged by insects.
Kael, still in his half-beast form, lifted Ava and headed towards a nearby stream. After setting Ava down by the water, he went to drink while Ava put down the fruits and took the opportunity to quench her thirst and also clean herself. As she stood up, she pondered her situation. Should she try to escape while Kael was distracted? If they returned to the cave, it would be difficult for her to leave again.
Engulfed in this internal struggle, Ava instinctively stepped back when Kael suddenly turned his head, giving her a warning look. The chilling sensation of fear washed over her.
Gathering the fruits, Kael placed them in Ava's arms before swiftly carrying her back to the underground tunnels. Once inside the cave, he settled Ava onto a pile of grass and then coiled himself around her, resting his head on the grass.
Ava remained still, afraid to move as Kael wrapped himself tightly around her. Eventually, when Kael appeared to be asleep, she cautiously attempted to extract her arms from under him, but he admonished her with a glance.
Putting on a calm smile, Ava offered her excuse, "I'm hungry; let me eat something." Kael closed his eyes, seemingly unconcerned. With his approval, Ava retrieved the ripe Mansu fruit she had gathered and began to nibble on it.
"This fruit really is good, I wonder how it will taste if I spread its juices on roasted meat" Ava visualized as she drooled. She decided that she would try it tonight, assuming the ever vigilant Kael would let her go out to roast meat.
Having eaten two mansu fruit with four remaining Ava was feeling quite satisfied "I don't think I can ever get tired of eating these'' she mused. Ava stood up and started stretching her stiff arms and legs but the next second, Kael's big snake tail had wrapped around her waist and she was pulled into the grass nest. Ava found herself lying on Kael's cold chest and in his embrace, looking up she saw Kael's eyes were closed and he looked so handsome and divine, he was like the male version of sleeping beauty.
"Like what you see?" Kael exuded confidence.
Ava blushed "Dang it, what's wrong with me" she thought, embarrassed to be caught by Kael, she buried her face into his chest.
Kael chuckled, "No need to be shy, you're my mate, you can look at me however you want, you can also touch me wherever you want, because my body belongs to you now" he took Ava's hand and placed it on his face.
Ava's face was flushed bright red, what in the world is happening right now, from being kidnapped to being courted, she began to feel dizzy. Meanwhile Kael had already begun to caress his face with Ava's hand.
Ava's composed herself, her hand lingering on his ohh so smooth and cool face before withdrawing it. Ava turned and adjusted her body until she was now sitting down, ignoring the snake coils still around her waist. She turned and looked at the gorgeous Kael
"I can't be your partner. Partners must have feelings and love each other. The both of us have just met recently, how can we be partners without no feelings at all!" Ava tried to reason with Kael
"I will treat you very well, and you will naturally have feelings for me as time passes! I will not force you to mate with me, I will wait until you are ready to do so willingly!" Kael followed up with confidence
"Well, just don't force me to do it with you and I won't run from you, as long as you don't try to kill me or force me to mate with you, I have no reason to leave, also you have to treat me well." After all, this forest is dangerous, and Ava was not familiar with the environment here, so it would be risky to go off alone. At least she will be safe and secure until she can convince Kael to take her back to the tree tribe, she would feel so much better living among others than to live alone in a secluded place.
Inwardly, Kael was overjoyed, did he hear her right? From his inherited memories of his ancestors experience, The females in his memories were always seeking to escape, rebelling and some also managed to escape or kill the snake beastman, there has been no records in his ancestral memories, whereby a female willingly choose to stay, this was the first time of such occurrence.. it seems that fate truly had ordained Ava as his mate. He would cherish her and do everything to keep her happy. It was a good thing that he didn't forcefully mate with her like his ancestors did, he made the right call.
With a smile on his face and a glow in his eyes he pulled Ava into an embrace "Thank you for having me" Kael whispered.
"Hey, snake man!! I only promised to stay with you, I didn't say I have accepted you" Ava asserted while pushing Kael away.
Kael nodded, but in his mind it made no difference since she has accepted to stay with him it was only a matter of time before she will eventually give in to his looks if not for love
Kael, will you go hunting this evening? Ava asked feeling a bit weird
"Are you hungry?" Kael asked
" Very soon I will be hungry, I want to eat meat this night" Ava replied
"Alright, I will go hunt for prey, you promise to stay and not run away???" Kael asked full of doubt
"Yes, I promise not to run, you can Believe me, Kael" Ava said in a doting tone while nodding.
"Alright, will be back soon"
"Also come back with some dried wood, sticks, and dried grass" she added
Kael raised an eyebrow in confusion "what will you need them for?"
"It's for preparing the meat" Ava replied
With that, Kael left, leaving Ava and the glowing luminous ball inside.
Kael returned shortly with a creature resembling a sheep, it was called the yellow bellied sheep, along with dried grass, wood, and sticks.
Ava grabbed the dagger-like talon and glanced at Kael. "We should take these outside to prepare them," she suggested, also grabbing her fruits. As they exited, Ava wished for a basket to carry everything more easily.
Once outside the tunnels, Ava began to prepare the fire, while Kael watched curiously. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm trying to make a fire so we can roast the meat. I can only eat cooked meat, or else I'll get sick," Ava explained, blowing on the small flames.
After arranging the sticks and wood, a cozy fire had already ignited. Ava proceeded to slice pieces of meat from the sheep-like animal's leg and skewered them, placing them to roast over the fire. As she worked, Ava suddenly noticed Kael's silence. Glancing around, she saw Kael standing farther away than usual, seemingly keeping his distance from the fire. Could it be that Kael was afraid of fire? A smile crept onto her face at the thought.
It appeared she had discovered his vulnerability. "Kael," she called out, "could you lend me a hand with the roasting?" Her mischievous grin remained unseen by Kael, who stood a distance away.
Despite his discomfort around fire, which tended to dehydrate his skin, Kael felt compelled to assist his mate. He didn't want to appear incompetent. So, swallowing his unease, he approached. Having observed Ava's method of skewering and roasting the meat, he mimicked her actions, turning the pieces periodically over the fire.
Ava proceeded with her experiment as some of the meat finished cooking. While Kael was occupied with roasting, she had prepared a mansu fruit pulp. Placing it on a large leaf, she dipped thinly sliced meat into the pulp and tasted the result. "Delicious!" she exclaimed.
Eager to share her discovery, she offered some to Kael. "How is it? Tastes good, right?"
"Hmm," Kael nodded, though deep down, he still preferred his meat raw.
Ava offered more meat to Kael, but he politely declined, saying, "You eat first. I'll only eat after you're done. Besides, I don't like hot things."
"Does that mean you're afraid of fire?" Ava asked.
Kael explained, "Fire dehydrates me and I easily get burns." He showed Ava the burns on his fingers.
Feeling guilty, Ava asked, "Then why did you still help, knowing you couldn't stand the heat?"
Kael lovingly held her face and replied, "Because you asked me to."
Blushing, Ava looked away and gently blew on Kael's burns, apologizing, "Sorry, it's my fault".
Kael reassured her, "Don't be sorry, Ava. It'll heal in a day. And now that you've blown on my fingers, I feel much better."
"Alright then, Ava smiled while she continued eating.
Unbeknownst to them, the smoke from the fire had attracted an unexpected visitor.