Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dark.

It was all dark and suffocating in the water with the exception of the small pulsing light from what was left of the dragon gem in her hand.

Raya didn’t understand what was going on.

She couldn’t think. She couldn’t quite breathe properly, gasping for air through her sobs, eyes transfixed on her father’s frozen body as she was dragged away from the bridge by the water. He wasn’t...dead. He couldn’t be. Everything happened too fast.

Distant screams and shouts began to fade away and soon, the fog crept in and shrouded her view from the bridge.

It was all quiet when Tuk tuk nudged her cheek softly with a “churrp?” Raya shook her head and breathed shakily out of her mouth. Her head bobbed into the water and grew bubbles, her Ba’s sword loosening from her back. Tuk tuk nudged her again and moved her head towards the Heart island.

“I know,” Raya whispered softly, tightening the sword to her chest and turning towards land, her head diving briefly into the water in a splash.

It wasn’t long until she reached the river’s edge, huffing from exertion or some emotion she could not name. Tuk tuk pulled at her sleeve, urging her to crawl out of the river bank.

Raya collapsed on the dirt, pulling her legs barely above the waterline. It was okay, she didn’t need to move yet. She had the gem, she was tired, and everyone else…

Thinking isn't good now. It was better if she could just stare at the grass for a while.

“1, 2, 3! 1, 2, 3!” The rowers chanted continuously, paddling the royal barge swiftly through the water back to Fang. They had slowed down since they left the Heart territory but tensions were still high and everyone was feeling jittery. Anyone who wasn’t paddling had their eyes set on the horizon scanning for what may be a hint of dark and purple.

“Mom, are we all okay?” Namaari spoke quietly, tugging on her mother’s hand that had been tightly wrapped around hers since they had started running.

Chief Virana looked down, her lips tightened in a thin line, “No one will be.”

Namaari turned her head away and stared at the ground, a small pang of guilt squeezing her chest. This was her fault, wasn’t it? She failed such an easy mission by gloating at the Heart princess. By hoping they could be friends in another life? She still has a long way to go in this one- what was she thinking?

“Namaari.” Virana sighed and sweeped her into a hug, “I’m glad you’re safe.” The chieftess placed a hand on the young girl’s shoulder, “Go to the royal cabin and get some sleep. It’s been a long day and it’ll be good to have some rest.”

“Mom, I’m fine. I want to be up with the people.” Namaari faced the shoreline, searching for signs of the druun, “I can do this.”

Virana shook her head and walked Namaari to the centermost room of the boat, “Get some rest.” She parted the drapes, “You’ve done enough today, I want you to attend the briefing tonight my morning mist. There will be a lot of changes and you’ll need the energy for it.”

Namaari was gently pushed into the room and the curtains sweeped shut, leaving the young royal in the dark room alone. For a few seconds, she lingered by the entrance, holding her hand out to create a crack in the cloth to peek out.

“General Atitāya!” She heard her mother call as she strided to the front of the boat “How many did we lose?”

The quiet general turned around, “Five people.” She sighed, “Chalerm, Aek, and Khanittha lured the Druun away. Thanya wasn’t fast enough without her cat.” Her voice wavered, “And Petch, Petch was always hot headed.”

The colonel next to her patted her shoulder gently as she let out a shaky breath, “We all saw him. He was first to go, ran straight to the Druun and shot at it.”

“I see.” The Chieftain bowed her head sorrowfully, “We’ll hold a ceremony for them at the end of the week. Let it be known that their sacrifices were honorable.”

Atitāya wiped a stray tear from her eye, “It’s been so long since we had a loss. I don’t know how we could have prepared for this.”

The colonel squeezed her shoulder gently, “There are some things we just cannot prepare for. We can only pray for protection.”

Atitāya nodded and turned to the man, “Piyakom, you are close to Thanya and Aek’s family aren’t you?”

The colonel nodded, “Yes, I can tell them.”

From behind the curtain Namaari dropped her hand, welcoming the darkness as she brought her hands close to her face and she sat down. They trembled slightly.

She ruined her very first mission. She killed off five of her mother’s trusted soldiers. She began the end of the world.

She was a terrible princess, a terrible person. Her mother must have been very disappointed in her.

Frustrated, the 12-year-old removed her shoes and scooted back to the cushioning by the back wall. She curled her hands into a tight fist and punched the triangular pillow. Punch. Box. Jab. Strike. Punch. Box. Jab. Right hook. Left hook. Punch.

“UGH!” Namaari flipped the pillow in anger, breathing harshly. She picked up the bolster next and was about to strangle the life out of it when the drapes parted again and a slightly chubby little woman ducked in.

“Princess Namaari, Chief Virana sent me to check on your injuries.” The woman set a little lamp down by the side of the bamboo daybed.

“I’m fine Witya.” The girl lessened her grip on her pillow and rested her chin on top, “I wasn’t cut or anything. Go check on Sumate, I saw that he was injured.”

Witya smiled gently and settled down by her side, “I know. I bandaged his wounds already, but I know you were in a fight. It wouldn’t hurt to check you too.”

Namaari shook her head and kept her eyes on the side curtains. Her eyes were glistening and she couldn’t trust herself to speak.

“Princess,” The apple-shaped woman began, “It was all an accident and we’re all glad that you’re safe.”

“S-shut up.” Namaari buried her face into the bolster, “A princess protects her people. I couldn’t do that today.” Her fingers clenched onto the pillow until they turned white.

They sat there silently for a few minutes, Namaari’s shoulders shaking silently. Witya reached out and touched her back, “Just let me apply some ointment on you and then I’ll leave you to sleep alright?”

“Okay.”

The sun had left the sky when Raya woke up and the stars twinkled brightly in the dark. She picked up Tuk Tuk and gently tapped him awake before strapping the sword to her back. Where now?

Raya searched for the pathway back to the palace. It’s not possible for everyone to have died right?
The lanterns weren’t lit tonight but that could be because people were hiding from the Druun.

She stubbed her toe on a cobbled pathway and stumbled along in the dark, dragging her sweaty self towards the palace.

“Hello?” Raya called as she walked through the empty halls, “W-weird…” the halls echoed her voice faintly back as she mused to herself. “M-maybe all the workers went home today? I-it was a busy day…” The distant sound of crickets were her only reply.

The lone girl turned into the kitchen where she had been earlier in the day and her stomach grumbled loudly.

“Eh! Urf!” Tuk tuk squealed excitedly and rolled onto the short table to munch on the longans left in a plate.

Raya smiled, “You’re always hungry aren’t you?” She grabbed a bunch of mangosteen fruits and chewed quietly, “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Images flashed by her mind on repeat as she reflected on the day. Baba… The five tribes… Namaari… Namaari! How could she be so stupid? What a fool, showing the enemy the dragon gem because she got a gift?

Speaking of which, Raya dug her hand into her pocket and clasped onto the Sisu necklace. It was beautiful. But it was just metal. She traded The Dragon Gem for this trinket? This piece of trash?

Admittedly, she was a little jealous of Namaari when she first saw it. Now she was just...disgusted. How could she have done this? Just because a cute girl smiled at her and gave her a gift she was willing to show her a secret that was kept safe for 500 years?

Granted, she wasn’t able to connect with any other kids her age because she was “too religious” or too busy training to be the guardian of the dragon gem but seriously? Was she sooo desperate for a friend that she sold her people away?

Ugh. Was she making excuses for herself now?

For a moment, she felt nauseated at the brief remembrance of how brightly her heart had lit up at the teasing sound of Namaari’s laughter. How could she have had so much fun with Namaari?

Everything was a lie.

Tricking her was as easy as peeling a banana. And all those years of training? All pointless. Toi.

Raya’s fingertips dug into the mangosteen she was holding and it gushed a dark purple, bleeding all over her hands and dripping onto the floor. Tuk tuk jumped, startled by the furious look on her face.

“I’ll kill her someday.”

Chapter Text

When the royal barge reached the dock at the Fang palace, Namaari headed straight to the back of the palace to take a shower. It was a little late, but there was nothing she valued more than a nice warm shower to rearrange her rampaging thoughts and clear her mind.

Nevertheless, dinner with her mother brought them all back.

“What did you think of today, my little morning mist?” Virana asked, cracking open a grilled prawn and placing it on Namaari’s plate.

“I’m not sure.” The little princess replied, “Why did Chief Benja really believe in Kumandra? It’s a fairytale, right? There’s no way he could have held onto the gem with everyone in the room.”

“Benja was an idealist. He dreamed too much, reached too far.” The older woman chewed briefly and swallowed, “It’s futile. Humans are naturally selfish. We only have so much power to live well and protect what we have. Do you know what makes something ours?”

Namaari looked up thoughtfully, “It’s ours if we can keep it in our land?”

“No,” Her mother handed her another prawn, “It’s if we can protect it and mix our labor in with it. What’s ours is a part of our soul.” She peeled open another prawn, “That includes our people, Namaari. Chief Benja’s ideas are unrealistic because you can’t work with people from all around Kumandra and protect them. They’re not connected to us and we can’t connect with them.”

“But is there a possibility that it could actually work? I thought Raya was pretty nice.” Namaari looked down and away, “I mean, I hurt her but I really liked her- I mean I really liked our conversations- or well, I never got along with anyone my age at the religious classes.”

Her voice lowered to a whisper, “Nobody cares about dragons like I do... but she did.”

“I see.” The chieftain stated, “I understand that friendship is fairly important but you two weren’t fated to be. It would be better for you to find friends who are interested in something else if not your religious studies.”

“But how do I find friends? I don’t have any--”

"Chief Virana!" A young teenage boy appeared on the other side of the table, "The scouts are back krup . A basic defensive barrier has been built around the villages and General Atitaya is now awaiting for your orders."

The tall woman nodded and stood up, washing her hands in a bowl of lime before wiping them with a piece of cloth as she headed out the archway.

"Wait! Mom!" Namaari called, wrapping one of the uneaten crustaceans in a banana leaf, "You only ate two prawns. Take this one with you."

"My love," Virana chucked lightly, "It may be a little rude for me to eat in front of my subordinates while they are working on an emergency call. I'm glad you're compassionate, but a good ruler does not eat in front of her people while they skip their meals. Finish the rest or get them to the kitchen. I’ll see you in the conference room at 9 tonight."

Namaari nodded and sat back down as her mother left the room with the boy and headed to the cattery by the front of the palace.

“You are Somkhit aren’t you? How old are you? How have you been?” Virana asked kindly as they rounded a corner.

“I'm 14, Chief!” The teenager replied, with a smile, “I’m doing good, I just officially became the messenger boy around the palace. Lieutenant Phichit told me that if I keep up with my training, I’ll be able to join the army as soon as I turn 16.”

“That’s wonderful news! Piyakom must be very proud of you.” The Chieftain exclaimed, “What fighting style have you been practicing the most?”

“Muay Thai krup. My mother tells me that I won’t always have my weapon with me.”

“Ah yes. Dao has always been a smart woman.” A sudden idea hit the monarch, “How would you like to join training with the princess?”

“Me?” Somkhit jerked his head up to look at the chieftain, “I can join the princess in training?”

“Yes,” Virana informed, “It’s been a while since she had a fighting partner around her size. It should benefit both of you.”

“I’ll be honored Chief Virana!” Somkhit grinned toothily, “I’ll be the best training partner ever.”

The side of Virana’s lips twitched upwards, “I’ll be the judge of that. Now what information do you have for me?”

“Scouts have sighted 4 Druun entities wandering around in the east.” The tall boy reported, adjusting the cloth on his head. “Thankfully, the area around Baan Bua village has been secured. Father- I mean Colonel Piyakom- has been out with the loggers and shipmen since he arrived and they’ve built a 4 meter barrier that has closed off the eastern part of the peninsula.”

Virana nodded approvingly, “That’s a good start, but Druun can squeeze itself through the gaps between the trees. Do you know how they’re dealing with that?”

“Krup! Since we’re using the Yang-na trees to build the barrier, General Atitaya has taken several artisans out to extract the resin from them to patch up any holes. They’re making sure it’s thick enough to be waterproof but most of the workers don’t know how long this would last.” He furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, “The more Druuns appear, the more power they’ll have to push the barrier down.”

The chieftain sighed, and guestered for the servants to open the cattery gates, “Fang will work together on this, Somkit. We’ll keep everyone safe. Now go get the metal workers on site and bring me the Druun scholar. I’ll be at the barrier.”

Somkit bowed, hands encircled on his forehead, and left for the machine workshop. Soon, Virana mounted her cat Suphalak and headed to the wooden blockade in no time.

“Hurry! Hurry!” A chorus of voices shouted as warriors on giant cats zoomed past the opening in the wooden wall.

“Go! Go! Go!” General Atitaya jumped over a bolting cat and spun sideways with the dragon gem as she warded the Druun off the last scout that was rushing back.

“Whew!” the woman puffed and encircled her hands by her chest in a bow, “Thanks ‘Taya!”

“No problem.” The general sweeped her eyes across the field, “Now close the gates!”

The large wooden wall swung shut with a long creak and barricaded closed with a large log. Cheers erupted from all around and a few servants came over to hand out cups of water to the warriors.

“Report please!” Atitaya inquired over the exchange of compliments between the warriors and the servants.

“No losses ‘Taya!” An overly affectionate scout slid off her cat and whooped gleefully into Atitaya’s ear.

“Owww, oww,” The general whipped her head to the side and rubbed her ear, “Dao! Don’t yell in my ear.” She wrinkled her eyes shut and continued “So what did you find?”

“Well,” Dao started, “Just as Montri should have reported earlier, there are four Druun entities around this area. Two are right outside this wall and the other two are closer to the Heartlands. Thankfully, most of the Druun rushed towards Talon so it should take a while before they multiply and come barreling this way. We’re all good!” She laughed and swung her arm across Atitaya’s shoulder, “Don’t be so serious ‘Taya, sabai sabai. We have a lot of time to work things out and we’re all working together.”

Atitaya frowned and rested her chin against her hand, “Hmm.. I’m not too sure about that. We haven’t set up any defensive systems on our western end. If the Druun decides to move west, they could reach the end of the barrier and attack everyone.”

“I doubt that. The Druun are stupid. Look!” The scout threw her free arm back and grabbed a cup of water from a nearby servant before chucking the water over the wall.

“SCREECH!!! SizZzZZ…” A loud shriek rumbled across the ground, halting everyone in their tracks.

“Hehehe… see?” The skinny woman commented sheepishly, “We found out that the Druun is so afraid of water. Water of all things!”

General Atitaya lifted Dao’s arm off her shoulder and replied in a deadpan voice, “Don’t do that again.”

“Sorryy…”

The sound of rapid thumping came from behind the women and they turned to see Chief Virana on Suphalak come to a halt, “What happened here? Is everyone alright?”

The soldiers waied in unison and Atitaya spoke up as she offered the gem shard back to her ruler, “The Druun was reacting to water, Chief Virana. Nobody got hurt. As long as we are able to keep the Druun close to this barrier for the entire week, we should be able to buy enough time to build a barrier that surrounds the entire Peninsula.”

“Good.” Virana commanded, assessing the wooden wall, “I want a soldier posted by the wall every 5 meters with an extra 2 to guard the entrance. There mustn’t be any blindspots. If there are any problems, report back to me immediately. Young Somkhit will be here with the metal workers soon, I want you to have them reinforce the logs with iron.” She paused, scanning the area, “Where is Colonel Piyakom?”

“He headed towards Baan Rai village. We used our entire stock of lumber on this wall so they’re gathering manpower to harvest more timber.”

The chieftain narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, “Commander Dao. Visit every village and have them start collecting lumber. It’s a waste of time to prepare one village at a time.”

“Yes Ka.” The scout answered and swung herself up onto the saddle.

“And one more thing.”

“Ka?”

“Attend the meeting tonight.”

Chapter Text

Namaari walked into the conference room's back entrance a little while before 9 but most everyone was already there.

Her mother was standing by the side of the table with a pile of open scrolls, discussing the Druun situation with General Atitaya and a few Fang scholars. Colonel Piyakom and Commander Dao were on the other side of the table with a map of Fang, discussing their food and resource shortage. The officers around the room turned to give her their greetings before going back to their discussions.

Namaari took a deep breath and wedged into the gap between her mother and the general to listen into their conversation.

“We can’t just stop there, I don’t believe that a four meter wall would be safe enough.” Chieftess Virana declared, leaning over an opened scroll detailing the Fang palace 500 years ago.

“There’s no issue with this at all!” an elderly scholar insisted, “The barrier clearly kept us safe back then-”

“Until the Druun overwhelmed the entrance.” Virana interrupted. “Remember that we only need a single Druun entity to slip past the gateway for the entirety of Fang to crumble into dust.”

“Then what do you propose we do, Chieftess?” Another scholar questioned, “It’s not like we have the time or resources to build stilt houses like Talon.”

“Yeah, I agree.” A strapping young researcher piped up, “We can reinforce the gates and maybe make a second set of gates but we don’t have any other option.”

Namaari raised her voice, “I don’t think we can reinforce the gates. There isn’t enough manpower available, we have to focus on our food shortage too. We have to convert more land into terraces soon. The storage rooms are almost out and rationed portions are getting smaller.”

“What do you think we can do, young one?” The elderly scholar looked down at her, “We’ve been having seafood for the past two months already. Fang is tough. We can handle a few months more.”

General Atitaya pitched in, “Scholar Narai is right. Our first priority is our safety. The fishermen still bring in enough for us to get by, but I agree that the princess has a point.” She squeezed Namaari’s arm gently, “What are the druun’s weaknesses, scholars? Is there anything other than water?”

“The gem perhaps? But other than that, they don’t have any other weaknesses. We did, however, find out that they are a little particular in some aspects.” A willowy researcher replied. “The Druun only multiply through consuming human lifeforms so they will always go for humans first. In a way, they’re stupid in their lack of planning, reaching for the nearest human alone. But this is no help to us unless we plan to sacrifice some of our own.”

“Hmm…” a couple academicians murmured thoughtfully.

After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, a lean scholar remembered something and asked the group, "On the topic of Druun, I haven't been able to find our Sisudatu scroll. Who has it?"

Namaari chuckled nervously and produced the scroll from the area where she had secured it on her back, "Uh, here it is."

"That's a 500 year scroll! A 500 year scroll!" The scholar shrieked at her, "Don't carry it around like that. Did you even have permission to take it out of the archives??"

Namaari shifted sheepishly under the weight of the eyes on her. She did not ask for permission to take the scroll out, "It was very helpful in getting Princess Raya to show me the dragon gem."

"You showed it to the heart princess?!" The lean scholar seemed faint.

Scholar Narai scolded the princess, "This is a Fang relic, princess. It has one of the best preserved images in our collection. Do not do that ever again!"

The drum beat sounded three times and Lieutenant Phichit walked into the room through the main entrance, saving Namaari from having to reply. “I’m… not late?” He scanned the room, “Why is everyone so deep in discussion already?”

Virana sighed tiredly, rubbing the tip of her nose, “Come, let’s all just spread around the table and officially start the meeting.”

The meeting began with a brief overview of the situation and its developments. Lumber has been piling up nicely and the soldiers have taken rounds keeping the Druun by the side of the wall with a fish on a stick. Evidently, they were appealing to others too as a couple great cats have been seen to snuggle up with the person holding the stick.

Metal and food has not been great. They had a huge shortage that got thinner each day. There just wasn’t enough. The group debated back and forth on how to address the issue with the appearance of the druun for hours until Commander Dao aggravatedly offered a startling suggestion.

“What if we raid Heart?” The scout exclaimed over the noise of the brainstorming session.

“We what?” Colonel Piyakom asked bewilderedly as the room quieted down.

“What if we raid Heart.” Dao repeated slowly, watching the eyebrows around the table inch upwards.

“That could work.” Chieftess Virana admitted after a moment of silence, “They have storehouses full of grain and livestock left unattended.”

“I saw some iron tools in one of the sheds.” Atitaya added, “They had a surplus.”

A brief moment of envy swept around the circle. “They had a surplus and they didn’t bother opening tradelines for that?” the scholars grumbled among themselves, “I heard they created an entire rope course for their princess to play in.”

“What? No way.”

“It’s true. I heard their princess spent an entire week learning weaving and then they trashed the entire bolt of fabric because it wasn’t pretty enough.”

“That’s so wasteful! I bet they couldn’t do anything against her because of how fast she is. Rumour has it, the princess jumps off the roofs to avoid her father.”

“Wow. Selfish and dangerous.”

“I’ll do it then.” Piyakom spoke up, “I can lead the royal army and bring back as much as I can. The cats can outrun the Druun so as long as we are cautious, we’ll do fine.”

Dao rummaged around the cabinet under the table and brought out a detailed map of Heart, “Here,” she handed the parchment over to Piyakom, “I suggest having two teams to get in and out quickly.”

“I’ll go too then.” Lieutenant Phichi volunteered, “I can take a unit to sweep the fields and granaries for wheat and grain by the back of the island.”

“Then I’ll take another unit to get to the steel storages up in the mountain.” Piyakom agreed, “Should we leave tomorrow?”

“No.” General Atitaya asserted, “We have to set the barriers up first. You could accidentally lead the Druun to us.”

“Then we’ll leave next week.” Piyakom announced, “That should give enough time for most of the Druun to move away from Heart.”

Namaari felt a little conflicted by the situation, “But what about the people still living in heart?” she asked, “Won't they need as much as they can get?"

The leaders around the table turned and looked at her surprised. They had forgotten that there was a child amongst them.

"There won't be any people living in Heart by the end of the week.” Chieftess Virana answered, “If there are any, they'll have to move to another land. Heart is unprotected.”

“But what we're doing...isn’t this wrong?” Namaari tilted her head inquisitively.

“This... is a smart decision.” The mother hesitantly replied. Virana had long accepted that her child wasn’t going to have a proper childhood in Fang but there were times that she did wish it wasn’t so.

Scholar Narai noticed the conflict in the Chieftess’s eyes and spoke up, “It’s good to have a heart, young one. But this is war. Save your compassion for your people. Think of the suffering we had to go through because of the monsoon. The crops dried up, the trees withered, and then we had a flood wash them away! Meanwhile, all Heart has been doing is hosting parties and giving speeches about Kumandra! We deserve better.”

Namaari averted her eyes from the old man. He was right. Raya had been telling stories left and right about all the different games she played.

However...she was still conflicted. Raya had no idea about what was happening in Fang.

“But Heart doesn’t deserve this.” She countered.

“That’s true.” The elder acknowledged, “But we don’t deserve starvation either.” He knelt down to Namaari’s level, staring sincerely into her eyes, “Princess Namaari,” he stated firmly, “No matter what happens in this world, a chief protects their own first.”

The meeting ended way past Namaari’s curfew, the metal clang startling the yawning girl who had never heard the sound of the late hour of one-in-the morning before. But before she could leave for bed, her mother pulled her aside for a brief chat with the commissioned officers.

“Starting Wednesday morning, Princess Namaari will be joining your son in his training exercises.” The Chieftess began, “I thought that it would be good for her to have a partner… and a new friend.”

“Mom!” Namaari protested, “I don’t want you to assign someone as my friend. They won’t like me. They’ll just stand there smiling like a monkey or something.”

“Oh no, Somkhit would never do that!” Dao reassured her, smiling toothily before facing her ruler, “I can’t believe you chose my son of all people. Does this mean he’s changing instructors? Who’s teaching Namaari right now?”

“It was Aek.” The colonel replied solemnly.

“Aek?” The commander voiced her thoughts, “Isn’t Aek- oh.”

Phichit took this time to bend down on this knee by Namaari with a wai, “Looks like I’m your new instructor now.” He smiled, “Class begins at 7 at the courtyard gardens. Bring your escrima sticks with you when we meet on Wednesday. I will have you spar with Somkhit to gauge your current level.”

“Yes sir.” Namaari returned the bow, “I won’t forget.”

Chief Virana nodded approvingly of the interaction in front of her and placed her hand on Namaari’s shoulder, “It’s time to go to sleep now my love. Don’t worry about Somkhit yet. He's your training partner first. You can decide later on if he will be your friend or not. Now run along," She spun her daughter to face the back of the room, "Don't loiter around anywhere and go straight to sleep.”

“Yes mother.” Namaari encircled her hands under her chin and wandered towards the door as her mother dismissed the officers. But after a few steps, the sleepy girl turned back to her mother, “Mom,” she began slowly, “Would it be possible if Raya could stay with us?”

“What?” Virana scrunched her eyebrows at the suddenness of the question.

“Well Raya was so nice to me,” Namaari looked embarrassedly around the room to see if anyone was in earshot, “She took my hand and we really connected and all that stuff and I never had a friend like that before so I’m worried about her.” She shifted her weight to her other foot, “I just want to know if she’s alive. She wasn’t selfish like the rumors. She was pretty nice.”

“It’s not smart to have an enemy within our borders,” the Chieftess answered, “I will not allow Princess Raya to stay with us but I will tell the Colonel to check on her for you. Go to sleep now, you still have your mathematics classes at 9 tomorrow.”

“Thanks mom.” The girl reached up to hug her mother’s waist and skipped out the back door.

"My daughter's too soft," Virana grumbled to herself as she hurried to catch the officers leaving the palace, “How did Benja's daughter become friends with her so fast? Benja's too soft to teach his daughter how to sweet-talk.” The queen raced out the front door.

"Colonel!" Virana shouted, frightening the guards in front of the palace entrance, “One more thing about the raid please.”

The burly man stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned around with Dao on his shoulders and Phichit on the floor tying his shoe straps. “Yes Chief?”

“While you’re at Heart, check and see if Benja’s daughter is alive.”

“Yes Chief.”

“And don’t forget to be careful around her.”

“Krub.” Piyakom affirmed and continued his walk home as the Chieftess retreated back into the palace.

“Why does the chief want to know if the Heart princess is alive?” Phichit asked his friend.

“Chief wants me to kill her.” Piyakom replied simply.

“What?”

“Context clues, Pi-pi.” The colonel straightened his posture, “The chief came out to personally tell us to check if a selfish, potentially dangerous enemy princess is alive.”

“Well that could mean anything.”

“She came outside away from where Princess Namaari would hear. It’s obviously a sensitive topic.”

“I don’t know…” Phichit said doubtfully, “I don’t think a 12 year old child could be that dangerous. Your son is 14 and he still feeds the pigeons every morning.”

“Again?” Dao interrupted, “I told him not to do that anymore.”

Piya tilted his head upwards to meet her eyes, “He takes after you Ti Rak. Very stubborn. Sometimes reckless.”

She frowned, “He’s going to get the bird flu.”

Phichit sighed, “Guys. Back to the topic.”

“Right.” Piyakom stopped at the street intersection and stood directly in front of Phichit. “We both were assassins before we became soldiers and the situation of the world has just changed drastically. If a dangerous, selfish child is set loose without her parents to shape her boundaries, what kind of adult could she grow into?”

“But she’s still a child now.” stressed Phichit.

“I understand.” The colonel let his wife down from his shoulders and pressed his lips into a thin line, “But we have to make tough decisions for the sake of our future.”

The commander stared at the two men in front of her incredulously, “Can’t the two of you just go double check with Chief Virana?” She raised an eyebrow, “Seriously. You can just ask her before you leave if she just wants to know the status of the kid or if she wants to eradicate Benja’s bloodline.”

There was a brief pause before Phichit responded, “Oh. oh yeah we can do that.”

Piyakom scratched the base of his neck sheepishly, “I don’t know why we didn’t think of that.”

Dao laughed quietly through a short huff of air from her nose and yawned, “It’s really late. I don’t blame your brains for not working anymore.” She smiled at the men, “Maybe this means that the both of you have been working really hard today?”

Her husband drew her close and pressed a kiss on the top of her forehead, “Aww, thanks love.”

“No problem.” She returned the hug and turned to wave goodbye to Phichit, “Just don’t forget to ask the chief before you leave.”

Chapter Text

“Squeak squeak!”

“Peep peep?”

“Churrp! Gruuuuuu…”

“Ughh…” Raya groaned, draping her arm over her ear, “Tuk tuk, be quiet. You can talk with the birds and mice later during training.”

Her fingers trailed lightly across her forearm and Raya clenched them in confusion. Rough? Why did they feel so rough? She swiped her thumb across her fingertips as she brought her right hand closer to her face and opened her eyes.

Dark purple.

Oh.

Raya sat up and looked around. She had dragged herself upstairs last night and went to sleep, hoping that time could rewind itself so she could wake up like nothing bad had ever happened.

That was too good to be true.

She was still here, her father’s kris on her nightstand, what’s left of the gem by her stomach, and the door locked shut with a chair.

There was nothing else different about her room except for Tuk tuk’s increasingly erratic conversation by the window and her terrible appearance that she was beginning to notice. Her brief head scratch felt the oil and humidity through her tangled braids. She shouldn't have gone straight to bed without cleaning up.

Raya pulled her knees to her chest and picked out the dried mangosteen shell out of her fingers. A memory of when she was seven hit her. She really loved to run away and hide during shower time.

A miniature Raya giggled, racing around the clay pots in a circle as her nursemaid tried to catch her in the granary room. She was dressed in a light turquoise, or well, less turquoise now that her nursemaid grasped onto the krama hanging off her shoulder and Raya yanked it off her body to escape.

“Raya! Raya, slow down. You’re going to break something.” The larger woman called, hands on her knees as she stopped to catch her breath. “Peam! Peam, help me catch her!” The nanny yelled at the textile worker passing by the archway.

The stocky man raised his eyebrows in surprise and set the bolt of cloth down. Before he could step into the room, a calloused hand tapped his back and Chief Benja walked in instead.

“I’ll handle this.” he stretched his arms with an amused smile.

“My little dewdrop,” the chieftain started, shifting into a low stance, arms apart and knees bent as he slinked around the room, “it’s time for your shower~”

“Eek!” Raya let out a high pitched squeal of excitement and climbed the shelves to get away from her father. “Baba nooo!! It’s too earlyyy. I still wanna play!”

Benja smirked and pounced, prompting the start of a 5 minute chase out of the storehouse and around the courtyard.

The nursemaid watched tiredly as the two raced around. “I don’t know who’s the kid and who’s the father anymore,” She muttered jokingly to the large man beside her as she organized the fallen pots and containers, “The chief knocked down as many jars as the princess.”

Peam snickered and helped the older woman arrange the grain containers. When they were all set and done, Raya burst back into the room and tripped over another pot.

“That’s it!” The curvy lady scowled, hauling the child over her shoulder and moving towards the palace, “I hope you enjoy a cold shower because I’m not warming it up for you again!”

“Nooooo,” Raya whined and encircled her hands in front of her forehead, “I’m sorry Dì Sang! I don’t want cold water. Can I just skip the shower? I’m not sweaty yet, I’m still clean!”

Chief Benja let out a short chuckle as he came to walk besides Sang, leaning forward to lecture Raya, “Always take a shower before bed, Raya. You sleep in your bed every night and you don’t want any dirt on it.”

“But-!”

“I know you sweated during training today. Even if you dried off I’m sure there’s some dirt here-” he poked her jaw.

“-there-” he poked her rib.

“-or maybe here?” he tickled her waist.

By now Raya was squirming and flailing her arms around so much that she was about to fall off her nanny’s shoulders in tears. Sang was feeling quite exasperated.

“Oh quit it, Benja!” The dark-haired lady batted his hands away with her free one, “I don’t know why my sister liked this about you but can we just get her to the shower before the stars reach the sky?”

“Sure, sure.” Benja grinned, “We can have more family time after the shower then.”

Raya shifted off her bed and fastened the sword to her back as before. It was strange. She didn't know why she felt like her strength was all gone and all her actions seemed like she was wading through mud. She just didn’t want to move anywhere and stay in this puzzling state of nothingness that she had been in for a while, but she knew that should go take a shower because her Ba would have wanted that from her.

The little girl sighed, pocketed the gem, and walked to the window to pick up her armadillo pill pug.

Tuk tuk’s squawking had died down after a little while and he was now looking at her with a slightly disgruntled expression.

“What.” Raya picked him up and peered out the window. There was nothing there. No druun in sight… was the druun real?

She shook her head. She knew it was real.

Then what was up with him? He probably didn’t understand what was going on, she thought. She didn’t have any snacks for his mouse friends today.

Choosing an outfit was hard. Normally, Dì Sang would have picked one out for her and hung it by the door so that she could bring it down to the bathroom as soon as she was woken up, but there was nothing hanging there today.

Her current formal wear felt constricting on her as she stretched up and grabbed the different fabrics. She didn't hate it though. Maybe she deserved it? It was an interesting thought.

"We're both warrior women who despise uncomfortable formal wear." An echo of Namaari’s teasing voice flittered into her mind.

Raya shook her head and picked up a long piece of songket fabric and a chong kraben. She was going to do okay. Her Ba taught her well. She doesn’t need anyone to fuss over her outfit to make sure her shirt was fastened on tightly.

The lone child walked down the side staircase at the edge of the palace. She had been avoiding the main one for a while. It would be too strange to see it empty.

Reaching the royal bathroom, she strolled in and gazed into the tub. No water. Nobody filled it up for her.

She checked the water basin. It was a big earthen jar with intricate designs of the stories of the dragon Hanudatu who saved humanity from giants. Everyone must have been so busy preparing for the meeting of the tribes that no one filled it up. There was just a thin layer of liquid left on the bottom.

Raya grabbed a bowl from a self and leaned into the basin to try to scoop the water out. Too far. She wasn't tall enough to reach the water. She stood on her tiptoes and tried again. Still too far.

Frustrated, Raya pulled her waist onto the edge of the basin, reaching in for the water with one arm and balancing herself with another hand. As her body began tilting into the basin, she quickly scooped the bowl full of water but it was heavier than she expected and Raya fell face first into the jar with a loud “Splash!”

“PFFF!” The messy looking girl spit out a mouth full of dirt. All of the settled impurities at the bottom of the basin had been disturbed and mixed into what’s left of the water.

“Ugh!” Raya shouted angrily and slammed her foot on the side of the jar. CRACK!

Oh toi.

The girl scrambled out of the earthenware but her body weight was a little too much on the jar and it shattered, a shard slicing into deep red on the side of her leg.

“Toi! Toi! Toi!” A piercing pain bloomed on her right leg and Raya bent down to cover it with her hands.

“K-keh!” She exhaled a shaky breath and inched her way to kneel beside the wall. Tuk tuk watched the blood trail down her fingers in horror and jumped around to get her the hand towel.

“Thanks buddy,” Raya tied the cloth around her leg with gritted teeth, “I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

She gave him a strained smile, “Looks like we can't shower here anymore. Day one is going by so well.” The girl grabbed her clothes with her clean hand and opened the door, “It’s the good old river today then.”

The river was not good. It was freezing.

Her leg was stinging, she slipped on some mud and almost ruined her clean clothes getting in. And when she was getting out? She bashed her knee against a rock. What did god have against her today?!

Oh, right.

With her cleaning done, Raya kept her clothes in her bedroom before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. She knew there was some larb left in one of the pots and some cooked rice in another.

The limping girl wandered into the kitchen and her heart fell. Ants. Ants everywhere. The little critters we're swarming the pots, dancing on the table, and lining up all over the walls.

Her eyes dropped to the peeled fruits on the table. She forgot to put them away. There were no kitchen maids to clean up after her. Toiiiii. She should have learned more swear words. She was about to overuse this.

Raya darted around the kitchen and grabbed several containers to eat outside the kitchen door. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she opened them up and dug out the contents.

The first jar had enough rice for three meals. Nice!

The second jar had that larb she was looking for. Even better!

The last jar had some deep fried bananas! Awesome!

Tuk tuk looked delighted as Raya threw him a few pieces of the banana fritters and rolled around to fetch them as she threw them down the hallway. The Maruya still tasted pretty great for a day-old snack and she was feeling a little thrilled that she found it randomly.

The girl sniggered gleefully at her armadillo bug when he bumped into a houseplant and spun around like a top.

“Baba! Here! Your turn!” Raya lifted a handful of bananas to her left and turned her head when the weight didn’t change.

The space next to her was empty.

Raya’s mood plummeted immediately and she set the fritters back into the pot slowly. The hallway felt larger than before and the ray of sunlight on her skin felt like it was burning her steadily.

Nobody was here anymore. She stared at the dust flying through the sunlight and onto the pot. The colors morphed into a darker shade of reddish-brown the longer she sat there. The air became… denser.

Raya ate the rest of the meal in silence.

By the time Raya was done cleaning up the kitchen, she had a total of 12 ant bites, 3 mosquito bites, a stubbed pinky toe from walking into a cabinet.

“Should I go down to check?” Raya asked Tuk tuk as she stared out of the window onto the village rooftops below the palace, “There’s probably somebody down there like me right? My teachers had the entire week off for my initiation as a guardian of the dragon gem so maybe they took a long vacation or something. Didn’t come to the party. The Druun couldn’t have taken everyone.”

The pre-teen scratched an inflamed spot on her arm, pushing down the dull throbbing of guilt that had climbed its way up her throat. She didn’t kill everyone. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t mean anything. Convicting thoughts swirled around her head as she walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Raya had reached the bottom floor by the entrance of the village when she spotted a cluster of dark colors around the middle of the hallway at the corner of her eye.

Shoes.

There were a bunch of shoes in front of the doors in the throne room.

Raya stopped in her tracks and stared unblinkingly at the footwear assembled on the floor. No. Way. There were more people alive? Was there a gathering to pray for the dead?

“Bling...bling!” A tinkling sound of bells flitted from behind the closed doors.

She was right! Not everyone had died! Raya spun to her side and dashed down the main hallway. Of course. Everyone was in the throne room for afternoon meditation. They must have been praying to send off the dead. They had done everything in the throne room, why didn’t she check that place first? Even the party with the delegates from the different tribes were there for lunch yesterday.

Raya’s heart lightened up with relief as hastened to take off her shoes. A grin pulled onto the side of her cheeks. She was so stupid. The druun taking out an entire country in one day? Heart was stronger than that.

Tuk tuk fell off her shoulders from all the sudden movements she was making and yelped as he hit the ground.

“Oh I’m so sorry Tuk tuk!” Raya swooped down, kissing the top of his head and inspecting his feet before placing him back on her shoulder, “I’m just laughing at myself you know?” She reached for the door, “I can’t believe I thought everyone was dead. I’m so-”

Raya stopped. Her knuckles turned white on the door frame, her arm frozen in the place where she swung the door open. Her chest felt tight as if the air had been slammed out of her.

“...stupid.”

There were stone statues everywhere.

Gray figures were scattered across the grand hall. Most of them were gathered by the windows. Some were on top of another, frozen in their flight.

Raya’s eyes became blurred, the image in front of her warped and swam like ghosts flying around in the air. She could faintly feel her blood rushing up her arms and legs in a fight or flight response. Her heart quickened and drummed loudly in her ears, a familiar dose of adrenaline hit her like her spars with her father, except this time, it wasn't comforting. She had nowhere to run to.

Raya stepped into the room. Tears trailed down her cheeks but she didn’t bother to wipe them.

All of the statues were facing away from the door. The ones frozen near the center had their hands cupped in a bowl and their heads bowed in front of them while the ones near the windows had a wide range of actions and expressions. Their will to live had overpowered the druun’s default position.

Raya walked slowly past each figure. She did not dare to touch them. They were a mass of grey, their colors were all gone, faded into a monochrome that was accented by the blaze of sunlight through the window.

Raya recognized some of them.

Her music teacher. Her mathematics teacher. A little boy who liked to ask for extra fish balls in his noodles. A seamstress with her baby still strapped onto her. There were just so many people there. She could even see several groups of people from various tribes that came for the party based on their clothing.

They were all still.

It was like an eternal taste of kumandra, frozen in time, all facing away from the door she walked in from.

All facing away from her.

After a moment of shock, Raya began to see visions. She could almost hear the screams of terror, terror that she caused. Each face looked more accusatory as she neared the window. She could almost hear them howl hoarsely, “You did this...YOU DID THIS!”

Raya let her feet guide her to the edge of the room. Some people had died halfway through climbing out the window. Their faces were contorted in anguish as they were robbed of freedom just dangling beyond their fingertips.

The small girl felt shivers race down her spine and goosebumps rise around her arms. She wrapped her arms around herself. The faces were starting to scare her.

“Bling, bling!” A twinkling sound rang behind her and Raya whirled around, smacking her face on an outstretched stone arm.

She fell to the floor and rapidly moved backwards, her arm hovering protectively in front of her face as she tried to blink away the confusion. The sound was just a stone statue. There was a set of bell chimes near a motionless man and everytime the wind blew strongly, the chimes would knock onto his fingers, sending a cheerful “bling!” echoing through the air.

Raya rubbed her eyes. Everything seemed as though she was looking through a fisheye lens. The figures around her began growing in size, the grey dimmed into black, and in the midst of them all, there was Raya. An itty bitty grasshopper.

On her left there was a statue of an angry man. He had his mouth open wide, eyebrows furrowed, and fingers curled into claws.

Raya couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. Her mouth dried up and her windpipe was closing up from the gasps she took, heaving heavily to accommodate the steady streams of liquid from her eyes and nose.

She was sobbing but she couldn’t make a sound apart from her breathing. The room was suffocating and the anger from the dead had begun bleeding onto her with every heartbeat.

Were there any vengeful ghosts lingering in the room? She couldn’t figure it out. The mid-day heat had created illusions of vengeful shadows reaching for her from all around.

It took a while before Raya could muster up the strength to get off the floor.

She was sitting down with her eyes screwed shut and her hands over her ears when exhaustion took over and she fainted. Raya had just woken up to a piercing headache that still vaguely echoed the phantom calls and a very worried looking armadillo bug by the side of her face.

Tuk tuk was pushing insistently at her forehead but stopped when she opened her eyes. With a little squeak, he rolled away for a bit and came back shoving a few pieces of desserts at her. Without stopping, her beloved pet rolled away again and came back with a handkerchief.

“Thanks buddy,” Raya mumbled, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose as she sat up, “You’re such a good boy.”

The fur bug beamed and tried to make himself look bigger.

Raya picked up one of the desserts. With her nose unclogged, could now smell the sweetness coming from the Sanay Jaan. Where did they come from? She searched the room.

There was a huge pile of sweets strewed across the floor on the opposite end of the room next to a fallen statue with its arm broken off and under another statue.

The smell of the golden treat in her hand became sickly sweet and Raya placed it back down. Her stomach churned and she sent an anxious smile to Tuk tuk, “I’m still full, you can eat it.”

Raya stood up and continued her walk around the room, recognizing more and more people that she knew. There was a local scholar who loved eating fish. A servant who taught her how to catch frogs. The boy from the village who liked to sneak into parties to eat.

She stopped by the pool of water in the middle of the room. It was untouched. Nobody knew that water could save them.

Her disheveled reflection gazed back at her. She looked awful, her eyes were puffed up and her nose was red. But at the same time, she looked good. Her skin was shiny and smooth, her hair as black as a raven, and her lips were as pink as the wildflowers in the butterfly field.

Other than her accident this morning, Raya was unscathed from the Druun’s influence. She didn’t have a single scratch on her that came from fleeing the Druun.

But everyone else in the room? Dead.

Their bodies were entirely encrusted in stone while she was youthful, pretty, and most of all, alive. Why is she alive? Why did she get to survive when nobody else did?

Raya turned and ran, bursting out the doors and down the main stairway, passing figure by figure as she sprinted as fast as she could through the village.

“ You are the Guardian of the Dragon Gem. ” Chief Benja’s voice echoed in her head, “ There's still light in this. There's still hope .”

“HOPE WHERE??” Raya screamed, frantically slamming open every single door that she passed by, searching for a lifeform. Please. PLEASE. Just anyone. JUST ANYONE.

“ Raya. Don't give up on them .”

“DON’T GIVE UP ON WHO?”

Doors rattled on their hinges. Pots fell from the shelves. Baskets smashed into the walls. Raya spared nothing, shredding through the houses, buildings, huts, cabins- everything.

“THERE’S NOBODY LEFT!” she hollered in the middle of the town square.

“Nobody…” She croaked, sinking down in front of a shrine. Her hands clutched onto the grass on the ground and her head hung limply.

There wasn’t a single human left on the island. There were some cattle and livestock that were scared away by her cries but other than that, there was no one.

A dark purple mist materialized at the corner of her eye.

Raya turned her head towards it as it came closer.

I failed at the very thing I trained all my life to do. I should have died instead, Ba would have done better than I ever will.

Raya was bitterly ashamed of herself and angry at her actions. Would it hurt to turn into stone? What did she even have left to live for?

The druun was almost touching her now. She could feel its chaotic fire of death radiate on her skin.

“ Raya. Don't give up on them. ” Her father’s gentle voice reverberated in her head and she moved in one solid motion, standing up and swiping the gem from her pocket into the Druun, inches away from her face.

It shrieked and disintegrated into dust.

Raya exhaled a long, deep audible breath and started trekking sluggishly back to the throne room.

She had knocked down a polished jug full of water and that reminded her that there was at least one thing she could do to respect the dead. She was going to water all their outstretched palms and send them off with a prayer.

Perhaps the water could help some part of their soul escape their bodily prison and reach heaven.

Chapter Text

Hello there everyone! I'm not going to be able to update this week as usual.

I got sick this past week and then I got hospitalized because of these lumps in my throat. The doctor thinks it could be infected tonsils but we have to check. They've been injecting the medication because pills aren't working.

I've been in and of a fever since last week and my parents took me to the hospital because my fever kept coming back and my heart rate was at 145 even though I was resting all day.

So... Yeah...

My computer is at home and my mom won't let me work on anything, lol she's kinda right about that, so it'll take a while before I can get back on this.

>_< I'mma miss my online college classes... I have an exam this week too. Oh dear.

Well, hopefully I'll be able get better and update soon. I'm aiming for next week or if I suddenly need surgery, the week after that.

Chapter Text

It was early evening by the time Raya finished pouring water onto the stone statues in the palace and the village.

She was operating in a daze, mindlessly pouring water over and over from one person to the next.

The next thing she knew, she was back on the bridge in front of her father, staring at his expressionless face.

"Ba…" Raya trailed off, her hands tentatively reaching out to touch his. What was once warm and full of life was now gone, rock-solid and cool from the evening wind.

"I really don't know what to do.” She said as her voice flew away, “If there was someone left I promise to take good care of them, Ba. I really do.”

Her fingers clenched onto his stone fingers tightly, “I’ll make sure they’ll never get hurt.”

Raya’s stomach grumbled loudly, interrupting her solemn vow and painting a light reddish streak across her cheeks. She pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the side with a slight crouch, “Ughh…! Sorry Ba.”

The young girl bowed over, picked up the jug on the floor, and clumsily poured water in her father’s outstretched hands that were as high as her head. She closed her eyes and encircled her hands in front of her forehead in a quick prayer, chanting the blessings of the dragons and the goddess of the river over her father before standing there solemnly for a moment, staring into the grey mound of what used to be his eyes.

She wasn't going to see her Ba's twinkling black eyes and cheeky grin that would greet her this evening… or any other evenings.

She wasn't going to hear him stop by her royal lessons to make a terrible joke… or have any more royal lessons.

She wasn't going to feel the warmth of his hugs or smell the faint scent of sandalwood incense and old scrolls on him after the ritual prayers… or have any more prayers with him at all.

The peaceful rippling of the river couldn't sound any louder. Goosebumps littered her arm and her hands turned clammy from cold sweat.

What was she going to do now?

A sturdy-looking wooden raft floated gently down the river nearing Heart Island. It was the second time it steered near the island that day as the food provisions in the backpacks in the middle of the floating platform began to run out. Irritated bickering could be heard from the two young children on the raft along with the collective sighs of frustration from the four older people who wished to wrangle the children off of each other.

“Thuan, stop hitting your brother right now!” A petite woman yelled at a little boy in green chongkraben, grasping onto his arms while a teenage girl held onto the other boy in a similar way.

“No! He hit me first!” The 6 year old swung his legs onto his brother’s chest. A playful game of footsie had turned sour after an accidental stomp.

“Did not!”

“You did!”

“I didn’t!”

“Stop lying!”

“I never lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!” The Hok’s voice rose in pitch and cracked as he erupted into sobs of anger, the boy’s twists and kicks at the other began increasing in strength, “You were the one who started it!”

The 5 year old swung his foot up and connected with his brother’s face, smacking him hard enough for the woman holding onto the boy’s arms to stagger back, and surprising his teenage sister holding on him enough for her grip to loosen and fall on the ground. The angry little boy slipped out of his shirt and tackled his older brother, rolling them around the floor of the bamboo raft.

“Ugh!” The teenage girl groaned and rubbed her forearm that was scratched slightly from falling onto the raft’s rope bindings. She stood up angrily and threw the boy’s shirt onto the floor, “That’s it!!”

Before any of the adults could interfere, the scrawny girl knelt down and pushed the two wrestling boys with all her might and rolled them off the raft with a huge, “Splosh!!”

“Pff-” Thuan sputtered indignantly as he surfaced from the water, “HEY!!”

His sister grinned and looked away smugly, “You deserve it.”

As the siblings began to bicker incessantly, the three adults had different reactions to the event.

“I can not believe this!” An old cook shook his head incredulously, “Are these children not taught to respect their elders? They’re fighting right in front of us! Does your family raise monkeys, Jai?”

Jai leaned over, picked the shirt off the floor, and shook the dirt off it as she sighed resignedly at the elderly man’s rebuke, “The children are stressed out by the recent situation. If this continues after several days I’ll give them a harsher punishment.” She stretched her arms out and stared directly at his eyes, “It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen my sister’s children, okay? They were only supposed to be in my care for the party but now, how am I supposed to tell them that they’re not going to see their mother again?”

Her voice softened, “They’re starting to feel the stress of the situation but they haven’t understood it yet. Be nice, Hin.”

“Fine.” Hin grumbled and turned back to skinning the fish for dinner.

On the other side of the raft, a tall woman stopped paddling the platform forwards and squinted at the Heart bridge off in the distance. There was something small moving around on the bridge and for the first time that day, it wasn’t the Druun.

“BOYS. GET ON THE RAFT NOW.” She shouted sternly and the boys scrambled on, startled by her voice. For a moment, everyone’s backs straightened at the command, including Jai who immediately turned red as soon as the effect wore off.

“Namwaannnn,” Jai whined before coughing slightly and clearing her voice, “What was that for?” The smaller woman loved the way her beloved could command the air around her but it was way too effective on her to be comfortable.

Namwaan’s voice faltered and she hid a grin, “Sorry, but I spotted someone on the Heart bridge. It might be safe for us to land for a while and pack up. We should hurry.”

“Of course.” Jai stuffed the folded shirt into one of the knapsacks and hurried to pick up the other oar.

Before long, the makeshift boat was speeding along and the blurry blue figure cleared up to be the young princess.

“PrInCeSssssssss!”

Raya’s head snapped up from resting it at her father’s cold chest and raced to the side of the bridge to find the voice, wiping at her eyes to clear her sight and focusing on the square full of people.

“Woahh!! Is that the real princess?” Hok gasped from the edge of the raft and shouldered his brother Thuan, “She’s pretty isn’t she?”

“Ha! I was right! That was the princess that we saw moving around in the tower this morning.”

“Wow. Just wow.” Hok turned his back to Thuan coldly, “You always gotta be right don’t you? Can’t be wrong for once?”

“Quiet, boys.” Jai pushed a hand on their shoulders and raised her voice towards the princess, “Princess! Is it safe to land?”

Raya cleared her throat from the side of the bridge, “Yes!”

For the first time in a few hours, the little girl felt like there was a future to look forward to. Some of her people had survived!

She rushed from the bridge to the side of the island where the small group of people were tying up their raft. The holy dragons above heard her prayers and answered them. Feelings of determination swelled within her and she vowed once more to take care of her people and keep them safe.

“Princess.” An old man in dark green pants cupped his hands together and led the group into a bow before the young ruler, “I am Hin. We managed to escape when the Druun appeared but now we need resources and a plan. Thank the dragons you’ve survived. May I speak with the chief?”

Raya’s face fell as she watched their gazes stare at her hopefully. She’s strong but she isn’t like her father. Tilting her face up in mock confidence, she said, “I am the chief now.”

Hin’s face morphed into shock and Namwaan came forward with furrowed eyebrows, “What do you mean, Raya? Chief is one of the most fierce fighters in the land. There’s no way he would fall so fast.”

A pang of guilt flashed across the girl’s heart and she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. It was her fault that everything went wrong and he had gotten injured. But it was Fang that shot him, and she’ll never forgive them for that.

“...Ba was hit by an arrow before the Druun appeared. Someone from Fang shot him.” Raya reached into her pocket and held the gem shard above her head, “I will protect you all in his place. With this piece of dragon gem, I will chase away the Druun so we can live normally.”

Thuan popped out from behind Namwaan, “Is it true then? Was that real Druun?”

“She just said there was a Druun, stupid.” Hok shouted.

“You suck.”

Around evening, a group of three men had landed on their shores in absolute confusion as they missed the gathering for Kumandra for a three day fishing trip. They were quickly brought up to speed and by nightfall the small group had created a space of their own in a house next to the Water Garden at the edge of the waterfalls. All the men took one room and Jai had tucked the boys in for bed alongside Hin who complained about his “creaky old bones” that weren’t as young as they used to be. Jai was pretty sure he just wanted to listen to the bedtime story.

The group had arranged their living areas to be surrounded by water and had moved some food from the palace down to the cabinets in the hut they planned on living in. With the guidance of Namwaan, a former captain, they were able to find the materials and equipment needed to begin a small farm by the side of the river to keep the group closer together.

That night, after the women picked out their cots and settled down to sleep, Raya laid down on the scratchy mattress and stared out the window after an hour of tossing and turning.

“Princess, are you alright?” Namwaan called from behind Jai. She had shifted her embrace around Jai and opened her eyes to see the young princess with eyes wide awake and body curled up into a ball around her snoozing pill bug.

“I’m fine.” Raya dragged her eyes from counting the stars to the worried gaze of the young captain, “I’m not sleepy yet.”

The buff woman scanned the girl’s posture, “You mustn’t be used to sleeping like this. How about we go to your quarters in the castle?”

“Oh no no no.” She quickly declined, “I’m alright, really.”

“Then would you like to come closer? It’s warmer together.”

“It’s okay.”

At this moment, Jai opened her eyes, “Come on, kid. Come closer.” She unfolded her arms and held them out, beckoning the child with her hands, “Hurry now.”

Raya inched a little closer and stopped, closing her eyes when she got to the edge of their cot, “I’m warm enough now.”

“Stubborn child.” Jai narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, snatching Raya by her collar and pulling her into her arms.

“Woah!”

“When I tell you to do something, do it.” She squeezed the child in a warm hug, “I mean well.”

“I’m sorry.” Raya stared down at her hands that were fidgeting with the blanket, “I’ll be good.”

Namwaan moved her hand from Jai’s shoulder and ruffled Raya’s hair, “Raya, do you want to talk about what happened? It might help you feel better.”

“I’m fine!” The young girl stressed and turned her body away from the adults, “I’m going to sleep now.”

Raya shifted slightly out of the older woman’s embrace as the three settled to sleep again. Curling into a ball once more, Raya muttered under her breath, “I don’t deserve to feel better anyway.”

Chapter Text

General Atitaya peeked into the outdoor kitchen as she walked past and stopped when she spotted Witya.

“May the water guide your path, Witya.” Atitaya waied lightly,

“Oh! Hey ‘Taya. May your work always be fruitful.” Witya stopped chopping the coconut husk in her hand and returned the greeting, “Would you like some coconut? I can open one to take with you.”

“It’s alright. I was just heading over to the courtyard gardens.” She ran her thumb across her arm brace, “The princess is starting her training lessons alongside Somkhit today. I want to watch their spar.”

“Oh that sounds fun!” The kitchen worker exclaimed cheerfully, “I do insist you take one with you. You and the chief will need something nice on this hot day.”

“Actually… Chief Virana isn’t coming.”

Witya tilted her head in confusion, “She isn’t?”

“Chief… hasn’t been feeling so well.” The warrior sighed, “She’s having back pain again.”

“Back pain?” Witya’s eyes widened in concern, “I’ll get the massage oils and go to her right away!”

Atitaya’s hands shot up and held onto the chubby woman’s shoulders as she stood up quickly to leave, “She’s still asleep, you can help her later.”

She paused, “For now, come with me to watch Namaari. It’s been a long time since she sparred with anyone and you’re her nanny who raised her. You’re not slacking off your nurse duties. It shouldn’t be long.”

“Fine.” The older woman sat down, “But coconuts first.”

After stacking up a few coconuts for the rest of the people at the gardens and a medpack in case of sparring injuries, the women set out and arrived at the courtyard gardens in a few minutes.

Dao, who was already sitting on the bench watching her son go through his forms, took one look at the two and laughed, "Aww… 'Taya's a softy!"

Atitaya quirked an eyebrow and handed a coconut over to her, "Here. We brought one for you too."

"Thanks." Dao took a sip from the drink, "Ah… sweet. You'll be spoiling the children if you bring them food every time you see them."

Witya chuckled, "It was my idea today. But the stoic General Atitaya spoiling children often? Is that what happens when I'm sick and she looks after the princess?"

“Yeah, she’s guilty of that. I once caught her handing over candy with her hands behind her back.” Dao used her free hand to poke a finger into Atitaya’s cheek, “All those assassin skills are being put to use to get children to like you. How cute.”

“Shush. ” The young general batted the finger away from her face and stared straight at the children circling each other on the grass, “The match is starting.”

“Aww...Is that a blush?”

Atitaya turned and shoved the drink’s bamboo straw into her best friend’s self-satisfied smirk.

Namaari carefully scanned over the boy in front of her. Somkhit was a head taller than her but his arms were stick thin and his eyes were… shifty. She followed his eyes towards the adults who came to watch the match. Ah, he’s distracted by his mother.

The first rule of fighting is to never let your opponent understand what you’re thinking. Don’t let them read your movements. She could win this.

In a flash, the princess shifted her weight and closed the gap with a right hook around the boy’s left arm that was slowly lowering.

Kit’s arms shot up quickly, his eyes zeroing into hers and his arm flicking an elbow towards her head.

The two clashed, punching and ducking, bobbing and blocking as the other tried to get a hit. The lanky boy pushed harder, forcing the girl back and slamming her shoulder in with a kick.

Namaari jerked to the left but recovered quickly, leaning forwards and sending a few jabs into his chest.

Big mistake.

Somkhit thrusted his knee upwards into her gut, sending her sprawling onto the grass, multiplying the number of bruises forming on her body.

From the sidelines, all the adults cringed at the hit. Phichit, especially, felt torn between his instinct to protect the princess and the goal of accessing her performance.

The lanky boy loosened his stance and brought his wrapped hands together sheepishly, “Hey, sorry for kicking you so hard. I got used to practicing with Kru Phi, I forgot you’re still a child.”

Namaari flushed dark red in humiliation. What a binturi.

She sprinted forwards with a heavy uppercut, breaking through the unprepared block and smashing into Kit’s nose. Blood gushed out messily and the teen quickly wiped the liquid away from his face only for it to get into his hair.

“Don’t underestimate me .”

“Tch.”

The fight dragged on as the two exchanged blow after blow. Witya was being held back by the other two women as she watched the blood splatter and paint the children.

As they became more tired, their moves became sloppier and Somkhit’s forceful arc directed Namaari’s evasion to scrape by a tree and scratch her arm.

Eventually, Somkhit made a hasty turn and tripped over a large root, making him tumble to the ground and pin Namaari on the floor under him.

“ENOUGH OF THIS!” Witya shouted into the match, “Enough. You… you two don’t need to go this far.” She faced Phichi on the side of the garden, “Why haven’t you stopped the match yet?? Is there not enough blood on the children?”

Her voice lowered gravelly, “What. Are. You. Waiting. For?”

“Witya,” Dao reached out cautiously, “It’s okay. The kids aren’t-”

“Unconscious?”

She retracted her arm.

“That’s your son spraying blood like an elephant right there!”

“They just need to get through this.”

“Why?”

“Look,” The scout commander sighed, “When they leave for missions, nobody outside Fang is going to hesitate to cut them down….” her shoulders slumped, “Just like they did to me.”

“All of us, really.” Atitaya added, “and even before Dao was a part of Fang too. The only thing they care about is what we did 500 years ago.”

“That’s ridiculous. The children shouldn’t have to train so hard. They’re only going to meet diplomats and other governing authorities when they first finish their training.”

Dao pressed her lips together in a thin line, “You’ve only been out of Fang for the first time a few days ago and that was for Chief Benja’s gathering. He’s the only one like that. Everyone else thinks we’re irrational. Angry. Cheaters and murderers. We managed to keep the peace in Fang but once we’re out, everyone hates us.”

After the spar and training session with Lieutenant Phichit and Somkhit, Namaari had her typical class lessons. Around her free time in the afternoon, she hurried to the cattery to see the giant cats as usual.

“Creak” The swinging door groaned as the girl stepped into the quiet room. Most of the giant cats were taking a nap now as the warm sunlight shone from the windows but a couple were still awake, including Namaari’s very own pet.

“Serlot!” The princess whispered quietly, “Come here!”

The kitten in question was hanging off the ledge of one of the high windows. It peeked a glance at Namaari and turned it’s head away with a yawn. Nya.

“Serlot!” Namaari leaped over some hay and tried to scale the wall to grab her cat, “Come on! Don’t you miss me?”

The grey kitten flicked her tail in annoyance and then stretched, jumping down directly on Namaari’s head.

“Owww.”

It flexed its claws and Namaari pulled it off her hair with great difficulty, cradling the young kitten in her arms.

With a few pets, she headed outside to walk to her favorite tree to sit under and practice training her cat.

“Sit.” She commanded and waited for the cat to sit. It sniffed her finger and plodded around her seat before yawning and lying down.

The girl rummaged through her pocket for the pieces of shrimp that she snuck out from lunch and waved a piece in front of the cat’s face. It’s ears perked up almost instantly and it began to meow.

“Sit!” She said once more and this time, the cat sat down and licked its paw.

“Okay, okay…. Down!” The cat meowed and rubbed its cheeks on the child’s hand for the piece of shrimp.

“Fine.” Namaari dropped a piece of shrimp, “Can’t you do more? I know I’m not supposed to be training my cat yet but can’t you follow a few more commands?”

There was only the sound of munching in reply.

The dragon nerd huffed and pulled out another piece of seafood to continue training the cat. She had been reading several scrolls in the royal library during the evenings and hoped to apply the knowledge to her cat. For a while, it would work. But after the cat ate her fill, it started to just roll around and play on Namaari’s lap.

“Why can’t you be like Raya’s weird pet?” frustration bubbled up from inside of her, "I have to do better."

The princess's mind wandered to the events of the morning. She was still weak. She thought she could have beat the scrawny boy but he was able to block all her moves except for the uppercut that she was able to overpower him with.

Toi. She knew she had to get stronger and smarter. She had to outsmart him somehow. She just didn’t know how.

“I have to be the best.” Namaari declared, holding the kitten up to her face, “I’ll make friends. I’ll get an A on all my subjects.”

Serlot meowed and batted Namaari’s face with her paws, causing her to drop the cat.

“Ugh…” The girl wiped her face, “I’ll be the best cat trainer ever and everyone will love me.”

She stood up and pumped a fist at the sky, “I’ll be a better princess than her.”

“Boom!” A bursting sound erupted in the distance, causing Namaari to tense and whip around to find the sound.

“Well… If I’m going to be a good princess, I better find out what the sound is first!”

Chapter Text

The loud booming noise came from the northeast where the newest part of the barrier was being constructed. Over the past several days, Fang has been full of thuds and clangs from the building and reinforcement happening throughout the kingdom. For the most part, the people have been safe, relocating closer to the main palace. There were unfortunate losses, however, as few have wandered off beyond the barrier to pick up their belongings without protection and fell victim to the druun.

Namaari strolled melancholically towards the barrier as she moodily petted Serlot. Why couldn't she be good at anything?

It was a trend that she had been noticing this week. At first it was small, a mess up with her teachers when she spoke out of turn, and then it grew bigger, like damaging her ceremonial sarong before the Heart trip so she had to wear her chong kraben there. She really didn’t mean it, but that didn’t stop some people from gossiping that she had destroyed it on purpose so that she could wear something more comfortable to the gathering.

Her mother was disappointed in her. That part really sucked. But it worked out for a bit, and then her mission failed and unleashed the druun.

She had tried to put off thinking about that for a while. It worked… briefly. But all her attempts to balance out the bad experience with a good one just didn’t work.

First, she slept through her morning classes and favorite religious ceremonies, then she failed one of her tests, and this morning, she even ended up getting beaten up by a scrawny looking boy in front of P’Atitaya and Pa’Witya.

So she doesn’t have the brains. She doesn’t have the brawn. She can’t even get to her favorite activity or understand her cat.

Namaari pulled Serlot closer to her face and buried it in the soft fur as she stopped in her tracks. Little hints of tears gathered on the corner of her eyes as she fought the burning sensation crawling up her chest and clogging at her throat. No. Not now. She wasn’t going to cry in the middle of a random pathway through a village.

The girl took several deep breaths and gulped air down her lungs. With a big exhale, she wiped an arm across her eyes, continued walking, and resumed her internal monologue.

It was true. She really ruined the mission. She wasn’t meant to use backup, she was a warrior princess! But then she was overpowered and they weren’t able to sneak the gem out quietly.

Raya… was just one person. Why couldn’t Namaari win? Sure, that pretty girl ate better than she did for the whole year. She’d bet Raya hadn’t ever had her stomach turn in and out from forcing seafood down because there wasn’t anything else to eat or gotten sick from forgetting to find vegetables and fruits to eat. The gem should have been Fang’s!

Then again… Namaari frowned. She didn’t want the happy, smiling girl with sparkling eyes to have to face the same food shortage she went through.

Her stomach clenched and flipped. She wasn’t sure if she felt hot or cold. What exactly did she want out of this? There was also that occasional twinge of guilt that had pierced her heart because she had turned her back on the girl who was so kind and trusting towards her.

Namaari could never connect with the other girls in any of her classes with the other nobles. She had to pretend to be someone more respectful and royal. But with Raya, being herself just came naturally. She never had that kind of connection with someone else before. The heart princess must have been really talented. Making friends with anyone, being able to make them friends in such a short while.

Maybe when the soldiers go to heart and find Raya there... Raya could be friends again in Fang?

She really hoped that would work. But she also hoped it wouldn't work.

Half of her wanted to never see Raya again, being an enemy who had kept prosperity to themselves and made her people suffer for it. The other half wanted to see the first girl who was so affectionate towards her and held her hand.

Namaari’s thoughts looped in a circle.

Toi.

Raya probably hates her for what she had done. But what could she do? Where else could she find friends her age who would connect to her like Raya did?

This girl was too bossy, That girl was too shy. That other one was too attached to their dolls. There were just so many people who she just couldn’t get along with. Namaari was all about to give up on friends and just be an emotionless ruler like her mother sort of was, but even her mae had her phaw.

What was it she lacked? What else did Raya have that she didn’t have? She had to become the better princess.

Was it being friendlier? Smarter? Stronger?

Namaari was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize that she had walked completely off the track and into a person.

“Ouch!” She yelped as Serlot dug her claws into her arms when she bumped into someone. Namaari took a quick step back and looked up, “Sorry.”

Somkhit chuckled lightly and bowed respectfully to the princess, “No worries! What are you at my house for?”

“Nothing.” Namaari replied quickly and tried to get back on the path, “I’ve accidentally gone off the path.”

The boy sped up and continued the path alongside her, “Hey hey, it’s alright. So where are you going?”

“Just to the barrier.”

“Oh, sounds fun! I’ll join you.”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to come.”

“Come on, we’re training partners now. We should be friends!”

Namaari grimaced slightly. He was clearly looking down on her. Friends? He was stronger than her already, what was he trying to gain by being friends with her? They didn’t connect well at all.

“I’ll help you out with whatever you’re up to.” Somkhit smiled and gave her shoulder a gentle pat, “Give me a chance!”

“Fine.” Namaari agreed and hastened her steps, “I want to find out what’s happening at the barrier. I’m a princess, I’m going to help my people.”

It didn’t take long before they reached the barrier where Colonel Piyakom was managing the workers and accounting for the villagers.

“Hey phaw! What are you doing?” Somkhit said cheerfully, clasping his hands together briefly as he went up to his father’s side.

“Ah son,” the colonel started, and glanced at the princess, “you’ve brought a new friend along?”

“Yeah.”

“Good job.” The father praised and gave the princess a small greeting, “Peace and prosperity be with you princess. Other than the building process, I’ve been keeping track of where the villagers are being relocated and if there’s anyone missing. So far, it’s been going well. The chieftess is out on the fields with the general, keeping the citizens safe from the druun. If you want to see your mother, you might like to wait until she gets back.

Namaari returned the greeting and asked, “Is there anything you would like help with? Are there any issues? I heard a loud explosion from all the way behind the cattery.”

Piyakom hid a throaty chuckle and directed a worker towards the wooden logs on her right, “There’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. A few villagers kept their firepower near some catnip. Our mounts got a bit excited and mixed the powder with some flammable materials.”

He tousled his son’s hair, “That made for some really funny cat movements. But the main point is that no one was hurt. Of course, the loud noise drew more druun closer to this area so it’s been harder for the chieftess to keep them away.”

“Papaaa.” Somkhit groaned, “You messed up my headwrap. Now I have to tie it up again,”

The large man grinned slightly, “You look great.”

Namaari moved a little to the right to catch his attention, “Does my mom need any help then?”

“She’ll be fine. It’s going to take longer to distract all the new druun towards the eastern barrier, but as long as we can get all the villagers in by sundown, we’ll be fine.”

The girl encircled her hands, “Okay, thank you.”

“No worries, child.” He turned back to his checklist, “Now run along. You kids shouldn’t hang around so close to the wall. It can be dangerous.”

After Namaari and Somkhit returned to the walkway, the two walked for a while before Somkhit asked curiously, “So… where are we going?”

“The eastern barrier.” She replied simply.

“Eastern barrier?” He questioned, “Where they’re trying to gather the druun at?”

“Yeah.”

“But why?” He glanced at the girl beside him, “We shouldn’t be close to any part of the wall. The adults aren’t even near there because they’re gathering the druun around there.”

“Well,” Namaari used a hand to shove the boy next to her in the gut, “The adults are having trouble luring the druun to the eastern barrier. There must be something we can do to help. We’re partners right, Somkhit?”

Somkhit moved his hands off from where he was resting it behind his neck and wrapped it around his stomach with a mock groan, “Yeah, partners.”

He shook off a weak grin, “Call me Kit. My friends call me that.”

“Sure, Kit.” Namaari agreed and gestured to the wooden structure in front of them, “We’re here.”

The eastern barrier was one of the first to be fortified and finished. Plated with metal parts and enforced with slanted logs, the structure was a heavy barrier, impervious to the strange substance that the druun seemed to be made out of.

The air was heavy. The shrieks of the druun behind the wall was a little more muted than they had expected but it did confirm the colonel’s words.

“Come on up!” Namaari yelled as she scaled the look out post, “We’ll have a better view up here.”

The two teens stood at the top of the wooden post overlooking the barrier to see a few purple monsters crawling around a large pole with a few pigs trapped on top of it. With a little jump, the kitten in Namaari’s arms left the child’s side and found itself a small patch of sunlight to nap by.

“So that’s how they’re luring the druun.” Kit voiced from behind Namaari, staring at the structure before them, “But pigs don’t have souls do they? Guess they’re just sensing the lifeforce and they haven’t seen that the pigs aren’t humans.”

The girl nodded and scanned the field in front of her, “The druun… they’re more spread out than they’re supposed to be.”

“Are they?”

“Yeah. I heard that there were 5 of them crowded around here. Now, there’s only three and they’re starting to space around a little.”

The girl looked around the fort. What was there that she could use? Rope. A picture. A couple logs. Nails.

Hmmm…

She was strong enough for this.

“Kit…” She started, moving towards the rope, “I have an idea.”

“YOU FREAKING BINTURIIIIIIIII!!!!”

Somkhit screamed on top of his lungs as he was swung around off a rope attached to a makeshift pulley system.

“Lintik! Lintik!” He cursed, “You said the harnesses were for our safety! This is NOT SAFE!!!”

Namaari had wraped the boy and herself with a rope and around a couple logs she nailed together and onto the wooden tower. With a swift kick, she pushed Somkhit all the way to the end of the contraption she built and hung two meters away from the barrier, swinging directly above a couple hungry druuns.

“AaaaaAAaAaHAhaHAAAHahaHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!” The teen wailed with a hint of nervous laughter.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The princess shouted at the older boy as she fastened the rope around another log, “ARTICULATE YOUR WORDS??”

“YOU’RE A BINTURI!!!!” The boy shrieked back, clutching tightly onto the rope above him.

“WOW YOU’RE WEAKER THAN I THOUGHT.” Namaari hollered as she scanned the area, watching the approaching druun, “I’M NOT EVEN SWEATING AND YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE ABOUT TO PASS OUT!”

“YOU WANNA SWITCH PLACES???”

“YOU GOT LONGER LEGS, BETTER BAIT!”

“HAAAAAH???”

“DO YOU NOT LIKE CHICKEN LEGS?”

“I PREFER THE WINGSSSS.”

“THEN HANG YOUR ARMS DOWN TOO!”

Around this time, the Fang warriors were wondering why some oncoming druun were starting to move away from them. At the palace, a few professors were starting to get worried as their students had been more than half an hour late to their classes.

“Namaari!!” Somkhit called, his shouting calmed down after an hour of being hung, “Can you pull me back now? There’s like 15 druun down there.”

“Not yet! We wait for the cymbal signalling all that villagers are inside.”

“Urghhhh... I'm sure they’re all in by now! We made it much faster.”

As if on cue, a loud, rhythmic clang reverberated through the air. The two kids turned towards the sound and Namaari twisted her body around to start pulling the boy in.

The wood creaked as the rope strained against the rough surface.

“Urk…huff.” The girl puffed and gasped as she turned her makeshift pulley to bring the boy in. He moved upwards slowly until a large ‘CRACK’ rang through the air.

"WOAAAAHHHHHH- OOF!" The boy dropped suddenly when the pulley broke and wheezed at the jerk of the rope stopping.

"Hang on!" Namaari wrapped her side of the rope around the wooden knobs she made and tried to reel him in.

After two turns of the wheel, there was another 'creakk' as a strand of thread snapped.

"S-stop! Stop!" Kit froze in place, arms outstretched towards Namaari. A part of the broken pulley that the rope was resting on was sharp and had sawed away on the rope.

"Toi, what do we do now?" The girl's eyes were wide, staring in alarm at the wood and the rope.

"Creakkkkk- fhhup!" Another thread snapped, the sound of the drum's shrieks becoming drumming louder in Kit's ear.

Good dragons! His life was literally hanging on by a thread.

Chapter Text

The chief and her troops had returned from the villager’s evacuation through the entrance at the southern barrier. After the soldiers rode through the gates, a messenger boy came to report the news to the chief and commander who were dismounting from their cats.

“What did you say about Namaari?” Chieftess Virana exclaimed, her eyebrows shooting up at the royal messenger’s news on the missing children.

“Uhh… the princess has not shown up for her afternoon classes and hasn’t been seen since lunchtime.” A hollow-cheeked boy relayed, twisting his thin fingers around nervously, “And Commander Dao, Somkhit hasn’t come for his 3:30 shift either.”

“Oohh...Are those two kids together?” Dao mused cheekily, “Skipping school for a date already?”

Virana shot Dao a deadpan look from the corner of her eye and waved her hand dismissively, “While I’d like those two to be close, I doubt Namaari would hang out with someone else so fast.” The chief folded her hands together, “She must have fallen asleep in the cattery. I cannot believe she missed so many classes!”

“Um, she's not in the cattery chief,” the young messenger piped up, “The entire palace has been searched. She’s not there and neither is Kit,”

The chief frowned. That was very uncharacteristic of Namaari. “When was the last time they were seen?”

“At lunch, chief.” He straightened his posture and stood at attention.

“Has anyone outside the palace been asked if they’ve seen those two?”

“I don’t know, chief, I’ve been sent to deliver this message as soon as she was declared missing. We've searched the Colonel's house too.”

The Fang ruler pressed her lips together tightly and folded her arms. Where could her daughter have gone?

At that moment, Colonel Piyakom came bounding on his giant cat towards the chief. With a small turn, the cat slid to a stop and the burly figure descended with a hop.

“Chief,” The colonel greeted with a bow and unpacked his scrolls from the saddlebag, "Here's the reports from today."

He leaned over to the side and squeezed his wife's hand affectionately, "You're back early."

Dao pulled on his hand urgently, "There's a more important issue right now. Our son is missing!"

"What?" Piyakom asked, "What do you mean?"

"No one in the palace has seen him or the princess since lunch!" She exclaimed, "Where could they have gone?"

"Lunch?" He repeated, "I did see them a little after lunch. Kit and Princess Namaari came asking if they could help out. Did anyone check with the volunteer workers?"

"The volunteer workers should have all been accounted for at the palace, the kids aren't there. Did they say anything about where else they might have gone?"

"No. We only had a brief conversation." He replied, "I told the kids there won't be much to help here and that they can't help the chieftess out either because you're herding the druun towards the eastern barrier."

There was a moment of pensive silence.

"You don't think…" The scout trailed off and turned to her husband with a horrified expression, "The drunk was much easier to herd towards the eastern wall today."

Virana shoved the scrolls in her hand into her cat’s saddlebag and signalled for her officers to mount on their rides, “I hope this isn’t one of my daughter’s bright ‘dragon magic’ ideas.”

“HELPPPPPPP!!!!” The sound of two teenagers screaming could be heard as the adults approached the lookout post, “ANYONE THERE? PLEASE HELP US!!”

“Toi.” Dao cursed as they scaled the tower and rushed into the open room, “What the-”

Namaari was pulling on a rope and hooking her arms around a few logs with all her might and Somkhit was over the barrier, trying to pull himself up the rope and away from the druun circling around under him. The princess had wound the rope around herself too tightly and had started to cut off circulation in a few limbs.

The three adults tapped into their protective instincts and sprang into action as soon as they saw the risky sight before them.

Dao moved forwards to grab the rope and Piyakom got in front of Namaari to hook onto his wife’s feet as she launched herself out to pull the boy up. Virana began untying her daughter from the tangled rope that had started to suffocate her while she silently scolded her.

“Mom?” Kit said in relief as he saw the older woman move into his sight.

“Hold on tightly my little elephant.”

With some difficulty, the scout inched slowly on the log that stuck out from the barrier to get to the part of the rope beyond the cut.

As she moved out, the log shook slightly and began cutting on the rope again.

“Mom…” The boy’s voice wavered fearfully now as the shard of wood began cutting away on the rope. His voice lowered into a whisper as his vision flickered into a light tunnel from how hard he was staring at the tear, “...hurry.”

There was another snapping sound and for a moment, Kit felt a rush of cold as if he was dropped into an ice bucket during the winter in Spine. His heart skipped a beat but his mother was able to grab onto the torn rope and pull him back into the lookout at the very last second.

“Oh mighty Sisu!” Dao cried out in relief as Piyakom helped their son stand up. She grabbed onto his shoulder and yanked him close to her, “Oh thank the dragons you’re safe!”

The terrified mother trembled slightly as she pushed her son’s head into her embrace. She showered his face with many kisses of relief and murmured lovingly into his ear. After smoothing down his messy hair, she tucked a strand of stray hair around his ear and turned to ask her superior if she could be dismissed.

Virana nodded and the two families left the tower and headed home on their cats.

“What happened?” Dao asked her son as they rode home. It was unlike Somkhit to agree with any reckless plan, especially one so dangerous.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Somkhit muttered, his face buried into his mother’s back as he held onto her waist for the ride, “I wasn’t expecting the princess to push me off the lookout, but I didn’t try to get back either.”

The thin boy drew his shoulders up and continued flusteredly, “I want her to like me too. F-for us to be friends, you know?” He rested his head on his mom’s shoulder and stared out at the trees moving away from them, “She’s really closed off and I thought agreeing to this could help her see me as a friend and not just somebody she trains with.”

His father’s deep voice cut through the wind from his left, “There are plenty of other opportunities to become friends, Kit. The two of you just had training together for the first time today.”

“But I’ve seen her in my religious classes for years already!” Kit stressed, “She only talks to the teacher and is like, suuuper formal to everyone else.”

“Even in the temples,” he continued, “She spends the entire day with scrolls and I can’t ever talk to her.” He tilted his head up for his mother to better hear him, “Mae, mae you told me that she’s really lonely and that we should be good friends. That her problems would be resolved if she had someone.”

Kit paused, “I want to help her. I’m good at listening to people’s problems like you.”

The boy’s voice was swept away by wind around them like his hair that was whipping behind him, strands undone from all the struggles he’d just been through. But even in his unruly appearance and pleading tone, his words rang clear and true. Like his father, he spoke from his heart and the scout commander couldn’t help but be touched by the kindness that he wished to extend to the princess.

As the family neared their home, Dao spoke up, “My son,” she said, “While yes, I agree that you should be friends with her - she really does need a friend - you should be careful. Don’t risk your life for something like this. You can always find another time to be friends with her but today, you almost made it impossible for the both of you to be friends if you or the princess died.”

“It wasn’t going to be like this! I -”

“I know.” The group stopped and slid off their cats. “Accidents are never planned. Next time this happens, do your best to try another plan. You’re fourteen now. You’re older than her, even if she’s the princess. You have to lead her into another path.”

“But she’s the princess, ma.” The boy followed her inside and said incredulously, “I can’t order the princess around!”

“You’re right,” She agreed in a matter-of-fact tone, “You can’t order the princess. But you can very well influence her to do the right thing.”

“Umm… manipulation?” Kit questioned, feeling a little taken aback.

“No, not entirely.” Dao said, “It’s more of context clues and speaking between the lines. Make her think it’s her idea or say it to her indirectly.”

The mom shifted around to give him a hug, “You can do it. It’ll be helpful for both of you. While I’d like things to be straightforward, life is just not like that.”

On the other side of Fang, Namaari was marched up to her room before the door slammed shut and the mother-daughter duo began a long talk. After Namaari relayed the story of how they ended up on the lookout, Virana interrupted her. Losing her temper wasn’t a common sight in front of the citizens but behind the palace doors, all her close officers knew that the chieftess was terribly hotheaded.

“What were you thinking?” Virana scolded, looking down at her daughter who was perching on the very end of the bed.

The room was small, not yet the larger room that older Fang royals had and it echoed, amplifying the ruler’s steely voice.

“How could you have been so reckless?” She raised her voice, “You put one of our subjects in danger. You were also in danger. Do you know what would have happened if we weren’t there in time?”

“Ma,” Namaari began weakly, “I thought that it was going to be okay.”

“You thought?” Virana scoffed, “Don’t think! Ask!” She paced back and forth, waving her arms around, “What were you even on the barrier for? No one is allowed to be near there for our safety!”

“We were going to distract the druun so the evacuation could be easier. And -”

“That’s stupid.” Virana snaps, “Why didn’t you ask me if you wanted to help out? There are safer ways to help with the evacuation like checking their inventories or helping lift things.”

“I didn’t think about that.” Namaari mumbles, looking down at her side where her fingers were twisting the bedsheet.

“Oh now you don’t think.”

“Ma!” Namaari exclaimed frustratedly, “It was an accident! The pulley system I made wasn’t supposed to break. If it didn’t then we would have been safe!”

“The smart thing to do would be to not try that at all!” Virana shot back, “And if you were actually thinking, you would know that hoisting someone off a wall would end badly.”

“It’ll only end badly if something unexpected happens.”

“Something unexpected definitely happened.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen!” Namaari shouted, gritting her teeth.

The mother lowered her voice in a stern manner, “Don’t talk back to me like that.”

There was a moment of silence as Virana stared down at her daughter who was looking anywhere but her.

“I hate doing this.” Virana walked to the closet and searched its back to pull out a long, lithe stick. With a few experimental whacks on the dresser door, the stern mother turned to her child and commanded, “Stand up.”

“Fold your arms. Legs together.”

The young girl sucked in a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she listened for the 'whoosh' that would signal the start of a couple days of pain.

Thwack.

Thwa - ck.

The cane hit the back of Namaari’s legs and crackled with every strike. After four strikes, red and angry lines criss-crossed her calves and the princess struggled to hold in her tears. She sniffled and pressed her lips together. When the white of the walls seemed to swirl in response, she tightened her grip around herself to distract herself from the stinging across her legs.

With the final fifth strike, Namaari couldn’t hold the tears back anymore and a few drops slid down her cheek as her mother walked back to store the stick once more.

“Namaari,” Virana said softly when she came back to stand facing her daughter, “I know you wanted to do the right thing and you have a very creative mind. But we have to do the smart thing. And because you’re going to be the next chief, you have to make smarter decisions than everyone else.”

She waited for the words to settle in and wiped her daughter’s tears away with a napkin she took from the closet, “Look at me.”

There was stillness in the air as Namaari moved her eyes upward to her mother’s. The former anger had been washed away and all that was left was a strange form of sadness and tiredness that she hadn’t really noticed before.

“Namaari, I love you. Because I love you I have to hold you to a higher standard so that you can become the good ruler you are meant to be.” Her eyes looked back and forth between the two pupils.

“I know.” The young princess murmured and averted her eyes. She didn’t want to help with small things like carrying things for one villager at a time. She wanted to help all of them at the same time. To do her best, she had to make a grand gesture that would benefit everyone! And her actions with Somkhit, it worked didn’t it?

“Ma…” Namaari trailed off, stopping herself from asking if her distraction worked when she was hit by an image of Somkhit trembling fearfully as he stared up at the snapping rope.

Guilt slammed into her. She was a terrible princess, wasn’t she? She had one person with her and she almost killed him too. She doomed them all with the druun and now what? Was she going to kill them off one by one too? Suddenly the pain in her legs felt a little more comforting.

The chieftess exhaled loudly and knelt down to hug her daughter, “Go take a shower. Once you’re done, come to my room so I can apply ointment to your legs.”

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

It’s been four days since the druun reemerged with the breaking of the dragon gem.

The group of people who were left on the island had slowly grown accustomed to their new lifestyle, decorating their huts and sectioning off the river for use.

Old man Hin had settled for gathering herbs and cooking the meals for them all. Hok, the 5 year old boy, and his brother Thuan, the 6 year old boy, ran around and took care of the livestock that was left behind as there was no soul for the druun to suck out of the life force. Their bigger sister, Pin, was in charge of their safety.

In the first three days, the rest of the adults played their hand at various jobs after moving the stock of grain from the palace to their huts. The three fishermen divided up an area near the waterfalls to plow the fields and grow crops. Namwaan started setting up barricades to keep the druun out and Jai took time to loot other houses in the area for useful materials.

Raya had started her time off by helping out with the move and rearranging their little village before heading off to the palace to study on the druun.

There had to be something about getting rid of the druun somewhere in the library. She thought.

Something more about the gem maybe? Or what about the water?

Raya scoured the entire palace for every piece of information that she could find on the druun and the dragon gems to study as the days went by. She dug into the scholar’s houses, riffled through her father’s secret archives, and compiled all her findings on the floor of the library.

“Gems and its beautiful light” No, not this one.

“Druun and other monstrous gasses” I know that.

“Dragons’ Power of Water” Ooh...Maybe later.

Raya sighed and piled the scrolls she looked at by the door. Nothing useful in the last 200 years. How far back does she have to go?

She grabbed a dry rag and wiped the 300 year scrolls, coughing slightly at the dust cloud that filled the air. At the very end of the pile, she spotted a thick scroll tied up in a faded red ribbon.

“Origin of the Druun” This could work.

Raya spread the scroll across the flood and laid down. With a couple brushes of her rag, she wiped away a lingering cobweb and started reading.

“200 years ago there was a skirmish that broke out in the far east of Kumandra, an area we now call Tail. There was a man who longed for the power of the dragons, the power of flight, invisibility, clouds, shapeshifting, light, and of speed! Why should the dragons covet these powers alone? All that is good should be shared with all!”

The princess’s eyes sparkled at the words. Did humans have the power of dragons in Kumandra?

“The man had worked with the mighty dragon Mushu, the divine dragon of guidance, for years to bring humanity to a more prosperous age, introducing shades of color into clothing, flavor into meals, and domestication with the wild. But it was not enough. He wanted more. More! Progress was not quick enough. Man and Dragons were not equal! He believed that equality was necessary or the dragons would look down on mankind.

But Mushu saw greed and insecurity in his words. He would no longer agree to guide humanity into progress. This made the man angry that the one he saw to be his brother, the only one who had been beside him his entire life, would betray him this way.

The man believed that the dragon had looked down on him and took his friendship as one of servitude. In a fit of anger, the man captured the mighty dragon Mushu and used him to sap the magic away from his soul.

Because Mushu loved the man, he would not fight back but pleaded for the good in him to surface and stop his actions. But it was too late.

Men were not meant to have magic and the magic that was sucked away consumed the man, burning like his anger, purple like the dragon, and black like a heart that has lost its ability to forgive.

As the new day arose, the man and dragon were gone.

All that was left was the fire of hatred and betrayal. A murmur of blasphemy that could only devour and give birth to death.”

What. Raya re-read the scroll again. A man became the druun? A man made the druun? Why didn’t she learn this in her classes?

She rolled the scroll till the end but it was blank. Was that it? Where was the rest of the story?

Raya searched through her piles for more information on the druun but there was nothing. She knew there had to be more. What did that man do to the dragon to make the druun? Was there anything she could do to reverse it?

The young royal spent the rest of the day looking for more useful information but there wasn’t any that she hadn’t known before.

The next day, Raya went back to her studies, reading everything she could find and emptying out the library shelves in her search. After stopping for lunch, a concerned Jai joined Raya with her search when she dropped by to bring the child lunch and saw how frantically the child was moving through the scrolls.

“It’s not healthy for a child to spend all day reading through hundreds of scrolls and being cooped up in a dark and dusty room.” Jai said and offered to help the princess go through the books.

By evening, Raya had practically gone through every good scroll but there was nothing helpful on how to defeat the druun. There was information on how the gem could heal some wounds and how anything with healing properties could ward off the druun, but nothing on how to kill the druun completely.

Humanity hundreds of years ago had not just been defeated but was annihilated by the druun. All records featured losses upon losses. There was nothing that could defeat the druun except for the dragon gem.

Jai suggested that they should search her father’s study next. Chief Benja had always held the dragons in high regard so information relating to the druun could be kept there.

Raya agreed and they climbed the steps to her father’s study. But when they entered the room, Raya couldn’t help but burst into tears.

It still smelled of the old incense her ba would light every morning. The light streamed through the window and lit up the multicolored ink containers that Raya would come up to rearrange when the two had father-daughter bonding time.

Was there really nothing she could do? Did she really cause the end of the world? Did she kill her father?

Raya sniffled and tried to wipe away the tears with the back of her hand but they kept coming.

She had been through so many scrolls. So many scholars’ secret collections. Nothing!

Thud-thud.

And now at the end of her rope she’s back at her father. He would be so disappointed in her. Thud-thud. Could she not do anything herself?

And what if she couldn’t find anything in here? Thud-thud. What if she couldn’t bring her father back? ThUd-THud. What- What if she couldn’t do anything? ThUD-tHUd.

Her tears blinded her and the light from the window magnified, piercing her sight. Raya couldn’t think properly. She had to close her eyes. ThUd-THud. She was feeling hot. Hot!

“Raya?”

THud-ThuD. A brief wind rushed from the window and it was cold. Too cold!

“Raya, little one. Calm down.”

No. She couldn’t stop shaking. ThUd-THud. ThUd-THud.

No. No. Was her stomach hurting? Did she eat something bad?

“Raya. You need to breathe.” thudthudthudthud

Cold. Hot. Cold. Hot. Pain? Numb. Where is she?

“Raya! Raya! Snap out of it!”

HotColdHotColdHotCold -- Is somebody calling her? thudthudthudthud

“RAYA! CAN YOU HEAR ME? BREATHE! BREATHE!”

The next time she opened her eyes, Raya was curled up in Jai’s lap on the floor, a blanket covering both of them and a pillow by her feet.

“You’re up.” Jai murmured softly from behind her and Raya quickly scrambled out of her grasp, sitting by the wall with her knees to her chest. Jai scooted next to her and copied her posture.

"Hey…" Jai reached out gently, "It's okay."

"I -- " Raya cleared her throat, "I'm okay." She looked away shamefully.

"Would you like something to eat? You've been out for a long time."

"Eat?" Raya looked out the window. The sky had turned pink and orange, the last light of the sun was creeping below the distant sea. Oh my dragons.

Raya snapped her head back towards the older woman and spewed out an apology, "I am so so sorry! I didn't- I couldn't - I - druun!"

"Calm down. Calm down." Jai leaned in to touch her arm reassuringly, "Here, have some jackfruit."

Raya shook her head slightly and pushed the fruit back, "I'm so sorry I fell asleep. I left everyone unprotected from the druun." The weight in her pocket seemed to burn.

"Eat." Jai pushed the fruit into her hand and gave her a little squeeze, "A little sweet is always good to calm you down. If it's stress or just having a bad day, a little sweetness can boost you up and clear your mind."

"...thank you."

"No problem, little one. I love jackfruit. It's the best kind of sweet that really helps me center myself." She pulled a fist into her chest, "So you better be happy! Namwaan personally sliced and peeled this for you after finding us holed up in the room."

Raya tore off a piece and offered it to Jai, "Here, have some too."

"Oh oh no. You eat all of that."

"I insist."

"No, no. You're a growing child, eat."

"..." Raya held the piece out silently and Jai eventually rolled her eyes and took the piece, popping it into her mouth.

"Stubborn little one."

Jai stood up and brushed the dust off her. With a few strides, she grabbed the cup of water Namwaan had left for them and brought it to Raya.

"Here, drink some water too." She sat back down next to the princess.

"Thank you."

"Thank my wife when you see her again. She's so wonderful isn't she? She saw you and me and she didn't need to be told anything. She brought this jackfruit and water for you! She's sooo amazing!"

Raya nodded along as the older woman continued to ramble on, "I love my wife! Have you seen her arms as she cuts up the fruits? Those MUSCLES! Oh my goodness. Muscles!"

Raya wiped her hands on the side of her chongkraben as she finished the last of the fruit.

"...And when she smiles? The sky lights up. Her laugh? Such a me-lo-dy!" Jai nudged Raya friendly, "Have I told you how much I love my wife? Sooo much. I LOVE MY WIFE!!"

Raya’s face cracked a small smile at the enthusiasm of the elder woman as she sipped the water slowly.

Jai grinned at the young leader, “Now that’s a pretty smile.”

The two sat there in silence for a while and Raya began to feel more comfortable. Once the sky began to darken, the new mother figure broke the silence.

“We’ll be okay.”

She shifted a little and stared at the purple sky, “Even if it’s going to take a while for us to find information on the druun, we’ll bring the chief back. It’s not too late for Kumandra. As long as we don’t give up, we can do anything.”

“Okay.”

“Now let’s go join the others for dinner,” Jai stood up and held a hand out for the girl to support herself up, “I hope we’re not too late. Hin is teaching everyone how to make jerky today.”

Chapter Text

Saturday came around and Raya still couldn’t find any information on destroying the druun. There were some interesting texts that she did take note of such as the “Chronicles of Sisu” and “Magical Plants and Fauna of Kumandra.”

By the time it was lunch, Raya stopped reading for more active activities at the encouragement of the former Heart commander. She had a brief training session with Namwaan, a solo run around the temple of the dragon gem, and a little workout chopping wood with the other children for a bonfire they wanted to make for dinner.

As the remaining heart citizens started gathering on the logs around the sparking flame, Jai spoke up and asked the children how they spent their day.

“This morning I woke up and spent some time with the water buffalos,” Thuan started and pointed towards the large brown buffalos that were grazing by the riverside, “We named that one ‘Lành’ and this one ‘Hao’. Lành is mine and Hao is Hok’s.”

“They’re great!” Hok added, “Hao is super fast. He can outrun Lành in seconds.”

“No, Lành is much faster! You cheated.”

“Buffalos don’t cheat. We won, blehhhhh.” Hok stuck out his tongue at his brother.

From the side, their sister rolled her eyes and interrupted them, “Nah, Thuan is right this time. You cheated and drove Lành into the fields. That’s why you two had to spend the rest of your morning plowing the fields for Loong’ Lek.” She tilted her head towards a large, heavy-looking man who was sitting on the other side of the bonfire, brushing his bushy beard.

“Ugh, whatever.” Hok rolled his eyes and quickly changed the topic, “So during lunch we got to know the princess a little bit, ain’t that right, nest head?”

Raya grimaced and gave him a pointed look, “You can’t call me that, Hok. I’m much older than you --”

“You’re not older than me.” The girl next to her joked. “Does that mean I can call you nest head?”

“Um… yeah, I guess Pin can call me names.” Raya tilted her head with confusion. Was this what friendship is supposed to look like? It was certainly starting out differently from what she had with the fang princess.

“Yeah I can, and Pa’Jai!” Pin smirked, “Can you believe it? Raya here doesn’t know how to tie her own hair!”

“What? Pff- I totally can!” The princess waved her hand wildly.

“Those poofy loops around your head are not proper. Don’t worry, tomorrow when we wake up, I’ll teach you how to properly tie a bun.”

“Wow, you will?” Raya felt a smile tug on the side of her lips. A new friend! She was making a real friend! Even if she’s not connecting to her as fast as she did with Namaari, this was good.

Pin wasn’t just someone ten years older like her tutors or a distant ‘friend’ she’ll see every year when her cousins come to visit. She was an actual, real-life close friend her age!

A poke on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, “Wow nest head, you’re really spacy there. You alright?”

Raya’s face flushed red, “Yeah, yeah. What are we talking about?”

Pin chuckled, “Still on the same topic.” She drew her face closer to the younger girl, “Aww, you’re blushing! How cute. We’re definitely going to have a good friendship together. So easy to tease, aren’t you?”

“Noooo, I’m perfectly stone solid.” Raya elbowed the other girl’s gut like she had seen the boys do and was rewarded with an elbow into her gut too.

As the kids began playing around, Prasong, the dark and handsome man joined the group, handing two dead chickens to Montri, a thin and whispery man who was whittling a few sticks for grilling.

Namwaan and Jai were arranging a few leafy greens on the plates to pass out while Hin was stirring up a pot of soup over the fire.

It was quiet among the adults for a while until the food was finally passed out and everyone took a seat around the bonfire. Jai was first to speak up as usual, hating the silence that settled upon them as they started eating.

“Sooo... Prasong. I noticed that your skin is looking a little gold in this light. Kinda like the hero Sang Tong. What do you use? Is it turmeric?”

“Yes it is. Twice a day, after showering of course.” He replied and asked, “What about you? Your face doesn’t have a lot of freckles. What do you use?”

“Oh! I grind fresh thanaka paste everyday. It’s amazing for sensitive skin.”

“That’s nice. I hope you have a lot growing nearby for when your supply runs out. It will be dangerous to go into the woods to get more.”

“I know,” Jai glanced at the forest across the mother river, “It’s hard to think that our lives could be changed so fast.” She picked at the chicken on her plate, “I’m sure we’re not the only ones left from Heart. I saw a few blue-green figures walking on the talon boat when we were on the raft. Why didn’t anyone come back?”

“Huh,” Prasong scoffed, “Isn’t it obvious? There’s nothing left in Heart.”

“What do you mean? There’s plenty to come back to.” She lifted an eyebrow, “There’s the houses we have, our homes with friends, and our hopes of Kumandra!”

Prasong burst out in laughter and wiped his mouth with a napkin, “You don’t seriously believe in Kumandra do you?”

“Kumandra is our dream! Don’t you know how much the world could be better with Kumandra?” Jai narrowed her eyes, “If we can join together, everyone will be able to have enough resources because it won’t be monopolized by one tribe or another. We can enter a new era of prosperity and cease our senseless fighting!”

“How idealistic!” The well-built man ripped a chunk of chicken with his teeth and swallowed, “People are naturally selfish. Do you seriously believe that anyone would willingly join?”

“All the tribes came to the gathering.” Namwaan interrupted, “Everyone was peaceful and we all had a meal together.”

Prasong shook his head, “A guise. You all told us about how you saw warriors from all the different tribes pour out of the dragon temple with the druun!”

“It could have been a mistake. We don’t know how the druun was released.”

The tanned fisherman scowled, “We don’t? I’ll tell you what happened. I bet one of the ‘friendly’ tribes decided to take the gem. I’d place my money on Fang.”

Montri slithered into the conversation with a lisp, “It'z true isn’t it? What other motive would they have to get into the dragon temple?”

“I’m not saying everyone is perfect. It didn’t work this time but we can try again!” Jai insisted, holding her palms open in front of her in a peace giving gesture.

“It isn’t just the other tribes you have to worry about,” Prasong stuck his nose in the air as he leaned onto Lek who was beside him, “Someone told the other tribes where the gem was. They wouldn’t have figured out otherwise.”

Raya felt a pang of guilt in her chest and quietly petted Tuk-tuk as she listened in. They were talking about her.

“A turncoat.” Lek rumbled, “Someone betrayed Heart.”

“Right.” Prasong agreed and bored his eyes into Jai’s, “And I wouldn’t blame them for it.”

“What?!” Namwaan shouted and stood up, “That’s treason. What is it that you’re telling us?”

Montri chuckled at the intensity displayed by Namwaan and crossed his thin legs, “We purposely left Heart on the day of the gathering. We couldn’t stand it. Heart purposely invites all its enemies to provide them with a feast? Are we provoking them? Showing off how much we prospered while they withered away?”

“Chief Benja…” The thin man drawled, “Is soooo idiotic.”

“Traitor.” The commander’s jaw tightened, “How could you say such a thing about our chief?”

Montri sighed mockingly and picked a leafy cabbage from his plate to roll around his fingers, “It’z true. There will never be a majority that will be willing to sacrifice their advantage, their luxures so that we can all have equal ground.”

“That’s exactly what Chief Benja has been trying to do!”

“Well he ain’t the majority is he?” Montri snapped back at her, “And besides, if this was truly possible, at the very least there wouldn’t be poverty in Heart would there?”

“It was hard enough for us to make a living through fishing.” Lek added gruffly, “If there was any more competition from increased trade from other tribes, there wouldn’t be anything left for the poor.”

Tensions rose as the adults seemed to be divided into two groups.

“Let’s not continue on this conversation like this,” Hin declared, pulling Namwaan back into her seat, “This isn’t going to end soon and the children shouldn’t see the adults fighting like this.” He waved a hand towards the silent children staring at them to emphasize his point.

Prasong huffed, “Fine. But there’s one thing that I’m sure we agree on.”

“What.” Namwaan glowered, her patience wearing thin.

“It’s one thing to steal the gem, but whoever broke the gem had truly forgotten proper respect and honor for the dragons. No wonder the druun came back.”

Raya’s stomach churned and flipped as she snuck off to brush her teeth for the night.

There wasn’t anything bad in the food, Hin was a good cook. She just couldn’t handle what she heard about her father… and about her.

What was right? What wasn’t right? Her father was a great chief… right?

Raya sat down on a rock and scooped up some water from the river into her coconut shell. Setting the bowl down on her lap, she brought out her Khoi twig and squeezed a bit of sea salt paste on it before wrapping the paste up securely with the banana leaf.

Did people outside the palace hate her father? Raya stared out at the water despondently and heaved a heavy sigh, plopping the stick into her mouth and brushing gently.

What about her? Did they hate her?

A terrible thought entered her mind. Would they hate her if they knew she was the one who brought the other tribes to see the gem? Would they hate her if they knew that it was her fault that the gem broke?

Goosebumps littered her arm as the evening wind brushed past her. Raya gurgled water and spat out the paste onto the dirt, washing her brush with water from the coconut bowl. She’ll be fine. She was the only one here that knows how the gem broke. There was no way anyone else could find out unless she told them.

She’ll be fine.

There’s no way they could find out.

A little pressure on her foot made her look down. Tuk-tuk had nudged her worriedly and Raya picked him up for a little hug.

“I’m okay, Tuk-tuk.” She whispered into the air, “I’m sorry about making you worry so much.”

“Here.” Raya plucked a leaf off the water spinach growing on the rock, added a little salt paste to it, and handed it to Tuk tuk, “Brush your teeth too.”

They sat there silently for a while, watching the stars twinkle across the sky. The crickets sang and the frogs croaked up a symphony that gave the girl a sense of peacefulness. Raya looked down at the small ripples created by the water striders and took off a shoe to dip a toe in, flicking the water and creating some ripples of her own.

“AHH!” A yell by her left ear startled Raya and she turned to see Pin holding onto her shoulders. Tuk tuk rolled off her lap and onto the floor.

“You should have seen your face!” The older girl giggled, changing her hold into a hug and leaning her weight on Raya, “What are you doing out here all alone?” She moved to the left and sat down on the rock next to the princess.

“Nothing much, I just came to brush my teeth.”

Pin pulled up her frizzy hair that had fallen out of the bun back into its former position with a piece of dark blue cloth, “Hmm... I should brush my teeth too.” She went to a nearby khoi tree to grab a twig.

“I’m too lazy to walk back to get mine.” she joked and sat back down on the rock, bashing the stick until bristles formed.

“Can I borrow some toothpaste?”

“Sure.”

Raya went back to watching the ripples form in the water and listening to the sounds of nature. After a while she decided to ask the other girl a question.

“Hey…” She started, “Do you miss your má?”

Pin spat out the paste and wiped the side of her mouth, “Whaddya mean? Of - pffhhh - course I do.”

“I mean… Well I mean…” Raya struggled to find the words. What was it that she meant? “I don’t know.” She scratched her arm nervously, “I miss my ba a lot. How...What… I don’t know.”

“Do you mean what we’re supposed to do now that our parents are gone?”

“Yeah.” Raya pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees, “I thought ba was gonna be there with me forever. Baba always knew what to do. We were the baddest blades in the land! Nobody was going to defeat us together.”

“I’m sorry.” The other girl placed a hand on her shoulder, “My mom was the kindest, most patient woman ever. She raised my brothers and I after all.”

Pin chuckled and threw her toothbrush into the water, “We were always chaotic. Má still loved us even when we broke her pots all the time. Ba didn’t really care. He just wanted to take care of the garden all the time.”

“He loved us.” She added after a moment of thought, “He was chillax you know? About everything.”

“They sound great.” Raya mumbled, “So what do you do now?”

“ I don’t really know.” Pin replied simply, pulling a leg up on the rock and dangling the other, “I’ve been thinking about what my parents would have wanted me to do.”

“Má loves cooking.” She said, stooping down to grab a pebble, “Maybe she would want me to learn how to cook like her. ”

“Ba always wanted me to be the guardian of the dragon gem,” Raya mused and buried her head into her knees in shame, “I only have a piece of it left.”

“Yikes.” The older girl drew her arm back and threw the rock into the water, landing a loud ‘Splash!’
“That was supposed to skip.”

Raya groaned in response.

Pin touched the young royal’s shoulder encouragingly, “Hey. Don’t worry, you’ll get better. Now it’s a little easier to protect when it’s smaller, I think. You'll get better at this. I mean, look at me. I’m terrible at cooking right now. But I can get better. Someday.”

“Thanks ‘Nee.” Raya flashed her a small smile.

“Come on, nest head.” The other girl stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants, “Let’s go back and get to bed. Things will be better tomorrow after we sleep.”

As the girls walked closer to their house, sounds of shouting could be heard from the bonfire. The adults had started arguing again and this time, they were up at each other's faces, anger burning a dark orange like the light of the fire.

"Serving a royal is useless!" Prasong could be heard, shouting over the crackling of the fire, “Why won’t you put the child to work? They are all old enough to pull their weight."

“How dare you?!” Jai shouted back, “Just because we lost a lot doesn’t mean we have to throw away our culture! And the child isn’t useless, she’s looking for a way to reverse things. Look at this scroll I found today.” She pulled a silver-colored scroll, stretching it out and slapping it onto the man’s chest. It read, ‘Fortifying defenses with water’.

“I wouldn’t have found this if i wasn’t in the chief’s study today.” Her eyes blazed, “Why are you so hopeless?”

“I’m being rational!” He roared back, “You’re just clinging to fantasies if you think we could defeat the druun. Eventually, you have to grow up!” Prasong lowered his voice into a hiss, “The end of the world is approaching, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Raya and Pin tried to sneak past the adults into the house at the sound of their voices but Montri caught up to them and grabbed Raya by her wrappings, holding her up in the air, “Look what I found sneaking around.”

Jai widened her eyes at the sight, “Drop her! What are you doing?”

Montri let go and Raya hit the floor with an “oof!”

“That’s enough!” Jai stomped up to Montri until their faces were close enough to touch, “You have a problem with me, not the child.”

“We’re discussing this child.” He drawled, “We should bring her into this if you think that she’s old enough to spend her time figuring out how to defeat the druun, a feat -- I remind you -- that could not be accomplished by the top scholars in Kumandra since 500 years ago.”

“Exactly!” She lifted her chin, “500 years have passed, there could be more information to help us.”

“500 years without the druun to study on? It’s futile.” He flashed his eyes to emphasize his point, “Prasong is right. This child should work like the rest of us, not play around. We all have a few years left in our lives before the druun overwhelms us like it did 500 years ago. Until then, we should live our lives as much as we can before we die. There's no point reading scrolls.”

“No.” The mother figure shook her head in dismay, “No. How can you give up so easily?”

“Tch.” Montri stepped back and shook his head as well, “It’s not giving up. It's accepting that it’s inevitable.”

Lek, who had been gnawing on some chicken soft bone quietly, spoke up in a gravelly voice, “The world is going to burn.”

Not a second later, the tree behind him lit up in purple and a druun emerged, shrieking loudly to make its presence known. All the shouting had attracted the abomination and it came without a preference of who it would devour.

“Look out!” Namwaan yelled, jumping in to grab the man and pull him out of the way.

Raya fumbled into her pocket and yanked the gem out, its blue glow washing into the clearing. It shone brightly, challenging the purple tone that had enveloped the group. Gritting her teeth, she ran forward and sprang off the log, extinguishing the fiery druun in a cloud of black soot.

There was a silence, for a moment, and the sound of crickets resurfaced from the nature around them. Lek had tripped on a bucket of water as he ran and the bonfire was reduced to a few glowing embers.

“We fishermen are leaving for Spine tomorrow.” Prasong declared, piercing through the silence, “If you idealists are going to waste your lives away, go ahead. You can’t grind enough chili into the river to make it into paste. The world is going to burn and we will watch it burn. We won’t run around like headless chickens under the leadership of a child.”

With that, they all retired for the night.

Chapter Text

Namaari woke up earlier than usual on Sunday when Witya wandered into her room. The nanny had opened the windows, laid out her clothes, and handed the sleepy girl a glass of honey lemon water.

“Hurry and shower quickly today. We’re having a prayer ceremony by the river to honor the sacrifices some warriors made for us back in Heart.” She yanked the blanket off Namaari and shook it, folding the cloth neatly. “The earlier you get there, the better flowers you can choose. You want to pray for P’Aek, right?”

By the time Namaari had breakfast with her mother, she was still tired and a little nauseous as she tried to swallow the fish she was having for the third day in a row.

“Morning, my little morning mist.” Her mother greeted, “Or should I say mourning mist?”

“Mom???” Namaari peeked a look at her mom in concern. “What…?”

“Sorry,” Virana smiled a tad bit sheepishly, “I wanted to lighten the mood.”

Namaari focused on her food and tried to push her mother’s attempt at a joke away from her mind.

Terrible joke.

And terrible timing too.

Her mae should never make jokes.

General Atitaya brought in the records of the soldiers’ files to the chief and looked over it in silence.

First on the list was Petch. Namaari never talked to him before but she heard a lot about him. Petch was a troublemaker. The first year he joined the army, Namaari would overhear the other warriors talk about how he would rush in first in fights or how he would get to wild beasts first and absorb most of the impact from the attack. Temperamental but selfless.

“A real hothead.” Virana murmured as she read over his will.

“We all told him that rushing in would get him killed someday.” Atitaya added, “Then he decided to be first to shoot at the druun.”

Second was Chalerm, a mild mannered warrior. Namaari remembered her as someone who would watch over her sometime when she was younger. Chalerm would guide her around the gardens and pick flowers to weave into crowns. They would smell the flowers and listen to birds together. She was a nice older sister.

Khanittha and Thanya were twins, a distant relative of Colonel Piyakom. Khanittha was fast, deadly fast. She lured the druun away and that was the last time they saw her. Thanya wasn't so fast but still stayed behind to keep them all safe. They were the deadly assassin duo. Killed together and eventually, died together.

Last was Aek. Namaari really loved Aek. It hadn't really sunk in to her yet that he was gone.

The last couple training sessions with Phichit and Somkhit felt weird and 'off' but it wasn't all that strange yet. It was like P'Aek had left for a vacation and she added a new class in the meantime.

P'Aek trained her since she was 5. As soon as she could properly hold the sticks, he would bring her out to practice her footwork for Krabi Krabong. "Just focus on basics first" he'd say.

When the drought hit, her training sessions lessened and Aek was called away to protect what little food they had left from bandits. Chief Virana added more etiquette classes for her in place, saying that her lessons in patience there would greatly benefit her in her training later.

It did. But it wasn't enough.

Around the time the gong rang for 8 in the morning, the three women had finished going over the files and settled by the edge of the mother river, carefully selecting the lotus blossoms to fold from a golden tray that was prepared for them. A few servants nearby decorated the venue, handing out more trays of flowers to the other families that began to appear.

“Gently,” Virana warned as Namaari folded the petals, “Don’t rush, a lady must have grace. Patience is one of our strongest skills, whether we’re in war or at home.”

“Yes mae.”

The funeral service began at the sound of 9 gongs. It was a private service with only the family members of those deceased and their commanding officers. The families held their own some other time, but this was a way that the royal family could honor their warriors.

A circle of musicians began the somber melody as Virana stepped up to begin the service. Namaari fiddled with her flower and the monks came in to recite blessings and prayers.

It wasn’t until they lined up to individually say their prayers and set the little flower boats they folded off into the river did she start to feel the loss creep in on her.

Namaari sniffled glumly as she realized she wasn’t going to see the man again. The laughter, the fun times. No more sneaking into the kitchen with him to get an extra snack after practice. No more tree climbing contests. No more secret joyrides on random people’s cats. But most importantly, no more Aek. The man she thought of as a brother was gone because she wasn’t strong enough to win a fight.

She wrung her hands together anxiously. She would have to train harder.

At the palace cattery, Colonel Piyakom and Lieutenant Phichit were harnessing their cats and packing their weaponry for their trip to Heart along with 10 other warriors.

“How much are we supposed to pack each?” One of the warriors asked, securing a woven basket to the back of his cat.

“Yeah.” There was a collective agreement, “How much should we take?”

A stout looking warrior spoke up, “It’s the drought. There’s no way Heart would have that much. We’ll empty the storages with just a couple baskets.”

Colonel Piyakom shook his head as he recalled the feast he saw when he was at Heart, “They didn’t have a drought. Grab the biggest baskets your cats can carry. We’re filling them all.”

As they double checked their ties and weaponry, one of the soldiers asked, “Colonel, I don’t mean to overstep, but why are you leading this operation? Shouldn’t you be at the twin’s funeral service?”

“No problem, Nung.” The Colonel accepted the question, “The chief gave me a specific assignment for this trip. I’ll attend the public funeral later.”

“Speaking of said assignment,” Phichit piped up, “we should double check the details with the Chief before we leave.” He nudged his shoulder and headed towards the door.

“Hm.” Piyakom grunted in agreement and headed out.

The two crossed the palace and hastened to the riverside only to halt by the cream colored columns at the edge of the venue.

“Toi…” Phichit breathed, spotting the princess and the chieftess offering up their prayers by a monk. The princess was pawing at her face, eyes red and puffy while her mother sat with her back so straight they could see a vein throbbing at the edge of her temple.

The same thought rocketed into their minds. It was not a good time to talk to the chief.

For a while they listened to the mild chanting of the monks and watched the princess struggle to hide her emotions. She pulled out a small painting from the side of her belt and scrunched her face, then stuffed the painting back and released a shuddering breath. The monks lit up a candle and the chief accepted it, placing it on a flower boat and releasing it into the river, watching it float away with the gentle nudging of tiny silver fish, friends of the great dragon Tanya.

Piyakom and Phichit raised their hands up to his head, encircling them and bowing as he muttered a solemn prayer to the fallen warriors.

“I’ll slice her head clean off,” The colonel sighed as he turned back, “Aek would appreciate that. It’ll be painless and humane.”

Phichit folded his arms in disapproval, “She’s still a kid.”

“For now.” The battle-worn warrior stared straight ahead as they walked back to the cattery. “The kid’s going to grow up to be a fighter anyways. Best to get rid of her before she becomes an issue.”

“No.” Phichit, shook his head, denying the order firmly, “I won’t kill her if I run into her.”

“Well… I will.” Piyakom said, his face set forward with a stony expression, “You weren’t there when our treaty failed. Ever wonder why Fang started being enemies with Heart after a 30 year peace treaty? That girl won’t forget that it was our plan to take the gem that caused the druun. People will die when she takes revenge.” He let out a displeased sound, “Who knows, she might just let the druun into Fang.”

The two men descended the steps and reached the front of the cattery where the other warriors had finished preparing their mounts for them. In a solid motion, Piyakom settled into his cat’s saddle and moved to the front of the troops.

“It’s best if we kill her first.”

Raya’s morning started off well.

She had breakfast with the other children, laughed with Pin as they tried out different hairstyles, and snuck a few sweets she found in the palace to share without the adults noticing.

On the way back to the palace to study, she hid behind a tree to watch Prasong, Montri, and Lek were packing up loudly, stuffing grain and other provisions into a wooden cart to take to the edge of the river where their fishing boat was tied.

Raya had mixed feelings about their departure. She didn’t really like them much or know them much at all. But at the same time, how could there be Kumandra if she couldn’t even keep her people together?

“Hey.” Raya stepped out from behind the tree and waved at Lek as he piled up equipment on the wooden cart.

“Child.” He rumbled, wiping his meaty hands together and placing one on her head for a brief pat, “Stay good.”

Raya smiled toothily and pulled his fingers to stop him pushing the cart away.

“Can’t you stay?” She pleaded, “It’s not safe anywhere but I can help keep you guys safe better than with the other chiefs.”

Tuk tuk climbed from her shoulder to the man’s large hands and gave him cutesy eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Lek shook his head and pried her fingers off his. Prasong walked out of the house with a large sack over his shoulders and rolled his eyes at the sight.

“Go away Raya.” He pushed past the girl and dropped the sack on the cart, “Children should not bother in an adult’s work.

Raya rubbed the stinging sensation from the rough jerk of her hand and puffed up her chest, “I’m the chief now. And I can really protect you from the druun with the dragon gem.” She pulled the treasure out to emphasize her point, “Please stay.”

Prasong gave his surroundings a glance and let out an exasperated sigh, “No. Now leave.”

“No.” Raya pocketed the gem and folded her arms across her chest, “I won’t go.”

“No?” his eyebrows furrowed deeply, “Are you, a child, not obeying me?”

“Why must you leave?”

“Go before I lose my temper.”

“No!” She dug her heels in the ground.

“GO.”

“NO!”

SLAP.

Raya’s cheek blossomed a dark red mark and she froze, her eyes wide. It was as if she was paralyzed by a crack of lighting.

The man tsked and clenched his open palm into a fist. He peered at her in disdain, “Look at what you made me do.”

Prasong lowered his hand and turned away, calling for Lek to leave and pushing the cart down the road away from her.

As they rolled away, Raya inched her hand up to touch her cheek, probing gently at the mass that had begun to swell. What just happened?

She watched them disappear from her sight and woodenly moved her legs to head back to the palace for her search. She could think more about this later.

Pin wiped the crumbs off the faces of her younger brothers and swept the floor, hiding all the traces of the snacks that Raya had snuck for them.

“No fair!” Hok pouted and crossed his arms, “Thuan got more snacks than me.”

“It was fair, Hok.” Pin said as she stored the broom away and ushered them out of the house, “I counted. Now let's all go to the fields. We haven’t finished weeding yet.”

“Actually,” She stopped and walked around to the side of the house, “Since those big guys are leaving, we have to water the crops ourselves. We should do that first.”

The collective groan rose up from behind her and the boys draped themselves over random objects.

“Ughhh…” Thuan pressed his face into the side of the pot he was on, “Adults are so weird. They only fought once and now they’re leaving?”

“Yeah. We fight all the time and we’re not allowed to leave.” Hok agreed, “No fair.”

“It’s a little different.” An older voice appeared from behind them.

Jai held up a few shovels and buckets and handed them to the children, “Boys, go and water the crops and Pin, come with me.” She kept her gaze on the boys, “When you’re done, just start weeding okay?”

“I don’t want toooooo.” Hok whined and threw his bucket on the floor.

Jai took a deep breath and calmed herself, kneeling down to the boy’s level, “I’m sorry Hok, I know it’s hard.”

The boy turned his back to her and sat down, letting out an angry cry in dissatisfaction, “Noooooooooo!”

“Hok.” She reached out to hold him still and stared into his eyes, “Hok.”

“I don’t want to work!”

“I’m sorry, but there’s not enough people. If we don’t work, there won’t be enough food for us later on.”

“Binturi.” The boy hid his face and mumbled under his breath.

“Hok!”

He pressed his lips together in a fine line and curled his fingers into a fist, “I don’t want to work. want má.”

“Hok…”

He hit his fists repeatedly on his aunt, “I WANT MÁ!”

The older woman held up her hand and caught his fists, “I’m sorry Hok. I want her too. I’m so sorry.”

The child bursted into tears and Jai scooped him up, holding him close to her chest as she stood up.

In response, the other child began sniffling as well and ducked his head into the side of her waist.

Jai clutched onto them tightly and turned her head to look at the teenage girl who was quietly picking up the fallen tools. They made eye contact and Jai twitched her fingers, shifting her shoulder for the older girl to come in for a hug.

The family stood there for a while until all their tears dried up. The tired aunt rubbed soothing circles around the boys’ shoulders and motioned for Pin to pick up the equipment again.

“Come on kids,” Jai grasped Thuan’s hand and guided them onto the path to the fields, “Let’s get to work before your dì Namwaan gets back from helping the men prep their ship. I’m sure your má is watching you all somewhere and she would be very proud of your hard work.”

The rest of the day passed in a dizzy blur for the Heart citizens. The fishermen took their time moving equipment down to their boat, the princess studied, and the kids worked on their crops. Around noontime, Hin gathered them all up for one last meal with the fishermen before they parted ways.

It was early afternoon when the Fang army reached the heart bridge, slowing the cats down to a steady gait as they passed the frozen statues.

“Remember to be quiet to not attract the druun.” Piyakom commanded as his eyes sweeped the perimeter, “We’re taking as much as we can. Phichit’s team will sweep the palace, my team will take the village.”

He turned his cat towards the group and straightened his shoulders, “If there’s anyone there, don’t let them stop you. Remember, this is for Fang. This will stop your children from starving. This will lengthen your grandparents’ lives. This will keep us healthy and safe.”

The colonel made eye contact with several warriors, “We are doing the right thing. It’s us or them. Don’t hesitate.”

Chapter Text

Fang legend says that when the dragons turned to stone, Fang was first to turn to other animals for help. They bonded to the great cats and were called heretics for abandoning the way of the dragons. But as the dragons stayed stone, others soon followed.

Before anyone could join the army, every Fang warrior-to-be would learn the swift movements of the felines, the quiet prowl of their paws, and the breathtaking attacks that soon became the symbol of Fang assassins.

So, the invasion into Heart was quiet.

There were some rustling noises from the leaves as the felines leaped forwards. A few creaks as the grain storage doors opened. Sometimes, a subtle gasp would leave the soldiers when a heavier sack of metal tools was thrown down on them.

But mostly, it was quiet.

That was, until Piyakom’s forces raided the hut that the remaining Heart citizens used regularly and met up with Hin.

“FANG IS HERE!” The declaration rang across the field as Hin kicked over a pot and the shattering amplified his message.

Namwaan was first to engage in combat, hearing the crash as she returned from the main river, having just finished helping carry the last of the fishermen’s equipment to their boat. She rushed into the room kicking the door swiftly and dislodged an arm, obtaining a Ngao, a blade staff, and immediately used it to slash a warrior’s chest into ribbons.

From the fields, Jai spotted the baskets of food and metal tools on the giant cats and cried out, “If they take this, we won’t have enough to last us through the dry season!”

In a flash, Jai pushed the children away to hide and ran forwards to join the fight. Hin and Namwaan took out two warriors and pushed the third out from the hut. As soon as the sun’s ray hit the Fang soldier, the rest of Piyakom’s warriors emerged from the other side of the village and backed him up, rushing in on their cats to circle around them and corner them in.

Three on three. It could have been a fair fight if Hin had trained in martial arts. But there really wasn’t anything just about it.

Namwaan gritted her teeth and growled, “Has Fang been reduced to petty thievery?!” She cackled sarcastically, “Ha-! Fang is no worse than a BANDIT!”

“What more do you want from us?” HIn furrowed his eyebrows and brandished the spear that they took from an unconscious warrior threatenly, “Just take what you have and leave. We need this so we don’t starve.” He waved at the building behind him.

Piyakom rolled his shoulders and slid off his mount, “Where is the princess?”

“What?” Jai tilted her head slightly.

“The Heart princess.” Piyakom replied as the other soldier jumped from his mount, “Give us the Heart princess and we’ll go.”

“Are you crazy?” Namwaan roared, “You little binturis swoop in and steal our provisions and now you want our princess too?”

The tall woman stepped forward with the first move, clashing with Piyakom and pushing their battle into the muddy fields. At the display of aggression, the other two began fighting as well, their battle taking place over the cobbled street, occasionally veering off into the sides, ducking around trees and various household items as shields.

From the side of the village huts, the three children watched the battle closely. Pin was getting increasingly agitated at the sounds of metal striking metal. Hin wasn’t holding up well and neither was Jai as they occasionally stumbled over a misplaced pebble or root.

“I’m going to help them. You two stay here.” The older sister whispered to the boys as she grabbed a sickle, creeping slowly from hut to hut, hiding in the shadows and behind various objects. She lost her mother already, she couldn’t lose her aunt too! Pin crept behind a warrior and slashed, tearing into the pale skin that was common of that region. Dark red gushed out and sprayed into her face and hands, the viscous liquid gluing itself on her fingers.

“GAAAAAAHHHH!” The man screamed in pain and stepped to the side, turning his body towards her and slashing, the tip of the sharp metal nicking the skin of her cheek as she fell backwards.

“Don’t bully my sister!” The voices of her brothers shouted from behind her as Pin froze at the sight of blood. Jai jerked to the left to see the two boys crouching by Pin, an arm full of rocks and the other high in the air throwing the pebbles at the injured man.

“What are you doing here?!” Jai yelled from behind the man, her mouth open and eyes wide, “Go away! It isn’t safe!” She pushed against the warrior and kicked his shin, catapulting to the side and leaning right, dashing towards the kids and picking her nephews up and pushing her niece forward, “Run!”

The Fang soldier growled and clenched his teeth, picking up a pace behind them. Where’s the honor in running away from a battle? And him? Getting scarred by a child? He couldn’t accept that. Even if the princess was their main objective, his pride as a warrior wouldn’t let that slide. He chased after them, intending on giving the Heart woman a little scratch in return.

As they ran up the hills and into the palace grounds, there was a high pitched scream that reverberated from behind them. Namwaan. Jai froze and whipped around, her grip slackening and dropping the boys.

Pin’s eyes searched behind them and zoned in on the rapidly emerging Fang warrior, “We have to go!” She tugged on her aunt’s arm, “Now!”

Jai continued to look over the fields that they could see from the side of the hill. There. From her vantage point, she could see that Namwaan had slipped and fell, her weapon a meter away from her and her arm, injured. The Fang Colonel was inching up on her slowly, shouting words she could not hear.

Jai swung the Ngao up and blocked the incoming blow from the approaching warrior, "Go!" She commanded as she twirled the weapon in anticipation for another clash, "I'm going back. You three get to the princess and hide."

"But -- !" Pin argued.

"No talking back!" The sound of loud footsteps came closer to them and Jai shoved the kids forward with a free hand, "Go now! We'll catch up to you."

From up above in the palace, Raya had returned to her studies after lunch and was sluggishly shifting through her 16th shelf of scrolls.

Raya shuffled the papers with a sigh, "Nothing again." She aligned the stack and piled them neatly.

There was no doubt that she was getting frustrated and tired from all the scrolls she had been reading. Even Tuk-tuk had started to roll around, bumping into the different texts and pushing them around.

Raya flopped on her back and stared at the ceiling. She stretched out like a starfish and tried to undo the knots and kinks in her back that had set into place from bending over to read for so long. With a groan, she rolled into her side to watch Tuk Tuk sprint around her in circles.

"Here," Raya rearranged a pile of scrolls into lines, creating a makeshift race track and ushering the pillbug to the start of the track, "Ready?"

Tuk Tuk set his pudgy face into a serious mask and pawed at the floor, letting out an imitation of a revving rumble that really sounded more like a high pitched series of chirrups.

"3..2..1..go!" Tuk Tuk hit the floor and rounded the bends, sending tiny squeaks across the stone floor at particular sharp turns.

Raya laughed as her little companion rolled into her side to stop, "I'll make a bigger track!" She chuckled and stood up, gathering the scrolls around the floor and rearranging them around the library. She had been at her studies for long enough. A break would be fine!

A few tracks later, the princess ended up setting a gigantic track all around the library. It includes slopes and jumps made from writing tablets and wooden signs around the room, topped off with a tiny pile of dry leaves to send into the air as you pass the finish line.

"Come here!" Raya ran to the start line excitedly, "Oh dragons, this is going to be so cool!"

Tuk Tuk settled himself by the hastily drawn chalk mark on the wooden floor and chirped happily.

"3...2...1...GO!"

And the pillbug went off, zooming across the library, screeching at the turns, and jumping off the ramps. He flipped off and spun around the hoops that Raya managed to find and travel across the floor towards the finish line.

"YEAH!" Raya exclaimed as the leaves flew into the air when he passed the finish line. Excitement soon turned into alarm as Tuk Tuk failed to slow down and began tumbling full speed towards her.

"Oh mother."

Tuk Tuk slammed into her chest and they skidded back and stopped at the wall. A "crack!" was heard and Raya sucked in a deep breath.

The two froze for a second and Raya let the shaky breath out, probing her ribs carefully.

"It... doesn't hurt?" Tuk Tuk placed a tiny paw on her side.

"Crack!"

Raya jumped and twisted around towards the door, holding Tuk Tuk tightly to her chest as she crept backwards to hide by the side of a shelf. Not her. Not her. That was not her. What was that?

After a moment of silence, she inched back towards the door and creaked it open enough to look outside and see what was there.

Hushed voices floated by and she snuck out and crouched by a large decorative plant, “Where’s the library?” She heard someone say, “I think it would be nice to check out the text on the druun.”

Raya looked down the stairs and saw the quick movements of a few people rush here and there. Thieves? A golden headband flashed by the corner of her eye. No, Fang warriors.

She reached behind her back to grab her sword but was met with empty air. Oh toi. She left her sword at the temple while she was training. There hadn’t been a need for it.

Raya inched by the stair railing and moved back into the library, shutting the door behind her and locking it quietly.

“Lintik.” She cursed faintly as she leaned out the window, looking for a way to the temple. Why did the library have to be on the third floor?

“Hold on tight, Tuk tuk.” Raya tore a piece of cloth off her slash and wrapped it around her hands. With a firm tug on the bond, she swung her legs over the window and began descending from the building.

At the second floor, she pushed off the wall and leaped onto the roof of the next building, jumping from side to side and falling into her old pattern, rushing to the edge of the palace grounds and jumping into a nearby alleyway.

“Oof!” Raya yelped and crashed into someone, limbs entangling and flailing around with the other. With a quick lurch, she pulled back and crashed her palm into the other’s face, jumping backwards into a fighting stance.

“Oww…” The fallen girl twisted around, “Raya?”

“Pin!” Raya said gleefully, rushing in for a hug, “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” She gasped, startled by the sight of red on the girl’s fingers, “I’m so sorry! Did I break your fingers?”

“No, no. I’m okay, the blood isn’t mine. Are you okay?” She brushed herself off from the floor, “How’s your arm? I think I felt it twist.”

Hok stepped between them and pushed them back a step, “Hey! We have to go now!”

“Yeah!” Thuan added, “Fang is looking for you, Raya.” The boy shivered, “I don’t know why but there’s a huge scary guy that wants you.”

“They took all our food already and they want you too!” Hok exclaimed, arms stretched out wide.

“Right.” Pin inhaled deeply, “We have to hide somewhere.”

Raya grabbed Pin’s hand and led them to the right side of the alley, “Come with me, I’m on my way to the dragon temple. I left my sword there. If I can just get it, I can defend us from the attacks.”

“Awesome, SWORD!” The boys cheered from behind them.

The four children stuck to the sides of different buildings and houses, sticking to shadows and behind pottery and trees. As they neared the entrance of the temple, Hok let out a hurrah and sprinted to the direction Raya pointed to, shouting, “Last one to the temple eats a raw cabbage!”

“WAIT!” Pin called out, running after him and grabbing him by the collar, “We have to be-”

“-quiet.” Two Fang soldiers who were adjusting their baskets looked straight at them from the left. One of them piped up, “Hey… Grab them!”

“RUN!” Raya shouted and the four sprinted into the temple, Raya hurriedly overtaking them, “This way! Follow me!”

They crossed a rickety bridge, inched across a thin ledge next to a wall, but it wasn’t enough.

“They’re still following us!” Thuan shouted from the back.

Raya turned into the side and pushed a misshapen rock on the wall, opening up a hidden chamber. She pushed the other kids into the hidden room, shoving Tuk Tuk into Pin’s hands and holding her hand up to their mouths and shushing them, “I’ll be back in a moment, stay hidden!”

The small princess dashed down the corridor, running past a turn that the soldiers were at and turning right.

“There’s the princess! After her!” The soldiers turned and ran swiftly.

“Where did the other children go?” One warrior commented.

“Don’t care,” The other replied, “We just need this one!”

Raya skidded to a stop at one of the hallways and stopped, waiting for the soldiers to catch up with her.

“There you are young one,” A well dressed warrior called out and the two hesitantly stepped forwards, “Just come with us and no one is going to get hurt alright?”

Raya moved backwards slowly, a hand on the wall. She threw a quick glance at the floor behind her to locate the raised brick, “No… Go away.”

“Hey hey now…” The men took a step forward, looking behind her and seeing the dead end, “It’s going to be fine.”

“No!” Raya yelled sharply, “Drop your weapons. Drop them!”

“Okay okay,” The man closest to her spoke softly and dropped his ngao on the floor, a low clang echoing in the hallway. He gestured to the other to do the same, “Come on, we don’t want to hurt you.”

Raya continued backwards and stopped when the raised block hit the tip of her heel, “Don’t come closer…” She bent her knees slightly as they crept forwards, curling her hands into fists.

“Don’t be stubborn, child.” The warrior straightened his back and started cornering her, “Now don’t move!”

The man lunged forwards and Raya ducked down, turning back and grasping her arms around her knees like a pillbug and rolling onto the switch as the man clutched onto nothing but air.

“Woahhhhh!” A large net of woven fabric swooped down and caught the men, netting them up just out of reach of the princess.

Raya unfurled and stood up to her full height, scraping around the netting to grab the weapons that were just out of their reach and kicking them further away.

“Bye!” She gave a cheeky grin and vanished around the corner, leaving the warriors groaning as they twisted around each other in the net, limbs intertwined. A distant complaint of “Get your foot out of my mouth!” could be heard as Raya raced back to the hidden chamber to find the other children.

As she neared the chamber, Raya took a detour and entered another room, picking up an oddly shaped stone off the ground and sliding it into a hole in the wall. A small “click” was heard and an old cabinet popped out. The little princess yanked it open quickly and took out her father’s kris and three pairs of arnis sticks before locking the place up and turning back to get to the rest of the children.

“Alright, here’s the plan.” Raya whispered to the other three as they knelt by the side of a house, each child outfitted with an arnis with the exception of Raya and her giant sword. They were peeking around the corner silently as they watched Jai and Namwaan struggle to fend off the Fang Colonel. Namwaan was heavily injured with a large bloody gash on her dominant arm.

Raya spun around and faced her friends, “Pin and I are going to ambush that big guy and confuse him. When he’s distracted by us, you two come from behind and knock him out!” She held her arm up in the sky triumphantly.

Pin gave the boys a little squeeze and kissed their foreheads worriedly, “Just be quiet, boys. If you get caught, run away. We’ll figure out something.”

Hok and Thuan nodded solemnly and crouched down. The girls moved in from the side and started sprinting towards the fight.

Raya unsheathed her sword and dashed in, sweeping the weapon up with a “clang”. Pin grabbed Namwaan and moved her back, giving her a piece of cloth to tie around her wound before moving back to join Raya in the fight.

“Girls?!” Jai exclaimed panicking, “What are you doing? Get back! It’s not safe!”

“We want to help!” Pin yelled back and swung the sticks at the Colonel’s head. From behind him, the boys had started creeping in slowly and Jai’s eyes began to widen as she caught sight of the children’s plan.

“Just let me handle this, kids!” The young aunt swiped her Ngao at the warrior’s head, “You’re making it harder for me.”

A faint frown etched itself on Piyakom’s face and he kicked Pin’s leg, sending her tumbling back into the arms of her aunt and knocking the two away from the battle.

Raya gripped onto the sword tightly and pushed into the fight, swiping a large diagonal sweep.

Piyakom countered with a quick jerk upwards on the staff and lunged forwards, twisting the sharp blade down on the girl.

Raya’s grip loosened involuntarily from the weight of force that was applied onto her wrists and she slid to her right, rapidly readjusting her hold on the kris.

The Fang warrior was relentless, going in for more blows and pushing the girl backwards.

Raya swung upwards. Her arms shook from the effort as the large man barrelled the Ngao down on her but it wasn’t enough.

The sword flung out of her hands and Raya froze. The man raised his weapon up high and the princess curled protectively into herself, her arms instinctively in front of her face.

“Gugh -!” The sound of metal sinking into flesh was clear.

But it wasn’t in Raya.

Namwaan was in front of her. The young Heart commander had her body in front of the princess and her staff held high. It missed and her arm was sliced deeply, a fountain of red gushed out and dark chunks dribbled down the Ngao and coated the man’s fingers. He tightened his grasp.

“G-go.” Namwaan hissed stiffly.

A deep wail of “NAMWAAN!” came from behind her and Raya was startled into action, scrambling with her palms and scuttling backwards.

The tall woman glanced back briefly and hardened her gaze, “Go Jai! Take them and GO!”

Deep, dark purple shone around the fight and shrieks filled the air.

Any hesitation to leave vanished. Jai picked the boys up and pulled the girls along with her to leave.

Raya glanced back as they climbed the stairs. Namwaan had fallen to her knees, holding her arm in pain as her soul was sucked out of her. The Fang Colonel was unscathed, having climbed on his cat and was racing after them, his face set in stony determination. To her right, she caught a glimpse of Hin to already be petrified as stone.

“Hurry!” Jai gasped heavily as they ran deep into the village and towards the forest, “We have to lose him fast!”

For a while, they were in front of the warrior. But soon, he caught up to them as they reached the edge of the forest.

Jai pushed the children into the woods and clasped on the ngao with both hands, “Get out of here. Go to Tail, your uncle lives there.” She turned her back to the children, lowering her stance protectively, “If I make it out, I’ll follow you all there. And even if I don’t…” She paused and caught Raya’s eyes in her gaze, “Raya, don’t give up. There has to be hope. You can bring your Ba back from stone. You can bring everyone back from stone. You can do it!”

“I won’t give up.” Raya promised, lips set resolutely.

“Good.” Jai smiled faintly, “Now go, before he catches up.”

The children raced into the forest, bounding over boulders, turning around trees, weaving past waterfalls. After a while, they stopped by a river to rest because they had run out of energy.

Hok whined softly as he sat down on a rock, shaking a pebble out of his shoe.

All the children were silent as they processed the adults’ actions for them. The eldest of the group rubbed the blood off her fingers and began quietly praying for her aunts as the boys drank from the river.

Raya sat down numbly, securing tuk tuk to her side with a part of her slash and staring at her hand clenching and unclenching itself. She had been beaten by the Fang warrior so fast. Why? She knew what he would do next but she couldn’t react to it.

Why weren’t her arms fast enough? Why could the man get to her? She was a princess, trained in the best arts and under the greatest warrior in the land. What happened?

Worry and distress was thick in the air. It permeated throughout the group but it wasn’t long until it was broken by the sound of rustling from the bushes.

“- Druun.” The word slipped out of Thuan’s mouth as soon as the purple haze lit the clearing, scattering the children around.

Raya and Pin jumped over some rocks to the other side of the river immediately while the younger two struggled behind, slipping on the rocks and splashing into the water. The druun screeched loudly and lurched back at the droplets of water, rushing around the river moodily.

“Get up!” Pin yanked the boys up from the river, “We gotta go before it comes around.”

“Wait, let me just use the gem and disintegrate it,” Raya shoved her hand into her pocket, “Get back into the river.”

Just as she was saying that, the trees rustled again and Colonel Piyakom emerged from the opening between the trees, leaping forwards on his giant cat, its claws digging into the river's rocky sediment. The cat snarled and whipped its tail at them.

“Nevermind!”

The children rushed into the forest away from the river.

“Wait!” Thuan cried out from behind the rest, having tripped and fallen on the ground.

Pin skidded and turned back, hauling the boy by his arm and pulling him on her back, “Hold on tightly!”

The end of the forest was near and the Piyakom emerged from the side, sweeping the blade close to Raya’s neck and she ducked, pulling her sword from the scabbard and intercepting the hit, pushing her back to a fallen tree.

The other children stopped at that motion and Raya grunted from the effort, pushing off long enough to yell at them to “Leave me, I’ll catch up!”

Pin tore off to the right, pushing through the bushes before screaming loudly and running back, the area lighting up in an eerie glow.

“HELP!” She looked back. Hok was on the ground, his knees were scraped red and his shoe fell a few steps behind, a small stone rolling out of it.

“NO!” A collective cry filled the air and Raya looked through the reflection on her sword- an act she would soon come to regret - and Hok was swallowed up in the dark cloud, its movements flaring and splitting into two.

Raya slipped under the cat and ran towards the clearing, running out of the forest and emerging at the edge of another river.

A loud scream could be heard from somewhere behind her and she squeezed her eyes together tightly while she ran, stopping at the edge of the waterfall.

Rock. Which was the good rock? Raya peered over the edge and looked back, the large man was gaining on her fast.

There was no time. Raya took a few steps backwards and leaped, jumping on a large flat rock before the agony of burning tore down her back, a cry of pain slipping past her lips.

Piyakom had thrusted the weapon forwards as she leaped and connected with her shoulder down to the small of her back. She fell face first into the water as he swept the Ngao back and it sliced into her dark hair. Her golden hair piece clanked softly on the rock as she tumbled over the waterfall, vanishing into the deep waters below.

The last thing Raya saw was the shadow of a fleeing cat and four dark clouds, hanging off the edge of the cliff, screeching accusingly at her.

…

…

“Well, well, well... Look who we have here?”

Chapter Text

Raya woke up and moaned in pain, her eyes fluttering briefly before shutting. Where was she? She shifted her arm up to rub her eyes and curled into herself instantly, her body shaking with spasms.

Her back was screaming. It was burning from her left shoulder all the way down to her right hip.

It hurt.

And for a moment, that was all she could think about. It hurt.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. HuRT. hURt.Hurt.

"Oh, be quiet!!" A sharp voice shouted from somewhere. It rang in her ears and Raya squeezed her eyes tightly, a couple tears slipping out. Couldn't the man speak more softly? She shifted and the echo in her ears stuttered.

Oh.

It was her.

No wonder her ears were ringing. She shut her mouth with a ‘click’.

Raya brushed her hair off her face with a few fingers and tried to open her eyes. What time was it? Her eyelids felt like the weights her father used for his arms. She couldn't open them.

“The kid’s fully conscious now.” The nasally voice called out again from beside her. Montri? Raya pushed her pointer finger on her eyebrows and her eyes fluttered open, blinking harshly at the influx of light.

The man in question was staring at her, crossing his arms around his chest and leaning against a pole across from the large table she was on, “Looks like your ‘devoted servants’ aren’t so devoted after all.” He sniggered and dragged his eyes across her back, the dark red stain on her shirt throbbing painfully.

Raya tried to prop herself up off the wooden floor and fell back down, moaning slightly. The blood had dried and the fabric clung tightly to her skin, each movement she made pulled on the wound.

The princess stuck her arms underneath herself and gasped, “We were attacked.”

“Really?” The man drew his hand up to his face and picked at his fingers, “By who?”

“Fang!” Raya cried out urgently, “We have to go back!” She looked out of the boat only to see a vast body of ocean without any land in sight. With a grunt of discomfort, she craned her head back to look at the other side of the boat only to see the same murky green. “...What?”

Montri didn’t respond.

“Where are we?”

“We’re not going back, kid. We aren’t warriors and we have no reason to be risking our necks for those backward dinosaurs.”

“But we’re all from Heart! Jai lured…” She stopped, remembering how quickly the Fang warrior caught up with them and changed her tone, “She’s still alive! I know it!”

It was a low plea, but Raya wasn’t sure if it was for Montri or if she was just trying to delude herself. The other kids were stone but surely, just surely, she couldn’t have been the only one to escape from this ordeal... could she?

“Well, well. They’re most likely dead if you’re just zoning out like that.”

Raya snapped her eyes up to meet the cynical adult, “No! That can’t be!”

“It’z best to rip the wrappings off quickly to prevent the wound from festering, babe.” Montri said nonchalantly and sweeped his eyes to the left in annoyance, “Speaking of wounds…” He pushed himself forward and unpocketed a knife, “LEK! HURRY UP, THE KID IS AWAKE!”

The man pushed Raya flat down on the table by her neck and began tearing into the Songket shirt around her wound, “Tsk tsk, that’s an ugly looking thing.” Raya’s eyes watered uncontrollably and she bit back a sob that tore through her throat.

The boat shook and a large man ducked into the small living area that they were in.

“All yours now.” Montri slipped his knife back into its holster and walked out.

Lek furrowed his eyebrows at the wound and grabbed the thin man’s shoulders, “Why didn’t you start washing her wound while she was unconscious?”

“I dun’t wanna wash a corpse.” He shrugged the hand off and left.

The water was freezing cold and a tad bit salty. To her exposed wounds, they were acid. Lek gave her a rag and Raya bit down so hard she could feel the tips of her teeth grinding against each other.

“I’m sorry little one.” The large man rumbled, “If I don’t clean these wounds, you’ll have an infection.”

She squeezed her eyes tightly in response and grabbed the edges of the table until her knuckles turned white.

…

She must have lost consciousness because the next time she opened her eyes, it was entirely dark except for the light of a candle at the edge of the room.

Raya pushed herself up and looked down at her left hand when it touched something soft. Bandages. The wind caressed her open back and she shivered slightly. Lek must have just cleaned her wounds and applied ointment. Part of her was happy about that and part of her wasn’t. She didn’t want to change her bandages herself, but she also didn’t want some man seeing her naked.

The princess reached around herself and slowly pulled the leftover fabric of her shirt away from her body, wincing as some of her skin stretched in the process.

She picked up the bandages languidly and wrapped them clumsily around her with a knot by her side. Raya stood up slowly, holding a hand up against the walls to lean on as she made her way around the boat.

The men were sleeping in a room on the other side of the boat and it stunk. Perhaps it was the pain that masked the smell before or perhaps she just became fully lucid, but her nose crinkled at the muskiness of the rooms. Any thought of asking them for clean fabric for her wrappings vanished and she headed to the front of the boat for fresh air.

Raya sat down and leaned back at the bow of the ship to gaze up at the stars. She felt a slight chill as the night wind whipped the strands of her hair into her face. It wasn’t until now that she realized that her hair had almost all fallen from its braid and so she pulled a few strands of rope from the side of the ship and pulled her hair up in a simple bun.

It was cold.

Her eyes felt heavy and it lowered like anchors but she struggled against it. She forgot something. There was something important she was going to do but she forgot it.

Her hands gripped onto the side of the boat to pull herself up but she was hit by a wave of nausea and fatigue as the time caught up with her. When was the last time she ate? How long ago was that lunch with the other children?

A single tear slid down the corner of her eye as her chest tightened and she let out a shuddery breath. Maybe it’s better if she forgot for now. Raya dragged an arm over her eyes and fell asleep.

“SPLASH!” A large wave of water slammed into Raya’s face and she startled awake.

“Don’t sleep here.”

Raya opened her eyes to watch Prasong tuck a bucket under his arm and shake his head at her, “If you want to stay on the ship, you have to pull your weight. None of us are of higher rank than anyone else here.” He waited for her to lift herself up and pushed her to the side when she stood up too slow for his liking, “I need to fish here. Hurry and go elsewhere.”

The shivering princess stared at the man for a moment, unable to fully understand what just happened to her. A brain fog seemed to hover over her and she turned, swayed, and grasped onto the side of the boat to vomit her stomach’s contents into the sea.

Prasong set his fishing rod down with annoyance and flung the girl over his shoulder to head to the kitchen. There, he put her down by the table, passed her a glass of water, and left.

Raya sipped the water slowly. Oh dragons. She was feeling quite dizzy and faint. What was this feeling? It was familiar… but not at the same time.

Lek entered the room. He opened the cabinet and grabbed a plate along with a knife and walked out. After a few moments, he walked back in with a small fish that he gutted, removed the bones and skin, and set it down in front of the adolescent alongside a bowl of white rice.

“Eat and drink a lot of water. You were unconscious for two whole days before you woke up yesterday evening.” He mumbled quietly and left once more.

Raya ate slowly and shivered when a gust of wind blew into the room. They couldn’t have been that close to Spine already. Why was it so cold?

Her back ached and she yawned and rubbed her eyes. Time to make a plan for what to do next. The young princess tore off a piece of the fish and lowered it to her waist habitually, waiting for a tugging sensation that would usually follow.

Raya pushed back in the chair to look at the floor and groaned softly as the action pulled on the sensitive skin on her back.

“Tuk tuk?” She scanned the room, “Tuk tuk, where are you?”

She searched her memory for the last time she had seen him. When was the last time she saw him? Where was he? Her hand moved down to grasp her sword and met with thin air.

Toi.

Oh dragons. Where? Did he get on the boat with her? Did she lose him? Where was her father’s sword? Did she drop it?

A depressed groan slipped out of her mouth, “nooooo….”

As she searched her mind, a glowing orb flashed past and she moved her hands down into her pockets immediately. The dragon gem! Her pockets were empty. Where was it?

She stood up, ignored the pain, and shoveled a few more bites into her mouth. Can’t waste food now, but she had to go.

Piyakom walked into the kitchen to skin one of the fish he had caught for the group’s lunch and stopped. A dirty plate was on the table with no one in sight. A few flies swarmed the fishbones and bits of rice on the plate. That child. No one would leave their plate unattended but that child, that princess, just couldn’t clean up after herself, could she? What did she think they were, her servants?

Piyakom flung the fish in his hand to the sink and stomped out of the room, “RAYA!” he yelled angrily, running around the boat to find the child. After reaching the other end of the ship, he found the princess tugging on Montri’s shirt, whining loudly about something.

“RAYA!” He growled, reaching down and yanking the girl by the arm, dragging her from the man and towards the kitchen.

“Oww! Stop!” Raya yelped, her free hand clawing at his fingers, trying to unwrap them from her arm.

“You.” He barked as they reached the kitchen, “We are not your servants you little binturi!”

Raya jerked her arm back and held it tenderly, blinking back tears, “W-what?”

“Your plate. Clean it.”

“O-oh! I didn’t realize. I’m sorry.” She apologized quickly, “I just found out that I can’t find Tuk-tuk! I need to know where he is. I’m worried he’s not okay, or if he hasn’t been fed, or–”

Piyakom pushed her back, stepping forwards and sending her falling back into the table, “Clean the plate now.”

Raya flinched as her back hit the wood. When the words registered in her brain, she furrowed her brow, “No! I’m telling you something important! Tuk-tuk! My pet! I don’t–”

“I don’t care about your pet–”
“I can’t find my father’s sword–”

“You’re on MY boat now. You’re NOT a princess anymo–”

“THIS IS IMPORTANT!”

“DON’T TALK BACK TO ADULTS!” The older man bellowed, leaning over her and clenching on her shoulders, the intensity shaking her small form.

There was a moment of silence. Raya stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. A shiver of fear ran down her spine but she shook it off. He really had to know.

“I can’t find my dragon gem…” She trailed off softly, looking down at her feet.

He was quiet.

Raya peeked a glance upwards and snapped herself into a straight line, staring still at the man in front of her.

A blue glow washed over her from the palm of his hand. Her dragon gem.

“A child shouldn’t be in charge of protecting something so valuable.” He began and her heart started to sink, “All your belongings are missing, aren’t they? It’s well fitting that I found this before it went missing too.”

He paused and looked into her eyes, “I’m keeping this.”

Chapter Text

Dao slumped over her cat lazily and gently petted its fur as she scanned the trees past the walls of Fang. She and a few of her soldiers were on the new watchtowers, watching for the druun, restocking the lures, and redirecting any wayward people. It was… pretty monotonous work.

“How are things going?” A familiar voice asked from behind her.

“‘Taya!” Dao flew from her position into the arms of the Fang General and smiled, “How are you doing? Anything fun happen at the palace?”

“It’s been good.” Atitaya smiled, “The chieftess is planning on a new city structure to be more beneficial to the influx of people. We will be rearranging the rice paddies and changing the overall architecture of the city to be safer for the people in the event of a druun invasion.”

“Funnnnn…” The scout hummed, “I wish I could be doing something more too. Well, it’s not like I want something bad to happen here, there’s just been nothing exciting–”

“Oh, looks like excitement is here.” Atitaya spun Dao around by her shoulders and pointed to a moving spot beyond the walls, “Your plan seems to have worked. They’re back from the raid…” She crouched down by the edge and shielded her eyes from the sunlight, “...and it looks like a good haul”

The commander mirrored her friend and held up her hand, gesturing to her scouts to ring the bell and get ready to receive their troops. As the bell sounded, the General spoke up again, her sight traveling from the approaching troops to the dark purple creatures following them, “Make sure everyone is on guard, there are three druun entities. I’ll be at the gates. If you need me.”

Dao followed her line of sight and pouted, sighing about how unfair it was that she had been stationed here for hours with nothing to do, only for Atitaya to visit once and be the one who spots something exciting.

The general flashed a small grin and slid down the ladder.

Once all the troops had entered the gates and the druun successfully deterred with the help of a few cat-riding scouts and their lures, the Colonel’s troops began unloading their loot, drawing the attention of a number of townspeople.

“Please return to your houses. Don’t stay around this area!” Atitaya raised her voice to the gathering crowd, “This isn’t safe. Food supplies will be distributed after we have them all counted in a register. Waiting around is a waste of time!”

As the hungry citizens began to disperse, Dao ran up to her husband and hugged him tightly, “Why were you gone for so long? It’s been two extra days since you said you’d be back– and you have three more carts than what you brought with you!”

“There was a lot at Heart. I had to bring everything I could.” The large man replied, patting her back with a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

The scout frowned, “But you could have just taken a second trip later if there was that much.”

“You would have worried about me going again.” He chuckled lightly, “We got everything anyways, Phichit got a few new carts too.”

Dao crossed her arms across her chest and looked away, “I wanted to go too if there was that much stuff. I haven’t been doing anything much lately… feels kinda like it wouldn’t matter so much if I wasn’t here.”

Piyakom placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, “There’ll be more things to do soon, love. Don’t worry. I know your presence will change Fang for the better, just like you did when you first arrived.”

The scout commander smirked and waved a hand, walking away from the man, “Ah yes. The good old days. Back when Atitaya was still a clumsy cutie and I was the unfortunate refugee?”

The Colonel smiled at the memory of the three of them before turning to the soldier nearest to him, “Ask Phichit if you need anything. I’ll be giving a brief report to the chief.”

Namaari had just finished her most recent science lesson and was pretty tired. Lunch was next on the itinerary and she headed to the dining room. Witya was still there, setting up the fried mackerels and diced vegetables with lettuce for the meal.

“How were your classes today, princess?” Witya asked, giving her head a firm pat as she headed back to the kitchen.

“It’s all good. Thank you for the meal.” Namaari picked up her utensils and began eating.

Meal times were family time. Her mother would usually be here by the time she sat down but she wasn’t. She got through half of her meal and she still wasn’t there. She even finished her entire meal and polished an entire mackerel, leaving only the bones and the hard pieces of its head left. And her mother still wasn’t there.

Namaari wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and stood up, looking at her mother’s still empty plate and the portion she had set aside for her in the middle of the table. What was keeping her so long? She would get scolded if she was this late to a meal.

The young princess piled her mother’s plate with food and headed to the throne room to find her mother. At the side door, she balanced the plate on her leg and reached for the handle, opening the door by a gap.

Chief Virana was having a conversation with Colonel Piyakom over the materials acquired from Heart. They now had plenty of iron and other metal tools that could be melted down to reinforce the gates. Their stock of rice and vegetables have now increased enough to pull them out of their starvation in their famine. As the discussion neared an end, Piyakom pulled out a wrapped piece of cloth and presented it to the chieftess.

“I am certain that I have eliminated the Heart princess,” He said as she unwrapped the cloth to unveil the golden hair ring and a few strands of thin black hair.

“T-the princess?” Virana stared at the package in her hand, her mind racing back to her previous command.

The Colonel nodded grimly, “It’s a shame. She was so young, but she’ll grow up to be a formidable enemy.”

From the side of the room, the door creaked open as Namaari stumbled in, balancing the plate in one hand and closing the door with the other. She glanced up at her mother and her company as the door closed.

“Mother, I’ve brought lunch. You missed it.” She climbed the steps to the throne and spotted the black strands on the cloth the Chief was holding, “I thought we didn’t have assassinations anymore.” The princess set the plate down on the table beside the throne and gave her mom and the Colonel a wai.

“Some people are too dangerous to be left alive.” The Colonel began, “I cornered her by the waterfall and sliced her back. Her hair ring fell and I was able to retrieve it. The princess, however, fell down the waterfall. It is unlikely that she would have survived.”

“The princess?” Namaari examined the golden hair ring, “I-I remember that…” She turned to catch her mother’s eyes, “This is Raya’s, mom!”

The chieftess stayed silent, reaching with her free hand to pick the golden ring up and inspect it.

“Mom!” Namaari exclaimed, tears welling up at the corner of her eyes, “You said you were going to just check up on her! How is killing her checking up on her?”

“I’m sorry.” The queen looked regretful.

“I don’t understand!” She continued, “If you wanted her gone in the first place, you could have just told me! Why-” She wiped her face with the back of her hand, “Why did you have to hide this from me?”

“I’m sorry Princess Namaari.” A deep voice came from behind and she turned to face Piyakom, “I might have misunderstood the assignment.”

Namaari shook her head, scrunching up her face to preserve her dignity, “She wasn't bad! She wasn’t like anything I heard she would be like!”

“Calm down, Namaari.” Her mother watched her unflinchingly.

“No! She was so cool!” Namaari waved her hands around as she stared at the golden ring, “She-! She-!”

“NAMAARI!” Virana raised her voice and Namaari stopped. The young girl wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her gaze.

“Why are you so fixated on that girl? There are so many other people out there that can be your friends! All those people in your classes–”

"They're not the same!" Namaari snatched the golden hair ring from her mother’s grasp and ran out the main door, leaving it wide open as she fled.

Dao munched on a stick of dried squid as she led her cat into the cattery for lunch. Cataloging the equipment and food took much more time than she thought and she and her cat missed lunch, staying behind so that her scouts could go eat first. Opening the cattery gates with a creak, she was greeted with soft sounds of sniffling.

“Princess?” The scout commander spotted the young girl curled up around her little cat, burying her face in its soft fur.

Namaari took a look at her and shuffled around, turning her back to the scout and murmuring, “Leave me alone please.”

Dao led her cat into its pen and gave it some food before turning around to sit with the princess. “Hey.”

“Go away.”

They sat there in silence for a while. Eventually, Namaari sat up and wiped her face, erasing the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Are you calmer now? Would you like to talk?” Dao said gently, leaning back on the wooden planks of the building.

“It’s just that I don’t understand.” Namaari began, holding the golden hair ring out in front of her and fiddling with it, “Mom is right. I shouldn’t be so attached to her. I only met her for a day.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.” She continued, “It’s just weird. I guess I put too many expectations on her? She’s the first person I really connected with and we actually like the same things and she was nice and she was the first person I think we could really be best friends with and I don’t know! I don’t even know why I’m crying. I don’t know her that well.”

Dao placed a hand on her back and patted softly.
“Na’Dao…” Namaari spoke, squeezing the ring with both hands, “Was I wrong? Did I do wrong? Should I not have wanted her to be friends with me since we’re not even part of the same tribe?”

There was a small moment of silence before Dao spoke up, “It’s complicated, child. Especially with the current political situation where we’ve been fighting for ages, it makes sense to keep to our tribe. But then again, people in other tribes can be nice. They’re not all terrible and perhaps one day in the distant future, we could all truly come back together again as Kumandra.”

“So it’s a no?”

“It’s a dream, but one worth considering. I wasn’t always a part of Fang, you know?”

Namaari turned to face the older woman, “You weren’t?”

“I wasn’t. When I was very young, I was caught up in a fight between Talon and Spine. My family all died and I couldn’t stay there so I came to Fang as a refugee.”

“Oh. What happened then?”

“Fang took me in, of course. I was very lucky that I chose Fang because not all the tribes would take in refugees and treat them as well as Fang did to me. Now, I serve Fang and Fang is my home. It’s possible you can make friends with people from other tribes, but not always.” Dao gave the girl a small hug, “Just remember to be very careful about who you trust to be your friend. Not everyone will be good but those who are can be beside you all your life, similar to how I became good friends with Atitaya when I got here.”

Serlot yawned in Namaari’s lap and stretched her legs, digging her claws into the girl and Namaari yelped, pulling her cat up as it swiped at her face, “Ooy!”

The scout laughed and stood up, stretching like the cat, “You know, my son is a very good cat trainer. He might prefer pigeons but it’s always good with animals. If you like a good friend, he could be one.”

“Okay, but I want to know more about what happened when you first came to Fang. It sounds exciting. What was the war between Talon and Spine like? Was it the one over textiles that I learned about in class?”

“Ah yes, it’s a good story.” She glanced out the window to see the angle of the shadows from the trees, “But it looks like we’ve spent quite some time here. You should get back to class. Your teacher will be worried about you.”

Namaari nodded and gave Serlot one last squeeze before standing up, “Could I hear about your story sometime later then?”

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

Raya was miserable.

She had been on the boat for over two weeks already and the experience only got worse and worse.

Tuk tuk wasn’t in any harm or lost, thank the dragons. Lek had been taking care of him, the large man had taken to cuddling the pillbug.

Problem was, he wouldn’t give him back.

It was really annoying. Raya tried, but she couldn’t do anything to get him back because of her injured back.

“You can’t take care of him yet.” Lek said as he held her back when she reached for her pet, “You still can’t take care of yourself.”

The weather slowly turned colder, her hair became greasier, and her body dusty and sticky from life on the boat.

Raya had never been in such cold weather before and it bit her. The pain from accidentally twisting her back would send hot flashes down her back and the rustling wind would slice at her skin. It was cold. It wasn’t. It was? Was it?

Some days, she wouldn’t get out of the hammock she slept in all day because of how much it hurt. Montri would grumble about how she ‘cowardly’ hid at the back of the boat.

It was frustrating. It was irritating. She was so tired of eating the same fish every day all day.

Toi.

Two days before arriving at the Spine harbor, Raya had not been able to do anything that she wanted to do. Tuk tuk was still with Lek, the dragon gem with Prasong, and she hadn’t had a shower in days because of how cold the water was.

“Finish eating already, child!” Prasong barked at her from the door of the kitchen, walking in and stacking the plates on the table, “When you’re done, wash all the dishes and get back to work before the sun goes down.”

“Yeah yeah.” Raya grumbled under her breath, shoveling another bite of fish into her mouth before standing up to move the stack of plates, scrapping her unfinished lunch into the trash.

“What did you say?” The large man shot at her, “You better shut that smart little mouth of yours. It’ll do you no good.”

Raya dumped the plates into a bucket, grabbed the washing rag, and ducked past the man, “Yes! I’m going to do the washing now!”

“Binturi.” She muttered to herself once she was out of the kitchen.

“HEY!” Prasong thundered from behind her and she froze, chills running down her arm. He didn’t hear her right?

“What is this?” The man held up the remainder of her fish.

Raya relaxed, but tensed again when she met his angry eyes, “Uh. I didn’t finish the fish.”

“Finish it.”

“What? No! Why?” She held up her free hand to her face, palms facing him as he moved closer to her.

“You are wasting the food.”

“We get fish everyday!”

“Doesn’t matter! We killed the fish, now we have to make it worth the life we took!”

Raya whined, “I’m so bored of eating fish!”

“You can’t be spoiled anymore, little girl!” Prasong furrowed his eyebrows at her.

“I already threw that in the trash so I can’t eat it anymore.” Raya turned her back to him and began to walk to the back of the boat to wash the dishes.

The muscular man stomped after her and yanked at her shoulder, rattling the plates in the bucket, and roared “Do not walk away from me when I’m talking to you! You-”

He jolted, “You stink!”

The princess shrugged his hand off her shoulder, wincing slightly at the pull of her back, “I’ll wash the plates then they won’t smell anymore.”

The fisherman took the bucket away from her, and grabbed her wrist, holding it up in the air, “Don’t lie to me. You’ve been skipping your showers!”

“What does it matter to you?” Raya shook her arm, pulling and twisting to get out of his grip, “Just– Just let me go!”

Prasong watched her indifferently and squeezed tighter.

“No!” Raya tugged her arm harder and yelped, halting in place when it became too much. The young girl sniffled, her eyes watering as she brought her free hand up to pry his fingers off her wrist.

“Come on.” The man grabbed the bucket of dishes and pulled her behind him to the back of the boat. Placing the dishes by a corner, he pulled a piece of cloth out of a cabinet nearby and flung it at her.

Raya laid the cloth on her shoulder and probed her wrist gently as the man disappeared from sight. It stung a little.

In a few seconds, Prasong reappeared again with a much larger bucket than before and a coconut bowl. He leaned over the side of the boat and scooped up a bucketful of water and pulled out a stool at the very edge of the boat.

“Sit here.”

“No!” Raya shook her head and moved back, “It’s really cold.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He pushed the girl onto the stool and used the coconut bowl to drench her with water. “I’ll be back with new clothes, you’ve been at this for too long.”

Raya untangled her hair from the knots and matts that sat in the messy bun it was in. A strong breeze blew past and she shivered as she carded her fingers through her hair.

The water was too cold, she thought as she dipped the washcloth into the bucket and wrung the excess water out. Raya held it up to her face and rubbed gently, moving the grime from her face carefully. After completely cleaning off her face, she dipped the coconut bowl into the bucket and brought it up to pour over her face and clean it.

Prasong reappeared from around the corner with a new set of clothes, a towel, and some wash liquid, setting the cloths down on a cabinet nearby.

“Have you done anything since I left?” He asked boldly as she poured water to soak her hair, “Your clothes are still on, how do you expect yourself to take a shower?”

The young princess took the wash liquid from the man and tipped a little onto her head, “I washed my face already. Just leave and I’ll shower properly.”

Prasong irritatedly clicked his tongue and moved closer to the girl, “Why should I leave? This is my ship. You have been skipping your showers and I have to make sure you’re actually clean.”

“It’s not proper!” Raya protested, “I can do it myself, I’ll be clean. You can leave now.”

The man snorted, “You’re not a princess anymore. I’m not your servant, but based off your inability to keep clean, you’re stupid and someone needs to keep an eye on you.”

“No!” Raya hurriedly lathered her hair and scrubbed at it, “I am not a prostitute, I-”

Barks of condescending laughter filled the air and Prasong scoffed at her, “Do you think you look anything like those beauties? How can you even compare? You are a child. I’m not going to do anything to you.”

Raya’s face flushed and a squeeze of embarrassment filled her chest. Was she overthinking it? But she was 12 already. She shouldn’t have anyone see her right? Or was she still a child? Her breasts weren’t developed yet.

With her frantic thoughts overtaking her mind, Her hands slowed down and Prasong took the chance to step up and wash her hair.

“What are you doing?” Montri drawled, stepping around the corner, a butcher’s knife in one hand and a bucket of prawn in the other. When he reached the cabinets, he set the bucket down and pulled out a couple medium size hooks, wrapped them up in a handkerchief, and secured it to his waist with his pakaoma.

“Washing the kid’s hair. It’s like a bird’s nest.” The larger man replied as he doused the girl with water.

The thin man leaned over the edge of the boat to wash his knife, “Why are you even taking care of it? Just cut it off, she’s not a princess anymore. What’s the need for long hair?”

“What?” Raya spoke up quickly, “This is my hair! You can’t just cut it. I’ll take care of it.” Her eyes darted between the two men and the other empty corridor. Her hair was important in representing Heart. Her father loved her hair. She couldn’t risk this.

There was a short silence as the men locked eyes.

The air was heavy when the words left Montri’s lips, “Hold her down.”

Raya ducked as Prasong closed his hands around the top of her head but the air seemed to crackle and split down on her back. “Ouch!” She faltered and the meaty hand settled on her head.

“NO! Please!” Raya pulled back but her hair was still gritty and caught onto his fingers. Prasong knocked her down flat on the floor and kept her down with a knee on her stomach.

“Hurry and cut it,” The muscular man demanded as he caught the girl’s hands and secured them by her collarbone, “The kid’s got claws like a chicken.”

Montri stalked close and tugged raya’s hair from under her head. With a twirl, he slammed the knife down on her hair with a thud. Raya jerked back and Montri used his free hand to push her forehead back onto the ground.

“Tsk!” The shifty fisherman scolded out of his teeth, “It’s only gonna get messier if you don’t hold still!”

Raya twisted and her left hand wrenched free for a moment, lurching back and catching on Prasong’s chin, causing his head to move forwards and collide with Montri’s head.

“Shhhh–” The two men hissed at the pain. Prasong caught her hand again and put it back in a crushing grip, drawing her attention back to her ensnared limbs.

“Binturi!” Montri exclaimed angrily and slammed the hilt of the knife onto the top of her head, freezing her actions and drawing tears from the corner of her eyes.

Raya whimpered, stars blinding her sight as a dizzy vertigo overtakes her. Her limbs are heavy. The water is loud. Chunks of her hair tickle her as they’re washed past her arms.

“Up now.”

She heard something faintly and the men propped her up on a stool. There’s a rustle and her face is held up by someone pinching at her cheeks. She hadn’t been hit so hard in the head before and she wobbled. When her face is released, her head is lighter than it has ever been.

“...Wash…child…woman…better this way…”

Something yanks at her and her clothes rip from its place. Raya startled as the cold water hit her bare skin and she stumbled back, only for a large hand to force her back into place.

“Hold still.” Prasong’s voice materialized next to her ear.

She doesn’t know when her eyes closed but when she opens them, Montri is gone and so are her clothes. Prasong is scrubbing her down with the washcloth and it hurts! She feels raw and her skin holds a tinge of red despite how numb and rubbery she was beginning to feel.

A low sob wretches itself from her throat when the cloth moves to scrub down her back. She moved away.

“Quiet now.” Prasong murmured from beside her, grasping onto her in a vice grip, “You must understand. We don’t want to enter Spine with a princess. You can’t protect anyone. You’re not strong enough to do anything with a status. Just be a kid and maybe you won’t die right away. We’re still protecting you even though you’ve been so much trouble for us. Don’t be ungrateful.”

Raya slumped in the chair, her head hung limply between her shoulders. She’s tired. All her fight went somewhere but her mind was just screaming wrong wrong wrong wrong at her.

A towel is placed over her head and she listens as the large man finally leaves her alone. Raya looked down at her hand and unfurled it, a big chunk of her hair revealing itself and falling to the floor. She turned away, buried into the wide piece of cloth, and wiped the tears from her eyes. It doesn’t work. Her hands are shaking.

The wind blew at her face like it was trying to dry her tears for her and Raya dropped her head into her hands. When her balance returned to her, she stood up to reach for her new outfit. For a second, she noticed that the brown wood of the boat was now stained a little pink and she pressed two fingers to her back. A sticky viscous liquid coated her fingers… but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She was numb. She pulled on on her clothes. She sat down with the dirty dishes.

Soft sniffles tore past her lips and the scent of the fishy dishes combined with her tears tasted vaguely like the jerky she had with the other children a few weeks before.

Later that night, Raya piled her hammock up with blankets and curled up into a ball.

“Cross cross and wrap!” Benja smiled as he braids a young Raya’s hair, “We’ll braid up your hair everyday before training, alright?”

“Why don’t we just cut it off? It’s not pr-r-” Raya pronounced.

“Practical?”

“Yes! Practical.”

The young father sweeped his daughter up and led her to the large picture of the royal family by the front of the royal bedchambers.

“You see your ma?”

Raya nodded.

“Her hair looks beautiful doesn’t it?” Benja smiled, “Very long and flowy unlike the other women in the other tribes.”

The young princess’s eyes fixed on her mother’s portrait, “Is long hair better than short hair then?”

“Hair is hair.” The chief began, “But having long hair is like a symbol of peace and prosperity. When we are at war, we keep our hair short to prevent others from grabbing it. It also helps confuse our enemies from realizing who are the men and who are the women so that the women have a better chance to escape from being purposefully targeted.”

Raya tilted her head up to watch her father.

“Raya, I want Heart to strive towards peace and prosperity, not war.” He turned and held out his hand for Raya to hold as they began to walk down the halls of the palace, “We are the heart of Heart. What we do, what we believe represents what our goals are and who our people are.”

A creak of wood pulled her from her memories and alerted her to the presence of the most mellow of the three fishermen standing at the edge of her hammock, shining a lantern at her face. A familiar “churrp?” called at her and the small pillbug is lowered onto her side.

Raya shifted and curled around her beloved pet, pushing her face into the warmth of his belly. Muted steps faded away as Lek walked back to his cabin and Raya is in the dark again.

“I love you, Tuk tuk.” The girl mumbles quietly. For a moment, the wind howled and she could almost hear her father wish her goodnight.

Chapter Text

The arrival to Spine was full of nervous anticipation. It was cold, the wind was strong, and the ground was filled with that white crunchy stuff that just sounded wrong when stepped on– that thing called snow.

Raya’s never been anywhere cold before. Not like this. Not like how the clothes around her body don’t seem to do anything to help the incessant shivering that was steadier than a serlot’s purr or how the sky always seems to be gray and the people around her are cloaked in so many furs she can’t tell how large they actually are. Not even the wrap she had around her head to hide the terrible hairdo could help her retain warmth.

Prasong walked them into a village and Raya couldn’t pay attention to what he was saying, her eyes darting to the sights around her and to the occasional stray bits of cloth until the huge man dressed in furs that he’s talking to finally realizes how abnormally blue she’s looking and drops his huge jacket over her shoulders.

“How old are you, child?” The man looked at her and shook his head, slapping her back to move her forward, and telling the fishermen, “We should get you all inside. Your niece is about to freeze. I will be back with the Chief. I’m sure he will allow your stay.”

The man leaves after ushering them into a nice hut. There’s a small chimney at the end of it and Raya rushed towards it, sitting on the floor and leaning against a chair. Her eyes wander past the fisherman and out the window to watch the really fast construction of a large bamboo wall encircling Spine.

“So what are ya gonna do?” Montri asked Prasong with the sound of the door closing, “They said there’s enough people going in and out everyday they don’t want some Heart fishermen to put Spine into anymore danger.”

“We could do other jobs.” Prasong suggested, “Us two are strong while you’re good at craftsmanship.” He gestured to himself and Lek, “It’ll work out.”

Montri folded his arms across his chest, “Dragons, the world is ending already. I don’t want to learn something new before my inevitable death.”

“Well, stick with it if you don’t want to die yet.” The well-built man replied and dragged a chair out to sit, “I got back up but I don’t want to use it if we don’t have to.”

“What backup?” Lek rumbled and pulled a chair out for himself and Montri to sit in.

Prasong grinned handsomely and jerked a thumb toward Raya, “The little princess over there had a piece of the dragon gem with her,” He plunged a hand into his pocket and pulled out an oval object wrapped in cloth. The layers loosened and a soft blue glow emitted from it. “This should keep us safe if the world burns.”

From the other side of the room, Raya clenched her fists, gripping on the legs of the chair she was leaning against until her knuckles turned white. The dragon gem was hers and he stole it. But there was nothing she could do about it and she knew that now. Not unless she wanted to kill them. Swords beat kicks and fists any day, but they were still her people. Don’t give up on them. That meant that she had to protect them, right?

Spine’s chieftain was a thin but decently built man. He seemed to have a steely gaze when he counted them and Raya shifted nervously under it. If she didn’t feel like she was out of place, she definitely felt it now.

“And the young one, how old?” The chief asked as the men finished their conversation, his arms folded in a clear picture of authority.

“Ten,” Prasong said quickly, “And we’ll teach her ourselves. There’s no need to place her in a class with other children.”

“Children adapt quickly to different situations. It’s better if she is around other children.” The Spine chief replied.

“This one is sickly.” Prasong argued, “We’ll keep her to adjust to the new location. Thank you for the offer but we’ll keep her with us until she is better.”

The chieftain let out a grunt of approval and nodded as he left the room, two large bodyguards following close behind. Before closing the door, he spoke, “My men should be here in a few minutes to direct you to the rental huts at the side of the town.” He folded his hands behind him, “With the druun resurfacing, I better not hear about any trouble from your end or you will not be welcome in Spine anymore.”

“Of course.”

The door swung shut and Montri turned to Prasong, raising an eyebrow, “The child is ten, you say? Sickly?” He swung an arm out to point to Raya, “That kid is bigger and healthier than most children! She’s a princess for dragon’s sake!”

“Well we don’t want her running off with the other children, do we? I don’t know what trouble we can get into by having the Heart princess here. We could get thrown out or something.” Prasong folded his arms across his chest and turned to meet Raya’s eyes, “We have to keep this one close to prevent her from getting into trouble. There will be no more running around doing anything on your own, child.”

“Churrp! Chirrp!” Tuk tuk knocked into Prasong’s leg as a ball and unwound, baring his tiny teeth and growling as loud as he could.

“Get off.” Prasong shook his leg as the pillbug bit on his chongkraben. With a forceful kick, Tuk tuk flew off and bounced off the bamboo walls and onto the ground.

“Tuk tuk!” Raya cried out and ran to scoop her pet, kneeling on the ground to check his furry face for injuries.

From behind the men, the door swung open again and a Spine warrior stepped in to beckon them to follow him.

With a tsk, Prasong turned away from the girl. In a low voice, he commented as she stepped through the doorway, “Keep your pet out of trouble too. Or else I’m going to throw it out to freeze in the cold.”

A week has passed since they moved into the rental hut and Raya is sure that she hates Spine.

There wasn’t anything productive that she was doing other than petty chores. Cook this, clean that, don’t leave the hut, dry the meat (which was done terribly), and “BE QUIET.” Raya was so fed up about this. What was the purpose of her life? What was she doing here?

“Quickly, quickly! How will you ever get married if you’re not quick?” Montri snapped at her, clapping his hands together from the door before disappearing back inside. Raya was washing their clothes at the back of the house, an outdoor fire crackling nearby.

The fishermen didn’t like her. It was obvious. Also, they clearly had no idea how to clean their clothes in winter properly because winter doesn’t exist in Heart and Raya is sure that everything she’s doing is about to set the clothes for damage.

But “don’t talk back to adults.”

Toi

“I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.” Raya mumbled under her breath as her fingers rubbed the clothes over and over, numb and raw from the chill.

“This is so, STUPID!” She threw the large blue pants into the basin and stood up abruptly. With a loud dragged out groan, she slapped her palms over her face and bent over for a silent scream.

From the cracks between her fingers, Raya spotted a boy in the rental house next door. He sent her a little wave and Raya returned it sheepishly, straightening from her little breakdown.

“...ey are you alr….?”

“WHAT?” Raya shouted back.

The boy shuffled forward, stepping over the fallen logs and unswept leaves on his end of the house to call back, “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“I’M OKAY!” She replied and laughed nervously to herself, moving to pick up her stool that had fallen over to the side.

“ARE YOU NEW?” The boy continued, “I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU AROUND.”

“I’VE BEEN HERE FOR A WEEK.” She shouted back.

He looked confused and took a few steps forward, “A WEEK? I DIDN’T SEE YOU AT THE WELCOME YESTERDAY.”

“I’M NOT ALLOWED AWAY FROM THE HOUSE.”

The boy furrowed his eyebrows, “WHY?”

Why indeed? Raya opened her mouth to reply and stopped. She didn’t cause trouble the entire week. And she didn’t do anything productive at the house. She couldn’t even do anything for her people. Lek told her that it was for her back to heal properly but she was healed now– and if she wasn’t, all these chores would have reopened the wounds.

“I… I don’t know.”

“WHAT?”

“I SAID I DON’T KNOW.” The princess exaggerated a shrug and the boy gave her a slow nod in return.

“I HOPE YOU’RE ALLOWED OUT SOON THEN.” He waved and turned back to his house.

“THANK YOU.”

“Shhh… Quiet, Tuk tuk.” Raya whispered, tiptoeing through the living room and through the door of the house, the hinges creaking slightly.

The men had gone to their rooms to sleep and Raya’s curiosity was at the max. What was Spine like? It was cold but she wanted to explore!

With a heavy coat and thick pair of pants, she slipped out the door and rushed past a few houses before relaxing and breathing in deeply.

Tuk tuk chirped at her and huddled close to her leg as the cool winter breeze whipped past her face and the loose end of her head wrap fluttered gently. Raya bent down to pick him up and continued her trek out of the neighborhood, making sure to keep track of the way back to the house.

The moon was awash with a soft glow above them, lighting up the streets where the torches from the huts could not. Nearing the walls of the village, Raya was startled by the sudden sound of druun from the other side of the wall and leaped back, only to relax when she realized they would not get to her from there.

With an embarrassed chuckle, she resumed walking around the village, ignoring the steps up to the lookout on top of the wall and new conjoining bridges that were being built on the tall trees.

Passing a couple other huts and an occasional building, Raya made her way to the center of the city where she stopped in front of a large building with shining silver ornaments.

“Wow…” She circled the building, reading the stories inscribed onto the walls, “What is this place?”

Dragons encircled each other and jets of water looped around like flowers. Raya placed a hand on one of the designs and felt the ridges of the dragon scales. They were all handcrafted in so much detail the dragon’s scales almost felt lifelike. She got closer so that Tuk tuk could touch the walls too. She thought Spine was all war and brute force. She didn’t realize they had such amazing art.

“This is the library, kid.” A gruff voice called from behind her.

The princess jumped in surprise and spun around a little too quickly that she leaned to the side and fell into the snow.

“What are you doing out so late at night in the temple?” The man bent over and offered her a hand, pulling her out of the snow. Raya brushed the remaining white powder from her outfit and snuck a glance at the man. He was a rather thin Spine man with a neatly shaven head. She would have thought that he was a monk if he wasn’t dressed in a pale blue robe.

Looking past the man to the clear inscribed stone walls that marked an entrance to a temple, Raya pressed her hands together in a wai, “I’m sorry. I was really focused on the art I didn’t realize I walked into a temple.”

The man waved a bony hand dismissively. “It’s no problem, kid. But what are you doing out so late? Who are your parents?”

“My parents…?” Raya looked away. It’s been a while since she last thought of her ba. Dragons. She felt a flash of fear. She can’t be forgetting him. She won’t.

“My parents are dead.” She mumbled but quickly raised her voice, “But you can’t tell anyone I’m here. I haven’t been out in so long. I just wanted to look around! I promise I’m not doing anything bad.”

“Ah, are you from the Baan Mai Orphanage?” The Spine guard coughed and muttered to himself, “I knew that place was too harsh on their kids.”

Raya stayed silent and plastered a smile.

“Alright kid,” He walked up the stairs of the library and fished a string of keys from his pocket, “One night.”

Raya leaped up the stairs after him, grinning widely, “Wait, really really?”

He barked a short laugh, “I have a soft spot for eager learners. Read whatever you want.”

………………

Raya trailed her fingers over the different editions of the “Trigon,” the story of the creation of the world, and the various scrolls of dragon lore, myths, and legends. Was she in paradise? She flittered from shelf to shelf and stopped at every art piece on display.

Screaming internally, she let out a surprised whine as she gawked at the large curved metal talons inside a glass display. “The Talon of Pengu! I thought it was lost in the last battle.”

“The other side is lost. This one is a backup that Pengudatu entrusted to Spine for safekeeping.” The man informed as Raya pressed her face into the glass for a closer look.

“Wow, the dragons are so big.”

After a few hours passed and Raya had found a corner between two large shelves to hide away in. Three different scrolls were open around her and she was jotting down notes in a small piece of paper that the guard had handed to her after hearing her repeat phrases aloud in order to commit them to her memory.

At the entrance of the library, the man extended his hand out to greet a warbling bird that landed on his hand and pecked at a seed in his hand. With a cough, he called, “The sun is almost out, kid. You should hurry back.”

“What?” The girl looked up suddenly, jostling a sleeping Tuk tuk from her lap. Her eyes caught sight of the bird when he walked toward her and she scrambled up, hastily wrapping the scrolls back up and pushing them onto the shelves. “Oh spirits I’m so sorry!” She stuffed her notes into her pocket, “I didn’t realize I kept you up for so long. I have to go back.”

“It’s no problem, kid.” The man unpocketed the keys as she rushed out the door, “It’s nice to have company during my rounds. I am on the night shift. But why don’t you offer yourself for monkhood? We would love such a studious young man like you.”

Young man? Raya looked down at her baggy clothes and rubbed the back of her neck, “Uh, yeah. But uh I don’t think I’m a good fit for monkhood.”

“Pray about it. The dragons will lead the way.”

“Thank you.” She bowed and encircled her hands, “May the dragons bless you too.”

Chapter Text

READ THIS FIRST!!!!!

So hey. It's been years.

I started writing this story out of spite. I really didn't like how they crammed Raya and the Last Dragon into a touristy, surface level south east asian representation and I felt like I wanted to write more to give it the depth it was missing. But you can't write on spite alone. I wrote a full outline of the whole story and a bit on the sequel which I will be sharing with you guys in a moment, but when it came to the actual writing, I guess I didn't have enough love to fully push it out. I don't have anyone to share my writing with irl, I don't know how to make friends on Ao3, and after years of trying to get back into this story, there just wasn't any meaning to continuing it.

I'm sorry.

This is my first story! I really told myself just push it out, just get the writing out. I've done 70% of it already, all the outline is done. You can't become a writer if you can't finish one book. It doesn't matter if the story is good or not, at least it's done. But maybe I'm a terrible perfectionist and something is not right but I think it's okay. For now. I will publish a book one day and it's gonna be amazing and I'm gonna finish it all the way through.

Whatever, y'all probably don't care about that so let me just post the unpublished chapter, most of my outline and notes, and then I'll talk more afterwards.

Character reminders:
Piyakom (Piya)-- Fang Colonel, Dao’s husband and Somkhit’s dad.
Phichit (Pi-pi)-- Fang Lieutenant
Somkhit (Kit)-- Fang Messenger boy, the Colonel’s son.
Witya-- Namaari’s former nanny who is also a medic or works in the kitchen
Dao-- Scout leader, Somkhit’s mom and Piyakom’s wife. Atitaya’s childhood friend.
Namaari (Maari)

CHAPTER 17

Knock Knock

The wooden door to the royal study creaked open and Kit peeked in, his head through the doorway. The professor set the piece of chalk down and both him and Namaari turned to look at the messenger boy.

“Hey princess. Professor.” He started, flashing her a big smile and sending a wai towards the professor, “I’m here to collect you for your next lesson.”

“I have diplomacy next, don’t I?” Namaari asked.

“Yes, but you’re joining up with General Atitaya and a few other students starting today. I’ve gotten a new order from the chieftess. She believes that since the druun started invading again, you have to fast track your diplomacy lessons a bit.” He waggled his eyebrows, “So guess what? Instead of having the lessons with only my mother, you’re getting it with her and General Atitaya. Oh! And guess who else is joining?”

“...You?”

“Yes!” He jumped into the room, “I’ll be there!” He started gathering up her materials, “Chieftess thinks that some practical experience will be helpful so we’ll be practicing with others and,” He widened his eyes, “special for the two of us, we get to join a diplomatic trip at the end of the year!”

Namaari caught onto the infectious smile and grinned, “That’s awesome! Do you know where?”

“I don’t know. Spine, Talon, something? I know it’s definitely not Heart.”

Her smile faded and she hid it behind her writing tablet. Definitely not Heart, huh.

For a moment, Namaari wondered what it could have been. What if she didn’t betray Raya? She would have gotten in trouble with her mother and she would have been so disappointed but Raya would be alive and Heart would still be fine.

They would have been friends.

No, no. Where did that certainty come from? Raya was the princess of Heart. There were so many factors separating them. They got along well then but who says they would continue to be so even if she didn’t destroy the world by breaking the dragon gem?

“Hey, hey, you there?” Somkhit slowly waved a few fingers in front of her face.

Namaari shook her head and painted a smile, “All good. What were you saying?”

“Heh, I’m surprised you daydreamed for so long.” He joked, “Not quite befitting of a princess, hmm?”

The young princess punched his shoulder and picked up the rest of her belongings, “Oh, just shut up.” She grumbled, “Now where did you say the class was at?”

Colonel Piyakom placed a few wooden figures on the large map of Kumandra and compared it with the notes he held on his other hand. With a frown on his face, he added a few purple blocks to the landmass around Fang, Talon, and Tail.

“Spine survived well the first time too.” A scholar said thoughtfully, “Is it just the cold and the walls or is it something else too?”

“Mmhm…” Chief Virana agreed and signaled the scribe next to her, “Add a note on that for our trade negotiations with Spine.”

She turned to Piyakom, “Next?”

The large man cleared his throat, “Let’s see… Here our scouts around Talon have reported the mass migrating to floating housing. It seems to be working well for Talon but not for Tail. With the people disappearing onto the water, the druun moved onto Tail.” He opened a case and adjusted a reading spectacle on his face, squinting at the text, “I have reports from the scouts in Tail that there has been a mass panic. A few new gangs have popped up and the chieftess is not taking it well.”

Virana scoffed, “Of course. Chieftess ________ has never been able to handle leadership well. Crafty, sly, but a coward. Nothing like her father and ever so like her mother who seduced her way up the royal house.”

The scribe beside her shrunk slightly at her outburst and the colonel avoided her sight by adding a few more figures onto the map.

“A few spies in Tail reported that the chieftess is building a fortress of some sort.” Piyakom opened another scroll, “Paranoia, one says. Only the nobles and special servants are allowed inside.”

“Did any of our spies get inside?” Virana asked.

“None, unfortunately.” The colonel frowned, “Their security is quite detailed. They're not allowing nobles that they don’t know inside.”

“Hmm…” The chieftess nodded pensively as she studied the map, “Anything else new?”

“Well, there’s nothing else notable in Talon. Chief Danghai still has the fastest trades. There are reports of a large influx of refugees from Heart settling but there haven't been any issues.” He shuffled through the scrolls and opened a thin roll, “Spine has had a few refugees of their own as well but the community seems to be tight lipped about everything. Their walls rose quickly and any communication seems to be filtered through tighter lines than before. All we know is that they’re safe, but that’s it.”

“That’s it?” She questioned in disbelief.

“That’s it.”

Virana shook her head, “That can’t be it. Is there no information on what Spine is planning next? Or what Tail is doing for defenses? Or even the new population control in Talon?”

“I’m afraid not. We will have to send a delegation to find out more.” Colonel Piyakom replied, “I’ll arrange for a diplomatic meeting.”

The warriors and scholars wrapped up their meeting after a few more

End of excerpt

Appologies for any grammatic errors, it's supposed to be my notes haha. But it's a good story I think.

OUTLINE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

Raya leaves the house to check out Spine. Wants to see the world around her. Finds the library. Sneaks out every night and becomes really tired during the day. Works slowly and makes the men angry at her. Gaslighting. Etc. Anger and irritation from lack of sleep. Doesn’t get caught until a week later. Men were late night drunk with some other men and came back when she came back too and she got caught. Forces her to drink too to get her to confess. It's not the drunkenness that makes her confess, it's the fear of harm and fear of doing wrong by her people.

After she's caught and locked down, Library man doesnt’ find her and asks people around about her which makes the fisherman angrier because they’re trying to keep her a secret. Raya find the stuff in the library about the plants and reversing stone and stuff and magic and isn’t able to steal it the next day because she gets caught by the fishermen.
Punishment etc. Raya doens't protect herself because they were like you’re gonna point a sword at your own people? You couldn’t even do that to Fang and so you’re gonna do it to us huh? Guilts her into lowering her guard. They tell her things like they're helping her and her going out is just making it worst but in reality they’re keeping her as a punching bag. They tell her hey, you can’t rush us, you're so impatient. We got so many things to do to be able to stay in spine. Gaslighting. They're annoyed with how much she grieves for her father. No understanding about children. Raya struggles with survivor's guilt.

Fisherman has a scene with how much they want to watch the world burn thing. They think about sitting on the walls and watching people who are too late to shelter get stoned by the druun.

Eventually Raya is locked out of the house once because they caught her sneaking out again. "If you want to go out so bad then stay there!" She almost freezes outside and the neighbor boy a little taller than her alerts his mom which leads to Raya getting help. Describe the fleeting warmth of the last ray of sunshine on her fingertips before it fades and the cold hits. The next morning is when the Spine woman finds Raya.

A spine woman finds out, intercepts, they’re going too far, she’s still young. The next days Raya works on really getting herself free after no longer having guilt for the most part and at night after dinner, she manages to free herself, get the gem back, but couldn’t figure out how to leave spine. As she’s searching around, she sneaks into the spine tower/throne room to avoid some guards and finds old texts on kumandra and all that gem stuff and druun stuff.

Now spine really didn’t know that Raya was there for the most part, they let the others in for the heart gem, heart negotiates that they’ll keep the gem but if they can live there then spine basically has two gems so spine agrees. Spine builds the tall walls to keep the druun out and the sounds of the construction drowns out Raya’s cries. Raya doesn’t know spine doesn’t know she’s there. The only one who knows is Spine lady who thought that Raya was one of their children briefly and over the days, realizes that something is wrong. When Raya runs out with the gem, heart people and spine people argue and spine realizes what really happened. Spine, being honorable soldiers, understands the terrible thing that happened behind their backs and has the spine to stand up for it (lol) and kicks those people out, killing them with the druun. Spine lady wonders how things could be different, her kid is the same age as Raya. Spine lady is why Raya is a little more trusting of spine people and parents in that aspect (tong’s empty crib).

The fishermen come after her to get her and there’s this sort of show down with them and the spine people because they’re trying to alert the rest of the village of their abuse.

The boy slips out and people find out. Prasong is super mad and actually wants to kill her, saying things like we should have left you in the water and runs after her with a sword. Raya climbs and eventually they’re at the wall over Spine.

The sound alerts newly nearby Druun which gather and welcome prasong when he falls and becomes stone. Montri and Lek too maybe? Not sure. Either way Raya gets the gem back, barely.

Raya is bleeding again and there’s a whole comotion and she’s scared that she’ll be in trouble because everyone is shouting and trying to find her to help but it’s too much and she hides in a wagon. She just wants to rest for a bit. Exhausted, she falls asleep and the wagon rattles, and starts to leave. It's a trade wagon and it's going to Fang.

She found herself in Fang for a bit after escaping by hiding under the tarp of the fang rations that they came to trade with spine. Initially planning to escape first, she fell asleep from her injuries and didn’t wake up until she was deep inside the fang palace. Eventually discovered, but her unkempt appearance kept them from recognizing her. A stowaway, they thought. Looks like we weren’t the only ones to “backstab” spine. They took the equipment from the chief after working but then discovered that the chief brought some druuns with him in the treaty[further details in namaari’s area]

Namaari meets Raya in the jail cell and doesn't recognize her. Thinking that she was an escaped slave or idk something because she's so young, they thought of bringing her into Fang as a new citizen. Namaari reaches out and hands her food and stuff. Being like Fang is all that. Also possibility of namaari acquiring a loyal servant. Obviously not but yeah. Raya doesn’t sleep for 3 days in the cell because she’s worried they’ll find out about her and she’ll die.

Raya is feeling conflicted but hesitates to do anything because she can't kill namaari in enemy territory, she has find a way to get out of there without being suspicious enough that the soldiers would check her bag and find the gem. Awkwardness and straying from usual attitudes around Namaari

After been given a shower, Raya hides her face with a cloth and stuff, in the style of fang but yeah. Namaari shows her around the place, talking about the tradition and the people. Being kind and gentle towards Raya. The two really clicked and Raya was able to laugh and have fun for a bit. Since it's been a while since Raya had someone who was fun and she could talk to so easily, Raya forgot for a moment and thought about how they could really have been friends. Butterflies flutter in her stomach at a particularly glimmering smile and then flew to choke her throat when she remembered that she was practically dancing in the enemy's hand again. Everything was a lie remember? Touch starved
Has it been so long since she held a warm hand?
Namaari displays mutual respect. Doesn’t overstep boundaries like the other heart men. Doesn’t invalidate how Raya feels which confuses Raya. This is also why Raya knows the layout of Fang so well.

Numbness turns into anger. I suffered so much because of her. Why shouldn’t she suffer too?
I’ll destroy everything she cares about. Torture her to see her civilization fall into shreds?

Namaari and Raya eat together and Raya becomes friends with her from escaping to Fang from spine.
Many of the Fang assassin's actually started off as orphans from different tribes that were accepted into Fang. They saw Raya and decided she was a perfect recruit to the cause. Dao was especially happy because she was once an orphan from Spine. Dao opts for Raya to study with Namaari so that Namaari can figure out leading and have a female friend her age. The two get along very well. Raya is grateful to have good food and a chance to train even while hiding her skills.
Namaari gets sick sometime around here and that’s when Virana’s jokes and stuff become really apparent. Namaari and Kit's relationship grows too. He helps her learn to connect to Serlot, become friendlier, and basic social skills she lacks. Namaari learning how to fight better, becoming good with kids, private training and we explore her inability to make friends with others her age. Virana jokes about Namaari’s embarrassing childhood. Apparently she wanted to be more than just than an warrior princess but one who could live free but like a dragon and relate to the people and run around. So young Namaari 5-6 ran around the palace naked like the peasant kids in the villages and was going to form the dragon swimmers who lived like the dragons without unpleasant human coverings.
Namaari is super embarrassed by the story.

The” hmph” laugh that Namaari makes comes from Dao telling her that’s how to seem nicer and more approachable if you like something but you’re not that good at expressing it.

Smart, resilient, and take care of one another. Virana having Namaari be a kindergarten teacher for a while to understand what they’re fighting for. Namaari being so nervous starting the class that the kids decide to take advantage of her like a substitute teacher until namaari eventually shapes up and stops the kids from bullying her but lets them get away with stuff some time.

There's a conversation raya has with Dao about her anger to the world and how she doesn't have any more love to give herself of anyone else. She's just mad. Dao tells her maybe that anger is her loving herself. Knowing that she didn't deserve the terrible things that happened in her life and that others didn't deserve that too. Reminder, Dao was a slave who was freed by coming into Fang. Once you become a citizen of Fang, all previous identities are gone and Fang makes sure its citizens develop and grow.
Raya asks Dao how she can still love Raya even after knowing her identity. Dao tells her there isn’t anyone you can’t learn to love after knowing their story.
Raya understands and starts having the strength to move on and thinks about leaving Fang to try again and defeat the druun. Raya cries and stuff here with happiness. Someone sorta understands her.

For once, Raya Tries to live out the Kumandra and becomes friends, really close ones, which confuses Kit out. But then on their history classes puppet show Raya finds out it was namaari who got the colonel to “kill” her and Fang plundered heart which enrages her and she leaves. Raya realizes everything is a lie. Virana had a group go check out heart during the time Raya had been taken to spine. The fang soldiers took everything they found useful and brought them back to Fang. Some of the items were used to negotiate with Spine later on in the story. The rice came from ravaging the Heart fields! At night, Raya tries to assasinate Namaari? First time Namaari has an attempt on her life and she loses against Raya again. But Raya thinks again and lets her go for how kindly she was towards Raya but takes scrolls on the druun in return. Namaari has Raya’s hair ring in her possession to remember Raya and Raya takes that back when she leaves. (this is why namaari recognizes Raya’s hair thing).

Confronts Namaari in her room to kill her, revealing her identity. They have this heated conversation where Namaari runs after Raya who is leaving and Raya, being naturally arrogant and actually somewhat selfish trying to get back at them for her people, decide to topple the gates protecting against the druun and leaves.
The druun rush in and destroys and good chunk of village population. The scouts and other troops are able to evacuate many people onto the finished island through the bamboo bridge from the mainland to fang in time but the druun eventually over take them because the one gem isn't enough forcing Dao to make a sacrifice. She heads to the other side and cutting the ropes so that the Druun can’t get to the Fang island. Dao is turned to stone while Kit watches. That begins his sorta hatred towards Raya. Namaari knows why Raya hates them so much but she doesn't dare say why. Raya is very conflicted when she sees Dao die because Dao is Raya’s first real close mother figure since her mother died.

Her escape from Fang created a hole in Fang's defenses. That put a lot of people in danger and Dao sacrificed herself to the druun to close the door and save the people. Eventually Fang takes an idea from Heart's design to create the artificial canal.

Druun scroll writes about stuff in tail and raya decides to travel there. Stops in heart to try to get stuff for Tuk tuk, buys some stuff in talon, outfitting

Later on as Raya travels she meets more people she realizes are from heart but because she’s older and with a heavy heart, she doesn’t trust them enough to talk to them and hides from her own people with a hat she bought in talon/tail looks more like it.

Raya’s hair is long because she doesn’t know how to put it up and stuff and doesn’t trust people to cut it for her. Slight trauma from her short hair episode in Spine. Raya eats from trees and wild nature sorta. Also royalty kept their hair long to show status. It's something she keeps to remind herself of her identity.

Wandering around Talon Raya meets some guys who became friends with her for a while. They did pretty well together but greed won out in the end after seeing how much money she had that she kept from Heart and decided to poison her food for to get her money and took her sword and left. Raya went and smashed their faces near a brothel where she realized that if she really forgot how to fight, she could have ended up in there. Dude confesses to befriending her for her stuff so he can pay Danghai back. Raya leaves and walks pass a brothel. There, she hears some noises she'd wish she could forget and a sight of blue attire of a former heart citizen made her feel her cold. As she was leaving Talon thinking of where to go next, she saw a father and daughter which really made her miss home but it also put her back on track for making sure she would research on the druun. As Raya travels, she meets more people she realizes are from heart, but because she’s older and with a heavy heart, she doesn’t trust them enough to talk to them and hides from her own people with a hat she bought in talon. Partly, it's her shame for causing the druun.

While Raya is in Talon, the guy that gets beaten up by Namaari at the begining of the Disney movie goes out for treaties. Fang will always do what’s best for fang until the situation is unfavorable for them then they turn against the others like how they had s short treaty with spine (tong said their blades were especially made for the stabbing of backs) to trade for bamboo and equipment for digging the canal… and manpower but then backstabbed them once they realized how big of a druun problem Spine had. Took the entirety of the food share without paying. The deal is off, you said you would secure the line for safety but you didn’t so we’re taking the bamboo as payment for bringing the druun to our shores. Also, Fang kinda killed the chieftain of spine by leaving him to die in the midst of druun when they were attacked. They saved their people but spine's chieftain died. The cats took off and they didn't really have enough space for him and he really slowed them down so he was pushed off. "You binturiii!!!!!" He said. Namaari was the one who pulled him off the Fang soldier he was riding with seeing that they were both going to die. Namaari did that because she saw that he was about to push her men off first and her people come first. In that, she saved her men and they all respect her in fang for putting her people first and love her for that. Spine soldiers didn't see that and accused Fang of going against the treaty.When spine finds out their leader died on the way delivering shipments to spine and bringing elephants to help them in return for nothing, Fang's reputation spread.

In Tail, Raya gets ambushed by a bunch of bandits who tried to steal her money at the location where she thought there were more druun scrolls.
He was nice to her and bandaged her wounds but told her he really couldn't take care of her because it's clear she isn't one of theirs and they need all the money they can get, can't take care of a child.

Tail bandits kidnapped Namaari at one of their alliance meetings, spurring Fang to be hostile towards Tail and try to steal their gem and stuff which really made the tail chief paranoid. Nobody knew it was both a misunderstanding tho, bandits, not actual leaders. But then that was how Fang was notorious for backstabbing.
Namaari meets Raya in one of the cells caught by the bandits.

Here the bandits figure out who namaari is and uses raya sorta as a whipping boy and sorta emphasizes on raya that hey– she's nothing now. She's not royalty, there's nothing that she has and nobody that loves her except the clothes on her back and tuk tuk. No one knows who she is too.Raya and Namaari bond a lot here. Raya starts seeing wrestling with how she can see Namaari's good traits here. She sees how Namaari wants to protect her, wants to help her, but also puts her people first. Namaari is a good princess.

Kit works his butt off trying to save Namaari, or well, find out where she went.
Namaari sees Raya have one of her panic attacks and calm down eating the jackfruit jerky she has on her person. Even though it tastes terrible, Namaari sees how much it means to her and calms Raya down that Namaari doesn’t tease Raya on it. Raya starts to struggle, starting to enjoy the time with Namaari, but also feeling like she's betraying her people by seeking comfort in Namaari as they go through all the troubles.

Raya fights dirty. Throat bites, sand in the eyes,
Both of them are getting tortured for different things. Namaari for Fang stuff and Raya for her jade. Namaari is much less because they know she’s a chief’s daughter.
After a while of Raya being all unconscious and finally wakes up, there’s this scene where Namaari is like, “I thought I lost you!” and hugs Raya. They were put together to like hurt each other but they don’t and they get even more hurt from there. There’s that awkward moment Raya is like why are you hugging me and Namaari is like i don’t know. Raya likes how Namaari is actually a kind person. Namaari likes how Raya fights to do what she thinks is right eventhough it’s against her and she rather raya not be so stubborn.

Either way, Virana finds out Raya was there and thinks she had to do with Namaari’s state of being and her opinion of Raya drops again.

By this time she's had enough. Raya escapes as Namaari's return to Fang goes well without a hitch. Fang with its newfound prosperity of food and protection from the druun with their artificial canal was able to easily get their troops to overwhelm the Tail bandits and basically destroyed the structure of Tail, making it into quite the desert wasteland. At first, Namaari tried to take Raya with her to Fang, knocking her out and on the ship with her, telling Raya that Raya doesn't have to chase this ridiculous dream anymore. She just has to forget heart and become a Fang warrior. Raya is horrified that Namaari and all her talk about kumandra together while they were at Tail wasn't real. Namaari doesn't believe in Kumandra and actually just wanted Raya, not to help save Raya's people. Raya escapes.

Raya goes back to heart to live alone with Tuk Tuk and trains to get better. You can't trust anyone, and if she wasn't able to fight those boys Talon or had stamina in Tail she would have lost everything. Raya trained at home with the texts in their library which thankfully remained untouched. She honed her skills again and basically learned how to grow crops and make a lot of jackfruit jerky to keep. Raya spent time training around there, going down daily to talk to her father at the bridge which soon became the only source of comfort along with tuk tuk. Eventually, she been all over heart and memorized the entire structure and stuff and then read more text about dragons, effectively being more of a nerd. This reminded her about Sisu’s dragon scroll in fang so she set out thinking that might be a way to bring her dad back and since she had nothing else to do, she decides to go to Fang to steal the scroll.

During the time Raya is in Heart, Namaari gets engaged with Kit. She's got the huge bed to transition her life with his and the two were trying to sort out how they're gonna live together and whatnot. Kit is kinda upset with Namaari on how she's always seeming to chase after Raya. What's so good about her? But they decide to put it on hold until Namaari can finish her Royal studies.

This starts the 3 months of Namaari chasing Raya.
Namaari doesn’t have friends because she takes things too seriously. Is a little obsessed with Raya as the only person to take dragons as seriously as she does. Raya gets fed up one of those days and tries to confront Namaari away from her troops to get her to stop. She sees her in the water and thinks Namaari is fishing cuz that’s what Raya does but then she’s not fishing, she’s showering. Namaari dashes for her knives as Raya calls out angrily and there’s that awkward moment, like… uh go back into the water please.
Raya rants at Namaari. I’m tired of you showing me the slightest bit of kindness and helping me out and then ruining everything for me. I’m tired of accepting you because you’re the only one I have (the only one who knows me for me) and then getting hurt by what you do. I hate it but I want you beside me too.
There's a love-hate relationship between the two. Somedays when Raya is at her low, Namaari is able to catch up with her but she doesn't capture her. Doesn't make the scroll her first priority. It's not until later when her mother sends warriors to assist her more that Namaari starts to become more serious. But before that, it's like a push and pull relationship where Namaari is just trying to recruit Raya on the pretense of chasing her for the dragon scroll. Little life snippets like: Namaari asks why Raya won’t join them.
Raya scoffs and says how can I ever join you?

Namaari is the reason why Raya keeps her hair so long and free. Raya really thought about cutting it off and making it short to prevent people from pulling on it during fights but namaari told her that it was beautiful and really soft. Her hair became a source of pride for her for a while.

Namaari finds raya one of those times when she's drunk like dripping out her hair with alcohol drunk and takes care of her. She was drugged on her birthday. She decided to buy something to get herself a birthday present and someone decided to drug that cake she was eating at when she was looking over at Tuk Tuk.

It's just the two of them

Soon, it bleeds into the disney movie and we have a bit more background on them. There's more description about how they react and all that stuff.

In the end, everyone comes back to life because of the gem and uniting the people and Sisu and stuff. Raya and Namaari decide to pursue a tentative friendship maybe? And then we go into the sequel.

SEQUEL Summary

Namaari keeps talking about Raya when she was at Fang for a little while and Kit is like, “when will you stop talking about Raya? You’re with me.”

What’s this between us? Or better yet, what’s this between you and her?
Everyone knows what we are supposed to be. We took royal classes together. I am your best friend. Fang's elders is trying to push Namaari and Kit into a marriage soon. But they have tension because of how Namaari keeps mentioning Raya, thinking about Raya, and all that stuff.

Everyone comes back together for Kumandra because heart now "holds" the power of the dragons along with their revived army that turned back human from stone.
People are there because they're scared that Raya might do something bad to them. Rumors of Raya defeating Namaari while the world crumbled in Fang got out and people pretend to be kumandra in high tensions, trying to appease Raya so she and the dragons don't do anything to her. Raya has no idea that everyone is afraid of Heart and her father is happy with what's going on.

The Fang elders send Namaari to go talk to Raya and try to get a peaceful outcome for Fang because they're afraid of Heart, and Namaari tells Raya what she didn't know. The two work together to actually achieve Kumandra and yeah... lots of tension between the two. Are they friends now? They're not enemies right? Or are they more? They have a lot of past together, moments of vulnerability (tortured together, the chase, friendship and betrayal). They're just figuring out how to exist together. Kit hates Raya and realizes how the two are falling in love and is disgusted because Raya caused Dao's death- eventhough she's back now. Also Kit feels like Namaari is cheating on him by liking Raya this way. Lots of tension and stuff.

EXTRA CHARACTER DETAILS FOR SIX YEARS OF SEARCHING

NAMAARI

Namaari knows a lot of people, raised by the people in Fang but doesn’t actually have friends. Was never able to connect with others her age.
Reserved nature from her mother.
Namaari is a perfectionist and follows the rules.
Namaari just wants raya to stay in fang and be safe and stuff.

Namaari eats her chicken wing and sticky rice with a fork and spoon and everyone hates that.
Namaari stares at Serlot crinkling her nose and thinks it’s cute and spends a whole lot of time trying to imitate it.

One day Namaari is talking to Virana and accidentally trips and falls on her. Virana gets much more hurt that Namaari expects and she wonders why. Later on she figures out that her mother has been sitting at one place the entire time. That's why she's always early to meals and Namaari and Kit can't beat her there. Her mother has been working on agreements and politics and policies non-stop at the dining table. She hasn't moved in ages and hasn't had time to exercise. Workaholic. Namaari worries about her mom.
Namaari hisses like a cat at the start of a friendly battle.

Namaari is princess undercut because something happened (I haven't decided yet) that causes her to miss her coming of age ceremony.

KIT

Kit is like therapist boy. Validates Namaari’s feelings, understands how she feels bad. Reading her body language to try to understand what she’s going through.
Asking “what does this mean to you?”
Kit goes, “Hypothetically if raya was here, what would you do?” the world isn’t that good, I’m worried that you might have placed your hopes too high on her. You only met her for a day.
What happened when your dad died?
Kit negatives is that he’s actually pretty closed off to people. Always having them talk and not talking. Somewhat judgemental on other tribes. A little reckless like his mom.

Kit helps Namaari connect with the cats. Serlot likes namaari after that. Basically kit tells her to like blink slowly and don't look straight at the cats and be still instead of running towards them and stuff. Namaari makes a slight fool of herself first and the cats are interested in her because she's funny but then they eventually respect her later.

RAYA

Most of Raya is fleshed out in the story but there's a lot of drunk raya dealing with troubles as she's older and lonely. Raya being used to having conversations with herself.

Alright that's it. What do you think? Is anyone still reading this? But this is basically the whole story. Idk if it's a good story. I want to be a good writer but maybe this is just mediocre you know? It's my first story anyways. I'm gonna start wrapping up my other fics up like this I think. I would appreciate feedback even if it's just a number out of 100. 1 being the worst ever and 100 is the best ever. I guess I just want to know if my creative story idea is good even if my dialogue isn't there yet.

Thank you.

This is Shyfan, and I hope this brings you closure if you liked this.