"I'm Xavier," I said into the campfire's crackling flames. "Oh, no, wait a second. I think I said that already, didn't I?"
After a silent curse directed at myself, I focused on the flames before me. They offered the right amount of distraction because… what in the Netherworld was I doing right now? Talking to my stalker, poking the campfire with a stick.
My stomach growled, telling me what I should be doing, but it felt like I wouldn't be able to swallow anything.
At least she's not laughing at my ridiculous behavior.
Eyes lingered on me. I could feel them drilling into the back of my head. She was there, listening.
"Was it you who gave me the waterskin and the jerky?"
She did not answer. The only noise in the vicinity was my own breathing, a bird's singsong, and the crackling of the campfire as a blazing branch split in two.
"Thank you. For the bark as well. I… I am not quite sure what I am supposed to do with it, but I could sleep better last night thanks to it."
The piece of bark was still a mystery. Honestly, I half-expected it to be a scented piece of wood used to repel monsters. Maybe that was exactly what it was. It was hard to tell, knowing next to nothing about my stalker, her scent, or that piece of bark.
Rotating the skewered meat, a waft of its juicy smell hit me hard like a carriage. My stomach twisted, and saliva gathered in my mouth at the mere thought of biting into that juicy piece of meat. Licking my lips, I reached for the skewer, retrieved it, and was about to take a nice bite–completely ignoring that I'd burn my mouth–when one of the nearby shrubs rustled.
"Do you want more?" It was hard to suppress the sigh building in my throat, but I swallowed it and held out the skewer.
There was another flash, not even two heartbeats later. Something brushed my arm. It was gentle and comfortable, almost fluffy rather than rough or painful. A moment later, the skewer was gone.
"I hope you like it."
That being said, I picked up two more sticks long enough to act as skewers and opened the second pouch. If the stalker continued to eat like this, my pouches wouldn't even last the day.
Another flash caught my attention, and I felt something soft around my hands, opening them to place the skewers inside. One piece of meat was all that remained.
"You… are fast." I looked down at my hand, trying and failing to digest that someone had just been beside me, placing something in my palm before disappearing without being seen once. That… how was that possible?
"Of course I am!" A high, sonorous voice filled with pride resounded. She sounded dignified, older perhaps. That sentiment shattered almost immediately as quiet giggling reached my ears.
There were so many questions to ask. So much to learn. However, food was far more important at this moment. I bit into the last piece of meat with gusto. It was heavenly. Not because it was the best meal I'd ever had, though it was a close race, but because I was starving. And it was cooked pretty well. Much better than my first meal.
Hence, I continued cooking. So what if I emptied the second pouch of meat with my lovely stalker? Repaying her kindness was important. So was enjoying a good meal while one still could.
That sentiment echoed in my mind, which was all the reason I needed to prepare a pair of large skewers.
"Why did you not kill me? You marked your territory, but I entered it anyway. Not that I intended to disrespect your authority or anything like that. My circumstances are complicated, you see."
I suspected she wasn't human. There was no way she was. Hence the question.
"You smell," she blurted out after a few seconds.
I… smell?
That was certainly not the last thing I expected. Furrowing my brows, I sniffed myself.
I did smell, but it wasn't that bad. Or was it? Did she really not kill me because I smelled? Talk about rude. Although, maybe I shouldn't complain about that. Smelling a bit was better than being dead. And she certainly could have killed me if she'd wanted to.
"No, no, you don't understand! I didn't mean you stink or anything!" The woman's voice echoed almost frantically through the open area. "That was not what I meant at all! Your scent! I was talking about your scent!"
That… did sound a lot better.
"You sure I don't think too much?" I smiled wryly.
"No, you smell nice! I love your scent!" She spoke in a hurry, drawing my attention to a particular bush. It rustled, and I heard her grumbling quietly in a language I couldn't quite understand. Was she talking to herself?
"So you didn't kill me because of my smell–or scent?" I tilted my head. "That aside… why did you help me? I don't think the empire has a good relationship with the Forea Alliance."
It was time to test something. To figure out where exactly we were.
"But you smell nice. Are you sure you are human?" the stalker asked.
"I… am fairly sure, yeah."
"But you can turn into monsters," she responded quickly.
She had seen that. Of course she had. How else would she have known where to place the waterskin and jerky the days before?
"That is my Power," I said truthfully. There was no hiding it. My stalker had already seen everything.
As for my… I knew nothing about her. I didn't even know what she looked like.
She didn't say anything else. Not until the smell of burned meat filled the air.
"My food!" She squealed and flashed before me. This time, however, she didn't disappear before I could see something.
This time, she turned to me with a brilliant smile, holding the skewers out for me to see.
"What do you think? They're not burned, are they?" she said in a tear-jerking voice, clearly more concerned with her skewers than the fact that she had just revealed herself.
My mind went blank as I stared at her, sized her up, and my mouth opened before my thoughts could catch up.
"I think you're beautiful," I blurted out loud.
Fuck.
She was drop-dead gorgeous.