Another Realm

Aria opens her eyes but the absence of light makes her feel like she is blind. She slowly put her hands out and crawled in all four looking for the stairs. She was grateful that the normal stairs are used in the main living space compared to the log stair outside. She carefully lowered her leg down looking for the step. She went down the stairs like a toddler that just learned how to walk.

The moment her feet rest on the main living space floor, a creaking sound can be heard. She can feel something moving toward her. Shock by the warm air that landed on her nape has caused her to lose her balance. She was expecting herself to land on the hard floor but it feels like ages yet she does not feel any pain.

Aria realized that her back was supported by a pair of beefy arms. She reaches out towards warmth body and touches upwards. She can feel plump lips and sharp nose ridges that breathe out warm air.

“Aria, is that you?”

Nana’s voice can be heard from across the room. Her brain finally put it together that Naki was standing by her side and currently preventing her from falling. Her cheeks immediately flush with warmth as she was embarrassed that she had been running her fingers wild against the scary man.

She stabilized herself and stood upright while pushing the other body away.

“Thank you.”

She whispers before walking towards Nana’s voice.

“Yes. It is me.”

She holds Nana’s hand and helps her up. Both of them went to the uncovered space and cleaned up with the water jar. Nana took bamboos which are about 25 centimeters in length from the corner. She rinses them clean. Aria helps to carry the bamboo and small jar of water to the kitchen before helping to start the fire going. 

Nana takes the smoked fish and breaks them apart with her hands before putting them in the bamboo. The fish no longer have any moisture left causing them to be very brittle. She adds mashed ginger and a few wild mushrooms before adding water. Daun bungkang is used to cover the opening of the bamboo once again. 

Once they are done with breakfast, Nana gives a woven basket to Aria. She carries the big basket at her back. 

“Stick close to Naki and do not stray far. Wild animals might attack at any time so you will need to keep your eyes wide open.”

Nana gives her a sharp stone tool and lets them go with a heavy heart.

Aria follows Naki closely and she was surprised that about ten married ladies and six men were waiting in front of their door. She realized that she was the only one that had not married yet there. Turns out the people of the longhouse do take extra care of their unmarried daughters by not letting them leave the house. 

Being an adventurous lady, she would lose her mind if she was kept at home all her life. Seeing Aria, the ladies immediately bring her to their side and start gossiping. She just smiles and nods as she was not good at carrying on such a conversation. She prefers a conversation involving facts and history. That is why most of her peers think that she was a boring person. She just doesn’t find topics about boys interesting.

“Today we will go slightly further into the forest as the closest to us has a lesser thing to forage lately. When the sun is right above our head, then we will head back.”

Naki instructs everyone to stay close and within the watch of the men during the foraging. He carries Aria down the stairs without needing extra instructions. She has already become one of his duties to carry around the longhouse.

She feels her feet almost burst from walking without shoes for an hour. Although, she is grateful for the bandage otherwise her soft skin will easily get hurt by the forest floor that fills with unwinding tree roots and broken branches. She wonders how the people around her can walk barefooted without feeling any pain. 

“We can stop here and collect what we can for the day.”

Naki halts his steps before checking around in case of anyone following them or any wild beast. He fears the most is the slithering beast that can constrict people to death. The scale is too hard to be penetrated with their stone tool. Normally they would need to sacrifice one person to slow the beast down before running for their life.

“What are we collecting?”

Aria leans into one of the girls and whispers quietly.

“We are collecting bamboo, mushrooms, the heart of palm, and rattan for weaving.”

Aria nods and collects the same thing that the others are putting in their baskets. She understands that these people survive by foraging, hunting, and fishing. 

‘I need to introduce agriculture to them so that they will have a stable food supply. Now, where can I find paddy?’

She mutters to herself before a loud rustling sound comes from her back. Out of nowhere, a wild boar ran straight in her direction. The boar has a long curvy tusk and the size of an adult pig. 

‘Shit!’

She screamed in her heart and as much as she wanted her body to move away yet it just stayed frozen on that spot.