The sun was about to set, painting the sky in soft orange and red shades. A cold breeze started to flow, making the tree leaves rustle gently. Astra, who had been lying on the grassy floor under a tree after crashing into it, slowly rolled over and woke up, rubbing her head. She looked around, blinking sleepily, only to realize it was already evening. She quickly sat up. "Evening already?!"
Her body still felt weak, but she ignored it and stood up, scanning the area for Kriya. She looked around, left and right, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Kriya? Where are you? Kriya?!" She called out, but there was no reply. For a second, a thought crossed her mind.
"Did… did he leave me here alone?" She shook her head. "No way. If he really wanted to leave, he wouldn't have followed me all the way here." But then another thought struck her, and her eyes widened in panic.
"Wait! what if he got carried away by a demon beast?!" She started looking around more desperately.
"Oh no… I heard demons prefer young people with soft skin. Easy to chew and all that… and Kriya….he literally has the softest skin like a baby!" Her face clearly showed panic now. "Poor guy doesn't even have enough power to fight back! What if some demon thought he's a walking cotton candy and just… took him?!" She stood there for a moment, almost losing hope. But then someone gently tapped her shoulder from behind.Her eyes widened in shock. She quickly turned around…
Only to see him standing there, completely fine, She sighed deeply, feeling both relieved and slightly annoyed.
"Kriya… just where did you disappear to? I thought you—"
Before she could finish, Kriya smiling brightly extended his hands toward her which held a bunch of fruits in his hands, Astra blinked at the juicy pile and immediately understood without needing any explanation.
"So you went to get fruits?" she asked, watching him nod as he extended it towards her.
Astra tilted her head, "Are you giving me everything? What about you?"
Kriya was about to say something but she without waiting for a reply, grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the shade of the tree.
"Come here. We'll share fair and square. We haven't had anything since morning anyway."
She took one of the fruits, broke it in half, and handed one piece to him before taking a bite herself.
"We can't go anywhere now anyway. The sun's already setting, and it'll be dark soon. It's not safe to walk at night I'm afraid some demon might chase us down if we try to go further," she mumbled, her mouth full of fruit. "It seems quiet here so far. No animals, no demons… so how about we stay here for the night? Oh, and let's not light a campfire we might attract something."
Kriya looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. "You want to say something?" Astra asked, raising an eyebrow.
"…It's just that… I'm scared of the dark. Can I… make a small campfire?" he asked, softly. Astra stared at him for a moment, blinking. "You're scared of the dark…?" Then she burst out laughing. "You really are a baby! Look at me—I'm so strong and brave! Darkness? Hah! I'm not scared at all!" she said, tapping her shoulders proudly while Kriya simply smiled and nodded as yes.
"I'll protect you, don't worry… But if you're really that scared, we can light a small one. Okay?"
"Okay!" Kriya replied with a soft nod and a smile.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, darkness took over, wrapping the forest in its quiet, chilly embrace. The two of them sat close to a small campfire, its glow flickering gently. Above them, the crescent moon hung like a silver smile in the night sky, surrounded by a sea of twinkling stars.
"My moon looks pretty today, even if it's just half of it," Astra said, pointing upward with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"It does," Kriya agreed, gazing up. "But don't you think there are more stars tonight than usual?"
Astra turned her head, only to find Kriya's eyes silvery and shiny glimmering as if they were reflecting every star in the sky. When Kriya met her gaze She looked away quickly, pretending to focus elsewhere.
"Y-Yeah, there are quite a lot… It's like the heavens are celebrating something tonight," she murmured. "I remember seeing skies like this when I was little every night, It's rare now." She paused for a second, then looked back at him.
"Hey, I just realized… we still don't know much about each other. Want to fix that a little?"
Their eyes locked for a moment quiet, steady, Kriya gave a small nod in reply and just like that, Astra launched into a flood of questions.
"Okay then! Where are you from? What's your full name? What do you like? Which year were you born? What do you do and, most importantly….do you like sweets?"
Kriya blinked, surprised at the unexpected flood of questions, then let out a small chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck,
"I'm just… Kriya. I travel from place to place, find odd jobs to make a living, and I like exploring very much."
"Oh…" Astra tilted her head a bit more curious now. "Then what about your family? Where are they?"
"My family… well, I just have my father," Kriya said quietly, his eyes fixed on the fire. "But he kicked me out… after I did something that broke his heart. Since then, I've just been wandering. So yeah… you could say I'm an orphan. No home, no one to call family." Astra's heart ached at his words. That word orphan was all too familiar to her.
"What about you?" Kriya asked gently, glancing her way.
"I-I'm… kind of similar to you," she replied, her voice softer now. "I travel too, from place to place. But the difference is… I have a family. A very loud, very annoying, very overprotective family," she added with a small smile. "We're performers….we entertain people wherever we go. And I'm the only girl among six. Five older men who consider me as a child, never letting me do anything serious. And being the youngest, I don't even get to argue back." She rolled her eyes as she said it, and Kriya smiled, listening silently but attentively.
After that Astra kept talking jumping from story to story, memory to memory while Kriya sat there, humming, nodding, chuckling occasionally, completely absorbed in her words. As if they Completely forgot they are strangers who now became the strangers who know about each other.
Eventually, Astra felt her throat go dry from all the talking. She cleared it and finally wrapped up with a playful grin. "That's it. I really like swords… and sweets. They're my favorite things in the world! What about you? Do you like sweets?"
"….I like sour….."