Rise of The Fallen

–Elazar–

"What?" Are my ears deceiving me? Perhaps I misinterpreted koras words? She must have mispoke-

"I said I want to do it! I want to do the mating ritual with you."

I stared at the female in front of me in bewilderment. She didn't misspeak… She wants to finalize our courting. A swarm of emotions coursed through me as I sat there frozen, unable to process her words completely. Inside I was excited, but also conflicted. 

"You wish to do the hunt…and become one with me?" I know this wasn't an easy decision for kora after all that she's been through. But I didn't wish for her to do this out of pity for me. 

She merely nodded in response.

My tail tensed behind me strained by the collisions of emotions coursing through me. I wished to embrace kora and lift her up above me to show the world her beauty. I wanted to revel in her breathtaking smile and hold her close. I wanted to listen to her beautiful laughter every day and every night for the rest of my life.

Touching kora's cheek gently, I rubbed my thumb over her soft pale skin. I couldn't begin to imagine How amazing it would be to have her in my arms in such a way… to be one with her for even a moment.

Closing my eyes with a deep breath I pulled my hand away, balling it into a fist as I turned my head away to avoid koras gaze. 

"No."

Turning away I got up to my feet and walked over to our things while Kora deadpanned, watching me with disbelief.

"No?... what do you mean no?!" She jumped to her feet with a shout. 

Gripping the shaft of my spear tightly, I took a deep breath to compose myself and turned to look at kora. 

I could see it in her eyes, she was angry and hurt. I knew she wouldn't understand at first. Running one hand through my hair between my horns I sighed. 

"I mean no. We cannot proceed with the hunt, not now. Not like this…"

She seemed dumbfounded by my denial, she stood there motionless as my words sunk in. "Why? Why can't we?! You said this ritual is a way to solidify our bond together, it will bind us together so no one can tear us apart! Isn't that what you want!? Why would you reject-"

"It is what I want!" I snapped out. "I want it more than anything else in this world. I want to keep you by my side for eternity, I want to hold you in my arms and keep you ksafe!"

"Then why are you denying me!?" Kora shouted. "Why after everything we've been through are you pushing me away now!"

"Because- although this is something I want I cannot accept this now! Not when you are simply conceding out of pity!" 

She stepped back a bit surprised by my words. "When a pairing courts, both parties are consensual because it is something they both want. Especially when it is decided that they will take the last step and complete the ritual. The hunt is something both of us must truly want  deep inside. I cannot accept that you are truly ready to proceed with this ritual if you are merely saying you wish to do so out of pity for me."

Her shoulders slumped slightly as the anger she once held like a dagger, fell away. 

"Should we proceed with the hunt now, you may realize it wasn't what you wanted and you may regret your choice… if that happens then you may come to resent me. Because of that I can't accept it." I turned my head away ipn shame once more. 

Be as it may she can be as angry as she wants over my denial now, her anger over this will last a mere day or two whereas if we were to do this and she regrets her decision afterwards, she may come to resent me forever, I cannot let that happen.

"You think I want to do this out of pity?" Looking back to Kora I found her stepping towards me until we were standing less than a few inches apart from each other. "You big moron!" She reached up grabbing one of my horns to tug my head down and I nearly stumbled as I lost balance from her sudden attack. 

"You really think I would be that shallow!? How could you even assume such a thing!" With a low growl I grabbed her hand pulling my head free from her grasp before looking down at her frustrated. "I'm doing this because now I'm ready to commit! I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you. not out of pity, out of love."

This time it was my turn to feel startled and confused. "Love?" I asked questionably.

"Yes, love! L.O.V.E! I love you Elazar!! She flung her hands in the air waving them around before crossing her arms defiantly as she spoke.

I stared at the female before me trying to understand but it was hard When you don't know the words they speak. "What is… love?"

Her eyes widened as her arms fell to her sides and she watched. "Are you joking?" 

"I am not. I do not jest I don't understand that word, it is in English and does not have a meaning in my language yet."

"Oh, well…love is a feeling. It's when deep inside you know that you can't live without something or someone. It's very special to us. Do you have a word for love in your language?"

I thought about it before shaking my head. "No, there is no such word in my native tongue that describes such feelings." 

This seemed to surprise her even more. "Then how does your kind express their love for eachother?! How do you show your mates how they make you feel?!"

Pulling kora closer I leaned in and nuzzled my head against hers while purring. "We do not use words, we show our affection through touch and sound." I wrapped my arms around Kora, holding her close. "We make them feel wanted and cared for, We make sure they are happy and satisfied. That is how we show our 'love'." 

I released kora after the small demonstration and we stared into eachothers eyes. "You take the 'touch is my love language' to a whole different level."  

Sighing I took her hand in my own and walked us back towards the camp. "You need not use the hunt as a means to show your affection for me. We can wait for when the time is right." 

"But what if I don't want to wait? We both want this Elazar, So Why hold back?!" 

"Because it is not safe for-" she quickly cut me off before I could finish. 

"Don't you dare say it's not safe for me! We both know I can take care of myself! That's a poor excuse and you know it!" She pulled her hand free from mine once we were back in the camp.  The sun was starting to set, casting the forest in an orange glow. As I looked at kora I could see the defiant fire burning in her eyes.

I know she can handle herself but the idea of her going out there with danger at every turn, just her being alone is what bothers me so much. I had to keep my resolve and deny both her feelings and my own, I won't risk another incident no matter how tempting it is. "Even so it's not safe-"

"You taught me how to survive out there in the wild, I've faced everything from man eating plants to psycho Bounty hunters, and even a goddamn draven! I can handle being out in the forest for a few hours! The entire point of the hunt is for me to survive and evade dangerous predators is it not?" I could already feel my resolve growing weaker. Curing under my breath I ran my hand through my hair once more and sat down.

"Immagine if I survived the entire night without being caught! I can't even begin to think about how your tribe would react!" At this point she was just rambling and I found it quite amusing how she thought she could evade me the entire night.

"That would not happen, I'm the best hunter in the tribe, you may last a few hours at most."  I stated nonchalantly while breaking some sticks to start a fire. 

"You don't think I can do it?" She seemed mildly offended by my statement as she came over and crossed her arms over her chest pushing her breasts up in the process, nearly distracting me from my current task.

Shaking my head i refocused. Once I had the fire living and breathing again I tilted my head back to gaze up at the female before me again. "I know you wouldn't, it's not some simple game, we are both meant to do whatever to catch or evade one another. Should I go all out you would be captured in a few hours at most."

This seemed to make her a little angry and I couldn't help feel amused by her attitude. I stared at the woman before me as my tail whipped around behind me. "Do not take offense from my words, I'm simply stating the truth. I am far more skilled with hunting at this point and time, the likelihood of you escaping is just too small."

Standing up slowly I cupped her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. I was quickly snapped out of daze as Kora suddenly pulled away denying my affection.

"Well I bet I could survive the entire night and avoid being caught by you without any sort of camouflage."

Looking over her body and her pale skin I could only imagine chasing her though the woods. Try as she may she wouldn't get far without the charcoal to cover up her skin tone. My tail curled in delight at the mere thought of catching her. Squeezing my eyes shut I tried to reign in my instincts.

"But if you are too scared to lose to me then I guess it can't be helped~" She turned away from me seemingly uninterested. I balled my fists feeling a bit too prideful to let her challenge me in such a way. I grabbed her arm pulling her back towards me while giving her a stern glare. 

"I do not fear losing to you because such a thing would never come to pass." 

"Oh yeah? Then how about we do it now and see who's the better survivalist?"

I flinched at her suggestion as my resolve shattered and I had a hard time conjuring words to form any kind of response. This is a trick, I know she's tricking me but I still can't deny her challenge. She pushed herself closer to me and her scent clouded my senses, overwhelming every nerve in my body with unfathomable desire.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." She smiled. Pointing to the last setting sun in the distance she spoke up again. "Once that light disappears over the horizon you're free to chase me down" I looked towards the setting sun and realized it would disappear in mere minutes. 

She started backing away from me with a smug smirk on her face and I had to resist the urge to give chase and pounce her right there and then. 

She then started removing the outer layer of clothing covering her up. My tail flicked around behind me excitedly as I was lost in a trance watching her undress before me, showing off her tender soft body to me. As the sun slowly disappeared more and more I could feel my body tense, ready to lunge but I didn't move. 

She lamely dropped her clothes off to the side and still didn't run. My mind grew hazy with desire as the light in the sky quickly faded. Instead of running, Kora walked up to me smiling oh so sweetly. Seconds ticked by as the sun's light died off and she wrapped her arms around my neck. Finding her time was up I grabbed her sides and dove in for a kiss.

My mind was too cloudy to realize it was all a trap.

 A sharp prick on the side of my neck snapped me out of the haze as my lips barely brushed hers and I pulled back quickly grabbing her wrists. Looking in her hands I found her wielding one of the paralyzing needles I had given her days ago. 

My eyes widened in realization as I felt my body slowly go limp one limb at a time. "K-kora!" I stumbled back before collapsing on the ground with a grunt and found myself completely immobile. 

"Sorry you said 'by any means necessary'!" She then stepped over to her bag near the campfire and fished out her jar of sleeping powder.

I growled as she came over to my limp form and poured a small bit of the powder into her hand. "You will regret this-" she blew the dust in my face and I inhaled the powder. Almost immediately I could feel it taking effect as everything became a blur and my senses washed away. The last thing I remember was Kora's teasing voice calling out to me. "Sleep tight!"