Datu is not uncomfortable at how touchy they are, and I feel like an outsider looking in again. There’s something grimey about the way they clawed at him. I blink wildly as one lady starts licking his arm. Holy shit, they aren’t flirting. They are trying to eat him!
His eyes find me and he smiles apologetically. Raising his hands, he coaxes them to calm down. Their reactions are automatic. They bow their heads and apologize. It’s as if he’s flipped a switch in them.
“Please forgive them. They are just hungry.”
Clutching my satchel, I look around guiltily. I feel bad for being—for all intents and purposes—jealous. Of all people, I should be empathetic to them.
“Geez, couldn’t you have said that louder?”
“Oh, Xiaoyu…”He croons. “Only you and Sateva can hear me.”
That shuts me up. The women have dispersed which gives me a lot more room to observe everyone. The people here are all the varieties of tall and slim—plant qualities most common in high-altitude areas.
Reaching into my satchel, I jot down some notes. Datu has an efficient way of communicating with them, and I notice they all ask yes and no questions. When he introduces me, I refuse to clam up.
“Hello, my name is Xiaoyu.”
The stunning plant lady smiles at me, seemingly pleased at my presence. “I am Savi. I am so honored to meet you,Hara.”
Hara?My gaze flicks toward him.
“I will only tell you what it is if you come with me to the cliff.”
Why does that sound so threatening?
“As long as you don’t push me over the edge.”
“I would rather eat you.”
“What a comforting thought.” I say dryly.
The ladies leave to gather for some sort of ceremony, and I’m surprised Datu doesn’t join. Instead, he hauls me over to the edge of the village where the sight of the mountain ranges steal my breath. This is what they call wild, untamed beauty.
The sun has just risen, and I have no words. Words—speech, poetry, taxonomic classification—aren't enough to equate, describe, qualify what I’m seeing right now.
"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" I ask rhetorically, but Datu still answers.
"Yes, I have."He gives a lopsided grin that’s as dangerous as it is attractive.
“So…aren’t you going to tell me what aharais?” My toes tap in impatience.
“Harais a title.Harameans beloved partner of the chief.”
“Oh? Me? A partner?” I stammer, confused.
There’s something irresistible about Datu grinning while sweeping the tip of his tongue along his canines.
“It is a coveted title. You have made my pollen plume. You made my form want to provide sprouts. You don’t want it?”
For some reason, this stresses me out. What does he meanpartner? Sprouts? Was that what the iridescent dust was back there?
“Does this mean I can’t go home?” I am so clearly panicking. That same panic—however—is extinguished immediately. It turns to regret as soon as his expression dims.
“Of courseyou can.”
It feels disrespectful to rejoice in it, so I stew in my own thoughts.
He begins again,“In some parts of the Otherlands—the human world—hara also means destroyer.”
