enchanted | Druig x Makkari

thena

6500 YEARS AGO

Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly at all, Thena was the next to notice.

She was perceptive, eyes calculative and piercing, fearsome, awe-inspiring, and a woman not to be messed with. Maybe that was why she was able to go about as she pleased, unseen and unbothered. No one ever dared to question her, especially not if she simply vanished in the middle of the night. She was a warrior, after all.

It was during the night, in the middle of the desert during the heat of the summer, that she had stumbled across something that turned her head. Sleep did not come easy to her—she dreamt of war and death, destruction and chaos—so instead she patrolled, making sure her family and the people they had been sent to protect were safe.

It was on one of these patrols that she had stilled in the night, body tensing for a fight when she heard hushed voices and shifting sand. But instead of finding Deviants tromping closer to their hideout, she saw Druig, dragging Makkari up a dune by the hand, pulling her after him as she stumbled along behind him.

She watched, interested and amused, as they climbed to the top of the sand dune. Druig sat first, pulling Makkari down to sit next to him. "It's just a few more moments." Druig had said, fingers moving subconsciously to sign as he spoke.

What are we doing out here? Makkari had signed to him, brow furrowed in confusion.

You'll see. Druig signed back. Thena watched them from down below, hidden amongst the darkness of the night. Finally, after a few moments, Druig snapped to attention, pointing towards the sky. "There!" He had said, gesturing upwards.

Both Thena and Makkari turned, delighted to see gleaming stars shooting across the cavernous black sky. Makkari's mouth had opened in shock and awe, head tilted back as far as it would go, eyes chasing the streaks of light across the sky. And if you asked Thena, this was the moment she had noticed things were different.

Because while Makkari was looking up, Druig was looking right at her.

The smile on his face, soft and pleased and loving, was so unnatural on him. Druig's eyes had grown tense, sad, with his continued years on Earth. The turmoil of mankind had begun to drag him down, wearing on his need to do something, to help. But in this moment, under a meteor shower in the middle of the desert, he was as free as a bird.

It was enough to bring a smile to Thena's own face, to see her family so happy. She had only stayed a minute longer, not wanting to intrude on the moment between them. But she had stayed long enough to see Makkari turn to Druig and catch him staring.

What are you looking at? She had signed to him, head tilted in confusion.

"I'm looking at you, my beautiful Makkari." He had said. The words had seemed to surprise him—Thena was sure that was not at all what he had meant to say, so Druig covered it up by clearing his throat and gesturing back up to the sky. "That's what you look like to us, anyway. A streak of light."

Really? Makkari had asked, a smile growing on her face. I look like a shooting star to you?

"Somewhat," Druig had responded, blushing slightly under the glow of the moon. "But stars are silver. And you, my dear, are as golden as the sun."

If Makkari had responded, Thena did not see it. The last thing she saw as she turned away, were the two spots of pink that dusted across Makkari's cheeks and the way her lips pulled into a small, private smile. A smile meant only for Druig.