To say the least, the early morning wouldn’t have been unpleasant. The sun could have settled nicely on the corners of the neighbourhood houses and the clouds drifted across the blue yonder in lazy puffs, endearing her enthusiasm to continue her lovely early walk. Birds would be glorified shadows amongst the sunrise as they flew overhead and the songs of the new day would be the comforting silence of a still sleeping city.

But then it wasn’t, dawn had long since passed and it didn’t go as pleasantly as she originally thought. The young woman woke up with a migraine to spare and with the rack of bounty on her head, she could no longer go out of her abode without concealing herself from head to toe. So, here she was, muddled through the crowd clad in a black velvet cloak that shielded her identity from being exposed, unknowing of what to pursue first and how to deal with the day when she was still so hung up with how far she’s been thrown off her primary objective, which was to find her lover.

The swordswoman had her eyes on the sky, and she fears it’s now an impulsive habit of hers to commit to the clouds when she had nothing on her mind. Distracted as she was, Venus failed to notice a stranger running straight into her with such force that almost made her stumble over and fall flat on her buttocks. Despite him being completely oblivious to where he was going, the stranger even had the audacity to walk past her as though nothing happened. A vein popped onto her temple.

”Watch where you’re fucking going.” She snapped at the stranger and he spun around in response with arrogance in eyes as if he was going to rage at the woman for standing in his path. It wasn’t until the features of his face immediately turned into shock and perhaps astonishment when he recognized her.

”…I know you.” He paused, examining her features carefully. ”The magic games…and the bounty,” His finger pointed in the direction of the oaken board in a short distance that had the most important flyers pinned up.

Venus was so enraged by the stranger that she’d failed to realise that her cover had blown completely and of course, her appearance and her cherry wine hair stood out like a sore thumb and people whispered among themselves as she quickly pulled the hood back up again. ”Fuck,” she cursed in dismay and without a moment of delay, the hunter darted off with her hand clutching onto her weapon in case she needed to fend for herself, but she was quickly surprised by how fast the word spread. The next moment she’d already garnered attention from the media.

How did they get here so fast? Were they waiting for someone to show up?

Whatever the reason was, she certainly did not want to be a part of this mess and especially not be the center of attention in the middle of nowhere. So, she ran. She ran to the nearest building she could find and figured that she would hole herself inside the place until they went away. ”Ugh.” She took a moment to catch a breather and raised an arm, like a leverage of sorts as she leaned close to the large oaken doors. The fiery woman turned to see where she was only to discover that she ended up at the best place she could’ve ever asked for; the library.

Venus caught someone yelling over the distance, unable to make out the words clearly but the voice – it was one that she had been wanting to hear for a while. The woman approached closer to the source of the sound and she could tell it was him from a distance: she could identify him even from the back of his head. The urge to be in his grasp screamed within her as she sauntered towards his direction, a devious smile crawling onto her lips and if Noel were to say something to her in the midst of it, she’d disregard all of his words. Instead she’d pull him by the collar of his shirt so that his lips could finally meet hers once again.

”I’ve finally found you.”

Worn, rustic and yet warm, the exterior held itself well-aged, welcoming, yet it felt so forgotten, or at least, quiet. Housed in that tiny, cloistered space was a melody that the library branded its own – the soft flip of pages and the flop of books from cover to cover, her heels scratching against the carpet, making idle taps atop the wooden floorboards, and thick silence that organized the blend of elements far too nicely for her own good.

Despite the time of day that permitted sunshine, the library’s small windows would cast both the slightest of light sources and thick, comforting shadows to compliment the scenic atmosphere. The cloak that she adorned so dearly atop her shoulders, caked in all of the journey’s dust. For in the short moment she’d been there, the Siren was already considering locating a small corner to indulge in a nap that she’d been helplessly devoid of, if not for seeing her lover once again.

Their lips parted once they shared a passionate kiss and she’d succumb into the warmth of his body as he wrapped his strong arounds around her figure in a tight embrace that reminded her of how much she had missed his touch all this time. ”We need to stop meeting like this.” The young woman chuckled, resting her hands against his chest, feeling the muscles hidden beneath his outfit. She bit down on her lips, her pearly whites snagging onto her lower lip as she thought: she’d have him all to herself later in bed to make up for all the time the two were apart.

Things were always quite dramatic, yet exciting whenever they were together and it seemed like today was just the same as every other time they met; chaotic. The loud banging on the doors interrupted their moment and Venus couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. Why couldn’t they just let them have a lovely reunion? But, with every passing second, things turned out worse. The reporters and cameramen could be seen climbing through every piece of furniture available to get inside the building just to get a scoop of the latest news.

”Jesus Christ,” she breathed out the words, completely astonished by how insane some of the media workers were. ”What the hell? You’ve got the wrong woman, I’m no evil witch, you scoundrel!” she yelled over the windows to the men as though they would hear what she was saying.

In the midst of all this, Noel was already planning an escape route. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea of hers to flee to the library prior to this, she only made the situation worse for her beau. Nonetheless, she followed her lover’s lead as he dragged her off to the designated location of their infamous escape. When Noel sarcastically mocked her of starring in the entertainment industry, the woman could only gave a cheeky grin, ”W-Well…” But before she could continue, Noel compelled her into the exit as though he was moving a checker to another square.

A nod was responded and she’d bring her hood back up to conceal her face once again. Once Noel had transformed into a raven and escaped, she’d confirm the vicinity around her of any other presence before sliding past the door and sprinting hastily to make sure that she wouldn’t be noticed. Even from this distance, she could still hear the clamour of the reporters from the other side.

A sigh left her lips; this time out of frustration as she huffed and leaned against a tree. Somehow, her awful directional sense ended up leading them to an empty park with the piazza in just a short distance where the popular stalls and shops gathered. At the very least, they were away from the media attention. ”Hopefully, we’d gotten rid of them. Otherwise, we can just hide ourselves among the crowds in the marketplace.” She wiped the sheen of sweat that lined her forehead with the sleeve of her cloak. ”Getting sick of these people, honestly. I haven’t got a break from them ever since that magic games.”

”I saw you on a bounty flyer. What crimes have you committed to have such a large bounty on your head, huh?” A smirk formed onto the lines of her lips. Though the question was raised out of genuine curiosity, she wondered if he’d returned to his bandit ways of living.  

There was the hug of gentle, yet powerful arms that told her that he was with her now; that told her enough that he missed her, just as much as she did to him. Without even needing to say the words, the way Venus clung onto his body like a child during his embrace would have given away of how much she thought of him while they were apart. When the topic of the Grand Magic Games came into discussion, she lifted her head away from his chest to look at him.

”My opponent was Alisa Vollan, you might’ve heard of her. She’s the guildmaster of Blue Pegasus apparently.” She paused, reminiscing the battle that she participated in a few months ago and frowned deeply. ”I lost. It was a difficult match.” It was also a match she couldn’t forget: one that motivated her, so that perhaps she could meet her again and have another round where she would eventually claim her victory, or so she hoped. The redhead stirs from her reverie to realize that Noel had been talking to her, the words fusing with the silence as it wavered in and out of various thoughts.

It took her a moment to register his words into her brain that he’d been explaining his little adventures and the reason behind his massive bounty. ”Looks like you’ve been pretty busy.” It seemed that he’d also dealt with the werewolves in Dahlia; her nightmares in the flesh. It wasn’t that she was afraid of the night creatures, but because during her stay in Dahlia there was nothing she did other than exterminate werewolves so frequently that she would even dream about them. The town was truly a hellhole – the only positive thing about the entire town was their guild and honestly, it was as though a fairy castle came and situated itself in the middle of a graveyard.

If bounties were a representation of irresponsibility, then what was she to become? Perhaps she was irresponsible, or perhaps she simply didn’t care whether she was going to end up in prison or not. It was the thrill of the chase: hunting down targets was what she thrived on. ”Oh, well, getting rid of bad people here and there. I get paid pretty well for those.” That was also another reason of hers to continue doing what she was doing – the money, although she has racked up quite a big sum so she’d decided to take a break from the assigned missions for a short while.

”I wouldn’t mind going to prison with you. I bet we could make that as one hell of an experience,” she gave him a cheeky grin.

Oh, so that was what the brown bag was for. It definitely served as a horrible choice to hide one’s appearance that she couldn’t help but stifle a laugh to herself seeing her lover in a brown bag with two holes poked through it: he certainly looked ridiculous but also adorable. ”A camp?” She pondered for a brief moment. Usually, she would be all up for spontaneous trips and activities, but wasn’t this a little too unplanned? "Won’t we need to get supplies if we’re leaving now?” She couldn’t lie, she was slightly apprehensive…that she would starve to death and miss out on all the good food from the most prominent restaurants that she’d been dining so frequently.

”But, I do like the idea of going somewhere private, with you.”

Venus found herself agreeing to the idea and ended up looking forward to their impromptu occasion more than she had preferred to. But, if they were going to do this, they might as well go all out right? ”I think I might know a place where we could enjoy camping, and perhaps also doing some other activities.” She suggested before adding a little bit of information on where they should be heading, ”It’s located far over the grasslands on the east side of the town. I heard that there’s a beautiful waterfall deep inside the woods.”

And so, she’d take his hand and climbed up onto his horse; their vehicle that would lead them to their thoroughly needed vacation.

The redhead smiled; Noel was somewhat correct in regards to that, although it was only a matter of time of when Venus will meet her newly found rival, which meant she couldn’t waste her time slacking but rather, catching up with her training to ensure her victory in the next battle. It seemed that during the time that they had been apart, her beau had his fair share of alterations: one being his arm entirely replaced by a modification that almost resembled to that of a demon’s limb. With its rugged appearance, it definitely wasn’t difficult to notice. Perhaps she would question him about his new arm at a later time, she thought.

”Oh.” A frown made its way onto her lips, hearing the disadvantage of the Fiorian prisons. Venus had lived nearly at every worst possible location when she was poverty-stricken and living off the streets; a prison would only be another addition to the list. Her lover certainly knew how to sway her off her feet with his words, so who could possibly blame her for being head over heels for the man, but of course, she didn't want to admit it. With the amount of attention the two had garnered over a short period of time, a runaway event was a much-needed occasion to escape their situation and even more so, when this was the only opportunity they had to spend time with each other, away from the unwanted attention.

Venus was quick to respond that she didn’t need anything else, with nothing but the idea of a camping trip running through her mind. She’d assumed that they would be cooking whatever they could find along the way, so obtaining the basic cooking ingredients were crucial. ”Meanwhile, I’ll grab an extra set of clothes just in case we need to change into something.” Being comfortable was just as important as her maintaining her own appearance: she certainly wouldn’t want to remain in her current clothes if they were to get wet from the sudden downpour and the like.

As the Siren rode, seated in front, she would instinctively lean backward into her lover’s chest, relaxing along the ride while Noel took the reins and led them into the woodlands. Along the way, he’d mentioned the two of them going hunting and her head would chirp up almost out of enthusiasm. Venus was a hunter herself, so the activity thrilled her and got her all giddy, although she wasn’t sure if she was used to the idea of hunting with someone else as she was accustomed to hunting alone – like how she’d always been the majority of her life.

”I say that’s another great idea” – and with that, they sped up over the yonder until they eventually came to a stop at the entrance of the woods. Even from this distance, she could hear the faint sounds of water gushing from the waterfalls. She turned to face Noel, her eyes brimming with exhilaration. ”What should we do first?”

The weather was impervious to the pleading of the farmers, the sun had ideas of its own and relished scorching the land; there was no room for the heavenly relief of rain any time soon. Beyond her was an emerald eruption of green that enveloped countryside in a carpet of living nature. Trees – once boundless and bare – now flourish with vines, victorious as they claim their valley. ”Venison? I’ve never tried that before.” Venus lightly leapt off the Mustang once they’d reached the entrance of forest: the woods too dense for them to ride through, as she dusted off herself and fixed her attire. ”I don’t mind any kind, as long as it’s edible – but of course, must be tasty as well.” The Siren smirked as her eyes travelled towards the scenery ahead of her.

The old, yellow and brown leaves hustled in the wind as the sounds of the rainforest trees create at every push the wind gave. The dappled shade of the woodland trees had seemed so inviting only moments earlier that she had walked holding Noel’s hand, pointing out the tiny glimpse of the large rocks that constituted a waterfall in a far distance. It felt like it had been far too long since she’d last gone camping and even if she did before, she couldn’t recall how it went due to her extremely limited recollection of her memories. The excitement was rather obvious on both her facial expressions and her gestures as she pulled Noel and urged him to follow her faster.

Venus nodded profusely. ”Yes! We must have a dive in the waterfall. We can set a campfire at night nearby and maybe even have a very filling barbeque.” She trailed off, imaginations running wild in her mind; one of it being, having a skinny dip in the waters though she wondered if her lover would disagree with the idea. When Noel questioned her whether she liked their choice of the place, she’d speak while her hands brushed past the falling leaves. ”I like it. To be honest, I think this is what we’ve been needing for a while.”

Although Venus was keen to bustling and chaotic places just like her own personality, the forest, on the other hand, was sombre and ominously quiet, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, the calmness and the silence were the kind that her body came to crave somehow, after the strain of odd jobs pushing her being to and from between towns. Settling here, between the gorse of bushes and trees brought a warm soothing feeling blowing over her person, like a meek forest breeze. As much as she would’ve loved to help her beau set up the camp, she knew herself that she would only slow him down with the task so she proved herself useful by not doing anything – instead, seated herself on a rock by the side while she watched Noel work. She couldn’t lie, his magic came very handy in situations like these and the completed structure looked even better compared to the ones that required physical human labour.

The redhead blew out a quick whistle as Noel stripped his shirt, baring his muscled torso for all of her and the stars to see. ”I like seeing you like this. You might as well not wear a shirt for the rest of our trip.” A devilish smirk crept up onto her lips as she walked up to him and caressed his bare chest with her fingers. That was to tease him as well as to satiate her desire to have him embrace her again – for now.

There were things that needed to be done, after all. She couldn’t dare admit that her insanely corrupted thoughts distracted her from the work while she gathered the branches and logs to make sure the fire burnt strongly. But with Noel’s half-naked body in front of her, the campfire was rather unnecessary to keep her warm. She smiled nonchalantly back at the man, ”Let’s go hunting, shall we? Then, throw ourselves into the waterfall to wash off our sweat.” She took off her thick cloak that draped over her shoulders and tossed it into the tent, leaving her with just a simple white tight-fitted undershirt that was just comfortable enough for her to do hunting with ease, then grabbing her most trusted weapon to slay down boars and any edible creatures she could possibly find for their hunt.

”I will gladly, but later, for you to enjoy thoroughly,” she responded with a wicked grin on her lips that immediately turned into a gasp when she was caught off-guard by Noel grabbing her buttocks firmly in return for her lustful comment. Oh, this man was very sly, but she also liked that daring side about him. ”Aren’t you a naughty man?” she joked, as they prepared for their hunting session.

The reason Venus brought her flaming sword for hunting despite it not being a suitable weapon for the purpose was due to the fact that she didn’t have any other items on her. Usually, she would have a small dagger strapped to her leg, but today, she didn’t feel the need to – which was her mistake – until the ambush from the media and their unplanned trip happened so truth be told, she was rather unprepared. It wasn’t as though she was planning to set everything on fire (hopefully) with her blade, but merely using it to stab and slice down the animals. Noel, on the other hand, chose to hunt in simple weapons just as she had expected, and she respected his decision to do so.

Venus had planned on using her creative hunting methods, albeit it seemed that her predator skills were no longer needed when her lover went on a spree and decided to do the bidding for her stead. The man returned with a large bear that he’d defeated, and she was left with her arms folded across her ample bosom. ”Let me do something as well,” she pouted. The man had been getting all the work done; building their tent and now even hunting food for them to eat, she wanted to prove herself useful. Though Venus was proud of Noel for ending up with a good find, the hunter needed to find prey to demonstrate her capabilities as well. With how eager she looked as she wandered about the woodlands, her sword in hand, it was obvious that she was competitive even at things like these.

Along their way back to the camp, the Siren found a deer and she would hide within the bushes, keeping track of her prey. Deers were fast creatures in nature, so when she emerged out of the shadows, the deer prepared to bolt away from her, but speed was also her forte. Venus grabbed the deer by its neck and quickly finished it off with her sword. ”More meat for us.” She chirped as she dangled the deer from its limbs while walking back to her partner. She wouldn’t know how the meat tasted, but well, there was always first experiences for everyone and there would be multiple of first experiences for her today.

The following activity was something she had been looking forward to the entire trip – the waterfall. Once they’d dropped off their prizes that they had hunted earlier, the couple set out towards the waterfall to wash off their sweat and enjoy the rest of the vacation in the most fun way possible. From a distance, the waterfall had been like a silent white stream cascading over the rocky outcrops. As they had drawn closer, the noise had increased steadily until they were only a few hundred metres away that they could no longer even shout to one another over the deafening roar of the water. Closer still they drew until they were in the plume of water vapour that hung over the plunge pool and in only minutes they were as wet as they would’ve been in any rainstorm.

Venus was a child at heart, and she couldn’t help but be excited at the sight of the geographical structure that formed before her eyes. ”Up there!” she bellowed over the roar of the water, her fingers pointing towards the highest point of the waterfall. Yes, she meant climbing all the way to the top and diving from there.

The red-haired mage began her ascent up the waterfall ahead and frankly, the trudge up there was quite the workout, but it was all worth for when she beheld the view before her very own eyes. Undoubtedly, there was green, green and more greenery but in a far distance, she could see the Marigold Town all the way from where they were located. The sun was just slightly above the horizons, indicating that the sunset was just about to dip down the grasslands and soon, the stars would speckle the night sky. Venus stood in awe, taking in everything around her surroundings before she stripped herself bare, from head to toe, without even a hint of undergarments on her body. Leaping into the air, she tossed herself down the cascade of water and plunged into the deepest parts of the waterfall.

Of course, Venus liked the attention she received from her lover with her little teases, and it was all she needed to keep herself amused. The compliments she received from strangers or even the people she knew wouldn’t succeed in getting reactions from her, unless it was from the man that she loved, that got her grinning from ear to ear when he’d acknowledged her successful hunt. The two returned back to their camp to get their food ready and she had figured she would handle it just fine watching Noel skin the meat and their food ready. The redhead was one who hunted down people for a living – blood was not something she was afraid of, nor gory activities albeit, she didn’t expect skinning meat would be that graphic.

”Oh, wow,” – was all that left her lips as she was left standing there with her teeth gritted, restraining herself from being completely astonished. But, that was to be anticipated when he meant “skin-and-quarter” the animal. ”Well, this is some live violent action,” she chuckled nervously while Noel presented her with a step-by-step procedure on how to skin the meat. After witnessing the entire operation right before her eyes, Venus might consider not eating meat – only for a while though – after being reminded of how graphic the process was.


The water was uncommonly clear, so much that it was impossible to gauge the depth but Venus had plummeted headfirst down the waterfall, landing with a loud splash that the pain from the impact of hitting against the water could be felt nearly to her very core. Albeit all of that was negated with the calming sensation of the water against her skin. While Noel looked as if he was having a mental conflict whether to take the plunge or not, the red-headed beauty swam naked in the tranquil turquoise, air bubbles rising to the surface in their clustered way. Boulders rise out of the water like the bows of a sunken fleet, the scent of moss and lichen be-fowls the air for leagues across. It was lovely, deep down under the water with schools of bright-hued fish and strange sea flowers decorating the sand floor.

As much as she would’ve loved to keep discovering the wonders undersea, Venus was quickly distracted by their intense ’yoga session’ that took place afterwards and naturally, she was left with pheromones releasing from her figure and her cheeks flushed pink from the heat, perhaps from the warm water or their intimate activity, or even both. Mayhap it was due to being at the peak of her age, Venus’ sexual drive was soaring through the roof and possibly, she could’ve had a second round of yoga session but at the same time, she didn’t want to appear as though she was such a defiled woman. She chewed on the inside of her bottom lip – ah, this man was driving her crazy, literally.


Quietly, she climbed out of the water and ran to grab her clothes; she wasn’t going to wear the outfit that was already drenched in water. Instead, she held them against her women parts as if to hide them from the curious views of the woodlands, despite the fact that they were probably the only ones there. ”What is it?” asked the female as she wrapped her arm around his while the couple retreated back to their camp to finally devour the food that they’d prepared earlier. She had dressed in clean clothes and sat by the fire. Ripping a large piece of meat from the thigh, she’d hand it over to her lover, letting him have the first piece while she’d have the next. The night rolled over quickly as they ate and enjoyed what little time they had and she treasured every chance to spend time with him, few as they were. Even in the velvet dark, there is the light of the stars that glowed large like street-lamps, radiating the entire woodlands with its brilliance.

A starry night loomed above, pretty enough to ignite the heart of any nature’s child as the fire crackled. ”Do you want to watch the stars?” Venus had prepared the bedding inside the tent, so all they had to do was to lay down and snuggle into each other while they gaze upon the night sky. She had to say the entire trip had been nothing but romantic, fun and adventurous at the same time. ”We ought to do more of this,” she spoke, laying within his arms and with an upwards glance, Venus gazed at the midnight blue canvas above that stole every thought from the mind, the usual carousel of worries simply forgotten. There was the heavenly stars above, a crescent moon to smile down and a man who held her heart dearly in front of her; what else could she possibly want more?

”I love you” – a whisper of words, she managed, scarlet hues crossing over the gaze of blue, fused with colours of diversity as she dipped her head into his chest and found herself the sweet spot at the nook of his neck. She couldn’t be any more glad that he’d brought her along on this vacation, at the very least they were able to escape from the reality for a short while.