Dart watched as Foxglove glided away from him, floating upon the water ever so gracefully. His face tingled from where she had caressed his cheek and brushed the water from his face. Her touch was soft, he could almost smell the oils and lotions she must have used to keep her skin soft. He couldn't help but smile a bit as he watched her.

She's just as new to exploring the world as I am.

The thought made him realize how much the two of them had been alike before all of this. Both of them had been raised by loving mothers, who had wanted more for them to go out and see the world when they were good and ready. And both of them had been waiting for the right person to travel with. He thought back to how excited she had been when he agreed to travel with her, and how excited it had made him.

He suddenly felt ashamed that he had been so negative earlier. He swam closer to Foxglove and was surprised when she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

You hear that? You are her Hero.

Dart felt a swelling of pride in his chest and felt all his nervousness of being around him in the state that they were in melt away. There were splash fights, idle swimming besides each other. At some point, Dart felt a slight nagging at the back of his mind, similar to a tiny insect crawling on one’s arm. However, just like that insect, he was able to brush away the feeling without as much as a second thought. The brightly colored birds in the trees offered cacophonous songs that went along with their splashing, and the river laughed along the stones and banks as they did.

When the time came, and the sun began to set, Dart stretched and waded out of the water with Foxglove, and it appeared that he was much more comfortable with the state the pair of them were in. Had they not spent the last few hours swimming about in the relatively clear river, Dart might not have been as casual. The truth was, it was only made awkward if he made a big deal out of it, and clearly Foxglove didn’t care to make a big deal out of it. Dart laughed and took Fox’s hand.

“I-I think I h-have gotten over m-my shyness,” he commented with a chuckle. “Besides, i-if we l-l-leave the river side by s-s-side then there is n-n-nothing to see,” he added brightly as he stepped through the bushes to where he had left his clothing on the tree roots. He shook out his breeches before stepping into them and did up his belt. He had just sat down on the root to put his boots on when he heard the bushes rustle. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on the ground, his head spinning and throbbing from the knock he had just received, and his ears were ringing with Foxglove screaming his name.

“Fox… FOX!” Dart yelled into the glowing gloom, his vision swimming. He tried to get up to go after her, but he staggered and fell to his knees again. He grunted, and put a hand to where he had been struck and pulled his hand away. There was a faint smear of blood, but it was not near as bad as it could have been. It took a moment or two for his vision to clear and for him to feel well enough to stand up again. He looked around, searching for any sign of where the encroachers had gone. He grabbed his boots and shoved them on his feet before grabbing this tunic and he threw it on over his head. From one of his pockets fell his amulet that his mother had given him. It was glowing a faint red, contrary to its normal red, and Dart growled.
“Yeah, where were you five minutes ago?” Dart growled as he threw the amulet over his neck and grabbed the rest of his gear as well as the stuff that Fox had dropped. He didn’t know who or why Fox had been taken, but he wasn’t about to let whoever it had been get away with it.
With his sword belted firmly about his waist, Dart set off through the trees, looking for any signs of where Foxglove had been taken.


Tracking was harder than he realized. There was very little trace on the ground as to directionality or how many had passed this way.

You are dealing with natives….

The thought hit him like a brick, and he felt like a fool. He was trying to track people who lived in this jungle on a daily basis. They knew how to disappear, how to pass unseen.

You were being watched… this whole time…

Dart cursed under his breath. Of course they had been watched. He had felt it, but he had ignored his instincts.

Instincts….

The young man took pause where he was standing. He had to think, to take stock of the situation.

Ok. Now why would they just run off with Foxglove. It isn’t well known that she is the Avatar of Earth, so it couldn’t be for that. But she is attractive, and she does have an aura of power about her. All in all, she would make a fine prize, wife even.

That was it. He understood their motivation now. But where would he find them. The boy looked around, searching for any signs of where the natives might have taken Foxglove. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had never been much of a tracker. There had never really been anyone to teach him such a thing, and his farm had been self-sufficient enough to have not required very much hunting past the random rabbit or pheasant.

He felt himself getting frustrated and angry and he forced himself to take deep breaths. There was a scent on the wind that he recognized. A flower, one he remembered from his mother’s garden. HIs eyes opened and he spotted the stalk of purple flowers. He sighed and went over and plucked up the newly grown flowers.

Digitalis purpurea… the common Foxglove…
Dart’s mind started to whir as he looked at the flowers.
“Foxglove.. Foxglove isn’t native here…” he said outloud. He jumped up again and began searching almost frantically, hoping that maybe his theory was right. Sure enough, about thirty paces away, another sprig of the purple, spotted throat flowers was growing up from the ground.

You beautiful girl. Keep them growing. I’m coming!

Dart followed the trail of flowers deeper into the forest, barely spending the time to cut his way through the thickest underbrush. Finally, the thicket and trees began to clear, and in the deepening gloom, Dart could see the flickering of torches amongst the trees. His heart thumped hard in his chest as he came upon the buildings, partially crumbled, covered in moss, with the rapid growing trees twisting around the hand-hewn stone structures. The entire area had a mystic vibe that Dart could feel deep down in his bones. Ahead of him seemed to be a central square where maybe two dozen or so denizens of the jungle had been gathered. And among them, he could see the blazing red hair of his companion in the torchlight.

From his vantage point, Dart was maybe twenty feet above the group that was clustered in what at some point would have been a courtyard of some sort, though its function did not seem to be clear thanks to the amount of overgrowth that had infested the ruins. He counted maybe thirteen men, and six women, not including Foxglove, who clearly appeared to be the center of attention. If he had had doubts about their motives before, it was more than clear now. These natives were trying to pick wives, and apparently pickings were slim and Foxglove was clearly the favorite. Why not? She certainly was exotic to them. She was pale and clean in comparison to the dark skinned natives, and her hair of course was as vibrant as parrot feathers. 

Dart's mind rolled over the possible outcomes for this and none of them seemed good. He remembered from some of his studies that often times native men had to fight for the women they wished to win as wives. In other cultures, it was more of a tug-of-war with the woman being smack in the middle and her suitors pulling on her arms. Dart hoped that was not going to be the case here, as that method occasionally ended with the woman's death of either having her arms ripped off, or by her father cutting off her arms to spare her. In this case, there wasn't going to be anyone to spare Foxglove. Some tribes were even known to outright kill women who were the source of in-fighting among the men because no one would be satisfied unless they had that one woman. It was very much a "if I can't have her, no one can" sort of deal. Dart definitely hoped it would not come to that. 

He was mulling over his options when he noticed one of the men approach Foxglove and pulled her roughly against him. He felt anger boil up inside himself. 

Get your hands off her!

Almost immediately, another man stepped forward, clearly not happy with the match, and a fight ensued. 

A debate over who will be her husband… settled by displays of physical strength.

Dart watched carefully for a moment, gauging which contender would have the advantage in the fight. It was clear, that the second man, the one who had instigated the brawl, would have the advantage, as he was much more physically fit, and bigger than the first man. Dart put his theoretical money on the second man, and within a few minutes of fighting, the first man yielded the fight. 

Dart watched as a third contender, then a fourth stepped forward, only to be beaten down by the brawny man with black tribal tattoos painting his body. When it became clear that no one else was going to step forward, the man turned back toward Foxglove. 

Oh no you don't!

Dart was on his feet and grabbing one of the thick ropy vines that hung from the above him and backed up as far as he could.

Gods, I do hope this works!

Without another thought, he was flying through the air towards the circle of people. The speed was a bit more than he had anticipated, and as one might expect when flying by only a single rope, Dart could help let out a sort of shout. Perhaps it was more out of a warning so that he didn't hit an unintended target. It did work as a wonderful diversion, and the group scattered before Dart collided bodily with the man who had won the fights for Foxglove. 

The collision was a solid one, and left Dart's shoulder and hip throbbing, but somehow he managed to stay upright when he landed, albeit a bit shakily on his feet in front of Foxglove, panting. 

Oh my gods, that actually worked!!!

The look on his face when he looked at Foxglove was one that pretty much conveyed what his mind was screaming: "Did you see how epic that was!" 

"Fox!" he panted, and extended a hand to her.

Fox was not a stupid girl. She had realized that they were fighting over who would wed her. Tales of things like this happening had brought her back to the days her mother would read her stories from all over Revaliir. They had been written by bards just for the Rose children.  Still she was scared.

Out of no where Dart came out like a jungle prince! Her eyes were full of tears as he came to rescue her, she was happy to see him a bit too much. For a moment she wanted to punch out all the other tribe members but she ran to Dart and hugged him. “I knew you would come for me!” She rubbed her red hair into him and stared at the village.

She had a lot of knowledge when she was able to tap into it. This time she tapped into the languages her mother knew. “I am his woman. He has won your brawl.” She spoke in the tribal tongue to everyone’s surprise.

Not taking the bait completely the leader among them calmed the group and approached. “If you are really his woman then you two shall be wed within our tribe.” It was a challenge but if they wanted to get out of the situation they would have to. 

“Done.” She tried her best not to blush towards Dart. “But then we will be free to leave… Correct?”

“Correct.”

Foxglove took Dart's hand and gave him a smile. It was their one ticket out without a bunch of fighting.

Dart felt as though he had conquered a dragon, rather than semi-clumsily staging a rescue by swinging on a vine and simply knocking the villain out of the way, when Foxglove ran to him and threw her arms about him. He wrapped his arms tightly about her frame, holding her safe and secure against him. 

"O-of course I did! I-I am n-not your protector f-for nothing," he told her as he ran his hand through her hair and held her tight. He only loosened his grip when the tribe members took a step forward towards him and the man who thought he had won the right to Foxglove as his wife staggered back to his feet. Dart's hand fell to his sword hilt almost instinctively, but he was halted by Foxglove shocking him when she shouted out in the tribal language that stilled everyone's movements. He was ready for a fight, steeling himself for the first person to make a move, when it dawned on him.

She just said she belongs to me!

He was busy trying to figure out how the hell he had understood what Foxglove had just said in the tribal language, when the Chieftan replied. Dart's eyes narrowed for a moment, recognizing a challenging tone, but it took another second before the full understanding sank in, and by that time Foxglove had already agreed to the terms. 

"Woah, w-wait!" he stammered but it was too late, and Fox was squeezing his hand, smiling up at him. 

"Very well," the Chieftan said, in his native tongue, which Dart was rapidly beginning to understand. "You shall be escorted and made ready," he said. He waved his hand and two of the women from the circle came over and gently took Foxglove by the hands to take her to get ready for the tribal wedding ceremony, while two other men came forward and rather roughly grabbed Dart and half-dragged the stunned young man in the opposite direction. 

Dart wasn't entirely sure what preparations were being done with Foxglove, but he found himself more or less being stripped of his gear, with the exception of the clothing he was wearing, though for the purpose of marking him, his shirt was taken while his skin was painted with tribal markings. He tried in vain to get them to talk to him, but clearly they didn't understand his stuttering tongue trying to get out the words in common. Finally, he took a deep breath, a little fed up at not being understood. 

"So… what exactly is about to happen?" he asked, though this time, his tongue did not falter, and the words that came out of his mouth were not that of the common tongue. The two escorts looked at him in surprise. 

"You speak our language?" one asked him. Dart shrugged his shoulders slightly. 

"I guess so. Now, explain to me what is going on?"

"You and your woman are going to be bonded. There will be a bonding ceremony, where you will be wed, and then you will be taken to a hut where you will properly lay claim to her," the escort explained. Dart swallowed. 

"That's it?"

"Yes. It is very straightforward."

"And by properly laying claim to her, you mean what exactly?"

"You will… make babies." 

Dart went pale and coughed. "Oh. Got it." 

"It is important that this is done immediately after the ceremony, otherwise another may try to stake a claim on your woman, and she is one that is being coveted right now," the escort explained. 

This made Dart growl, but he nodded in understanding. 

"Good. Now, let us go," the escort said and Dart was paraded off back towards the courtyard, scrambling to put on his shirt as he went.

The red head was currently taking a stab in the dark. After all Dart had won her and while she wanted to scoff at the thought of being married off to the winner, she wasn’t stupid either. Besides it seemed like a dream to even remotely be married to someone as kind as Dart. Many of her people went their whole lives without having met someone like him. She would have blushed if her life wasn’t on the line but she offered up a smile.

Foxglove mouthed sorry as they were both forcibly dragged away. It was odd to even think of herself getting married, even more so when it was against her will. The women stripped her down and painted her with the dark colors of the berry paints they had. An old dress, that looked like it came from Abed of all places, was adorned on her body. It was a sari, though crème colored. She doubted they understood the colors that saris meant but she knew that someone must have traded them one.

Her red hair was braided and pinned back. They paid close attention to her eyes, especially the older tribe women. She thought she heard them call her a demon in disguise. Maybe it was the red but at least her and Dart were getting out of her alive.

Finally with a deep breath she was led back out to Dart. A blush crossed her face as she was sure she looked ridiculous but it comforted her to know he was painted on as well. She was made to take his hand as the ceremony began. The words from the chief came like the voice of a thundering god, much like how her mother sounded when angry. Had they met?

They were bonded to each other, though words only, before being practically carried off to a tent. The people were more excited about it than they were as they were tossed inside. Foxglove was bright red by this point as she stood away from Dart. She hadn’t been told this part but she had assumed. “I’m sorry about this.”

When their hands were forced into each others at the ceremony, Dart felt his heart pounding in his throat. Foxglove looked rather stunning in the cream colored sari she was being forced to wear, and he rather liked how they had pinned her hair back to reveal her face and neck. The berry paint on her skin downplayed the color of her eyes though, and he wondered if they had done that on purpose as to not draw attention to their odd coloring. 

A shame really. Her eyes are one of the prettiest parts of her face…

His mind was drawn away, and he really didn't hear the words that the Chief spoke, despite practically yelling in his ear. He was thinking about what he had been told about what they were expected to do and was trying to think of a way around it when they were whisked away again, to much cheering and whooping, far more than had been when they had been brought to the ceremony, and were taken to a small hut and all but thrown inside. Dart looked at Fox, who had turned a bright pink with her blushing, and Dart was pretty sure he was his own shade of red himself. Her apology made him chuckle. 

"M-Marriage, F-F-Fox?" he asked her, looking at her rather incredulously. "I-I am s-s-sure g-g-grateful y-y-you asked m-me m-m-my f-f-feelings on th-the s-s-s-subj-ject," he commented, his mind working too fast for his tongue to catch up, as was commonly the case when he was flustered, though he did seem in relatively good spirits, though such a facade could have been deceptive. 

He sighed and looked around. "Though… you did g-g-get us out of a tight scrape… now we have to d-d-deal with an e-e-even b-b-bigger one…" he said. "You do r-r-realize w-w-what they expect us t-t-to do now, r-r-right?" he asked her, just making sure she was on the same page as he was.

She was quiet as she folded her arms softly and smiled. “I don’t think we had much a choice. I wasn’t about to let another man touch me and I think you would have killed someone too.” They were silly kids but they still cared a lot about each other. She knew him well enough to know if someone else had tried to touch her, he probably would have lost it. A gentle smile crossed her face as she ran to him and snuggled herself into his body.

“I know what they want, but I can’t do it… Can’t we just fake or something? I just want to lay down with you.” She blushed a bit and fell onto the bed after wards. “I bet mother is laughing at us both right now. We’re married at least here.” She turned her green eyes to him and shook her head. “All we have to do is get through this night. Even if that’s what it comes down to. I don’t mind if it’s you. I mind if it’s them.” She nudged him towards the door and went to hide under the blankets they were gifted.

“At least the women will be glad to be rid of me.” She appeared sad even if she was given liberation. "They hate me because of how I look don't they?" Fox looked just like Angela, and if the rumors were true… she was one of the most beautiful people in the land.

"T-True. V-very true," Dart agreed. If another man had touched Fox, he would have lost more than just the hand that had touched her. He couldn't be cross with her logic in the least, it had just been a bit sudden was all. He wrapped his arms around her as she ran over and snuggled into him and held her close, smoothing her hair as he held her. When she pulled away, questioning what they were to do, if they could fake their involvement. His mind was working as she spoke and she got his attention when she said if they had to do it, she didn't mind that it was him. He moved to the door willingly and peaked out. 

There was a crowd gathered, watching and waiting. 
"I don't think they hate you because of how you look, Fox," Dart said smoothly. "I think they are jealous that all the available men wanted you and not them," he mused. He moved over to sit on the bed beside her. 

"I-I don't w-w-want to force you. If we commit to each other… I w-w-would want it to be when we are b-b-both ready for it," he said softly. He thought about what she had said, about faking it. In theory it could work… but he would have to make it convincing. He leaned down to Foxglove and whispered in her ear. 

"Trust me on this, take off your dress," he told her as he pulled off his own shirt and boots. 

He moved off the cot to give her room to maneuver and kept his back to her. He offered her his shirt and took the sari from her and tossed both it and his boots towards the flap door. 

He moved to the flap and turned back to Foxglove and made a motion for her to cover her ears. He wasn't exactly proud of it, but he head heard enough of people making love, and despite having a slow to speak tongue, he was quite adept at mimicry. 

Once Foxglove had covered her ears, Dart proceeded to make sounds he prayed his mother would never hear about him making. The boy just felt dirty doing it, but as he peeked through the flap door, it seemed that the onlookers outside were buying his charade. He let it continue for another moment or so before he tapered off and all became quiet. He sneaked another peek and found that the crowd was dispersing as yet another torrential downpour started, and thunder rumbled through the evening sky. He sighed and stood up and moved back over to the cot with Foxglove. 

"I d-d-do hope I n-never have to d-d-do that again," he said as he sat down beside her. "But I th-think it s-s-satisfied them." 

He looked at Foxglove and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "You should get some sleep…"

Foxglove gave him a loving look and nodded. “I would like that, though just because we’re not having sex doesn’t mean we’re not committed. At least in my own definition of the word, I think we are committed plenty. We’re just… somehow in a very screwed up way, married now.” 

Nodding she began to remove the old sari and handed it to him. Her arms wrapped themselves around her body almost shielding it from him. If her mother had any innocence it was all in her, that much was for sure. She curled up on the bed after wards and pulled the blankets to her. Really they were hide, she couldn’t believe how hot it was under them, but it was definitely better than Dart seeing her like that.

She did as he commanded and covered her ears, she pretended she was in another place with Dart. A place that didn’t force these things on them. He would protect her though, that was what he promised and so far he did not lie to her.

She stared up at him for a moment once everything was done and nodded to him, “Can you lay with me?” She fussed a bit as she pulled him down. She put her head onto his shoulder and huffed, “I don’t want to be here and you are the only one that  is comforting to me. So, you get to be here with me. Even if we’re not doing anything, I would just like you to lay here.” 

She took his hand in hers and gave a quick smile, “You really are my hero Dart. No one else would ever have done that for me. They probably would have left me here as soon as I was kidnapped.”