The pendant buzzed faintly against Aarya's chest. She jolted upright from her makeshift bedding of moss and dried vines, its glow pulsing a muted blue as the soft hum turned into a sharp chime.
"Unidentified frequency detected… origin unknown… language: partial structure identified…"
Aarya squinted at the holographic projection hovering above the pendant. Strange glyphs and sounds played through its speakers—like a chant, layered with rhythmic pulses and low hums, not unlike whale song crossed with ancient Sanskrit.
Curiosity warred with caution. Her body still ached from the night before—her shoulder bandaged with the last of her med cloth, the sting of the wound reminding her of how close she'd come to dying. But her hunger for answers outweighed the pain.
She followed the direction indicated by the pendant—north-east, just beyond the bone-colored ridge. The sky, once lilac, had deepened into ash-grey tones, the sun veiled in thick purple clouds. Lightning licked the horizon, eerily silent.
It didn't take long before she spotted the outline of something unnatural: a ruined structure half-swallowed by a forest of twisted, sinuous trees. Vines with teeth-like thorns draped over broken stone pillars. Symbols—similar to the ones from the pendant—glowed faintly on cracked walls.
Aarya approached, whispering, "What is this place?"
The pendant pulsed again, projecting a translucent interface.
"Ancient civilization remnants. Warning: unidentified organic lifeform—hostile—approaching."
She didn't even have time to react.
A vine slithered along the floor like a serpent, then another. She turned just as a massive plant—rooted in the center of the ruin—began to bloom. Its petals opened with an obscene slowness, revealing a central core that glistened with moisture… and something else.
Aarya felt it like a wave: the warm, cloying pull of hypnosis. Her breath caught. Her limbs began to slow. Thoughts dulled.
"So… beautiful…"
The scent was thick with something primal. A chemical lullaby.
But even through the haze, she realized—it was feeding off her mind. She stumbled back, legs heavy, her pendant flashing red in warning.
Suddenly, a sound split the silence.
A growl. Low. Inhuman.
A blur of motion surged through the vines—a massive silhouette towering in the mist. Claws slashed down, slicing through the carnivorous petals with bone-chilling precision. Aarya fell to the ground, choking, as the creature hissed its death cry and thrashed in its death throes.
She looked up—
And froze.
A ten-foot-tall figure stood over her, tan skin glowing faintly with electric blue veins. His skin was smooth like jade , eyes gleaming with faintly iridescent silver. He was… inhumanly beautiful. Muscles like carved stone. Power radiated from him like a god. But his gaze…
He looked at her like one would at a fragile cub.
"…A child?" he said, confused—his voice deep and echoing slightly, as if vibrating through another layer of reality.
Aarya opened her mouth, but her voice wouldn't come.
And just like that… her world shifted again.
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Aarya blinked up at him, too stunned to even crawl away. The scent of the ruined carnivorous plant still clung to the air, sweet and rotting. And now, towering over her like some forgotten warrior deity from ancient Vedic legends, stood her rescuer—or was it her next captor?
She scrambled back on her elbows with a strangled gasp. "Wh-what are you?!"
The giant blinked.
Then smiled.
Bad move.
Aarya's soul nearly left her body at the sight of his teeth—rows of dagger-sharp canines that gleamed like polished ivory. She made a small squeaking noise and lifted a rock, her hand shaking like a leaf in a cyclone.
"No eat!" she blurted. "I am not edible!"
The giant tilted his head like a confused golden retriever. His long, silky dark hair shifted around his face like a shampoo commercial gone feral. He knelt slowly, the ground groaning under the weight of his colossal thighs. His eyes, an eerie glowing blue, softened.
"I save," he said slowly, tapping his chest. His voice was deep, like thunder wrapped in velvet. "No eat."
Aarya's heart was pounding. He was close enough now for her to smell the ozone-like scent of his skin, and to notice absurd details—like how one of his shoulder muscles was the size of her entire head. Or how his skin was sun-warmed and stretched over bulk like sculpted bronze, glowing faintly along veins that pulsed beneath the surface.
"You saved me?" she croaked.
He nodded vigorously. "Yes. You… tiny. Very soft. Plant was biting you."
Aarya scowled. "Thanks for the commentary."
He blinked again. "Comment… what?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you mocking me?"
He raised his hands—massive things with clawed fingertips—and waved them frantically. "No! No mocking. I think you… um…" He paused, his forehead furrowing like it was physically painful to think. "…Very small. Maybe… baby?"
"Excuse me?!" Aarya shrieked, going red in the face.
The giant flinched at her tone and put his massive hands together in a strange gesture—like a prayer or a peace offering. "Not insult. I mean—fragile. I find cub once, years ago. It was also angry and… scream a lot."
Aarya's mouth dropped open. "You're comparing me to an animal cub?"
He smiled again—wide, innocent, and still terrifying with those predator teeth. "Very loud. But cute."
Aarya groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "I'm going to die here. Eaten by plants or adopted by an almost 10-foot alien who thinks I'm a toddler."
He leaned forward with genuine curiosity. "You… not toddler?"
"NO!"
She suddenly noticed he was staring at her pendant with childlike fascination. "Shiny," he murmured, reaching out a massive finger toward it.
"Do not touch—"
Boop.
Too late.
The pendant let out a mechanical beep and projected a translation interface, attempting to map his language.
"Whoa," he gasped, jerking back, eyes wide with fear and curiosity. "It talk?!"
Aarya sighed and looked up at the sky. "Of course. I finally completed the greatest scientific achievement of my career and then end up being babysat by Conan the Barbarian's sweet-but-possibly-brain-damaged cousin."
He squatted comfortably beside her, one arm casually braced on his raised knee, and grinned again.
"I, Kiran," he offered proudly, thumping his chest. "of Stormblood. You?"
Aarya hesitated. "…Aarya. Scientist. Earth."
Kiran's glowing eyes brightened. "Aarya. Soft name. Like clouds. And Nymph kisses "
"…What kisses?!!"
"A fruit .Very good. You like?"
Aarya sighed and looked at the sky again. "Please smite me now."
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