The woman counted each fruit carefully before asking, "Do you plan on gathering more fruits?" Her question seemed obvious, but she wanted to confirm. It was still bright outside, and the sun wasn't setting anytime soon.
Orion answered with a curt nod, "Yes, we do."
The woman nodded in response, watching as the trio disappeared into the forest once more. She couldn't help but think that if she had been in their group during her awakening ceremony, they would have gathered ten times the amount of Kalna fruits. She sighed and shook her head, tired from her thoughts. There was no use regretting the past.
….....
"I think that's it!" Orion shouted exultantly from his perch on the tree branch, signalling to the group below that he had finished plucking all the fruit.
Looking up at her partner, Sura couldn't help but feel a tinge of doubt. "Are you sure that's all of it?" she called out, her voice echoing through the forest. The tree nymph who had granted them permission to harvest from her tree had given them a strict time limit, and Sura didn't want to risk angering her by being careless.
Orion took his time scanning the surrounding branches before responding to Sura. "Yes, I'm sure..." he trailed off as he spotted another ripe Kalna fruit at the end of a faraway branch. "Hold on, I see another one!" he shouted with excitement, quickly making his way across the tree with impressive agility. "Got it!" he exclaimed triumphantly, feeling a rush of satisfaction from his small victory before tossing the fruit down with a warning shout of "Catch!".
Sura watched with satisfaction as the Kalna fruit descended towards her and she caught it effortlessly. Carefully placing it among the other fruits, she waited for Orion to join her so that they could divide their spoils and head back to the edge of the forest to meet up with the others.
Finally, after spotting no more fruit on the tree, Orion began his descent, his hands tightly gripping the rough bark. With a graceful leap, he landed next to Sura, his face beaming with the thrill of the successful harvest.
The reason Orion had taken over climbing the trees was because Ursa's gift had suddenly switched off two hours ago, leaving her feeling exhausted and unable to stand for long periods of time. So, while she rested, Orion climbed the trees and Sura caught the fruits. They even gave her some Kalna fruits to help restore her energy. Despite their kindness, Ursa felt a tinge of awkwardness and loneliness seeing her two friends, now partners, working together so well without needing her assistance, especially since they had only recently become partners a few hours ago.
Ursa's teeth sank into the juicy flesh of the Kalna fruit with a satisfying "Munch!" as she observed Orion and Sura share their harvest. As she savoured the flavour, her mind wandered to thoughts of what might have been if Orion had proposed to her first. The notion sparked a smile that crept across her face, as the idea began to bloom and spread like a tangled vine in her mind. If Orion could see past Sura's outward unattractiveness and propose to her, was it not also possible that he could do the same for her?
"Hey, Ursa, come and claim your share!" Orion's voice rang out, jolting her back to reality. Without hesitation, she gobbled up the last remaining Kalna fruit in her hand and rose to her feet, making her way towards the duo. As she walked towards them, a nagging question kept repeating in her head like a broken record. 'It was possible right?" she silently questioned, but there was no one around to hear her thoughts or provide an answer.
Ursa took a deep breath, steeling her emotions as she knelt beside the duo with a warm smile on her face. After counting her portion of the fruits, she announced, "I have nine fruits here. Five Kalna fruits and Four Lipry fruits."
Orion nodded in agreement and added, "I also have eight fruits. Four Kalna fruits and four Lipry fruits."
Sura chimed in, "Same here," indicating that her share was identical to Orion's.
Ursa acknowledged that they were only rewarding her hard work by giving her extra Kalna fruit, as she had been the most helpful member of the group, The equal distribution of the fruits was intended to prevent anyone from feeling cheated. Despite this, she couldn't shake the feeling of jealousy that bubbled up inside her as she watched the partners share their portions so evenly.
Meanwhile, Orion's attention was drawn to Ursa's peculiar behaviour, but he chose to ignore it. He had already proposed to Sura earlier today and didn't want to diminish the uniqueness of that moment by proposing to Ursa immediately after. Orion wanted each woman to cherish the memory of the day he proposed to them, feeling that it was a special and exclusive moment meant only for them, not just another proposal among many.
He knew better than to act hastily, especially when it came to a woman's emotions, as mercurial as they may be. He recognized that Ursa's jealousy, which was currently boiling within her, could easily transform into an intense passion or fury without a moment's notice. As a result, Orion had made a deliberate choice to allow Sura to bask in the limelight on her special day, while planning a romantic schedule for Ursa in the coming days to make her feel equally adored and appreciated.
Thus, proposing to Ursa right after Sura wouldn't have felt as extraordinary as Ursa had hoped.
As they wrapped up their preparations to depart, Orion spoke up, "Alright, let's pack our fruits so that we can..." His sentence abruptly halted as he, along with his companions, froze in their tracks. Orion's eyes widened in astonishment as a translucent blue arm snatched a piece of his preciously harvested Kalna fruit from right behind him.
"Looks like you children took your sweet time plucking all my precious fruits, didn't you?" A tranquil feminine voice chimed from behind Orion, causing him to swiftly recognize the speaker.
