Kaarme

Rafael stood behind the rocky pillar, knowing she was further within the cave. He saw her upon entering—and fortunately for him—her back had been turned. Even while weak and bleeding, he had been able to dash to safety before she saw him.

But she did see him. Kaarme noticed the youthful male rushing behind the stone column. Her bright topaz gaze would have delivered its curse on him and transformed him into a stone statue...adding him to the collection past the cave's entrance. She never meant to do it. She only wanted to actually see someone, maybe converse with them. But on this island, people only wanted to hunt her since she was the last of her kind after her mother died protecting her.

So Kaarme did what she thought was best: she hid away in the cave, hoping everyone thought that her species was exterminated.

Rafael breathed slowly, sliding his eyes shut briefly. All he had was his pistol and his spear, which he grabbed from the ship before it sank after the attack. He didn't know how many sailors or soldiers made it. He only knew that he was here now; but he was no soldier or sailor with capabilities of confronting the serpent-haired female inside of here. He was merely a sailor's nineteen-year old son who wanted to be on the ship so that he could see his mother.

Upon hearing the close footsteps behind him, Rafael reached into his vest for his pistol. His breathing reached a rapid pace as he slid the weapon out and opened the gaze to the statues of men who had no chance against this creature.

Through her thermal vision, Kaarme saw what he did and she released a small whimper. She instantly stopped her approach. How could she tell him that she didn't want to hurt him without startling him? Her voice held a hiss that would terrify almost any human who heard its unearthliness.

The whimper caused Rafael to pause. He pressed his left cheek to the column, facing outward and perpendicular to the direction that she was heading toward him. She had not slain him yet, and he knew that she knew he was here. She had to have smelled or heard him. He was about to show his weapon so that she knew he was armed, but then he saw a book gently sliding toward him from the other side of the pillar. It appeared like a notebook, which puzzled him at first.

With his other hand, Rafael took the pistol and set his fingers upon the notebook. He carefully slid it open, revealing its contents of sketches...jaw-dropping sketches of the trees, the ocean, people, animals, and a serpent-haired young girl interacting with them. The last page revealed a sketch of a hand waving toward a figure behind a pillar. Did...did she draw this that fast?

Kaarme did. She drew everything with wind-like speed. It was the closest way that she could get to the outside world—drawing from images that inspired her: images from the many books and photographs abandoned on the island or left behind by the people she accidentally slew.

Seated with her back to the opposite side of the pillar, Kaarme was surprised when the notebook slid back to her. Revealed to her was an image of a hand seeming to wave back. She smiled, released a small giggle even. She began drawing something else, being quick before the male ran away.

Rafael lowered his pen after passing the notebook back to her. Through the images in the notebook, he saw a story—a story about her life. Had she lived here all by herself? And why was she not trying to kill him? Why was she passing him drawings? Was it a trap to lure him in?

When he heard the notebook sliding to him, Rafael glanced down to see a detailed sketch of two hands touching with a wall separating them. He swallowed and looked to the side as though he would see the topaz-eyed girl there. He hesitated, feeling that her closeness was a risk and that perhaps he should run. Something told him otherwise however, and he listened to the tiny voice to tell him to be brave—similar to how his mother always did before his father sailed away with him so that he could enjoy so-called adventures.

This here might have been the biggest adventure yet—being deathly close to a creature of legend known to have slain many people and animals.

Rafael extended his hand outward and stretched it as far back as he could, heart beating a mile a minute at what he was doing. She could very well snatch him and yank him toward her so that she could kill him.

But one of Kaarme's serpents tasted the closeness of the human hand, causing her to turn and peek around the column. She saw his fingers—the closest fingers she had ever seen to her deadly eyes. She reached a soft emerald hand toward those fingers and brushed them with her own.

Rafael winced as though something pinched him, but then he settled in to the surprisingly warm yet firm touch. She explored his fingertips down to his palm and the top of his inner wrist while he in turn gently took her thumb and ran his touch along it. He thought he would feel scales, and he almost spoke this out loud, but he was too focused on the light physical connection to say anything.

He was so soft. It was so unlike her tougher skin. Kaarme slid around the column as slowly as she could, squeaking softly at how much closer she was getting to him as her hand now explored his arm. She felt him pull back, which elicited a soft sigh from her.

But then a gesture appeared—a beckon. It was a beckon to come to him. Kaarme was in disbelief, and her smile signified her excitement. She did not want to hurt him, and she would be careful, but he had to have known what she was, right? He saw the pictures...and still, he beckoned her.

When Kaarme slowly slid to his side of the column, she saw that his eyes were closed. His formerly outstretched hand moved forward and reached up to touch her cheek, summoning warmth that she did not know existed until now. It was so different to look at a human not made out of stone.

Rafael did his best to push aside any fears he had in doing this. If she had not hurt him yet, he might as well satisfy his own curiosities about this creature in front of him. He heard tales of many monsters and always wondered what he would do if he encountered one. He never imagined that he would be exploring it with touch, much less find one who seemed to be as lonely as he felt when he was away from his mother.

Kaarme gently glided a finger down his face, hearing his breaths flee his lips. He did not seem real. Up close, he appeared so much more differently than she imagined humans. Dare she admit that she found him to be beautiful...?

As she thought this, one of her snakes had been exploring the human as well. Kaarme did not notice this. Otherwise, she would have stopped it. When it extended itself from her head to slither toward his neck, the startled human jumped and a loud bang went off into the cave.

Rafael opened his eyes to see the emerald-skinned female slumped back over his lap, a gunshot wound in her side. He shook his head vigorously, breathing out desperately. How...how did this happen? He leaned over her to cup her face gently, looking straight down into it, seeing her smile at him with fading eyes.

As Rafael's body began hardening from the feet up, he too smiled at her, keeping his hand where it was. It was the last thing Kaarme saw: his lips in that sweet curved position...at her. Her.

And that sweet expression from her was the last thing Rafael felt as stone encapsulated his form. And together, they remained in that position forever.