Chapter 34

In a daze, Cloudy always heard faint rustling sounds around her ears. After a busy day, she was too exhausted. In the deep night, she had no strength to open her eyes.

She twisted a few times in bed, frowning as she turned from left to right, muttering something. After she moved, the rustling sounds quieted down a bit.

After some time passed, Cloudy opened her eyes and stared blankly at her ceiling. She had slept soundly last night and now felt a bit disoriented.

"…?" There seemed to be something hard under her head. Cloudy remembered giving her down pillow to Titus last night, so logically, her head should be resting on slightly prickly but still soft animal fur, not this stone-like texture.

Cloudy turned her head slowly and saw… Titus's arm. Titus was lying on his side, facing her with his dual-pupiled eyes blinking. "Resting, are you okay, Cloudy?"

She sat up abruptly, sweating profusely. How did she end up sleeping in Titus's embrace?! They were both fully clothed last night. As she sat up, she was quickly pulled back down by a strong hand, Titus holding her close and rubbing her, "So soft! Just as soft as what's under my head."

"Ah...!" Cloudy squirmed uncomfortably as he rubbed her. She couldn't stand being held so closely! She struggled to escape, "Enough, enough..."

Her struggles were met with resistance from Titus. She couldn't bear to think what others would think if they saw this scene, even though no one else would witness it!

"I thought you would have left in the morning." Eventually, Cloudy gave up struggling and let Titus shake her in his hand. She now understood why Titus liked to hold her. Soft things were scarce in this era, even people were rigid... her own description sounded odd, but being frail and lacking muscles, she was indeed soft to hold. Titus liked the feel of down pillows, so naturally, he would enjoy this touch...

"It's still early." Titus had no intention of letting go of Cloudy. Just waking up, she felt even softer, like a newborn. "The sun hasn't fully risen yet."

"Not fully risen?" Cloudy was puzzled. She craned her neck to look outside, why did the cabin feel so bright inside? "But outside..." Before she could finish, she heard the familiar crackling sound of burning firewood.

She widened her eyes, looked down at Titus, then back outside, "The fire, it's not out?" She felt uncontrollable joy. Why? Last night, she only applied some grease to the sticks, why was it burning for so long?

The answer was simpler than she imagined.
"I've gotten up a few times to put sticks in the fire," Titus sat up holding Cloudy, yawning, "I tried to be very quiet, afraid of waking you up."

So, last night she kept hearing the rustling sound, it was Titus! Cloudy felt like she had been hit on the head with a stick. She wasn't happy, even though the flames continued into the next day, she couldn't bring herself to be happy, "Titus, I left you here to rest, not to do this kind of thing."

"Isn't it?" Titus blinked, "But you really need the fire. Leaving me here is..."

"No!!!"

This was a very stern and loud reprimand, Cloudy felt her breathing quicken, "I asked you to be here to rest. Not to help me watch the flames! Not to stay up all night, helping me maintain it!"

"..."

The warm atmosphere vanished instantly with Cloudy's scolding. Titus lay stiff on the bed, unsure how to react. He had never heard Cloudy's voice like this before. Even when Matriarch scolded him, he wouldn't be afraid, but Cloudy's current expression and tone made him feel very anxious. What did he do wrong?... No, did he do anything wrong?

He thought Cloudy would be happy, then she would spin around him as usual and happily say, "Titus, you're so clever!"

"I'm sorry." Just a second after Titus shouted, Cloudy immediately regretted it. Was she sick? Why was she angry? Was she going mad? Titus's ears must have been ringing from her shouting, "I'm sorry, Titus, I'm sorry..."

She hurriedly leaned over, grabbing Titus's arm, "I... I just woke up, you helped me with the fire, thank you... but I'd rather you rest well."

Because she had made Titus help her with many things yesterday, intending for him to rest properly. She didn't expect it to be misinterpreted as him having to help her at night too... Cloudy really didn't want to give Titus that impression. Even if Titus didn't mind, she would still care a lot.

But she was also wrong, she didn't control her emotions for a moment... Why did she suddenly shout out? Was she going crazy...

"I left you here not to help me." Seeing Titus still silent, Cloudy was eager to explain, "I wanted us to rest together. Understand? We finish our tasks together and then rest, that's good."

Titus lowered his head, his ears drooping, "Shouldn't I keep the fire going? I thought that was very important to Cloudy."

"No, you are important."

As soon as she finished saying this, Cloudy was startled by Titus suddenly lifting his head, even in the dimly lit wooden house, those six pupils were shining brightly.
"I, more important than fire...?"

"Of course!" Cloudy answered without hesitation. It wasn't to deceive Titus; in fact, given the choice between fire and Titus, she would choose Titus without a second thought.

After all, fire can be reignited, but Titus must rest well.

Titus made a strange sound, his hands cupping Cloudy's face and rubbing it haphazardly. "Cloudy is good to me. Fire could never be better than me."

Her intention wasn't to deceive Titus, but was he too easily swayed...?

"Why couldn't it be..." Cloudy felt uncomfortable being rubbed and pushed Titus's hands away. "Did you really rest well last night? If you didn't rest well, I worry about you going into the rainforest."

"No need to worry, I'm tough," Titus patted his chest. "And I rested well enough last night. When I go hunting, I can go several sunsets without sleeping."

"...Does that mean I worried for nothing?" Cloudy thought to herself. Well, getting more rest isn't a bad thing, and worrying is just showing she cares!

"Why do you need to wash in the morning too?" Titus squatted by the water basin, watching Cloudy jump in for a bath. "Did you sweat again?"

"Yes, thanks to you!" She couldn't understand why she was the only one sweating when they were just playing around in the hut. How do these wild people adapt so well to the rainforest temperature? Not a drop of sweat from them?

After the bath, Cloudy put her vest back on while Titus packed up things to take with him. Knowing he had been punished recently, Cloudy packed lots of dried meat in leaves for Titus to take back.

As she packed the meat, the guilt of yelling at Titus earlier faded a bit. She hadn't expected Titus to take food from her now! Even though the meat was brought by him, fire... well, Titus also brought fire: "Will you come back in the next few days? If you're busy, don't come, I'm safe here."

She wanted to confirm this first, as she had been really worried when Titus didn't show up for five days before. It would be better if she knew exactly when Titus would come and when he wouldn't.

"Hmm..." Titus furrowed his brow, looking conflicted. "I can't come after this. Only five sunsets to prepare for hunting. I'm already quite behind."

"Then prepare well!" Cloudy patted Titus's back firmly.

With only five days left, it would be very busy. She felt a bit reluctant. If Titus didn't come for these five days, would they not see each other for another two months? No... maybe more than two months. After the hunting season ends, the rainy season will follow, and only after that...
It's possible to see Titus again.

Titus seemed to realize the issue of time. Even though everything was packed up, he hesitated at the entrance of the cave, looking like he really didn't want to leave: "I still want to continue playing with you. Hunting outside will be tough, and I don't like it."

"Not going, staying inside the cave with me, just the two of us..." Cloudy started to say, but halfway through, she felt selfish and Titus was shaking his head: "In the settlement, there are children and wounded waiting for more food to get through the rainy season. I can't not go. I'm the vanguard, I always bring back the most game."

Titus was very responsible. This stirred strange emotions in Cloudy; she felt her old habits creeping back and immediately pinched her arm hard to stop her from overthinking!

"Be safe during the hunt."

"Of course!"

They bid farewell to each other, but Titus remained standing at the cave entrance. He looked down at Cloudy and seemed completely immobilized, as if his feet were caught in a trap: "I don't want to leave!" He dropped the leaf bundle in his hand, roared loudly, and lifted Cloudy up.

Cloudy, who had been lifted up countless times by Titus, was already accustomed to these occasional moments of being held high in the air. After being lifted up, she instinctively reached out her hands and embraced Titus's neck. His prickly hair poked her cheek, feeling a bit uncomfortable but incredibly comforting. Cloudy tightened her grip around Titus's sturdy neck, saying, "I don't want to either!"

The two of them hugged each other and wailed. Cloudy even shed a few worthless tears.

In the end, they had to part ways. Cloudy followed Titus to the cave entrance and watched him leave. The man almost walked backwards into the forest, turning his head with every step, until his figure was finally obscured by the vegetation. Cloudy lowered her head in despair and returned to the cave.

She looked at the empty cave and the wooden house standing quietly on the hill, sighing deeply. That long-lost feeling of loneliness returned.

However, she didn't linger in her emotions for long. Since Titus helped her keep the fire burning until today, she decided to focus on how to prolong the flame's burning time. With that in mind, Cloudy regained her determination and ran to the fire pit, where she noticed some scattered sticks.

These sticks were probably leftovers from Titus last night. Thinking about how Titus had tirelessly helped her with the fire last night, that sense of loneliness crept in again.

No, she couldn't let herself feel this way! Cloudy encouraged herself. She went inside to get the bone knife, preparing to go out to pick some grass cores. Then she saw Titus's large bed.

The image of that big guy rolling around on it appeared before her eyes...

"Ah..." she covered her eyes in pain.

What's wrong with her! Titus had only been gone for less than 10 minutes, and she was already missing him this much.
Ah!