It's just another average day when Keira stands near the café's counter, waiting for her coffee.
The fragrance of freshly roasted coffee beans coupled with the soft afternoon sunlight pouring in through the café's wide windows created a mesmerizing ambiance. Despite the bustle of pedestrians outside the windows, this was her best time of day to relax.
There were many eyes on her, as many people recognized her from various advertisements and online platforms. It was her profession that brought her into this position.
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A voice called out her name, telling her that her coffee was ready. Turning around, she grabbed the cup, and made her way to her usual table by the café's window, where she could enjoy her drink in relative peace.
Looking out the window, she checked if the nearby bus station was currently serviced. Due to the extreme population density here, driving was a nightmare. Owning a car would only cause her to spend an extra two or three hours stuck in gridlock. This was why she rides a bus with an extra tunnel that got her home in under thirty minutes.
The bus was about to come and get its people, so she hastily gathered her belongings, put on a disguise to hide her identity, and ran to the stop.
People were everywhere, but no one cared to check who Keira was; this was a typical scene from city life, where everyone minded their own business and just wanted to get home.
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A half hour later, Keira arrived at her home stop, and crossed the road to her home.
'*sigh..*'
Letting out a sigh of relief, she threw open her front door. Keira's parents passed away long before her university years, so the house was as silent as it had always been.
Keira felt a pang of loneliness as she stepped inside, realizing that she had no one to share her day with, but she reminded herself that she had her work and hobbies to keep her busy.
After taking off her high heels, she went to wipe off her makeup in the bathroom.
In the reflection was a woman with a curvaceous figure. She was well-known for her full, healthy body, distinguished by her round, feminine shape.
Her hip-length, black hair clashed sharply with her porcelain skin. Her face was perfectly oval, with a pair of arched brows that swept over velvety-black eyelashes, and bright gray irises that gazed at her reflection over round-shaped lips.
Her eyes, shone with a vivid luminosity, almost as if she were endowed with mystical powers. It is unknown where she got her unusual coloring, as neither of her parents were of that hue.
Keira then undressed her clothes and hopped in the shower.
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Shutting her eyes, she let the shower's steamy water to wash over her skin. She took a deep breath, letting out a contented sigh, feeling the stress of the day ebbing away.
While she was rinsing shampoo out of her hair, the shower abruptly turned off.
Opening her eyes, and the sight scared the loving hell out of her. Rather than being in the shower at home, she was in the midst of a thick jungle, encircled by towering trees and verdant plants.
The sound of the wild humming with leaves rustling in the breeze told her she was no longer in the city.
Peering around, Keira tried to make sense of what had just happened and how she ended up in this place. The fact that she could smell the moist, verdant, earthy soil proved to her that this was no hallucination.
'What the heck?'
She scanned the area, dsperately trying to figure out which part of the world she was in. The vastness of the landscape made her feel tiny and insignificant but also filled her with a sense of awe and danger.
The frigid air wafted against her wet, exposed skin. Shivering, she clenched her palm together, trying to warm her hands, and thought of some cloth nearby.
Then, out of nowhere, a silky feeling manifested in her hand. A floor-length, white dress just popped up. She blinked at the dress a couple of times, and it was still there.
She spun around, her eyes darting all over the place. 'What on earth—did I overlook something?'
Before she was going to freak out, she sucked in a big breath. 'No sweetie.. Just because you're standing naked in the midst of a positively—dangerous forest doesn't mean you should start freaking out.' Without hesitation, she hastily put the dress on.
'I have to get out of here somehow'
Keira couldn't make up her mind, so she just.. walked forward. Yet, the longer she lost her bearings, the more dazed she became. On either side, she could scarcely make out what was behind the thickets of shrubbery and had no idea how to get back to civilization. Her heart began to race as she panicked about how she would ever make it out of the forest alive.
Not to mention the mud that has probably caked on her feet by now, and judging by the stinging pain, she's sure that there must be wounds from those damn jagged pebbles she has stepped on.
She retraced her steps, but the trees all looked the same, and the sound of her own breathing was the only thing accompanied her. If she wanted to stay alive, she knew she had to keep moving.
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At last, after wandering randomly, Keira heard the sound of running water not far away. She knew in her gut that she needed to make a beeline for it.
She hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't encounter a predator or worse as she followed the sound of water and heard a splash and something moving on the water's surface.
Just to be safe, she snuck behind a large rock and slowly poked her head out to peek at what was out there.
Sighing in relief, what she'd found was a person standing inside the stream and not a predator, reptile, or whatever that would leap this way and consider her as dinner. With things stand, she might as well start seasoning herself with salt and pepper no chance to survive anyway.
She stepped from her hiding and shouted, "Hey! Do you have a plan to get out of here?"
The man's head swiveled toward the source of the noise, and he moved closer to where Keira was waiting.
As his towering body emerged from the water, his chiseled muscles were immediately on display. His damp, silver hair was nestled against his face as his green eyes looked at her blankly. Seeing that particular pairing in real life was an impossibility due to its rarity.
'Green eyes and silver hair? Oh Lord, where am I?' She stumbled, cocking an eyebrow at her new stranger.
When their eyes met, neither of them could tear their gaze away.
'Who is this stunning female, is she a deity?' To get a better answer, he got to his knees and asked, "Dear Goddess, tell me what's your willing"
Her jaw dropped open, and her body language betrayed her utter shock. 'A what? What kind of flirting 101 is this?'
A deity title was applied to her, despite the fact that she looked exactly like a dirty, filthy, unkempt human. couldn't help but get pissed at this man.
"Nah, not that I'm trying to pretend I am, let's tell me how to get out of here, you know? A nearest road?" Her voice was somewhat worried.
He made no attempt to reply, instead remaining crouching there in silence, clearly confused by whatever she had said.
"A phone? Do you have a phone with you?" She made a phone gesture in an effort to clarify.
Observing the strain on her face, the man craned his neck and asked, "Aren't you a goddess?"
She scratched her head and sighed deeply in surprise and incredulity, 'Why hasn't he halted this farce yet?'
"Could you kindly end this? I've been lost in this forest for what seems like an eternity, and I'm now completely spent." She scoffed as she yanked him up from his crouching position so he could stand upright and speak to her.
After he stood up, Keira had to take a few steps back to avoid straining her neck to peer at his face because of their vast height difference.
Based on her best estimation, he had to be closed to eight foot tall. Or probably more, since she had met her fair share of tall models, but this guy was totally at another level, raising her suspicions of what's his origin and wondering if he had undergone some sort of genetic mutation.
Sure, he looked human to her, but from both his uniqueness and his size, he was undoubtedly not someone she would run into in the place where she was living.
After getting a closer look, she mused that it would be a shame if this charming guy was actually insane. Despite his odd behavior, he was her only hope after getting trapped in the forest and finding only him.
"Can you get me out of here?" Keira inquired once more, hoping he'd get it this time.
After being temporarily dazed by her beauty, the guy came to his senses and carefully considered her requests. He nodded and took her into his arms.
From what he could tell, she was either lost or had come down from paradise. As a result, he needed to return her to his people first. He felt terrible about abandoning her in the cold of this forested area.
"Just what are you up to, exactly? Oh look, I can walk, let me go!" Keira blinked her eyes open widely, struggled to break free from his grip.
He paid no attention to her scream. Instead, he hugged her even tighter before tearing off at a run. "Goddess, This is a lot quicker. The clouds are getting darker, if i send you off on your own walk, you won't make it there before dark"
He made some valid points there. Considering her current condition, she had best be docile and do as he said. Remaining in the jungle at night without any emergency tools was not a smart plan.
But the fact that he kept calling her a goddess was giving her a terrible migraine.
"Could you please stop calling me that? You wouldn't see a goddess dragging herself around like this." There was a long exhale on her part, "Let's just call me Keira."
"I'm taking you to my tribe, and we can talk it over there." He then graciously grinned at her and said, " I'm Frost."
Keira sighed twice as she realized how helpless she was. Currently, she couldn't do anything but let him continue to hold her, as she had none other way to go but not willing to die, and also didn't want to walk aimlessly in this jungle any longer.
Frost was relieved that she had stopped struggling because he had to exert so much effort to control his emotions in order not to launch himself at her. Since her softness was too appealing, and every time she moved, it caused his thoughts to wander.
He knew he had to maintain his composure, as he didn't want to scare her away. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that he was there to help her, not to act on his impulses.
He shrugged off his thoughts and focused on returning to the tribe.
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