Voyage Of The Villainess

Malaya grabbed some dry clothes to change the wet clothes that were on Hyun Jae and Oliver\'s heads. It was even strange to see Oliver with them. But knowing him, he must have ways on how he would be able to sneak inside the ship without anyone noticing him.

\'It will be better if I should scout the area first.\' Malaya glanced around her. Since the sun was still high, it was better to do some scouting now while everything could be seen clearly. The island had a lot of coconut trees, so the source of food and water would not be a problem for now. 

With a long stick that served as a cane for her since the wound on her leg prevented her from walking properly. She headed deep within the island. After a few hours of scouting, the trees had grown deeper as she made her way. She put marks on the trees she passed so that she would not get lost.

\' I need to go back now, it\'s almost an hour since I kept walking to this island.\'Malaya decided to head back when she kept seeing nothing other than trees and wild deers lingering around. The sun was already setting as well. And cold sweats were dripping from her forehead as her heart thumped fast. \'I must have forced myself too much with the wound I have right now.\'

Malaya reached her campsite. She headed first towards Oliver and Hyun Jae to check their conditions. `Glad they\'re better now than before." She takes a few steps to get closer toward them.\'Their fever has receded now. But it still makes me worried, since they are still not waking up. Maybe they are too tired for now and their body just needs some more rest. And I hope that is the case with their situation..\'

Malaya decided to make herself some stew from the herbs she gathered along the way. As much as possible, she needed to save her supply as well. She checked her wound next and saw that it was still as nasty as ever. She cleaned it before putting new bandages on it. Then she lay on the sand, looking at the endless sparkling billions of stars in the sky.

\' What a beautiful world in a challenging life. How do you keep shining in the middle of darkness? Oh!\' There suddenly comes out in her mind \' You keep shining because you are not alone on this dark journey. When you are together nothing is impossible because each one of you chooses to be the light to each other to make a way. \' she raised her hands, imagining that she took some stars. \' And that made me remember my team.\'

However, when she was going to close her eyes, she suddenly heard rustling noises. Malaya though didn\'t move heightened her senses to her surroundings as she held her Tyr that was on her waist. The rustling noises became louder. Now Malaya was certain that something was happening around her.

She immediately stood up and checked her surroundings but to her surprise, she saw a huge brown dog?  Who had a lump of meat on his mouth from her supplies? Their eyes met and there was a moment of silence. However, when Malaya decided to take the first step to reach the dog, the dog ran away.

"H-hey!" She tried to go after it but the wound in her leg made it impossible for her to run. \'Hah.\' She let out a tired sigh. \'If that dog was after the meat here, he must come back here once again. Plus that collar on its neck. Does it mean, its owner was somewhere here on this island?\' 

Malaya headed to the mess that the dog caused and cleaned it. While she was doing that, she heard groans from Hyun Jae. She stopped what she was doing and rushed to her side.

"Hyun Jae?!" Malaya held her hands. " Are you awake now, awake?"

Hyun Jae slowly opened her eyes and saw Malaya\'s worried face. "Malaya," her voice was weak and soft.

"Hyun Jae, thank goodness, you\'re  finally awake."

Hyun Jae tried to sit up and Malaya assisted her. Then she immediately fetched some water to give to Hyun Jae.

"How are you feeling?" Malaya asked. " Is there anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or any pain in your body?"

"My head," Hyun Jae touched her head. "My head is a little muddled."

" I see, it might be due to your fever," Malaya said. "Here, drink this warm water for now to calm your senses." she assisted Hyun Jae to drink the water seeing her trembling hands.

Just then, Hyun Jae suddenly panicked when she remembered something. "That\'s right! When that blinding light appears! An object was flying towards me and I saw Oliver!"

"Calm down, Hyun Jae," Malaya said as she touched both her shoulders. "For some reason, Oliver is indeed there. He must have sneaked in the ship without anyone\'s notice. He is right beside you now as well." Hyun Jae immediately turned to where Malaya was looking and to their surprise, Malaya was also surprised, Oliver was already awake as well.

And he was just silently looking at them.

He reached his right hand towards Hyun Jae. "Am I still dreaming? Are you really in front of me looking directly at me?" 

"Oliver," 

"Hyun Jae,"

"Malaya," Malaya said as he held Oliver\'s hands. "Let\'s save the drama later, shall we?" The two immediately looked away from each other. And Malaya let go of Oliver\'s hand.

"As I can see, it seems you two are already fine now," Malaya said as she stood up. "I\'ll prepare you both something to eat first and I will brief you of the things that have happened so far here. So at this moment you do nothing but rest your body and stay, Alright?" Hyun Jae and Oliver just moved their heads as a response."  And for the first part of that, when I woke up as well. It was only the three of us in the middle of nowhere."

After an hour, Malaya explained everything so far. "So that\'s all of it." She said, "Now that the night is deep like I said the both of you must better go back to your rest now. I will rest as well since I\'m quite tired after scouting the whole place."

---⚓⚓⚓---

The next day came in a flash, and Malaya woke up with the sunlight directly hitting her. She already saw Hyun Jae and Oliver already awake. But there was this awkward atmosphere surrounding them.

Well, she couldn\'t blame Hyun Jae other than Oliver. He betrayed Hyun Jae and shot her with an arrow when he tried to become a demon lord. Malaya just shook her head. \'Well, he deserves this as much.\'

Oliver noticed that Malaya was looking at him and he gave him his sly grin.

\'Ah, why of all people I am always getting stuck with this guy. It will be better if Kayden, them, Iris, and everyone are also here.\'

Now that she was awake, Malaya decided to stroll the island again. She also noticed that her wound was already gone. Hyun Jae must have healed it while she was sleeping and gave her thanks.

Just before Malaya could head to her scouting, loud barks of dogs stopped the three. The dog that she saw last night was running towards them.

"A wild dog?" A spark of electricity emerged from Oliver\'s hands.

"Wait," Malaya said and the dog stopped in front of them. The electricity in Oliver\'s hands also disappeared. Seeing this, the dog ran towards Malaya and bit the lower part of her dress.

"Malaya!" Hyun Jae screamed with worry. But the dog only bit her dress and nothing more. The dog was also pulling her as if it was telling her to follow.

" Don\'t worry, it\'s alright and I\'m fine," Malaya said. "It seems he doesn\'t have the intention to harm me. But instead,  I think this dog wants me to follow him?"

"Are you certain?" Hyun Jae asked. " You must be careful of that dog. I have a bad feeling about this, Malaya." her voice was filled with worry and it was visible on her face.

"No, this dog seemed well-trained and domesticated based on his collar," Malaya said. " Like what I said, there is nothing to worry about. I should follow it now." Malaya looks directly at the dog". Okay, okay I understand you. I\'ll follow you. Good boy." Malaya said as she patted its head. " Can you now keep calm?" 

That was when the dog let go of Malaya and she immediately set a distance with it. 

"Why are you getting away from it?" Oliver asked.

That was when Malaya started sneezing. "I\'m allergic to furs. Ha-hachoo! Urgh, I\'m just holding it in so that it would not get scared away." She said that while having difficulty breathing because of her clogged nose.

That was when Hyun Jae realized that Malaya was sweating profusely.. "Malaya!" And she immediately did her healing magic when she saw Malaya in her situation.