Chapter 111 - PITY

At dawn, that was when Lapil had come back. He came back not himself, aside from being his usual carefree smiling face, he had this dumbfounded expression they never saw once. 

"It seems like our Ginoo was taken by some mystic creatures in the forest," Tatop murmured.

"Maybe, Bai Yanar was mad that he is seeing her sister as her replacement so she ghosts our Ginoo," Wakan said, they contemplated. 

Famir looked at them as his eyes suddenly widened, "Yes, that's right! I heard that Bai Yanar and the second daughter were not in a good relationship. They were enemies!" He exclaimed then whispered to the men, being careful not to get caught by the scary second daughter of this house. 

"The Bai must be grieving, she died wrongfully and now her groom was stolen by her sister from a different mother." Tatop sighed, although he hadn't had a glance at the first daughter, he felt like she was a good person. Every person he had interacted with in this banwa had no grudge towards her, she left an impressive impression on these people who knew her. If only his Ginoo met a woman like her, maybe he could change from something dangerous to someone like Datu Pita. 

"Should we ask Ginoo later what happened?" Famir suggested and Wakan immediately nodded his head.

"Should we?" Another of the mangangayaw asked. 

"Whatever it is, I bet that he was taken captive by a diwata." 

"I bet that he was ghosted by Bai Yanar!" 

As they were discussing what happened, Lapil was laying on his bed, gazing at the ceiling. Couldn't sleep no matter how tired he was after searching for the woman who enticed him in the woods. 

He felt betrayed after she ran away. He was worried if she was real or just some spirit. The thought that she was a goddess that protects the forest came to his mind. After all, she was so ethereal, like what he thought the first time he laid his eyes on her. She feels like she didn't come from this world. 

He stretched out his hands and looked at his callous palm. But his nerves remembered how she felt. She was small, so thin but soft--- she was warm and smooth. She also smells good.

He touches the lips that she had kissed. It was comfortable and electrifying, there was voltage crawled to his skin and flesh. He liked it, he craves for it. One more, he wants to feel it one more time. 

But she disappeared, she vanished. He had looked for her. From the moment the sun had set until the sun rose again. Yet, he found nothing. He even reached the neighboring banwa, he asked locals they're but there were no traders that came within this month. 

The merchants were always scheduled to come every three months and they just left last month. Also, there was no such woman that he describes. Some of them even told him that maybe he was being haunted by the ghost of the Bai of Datu Pita's daughter as she had the same description he declared. Except for the fact that her hair was cut shorter. 

He stood up from his bed and called for Famir. The young warrior arrived in his bedroom. Outside, there were the others, trying to eavesdrop on what they would talk about. 

"Ginoo, you called for me?" Famir asked as he walked toward Lapil's bed. Lapil signaled him to get closer so he did. This was very rare, Lapil rarely asked someone of his people to talk to, especially if there's no battle. 

"You said your mother saw the first daughter of this house, right?" 

"You mean, Bai Yanar?"

"Yes." 

"What about Bai, Ginoo?"

"Can you remember how your mother illustrated Yanar?" 

"Of course! How could I forget? Iloy always talks about the Bai at home. I even memorized it myself and had drawn her on my mind -- how pretty she could be. If only she had lived… " Famir said disappointed. 

"Tell me." 

"What?"

"Tell me what she looks like." Famir eyes widened as he heard his Ginoo suddenly take interest in the Bai. Maybe he was haunted!

"... the Bai has black shiny long hair. It was straight and beautiful. Some say it was very silky and smooth."

"Her eyes were sparkling, it was enticing when you locked eyes with her. You might become speechless as you adore her light brown tantalizing eyes." 

"Her nose was small and pointy, it was cute. But her lips are plumpy and naturally pink. When she smiles, she looks like a flower blooming, it was like she was a goddess! Her skin is porcelain white, iloy said it blushes whenever the sun hits her skin."

"...she was such a gorgeous person if only she did not die. I had a chance to see it with my own eyes. Because she will become your wife Ginoo! However, what a pity -- she died."

The sun was starting to rise, on the top of the hill, where the graveyard of ancestors of the banwa's is resting. A young man was sitting in front of the newly dug tombstone for the Bai. From the day of her burial to the present, he barely left her. 

He was lovesick, he still couldn't accept the fact that she had died. She had left him before they could even start their life together. He had realized it when she was still missing and he was looking for her desperately, that he did not fall in love the night that they had spent time together. 

He was in love from the day he had seen her. He just denied it because she was treating him differently. But he had recalled the day they met at the very beginning, she was good to him. 

"Aren't you the youngest recruit in my Baba's army?" He was practicing his swordsmanship when a young girl ran through his front. "Can I play with you? Can I?"