They continued their journey once more. By the time they arrived, it was at least twelve noon, the hour when the sun reached its highest point yet on the mountain, the air remained quite cold.
"Welcome to the checkpoint area, 200 meters above sea level. Please, take a rest first," the officer at the checkpoint greeted the climbers who had just entered.
So very friendly.
Upon reaching the rest area, Dewi and Fitri sat down in the eastern section. They observed everyone around them stretching and resting their weary legs.
The smell is absolutely disgusting. I feel like throwing up… How could anyone come to a mountain without wearing perfume? It's completely ruining my mood.
Inside Fitri's mind, she was seething, her nostrils assaulted by the foul odor of the rest area. She immediately turned to Dewi. "Yan… Dewi, can we keep going? I can't stand it here." Her mouth had almost slipped; she nearly said "yang," from "sayang"—darling—but remembered in time they were surrounded by a crowd.
Dewi understood perfectly. She knew her girlfriend's character intimately, knew she could be a little bitchy at times, but Dewi loved her nonetheless and would give her all the love she had, as long as Fitri accepted it.
"Okay, okay, let's keep going and get out of this mess."
They quickly signed off to confirm they had reached the checkpoint and then proceeded on their way. But Dewi accidentally bumped into someone.
"Ouch… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," Dewi apologized, bending down to pick up the belongings of the person she'd collided with.
"Dewi…?" the person uttered.
Fitri merely watched, completely uninterested in this stranger that she knew. Dewi looked up at the person and realized she had bumped into Rian.
"Eh, Rian… What are you doing here?" Dewi asked, a little shocked.
"Ah, yeah. I was feeling utterly bored, so I came here. I never expected to run into you."
As Rian spoke, Dewi scanned the surroundings and asked, "By the way, where's Sebastian? Why don't I see him? Did you come here alone?" Her tone was slightly curious.
At that question, Rian's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. In that moment, Dewi immediately grasped the situation between Rian and Sebastian. "Are you two fighting?" she asked, lowering her voice slightly.
However, the surrounding noise was so loud that Rian couldn't hear her words.
Fitri's face turned sour; Dewi was taking far too long with this conversation. As Dewi asked her question, she felt an intense wave of annoyance radiating from her left side.
"Sorry, please just forget my question. I'm sorry, Rian, I have to get back to Fitri. She's waiting for me."
"Hm… Can I come along?" Rian asked.
Taking so damn long… It pisses me off so much. My girlfriend is being neglected and left hanging just to talk to this gay mokondo. (mokondo—modal kontol doang—a man with nothing to offer but his dick)
"Sorry, I can't. Fitri would definitely refuse. I want to spend time with her alone. Once again, I'm sorry…"
Rian just nodded, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes, but what could he do? He left the area and headed down the descending mountain path.
Dewi immediately went over to Fitri, whose face was a mask of sulking and sourness.
"Sorry… sorry… sorry," Dewi repeated, tugging gently at Fitri's shirt. Fitri's heart melted, and her mood returned to normal. In fact, twenty minutes later, she had completely forgotten the incident.
—
They resumed their journey at one in the afternoon. On this stretch of the trail, it wasn't just trees that greeted their eyes; animals that inhabited the mountain began to appear. There, they encountered the seasonal birds. These birds only came during the dry season. They fluttered and swooped among the forests, an utterly breathtaking sight. Dewi, Fitri, and several other climbers in the area were struck with pure awe. Many immediately pulled out their phones to record the phenomenon, for it was profoundly rare; the seasonal birds only appeared between December and January, and it wasn't guaranteed they would fly together in such a massive flock every day. They were incredibly lucky to witness these seasonal birds.
Fitri recorded them too, but then turned her camera to capture Dewi's mesmerized face as she watched the birds take flight.
Why are you so beautiful… So beautiful that I could never forget you, even if I were forced to. Fitri's thoughts wandered as she filmed Dewi's face.
The spectacle lasted only ten minutes before the seasonal birds vanished into the vast sky. They then continued their trek until they finally reached the second checkpoint, an area 400 meters above sea level.
So unfriendly. So unprofessional.
Dewi observed that the officer in this area was nothing like the friendly one before. This officer simply sat there, even falling asleep in his chair despite being surrounded by crowds of people.
Dewi went over and checked off her and Fitri's presence on the register. There was a reasonably spacious area nearby, so the two of them headed there to rest. The time already showed five in the afternoon, and the sun was visibly beginning its descent.
Dewi, "Let's rest here, okay…"
Fitri only nodded. After Dewi set up the camping tent, they both crawled inside.
Inside, Dewi sat with her legs stretched straight out. At the same moment, Fitri laid her head down on Dewi's calves, using her legs as a pillow.
"You want to sleep? Aren't you going to eat first? I'm afraid you'll go hungry."
Fitri replied, "Relax. I don't want to eat, I'm not hungry anyway. I also drank too much earlier, so I'm bloated and it's making me sleepy… I'm going to sleep now." She yawned, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep within just two minutes.
So cute.
Dewi simply smiled and gently stroked Fitri's head. Then, she opened some snacks to eat. She was quite hungry but didn't want to eat a full meal alone, so she snacked to stave off her hunger for the time being.
After a while, Dewi fetched a pillow and carefully placed it under Fitri's head to replace her legs, which had grown somewhat stiff. Once the substitution was complete, she kissed Fitri's forehead and stepped outside to stretch her legs and watch the sunset.
Dewi stretched her limbs, then moved toward the edge of the area, where she could see the sun that still a blazing, bright sphere perched at the very rim of the earth, about to be swallowed by it. Minute by minute, the sun began to disappear, sinking gradually. The sky, which had been blue, transformed into yellow, then deepened into golden, and gold became orange, and so it shifted until the sky turned dark. Because the sky was so clear with scattered clouds, the sunlight became exquisitely aesthetic and beautiful… Dewi watched this from an area completely devoid of people, for everyone else was watching from the western edge, while Dewi stood in a quiet northwestern spot.
As she was drinking in the view, a strange man suddenly approached her.
"Hey, girl. All alone here? Where's your man?" he asked with a flirtatious edge.
Because it was still sunset, it wasn't yet completely dark, and Dewi could see him clearly. She chose not to answer and moved to leave. But the man wasn't playing around. He immediately grabbed her hand, preventing her from going. "I asked you a question, and you just walk off? Come on, keep me company. Don't be scared. mine is very long and big, guaranteed you'll be satisfied. It's secluded here, right?" he said proudly.
Dewi slapped him across the face. "Fuck off, You bastard."
Enraged, the man shoved Dewi hard. She fell, scraping her hands as she tried to break her fall against the rocky ground.
"You bastard woman. I offer you a good thing, and you don't know what's good for you." He immediately stripped off his shirt, then his pants, and then his underwear. At that sight, Dewi was utterly speechless... she was completely… That man was utterly repulsive.
The man, who looked to be around thirty years old, moved closer, ready to pounce on Dewi. But from behind Dewi, a female figure emerged and hurled a large rock, striking the man hard in the mouth, causing his lip to bleed profusely.
The man roared in anger, turning to see this woman filming him. He charged toward her, intending to tackle her, but unfortunately for him, she delivered a powerful kick that sent the bastard crashing to the ground. Moments later, a crowd of people arrived and witnessed the disgusting scene; even the man's own wife and child saw his depravity. The man was then seized by the officers and taken away to the police station.
Just as Dewi was about to thank the woman, she realized… "Putri…? You're here…?" Dewi gasped, slightly in shock.