((Continued from here.))

The first thing he was aware of was the sensation of something tickling his nose.

And a sound like...snuffling, something breathing through a large set of nostrils.

The smell, too. Earth and rotting vegetation, mixed with a musky animal odor, the scent of green, growing things, and a faint, pleasant sort of perfume like - and yet unlike - jasmine and vanilla.

He opened his mouth and breathed in, a deep sampling of the air. Moisture - the air was thick with it, humid and heavy.

That deep breath must've startled something, because he heard and felt something make an odd sort of grunting sound and suddenly scurry back. Just as startled, he sat up and moved back away from the sound, opening his eyes.

The fist thing he saw was green - verdant growth met his gaze in all directions. To his eyes it looked like any other jungle he'd seen on Earth - lush, green, growing plants, broadly leafed, trees stretching upwards until they faded into the misty backdrop above and all around him.

Finally he looked around to see what had been sniffing at him, and his eyes fixed on a bizarre sight. The creature he was looking at resembled an odd, four-legged beast with a smooth, almost leathery hide and a large, beaked head with a bony crest over the neck, roughly the size of your average sheep. To Leo, the creature looked like a miniature Triceratops without the horns.

Whatever else, though, it didn't look dangerous to him - its dull, rather vacant stare as it looked him over, along with the way it turned and started munching on what looked like a fern, told him that this critter wasn't of the carnivorous persuasion.

He grunted and started pushing himself to his feet. The movements must have startled the animal, because it froze, then bolted off into the underbrush with a sound like a scalded cat.

Looking around, he took a quick inventory. Obviously, he was in some kind of rain forest region, but he didn't recall there being anything like this around Rhy'din, and he'd taken scouting trips out beyond the town's borders for over a hundred miles.

A quick look down at himself showed that he was, fortunately, intact. Sans his armor, clad only in the one-piece bodysuit he'd been wearing under the suit, but unharmed. No weapons, no tools, but definitely alive.

For just a moment, the thought occurred to him that he might be caught in a dream state again. His dreams throughout his life had always been remarkably vivid, some to the point of intensity that he hadn't a clue that he was dreaming until he woke up.

Just as quickly he discounted it. There was none of the curious shifting of the world here, and besides that...this place...

The scents, the sights all told him what he already knew, but there was something...different...about this place. He could feel the life flowing through this place, as though the very world around him had a voice and a pulse that could - if one listened in just the right way - be made out, distinct from the soft babble of forest noises around him.

It was beautiful...there was no other way to describe it, and it was unlike any place he had been before, even as a Marine. In fact, before coming to Rhy'din, he had, it seemed, spent the majority of his life in much more arid climates - desert, badlands, plains, where there was little to see except rock and sand and grass and heat.

It was odd, he thought, remembering all of that now. His old life. He recalled, as he stood there, a time not so long ago when he would have been glad not to have any of those memories back...but, then again, perhaps being relieved of them had been just what he needed to get past certain...issues he had with his past.

It was interesting, really, what perspective some time without the burden of guilt and terrible images from times past could do...though, perhaps, he would wait until he slept to determine if it was a wholly good thing. Just because he felt better now was not a guarantee that his infrequent nightmares he had been troubled by before would not return.

Still...one could hope, right?

For now, though, it was time to tend to the basics of survival.

A swift look around revealed to his eyes much that could be useful for shelter, protection, even food. The plants looked familiar enough in this place that he thought he would be comfortable picking out what was safe to eat and what was more questionable, and with the air around him so humid there had to be water somewhere close enough to get to.

But first things first. It was time to get an idea of what the terrain was like around him...and to find out, if possible, just where the hell 'here' was. Looking around again, he found a tree that looked both climbable and tall enough that he might be able to see above the forest canopy. Heading over to it, he started pulling himself up into the mists above.

He took it slow and easy going down, wanting to preserve what energy he had left until he reached the water. Despite that, he was on the ground sooner than he expected, which almost caught him by surprise. He didn't hesitate once his feet found solid earth, though, just started off in the direction he'd made a point of to remember earlier. It was difficult to judge if he was taking the proper way - the mists between him and the canopy, as well as the canopy itself, and the jungle stretching on uniformly in every direction from this small clearing he'd woken up in, made it hard to determine. In the end, he'd been forced to rely on instinct.

He knew his father had fought in Vietnam, and his descriptions of what it had been like in those jungles reminded him a lot of this. A chagrined smirk touched his lips as he remembered a lesson his father had taught him that he had - albeit briefly - failed to recall as he climbed down from the forest canopy: when you can't see the sky, find another way to remember which way you should be heading.

He hadn't, but it wasn't a total loss - he had always had an excellent sense of direction, and while he might be lost, he wasn't completely turned around. He picked the direction that felt right and set off, refusing to doubt himself.

It wasn't difficult, really - somehow, he could just... feel that he was going the right way.

"Always trust your instincts, son. Once in a great while they might be wrong, but for the most part they'll never lead you astray."

His father's lesson, one passed on after the younger Leo had failed to guess something correctly. When his father had asked him why he chose wrong, Leo had shrugged and said that he felt like choosing differently, but his head had made it difficult.

Strange, the way things occurred to him now, memories he had thought had been lost forever. Each one that returned to him now seemed like an old blanket, warm and comforting...even the terrible ones.

He remembered what had happened, how his memory had been stolen from him, taken by Renna after he had gone to Katt's rescue.

Now, he remembered it all...every moment that had been lost, as well as those that had occurred when he had, literally, forgotten who he was.

As he walked, he thought back over the past months. So many things, so many looks, so many things said that he hadn't been able to put a reason or a rhyme to. Friends he knew, perhaps not so well as he did back in Vegas, but knew well enough to know when something was off.

Well, he knew now.

Before that, it was just an oddity, something he chalked up to getting used to being among people he had known and had to get to know again.

He was musing on this when something - some nagging instinct - pulled him from his thoughts while he walked along.

He knew this feeling, a leftover remnant of mankind's distant past, a vestigial response developed when humans were little more than monkeys living in trees, before their ascent to the apex of the food chain...back when they were the prey rather than the predator.

He was being watched...followed...stalked...

...hunted.

He stopped in his tracks, slowed his breathing, closed his eyes, letting his ears pick out the sounds of the night.

No sounds. Nothing. The night was still, silent, as though the forest around him were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. He didn't bother looking around - in this dark gloom, he wouldn't see much, and whatever was out there stalking him would know the territory far better than he, would know all the tricks to camouflage itself, all the better to stalk and capture its prey.

Which, it seemed, was him.

He started walking again, opening his eyes to the forest around him, pushing his way through the thick foliage. He needed to find somewhere he would have at least an even footing with whatever was out there, something more open, so he could see his enemy, but first...

He looked around as he walked, and finally spotted what he was looking for: a limb long enough and thick enough to be used effectively as a weapon, if only as a cudgel - he had nothing to sharpen one into a point - and picked it up, hefting it to test the weight.

It was a good and solid piece of wood, nearly as thick as his wrist, four feet long. It would do nicely.

Another fifty feet brought him to a small clearing, perhaps twenty feet across. He pushed through the brush and it was there, and he nearly stumbled at the sudden loss of the resistance he'd been used to from the clinging undergrowth before he caught himself and regained his footing, falling silent and looking around.

He almost missed it - the sound of scurrying shapes, not just one but many, and it seemed on all sides of him.

He lifted the length of wood he'd picked up and held it like a quarterstaff, ready to swing, block or thrust, as he turned a circle in the middle of the clearing.

"Well, come on, already. I don't have all f*cking night."

He could feel the sharp electric jolt of adrenaline surging through his blood, the heightened awareness, every sense tuned up to the point of almost painful intensity.

He was ready, or so he thought...

...until the black shape burst out from the brush to his left, followed by one from the right, surging out of the darkness towards him with a reptilian screech, like monsters from a childhood nightmare.

She was not one to startle easily.

She had been raised in a primarily female environment, having four sisters and her mother, all whom attempted throughout her life to teach her the gentle and softer ways common to someone of her sex. She had not taken to it as the others had, to her mother?s great regret. She had always been her father?s daughter. Trained beside his men when she was only seven years old and had proven even then she could hold her own. Her fist kill happened on the first hunt she had been allowed to go on when she had just turned nine years old.

The bow she had used that day, crafted by her father himself, was a gift bestowed upon her when he had come to tell her she would be allowed to join in their next hunt. She still remembered the feel of the smooth wood as she had slowly run her fingers along the curvature from the upper limb, pausing briefly with her mouth slightly opened in awe and her eyes wide with the delight of a child on Christmas at the tightly bound grip in the center, touching the soft but taut leather before continuing down the length of the lower limb. She had wrapped her left hand around the grip, standing up in front of her father, too engrossed in familiarizing herself with her new weapon to see the pride reflected in her father?s eyes as he had watched her.

When she finally lifted her dark brown eyes up to her father?s hazel ones, they were rimmed in tears that would never fall. Their mere presence was a testament to her true emotions in that moment, enough for her father to know he had done well by his daughter in this choice of gift. This was further proven when she out shot all of her father?s men on the hunt later that week. The sleek design of the bow and the custom care taken by her father in his crafting of it, set her apart each time she joined them.

There was a glint of pride in her eyes as a small, rare smile curled the corner of her full lips as she thought back to that time. The years had passed and as she had grown, her father had continued to supply her with a bow suited to her growing body, arms and legs. When she was in her late teens he had shown her how to make them herself. The one she used now had been crafted to perfection by her own hands.

Today was what she liked to call, her ?outing? day. The one day every few weeks she was allowed to leave the village and venture out on her own; her aging father in the capable hands of her cousin as she slipped out unnoticed and headed to her spot. This spot.

The same spot that only moments earlier had been clear save for herself and her memories of what had transpired here. The cause of the startle is because her private space became not so private as the body of a man appeared in a flash mere inches from her where she stood. Her body tensed and in the blink of an eye, she was across the clearing in a crouched stance, having leapt several feet from where the intruder had landed. Her breath caught in her throat as she held what was left in her lungs, waiting for him to move. When he didn?t rouse immediately, she began to breathe again. She did not know how long she was crouched there in that position, ready for whatever might happen but after what felt like hours she moved, slipping behind the large leaves of the bracken, hiding effectively within it.

Then there was a slight groan and the man moved, slightly, before lumbering to his feet. He was quite a significant male. Very broad shoulders, long lean legs, powerful arms and a thick muscled neck holding up the head of a man whose features stunned her momentarily. Yes, he was quite a specimen of male. Her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed as she shook her head to clear the path her thoughts had begun to wander before refocusing her thoughts on determining just what to do with him. He was not of her land and that was a problem, especially if her father found out.

She was confident in her hiding spot as he took in his surroundings, passing over her very spot a couple of times before making a move to leave. She followed him. Using the dense cover of the jungle she knew better than anyone else in her village she followed him. When he stopped to look at the trees surrounding him and began to climb on of them, she ascended into a tree parallel to his own without so much as shaking free even the weakest held leaf from its fragile attachment to its sister branch.

Her eyes had narrowed as she discovered that his climb was to assess his surroundings and search for means of a survival; water, civilization perhaps. That made one thing very clear.

He was a warrior. Trained. Strong. The roping of his muscles as he moved was powerful. His jaw set stubbornly but confidently as he began to move through the dense jungle of her playground. She followed him for many reasons, not necessarily from what most would consider a ?safe? distance either.

She was also a warrior. Trained. Strong and?curious. She could approach man or beast, come within inches of them and should the slightest sense they were being watched caused a turn to investigate she would be gone. A whisper only their subconscious could sometimes detect but could not prove when alerted and nothing was seen with sight.

Again, she followed him for many reasons. The fact that he was attractive of face was the most insignificant one but she knew he had spotted her village. She must not allow that. She also knew that his great strength was waning. The thick, heavily saturated air that filled his lungs was causing his breathing to become labored with the exertion of his steady pace. The moisture in the air not enough to quench his obvious thirst and the combination of terrain and exhaustion would claim him soon and leave him unconscious thus easier for closer examination before she ultimately decided if he was worth saving and bringing to her father herself.

She was fascinated by him. Had she not been so consumed with trying to learn what she could from him before he ended up trespassing on her land and angering her father with the insult, she would have picked up on the beasts approaching before he had.

When his body went slightly rigid as his senses alerted him to the danger she traversed the nearest tree as stealthy as always within seconds. Slipping from branch to branch as her sharp brown eyes scanned the area, tracking the beasts even as they tracked the strange scent of the man below her, drawn to him as she had been but for far different reasons. She could practically taste their hunger, her pours absorbing the anticipation that was seeping into the air that surrounded the clearing the stranger now stood in. There were five of them, circling him as they still hid within the brush surrounding the clearing, the Vackta were a strategic lot.

She would keep him safe, or so she thought, until she heard his threat delivered to the air, her sharp eyes halted in their lock on the first target and cut to him. With fatigue weighting those heavy limbs, his body on the verge of dehydration, he had armed himself and issued the challenge as if he were fit for battle! Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at that hardened, determined face with something akin to admiration, respect and?something else.

There was no time to label that final thought as three of the beasts burst from their positions and with only a few moments following, he had felled one with a great swing of the branch he wielded as a weapon. She could do naught else but watch as his body moved and countered each attack. His movements as graceful as a dancer but as fierce and strong as any warrior she had ever seen. When the snap of his weapon echoed through the clearing, she drew with swift fingers the arrow from the sheath at her back and had it strung and aimed with blurred speed. Such strength and skill as this man possessed did not deserve to be served up to the likes of these foul creatures.

As he handled what he could see, what he could not see would fell him. And just as the largest and ?leader? of the pack of Vackta pounced, pinning him to the ground, she exhaled; her breath leaving her body as smoothly as the arrow that was released along side of it. The deadly accuracy nailed the beast at the point where vertebrae meets brain stem, slicing through that vital line of communication as if it were
naught but a knife through melted butter.

The second aggressor to receive her arrow was dispatched in the same fashion and just as quickly. The sharpened point of the arrow hit just as true while the creature was in mid pounce. As that powerful body hit the ground, the sound was muffled by the scraping as it slid a few feet forward, coming to a halt and silencing it forever more. The point of another already strung arrow was drawn back and aimed at the final beast but it had already bolted from the clearing and was quick to get lost in the thick of the foliage and out of range.

The arms poised to strike loosened and went slack as did the string of the bow. Even as her weapon was lowered, the threat seeming to diminish on the heels of the retreating foe, her senses remained alert. Besides being extremely strategic when a pack of Vackta chose a prey, they were known for their vicious cunning. Not mindless beasts, these creatures, and with one of them getting away, the scent of the man below had no doubt been imprinted. It would be back and it wouldn't be alone. The imprint would not last long but they were swift creatures and, being this far into the jungle, they were plentiful. The reinforcements would be rallied quickly and at least double in number if not more.

He was not safe here.

She had to get him out of here but he was surely in no condition to move as swiftly as she needed him to. She had seen those razor sharp teeth from the beast that had knocked him to the ground clamp down on the back of his neck. She had not allowed the sudden swell of panic that flared in her chest from the image cloud her mind as that first arrow was released, nor did she waste any time in between the second arrow's release. She shouldn?t have let that last one escape, she should have gone after it but she couldn't leave this dehydrated, exhausted and no doubt wounded male alone, making him a beacon and easy prey for any other of the vast selection of things that lurked in these jungles. It was growing darker by the minute and time was running out.

With a steadied breath she forced her gaze to return to man. He had somehow managed, even in what she knew had to be a furthered weakened state, to throw off the massive dead weight of beasts corpse and was even now looking over the other dead Vackta. His back was to her and she trained her eyes to look for the wounds that had been inflicted on him moments ago. Her eyes widened, her dark brows raising as her jaw slacked open.

This wasn't possible. How was this possible?

There was no sign of a wound on him. Not the slightest scratch or mark to mar the tan, smooth skin of his thick muscled neck.

This just wasn't possible! She had seen the beast take hold, had seen the powerful jaws lock on that very spot...twice, before she had felled the animal.

Who was this male? Or rather...WHAT was he??

Her eyes narrowed as she continued to search for the slightest indication that she had not imagined the horror of that attack when he turned. He had been surveying the area around the clearing, trying to pierce the dense overgrown jungle in the waning light and he had spun around and seemed to look directly at her. She knew she was well hidden in her spot in the tree but a sliver of unease slipped down her spine and she melded further into the darkness of the branches and foliage.

His gaze moved and continued to sweep the landscape and he was shouting something. When he had called out his challenge to the as yet unseen Vackta it was not his words she had understood. Though she had heard them clearly he did not speak her language so the words were unintelligible sounds yet she knew it had been a challenge he issued. She had known by reading his body, by the strength in his stance and the stone resolve on his face as he had spoken.

As he yelled out into the clearing now, his body had lost some of the rigidity and tension it had held when he was preparing for battle but even as his stance seemed more relaxed, his body was still alert. His eyes continued to dart around for what he was seeking but the tone in his voice was not threatening as it had been before.

He had no doubt seen the arrows. He knew he was not alone. He was calling out to her.

A rustling was heard a few short miles in the distance and her heart quickened its pace as her head snapped around to look in the direction it had come from. The Vackta would be returning at any moment, she had to get him away from here. Despite the absence of any wounds from the earlier attack he was still weakened from thirst and exhaustion, something that was already going to prevent her from getting him all the way to her village quickly enough to outrun the Vackta.

Night was falling and if she did not return before Last Meal was served, her father would be worried. Shortly after that worry would quickly turn to outrage and barked orders for her to be searched for and found. Her father would be furious with her if she brought a male back with her but more so if she did not return before the final rays of the sun had set. He knew the dangers that lurked at night and while he allowed her the freedom to roam, there were limits to that allowance.

But she couldn't leave him. Whoever he was, whatever he was, he wouldn't survive. She just wouldn't have his blood on her hands. Another rustling from the same direction and getting closer spurred her into action. She stood from her crouched perch on the branch and lept forward, her body knocking aside the thick leaves as she landed almost soundlessly in a crouch in front of him.

Rising to her full height to stand before him, she had to find a way to convince him to follow her. If she was unfamiliar with his language, hers would most likely be foreign to him as well. However, this male seemed full of surprises but she couldn't take any chances. Her brows knitted together in determination and her jaw set sternly, she extended her arm towards him and pointed to his chest then swung her arm out to gesture to the jungle around them in the opposite direction of the approaching rustling.

"Nga zene k? tsa'u fya. Ila oe. Sete!"


*translation: "You must go that way. Follow me. Now!"

The defensive stance her took for those first few seconds of her reveal was not a surprise as it only further proved the warrior that was within him, always on guard and ready to move into action as needed, definitely a good thing this far into the jungle.

When she spoke and gestured urgently the need to leave this area as she knew the Vackta were on their way back, he of course didn?t understand her words and even seemed confused by the gesture. She watched as he gestured about his need for?water. Yes, he needed water and soon but there was no time. She shook her head and was about to try again to explain as best she could the urgency of their need to leave this clearing when he turned and started heading in the opposite direction she had been urging him follow her in.

Panic seized her chest again as he turned and started walking away, right in the path the incoming Vackta would be entering in a few more moments. She used the clenching in her chest to run forward and grab the wrist of his arm. She didn?t bother trying to say anything further. There was no time to play charades in hopes he would understand. She had to take matters into her own hands, literally.

With a forceful jerk to turn him back towards her, the pleading, almost apologetic look in her brown eyes would hopefully suffice for an apology for what was about to happen.

With more strength than she was sure he thought she possessed, she began to drag him along behind her. The powerful legs encased in her breeches moving swiftly and countering to accept some of the weight of the male she had in her clutches. He didn?t seem to fight it overmuch and she was thankful for the stunned response to what she did as it made dragging him along a little easier at least for the first few steps.

Then he became somewhat resistant, wanting to twist free, possibly to prove he could keep up but she already knew by the lag in his body and slight tripping up here and there as they were running that if she released him, he would slow them down. Even now she heard the sickening cry of a disappointed Vackta. By the sounds location, they had reached the clearing and were not happy to have found it empty. His scent was still heavy there and this would only give the rallied reinforcements a chance to get as good a lock on what they were after as the one who had gathered them for the hunt. That was going to be a problem.

They had cleared quite some distance before she knew what had to be done to get him out of harm?s way long enough for the Vackta to lose any way to trace him. They had to go up. High up. She stopped abruptly and released his wrist. Locking eyes with him, she said only one word, ??la.? (follow).

With that, she turned and grabbed on to the tree she had stopped at, climbing up a good feet or two before turning back and looking at him as he gazed up at her, ??la. ?la!? Would he understand? If she wasted time going back down to get him there was a chance the Vackta would reach them far too soon. It only seemed to take him a moment to realize what needed to be done and with a small inaudible sigh of relief she watched this exhausted warrior start his climb. Once he reached the branch she was perched on she pulled out a small hunting knife she had from a loop on the side of the sheath that contained her arrows. She only took a split second to look at the jumpsuit he was wearing before she came at him with the blade before he could register what she was doing. The blade ripped through the material at his shoulder, a similar slice to the opposite shoulder as well.

She only sliced the material not the man, slipping the knife back where she had grabbed it, each of her hands took hold of the material at each wrist and yanking hard, there was a rip as the material at the shoulders ripped free and she slid them off of his arms. Taking the sleeves she now had, her eyes locked on his and with them she urged him to continue. ?K?! Si ke ftang!? (Go! Do not stop!) She used gestures as well, pointing higher in the tree, urging the male to pass her and continue climbing. Despite the obvious confusion on his features, he complied. As soon as he was sure he would continue she leapt back down to the ground where he had just been.

His scent was very strong and virile and no doubt the Vackta would notice the sudden stop of the trail at this tree. She had to throw them off course long enough or at least far enough away to keep him safe. She had little time but she was swift on her feet and these jungles had been her playground since she was but a child. She quickly knotted the end of the sleeves to her ankles so the material containing his heaviest scent would drag the ground and in that crouched position, she took one more look up to make sure he was climbing and sear the image of the tree he was in before she looked back the way they came.

The rustling of foliage and the snapping of small twigs or branches along with the sound of pounding clawed paws were getting dangerously close. Together they couldn?t have outrun them, he was getting weaker but the tree would get him to safety. She however, could stay far enough ahead to throw them off and use the thick trees connecting branches to come back to him.

Without another thought she took off towards the east, away from the tree, her feet barely making a sound as she sped through, the sleeves slapping against every tree or bush she passed, effectively marking them ever so slightly with his scent. It would leave enough of a trail for the Vackta to follow.

She would come back, with water and something to strengthen him before she took him to her father. She just hoped he was smart enough to keep climbing and stay put.

Her legs were a blur as she traversed the jungle, diving and tucking her body into a roll as she leapt over or under the various overgrown roots of the massive trees before springing to her feet again, keeping up a grueling pace. She didn't trip once. This world had been her playground since she had been a child. She knew every area, had grown up alongside all of these trees and bushes and other various jungle life. Some of which was being ground under the heavy clawed feet of the eight Vackta hot on her trail. Had she slipped or became unsteady of foot for a fraction of a second, she would be pounced on. The scent from the ripped sleeves tied to her ankles were doing just as she had hoped as the beasts changed their direction and were following her. They were at least two miles from the tree she had stashed the male in now. She had no time to be thankful for that at the moment as she led them on a merry chase through her proverbial back yard.

In another two miles she would change her direction yet again. A slow burning had just started in her muscles as they carried her through the wild jungle layout and a dull ache in her chest that was a stinging reminder of what her body was being put through with each labored breath she took as she led the beasts further and further away from their intended prey. Another sharp change of direction, her movements almost soundless despite the exertion it was taking to move through the dense areas that allowed her hearing to confirm the Vackta had followed suit.

She burst through a particularly dense bit of foliage into a mid sized clearing. It took her only second to cross it. Springing from her current position, putting as much power as she could in her now aching and exhausted muscles, she caught a branch and swung herself up into the shadows of the tree it was attached to. The Vackta were seconds from busting through the same brush she had and finding the clearing as well as the stop of the scent they were tracking. In her crouched position she untied one and then the other sleeve from her ankles. Her ears peaked and listening to sounds of the creatures closing in.

She had about nine seconds.

The sleeves were set down on the branch as the bow was slipped off of her shoulder and a fraction of a second later she had pulled two arrows out of the pouch on her back.

Six seconds.

She speared each sleeve with the sharp tips of one the arrows and hooked first one and then the other into the bow and pulled the string back tight.

Three seconds.

Standing from her crouch on the branch she turned the bow horizontally, bringing the heel of her palm that had pulled the arrows back level with her chin. Her gaze saw beyond the dense foreground and upon a whisper of a breeze she released the arrows. One of them became imbedded into a tree only a few yards away, the other cut through the fronds of thick leaves and brush as it soared a good quarter of a mile. It lodged into the thick trunk of a tree, the sleeve dangling from it like a flag.

After the first arrow hit its mark, the branches of the thick brush that led into the clearing were bent back and snapped from the weight of the beasts as they skidded to a halt in the clearing. The sounds of the animals covered what little sound she made as she leapt higher, grabbing and climbing four to five more branches into the tree, finding a spot that gave her a clear shot of the circling beasts underneath her. She silently slipped another arrow from the pouch and primed it in the bow and waited as she watched.

Five of the massive beasts stood in the center of the clearing as the remaining four began to circle the perimeter, their sharp fanged beaks darting around the area trying to find pick up the trail. The one just to the left center must have picked up on the lodged sleeve a few feet away because it disappeared for a few moments before reappearing and communicated its findings with a combination of shrieks and chirps. The heads of the remaining ones focused on the one vocalizing its findings. It turned and headed back in that direction and she was sure that by now the scent from the one further away had caught on the heavy breeze filtering through the jungle and would link with their current finding, sending them away far enough for her to make her return journey to the tree the male was in so she could tend to him.

All of them headed off in the direction of the current leader save one. The beast paused at the edge of the clearing and looked...up. Right in her direction. She slowly slipped back into the shadow, hoping his hearing had picked up the movement in the nest of baby Misha birds above her because she had been frozen in her perched position, barely breathing. The creature moved to circle just underneath her tree. Her eyes were the only thing tracking it's movements, her bow still primed with an arrow if she needed it.

The Vackta let out a screech, extending its winged limbs, the claws of those arms latching into the bark of the tree like grip hooks. It had caught her scent. Either that or the scent that still lingered on her ankles from where the male's sleeves had been tied was enough to trigger the imprint of this Vackta. It was the one that had gotten away, the one who had rallied the large group that were no doubt at this moment on the trail to the second sleeve.

The Vackta released one claw to imbed it higher on the belly of the tree before doing the same with the other. It gained speed on its climb, now close enough to know the scent that still lingered on her was what it had been hunting.

She smiled as she brought her bow up, pulling the sting taut as she drew the arrow back, the release was swift as was the death of that once elusive creature. In mid screech, the arrow shot straight into the opened jaws of the Vackta, piercing whatever organs it located as it skewered the body of the animal. With it's claws still imbedded in the tree from its assent, the body went limp once the arrow speared its heart. The phrase ?Got you.? flitted across her mind before she leapt to the ground. Her head angling in the direction of the retreating Vackta, thankful none had chosen to find out what had delayed the straggler but that trail they were following would end soon enough but she knew that even if they attempted to double back the way they had come, the trail would be lost before they got anywhere near where she had left him.


She turned and willed her exhausted body to move as swiftly as before as she made her way back.



...an hour later.

She found him quite a fair distance up in the tree and thankfully he had done what she had hoped and stayed put. He was pale and his breathing was shallow. The bottoms of the pants were ripped clean and she spied where they ended up as he had tied himself to the tree, no doubt a fear he may fall to the ground given his current state of exhaustion. She dared to draw closer to him, her head moving around his upper torso and body, she took in his scent with her inspection, salty from the sheen of sweat across his brow, the clothing covering him damp with the same.

He was a very fetching looking male. The structure of his face and composition of his muscled body strong and the manner with which she had seen him in action against the Vackta, he was an honorable and fierce warrior. If he was not a stranger to the land, she could imagine him being one of his father's most prized soldiers.

Slipping the knife free from the side of the pouch of arrows, she stood on the thick branch he had chosen to rest and leaned over his body. She reached high above him and pulled down a rounded green bulb from the fronds on the branch just above his head. It was brownish green in color and covered in a light fuzz. She slipped her knife free from its strap on the side of her arrow pouch and punctured the top of the bulb. The blade was slipped back into its holder and she leaned down, coming face to face with the male.

She took another moment to admire those striking features before nudging him awake. He moaned but didn't open his eyes. Worry creased her brow for this stranger as she nudged him harder, poking his shoulder with a firm finger until his eyes opened into slits. She put the bulb to his mouth. He tried to turn away but she grabbed his chin with the other hand and held him as she brought the bulb back to his lips. His eyes had closed again but he complied and opened his mouth. She poured the liquid within it down into his mouth, the water from the fruit quenching his dry throat and soothing his cracked lips.

His body must have registered that it was getting what it was hungry for because while his eyes remained closed his body's natural instinct took over and his hands came up to grasp the fruit and drank hungrily from it. She had already procured another and had it punctured and waiting when he finished the first. Five bulbs later and it would seem his thirst was slated enough for now. He tried to rouse with the renewed energy from the drink, but she quieted him by lifting her hand and gently running it along his sweat soaked brow. After a moment he slipped back into slumber.

She stoked his brow a few more times before standing and leaping to a neighboring branch. Her body was exhausted, her muscles screaming for a chance to rest. She gave in and tucked her small frame into the crook of the branch where it met the trunk and slept soundly beside the warrior.

Her eyes snapped open at the first strike of the water fruit against the broken sharp point of the branch. She didn't move, didn't dare breath as she watched him. His mind distracted with his task she took those few moments to study him. Her eyes roving over the rippling muscles of his arm, exposed now since she had ripped his sleeves off earlier in her quest to keep the Vakta from finding where she had stashed him. Her gaze lingered on the strength of those arms for a moment before following the anatomy of it to his broad shoulders, lingering again on the unmarred neck that had only hours ago, been viciously gripped by the sharp teeth of the beast that had felled him in the clearing. Her eyes wondering up and taking in the profile of the man on the branch next to her...tracing the lines of it hungrily.

Who was he? There were hints of a lineage that explained so much of the strength within him and the power that radiated from him even in this small quest to obtain the water within the furred fruit. A hint of a smile as she watched him trying to get to the nector, knowing full well if he continued and was successful, he would end up losing half of it to the jungle floor.

She chose that moment to silently sit up. "Ke tsa'u fya. Pxel fi'u.? (translation: "Not that way. Like this.")

She slipped the knife free of the strap holding it against her pouch of arrows, showing him the blade before standing on the branch that had been her bed for the night. She reached up, snagging one of the fruit from above her and snapping it cleanly from the thin connection to it's mother branch. She similarly held the fruit up, the belly of it resting on her palm, bringing the hand gripping the blade up to the same level as the fruit. With the tip of the blade she traced a line along the narrower top of the bulb before moving the blade away and making a quick slicing gesture in the air to simulate the movement necessary to sever the top of the bulb to gain access to what he needed. She demonstrated by quickly and cleanly slicing off the top and bringing it to her lips to drink the slightly sweetened water it contained.

She flipped the knife up, catching the blade deftly between her thumb and pointer finger before holding it- handle out -towards him. A bobbing of the handle as she encouraged him to take it from her, her eyebrows lifting with that same encouragement.

As he did so, she crouched back down, leaning her back on the smooth trunk of the tree and sliding down to sit, an arm wrapping around her knees as the other hand holding the fruit was brought up to her lips to take another sip of the sweet water. She continued to keep her gaze on him as she did so, watching. She knew he did not understand her language but she had to try to understand something about this male.

The journey she was about to take him on would lead her to her village, and ultimately to meeting with her father. She did not know why but she did not want him to be harmed. The laws of her people were clear, all outsiders were to be killed. She knew it. Had known it when she saved his life in the clearing. Had also known it when she had saved him from the returning Vakta by safeguarding him in this tree. This male was not just another intruder. She could feel that to her core. She had to keep him safe, even if it meant standing against her father to do so.

?Perfya tsun fi'u lu??
(?How can this be??)

Her soft spoken, almost mumbled question had was laced with hints of awe and...fear. She could not bring her eyes to his for several moments as she continued to grip the hand she had unceremoniously snatched towards her. Her eyes taking in the smooth, once again, unmarred flesh of man who had sliced his hand with her specially crafted blade. The metal of which was the strongest of ores that were mined by her village, found deep within the mountains. It's strength was unparalleled yet she had seen the sharpened blade streak the flesh of his palm yet as she now traced a single finger along what should have been an cleanly open wound, she only felt the warmth of the perfectly intact skin of the male's large palm.

His answer to her question was not understood in so many words given the language barrier between them but when she brought her eyes up to meet his, the look upon his face was what spoke the meaning to her. She narrowed her eyes to study only to find there was genuine surprise and confusion creasing the brow and widening the eyes of the male. Her head tilting to the side as her own brows made to furrow, her lips pursing at him before her gaze dropped to the hand she still held.

She traced his palm with the tip of one of her fingers again as she muttered more to herself as she knew he would not understand her.

?Ayoeng zene k? tse'a Sempul, Ayoeng zene k? set. Za'u.?
(?We must go see my Father. We must go now. Come.?)

The last word was a command and her voice rose as she said it, as did her eyes to again meet with his. She did not release his hand as she jumped down to a branch only a foot below the one she had been crouched on as she had spoken. The slight jerk on his hand as she dropped to the branch was not enough to yank him from his seat but it was enough to get his attention. She used her other hand in a beckoning gesture before finally releasing her hold on him and leaping down to a branch a few feet further down the tree. She crouched on the branch, her eyes darting up to lock on his. Another beckoning motion made, ?Za'u.? ("Come.") before she stilled and waited.

She needed him to come with her. Her father may have the answers she needed to the questions that had been filling within her mind from the moment she had seen him survive the Vakta attack. There were legends spoken of Gods who walked this earth once and who's presence invoked fear and respect from her ancestors. These mythical Gods were told to her in stories as a child by her mother, and each of them possessed a power.

The blood of one of these God's coursed through the veins of all in her bloodline, including hers which accounted for added strength and skills she possessed despite the deceitful picture her frame painted upon first view. However, the original God's were said to have been impervious to harm, a trait that due to years of thinning bloodlines did not translate to the current descendants with the same strength. She would bleed when cut with the blades made in her village and her bones could be broken if she fell from a great enough height.

She had seen with her own eyes that this male possessed the impervious body makeup of the God's of old. The original God's that walked this earth. She had witnessed this and if she left him now to flee home as she was sure her father was already furious with her, no one would believe her tales. She must bring him to her father, he must see for himself why she broke the laws of their village and saved his life. Though now, she felt a twinge within her chest that identified that as a lie. How could she save a God?

As she continued to stare up at him, expectantly, hoping he would follow her again as he had before, she thought about the exhaustion that had overtaken him and it puzzled her. He must be a God or the Vakta surely would have ripped through his neck but if he was truly on of the God's of old...he would not have succumbed to the exhaustion that plagued him when they had fled from the creatures and she had forced his climbing of this tree. He would not have been as pale as the ghost of death itself when she had returned and nourished him with drink until the color returned.

She was unsure exactly what or who he was but the proof that had been displayed before her could not be denied and hence must be brought to her father. He would know what to do. He would be able to put to rest her questions. He would know.

Her stare up at him softened as she continued to wait, her eyes almost pleading with him to follow. ?Za'u. Rutxe?? ("Come. Please?") She didn't realize it but she was holding her breath as she waited.

Relief flooded her body as she watched him leave his perch and begin his descent with her towards the jungle floor. A curt nod could be seen before her gaze dropped to her feet and the passageway she was going to navigate him through to safely reach the bottom of the tree when he halted her progress, taking her arm with a slight pull to stop her. When his touch was felt, the feeling vibrated through her being. The gaze that first darted to the place he had grabbed her before it was swung up to meet with his was mixed with several things all warring for priority in the quizzical look she laid upon him. It questioned his stopping of her, fearing he may not be quite strong enough yet for the journey they were going to undertake despite evidence to the contrary given his resistance to harm; but also a questioning of the sensations his touch had evoked.

Was it because of who he might turn out to be, a God from old? Was it perhaps thatknowledge that incited the vibrating warmth that resonated through her? She had touched and been touched by him before in there interactions but the contact had not elicited this response before. Or had it been too brief to give notice to? Or was it there each time, just as powerful, but the intensity and adrenaline rush of the situations that they had found themselves in too overpowering in those moments that it didn?t allow for examination until now?when the jungle was still and quiet and the feeling of autonomy made it feel as though there were no others in the world save the two of them?

The questions were all there, unspoken behind her eyes as she leveled them on him. She kept them as hidden as possible. Her head canted to the side as her brow furrowed when he spoke.

She wished she understood what he was saying.

She wished he was able to understand her. She wanted to communicate with him, to ask him so many things; where he came from, who he was, why he was here. The desire to dig deeper into this mysterious male was almost overwhelming but there seemed to be little in the way of correcting it that wouldn?t take time to overcome.

She was never known for her patience but she seemed to have little choice in the need to accept and allow it.

She wasn?t able to understand the words and was only able to discern that he was asking her something given the uptake at the end of his words, as if it was a questioning request. Her brows furrowed deeper as she tried to keep the frustration from her gaze. She watched as he gestured with his next words, ending with placing his hand on his chest.

?My name is Leo?

??Leo? This was the part of the words that he stopped to touch his chest to place emphasis on. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and bit down lightly on it, concentrating on his lips as he spoke, willing her mind to understand what he was trying to say.

After he touched his chest, he extended his arm in a gesture for her to respond, his raised brow confirming it was a question asked that required her to respond. She turned and swiftly moved to a branch somewhat opposite him, close enough to him to touch but on a slightly lower level. Her eyes darted to where he had tapped his chest then up to meet his again before she dropped them once more to his chest. Her own palm was lifted and she locked eyes with him as she tentatively moved it forward to place it upon the same spot his had been previously. The warm vibration was felt again and she closed her eyes briefly as she adjusted to the sensation before they opened to lock on his again.

?Lee-oh? Her words sounded awkward to her ears as she attempted to repeat what he had said. It was broken in its execution as she attempted to replicate the sound, she was assuming it was a name but one she had never heard before. It was an odd name for a warrior. Perhaps she was mistaken as to his purpose so she waited for his response.

His nod came swiftly as he brought his hand up to place over her own; the added touch sending another tremor through her and her eyes darted questioningly to his hand. He grabbed slightly onto it as he drew it from his chest a mere inch or two before he guided it back to press once more on his chest as he repeated the sound. Still holding onto to her hand, he turned it so that her palm was facing her own chest and moved it to connect there for a moment. His brow was raised quizzically again in questioning as her gaze left his hand to look into his eyes.

Her head tilted to the other side but the furrowing crease of her brow lightened as she began to understand. To solidify what it was he wanted, he repeated the gesture once more, guiding her hand back to his chest to repeat the name before turning her palm to place it back on her own chest with that questioning lift of his brow.

Her lips set in a line as she nodded once she was sure she understood and she placed her other hand over his, drawing it back before bringing it back to tap lightly on the top of his hand she responded, her gaze never leaving his.

?Circe. Circe te Skopia.? She removed her outside hand from his to point in the direction they would heading to reach her village. She slipped her hand from under his and he drew his own back before she took his hand within hers and slid smoothly down to the lower branch, the place she had been before he had stopped her, tugging at his hand slightly and pointing in the direction of her village again, her gaze following her gesture, ?Skopia.?

She looked back up at him, a slight smile curling her lips, almost one of triumph. She felt as though there was a breakthrough with the exchange and her spirits lifted with the step forward she felt had been made. She let the smile linger in her eyes as she gazed back up at him before releasing his hand once more and making her way down to the jungle floor.