Kemuri

Chapter 5: Don't panic

Dawn illuminated the Ardiente village and announced the beginning of the second day of the summer solstice festival. Some of the older folks woke up before the sun to light lanterns and burn incense across the village meant to catch the attention of the dead and departed and ask them to pay attention to the young adults during today's competition. Huitzi laid on his bed with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling, he was excited. Today, him and Pyro would most likely have their long-awaited duel, Pyro's victory in their last scrimmage resulted in them being even at 72 wins each.

He stood up, stretched, yawned, and got dressed, not forgetting his usual necklace. It was plain silver, with no added ornament or colors, it hung loosely around his neck and reached below his clavicles. He picked a dark red shirt and black shorts before heading out. He went to the kitchen and found his little sister, Kaki, she was sharpening a knife. "Oh, brother, haven't seen you since...huh...when you woke you late!" she laughed. She turned around to face him. "So, how was your day?"

"Awesome! I fought a snake twice your size! It slipped away as I was about to deliver the finishing blow. If I see him again today, he's finished. How about you, what did you do yesterday? I didn't see you either."

"I went hunting with mom in the morning but came back because it was about to get too dangerous or whatever. I killed a rabbit though, it was my first catch on my own, Mom only help me make one knot. It's when I came back that I woke you up, you're lucky people underestimate me," she glared at him but was still smiling. She checked the edge of her knife and put it in its holster. " Today I'm gonna kill a deer!"

She somewhat scared him when she said that, seems like she inherited their mother's hunter spirit. He ate some fruits and headed out. 8:23 displayed the village clock tower. "Time to warm up". He went for a run around the village, greeting the few people he ran into, stopping only to pet a spotted cat. After running around once, he decided to head in the jungle, the morning sun had risen enough so that the grounds were visible enough. He headed north, planning to just head in a direction and back.

The jungles felt alive with sounds, smells, and sights. Birds flew overhead, the tree leaves rustled in the wind and the humidity of the jungles made the ground glisten in the sunlight. Huitzi slowed down to a walk to observe and absorb his surroundings, appreciating the life of the jungle. Time slipped from his mind.

GRRAOUU! The rumble alerted Huitzi and made him study everything around him. Jaguars! At least 2! Huitzi was unarmed, he didn't plan on facing any danger this morning. He backed up and found himself against a tree and no enemy in sight. Where are you? Where are you? Not in front, nothing to the side. Where... A low and deep rumble made him realize. ABOVE!

He lurched forward; the predator's claws dug into the tree bark but itself landed silently on the damp ground. Huitzi rolled, making his red shirt greener, and got back up on his feet to face the wild animal. "You're gonna make me late again," he mumbled, smiling nervously. He had never seen a jaguar from up close before, its green eyes seemed to shine in the shadows. GRRR. It growled again and dashed towards the boy. Huitzi dodged the charge but got scratched on his forearm, blood began trickling down. You bastard... wait there was another!

Huitzi ducked just in time for the second beast to fly overhead, it was much slender than expected and much faster, and much sharper and... 

A short spear stabbed the jaguar in the side, it groaned and fell to its knees. Two arrows quickly followed to finish the wild animal, it crawled for a few instants before collapsing, clawing at the dirt with its last force. Huitzi turned and saw the killer, shorter than him, and bow aimed at the boy.

"Don't panic," they said, a feminine voice, raspy and coarse. She lowered her weapon and Huitzi could see her face properly. Red, green, and black tribal face paint covered her face, her short dark red hair was decorated with colored feathers and she wore jaguar leather across her chest, arms, and legs, this wasn't her first kill. Despite the paint, burn scars were visible on her left cheek. The Arrasar tribe.

"Who are you?" said Huitzi, his breathing had calmed down, she wasn't a threat.

"Zessa," her voice was dry with animosity, she wasn't a friend either.

"I-I'm Huitzi. Thank you, I guess. I-huh... should go now." he smiled nervously and backed away. But before he could turn, she called him back.

"Hey! Take this." She threw a brown leather pouch, warm to the touch. Huitzi grabbed it, it was light but contained something. " Apply it on your wound, it will stop the bleeding." He had almost forgotten his bleeding arm.

He took a few steps but decided to finally address it. "What were you doing on the cliff yesterday? And what are you doing on our territory." She just cut the throat of the feline; dark red blood puddled on the ground. She turned her eyes to look at the boy, green so bright it seemed yellow.

"I was looking for a jaguar, and I found one." She tied the jaguar's paws and threw it over her shoulder before heading deeper into the jungle in silence. Huitzi left speechless clutched the brown pouch, it was warm. She was warm.