Kainak the Awesome

Chapter 1

Kainak of the Jungle stood atop a mighty tree, surveying the jungle that spread out on all sides around him on Pomaika'i Island. And the jungle was Kainak's domain.

Okay, that was a little dramatic and overblown, but it's true.

And it was a nice day. The early-mid-morning sun was beating down on the lush green, providing excellent photosynthesis food for every single plant on the island, which itself is pretty big. There aren't very many other islands approximately the size of Pomaika'i, although that's because there really AREN'T.

(Also, the size of the island tends to change, depending on the story, because while there is something of a canon/continuity, it does not extend to the size of the island.)

The island is covered by a lush green jungle and populated by a veritable mix of flora and fauna species. Most of the latter, in fact, almost all of them, save for the native fruit bat, could be considered invasive species, except they'd formed an entire balanced ecosystem, complete with equally-as-balanced food chains, that, if things went wrong, could potentially lead towards ecological disaster on the island.

And that's why Kainak, although his Teo tribe brethren also hunted, took it upon himself to help keep the balance of the jungle. And it was his home. The proud grin he wore as he stretched his body could not be contained.

He sat on a thick branch, surveying his territory and relaxed in the early-afternoon sun. He tapped his bare foot on the branch, listening to the breeze and the sounds of the other animals in the jungle. He trained his ear up above him. A monkey sat above him, calling out to its fellows before scurrying away. The Dude of the Jungle chuckled at the monkey's antics. The monkey came back minutes later and ran down to Kainak.

The monkey screeched. Kainak answered back, using its very sounds. The monkey ran up to his shoulder and curled its tail about his neck before climbing back up the tree. Kainak reached into his loincloth pouch, took out a nut and handed it to the monkey. The monkey took the nut and gobbled it up in a matter of seconds. Kainak made some more ape-like sounds and the monkey seemed to smile before scurrying off.

The jungle gymnast/modern-day, real-life Tarzan successor stood up and stretched again. He jumped off the branch without hesitation and began swinging about the branches and vines.

He moved like an ape. One of the island apes happened to pass by. He learned from the apes, and he learned from this one, too. Though he didn't have opposable thumbs on his feet, he had experience on his side. Gymnastics training was not necessary, as he moved like a gymnast and an ape combined, although the ape influence was more prominent.

While Tarzan, Korak and Mowgli once hated their jungle lives, Kainak did not. Okay, maybe he was a little ashamed sometime in the past, but that was when he first met his future mate and the other modern outsiders. To be fair, having wild hair and being borderline bare-ass nude in nothing but a loincloth is an awkward first impression.

Other than that, given how the Jungle Dude had made his home here, he took to jumping along the branches with pride and power. Oh yes, he's been compared to Tarzan, and he's certainly embraced the comparison... at least without any potentially racist baggage The Big Guy already carries.

He was not a massive bodybuilder, like a Frank Frazetta art-piece; he was athletic and muscular, but smaller like a gymnast or a UFC welter/middleweight. A tan, caused by living in the jungle, and his First Nations heritage covered his skin. His face was slender and rounded, framing bright, slightly-chestnut-shaped brown eyes. And of course, he wore a loincloth. He's a modern Tarzan. What do you expect?

His thin nose caught the whiff of something in the air. He sniffed around until he located the source of the scent. Now, he was in an even better mood, for a very good reason.