D'mek: The Sky People

Chapter One~Mikári

Mikari's POV:
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I still remember the screams of my people as a young child.My dreams are sometimes clouded with the memories and hardships of my old home, so much pain and disaster that my people faced. But what truly breaks my heart is that one memory which still haunts me to this day...

"Miká...Mik....MIKÁRI!!" I open my eyes to see my little brother pouncing on me."What is it now Ch'tek?" My brother looks at me with his big yellow eyes and roars:"Hunter and Prey!!"I roll my eyes and jumped of bed much to his surprise i got on all lowered my stand and began to hiss at him.His eyes were filled with fear and he tapped his chest with a closed fist symbolising his defeat.

I look at him and laugh;"Hahahah!" My brother stood there his face all red from embarrasment;"Well next time i wouldn't tap out, you'll see!"he exclaimed ."Thats what you said the last time.Don't worry when u grow into a big and strong warrior,you might even make me admit defeat though i doubt that would ever happen haha!"I teased my little brother.

"Arggghh O'lu ek Mri!~you're so mean!~" my brother pounced on me again but before he could do anything else i grabbed him by his braid and threw him into a tight embrace.

He squirmed and squeezed,"M..Mikari I c..can't b..breath" I let go of my grip and he took a large exhale.He then proceeded to look at me with a cunning look in his eyes but before i could say anything i was covered with purple mud;"Why that little..." I thought to myself as I chased him. He ran away while yelling,"Last one to the falls is dead meat!".

I took the shortest route through the trees and vines while my brother took the long route through the safe dirt path.Oh i hope father doesn't catch me doing this.

By the time my little brother had reached the falls,I had already rinsed and cleansed myself with the glowing crystals of the falls.My markings glowed brightly in the ever so warm sunlight as I emerged out of the falls.

My brother sighed another sigh of defeat and went into the falls,his head down.I could hear faint call for me from a distance,the scent was oh so familiar,but I just couldn't lay my finger on it.And then it hit me...literally.

My father threw a hard rock at my head and of course it hurt a lot,but how can I whine about it infront of my father; the cheif of the Akuráii clan.

So instead of making a big deal out of it I just clenched my teeth and asked:"What did i do now?" He replied: "You know exactly what you did.I told you hundred of times not to play amongst the trees until your training is done." I said "But..but..". "No buts!"my father exclaimed. "Go to the everfree jungle for your training, how will you be able to lead the clan at this rate!"He instructed me.I had no choice but to obey and make my way into the everfree jungle.

*sigh* what a pain ughh i know that I'm next in line but does he have to be this strict.He wasn't always like this, well not until that very day....snap out of it Miká..You have to finish the task father has given you.ugghhh

I went deep into the jungle and climbed a tree,I waited for a creature to approach beneath the tree so that I could test the new hunting skills father had taught me.But i waited and waited for what felt like forever but no prey was spotted, so i decided to hunt by foot.

I searched and searched till i heard the sound of a twig snapping,it sounded very nearby and then another twig snapped from behind a bush.I slowly approached it and a small shiori appeared;its a small squirrel-like creature that isn't worth hunting due to its tiny size.

I rolled my eyes and heard a loud cry, it sounded like a male but why would someone else venture so deep in this jungle? My curiosity got the best of me so I went to investigate where the cry was coming from.

I approached and ventured my way through a path filled with tangled vines and thick thorns until I finally arrived at the scene and i was shocked by what was before me.A Jantù~ a large dangerous beast that is usually found deep within the everfree jungle~ I never thought i'd see one in person.

But that wasn't the worst part,the Jantù was chasing a boy. I didn't even hesitate at the sight and raised my bow making sure that it was aiming directly at then Jantù, for if you see the Jantù may be a dangerous wild beast of immense strength but every beast has its weakness and the Jantù weakness was its heart.I took in a deep breath, heart pounding heavily and at the final exhale. I fired.

The arrow struck the Jantù's heart and it let out a piercing growl before it fell and crashed onto the ground. It continued its crys of pain until i pushed the arrow deeper into his heart and it stopped moving.

My people, the Akuráii believe that no creature deserves death caused by hunters as all life is precious from majestic beast to the tiniest insects.Therefore, we sing a prayer so as to respect the creatures we have killed for food and in self-defense.

I sat on my knees infront of the majestic beast as i sang the prayer in name of respect; "Naari a nii a'yo no kaarii a nai, hovilia na konolo e milai a, milai a."

As i finished the prayer,I took a moment to grief the lost of a life.

"Hello?"

A voice startled me.The boy! I remembered and turned around to face a tall boy around my age covered with bruises and blood.He donned the red markings of my people however something was off about him.His clothes were similar to that of my clan, his hair was similar to those of the men but his eyes,scent and markings were all off.

His eyes were the colours of the trees but lighter unlike my people whom eyes glow the colours of the sun.His scent had a weird odour to it though it could be the blood but despite the blood something about him just screamed outsider.

But his markings was what bothered me the most,our markings glowed the colours of red hot lava while his glowed the colours of fire, red but not quite.

Therefore I began circling him as if he was prey,slowly examing him from head to toe.I asked him"Where are you from?What happened to you?Why are you out here?"He didn't reply at first but then he spoke to me in a weird tounge i couldn't understand.What was he saying?

I then grabbed my wooden spear and pointed it at him.I let out a loud hiss at him as even though he was injured he may still be an outsider and outsiders are not to be trusted, thats what father said.

So with the blunt end of the spear I shoved him in the direction of my clan.He continued spouting gibberish that I couldn't understand so i yelled:"Argh Ag'nei!~Shut up!"And he finally silenced.

As we approached my home, questions began to fill my mind; Who was this boy?Why is he talking strangely? Father is sure not going to like this.