It's pretty safe and correct to assume that despite wanting a sword, Julie was pretty unfamiliar with one. Sure, she'd used a machete before, and those technically aren't much different from swords, but when you consider that swords have a completely different weight and whatnot. Anyone can use a sword, but they need practice. You don't just pick one up and become a master only by swinging it around for two or three minutes; it takes years, sometimes decades before one can be proficient with a sword.
But it never hurts to practice. She already had some of the machete experience earlier, so she used some of those hacks. It was through this that she got the hang of using the sword. It turns out the machete and this particular sword weren't so different, after all.
Her swinging was wild at first, but once she got the hang of it, those swings became more precise. Well, about as precise as they could get for a newbie, once she started using two hands. Then it became easier.
She stopped when she heard some thumping and saw Kainak landing on the front porch. "Can you please knock first?" she asked.
"Sorry," he laughed, kissing her on the cheek and heading straight for the HAM radio.
"What are you doing back so early?" she asked.
"I think something was following me," he said. "We'll have to call the researchers."
"Following you?" she asked. "What makes you think that?"
"A hunch," he replied.
He fiddled with the HAM radio and waited for one of the researchers to answer, and finally, one did. "What is it?" they asked.
"SciTeam, this is Jungle Boy, over," he said. "I had an encounter earlier."
"With what?"
"I'm not sure," he replied. "There was a large, black mass that seemed to be following me in the trees earlier. I couldn't see what it was, but it looked dangerous. Be on the lookout."
"Roger that. And should we inform the Teo?"
"Why is that a question?" he asked.
"Sorry," the person on the other end replied, making Julie roll her eyes as she listened. "Is that all?"
"Well, I already said 'be on the lookout,'" he said. "Jungle Boy out."
"Understood. SciTeam out."
The audio cut out, and Kainak turned to Julie. "What do you think it was?" she asked.
"Beats me," he replied. "I was too busy trying to avoid—is that a sword?"
"Yeah, you like it?" she asked.
Kainak raised an eyebrow at the sword. But then he shrugged and looked at her expression, which was enough to tell him that she didn't intend to use it that much, or something.
"How often are you gonna use that?" he asked, to be sure.
"Not a lot," she said.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Gina wished all the Teo tribesmen weren't staring at her, but she was glad John was accompanying her to the village. It paid to have a hired gun on your side. Surely, Chief Manti's reaction to his tribesmen's was a relief. And given the similarities between the Teo language and Maori—which John spoke fluently, Gina was not too worried about any problems.
And once Chief Manti was informed, the concern and relief were evident on his features. He nodded and bade them farewell.
He knew things were getting complicated. He also faced a decision. Many of the tribesmen would leave the village at night, including Hani. But with this... thing roaming the forest, it made things more urgent. But he could not pen his villagers in the walls. If he did that, their hysteria would only worsen. If he told them, they would be scared. If he did not tell them, and they saw this, then their hysterical would worsen again. The only thing he knew he could do was to say to them and ask them to remain calm.
"Kame," he said. The medicine man walked up next to the chief, who leaned and whispered into his ear. "We need to inform the tribe about this... thing. How should we do it?"
"Carefully," said Kame. "I can break it to them if you need help."
"That would be appreciated," said Manti.
While their backs were turned, two tribesmen were whispering to each other, and one slipped away. Neither Manti nor Kame saw who it was. And even if they did, there was some possibility it might not matter at all.
Manti listened to Kame's plan, nodding his head and taking mental notes. When Kame finished, Manti gave his opinion, and Kame listened just as intently. "We do not need to make it horrifying," said Kame. "Just make them aware."
"Then it works," said Manti. "See what you can do."
"Understood," said Kame. The medicine man turned to the tribespeople who'd gathered in the center of the village — not every one of them, of course, but the ones who happened to be there.
"Gather round, anyone who wants to listen!" he called. "And I shall tell you a tale!" That got their attention. Everyone likes a good tale, and the Teo are no exception. Their mythology is rich, filled with the exploits great heroes, the gods, and spirits. Thanks to the researchers, these stories are being written down. "A while ago, Kainak told me of a beast who lives in his part of the world, known as Bigfoot."
True, Bigfoot might be a little clichéd, but hey, it's a good story. And so, Kame wove his tale, setting it in the jungle, and grabbing his peoples' attention. They were enraptured with his tale, which, while fraught with peril, was engaging and not as forward as a fist to the face. As he finished, he reminded his people to stay on alert that they may find this creature but assured them they had nothing to worry about. It is a tale, after all. And Kame mostly made it up on the spot.
And judging by their reaction, they loved every minute of it. "That was amazing, Kame!" said one of the village mothers. "My heart could not stop beating!"
"I appreciate that," Kame said with a bow. "A storyteller appreciates all feedback!"
Manti's sly smile told everything. They had a cover story. Now all they needed—
BANG!
That sounded like one of the haole's wands! He and his tribesmen turned in the direction of the sound. Some of them stood, and in their confusion, murmurings began to spread. Manti stormed to the village gate, doing his best to keep his people calm. His frustration at the situation was evident. But the tribespeople had seen him frustrated before, and it wasn't unusual for this to happen.
P'li ran screaming into the village, terrifying everyone. Manti grabbed the warrior and held him still, and Kame was not too far behind.
"THEY ATTACKED ME!" he screamed hysterically.
"Who? WHO attacked you?" Kame asked.
"THE HAOLES!"
"P'li, calm down!" Manti ordered. "I have not known the palemen to attack us. Perhaps it was a mistake?"
"IT WAS THEM!!!" P'li shouted again, causing more warriors to grab him and throw him to the ground.
"Manti?" Kame asked.
Manti sighed. "I am not ready to blame them yet," he said. "It may have been a mistake." But he looked at the other members of the tribe and saw their reactions. The murmuring had spread out of control. And amidst this confusion, a couple of tribesmen slipped out of the village.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
The researchers heard the bang, too. But it was a distant, faint 'bang' and not the loud, close one the Teo heard. So it's not a stretch to assume they didn't really know about what was going on.
That is until a few Teo tribesmen showed up.
None of the researchers were really alarmed. After all, Teo tribesmen showed up now and again out of curiosity. However, John could see something was wrong just by the way they held themselves. He held his hand out and shouted something in Maori. Because of the similarities between the Maori and Teo languages—plus John's body language—the tribesmen stopped.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"You attacked one of our own!" one of them replied.
"We did not!" John replied. "None of us have left—"
"STOP LYING!" another Teo member shouted.
"And you stop with this nonsense!" John replied. "We haven't done anything, now please go back to your village!"
Although two turned to leave, one stayed. And he grabbed John's collar. Well, this made the man angry. He shoved the Teo man to the ground, drawing a crowd of researchers to see just what the fuss was about.
"Go back to the village," he said. "You don't want to provoke us." John's reluctantly aggressive disposition scared the Teo members off.
"We'll be back!" One warned as he ran off.
"What was that?" Gina asked, coming up behind John.
"They think we attacked one of their own," said John. "We'll need to warn Kainak and Julie."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Living close to/in nature allowed them to enjoy the simple things in the world, like a sunset over an untouched tropical rainforest—Spirits know just how many of those are left on this planet.
Julie sat on the roof of the treehouse with a book in her hand, her bare feet dangling and kicking while she read how Tarzan saved Jane from the clutches of La, Queen of Opar. While she and Jane shared some similarities, it was only the movie and Disney Jane that she had the most similarities to. Book Jane wanted Tarzan/Lord Greystoke to be civilized. Movie and Disney Jane wanted to stay with Tarzan. It wasn't until later that Jane became the Queen of the Jungle in the books. For someone used to the jungle girl portrayal of Jane, it can be pretty confusing.
It's one thing to assume that since most jungle girls and boys are pretty mayo, it's a racist concept.
On the contrary.
It's only been the last 2,000 years that Europeans have moved away from old pagan ideals, where they were aware of how close to nature they were. Christianity—or perhaps Greco-Roman civilization—ended that, separating humans from nature. This is because, according to doctrine, God created the animals first, and then the humans to have dominion over them. Again, it might not be so clear-cut. That's not to say there aren't Christian environmentalists, of course, there certainly are.
As Europeans became more urbanized, the separation between humans and animals only widened. Concepts like the wild child have tapped into that old, pagan ideal as well as our wild side. Humans are animals, after all, we tend to forget that sometimes. These concepts are universal, from African tribes to Native Americans to the Polynesians. Sadly, some of the early contributors to the genre had different values that we modern folk have.
Anyway, we are getting back to the story.
Julie heard some static from the HAM radio, and Kainak's feet padding along the wooden planks. She went back to her book, but Kainak's concerned tone distracted her. Putting the bookmark in, she dropped down to see Kainak looking VERY unhappy as he put the receiver down. "What is it?" she asked.
"Some Teo tribe members thought that the researchers shot at P'li," he said. "So they went to confront them. Nothing happened, other than John yelling at them."
She felt like she should have been more relieved, but that knot in her stomach was so tight she couldn't ignore it. Something had to be done and fast about this mess, and hopefully, things will get better.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
The three tribesmen would have made it back to the village without difficulty had Kame not caught them trying to sneak in. He'd just gotten back from finding some herbs for medicine when he saw the three sneaking into the village. He quickly followed, not once dropping his herbs and caught up to them, hearing them conversing about their excursion to the palemen camp, and immediately anger filled him such that he grabbed two of their shoulders.
"What have you done!?" he demanded as they turned around with horrified expressions.
"We have done nothing!" one replied.
"You have done something," said Kame. "What was it? Shall I give you some Spirit Water to make you talk? Or shall I take you to Manti?"
"We have done nothing!" one replied.
"Liar!" Kame shoved them forward in the direction of Manti's hut.
He was busy checking the inventory of the tribe's grain storage when Kame shoved them into his hut. He looked up as they landed in front of him. "What is this?" he asked.
"I caught them sneaking back into the village," said Kame. "I do not know where they have gone."
Manti put his pen down and leaned forward to glare at his tribesmen. They shrank in their places, unable to look at their chief. "What have you done?" he inquired.
"We have done nothing!"
"They already said that to me," said Kame.
"You have done something, and is written all over your face, to borrow a phrase," said Manti. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
"We went to the palemen camp!" one confessed. "We wanted answers about P'li, but they chased us off!"
"Because you have no proof they were behind it!" Manti replied.
"But we were—"
"You are not allowed to go behind my back and cause trouble!" Manti interrupted. "You have no proof they have done anything, yet you took matters into your own hands and almost started a fight between the two of us! For this, you must be punished!"
"But we—"
"I am TRYING to end this hysteria until we learn more answers!" Manti said. "And you are ruining everything! GUARDS! Take them to the wooden cages. They will remain there until they stand trial for what they have done."
The guards grabbed the three men and hauled them off, kicking and screaming.
Kame turned to Manti, who appeared to be very ashamed at what he'd done. "Are you alright?"
"The situation is getting worse," he said. "I feel like it is a fool's errand to keep this tribe together."
"Should we inform Kainak and Julie?"
"The palemen will have informed them already," said Manti. "However, I am sure we can inform them about what we have done."
"I understand," said Kame. "I shall send a message to them."
Outside, P'li and Unaki sat around in a circle, helping some of the villagers preparing food for a meal later in the night. While the Teo did eat meals in their families, their sense of community meant that they ate meals as a tribe quite frequently. Most of these were simple feasts with some storytelling for entertainment. Grand rituals and luaus were not the norm.
"What happened?" Unaki asked.
"I don't know," said one of the women. "I just saw some men leaving the village and then come back."
"What do you think could have happened?" Unaki asked.
"How should I know? I didn't see where they were going. Unaki, you are being—" she stopped when she saw some guards dragging the men towards them. They stood while continuing their work. "What has happened?"
"These men defied the Chief," said the lead guard. "They went to harass the palemen. They will stand trial for this!"
The murmuring spread again as Unaki looked on and continued her work.