Greystoke's Furious Trail, chapter 2

Kimi easily ran the tenth of a mile to the Teo’s ocean-side village in just a few minutes. The stifling heat and humidity that made her sweat through the bark fabric was replaced by a gentle, cool, salt-scented breeze blowing in from the south as she emerged out of the jungle.

Wooden buildings, technically a relic of a long-gone lifestyle, dotted the landscape of the hard-packed sands of the beach and the green of the coastal plain.

The first person she came across on this coastal plain was a man attending to crops on a small square plot of land. The crops in question were rows upon rows of pineapples, kalo, sweet potato and breadfruit, all in this small plot of land on the outskirts of the village. It’s safe to tell that there are more farming plots other than this one on the island. That being said, the man tending the fields stood upright when he heard Kimi sprinting past, not even giving him so much as an ‘aloha’.

Penned up next to the plot of land, pigs munched on oats and rolled in mud, chickens roamed around and roosters stared at them every now and then, wishing they could jump them, but they couldn’t, because they were penned in behind chicken wire (a gift from modern scientists). Some of those chickens ran over to see where Kimi was going, but an island dog ran past them, playfully nipping at Kimi’s heels.

A woman was carving a tiki off to Kimi’s right. She looked up, smiled and waved at her, but Kimi ignored her too. So much for politeness.

To her right, a middle-aged woman worked on some kapa cloth. Her granddaughter, or at least that’s what Kimi assumed, watched as her grandmother instructed her on the finer things of cloth-making. Further down the beach, some young boys were playing a form of bowling with an ‘ulu maika, and argued over who was winning, because the kid who said he was winning was the son of a dog. Then again, that kid could barely even fight a frog.

“Run! The Nightmarchers are coming for you!” a little boy cackled as she ran past Kimi while chasing her brother.

“Akamu, STOP!” the girl wailed. Unable to sit by and watch someone getting pestered, Kimi walked up and grabbed the boy’s shoulder.

“He said stop,” she said. The little boy pouted and brushed Kimi’s arm off her before running away, probably to tell his mama about what Julie did.

The new village used to be a fishing village on the edge of the jungle on the southern coast. The ‘capital’ used to be further inland until Chief Manti decided to move it not too long ago. Oh, the old village is still standing, but this new village serves as the capital for the Teo chiefdom. Other villages, which are spread along the southern coast, have their own Chiefs, but Manti is the High Chief.

“OI! Watch it, sistah!” A young man about Kaitan’s age rushed past Kimi, carrying his surfboard, without even once bothering to slow down and/or step out of the way.

“Honi ko'u ‘elemu!” she shouted back whilst flipping the man off.

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” a voice said to her from behind. She turned around and saw a man sitting on the beach juggling a few shells. Tim, the white boy who learned the Greystokian language by getting possessed, waved and translated the man’s word.

“Oh, Kame, I didn’t see you there,” she said.

“No worries, little cuz,” Kame, the village—and Manti’s—kahuna/medicine man/priest said. “Come on, sit down.”

“I need to find Hilo!” Kimi shouted. “Huli and Kaitan went off to find some bad guy and—” Kame wordlessly lifted his arm and pointed to some muscular men training off to the side of the beach.

She made a bee-line to those men who were letting their testosterone

flow, doing a ha’a, grunting, chanting, bulging their eyes and sticking their tongues out. Their commander walked around, examining and correcting them rather coarsely. He even smacked one man for stepping out of beat.

This was obviously Hilo.

Running up to him, Kimi tried to get his attention. He ignored her.  Groaning and moaning, she wasn’t going to give up. She followed him as he walked up and down the line, doing her best to get his attention, to almost no avail.

Finally, she grew tired of chasing him and lunged forward to tackle the man, who was older than 25, but younger than 30.

“Kimi, what are you doing!?” he shouted in his native tongue, despite Kimi’s inability to understand him. Instead, she pointed to the North. Almost sarcastically, Hilo turned in that direction, and his expression didn’t hide displeasure one bit. “What?”

“Kaitan… Huli… help!” she struggled, trying to think of the words she needed. Almost half a year and she’d yet to learn enough of the fucking language.

“Speak my tongue!” he snapped.

“Huli… Kaitan… need… help!” she struggled before finally groaning, picking the older man up and dragging him behind her, despite his rather loud protests. But as much as he didn’t know what she was doing, the urgency was obvious enough to cross the language and barriers preventing them from actually speaking to each other. However, when he finally started running, she let go so he could follow her out of the village to Kai and Julie’s log cabin, at the very least.

And it was rather noticeable to Tim, the previously-mentioned white boy-turned-chief’s-advisor-slash-liaison. He didn’t hesitate to run inside Manti’s elaborate hut, where he found the Chief meditating in the corner. After whispering something into his ear, he rushed over to the HAM radio to call the research camp. Specifically, if it looked like it was going to be this desperate, they needed a doctor.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

After a short water break, Julie effortlessly lifted the boy back onto her shoulders while watching Kai doing the same with the girl. She sighed and started running off towards the log cabin. Kai ran off behind her. The jungle trail was getting thicker and harder to traverse. They had drawn their knives to cut their way through, but it was of little use. Kaitan ran up to Julie while she furiously slashed at a stubborn plant that wasn’t letting her through. He stopped and grabbed her bare right shoulder in time to have her whip her head towards him and see her still-frustrated expression. But he pointed at the trees, her expression changed and she nodded. Then, they both made a break for the tree.

Julie went first, although the boy’s weight and his sudden shaking made it difficult. Climbing the tree with his weight literally on her shoulders kept her down. But she was strong, and she used that strong upper-body to get herself up into the tree. However, the boy was still rather nervous. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked in a surprisingly-feminine voice.

“Don’t worry,” she said in a firm, yet reassuring voice. “You’re in good hands.”

Kaitan had to shift the girl onto his shoulders as well. But he had no visible troubles, and he was up in the branches quicker than she was. Letting the girl down on the branch, he checked her pulse at her neck. “I can still feel a pulse,” he said. “Unfortunately, her skin doesn’t look very good.” He pinched her skin. It did not bounce back.

“She’s probably dehydrated,” Julie muttered.

Kaitan wordlessly picked the girl up and threw her over his shoulder. Julie didn’t do the same with the boy. He was still rather weak, at least as far as she could tell. Then Kaitan jumped onto another branch and went off back in the direction they came, with Julie close behind.

It didn’t take long for them to finally reach the clearing where their log cabin sat. In between that time, they had to jump through numerous trees just to stay in the right direction. The boy, who was slowly coming to, struggled a little bit, and amidst that, Julie felt something on her shoulder. Well, it was the lack of something, besides his… banana… that made her suspiciously raise her eyebrow. But until she could get the boy to talk, she had to focus on getting him to the log cabin.

By contrast, the girl wasn’t moving. She must have been pretty badly dehydrated.

They spotted the clearing after several minutes. The boy lifted his head up and asked, “What is that?”

“That’s home!” Julie replied. “We’ll get you fixed up!”

“Fixed up!?” the boy asked.

“Shaddap and stay calm!” Julie snapped back.

She effortlessly shifted him in her arms. His lithe, almost feminine body frame made it easy for her to hold him in one arm as she reached for a vine, took it and swung down to the ground. Kaitan did the same thing and also swung to the ground.

They emerged, naked like Adam and Eve from the brush to see Kimi and Hilo about to depart, carrying weapons and supplies. Hilo wordlessly ran over to Kaitan and took the girl from his arms. After sitting her down, he took the boy and did the same. At this point, the two sweaty jungle dwellers looked for some water, a towel and clothes.

Kimi handed them the towels first, and they found some water in the cooler. The third was harder to find, except for their standard-issue outfits. So they went inside after grabbing their shirts.

“You look much better in those outfits than your other robes,” Hilo remarked.

Kyle glared at him while adjusting his belt. Ignoring them, Julie knelt to examine the girl. Her eyes were sunken, her lips were cracked and she was looking pale. The boy wasn’t as bad, but it was still concerning. Biting her lips, she motioned for Kyle to come over to her.

“We need to get them inside,” he concluded. He took the girl in his arms and carried her into the log cabin. Julie helped the boy up and did the same. Hilo and Kimi followed suit.

It was almost like stepping into a time capsule in the log cabin. “Almost” because of the computer, refrigerator, TV, HAM radio, books and other modern amenities that made it more like someone’s cabin in the woods without the scary atmosphere. Windows let the light in, and Kai turned a few of the lamps on for a little extra. A ladder in the corner led up to the second floor, although there was also a double bed in the other.

Kai carried the girl over to the bed to lay her down. He grabbed a bottle of electrolyte water, opened it and tipped the girl’s head up so she could drink it.

Quickly figuring out what they were doing, Hilo grabbed a brown coconut, cut it in half and gave it to the boy, who drank the milk without question. Julie hurried over to the radio to call the researchers to get some help. After that, she and Kai changed clothes upstairs, although Julie was still wearing her UCLA tank.

For the first time, they got a good look at their charges. Both of them were lithe and feminine, but also mature enough to assume they’d seen 18 summers. They had long, shoulder-length, messy black hair that indicated they may have been out in the jungle for a while now. And aside from the physical signs of dehydration, they appeared to be rather healthy.

But their clothing was a little suspect.

Certainly, not everyone on the island wore full-body clothing, in fact, many of the malos the men wore and the women’s pa’u showed plenty of skin. It’s just that the boy’s loincloth and the girl’s outfit left so little to the imagination it made Julie and Kai’s jungle outfits look rather tame in comparison.

“Where did you find them?” Hilo asked after giving the boy some water.

“A bit north of here,” Kai replied. “They were being chased by men in ki’i masks.”

“That does not sound like a good idea,” Hilo remarked. “I would rather get my mana from another source.”

“Besides that, we took care of them,” said Kai. “We still haven’t asked them where they’re from.”

“I think they should get some fluids before we start asking,” said Julie.

“And the Chief will have to be briefed on this,” Hilo added.

“Is he coming?” Kaitan asked.

“He’s coming,” the girl muttered.

“Who’s coming?” Kaitan asked, turning around to look at the girl.

“She’s delirious… oh, SHIT!” Julie rushed to the girl’s side to promptly start giving the girl more water. “WHERE’S THE FUCKING DOCTOR!?”

Hilo didn’t hesitate when he ran out of the log cabin. A few minutes later, he came back inside with the doctor. Seeing the state the girl was in, he ran over to her bedside, grabbed an IV bag and needle, disinfected the girl’s arm and stuck it inside. Unfortunately, the girl tried to thrash about upon seeing the needle, but Julie, Kai, Hilo and even Kimi held her in place. The doctor made sure the IV was secured and hung it up on a hanger hooked onto a pole.

The doctor wasn’t the Chilean, Juan. He had gone back to Santiago after his “Tour of duty”, if you want to call it that, ended two months ago. This doctor’s name was Chris, and he was from the University of Hawaii. He was also young and handsome for any culture’s taste. And you can probably bet that he’s not going to have a vacation in a tribal paradise, with all the crazy shit everyone gets into.

He turned his attention to the boy. He examined him for several minutes, but got irritated—and felt awkward—whenever the boy shifted to a… suggestive… position. For example, his eyes widened at how the boy laid on the floor like one of Leo’s French girls. He didn’t even seem to understand what Chris was trying to do, even though Julie helped as much as she could.

Finally, she decided to explain to the boy. “Um, kid,”

“I am P’li,” he said.

“P’li. He is what we call a ‘doctor’; He is trying to examine you to see if you’re healthy.”

“You mean like a healer?” P’li asked.

“Yes,” said Julie. “Please, I’m not sure what you’re trying to do, but, you don’t have to look… sexy.”

It seemed to work, and P’li stopped fidgeting and started cooperating so Chris could finish his examination, which he finished, although at one moment he paused when examining the boy’s groin. That being said, he finished in a quick time. Then he went back to the girl and, having not had a chance to really examine her, did so. She cooperated this time, as he’d given her a sedative. He finished the examination pretty quickly and, just for good measure, gave them some shots and drew some blood.. He had to stop P’li from squirming, though. The kid just wouldn’t give him a break.

He packed up his stuff when he was finally done. Then he whispered something to Julie. The Californian’s brow raised, but the rest of her face stayed frozen.

“Alright, they look fine right now,” he said. “Just keep giving them fluids. I’ll be back tomorrow to check back up on them. Monitor the girl, though. I’ll leave some IV bags, needles and tubes just in case, but other than that, you don’t have to do much.“

“Thanks, Chris,” said Julie.

Chris nodded, picked his stuff up and left. As soon as he was out the door, Kaitan turned to Hilo and then to P’li, letting Julie treat the girl. P’li looked up at Kaitan… and immediately looked away, looking all flustered.

“I think he likes men,” Kaitan said. “Or… Do you know who I am?”

“You’re Kaitan,” said P’li. “I’ve heard about you. And I didn’t know you were so handsome.”

Kaitan snickered, rubbed his chin and grinned rather in a rather cheeky way. “Hey, I’ll take it,” he said.

“Even the guys want you,” Julie chuckled.

“FOCUS,” Hilo ordered. “What were you doing in the Southern jungles, boy?”

“Not a good idea,” said Julie. “Well? What are you running from?”

P’li pulled his knees up to his chest and looked towards the door with a rather sad expression. Then he turned his eyes back to the girl. “What’s your sister’s name?” Julie asked.

“Lea,” he said. “Her name’s Lea.”

“Now that you mention it, they do look alike,” said Hilo.

“Why should I talk to you?” P’li asked.

“Because I answer directly to High Chief Manti himself,” said Hilo. “Now answer!”

Julie smacked his arm. P’li opened his mouth to speak, but the opening door cut him off. In stepped Manti, the High Chief of the Teo confederation, looking as regal as his title implied, clad in an orange and yellow mahiole and ‘ahu ‘ula. He stood tall and erect, even as he bowed his head to remove the helmet and place it on the table next to him. Hilo, Julie, Kaotan and Kimi all deeply bowed before him, but P’li was almost too distracted to do so. It wasn’t until he caught a glimpse of Manti turning his regal head towards him that he prostrated himself like a lowly animal.

“I’m so sorry!” P’li practically sputtered. “Please do not kill me—”

“No need to,” said Manti, his voice even more regal than he imagined. “Arise.”

P’li stumbled to his feet. But when he did, he did not notice Manti’s reaction. The chief’s eyes widened in amazement. “He is beautiful,” said Manti.

“I swear, he’s girlier than Kimi and I,” said Julie. “And his twin sister’s not too bad, either.”

“Where did you find them?” Manti asked.

Kai and Julie told him everything that happened, from finding them to beating the snot out of their pursuers. Manti looked at both of them at the end, scratching his chin all the while. When they got to the part where they said the twins were dehydrated they didn’t get much out of them, Manti held his hand up. They stopped speaking.

“Is that everything?”

“Yes, my Chief,” said Kaitan.

“Have you been able to get more out of them?”

“No, sir,” said Hilo.

“What are you doing here, boy?” he asked, turning towards P’li and then looking away when he felt that strange feeling again. “Why would you risk death to come to us?”

“Lea wants to go to the North Shore,” he said.

“Eh, whaddaya know, I was just thinking about taking a trip to the North Shore,” Julie remarked. “What a strange, almost divine coincidence.”

“Focus, Huli,” said Manti. “Why does Lea want to go to the North Shore, boy?”

“My name is P’li,” he replied. “And I’m not a thing!”

“Interesting,” said Manti. “What are you escaping from?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said P’li. “Why are you asking these things?”

“Because I need answers,” said Manti. “Things have been… eventful as of late, and having a few moons without these ‘events’ has been a blessing from the Gods. I can already tell that you are going to be trouble if someone went through the trouble to chase you.”

Feeling rather upset, P’li cocked his head to the side, displaying his effeminate profile. Once again, Manti had to turn away, and even reached downwards. Regaining his composure, he turned back to P’li, seeing the boy looking rather sad, hugging himself and… well, he wasn’t sure, but it almost looked like he was trying to subtly seduce the Chief.

“He likes guys, Your Highness,” said Julie.

“He prefers men?” Manti asked.

“Nothing wrong with that,” said Julie. “My uncle likes men, too.”

“Anything else about him?”

“Yeah, the doctor said he’s… lacking down there.”

“What?”

“Imagine an upside down coconut tree… AND THEY TAKE THE COCONUTS OFF!” Julie cackled, making a snipping motion with her fingers. Kimi laughed along with her. Kaitan and Hilo looked at each other and then reached for their respective groins, blushing redder than a steamed lobster.

“Not so loud!” the girl moaned.

“Are you getting better?” Julie asked, moving over to her side. She touched her forehead. “Your fever’s gone down a little bit. That’s good. Your brother says your name’s Lea. Is that right?” The girl nodded.

“We’re not things. We have to get home.”

“The North Shore,” said Manti. “Please understand that I am a busy man. I cannot just send warriors to escort you to the North Shore. That is a trip of several days. I also doubt the haole who learn about our island can take you, either, as they are just as busy. So for now, you may stay. However, be aware that this will only be temporary and only because you are in need of healing. I will send my kahuna Kame here to examine you. But remember, I cannot guarantee anything.”

“Sir, maybe there’s another solution?” Julie asked.

“Your Majesty, Huli and I would be more than willing to escort them,” Kaitan said with a bow.

“Is that so?” Manti asked. “That is a better option, but remember, it will not be easy. I will need to alert our allies about this, you understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Kaitan.

“And what happened to those men you dealt with?”

Julie and Kai froze, their teeth clenching and looking at each other. Manti sighed, rubbing his face and so did Hilo. “Perfect. Not only do we have to escort two children to an abstract location, YOU ARE GOING TO BE FOLLOWED.”

“WE KNEW THAT!” the Jungle couple shouted in unison.

“Good!” Manti shouted. “I am glad you understand your situation, I do not have to repeat myself a second time, and yes, I did have to say that! Now that you understand, I am actually relieved you are volunteering for this.”

“Yes sir, sorry sir,” said Julie. “But we did dislocate one of their shoulders.

“However, I have more questions,” said Manti. He crossed his arms and loved at them like a manager who was unhappy that his usually-solid employee had made a mistake, but couldn’t/wouldn’t fire them because they were such a good employee. “What will you do if you do not find wherever it is that these two come from?”

“Probably bring ‘em back,” said Kai.

Manti scoffed. “There needs to be a better solution than that.”

“I know, sir,” said Kai.”

“In the meantime, bring them to the village tomorrow, assuming they are healthy. Kame will also examine them. And wear your kapa clothes, you look ridiculous. You are Teo for the sake of the Gods, look the part!”

“Now or tomorrow?” Julie asked.

“Now would be good, but tomorrow, you are required.”

“Yes, Chief,” all three replied like employees listening to the boss’s lecture and just want to get home after a ridiculously long day.

“Good,” said Manti. “I will see you all tomorrow. Hilo, come with me.”

“Yes, sir,” said Hilo, following the Chief out the door.

As soon as they were outside of the log cabin, Manti looked up at the sky. It was cloudy. He quietly scoffed and looked around, adjusted his mahiole and crossed his arms. Waiting for him, Hilo watched the Chief until he finally started walking towards the coast. Hilo wondered if he had been accompanied, because he could not see any guards around. He shrugged. Perhaps he did not need any guards.

Then the Chief suddenly stopped. Looking dead ahead, Hilo was not aware of the Chief’s actions until he turned around and caught a glimpse of the Chief’s shocked and frightened expression.

“Are you alright, Sir?” he asked.

“I am alright,” Manti replied.

Hilo glanced down at the Chief’s groin. Why, he was not sure. But he saw a bulge in the Chief’s groin. “Sir?”

“That boy is doing things to me,” said Manti. “I cannot think about it.”

“What?”

“Nothing!” Manti insisted. He stood back up and walked off in the direction of the village. Hilo motioned to ask him something, but he didn’t get a word out the Chief. If the Chief didn’t want to talk, these wasn’t anything Hilo could do about it. He sighed and followed the Chief back to the village.