บท 14: Encounter With The Lion King

They traveled for another thirty minutes before they found the first crash site where the airplane split in half. Marx rummaged through the wreckage. He found two more emergency kits which he stuffed in another backpack. He also salvaged four blankets and two rolls of toilet paper without cores. Marx was never been too happy to find such lowly objects as toilet paper becoming his most luxurious item.

He checked the drawer where he found the gun and sure enough there were extra bullets encased in an aluminum container. He stuffed it inside his backpack.

"These are the useful items we can carry." He said briefly. Aryana took the big backpack from him and passed it to Kong.

"You look cool, old man." Amaya made a sound similar to an ape and Kong jumped and down and clapped his hands.

Marx looked at Amaya strangely. "Can you communicate with them?" He finally asked.

"Of course! They are my friends and I grew up with them." She replied.

"We need to go. There is little time left." Amaya directed Khalil to follow the path that cut through the dense vegetation.

"Looks like the plane went that way. I followed the wrong direction yesterday."

They did not have a hard time traveling because the branches were torn and some small trees were uprooted. Some areas were partially burned but it was raining when they crashed so the fire was put out.

They traveled for an hour and Amaya looked up at the darkening canopy that covered the jungle. They started to hear howls and growls nearby.

"We need to find shelter. It will be dangerous to continue now." Amaya said anxiously. She has not explored this part of the jungle and she was a bit uncomfortable. Without warning, she held onto a vine, swung her body up to the nearest branch and climb the top of the tree in no time. She was looking for something and when she found it, she slid down from the tree with ease.

Marx's jaw dropped. How can she get up and down the tree with so much ease?

"Come Khalil, the tree house is over there." Amaya pointed North East and Khalil started prancing like a royal stallion in the direction Aryana pointed.

Marx felt so embarrassed. Here he was, a 183 centimeters black belter and highly skilled in different martial arts riding on a tiger while a young woman was walking beside him. His face was beet red and he did not know what to say.

Soon they reached a small clearing beside a stream. It was a small tree house. The foot of the tree was surrounded by stakes that were driven into the ground. Some of the stakes have sprouted. Marx realized that the stakes were used as a fence to protect a small area surrounding the tree.

Amaya reached out for a vine and disappeared inside the fence. She opened a small gate from the inside and the five animals came marching in.

Marx get off the tiger and found his legs too shaky he almost fell. Amaya supported him.

"Are you okay?" She asked anxiously. "How is the wound on your thigh?" She reached out to look closer.

"It's fine." Marx covered his thigh with his hand to prevent her from touching it.

Amaya howled. Strata and the other wolf went out of the fence.

"Stay here. I'll check the tree house first. I was here last month so the herbs I placed to ward off insects and snakes should still be effective." Marx hasn't absorbed all her words and she was gone. After two minutes, she was back with a jar in her hand. She was still carrying the woven basket on her back.

She said something to Kong and the ape scurried away. She went to the nearby spring and fetch water.

After some time, the two wolves were back with a dead hare in each of their mouth. Amaya took them. She went to the other side of the spring and cleaned the animals. She fed the other body parts of the hares to her wolves.

Amaya gathered some dried leaves and twigs and started to make a fire.

"Let me." Marx volunteered. He took a lighter from his backpack and lighted the dried leaves.

Amaya was amazed. "That was awesome. It makes fire even faster than the magnifying glass. What is it called?"

"It is called a lighter. You can try it." Marx showed her how to use it before passing it to her.

Amaya accepted the lighter. She failed to light it the first time but succeeded on the second attempt. She passed it back to Marx.

"We have to conserve that so we can use it to make fire especially in the morning and in the evening when there is no sun."

Amaya focused her attention on preparing their meal. She rubbed some herbs on the hare meat and cooked them slowly on the fire. When the meat was ready, she passed a cooked sweet potato wrapped in a leaf to Marx.

She looked around and found that Kong has not returned. She whistled and soon the ape appeared with a bunch of bananas in his hand.

Marx ate the sweet potato without any complaint. The meat tasted like chicken and the herb improved its taste. He did not like the potato but he did not have any choice at the moment.

Aryana handed him a small bamboo node. The top part was covered with a leaf and secured by a hemp string.

"You need to drink that. That's a medicinal concoction to keep you away from bacterial infection. It will heal your wound faster. I added more honey so it will taste good."

Marx regarded the little lady in front of him waiting expectantly for him to drink what she offered. She looked so innocent and pure. A ray of sunset pierced through the thick canopy of the jungle and hit her hair creating a halo of reddish brown. Her light brown eyes were clear and bright. Her lips were luscious like cherry. His breath hitched.

He accepted the bamboo node, opened the cover and drink the contents in one go.

He then went outside to the stream and washed his face and hands. He heard the leaves rustling nearby. When he lifted his face, his eyes became round.

A big lion was growling at him from the opposite side of the spring and ready to pounce on him.