Y'SHAATI'S BEGINNINGS: CHAPTER 9 - VENGEANCE

 The great meeting of the order of primates concluded with a warning and a promise. Not all the ape families agreed with what had been decided, but they finally gave Y'shaati a chance and the benefit of the doubt to show that she could control her power and not the other way around. For this, it would be necessary a more courageous and impressive act to prove her worth as the future savior guardian of the jungle... but definitely nobody would have wanted something like what was about to happen that same day, right there in the sacred tree Yvyra...

The howls of the apes were loudly heard throughout the jungle. The deafening noise kept all the participants carefree and out of guard. It wasn't until a few minutes after the meeting finished that ape families felt the strange sensation that they were not alone... A foreboding, an instinct that only animals could feel. Y'shaati also sensed this presence of something that was prowling the base of the great sacred tree.

The apes remained as silent as possible to try to detect what bothered them profoundly. The uncertainty and presage of danger was present at the moment when the whole environment remained completely quiet. Something crawled and slithered under the branches of Yvyra and was hiding behind the dense foliage. In an attempt to dispel the bad moment of sudden fear, Y'shaati on her own, tried to follow the source of the slight but constant sound. All the apes were surprised to see the human girl moving across the branches. The Naka'i and the Tahuayos wanted to stop her immediately before she did anything foolish, but it was too late. The monkey-girl slowly descended from the branches of the tree, following a trail into a large hole in one of Yvyra's thick roots. By this time, the stalking sound had stopped. The apes, frightened, ordered her to move away from that place immediately. However, Y'shaati slowly approached the hole and poked her head slightly to see inside the root. The view was pitch dark. It wasn't until a small ray of light leaked from Yvyra's leaves into the hole when Y'shaati saw reflected in the spectrum of light, a pair of yellowish eyes...

A second later, all the apes watched as a gigantic serpent shot out of the hole at high speed, charging at Y'shaati with brutal force:

Mai D'goa, the Legendary Titanic-toothed Serpent had returned... coming back for vengeance...

All the apes families jumped and fled in terror due to the sudden and lethal attack of the anaconda. The Naka'i and the Tahuayos watched in horror as Y'shaati was attacked by the huge beast. Thanks to her amazing monkey agility and good reflexes, the monkey-girl was able to escape again and again from the snake's jaws. The incredible strength of Ma'i D'goa destroyed all the branches and roots of Yvyra that were in its path while chasing its prey. However, Y'shaati was able to escape from its reach when she grabbed a vine and swung quickly to reach a higher place along with her family of Naka'i monkeys.

The anaconda stopped when he saw that it couldn't go up to where she was, so it launched a powerful high-pitched roar. Y'shaati looked directly at Ma'i D'goa's eyes. At that moment, the snake looked around and observed the hundreds of apes of different races that were escaping confused and terrified... for the giant anaconda, that only meant one thing: a feast.

The ananconda was excited to devour a huge amount of preys today; its long tail waved with euphoria and its jaws drooled grotesquely. Without wasting more time, the snake quickly began to slither up the branches of the great sacred tree and launched itself against the apes.

Yvyra had become a pandemonium... howls of pain, terror and despair were heard up to the surroundings of the sacred tree. The anaconda enjoyed its hunting and the fear of the primates... it was a complete green hell. Meanwhile, Y'shaati only watched horrified and shocked. The Naka'i held her by her hand in a desperate attempt to convince her to run away while they could, but the monkey-girl refused to escape from such a terrible situation. The Naka'i insisted on escaping, because there wasn't really anything she could do to face a beast like Ma'i D'goa. Seeing the giant anaconda devouring innocent apes made her have flashbacks of what had happened with that little monkey she couldn't save on that occasion. On the verge of emotional collapse, Y'shaati recalled the words that K'uno had told her and remembered his smiling face before dying:

—(K'uno): "ooh-ooh ah... ook-ook! Ooh-ooh ohh, ah-ah OOH OH OOOH!! (Yacuruna choose you to be her vessel... the Savior of the Jungle, the Holy Spirit of Amazonia!!)

Y'shaati finally accepted her fate...

From one moment to another, with a serious look and great determination, she jumped from the tree and swung towards the snake to confront it and save the apes. The Naka'i remained astonished...

In those moments, Ma'i D'goa had cornered a group of Papios who weren't intimidated by the titanic serpent. These baboons howled and roared fiercely at any enemy, but they wouldn't be rivals for the blood-starved beast. The anaconda opened its great jaws again, ready to devour the baboons.

Just a second before it could launch its gigantic bite... Y'shaati appeared out of nowhere with impressive speed and landed a powerful kick directly to Ma'i D'goa's head. The great impact knocked down the snake and caused it to fall to the ground. The Papios looked at Y'shaati: yet again, her body was covered in a glowing green aura, but her face showed that she hadn't lost control of herself this time. The monkey-girl was completely in domain of her power... and now nothing could stop her from realizing her purpose in life... becoming a true guardian of the jungle. A protector for the monkeys.

Y'shaati landed right where the snake had fallen. Without hesitation, she adopted her Tahuayo battle stance and uttered a great ape-like howl while furiously beating her naked beautiful chest. She was ready for battle.

Ma'i D'goa regained its composure quickly and launched a threatening roar, opening its jaws to show her its huge and sharp teeth. Y'shaati, without fear and without retreat, showed him her own fangs as a sign of challenge.

Both the monkey-girl and the giant anaconda stood motionless for a couple of seconds. Y'shaati was ready to sprint and jump to attack the vengeful creature. The snake roared and opened its big jaws to do the same thing...

The beauty and the beast... Y'shaati, the Spirit of Amazonia vs Ma'i D'goa, the Titanic-toothed serpent...

A great death battle was about to begin...

No turning back now...

Y'SHAATI'S BEGINNINGS: CHAPTER 8 - Q'OYA-YURAKA'I

 Once again, the jungle was the scene of a dramatic collision of species... or at least that was what seemed to have happened at first glance. Humans faced a force unknown to them until this day. One might think that in Amazonia, wars and fierce battles are the most common and routine thing, but the truth is that all the beings that inhabit it know that the jungle is a mother and home of all, and if one wishes to survive in it, it is best to avoid unnecessary fights; nevertheless, each species has its own territory in the jungle, and trespassing its limits in a hostile manner can have consequences such as those that occurred on the same day. Humans learned the hard way that not everything is what it seems...

After recovering a bit of his strength and getting out of his emotional shock, the chieftain of the Tupinámbá-Guaraní tribe decided to return to the main settlement Kayapo, but not before helping the wisemen and warriors who had accompanied him and who were easily defeated by Y'shaati. Sore and battered, the wisemen asked their leader how he managed to survive the attack of the savage girl, but the chieftain didn't answer because he was still shocked to see how Y'shaati had spared his life.

The younger warriors, also wondering the same thing, couldn't believe that a young girl like her had that great strength and agility, far superior to any normal athletic person. It was at that moment that the chieftain corrected them saying that she wasn't an ordinary human female... he described the girl again with the following words: "Q'oya-Y'uraka'i."

The wisemen and the warriors were surprised to hear such a strange union of words, but they agreed that it was really the perfect way to explain what that nude white-skinned girl really was. At that moment, the chieftain apologized to the wisemen, as he now understood the gravity of his foolishness in provoking the wrath of the Tahuayos and, consequently, the wild girl. The wisemen accepted his apology, and in turn, decided that to avoid greater problems like the one that had happened today, they agreed with the chieftain that, when they arrived in Kayapo, they would announce the discovery to the whole tribe, since it was better that the truth be known by all. Finally, the group of humans departed back home.

The next day, the group arrived at the settlement of the tribe, where the community waited anxiously to hear the great news that confirmed the existence of Iara, the promised savior deity of Amazonia. However, to everyone's amazement, instead, the chieftain and the wisemen spoke of their encounter with Q'oya-Y'uraka'i...

In the Tupínámbá-Guaraní language, as well as in several other main languages ​​of Amazonia, Q'oya-Y'uraka'i is a compound word whose more accurate translation would be "Queen of Monkeys" or "Monkey-Queen". This title was devised by the chieftain when he observed how the wild girl behaved like an ape, communicated with them and the way in which she defended them the first time they crossed the forest of the Tahuayos. The cheiftain interpreted that she was some sort of leader/guardian for the gorillas, the monkeys, the baboons, the mandrills, the howlers, and probably all kinds of apes. To convince himself of this fact, it was enough for him to observe how they warmly received the girl and left with them all.

From that day forward, the story of Q'oya-Yuraka'i would be propagated by the Tupinámbá-Guaraní tribe to all the other tribes of Amazonia, since it was better that every tribe and settlement knew of its existence and what represented for humans: just another entity of the jungle to have respect of, as any other creature. A human female living among apes... maybe more ape than human herself...

However, this didn't take for granted that she was Iara, the true divine entity that would save Amazonia, because the tribes thought that the Monkey-Queen hadn't yet demonstrated her deific nature. Perhaps it would only be a matter of letting time run its natural course to know if she really was the Spirit of Amazonia that everyone expected. Only time could tell...

On the other side of this aftermath, circumstances took a different path...

The next day after the arrival of the Tahuayos and the Naka'i just after that tense encounter with the chieftain, Y'shaati and the apes decided to leave that place right away. While traveling thorugh the treetops, Y'shaati was bewildered and puzzled that several families of apes were reunited... it was no coincidence that a violent incident like the one that was avoided, detonated the need to unite the entire order of primates of Amazonia. Since she was a little girl, she learned that when ape families meet, it is because there is a serious and delicate issue that needs to be addressed and solved for the common good of the order. Maybe a similar event was about to happen...

During the journey, Y'shaati was surrounded by intrigue, and in a discreet way, she asked the Naka'i with whom she traveled what was the reason for such a meeting of races. To her misfortune, the Naka'i didn't want to give details of it and told her that this would be known until they reached the place they were going. One could see an uncomfortable tension between the races of apes... because of this, Y'shaati again blamed herself for all the bad things that happened to her near ones, since she believed that her power was uncontrollable and she herself would condemn it not being able to live a normal life like the other monkeys. However, the Tahuayos approached and told her not to think about that, and in a big kind-hearted gesture from the gorillas, they told her that they would support her as she defended the group previously. Thanks to these noble words, Y'shaati was able to alleviate her guilt a little.

Finally, after a one day and half trip, the great group of apes together with Y'shaati, arrived at a place of great significance for the Amazonian primates... a place that the monkey-girl had already heard, but she had never been before: Yvyra, the great sacred tree.

This place, just like Petaity, the rainforest home of Y'shaati and the Naka'i, is located among the most inhospitable places of Amazonia, far from the domains of humans; it is a sacral shrine for all ape families. Old fables tell that the tree saw in its time the origin of the primordial primates, ancestors of all the current races. Yvyra is such a huge and majestic tree, that it is possible to be seen far on the horizon from human settlements, however, men would never dare to explore such distant and dangerous lands, therefore they remain virgin of any human contact.

The order of primates was ready... Naka'i, Papios, Maquisapas, Carayás, Tahuayos, Araguatos... all species of apes were in their branches, prepared to discuss important topics that would decide the future of the apes in Amazonia. When Y'shaati had the opportunity to enter the sacred tree, she was stunned by the crowded audience. Hundreds of apes of all species were just above her, watching her carefully. That imposing scene was proof of the greatness of the primates of the jungle. Once all the apes were ready, the topics of discussion were: the unfortunate death of K'uno, leader of the Tahuayos and the powers of Y'shaati.

During that period of discussion, the howls of the apes were the sound that echoed throughout the jungle. It was impossible not to hear such loud sounds.

Y'shaati was allowed to be present during this meeting, since she played an important role in the survival of the apes. Some primate families argued that the girl was a threat to everyone, and stated that, until she learned to control her power, she would not be accepted anywhere. Other families, including the Naka'i and the Tahuayos, asked for patience from the leaders of the families, and pledged that they would fulfill the last wish of the great K'uno to guide the young human girl on the right path. Y'shaati remained silent during the discussions...

After several hours of debate, the races gave their final verdict: The monkey-girl would be given the opportunity to reform and develop as the Spirit of Amazonia under specific care, since they knew that the will of Yacuruna that lies within her is stronger than any objection from the primates. However, they also warned with the following statement: if the girl did not manage to dominate her power and instead continue to lose control and go feral as she had done twice before, she would be banished from the order of the primates forever.

The monkeys and the gorillas didn't hesitate a second in the capacity of Y'shaati and reiterated that they would train her well, having her always under observation. The monkey-girl herself took a step in front of the audience and swore before all the races that she wouldn't disappoint them again... all to honor the memory of her great master K'uno.

And thus, an historic meeting came to an end that, surely, wouldn't be the last in these uncertain times. Y'shaati, far from continuing to blame herself, celebrated the decision made by the order of the primates.

However, great would be her surprise if she knew that the day she would have to prove her worth to the apes would come earlier than anyone had ever imagined...

Y'SHAATI'S BEGINNINGS: CHAPTER 7 - THE HUNT

 The jungle had been stained with death and flooded in sadness very early that day. A tragedy struck the heart of Amazonia in the depths of its essence. However, while many hearts lamented the loss of a great leader, a soul flared due to grief and resulted in a sudden explosion of fury, pain and vengeance... and for the first time, the jungle was about to witness what the wrath of the Spirit of Amazonia could be capable of...

Moments after that unfortunate incident that caused the death of K'uno, the leader of the Tahuayos, the humans escaped from the forest of the gorillas at full speed by orders of the chieftain. When they thought they had gone far enough, they stopped and regrouped for a moment to assimilate what happened. Immediately, the wisemen approached the chieftain and repudiated what he had done, pointing out that because of him, the archers shot the gorilla, causing an unnecessary conflict. The archers apologized for their imprudence and undertook to amend their error, but the wisemen considered that it wasn't them who provoked the tahuayo's rage.

However, the chieftain ignored the scolding of the wisemen; he was still upset and with the intention of taking that white-skinned girl with himself. The chieftain refused to accept that girl wasn't special. He firmly believed that a hidden truth was inside that young girl's body... and he was more than willing to unveil the mystery.

The wisemen, disappointed of their leader, warned that this foolish search would only provoke more tragedies and the weight of the consequences would rest only on his shoulders.

While these verbal disputes continued, the humans had no idea that some beautiful azure-glowing hidden eyes, full of anger and thirst for revenge, were watching them discreetly from the top of the trees. The humans were not prepared for what awaited them.

The wisemen and the chieftain kept arguing when they suddenly observed how something fell on one of the archers, knocking him down instantly. At that same moment, all humans were shocked... the naked girl from before, was in front of them, with the body of the archer knocked down at her feet: Y'shaati.

The humans were surprised and in turn, scared. It was incredible for them to believe that the girl had reached them so fast.

However, they soon noticed how a green aura glowed around her body.

She was just staring at everyone, like a hunting predator. The instinctive reaction of the humans to see this was fear... the terror of feeling that an inhuman power was inside of her. The wisemen knew that there were no words to describe it. However, the chieftain thought otherwise and said the only possible explanation for this: a Goddess.

The chieftain told the others to stay still, fearing that a false move could cause her to attack, as if she were an animal. They all followed the chieftain's advice, but... when one of the younger warriors tried to flee by taking a little step back... Y'shaati threw herself at him like a wild ape.

The Spirit of Amazonia's wrath had been unleashed...

Just after Y'shaati pounced on the young archer, the other humans froze as the girl savagely hit the archer's body with her fists and legs, knocking him out with a quick rush of attacks. Another warrior tried to hold her from behind, but the monkey-girl acrobatically dodged that, and immediately kicked the man's face with the sole of her naked foot. The warriors didn't have time to think what to do. Y'shaati quickly turned her gaze towards the humans and roared towards them, showing them her fangs. Seeing the aggressive look of the girl, the younger warriors screamed in terror and tried to escape as quickly as possible; indeed, the girl had become an untamed beast.

However, before they could get away a few meters, Y'shaati ran on all fours in front of them to block their way. Y'shaati moved at an inhuman speed. The warriors, trying to confront her, pointed their bows and fired their arrows to defend themselves out of panic. With an almost feline agility, Y'shaati dodged all the arrows and rushed back to the archers. Y'shaati hung and climbed their bodies like tree branches. She also jumped from the body of one archer to another; while fighting, using her agile monkey feet and toes, she managed to disarm them quickly by breaking their bows. She also used her toned thighs to crush the warriors heads and applying very powerful tahuayo wrestling keys to make them fall to their knees, just to finally connect a powerful kick straight to their faces.

While the warriors were fighting with the wild girl, the chieftain could not help but be surprised at the incredible agility of the girl. It was definitely like if she was an animal... a wild monkey-woman. The three wisemen were terrified, watching as she knocked each of the warriors with ease.

The spears and clubs that the warriors brought with them were of no use against Y'shaati's attacks. The girl was too quick for them to react and even try to hit her. One by one, Y'shaati knocked down the humans until only the three wisemen and the chieftain were left. Right after, Y'shaati howled again like a wild ape while beating her chest aggressively. In a desperate attempt to escape, the wisemen and the chieftain quickly fled into the depths of the rainforest.

Y'shaati adopted her tahuayo battle stance, and quickly ran after them with the speed of a cheetah.

While the wisemen ran, they turned back and saw how the girl was running faster than they were, in spite of the fact that she moved on all fours like a gorilla... this frightened them even more.

Then, Y'shaati jumped into a nearby tree and climbed it quickly to grab some vines and swing among the trees. Y'shaati moved much faster through the branches and the treetops, so she managed to pass them without them noticing. Just at that moment, Y'shaati swung with her feet extended to the front, so she could hit the three wisemen with a single swing. When they least expected it, the wisemen felt a great blow into their bodies. The girl connected a great kick with her feet straight to their faces, sending them flying a few meters in the air and then colliding brutally on the floor.

The three wisemen fell completely knocked out. Y'shaati stopped on a branch and again released a great ape howl, completely dominated by her most primitive instincts. Y'shaati had one last prey left to hunt: the chieftain...

After running for several minutes, the chieftain stopped to take a breath, thinking that he had probably managed to escape the savage girl. However, he didn't know that Y'shaati was getting closer and closer to him. Just then, the panic was reflected again in the face of the chieftain, because he saw how the white-skinned girl was quickly approaching him through the trees. Then, the chieftain began to run again without being able to do anything other than escape. Y'shaati could swing as naturally as a monkey, and was even able to hold on to the vines using only her toes and freeing her hands. Swinging through the trees, she performed that acrobatic maneuver to catch the chieftain. In less than an instant, Y'shaati grabbed the chieftain by his arm and thanks to the speed with which she swung, she threw the chieftain directly up into the air. The tribal man screamed like a helpless child as he flew away, until finally his body crashed into the ground.

Still with the strength to continue escaping, the chieftain tried to get up, but just at that moment, Y'shaati landed on his stomach. The chieftain was left breatheless. Then, the monkey-girl sat down on the chieftain's face to prevent him from escaping, and started to punch the tribal man on his chest with her fists. The chieftain desperately tried to remove her beautiful buttocks from his face; to his bad luck, he didn't have time to realize that she had a young girl womanhood in front of his nose.

Then, Y'shaati quickly took off from his face and quickly started to lift his entire body. Then, she brutally threw him against the ground, just as she did with K'uno. The chieftain was completely defeated this time. Y'shaati stared at the human on the ground for a few seconds...

She knew that he had already received his due, but her wild instincts and power were so unleashed that she couldn't help wanting to hurt the man even more. Every time she looked into his eyes, she relived that horrible scene in which K'uno sacrificed his life to save her, launching a frightening shriek.

She felt it... her heart was pounding insanely. Her hatred and desire for revenge was so uncontrolled that the glow of her green aura intensified greatly... the aura was so blinding. The girl was breathing loudly and intensively. Then, she took the chieftain by the head and prepared to do something completely unthinkable: Y'shaati wanted to make the human pay with his life... so she was about to give a deadly bite direct to his jugular to finish his life once and for all.

A savage, instinct-driven part of her wanted to kill him, the man was her prey... but another more rational part told her that it wasn't the right thing to do. Y'shaati entered into an internal conflict, and without being able to make a decision, she began to growl like a confused animal. She suddenly fell to her knees. Her agitated breathing began to slowly come back to a normal rhythm.

In that brief moment of clearness, Y'shaati remembered what K'uno had told her the previous night: she needed to control her power, and not let her power control her. Her fate was to become the savior of the Jungle and not to become an awful beast dominated by her wrath. Then she looked again at the chieftain. The man, completely terrified and on the verge of crying, begged forgiveness for what happened earlier, praying to the gods that she could understand what he was saying.

At that moment, Y'shaati understood her purpose... her destiny. Y'shaati's gaze suddenly changed and she stepped back. And from one moment to another, Y'shaati released the chieftain. The monkey-girl stared at him with a sad face. The tribal man remained motionless and silent...

Just in time, a large group of Tahuayos appeared and called her to try to reassure her. Y'shaati, surprised, turned around to see them and slowly left the chieftain. There, she noticed something: the Tahuayos weren't alone... they were accompanied by a group of Naka'i, her beloved family of monkeys, as well as several groups of other apes, such as the Papios (baboons), the Maquisapas (spider monkeys), the Carayás (howlers), the Araguatos (mandrills) and many more.

Y'shaati quickly ran towards them to embrace them and apologize for all of what happened. The apes received her, glad to see her back to her normal self.

The chieftain got up and watched surprised as the monkeys and gorillas gathered around her and accepted her as if she were one of their own. Then, all the apes began to retreat. Just before leaving, Y'shaati turned back to see the chieftain one last time. The two stared into each other's eyes. A second later, Y'shaati climbed a tree like the other apes and soon after, she disappeared into the depths of the Jungle's treetops.

Still astonished, the chieftain stood for a few seconds, until he turned around and walked back home. While he did this, he pronounced the following words:

—Qoya-Yurak Ka'i...

Y'SHAATI'S BEGINNINGS: CHAPTER 6 - CLASH

 And so, the night came in the Tahuayo forest. The Jungle had been witness of an incredible combat this day. The tahuayos spent the rest of that day celebrating Y'shaati's victory over her master K'uno until dusk. After that, all the gorillas went to sleep with a smile on their faces and a profound sensation of peace. This day had been a memorable day for the Tahuayo pride.

Y'shaati, having being completely recovered from the rough encounter, proceeded to do the same as them. Once she found a good spot to sleep, she layed on a tree branch, had a deep sigh and closed her eyes...

A couple of hours passed... the jungle was quiet. All the tahuayos were slumbering deeply. However, Y'shaati was still awake. The poor monkey-girl didn't manage to fall asleep. Something was bothering her...

She was still trying to understand what happened during her combat with her master. She was trying to find an explanation about her sudden loss of memory. But most of all, she was trying to find the reason why all her fellow gorillas were looking frightened at her when the combat ended. There was something odd about that situation... a riddle for the ages.

No matter how hard she tried to sleep, the intrigue wouldn't let her.

She closed her eyes again. But then, some noises from above alerted her. Something was approaching her. However, a few seconds later, she saw who was making those familiar sounds: it was K'uno. He had descended from his high treetop to see her. The gorilla spoke to her in low ape howls, as if he were inviting her to climb along with him back to the top of the tree to talk privately. Y'shaati accepted his request and soon started to climb the tree quietly to not awake the other tahuayos.

Once they reached the top of the tree, K'uno, still hurt from the battle, slowly sat in his branch and invited Y'shaati to sit next to him. Then, both of them gazed at the beautiful starred night sky. K'uno began to explain to the monkey-girl what had happened after she lost consciousness during their combat. He told her that she suddenly began to emanate a green resplandescent aura from her body, and that her strength and aggressiveness greatly increased. Y'shaati was shocked to hear this... but then, she answered K'uno that this wasn't new for her and that this wasn't the first time that happened to her. K'uno turned his gaze towards her, confused.

Then, Y'shaati began to tell him about that strange dream she had the other day, and how she woke up from that sleep with her body covered in that same green aura. At that time, she felt like if she were someone else... like if she had transformed into another being... like if some spirit other than hers were living inside her...

K'uno was astonished from hearing this. He quickly realized that there was only one possible answer to explain it everything: the Spirit of Amazonia.

Y'shaati was confused and didn't understand at the first time, but then K'uno told her about the myth of the goddess Yacuruna's second arrival in this world. Yacuruna would choose a mortal being to be the vessel of her soul. And looks like Y'shaati had been chosen...

The monkey-girl felt anguished and scared when she knew this, and thought that this would mean that she wasn't going to be herself ever again. She didn't wanted to be the bearer of this fate. But K'uno told her otherwise. He mentioned that before fainting, a mysterious voice tried to tell her that he would have the mission to protect her, because now she was the incarnation of a Goddess. Her master explained to her that she wasn't alone and, from now on, he would help her to dominate this new power. He told her that she should consider her power as a blessing, rather than a curse. Destiny choose her to be the savior of Amazonia, and for that she would need the support of all the beings that live in it, including humans.

The monkey-girl, still doubting her master's words, told him how her first approach with humans didn't went exactly the way she expected, and only brought her more problems and sorrows. She even revealed to him that, because of this, she had a traumatic encounter with Mai D'goa, the titanic-toothed Serpent.

Just from hearing that name, K'uno's face went pale. He couldn't believe how a young girl like her had survived an attack from that hideous monster. Then, he gazed at her directly to her eyes with a serious look on his face. He warned Y'shaati that Mai D'goa is a vengeful creature, and once the serpent puts its mark on a prey, it will never stop chasing it. He adviced her to be more careful from now on whenever she traveled through the jungle.

At that moment, K'uno promised to help her in everything necessary to gain control of her power and fulfill her fate to become the savior of the jungle, until the end of his days. Smiling and relieved, Y'shaati embraced K'uno to thank him for all the nice things he said to her.

Soon after, both of them laid on their branches and finally fell asleep together.

The jungle remained calm for the rest of the night until the dawn of the next day...

In the morning, just when the sunlight was beginning to illuminate the majestic landscape of the Jungle...

A lot of gorilla howls and growls abruptly woke up both K'uno and Y'shaati...

Startled, both looked around them to see what was going on. Then, K'uno realized that the thunderous howls were coming from the jungle floor below. Right after, K'uno began to descend from the great tree. Y'shaati wanted to do the same, but K'uno turned around and ordered her to stay in the treetop for her own safety. Then, K'uno jumped off the tree...

Meanwhile, in the jungle soil, all the tahuayos were furiously roaring and beating their chests in a violent way. When K'uno finally reached the ground, he at last saw the cause of the gorillas rage: a large group of tribal humans, armed with spears, clubs and bows, had arrived at the tahuayo forest. It was the same young Tupinámbá-Guaraní group that found Y'shaati sleeping the other day... but this time, they were accompanied by the tribe's warriors, three wisemen of the tribe, and even the chieftain himself. They had followed the direction Y'shaati escaped that day and had came upon the Tahuayo's home.

Infuriated to see the humans had trasspased their territory, K'uno stepped in front of all the gorillas to confront them, launching a intimidating roar in order to scare them and make them return from where they came. However, the humans were determined to introduce themselves deeper in the tahuayo forest, wondering if the supposed white-skinned naked girl they were told about could be there.

Both the tahuayos and the humans didn't want this tense situation turn into a bigger conflict, but if there was no other choice, both species would be more than prepared to fight.

Suddenly, by the chieftain's command, the humans warriors aimed their bows and arrows at the tahuayos. In response, the gorillas adopted their battle stance...

It was too late now... the bloodshed was about to begin... But just then...

Just a second before the chieftain could give the order to fire and K'uno could tell the gorillas to charge against the humans... a powerful roar coming from above stopped both sides before attacking each other. The humans, confused, looked all around, trying to find the source of the loud ape-like roar. They noted it was a distinct roar and couldn't become from a gorilla. The chieftain and the wisemen smiled briefly, hoping that the majestic Spirit of Amazonia could appear right before their very own eyes. Just then, the humans finally saw something that left them speechless: the young naked girl they were looking for, was descending quickly from a tree, with the grace of a wild monkey.

Y'shaati acrobatically jumped from the tree and safely landed in the ground, right in front of the humans and the chieftain. The humans looked down to gaze at the white-skinned girl. At the same time, Y'shaati adopted her tahuayo battle stance, planted her knuckcles in the ground and looked up to see the humans right in their eyes. Y'shaati had a serious look on her face...

In a naive reaction, the younger warriors felt attracted to the girl... they thought she was incredibly beautiful and couldn't help to have a glimpse of the girl's cute and naked white-skinned breasts and womanhood; they were surprised to see that the girl was around her early 20s, just like them. When Y'shaati looked at them, they blushed.

The chieftain and the three wisemen tried to approach her to have a closer look of her, but Y'shaati suddenly produced a threatening ape-like howl and showed her bare fangs at the humans, startling them. K'uno approached the monkey-girl and spoke to her to calm her down, fearing that she could accidentally unleash her power again due to her sudden fury. Y'shaati turned around and spoke to him, as if she were trying to protect his master and the other gorillas from the threat of humans.

While this happened, the humans couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were surprised to see that the young girl was able to communicate with the gorillas; she even behaved and walked in her fours legs, just like them... but nothing more. There wasn't anything holy or mystical within the girl. The wisemen, dissapointed, began to think that the supposed Spirit of Amazonia was nothing but a wildling. A feral girl. Knowing this, they stepped away from her and suggested the chieftain and the group to return to the settlement right away; their travel had been a waste of time and effort.

However... the chieftain was in denial. He refused to believe that was all. He hoped to see the promised savior of the Jungle this very day... and nothing would stop him from witness it. He considered that girl was hiding something...

Then, from one moment to another, the chieftain ran towards Y'shaati in a deseperate attempt to grab her by her arm and take her with his group to Kayapo, the tribe's main settlement.

In a couple of seconds, K'uno saw the chieftain coming towards Y'shaati and quickly charged against him to protect her. Y'shaati saw this and remained motionless. The tahuayo tackled the chieftain, crashing him directly into the ground. K'uno, infuriated once again, was about smash the chieftain's body with his powerful fists to knock him out and end this foolish conflict for good, when suddenly... the horror happened...

A flash burst of arrows hit K'uno all over his body... the human archers had shot the gorilla to protect the chieftain. K'uno collapsed into the ground. Y'shaati and all the tahuayos remained catatonic, watching the terrible scene...

The chieftain quickly stood up and ordered all his group to retreat, knowing that the wrath of the tahuayos would surely detonate in any moment. The wisemen were also shocked to see such terrible thing. Then, all the humans turned back and ran out of the forest.

Y'shaati, completely heartbroken, rushed towards K'uno, crying. The tahuayos also approached K'uno and began to mourn and weep. The poor monkey-girl looked horrified at his wounded body. It was horrible... there was nothing she could do for him. Sheding tears, she caressed her master's face. K'uno was still alive, but his life quickly began to fade away. In his last moments, K'uno smiled at Y'shaati one last time, while Y'shaati's tears ran of her face. K'uno slowly closed his eyes... and in the next moment, he was gone... the faithful leader of the Tahuayos had died.

Y'shaati embraced his body and began to cry like she never did before. The tahuayos, completely devastated, began to cry as well.

All the creatures of the jungle could hear the cries of the gorillas as the jungle fell in deep sorrow.

A few silent minutes passed, and then, the tahuayos noticed something...

The green resplandescent aura started to emanate from Y'shaati's body, once again.

She wasn't crying anymore. Concerned, the gorillas began to draw away from her, fearing that she could lose control of herself again. However, one tahuayo approached her. When the tahuayo gently spoke to her to see how she was... Y'shaati looked up and growled at him like a wild ape. The poor gorilla quickly stepped back, scared.

Y'shaati slowly began to crawl away from K'uno's body and drew away all the other tahuayos with terrifying growls. Without a doubt, she had reversed into the same savage beast, like last time.

Y'shaati, completely enraged and feeling the wrath flowing through her body, looked into the path the humans had escaped...

She adopted her tahuayo battle stance again... and in just the blink of an eye... she sprinted into the forest like a feral creature pursuing its prey...

The hunt had began...