Without wasting more time than necessary, and with a will of gold, worthy of a monarch of the jungle, Y'shaati began her journey along with I'ppi into that unknown place... that dreaded and abhorrent place of Amazonia called the Darklands that the Naka'i warned and pleaded to the monkey-girl not even thinking to approach, much less putting one foot inside. Such a panic-stricken discussion wasn't common in the Naka'i social order. Y'shaati knew it from the moment she introduced the little pup to her family of monkeys.
But no matter what, she made an important decision...
Maybe a few months ago she would have never challenged the verdict of the elders and would have obeyed their order right away. But she's not the same girl anymore. She has a divine duty now... a responsibility much more beyond her.
The slumbering Goddess who lays within her soul gave her a mission and the purpose in life she longed for too long... to find her place in the jungle... and now she is willing to embrace it...
That's all the motivation she needed...
During 3 days of travel, the bonds between Y'shaati and I'ppi grew stronger. While she took care of the little monkey at all times, I'ppi couldn't help but show his affection by hugging her and asking her to sleep with him at night. During those days, Y'shaati had unknowingly assumed the role of a surrogate mother. Every time she looked at his cute little face, she felt a maternal urge to raise him as if he were her own baby. But at the same time, she couldn't help but be saddened of thinking what would happen when the little pup returned to his mother's side. The beautiful dream would just end in an instant...
Y'shaati was living the experience of being a mother and she wasn't going to miss the chance to enjoy it as much as she could.
The fourth time that Father Sun K'uarahy manifested high in the skies since they began their journey, Y'shaati's guiding instinct allowed her to know that they were both in a place that she had never reached before. The last arm of the Ysyr'y River, the farthest point from home that Y'shaati knew, had already been traversed. From now on, the way forward was an unknown world...
To confirm if her suspicion was correct, she climbed to the top of the tallest tree in that area. The landscape was overwhelming for her... She saw how the canopy of trees, mountains and vegetation of the jungle seemed to have no end... as if Amazonia were an ethereal paradise expanding into infinity...
A few hours later, while Y'shaati continued to swing through the vines with the little monkey right at her side, little I'ppi's stomach made a loud grunt: the little pup was hungry again. It was the time for her to feed him once more.
However, the Monkey Queen realized that at this point, both were too far from the nearest river. Ysyr'y was far behind, and this time, she wouldn't be able to hunt fish for dinner.
Without being convinced of what she had to do, but knowing that she had to do it either way, she set out to look for a prey to hunt. It was the last thing Y'shaati had desired to do, but the circumstances were different now. The life of a small infant was completely depending on her, there was no other alternative: eat or die... the law of the jungle is always present.
Jumping and crawling stealthy among the branches of the trees, hiding her presence the best way possible, Y'shaati awaited for a small prey to appear. A rodent, a toad, or maybe a lizard could make a nice meal today...
Life's around every corner in the jungle, but for some unlucky reason, no creature decided to appear below of her. Y'shaati couldn't help feeling somewhat frustrated due to such situation. Maybe she wasn't as good at hunting as she thought? Who knows.
Little by little, the monkey-girl began to run out of patience. I'ppi, observing the seething anger of his new mother to find something to eat, remained silent...
And then, fortune, in some odd way, smiled at them again...
Y'shaati gradually began to perceive a strange scent... an unusual aroma that she already knew. She started to remember... for some reason, that particular smell was present every time she was near a human settlement.
On several occasions, while she was peering from the shadows at human tribes to learn more about them and their behavior, she noticed that humans used to hunt large animals and then devour them in what seemed to be some kind of ritual or celebration. Perhaps on this very day, a similar event would take place nearby. If that were the case, this could be her chance to get something to feed I'ppi... but it was risky. She didn't know how humans would react if they were spotted stealing something from them. It could cost their lives. With the intention to know more about it, she began to follow the scent, sniffing it to find its source. The little pup, being carried on Y'shaati's back, also detected this aroma. Surprisingly, the smell seemed to stimulate his appetite.
Approaching cautiously without trying to attract attention, both managed to quietly descend from the top of trees and hide in some bushes until they found what Y'shaati predicted: a large human tribe was settled there. There they were... males and females... so similar to her, but at the same time so different...
However, she noticed that this village wasn't like any other that she had visited previously: besides the strange and primitive "nests" made of dry branches and leaves in which these half-naked, dark-skinned hairless monkeys used to sleep in and do other things, there were other stranger structures... two of them precisely, much larger and more robust nests... it seemed that they were fortresses composed entirely of logs...
What kind of mighty strength these humans had to being able to uproot whole trees from the jungle's soil?
Humans seemed to be very busy, carrying objects from one place to another and focusing their efforts on the center of this structures.
Still with I'ppi on her back, she crawled closer, keeping to stay out of sight. Then, she finally saw the source of the scent: five huge wild boars had been captured by the humans, and judging by how they were gathered around them talking to each other, it seemed that they were preparing to feast on the animals. Even human infants who were playing around seemed excited about such event. Among a multitude of bodies and legs, Y'shaati observed that the boars were being slowly consumed by something... Y'shaati instantly recognized it... that dangerous and untamable entity that had the ability to destroy everything it touched. The Naka'i knew it as the "Red Flower".
This spirit was like an unstoppable force of nature. At some point during her childhood, Y'shaati witnessed its voracity. Its power was something to be very afraid of. The Naka'i always tried to stay away from it so as not to provoke its wrath.
Why humans didn't fear this powerful entity? Why the Red Flower wasn't attacking them?
Every time Y'shaati stopped to think about it, she ended up with more questions than answers.
All humans suddenly began to form a circle around the burning boars. Every two-legged monkey got on their knees, spreading their arms and turning their gaze towards the sky. The Monkey Queen knew something was happening...
While the boars continued being consumed by the red flower, another group of humans with their bodies painted with a pattern of red and white lines all over their dark skin brought drums and other types of primitive musical instruments. Apparently the rite was about to begin.Then, a big muscular man with lots of tattoos and piercings appeared... Y'shaati immediately guessed that he was the tribe's leader.
After a brief moment of silence, the leader posed in the same way as the other humans and then shouted a strange phrase to the heavens.. a phrase that was repeated in unison by the entire tribe moments later:
Nde ñame'ẽ akue aguyje ñandejara, rehe darn kuera pe temime´ẽ tekove!!
Then, the drums began to pound with powerful strength, while most of the humans began to dance and sing fervently. Without further setbacks, the feast began... Y'shaati watched as the humans began to tear the entrails of the boars to devour them one by one. The red flower had left the animals skin completely burned... but they didn't seem to care. In fact, they enjoyed it even more...
The monkey-girl felt something wet running down her body. Turning to see I'ppi, she saw how the little monkey was drooling all over her shoulder. I'ppi was too eager to have one small bite of that delicacy, that seemed he could jump out of the bushes and run wild at anytime, alerting all the humans in the process. Before he committed any nonsense, Y'shaati put him on the floor, and she talked very seriously to him: she told her not to move from there and await her return. She would be the one stealing the food for him. If they were discovered, both could die.
After giving him that straight message, Y'shaati took a big breath and closed her eyes for a moment... and just a second later, she came out of the bushes quickly to avoid being seen. Little I'ppi simply watched as his new mother headed there...
Y'shaati took advantage of the moment when most humans ate and danced to the loud music in the center of the village to advance like a furtive shadow. She rapidly climbed up to the roof of a hut and continued to move on as close as possible to the center.
The humans were too distracted enjoying the feast to pay attention to the beautiful naked white-skinned girl jumping through the roofs of the huts.
In just a few minutes, the boars had gone from being a large and juicy banquet to a pile of bones and cartilage. However, there was still enough meat in the lower part of the animals. While Y'shaati came up with a plan to steal a piece of the boars, she saw how a pair of human infants carried one leg of the animals into one of the two fortresses made of logs.
Perhaps this could be her chance... she thought that in case of having to face them, she could easily subdue them, since she had already done it with adults before. But that idea was discarded when the children simply went to leave the big piece of meat somewhere inside that place. No time to hesitate. It was now or never...
Still undetected, Y'shaati finally reached the entrance of the great fortress. It was bigger than she had imagined. While slowly stepping in, she noticed the place was as dark as a cavern, so she began to sniff the scent's trace that the food still produced. While careful advancing, she couldn't help being curious about all the objects that were inside that place. Some were made of materials that she had never seen before... Where did all these objects came from?
And just at that moment, she saw it again. The red flower was under some kind of container. Y'shaati quickly stepped back for her safety, but then realized that the spirit wasn't enraged... it was in a docile and calm state...
How did humans managed to control the red flower? How was that possible?
Y'shaati came closer, contemplating the entity in a hypnotic way... she was thirsty for answers... that was what she most wanted in that instant...
It seemed that the seconds she spent looking at it had turned into hours. Suddenly, a peculiar noise managed to abruptly free her from the trance caused by the red flower. She didn't know what was happening until she turned to her side and realized she wasn't alone... I'ppi, the little monkey pup was there, eating desperately the meat he wanted so much. He had disobeyed her.
Entering in panic, Y'shaati scolded him and yelled at him. She told him that he shouldn't be there and ordered him to jump on her back to leave that place on the double. I'ppi, scared to see Y'shaati's reaction, gave her the big piece of meat and quickly did what her mother told him. While Y'shaati turned around to quickly exit from where she came, she noticed the presence of two small silhouettes... the two children who brought the boar's leg were there, looking at her... in just a second, the children, startled, ran out screaming and asking human adults for help...
The worst scenario became reality... both had been discovered...
The tribal music along the celebration suddenly stopped. Adults, shocked, quickly went to answer the children's call, taking their spears and sharp knives with them. As they ran towards the entrance of the fortress, they saw the two kids coming. Both were terrified as if a monster were chasing them. Then, they finally catched a glimpse of the intruder: a white-skinned girl with a monkey on her back and a boar's leg on her mouth, running like an animal, trying to escape at full speed.
Now angry, a few humans tried to stop Y'shaati by getting in her way. The two-legged monkeys aimed their weapons at her. However, the monkey-girl's acrobatic agility allowed her to dodge every attack and jump over every single one of them. Unfortunately, one man managed to hit Y'shaati, knocking her and I'ppi down to the ground. The humans quickly formed a full circle around the girl to prevent her from escaping. Due to the heavy blow, she dropped the boar's leg. When trying to quickly get up off the floor, little I'ppi was caught by a human. Immediately, the baby made pitiful shrieks of help and tried to bite the man's hands.
Hearing the little monkey's cries like an echo inside her head while imagining the worst things happening to him, Y'shaati suddenly opened her beautiful azure eyes... she instantly stood up and gazed at the crowd of humans surrounding her. She began to howl like a raging ape.
Y'shaati now was ready to fight... she was willing to kill anyone who dared to hurt the baby monkey. The great glowing aura began to erupt from her body... her wrath had awakened.
Seeing this, humans remained completely astonished... and frightened. What kind of monster was that girl? Why was her body was glowing? Was she some kind of demon of the jungle? No matter, the faster she were dead, the better.
Just a second before humans could attack the threatening girl, a loud shout was heard among the crowd. The humans turned to see who it was: it was their leader, who was desperately asking everyone to lower their weapons and to not attack the girl. Moving on among the people, the man found himself face to face with Y'shaati. He squatted to have a closer look the beautiful young woman. She answered by threatened him with an guttural ape growl.
The man couldn't believe it, he immediately knew who she was... the rumors that spread a few months ago throughout Amazonia were true... the Goddess... the wildling who lived alone in the jungle was real:
Q'oya- Y'uraka'i, the Queen of the Monkeys...
The leader of the tribe knelt before her and apologized for his insolence. When the man told the other humans that Q'oya-Y'uraka'i was in front of them, everyone was shocked and quickly did the same and prostrated before Y'shaati.
Rage slowly changed into confusion for the monkey-girl... for some reason, now all humans surrendered to her... What happened?
At that time, the tribe's leader correctly guessed the reason of her appearance in the village: she was protecting that little monkey and looking for food to feed him. Without faltering, the man quickly ordered the boar's leg to be given to the Goddess. The humans handed him the piece of meat and he offered it to Y'shaati.
Like a wild animal, Y'shaati didn't immediately trust the man's gesture, however, seeing that the humans released the little monkey, she began to understand... apparently these humans didn't plan to kill her today all of a sudden... Why?
Y'shaati and the man remained exchanging glances for a few seconds... he gently smiled at her to convince her to take the offering...
In the blink of an eye, Y'shaati took the boar leg with his mouth again, and quickly ran away, taking the little monkey with her. She headed to the nearest tree and climbed it. The humans just watched speechless as they lost sight of the Goddess in the thick foliage of the trees...
The humans began to mumble between them, trying to understand what just happened... However, the tribe's leader kept smiling at the horizon.
He still had questions like everybody else, but he felt blessed the very Goddess of the Jungle had visited them this day...
