4 - Animals

"Don't scream." Lupus says to me in a firm voice. I cannot see his face because he has his back to me.

This must be the largest tiger I've ever seen. Its black stripes make it look much bigger. It takes a step towards us. Lupus signals for me to stay still. I do because if I move back any further I'll certainly fall of and probably die.

"Shea. Calm down," He continues. "It's me, Lupus." What does he mean it's mean? Does he know this tiger?

It roars. Even with its abnormally large size, it looks weak. It's fur is not as bold as other tigers I have seen. Nonetheless its roar still scares me, I hestitanly want to take a step back.

"She will not hurt you. I won't allow it. She is a friend."

Why are we still here? Shouldn't we be running for our lives? What is he rambling about? He nods, all this time he has maintained eye contact with the tiger. He holds his hand out behind him. He opens and closes his hand in a 'come closer' motion. Hesitantly I oblige. Taking very cautious steps to him, I place my hand on his.

"She," He pulls me to his side and pushes my hand out. "She will not hurt you or me." He places my hand on its cheek and guides it along the frame of its face. "I promise."

The tiger inches closer into the palm of my hand. It has really soft fur. "Will you get us back to the tree? The one I always sit on."

It opens it's eyes slightly then closes them again. Lupus take my hand off its face and lifts me up - am I going to ride a tiger? I sit on its back like I would on a horse. This is awesome.

"Don't pull or pinch his fur. You won't like the results." I nod at the instruction. Since my near death experience, I'll be following a lot of them.

"Okay."

He takes its face in his hand and speaks to it, though I cannot hear a word. The tiger turns around and goes back in the direction we came.

The ride back is soothing and steady. He must know I've never been on a tiger before. Twigs and leaves crunch beneath his large paws. I make sure my grib on him is not too tight. A fall from up here won't be nice.

Lupus has been walking by our side. He points to the left and says, "We are stopping for water."

I nod, like my opinion mattered, and the tiger turns to the left. A beautiful river comes into view. Lupus holds his hand out for me. I take it and get off the tiger so it can drink without my weight on its back.

"This one is connected to the one you fell in." He is referring to the river. But for some reason this water doesn't look like water from most rivers.

"That's cool." I brush my arm a bit. Hesitantly I ask. "What were you saying back there? To the tiger I mean."

He smiles a bit. "His name is Dingo. And I was calling him and asking him not to eat you in case you fell off. Rather give you a ride."

"I meant what language were you speaking when you told him that? I'm fluent in four and I'm familiar with twelve. And I've never heard that." I explain.

Running his hand through his hair, he looks at Dingo. "It's Iviranne."

"What?" Is that even a word? I've never heard of it before.

"Iviranne. A language spoken here. You or anyone else for that matter would not know or have heard of it." He shifts his gaze back to me. "Like I said, this is a different place. A new world on it's own. Hidden from the class of whatever goes on up there." He says referencing home.

I simply nod in return. If I ever have hopes of finding Jewels then I still have so much to learn. Dingo has been drinking water for a while. I decide to ask. "How much water does he need?"

He sighs heavily, and his body language is uneasy. "Because of the Ivy, almost every animal here is weak. They need to retain their strength in different ways. For the tigers it's by taking in a lot of water."

"By tigers you mean there is more of him around here?" I say pointing at Dingo. "Like his family?"

It's his turn to nod. "Don't worry though. Since the Ivy started growing, they have spread out. They are in pairs in different parts of the jungle. Some of them have died because water does flow everywhere anymore. Not so many are left."

That's horrible. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry for? You did not temper with dark magic and the Ivy did you?"

"Obviously not. You just looked really sad when you said the others have died." I add. "I thought I should at least be empathetic to the guy who saved my life, twice."

He chuckles slightly before correcting me. "It's actually three times. Not that I'm counting or anything." He waves his hand at me.

Dingo finally finishes drinking the water and Lupus says. "You will have to walk for the rest of the way. He won't be able to make it far with you on his back after the amount of water he just drank."

"It is fine." I say. "I don't have a problem."

Together -Dingo, Lupus, and I- walk back in the direction we came. We are like the three marketeers, from different worlds and species. During the walk I keep looking over my shoulder, just in case something creeps up behind me.

Lupus senses my unease. "Nothing's going to up stage you. Relax."

I chuckle nervously. "Just taking necessary caution."

We walk for approximately ten minutes and we enter a secluded area that is mainly dominated by tall trees. Leaves reattach themselves from the stems, turn to ashes and fall. The ash disappears as soon as it touched the ground. Lupus has to explain that. I stop when I see Lupus and Dingo stopping.

"Griuoiz, Dingo." That must be Iviranne.

Dingo stops and looks at me. I maintain eye contact with him, I need to show him that I can be trusted. He advances to me. I hold my ground. My palms are sweating. Heart's racing. What did Lupus tell him? Dingo opens his mouth - at this point I'm pretty sure the colour has drained from my face. He lashes his tounge, pink and all.

Probably realising the situation, Lupus intervenes. "Dingo, She-"

Dingo's tounge runs on my face. My face is completely covered by it. His saliva remains where his tounge had been. After covering my forehead he removes his tounge from me and I slowly open my eyes. Only to be forced to close them again. Using the end of my shirt, I wipe away the saliva from my eyes and forehead. I hear a chuckle. Lupus.

"What's funny about this?" I ask him. I thought I was going to die.

Instead of answering me, he continues to laugh.

"Tsaletswéo Dingo." He says to Dingo.

That must mean goodbye because as soon as I regain my vision, I see Dingo walking off.

"Why did he do that? Did I offend him?" I ask. We start walking further into the tree area. The twigs crumble and crunch beneath our feet.

"Not at all. That was him showing you that he likes you." Relief washes down on me. But he had to ruin it. "That or he wanted to have a taste of you. Should he get hungry and need a snack."

"How comforting." I continue to wipe off the rest of the saliva from my face. Once I'm sure my face is clean, I see that we've been walking towards the center of the trees. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the Baobao tree."

"Those grow down here?" I'm fascinated. "That is really amazing."

He nods. "Almost every kind of tree grows here. The soil allows it."

We walk in silence to the Baobao tree. It is not awkward. I angle my neck upwards. This is one tall tree. Stopping a few feet before it, I ask. "How are we going to get up there?"

He shrugs nonchalantly. "The gorillas."

"GORILLAS!" Why did he say it so casually? Like gorillas are the usual way to climb a tree.

"Hold on." He takes a few steps closer to the tree. With his hands around his mouth to project his voice better, he shouts out. "Kia. Zeäpha."

"Wha-"

Before I could finish what I wanted to say, a large black animal appears in front of us. The gorilla. I take a step -or five- backwards. It turns its attention to me. Like in the movies when the bad guy is caught, I put my hands in the air. The difference between the movies and me is no, not the unrealistic scenes, the difference is I'm not a bad guy. All I pray for is that it understands hand gestures.

"Kia. She is my friend. She is not going to hurt you. I promise."

Slowly the gorilla starts looking calm. He speaks to again. "Hold out your hand...?"

I realise that I've been asking questions and I had not even given him my name. I follow his instructions. "It's Zoey."

"Yeah, calm down and hold your hand out, Zoey."

It sniffs my hand and gives me a look that feels antagonizing, I don't know, can gorillas do that?

"Melk skolli môss, Kia?" He needs to teach me Iviranne. What if I'm left alone without him? Not that I'm hoping for it.

The gorilla looks at him for a short while and he snorts. Its eyes are a beautiful brown colour. "Zoey this is Kia. Kia this is Zoey."

I manage to calm my nerves. Taking deep breaths, I stop shaking intensively. "Zoey?'" Lupus calls out from my side.

"Y-yeah?" I stutter.

"Ever ridden on a gorilla before?"

"Excuse me?" Did he just-

"You will ride on Kia, I'll climb behind you two."

I've been to zoos and safari rides before, hell! We once went vacationing in South Africa, where we visited the Kruger national Park. Never, not once, not even by accident have I been asked to ride a gorilla before. Is it weird that tiny butterflies are erupting in my stomach?

"A-are you sure? Did she agree to that? Is that even safe? Aren't I heavy?"

"Yes. Yes to all of that." Did he just call me fat? "But luckily for you, gorillas are not drained by the Ivy."

I get on her back. Like a piggy back ride. Its fur tickles my exposed arms and legs. I push my hair to the back and the ride begins.

I feel like I'm going to fall. I'm climbing a tree on a gorilla. I tighten my grib because I feel like I'm slipping. That was not a good idea. At all. I must have hurt her because with one shake I'm sent falling.

I scream for my only hope. "Lupus!" I scream out in fear. Kia was pretty far up when she shook me off, so I'm falling at quite a distance. "Lupu-"

I land in his arms. My breathing is heavy with fear. How did he even get here so fast? Slowly I open my eyes and look at him. "Four times."

I chuckle at the reference and he sets me down. I stumble for a while before I fall on my bum. He laughs again. "What just happened? Why did she shake me off?"

"You must have hurt her. Although she isn't weak the Ivy has made her very sensitive to physical pressure." He continues. "What did you do, prior?" He asks.

I explain. "I felt like I was about to fall so I tighten my grib. But not so tight." I stand and dust myself. "So is she going to come back and get me?"

"She can but I don't think that will be a good idea. I'll carry you on my back. It's safer that way." I get on his back and he starts climbing the tree.

"So how does this Ivy look?" I ask during the ride. I make sure that my grib is tight but not as tight.

"Big. Harmless. Enchanting. Magical." He answers.

"That does not sound bad."

"That's just how it looks. Looks can and are deceiving." He continues. "Once you it, its true colours will be revealed. Although it is a plant it can fight like a person. It controls nature. Nothing can over power nature."

"So how am I suppose to end it? If nothing can out power nature, then I won't be able to do much."

"Nature does not want to be controlled. It wants to be let free to grow the way it desires. It'll be on your side. If you show it that you can be trusted."

"And how do I do that?" I ask. We are finally at the top. I get off and see Kia and another gorilla.

"We'll get to that later."