A quick Disclaimer! I don't own anything but my OC. Feel Free to comment and review and things though, I've had the idea for this story for a bit. Thank you for any follows or favorites C;

Love & War 1

Imara (POV)

I loved the jungle. I was born there and I was raised there. My tribe was a part of a group made of a few other tribes that fought the new era changes that seemed to be spreading. We didn't want change, we cherished our traditions and our ways of doing things. I was just walking into our village when my mother walks up to me with my squirming nephew in her arms. Her dark honey colored eyes, ones I shared with her, shined with annoyance.

"Take him! He screams and runs and makes a mess of things." she growled.

I laughed softly and nodded, taking my nephew from his grandmother.

"Come little one. Let grandmother be to help prepare the meat for the returning warriors." I whisper to him.

My nephew, Enzo, smiles and wraps his little arms around my neck and I carry him off. We head back toward the forest, its lush greenery calling out to me.

"I will teach you to climb trees today little one. Would you like to learn?" I ask as I put him down.

We stood there in front of a grand tree covered in moss and vines. Enzo jumps up and down with excitement as he pulls on my wrap skirt i had tied tightly around my hips.

"Please Aunt Imara! Teach me to climb like you do!" he plead, his big soft brown eyes filling up half his small face with a pout.

I smile down at him and lift him up under his arms. I place him onto my back and tell him to hold on tightly.

I thank god swiftly for my tall frame then climb up the tree with ease. I can hear Enzo giggling in my ear as we go up higher and higher. Once we reach a far distance from the ground, I carefully unwrap his skinny arms from around my neck and his legs from around my waist.

"Okay Enzo, careful now." I chide him as I let his feet touch the thick wooden branch.
"Brace yourself against it. Become one with the tree little one." I tell him.

Enzo nods slowly and hugs his small body to the tree, free now from my embrace. I grip a sturdy vine in my hands and pull myself up to standing. All around me was life. Birds twittering and flying from far off treetops. Monkeys hooting and fighting over food or mating rights to females. bugs and small animals flinging themselves from branch to branch or leaf to leaf. It was beautiful.

"Imara look!" I hear Enzo yell. Glancing over my shoulder at him, I smile. He was standing up on his own and beaming up at me proudly. "I did it! Just like you."

I brush my dark brown hand over his dark course curls that only occupied the top of his little head.

'In 6 summers, he has truly grown so much.' I think happily.

"What's that?" Enzo asks, a tremor of fear in his voice. I swiftly turn my head and crouch down, my long braids falling over my shoulders and down my back from the quick movement.

"Be very still, little one." I whisper as I take out a small handcrafted knife from the holster on my hip.

Staring intently before us was a jaguar; male from the looks of it. Its coat was a sleek black with barely visible spots. The large cat's yellow eyes followed us slowly, its teeth bared. I slowly moved in front of Enzo and with a nod of my head, he quickly hops onto my back. The jaguar lets out a harsh hissing noise and crouches down. I feel my heart beating a hole through my chest as I decide on what to do. In a split second, the large cat launches itself at us and I resheath my weapon and jump from my branch. The jaguar growls at missing its mark and I hold onto the branch with my hands as I look down. Angling myself, I let go of the branch to land on another branch. The cat wasn't far behind us, climbing its way down to us slowly. I can feel Enzo breathing shakily against my neck and I prepare myself to jump again.

"Hold on tight." I tell him as I brace my feet. Holding in my breath, I run off the branch and launch myself onto a whole new tree. The cat hisses and jumps too, landing close by. I let go of the branch I was hanging from and drop down onto another branch that brought us both closer to the ground. The jaguar growls out and takes a swipe at my hand, and with a curse I feel my grip lessen. Enzo shrieks as he feels us both falling. I grab for anything I can to lessen the impact of our fall. Last minute I grab onto a vine that doesn't break under our combined weight and use it to pull us both up onto a branch a few feet from the ground. The jaguar was leaping from branch to branch, sinking its claws into the trunk of the tree, its glowing eyes trained on us.

"hold on, Enzo! Whatever you do, don't let go!" I yell as I jump down, bracing myself when my bare feet and hands touch the dirt covered ground.

I sprint. Pumping my arms and pushing my legs to go, I hold my breath and just fly. The hard padding of the jaguar could be heard as it followed after us. It soon dawned on me though that if I kept running toward the village it could hurt or even kill someone. Most of our warriors were off in a hunting party, the tribe was protected by the younger newly blooded boys and the older men of our tribe.
'I have to drive it away.' I realize and slowly stop running.

Reaching up, I quickly pull Enzo off of my back and push him in the direction of our village. "Go Enzo! Run!" I yell as I turn toward the big cat, who had just caught up with us and was watching us with a predatory hunger.

I knew Enzo was running due to the gentle sound of his feet pounding the earth.
'Protect him.' I prayed as I took my dagger from its sheath once more.

Making a loud hissing sound of my own, I crouch low and brace myself. I didn't have a lot of heavy muscle on me, but I was quick and precise with my attacks. The jaguar eyed me for a second and then pounced. I brought my dagger up and stabbed at its left shoulder, cutting through muscle and tendon. The cat howled in pain and bit down hard into my arm in retaliation. I screamed and, from pure adrenaline, continued stabbing it. Its side, its paw, and finally my small dagger found a deadlier mark in the jaguar's neck. The cat slowly loosened its jaw and fell to the ground- dead.

I slowly rose to my feet on trembling legs, and flung my head back with a yell of triumph and victory. Breathing heavy, I bent down to the large cat and slid its heavy body onto my shoulders, prepared to take it back to the village.

I walked toward the heavy brush when suddenly I felt more eyes on me. Turning my head in the direction I felt the stare was coming from, I peered up into the trees and tried to focus my vision. A soft growling sound could be heard from the darkness followed by a few clicking noises. I hissed at the unseen animal and ran, the cat still flung over my slender shoulders. With both its blood and mine mingling on my body, I walked into the village to see everyone in an uproar.

Screams of panic and horror rang clear in the air. The Warriors, or what was left of them, had returned. They looked like ghosts of their former selves, their eyes glossy and unfocused. I ran to our family hut made of stones and thick jungle mud, stopping briefly to drop my kill on the dusty kitchen floor before running outside to find my family.

Cries from mothers and wives and children greet my ears as I step closer to the village square, the very heart of our tribe. I spot my nephew, who was holding on tight to my older sister Lyza. She was looking over the heads of the men, searching for her husband. I ran to them, Enzo being the first to spot me as I come over, and hug my sister tightly. She stares at me shocked before hugging me back just as fiercely.
"Where have you been? We have been attacked! We think it is the settlers again, coming to try to lay claim to our lands." My sister tells me, venom in her tone.

"I had a bit of a problem, but it's taken care of." I rush out, sliding my eyes to my nephew who knew not to tell his mother of the many misadventures we found ourselves on.

"Oh where is Henri! I don't see him!" Lyza says as she hugs Enzo closer to her and peers more into the crowd of bleeding, wounded men.

I focus too, looking for the long single braid that my brother-in-law liked to wear when hunting. Spotting it finally I jump up and yell out to him,
"Brother! Over here!"

He spins and heads toward my voice, his long braid swinging from side to side with every mighty step.

"Lyza! Enzo! Imara!" He yells and runs to us.

We all collapse into a group hug. After a bit of smiling and patting on the back, I leave the three of them to connect.
"Imara!" I hear someone scream from behind me.

I turned just in time for my mother to engulf me in a massive bear hug. Her arms, though slender, were strong and crushed me to her tall body.
"Mother." I smile as I hug her back.

"I saw the jaguar and thought the worst." She says as she hugs me once more.
"I'm fine mother. You shouldn't worry so about me." I laugh softly.

"You have only seen nineteen summers! Of course I'm going to be worried! You should settle down, and stop going off on your own so much." She grumbles back.

I just nod and pull her towards Lyza and Henri, who were looking over at me with mixed expressions of pity and amusement.

"I heard about the attack. Our elder is having a meeting tonight on what to do. All able bodied warriors are required to attend." Mother informs us.

I look up at Henri as he sighs and nods. "It all happened so quickly. They just opened fire on us mid hunt." He says, his eyes overcast with confusion and anger.

"The elders will know what to do. They will figure it out." Lyza states with little confidence.

I sigh and nod, hoping for all our sakes that she's right.