A.N: I may or may not be changing post time to weekdays. I'll keep you all posted. Also, (and maybe shameless plug lol) If you listen to Podcast Princesses, they have all three parts of the Coronation Day review up. You should give it a listen, it's very interesting...if you get what I'm saying **wink wink**

Nontacitare: Ahahah, there is always that one guy on road trips. That's Esteban lol. And thank you, love writing Esteban, even when he gets ego-ish lol.

I don't own Elena of Avalor

(Translation)

Chapter 2: Little Encounter

A couple of days in Las Garras without having started training so far had given Esteban time to adjust. Adjust as well as he could considering he was living in a cave now. Specifically, a system of tunnels within a mountain that was shaped and curved into three points like bird talons. The stalactites and stalagmites within the tunnels were equally as sharp and as a fitting place to live for someone like Zopilote.

The birdman would sometimes keep himself to his nest on a high rock ledge in the main cave. Ash and Esteban took those times to make space for themselves. They had nothing at first, but whenever Zopilote left Las Garras he'd come back with the basic necessities for Ash and Esteban. The birdman even managed to find some old mattresses. Esteban didn't complain at first considering he had feathered bedding and not rocky ground like he had the first night.

But the more items brought it in, Esteban had to ask where Zopilote got them from. "Charity," Zopilote said with a smile as if he were delivering the punchline to a joke. Unlike Ash, who gave a small chuckle, Esteban never laughed. He may have done some sleight of hand tricks along with Victor when they were younger, but they never went as far as to steal. All Esteban could do was try and keep the guilt down and tell himself he wasn't directly involved. He was already on Avalor's most wanted. He didn't want to add thievery to the list. He didn't want to break any chance of going back home.

Sitting up on the old mattress, Esteban looked around the little cave he tried to turn into his temporary room. Then he eyed a round wooden bin he used to store the few items he had. A hairbrush and toothbrush. No mustache comb or anything else. Yes, temporary. There was no way he could live like this. Esteban stood up and grabbed his clothes he had folded neatly in the corner of the room, changing into those and out of the linen pants he slept in at night. Then he used the hairbrush to try and bring the part of his hair that curled up back down to how he always had it before he fell into the magic well.

Once he successfully did so, Esteban felt a little more confident and ready for the day. This time, this time for sure. He made his way out of his room and down a tunnel into the main cave. Looking up at the ledge where Zopilote would roost, Esteban didn't spy the birdman. Perfect. He looked across the large cave, seeing sunlight peak around the corner of a rock wall. The exit. Today was the day, Esteban told himself. He was going to get out of this place.

He didn't want to be affiliated with Ash and Zopilote, and best to do so was to avoid any sort of magical training before they got started with him. That's the only reason they needed him. And to use him against his family. No, he just couldn't let that happen. Without even checking if Ash was still around, Esteban began to march across the main cave towards the exit.

He could never hurt his family. He loved them too much, and missed them even more so. Abuelo's wise words and songs, Abuela's overbearing affection and cooking, Isabel's passionate rambles about her latest inventions. Even Elena's unbeatable optimism would make Esteban's day. Would Elena ever be able to be optimistic around him again?

That got Esteban to freeze in place just before he could round the corner. "Argh!" He growled before he facepalmed. This always happened. He would have enough of this mountain and the malevolent people he was surrounded by, making him work up the courage to start walking out. He always thought if he could just try and talk to his family one more time. To try and convince them that he did what he thought was best back then. That he wanted to avoid trouble and not start it, then perhaps they could let him come back.

And then he was reminded by how hurt his family was. Did he have a chance? After all, Elena was ready to send him off to an island to live in solitary. Ash and Zopilote weren't the best people, but better than surviving on his own. Once again, he had to admit he was stuck with the two Malvagos because he had nowhere else to go. Just like how they were stuck with him because he had magic from the Well of Takaina.

"Getting cold feet again."

Speaking of which. Esteban turned around just in time to see Ash toss his staff to him. Esteban managed to catch it, after playing a little bit of hot potato with it in his hands. But upon getting a good grip, the contact caused his hair to curl up again. As if he had rubbed his feet on a carpet to create static. He sighed. "It took me ten minutes to comb it down."

Ash came to stand right in front of him. "You might as well forget about trying since you'll be holding the staff every day."

"Every day?" Esteban asked with a raised eyebrow. "How about never?"

Esteban then shoved the staff into her hand, only using enough force that she took a step back. But she didn't quit. "You can't deny you have these powers."

"I'm not denying it. I just don't have to learn to use them."

Ash rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that. The Well of Takaina was the source of every magical Maruvian artifact, and they could be very unpredictable in inexperienced hands. So if Elena had trouble trying to control her new magic when she fell in, who's to say you won't be the same?"

Esteban raised his head high and motioned to the cave they were in. "Nothing has floated in the air or come crashing down since I've been here. I think it's obvious I have better control over my emotions than Elena."

"Debatable," Ash said, shoving the staff right back into Esteban's hands. He leaned back and almost lost his balance but he managed to keep himself on his feet. "And like I said, the well gives different powers. Maybe you don't make things float like Elena but you might have something more powerful. Such as demolishing the unbreakable for example. And if that's the case I don't want this cave coming down on me because of you."

"If you find me such a hazard, I can leave. I was just about to do so-"

Ash cut in with a smirk, "That would be a sight."

Esteban's upper lip twitched before he stepped forward and slammed his staff into the ground in anger. "I can leave when I want!" Once the staff made contact with the hard stone, a flash of green took over and the scene changed before Esteban's eyes.

He blinked several times before he realized he was surrounded by lush jungle. The cave and Ash were gone before his eyes. "No, no, no…" Esteban said in a shakey voice. In his frustration, he had teleported himself out of the Las Garras. He had no clue where he was. The only hint being the dense canopy above him. "I'm deep in the jungle," he said to himself in a panic. Trying to remember from what little instruction he had from Ash so far, Esteban raised his staff and slammed the bottom into the ground.

When he watched the familiar glowing green glyphs form a circle around his feet, he was sure it would work. But once again he was surrounded by trees, the only difference was that he could see the sky. He tried to see if he could at least spot the curved tips of the mountain past the tree line. But it was nothing but a pure blue sky as far as he could see. He tried one more time, but he teleported once again to a random spot in the jungle. "Of course, the one time I want to leave it works up until leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere."

Esteban didn't want to teleport anymore in fear that it was taking him farther away from the mountain rather than closer. But how could he tell? He noticed a large set of boulders below a low hanging thick branch. That's when Esteban figured the best way to find out where he was was to climb up a tree and get a good view from the top.

Leaving the staff to rest on the boulders, Esteban climbed up on the boulders with ease and stood on the one at the top of the pile. His height made it easy to grab hold of the thick branch above and hoist himself up. He wrapped both arms and legs around the trunk to keep from sliding off, then he slowly began to stand up on the trunk. He almost lost his balance, his arms flailing about to find his center. But once he became stable he stood tall on the branch with hands to his hips. "That wasn't so bad." He heard a sharp crack below him and instantly knew what it was.

He spotted a couple of vines hanging far in front of him and he jumped towards them just as the branch broke from the tree. He held onto the vines as he watched the thick branch hit the boulders and split into two. Both pieces rolled down the side of the rock pile and came to stop at their base. Realizing that could have been his back, Esteban sighed relief. And then he heard another snap, this time from above. "Ay, por la mor de-"

He felt himself plummet back first to the ground but a sharp tug on his ankle forced his body to fall face first before he began to swing in midair. Upside down, he watched as he swung away from the boulders and turn so that his face hit the trunk of a tree. "Ow…" he managed to mutter as swung back and forth a few more times then slow to a stop. He was then just left with his one arm hanging limply by his head so that the hand on the other was on his face hold what felt like a bruised nose. When he looked up towards the sky, he saw his left leg tangled in some vines.

He was stuck a half a meter over the ground upside down in the middle of the jungle probably far from the only people who would bother to get him down. For a few moments, he thought he'd be here all night until Esteban's eyes landed on his staff still resting against the pile of boulders. Maybe he could teleport out of the vines with his staff. But to reach it would mean... "Well this is going to be humiliating…" Esteban looked around to see if anyone was around to see but of course, once again, Esteban remembered he was alone out here. Or so he thought.

As Esteban began swinging himself back and forth to gain momentum, a few small shadows moved among the treeline not too far away. Once Esteban swung far enough, he grabbed a hold of the boulders to keep himself in place in order to reach out and grab the staff. "Phew…" Esteban said, almost breathless.

And then he suddenly heard someone in front of him whisper, "Pssst"

Esteban had a double-take. He wasn't alone out here? Keeping his hold on the boulders he looked up to see where the whisper came from. There was no one on the other side of the rock pile. So where did it come from? "In here." Esteban looked down and found himself staring at a pair of brown eyes coming from a small space between the boulders. "Are there any Malvagos here?"

"W-what?" Esteban asked without thinking since he was still trying to process there was someone, a child given the pitch of the voice, this deep in the jungle.

"Malvagos? You know. Bad wizards."

Esteban looked right to the top of the trees, imagining the mountain where Ash and Zopilote would be in. "No," Esteban answered.

Without warning the child burst out of hiding, going face to face with Esteban and yelling, "Kuali!" (Good!)

"AH!" Esteban shouted in surprise, his shock making him drop his staff and lose his grip on the boulder before swinging back face first into the tree once again. "Argh…." Esteban growled as he pushed away from the tree and held his face. If he hadn't formed a bruise from earlier he was definitely feeling one form on his nose now. "Oh, my beautiful face…." he muttered.

"I told you," said the child.

Esteban looked towards the child, seeing a boy who looked around 6 years of age with russet-brown skin. He wore a forest green loincloth front to back on top of cloth wrapped around his hips. His short, fluffy dark brown hair bounced along with his excitement. His jade earrings glistened in the sun as he jumped out of hiding within the boulders and onto the grass. He gave Esteban a toothy grin before he looked back to the boulders, "I told you. He's good."

Another boy about 8 years old with short, thin brown hair poked his head out and hissed, "We shouldn't even be talking to him."

"We're going to get in trouble," came another small voice from within the hiding spot.

"Well he's not Malvago, so it's fine," the first boy said motioning to Esteban. "And we can't leave him like this."

The second boy seemed to think before someone else began to climb out of the cluster of boulders. A girl around ten wearing a simple white dress with blue rope tied around her waist and a sea shell hanging down the center. She got down, brushed aside her shoulder-length brown hair, and looked back at the boy in hiding. "He does have a point."

The boy in hiding muttered something before climbing out to reveal he too wore the same as the first boy except his wrap around his hips was a deep red. As Esteban watched them talk, he wondered who in the Ever Realm would let their kids explore the jungle alone… especially dressed like that.

"What if he tells someone?" The second boy asked.

"I'm sure he won't tell anyone if we help him," the first boy said before turning to Esteban to ask him, "Will you?"

Esteban blinked and asked, "Tell who what?"

"Wow…" The girl gasped as she reached down and grabbed Esteban's staff. She held the tip close to her face to observe the detail. "Look at his spear. It's very odd-looking."

The first boy grabbed it from her hand and exclaimed, "Maybe we can use it to get him down!" The boy looked up at the rope, aimed with one eye closed, and then swung Esteban's staff. He tried to cut the line with the sharp tip, but instead, his aim was too low and he hit Esteban in the shin with a loud THWAK! "OW!" Esteban yelled.

"Oops, sorry. Let me try again."

Esteban threw his hands out in front of him and yelled, "Wait no—!" And the boy tried again. But his aim for some reason was lower, hitting Esteban in the stomach. "Hold on-!" Esteban tried to say as he held his stomach in pain. "STOP!" Esteban managed to yell before he was hit in the chest.

"That's not gonna work," The second boy said angrily, grabbing the staff from the smaller boy. "Change and use your teeth to—"

"I'VE got this!" Esteban hissed and managed to reach far enough to swipe the staff away. He wasn't going to wait and question anything anymore. Especially if it meant letting these children hit him like a piñata again. Esteban held his staff upside down to him so that the bottom touched the ground. He raised it up and then slammed it into the ground so that the scene changed before him.

For just one second, Esteban felt relief seeing he was right side up because the trees were growing towards the sky above him. The next second though he realized he was in midair, with the vines still tangled around his leg. Gravity did the rest. He felt himself plummet again and when the vines went taught, he swung so that his face hit the tree for the third time that day.

The littlest boy fell on his back and held his stomach as he laughed. He managed to say between spurts of laughter, "That was... that was so funny!" The girl almost doubled over in laughter but stayed on her feet.

It was the second boy who looked around nervously. "He did magic. What if he is Malvago?"

The little boy managed to stop laughing hard enough to say, "Would a Malvago do something funny? Xixo! (It's fine!) I'll show you."

As soon as he hit the tree again, Esteban had dropped his staff and had his hands to his face feeling a nice swell form on his forehead. But when he finally moved them away to pay attention to the children he noticed the little boy had disappeared. He looked around to see where he went and then noticed the other boy and girl looking up. Before he could see what they were looking at, the vines gave away and he fell to the ground. His head hit the dirt first before the rest of his body followed suit. He was left there moaning in pain as the sky above him spun.

He barely noticed the little boy come down from the tree until his vision cleared and the boy came to stand right over him. Esteban's staff was in his hands. "Are you ok, tlakatl?"

Not bothering to ask what that meant, Esteban slowly sat up, winced, and said sarcastically, "If getting slammed into a tree and falling to the ground makes one stronger, then yes I'm fine."

The second boy narrowed his eyes and reached out to grab the younger boy by the arm. "We should go."

"No," The younger boy whined as he pulled his arm away, "I don't want to leave."

"I don't trust him."

"But why not?"

Esteban had to hand it to the second boy. Even though it hurt to hear that he was skeptical of Esteban, that boy had good instincts. The smaller boy however made Esteban roll his eyes out of annoyance at his naivety. The kid barely knew him… and yet… he was comfortable around a stranger like him.

That's when the weirdest sound Esteban had ever heard rang across the jungle. It wasn't coming from close by but it was loud enough to be heard from a distance. It sounded like someone was blowing through a muffled horn over and over again. Whatever it was made the children tense up. "Natzli…" the little boy whispered nervously.

"Let's go before we get into trouble," The girl said as she and the taller boys took off into the trees. The little boy ran around Esteban but stopped short when he realized he still had the staff. "Oh here you go." He held it out for Esteban, but the man didn't take it right away. He had been so annoyed with their foolishness earlier that the boy's continuing kindness towards him made Esteban reach out for the staff slowly. Once Esteban had it in his hands, the little boy said, "And don't tell anyone, please?" Without even waiting for a reply, the little boy turned and ran after his friends. All three children were gone, heading deeper into the jungle.

Esteban looked around, finding himself alone again. Even though he was happy to be rid of the kids that left him physically scarred, a part of him wished they had stayed. He wanted to see why the younger boy was so trusting of Esteban. Was it just because he made him laugh? There had to be something more.

His thoughts were interrupted by rustling in the trees behind him. Esteban stood up and prepared to run, but in thinking it was the children circling back again he stayed put. But It wasn't the little boy that walked out of the heavy flora, though. It was Ash with a tired and annoyed look on her face. Her tamborita glowed white in her hands. "You're a hard man to find, did you know that?" she hissed. "Even with a tracking spell." She raised her tamborita as the glow disappeared.

Noticing she had leaves in her hair, Esteban had to ask, "Did you go poking your head in bushes to find me?"

Brushing the leaves off her hair, Ash grumbled, "No. I had to trek through some hard terrain to get here." Noticing the bruise on his face and small twigs stuck to his coat, she asked, "And what about you? Did you go teleporting yourself into a tree?"

Esteban opened his mouth, ready to explain it wasn't his fault he was like this. But he stopped short when he realized he was going to mention the children. Last thing he wanted was to say that he ended up getting help from a few kids. Especially since they beat him up unknowingly beforehand with his staff. He knew Ash would only make fun of him for that.

But then there was that thing the little boy said. Not to tell anyone about them. If there was someone who had to keep someone else a secret, it was the boy. Wherever his home was Esteban didn't want him telling anyone he was here. But the boy asked him. Why? And most importantly, why did he trust Esteban, someone he had never met before, to keep a secret. If only the boy knew how good he was at keeping secrets.

Esteban recovered quickly and answered with a straight face, "I know better than to go teleporting around not knowing where I'm going. As you said, my magic is unpredictable."

"Well, you were paying attention. That will come in handy when training starts." Esteban wanted to object but he was just too tired to do so. He thought about it anyway and figured there was a point to this training. If he couldn't teleport out of a tangle of vines then how could he teleport out of a situation he didn't want to face? Might as well try it, he guessed. Then Ash added, "Still, doesn't explain the bruising."

"Do I have to tell you everything?"

Ash thought of it and then shrugged her shoulders. "Fair enough. Come on. Las Garras is this way."

A.N: Not a lot of facts this time but we get our first encounter with the modern-day Nagual. Not the best one for Esteban, and it won't be the last XD. And most words aren't translated since there will be in-story translations for them later on. And yes, I did give a magical explanation as to why Esteban's hair sticks up, I couldn't resist.

Fun Facts:

1) Girl's Shell and Boy's earings: Cloths and jewelry were a way to distinguish between class and age groups. Aztec (Mexica) pre-teen girls wore a shell tied to a rope around their waist before they became old enough to marry or do more household chores. Mexica and Maya nobles and royalty regularly wore more jewelry than a commoner.

2) Upside down on the tree: One of my favorite Disney films is Brother Bear, and I adore Koda and Kenai's first meeting. So for those who don't already know who the little boy is, I can at least give you this hint on his name and personality ;)

More soon. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!