A.N: I'm back! Finished a majority of the busy work I had. One that included getting to work on the Guiding Light Elena Fanzine (Which you all should buy if you have the chance *wink*wink* so many amazing artists and writers worked on it *wink*wink* I have a Maruvian piece in there *extra winks*)

Chapter 6: Half a Trecena

Since Zyanya was assigned as Esteban's teacher, The Itz'at thought it best that Zyanya help Esteban find his way back through the dark jungle. "After all, this would be a great time for you to get to know one another."

Not one word passed between the two the entire time back. Esteban tried to ignore the awkward silence by trying to see more of the Nagual's home, but Zyanya's quick pace made it hard to observe and keep up. He didn't realize they had gotten in between some gulge before it got too dark to see anything.

"Ay!" he yelled as he stubbed his foot on a rock. Another yelp escaped him as he felt his shoulder hit a sharp rock poking out from the rockface. A flash of green ahead lit up the tight space for a moment before it got dark again, and then Esteban felt something strong pull him by the sleeve of his coat. He figured it was Zyanya leading him out, but he wondered why her grip forced him to lean forward while walking. Once they got out of the gulge, open space allowed some moonlight to shine where Esteban thought Zyanya's hand was.

Esteban's eyes widened as he noticed jaws clamped down on his sleeve. He pulled away on instinct and the sound of cloth ripping apart followed. The man looked at his torn sleeve in dismay before looking warily at Zyanya in her non-jaquin creature form. She spat out the white cloth stuck in her teeth before saying, "Would you relax? It's still me."

As she stalked towards the edge of the jungle, Esteban bent down to pick up the torn piece of his sleeve. "Yes, well, you could have just used a hand instead of your teeth."

"It's easier to see in the dark as a jaguar."

"Jaguar?" Esteban thought before he stood up straight to look at Zyanya in awe. "That's… that's what you are?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Zyanya stopped walking and looked back in exasperation. "Let me guess. You thought I was a wingless Jaquin?"

"Well, yes…" Esteban confessed before he realized how this made him look. He quickly added, "But who wouldn't think so? Jaguars have been extinct for hundreds of years. Not many would know such creatures existed unless through a personal study like I myself have done."

Zyanya frowned but looked away before Esteban could notice. In a somber tone, she said, "Yeah.. extinct." Esteban noticed as her head lowered but quickly perked up again as she added confidently, "Unless one's nagual form was a Jaguar, that is. Like myself. Now come on."

It was back to absolute quiet as they continued through the deep jungle. Esteban made sure to follow right behind Zyanya so as not to lose her in the dark. By the time they reached the clearing they first met in, dawn was finally coming. "There should be enough light for you now," Zyanya said as she turned human again. "And you should be able to retrace your steps to where ever you came from."

Zyanya looked to the sky towards the few stars that were still visible. She put two fingers up in a V-shape and closed one eye. Zyanya then turned her head right and pointed in the direction she was looking. "We chased you from there." Esteban looked, figuring Las Garras was in that direction. "Oh, that makes sense. You came from Morelos."

For a split second, Esteban didn't know why she would bring up that small old lake town. Morelos was west of Avalor City and sat between the mountainscape and the wilds. The lake itself connected to a river that eventually split into two deep within the wilds. Now that Esteban thought about it, the base of Las Garras was at the fork in the river. Her assumption that he came from Morelos sounded better than coming from some mountain like a hermit.

Zyanya took his silence as a 'yes' and then said, "And here I was wondering what someone from Avalor City was doing this far." She turned around and walked past him to leave him behind in the clearing. Knowing she was happy to be rid of him, Esteban figured that was that and didn't expect her to say anything else.

He started to walk away when he heard a deep sigh from Zyanya before she said, "Look, I don't expect you to come back," Esteban stopped and looked back. He saw the woman with her back to him as she faced the edge of the clearing. Head held high and shoulders stiff as she continued, "I know the eyes of a man who wants to run. And the reason you're out here is the least of my concern so long as you don't cause any more trouble." Suddenly her shoulders slackened and her head titled as she looked down. "But I love my Abuelo. I hate to see him get sad. I don't know why but he sees hope in you, and if you don't come back…" She faltered.

Esteban looked ahead once again. He didn't need the description. It was easy to imagine the Itz'at's reaction if Esteban thought of his own abuelos in his place. And the feeling Zyanya would get, Esteban knew that all too well.

Zyanya continued, "If you could come back and at least try and learn something for one day, it would mean a lot to him. And you don't even have to come back again after, but just…" She faltered again but followed it with a sigh. There was quiet, and Esteban knew she was waiting for a response. But Esteban didn't even know what to say. His silence again made Zyanya say, "If I don't see you here within half a trecena, I'll know your answer."

"Trecena?" Esteban asked. He turned around to ask, "What does that-" he stopped talking when he realized she was no longer there. The shrubbery near where she once stood rustled before going still again. Esteban rolled his eyes and looked where Zyanya had pointed to earlier. Whether Esteban wanted to think about what she said or not, right now wasn't the time. His trip back to Las Garras would be spent giving him time to think of how he was going to explain his absence to Ash and Zopilote.

It was well past dawn by the time Esteban made it to Las Garras, and it took a bit more time until he got to the entrance of the cave. Even though Esteban had slept before waking up in the Maruvian's hidden settlement, he was still feeling pretty tired considering he was used to siestas then longer naps. So it was easy for him not to notice a shadow looming above before he was tackled.

Sharp talons pinned Esteban down on his chest so that his back was to the ground. Even though he still had his grip on his staff, Esteban didn't think to use it as he was stiff with fear looking at Zopilote in his buzzard form. The Mavlago's wings were spread wide and beak open in a hiss. But just as soon as he had swooped down to attack Esteban, Zopilote blinked and gasped, "It's you?" He quickly flew up and transformed mid-flight before coming to land in his human form.

"Of course it's me," Esteban grumbled as he got up and dusted himself off. "And why did you attack me?"

"Because we weren't expecting you to come back, at all. You vanished, like as if you didn't exist?"

"What does that mean? You thought I was dead?"

From one of the tunnels, Ash came walking out into the main cave to say, "We'd still be able to track you with a tracking spell even if you were dead. My tamborita couldn't find a trace of you."

"Didn't you put some anti-tacking spell on all of us to keep Elena from finding us?" Esteban asked.

"Since I cast the spell then you have to remain a close distance from me to remain untrackable. Zopilote went out scouting but couldn't find you anywhere near Las Garras. Where the heck did you go that we couldn't find you?"

Esteban hoped that anti-tracking spell excuse would work, so now he had to think quickly of another. "Well, I don't know. The wilds are endless. I can't tell North from South standing anywhere in that jungle."

"You didn't have to stay out the whole night to prove that point," Zopilote added.

"I teleported too far and I lost track of time so I had to find shelter when night set in." Esteban began to walk off, hoping that would make this conversation end faster.

Zopilote stayed by the cave entrance and looked at the view of the vast jungle that stretched almost as far as the eye could see. Ash wasn't done with Esteban, however. "Hold on. You, Mr. Fancy Pants, willingly slept outside?" she asked, slightly amused.

"Not like I had much of a choice," Esteban responded, his irritated tone of voice echoing throughout the cave, "I wasn't going to go stumbling in the dark. And who said anything about sleep. If anything, I lost sleep. So I'll be catching up on that if you don't mind."

When Ash and Esteban had finished bickering and retreated to their quarters, Zopilote stopped gazing outside and looked back inside the cave with a raised eyebrow. Everything Esteban made sense, but there was still the fact that he had been untraceable. How was that possible? What if…

Zopilote shook his head. "No, they'd never risk showing their faces to someone like him."

A few days passed and Esteban had been forced back into training again. For the time being, Malvagos thought it best to put aside teleportation training. Zopilote figured that maybe the reason Esteban had been untraceable was that it was another of his abilities. But when they trained it didn't seem likely. The Malvagos made him go from hiding behind rocks to as far as deep in the tunnels of the mountain. But every time, Ash would find him with her tracking spell. "Some useless form of hide-nd seek this turned out to be," Esteban said to himself as he stood up against the wall of a tunnel.

He had no idea how far he had gone in the tunnel system, and the pitch blackness made it hard for him to find his way back to the main cave. But considering Ash and Zopilote had found him every single time, Esteban didn't worry about getting lost. He had only been in the tunnel for half an hour. They'll show up at some point soon, and hopefully, give up on trying to see if he can just vanish without a trace. Normally, Esteban wouldn't care about such a thing, but he was a little curious as to why the Malvagos couldn't find him a few days ago.

Was it another ability he also didn't know how to control… or had it been the Maruvians? Maybe that was something he could ask them. If he was going to go back, that is.

From time to time, Esteban thought back to the encounter. How could he not? They were living Maruvians! But this was the first time he got to really think about The Itz'at's offer and Zyanya's words. He didn't want to learn magic in the first place, so why go back there? And they didn't seem to want him back there. Heck, Zyanya and that other guy, the scar-faced man, weren't too happy to have him around.

But Zyanya did bring up something that left Esteban thinking. The Itz'at was the first person since this nightmare of an exile had begun who actually wanted him around. And to add, not use him for his magic. The old man was genuine, even treated Esteban like a guest. This was the respect Esteban felt he had been missing. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go back. But going back meant more training with magic, and Esteban already had enough with Ash and Zopilote. Did he really need more, especially if he learned nothing so far?

But what about the Itz'at's disappointment Zyanya mentioned as well.

Esteban forced himself to brush that thought away. There was always a tight feeling in his chest that came with it. Letting someone down. Just like in the council room when Elena cast him out. Fortunately for him, the sound of loose pebbles falling from the tunnel ceiling broke Esteban out of his thoughts. He didn't think much of it at first until a sudden gust of wind blew past Esteban and stopped just as quickly. In the pitch blackness, the man guessed the wind came from another entrance to the cave's tunnel system nearby. He had bumped into a couple of those since this part of training began, but an entrance this deep in the mountain didn't sound logical at all.

Esteban became distracted yet again but this time by a purple light coming from the other side of the tunnel. Recognizing the color of Zopilote's magic, Esteban knew it was the birdman coming around the corner from a merging tunnel. But just as Esteban was about to walk over and meet the Malvago halfway, he felt hot breath right behind him. Yelping fear, Esteban turned in time to see… nothing? The growing brightness of Zopilote's magic should have made it easy for Esteban to see whatever it was that had been breathing down his neck. There were only shadows.

"What's with the screaming?" Zopilote asked as he walked up to Esteban.

The man turned to him but pointed behind him as he tried to explain, "There was… something…" But when they both looked back, there was still nothing. Esteban was about to give it up to save himself embarrassment but Zopilote stepped forward and raised his hand holding the purple flame higher.

He examined the tunnel, eyes shifting around suspiciously. "There shouldn't be anything else in here," Zopilote said, loud enough for his words to echo. Esteban blinked and looked around, wondering of Zopilote said was meant for just him to hear. Then the bird mumbled something under his breath and said, "Even so, you shouldn't be down this far." Zopilote turned and began to walk back the way he came.

Esteban followed behind him. "Ash told you where to find me, no?"

"I don't mean about getting lost. You don't NEED to go down this far anymore. I think we've proven you don't have the power to be untraceable. Besides, I don't want to go another trecena with this useless form of hide-"

"Trecena?" Esteban asked as he stopped to look at Zopilote in surprise. He'd heard that word before. Zyanya said it.

Zopilote winced. He then stopped and quickly shifted his eyes about as he tried to think of an answer. "It-well- it's nothing. An old term. No one says it anymore."

"What does trecena mean?"

Zopilote sighed before answering, "It's a thirteen day period. A full week."

"A week?"

"What's almost two weeks for you is a full week for me. Now stop asking questions."

Not wanting to risk Zopilote leaving him in the dark, Esteban didn't press on. But he was left asking himself questions he had no answer to. Why was trecena an old term? Was it because it was Maruvian? How did Zopilote know? Esteban had his suspicions about that, and if he was right then what Zopilote said was true. Trecena was thirteen days. Zyanya said half, so she probably meant six or seven days. Much of that time had passed already, so Esteban had until tomorrow to go back to the Nagual's hideout.

He raised his left hand to look at the chewed off part of his sleeve. So the next question was… would he?

A.N: Zopilote what secrets do you hold HMMMMMMMM? And it looks like the mountain itself has secrets of its own lurking in the shadows. Yes, I did have to make this part of training a weird game of hide-and-seek, it was too funny to pass up XD. But it gave time for Esteban to think of what to do next… but that's next chapter.

Fun Fact Time!:

1)Jaguars: Although jaguars aren't endangered, they are near threatened. And even though Mateo mentioned jaguars in EoA, the only other being to speak of them was Quita Moz. The way the sunbird described jaguars made it sound like there weren't many around, so I'd thought I'd play around with the idea here that something went wrong for them to be extinct.

2)Morelos: Named after Puerto Morelos, a little fishing town near Cancun in the Yucatan that I'd visit every year. Many Maya people live there today and a few miles South is the archeological site of the Maya City of Tulum. It's my favorite place to go and probably where my obsession started haha.

3)Trecena: Just like Zopilote said, Trecena is a 13 day period, or a week in Mesoamerica Cultures. Multiply 13 by 20 and you get 260 days, the full Tzolkin Calender used by the Maya to track celebratory events. It was influenced by the placement of planets in the night sky (hinted in this chapter btw) I'll get more into calendars later in the story but quick PSA for now: The 'Mayan Calander' used in media depicting the guy sticking its tongue out in the center is not Maya or a functioning calendar. It's the Aztec Sunstone which depicts their Mythology. Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system, lol.

A.N: Now that i'm back, I should be able to stay to the biweekly schedule, though I may be able to post next week. We'll see. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!