Four is a good number. Life enjoys the benefits of redundancy. There must be balance. The humans say that two is company, three's a crowd. There is unbalance in only three. But this is not a project that can tolerate the risk of equal sides. There must be one clear answer, and equal numbers give the possibility of deadlock. There must be completeness. A balance that does not lean one way or the other. A balance that can continue to move.
There must be a fifth. But for each of my four base elements, I have a representative. The fifth...
I am one from many. I am a whole with many parts. What I have given is Power. The correct use of destruction can encourage the growth of life. But Life itself is an element. One that must be introduced to create balance, and harmony, and most importantly, Growth.
I am very hesitant to give this power. I have watched all my Children to see what the Spirit is trying to show me in them. This last one I must watch for a longer time. This can be the most insidious power. The most dangerous. I am... afraid to give it to anyone.
I go where the Spirit moves me, and I am relieved. I am led to the heart of what I know. To the jungles teeming with my creation. There is some concern here, I am seeing it under attack, but these all come from the outside. The threads of life are bound too tightly for the fingers of Man to take them apart from within.
I am led into the heart of life, and I focus on him. He has dark hair and olive skin, wearing woven clothing that is hardy and comfortable. There is nothing in him touched by the corruption and toxins of Man. He has innocence and compassion within him, and his want for more is little.
But I am worried. I wonder if I was led to the wrong place, to the wrong person. The Spirit has led me to place the most dangerous of Power on the shoulders of a young boy, younger than any of the others by enough to be noticeable. He is not a child, but nowhere near a man.
It's not that I doubt him; but I need confirmation.
"Ma-Ti. They're here!"
Ma-Ti was looking after the town livestock. Most of them were comfortable enough with him to gather around, even around each other. When Ma-Ti left them and sprinted back toward the thatched mud-huts, they went back to the streams to drink.
Ma-Ti loved his village. The people that lived in it tended to come and go. Most of the ones that left went to the city to find work, often coming back soon after. Ma-Ti didn't blame them. He didn't like the big cities either. He never went to them. If he wanted tall buildings, he could climb to the highest trees in the jungle.
He rarely bothered though. He had far more interesting things to look at down below the canopy.
His village was on the very edge of the Amazon. Far from cities, but not from the roads. Mat-Ti didn't like to think about it, but he knew that the reason there was such a good solid road close by, was for all the loggers who came this way.
But it had its advantages, in that it also brought the tourists through. The tourism industry was bread and butter to a number of displaced locals. The visitors from up north were instantly out of place down in the jungle, but they still came for a few days, maybe a week.
In the center of the village was a common area, laid with flat stones to make a cobblestone square. The Tourists often came through her on their way to the river; their way of seeing the jungle by boat.
Ma-Ti's village was not worth much to them. Not enough to have a hotel. But the visitors took their photographs, and seemed obsessed with the pottery and weavings that the locals did, and so order was maintained. The people in Ma-Ti's village wanted for little. They had fruits growing all over the place. During most every part of the year, growing things were in abundance.
A bus load of tourists had pulled up to the edge of the village from the main road. As always, they seemed happy to get out of their bus and stretch from the long drive.
"And now folks, if you'd like to look around, by all means feel free. But I'll ask you to remember that these people are locals, and not resort staff. This is their home."
Ma-Ti thanked him for that silently. The tour guides liked bringing their groups here because this place was genuine. While the locals had made it part of their routine to welcome the tourists, they weren't a show to be watched. A few months before, one of the tourists had blown up at one of the children who got shy around strangers, and caused quite a stir.
"I can see a lot of you are looking at the photographs. Well, as it happens, the photographer is here with us today." Sergio was saying. Ma-Ti didn't speak English, so he didn't understand, but he recognized his name when it was called. "Ma-Ti?"
Ma-Ti bit his lip a little. He never liked being in the center of things, but he could not see how to refuse when called up by name, so he hurried forward a little more; as his mother started serving drinks and fruit platters to the tables of people. The Translator, a new one, whom Ma-Ti had never met, was sidling up to him gently, making translations into Spanish quietly.
Sergio made introductions as Ma-Ti came up to join him. "Now Ma-Ti here is one of the locals. He was born in this village, and he's never lived anywhere else. Now despite that, he's been a big help to us the last few years. As a matter of fact, he actually saved my life once."
The tour group made the appropriate noises of approval, as Sergio told the story. "It was before I started leading tour groups by boat. I was actually chartered to help a team from National Geographic get some shots of the local plant life, and I was leading them through the outer edge of the Amazon. Well, things happen in the jungle and I got separated from my group. And while I was making my way back to the road, I got myself bit. Now: You know what to do in the event of snakebite right?"
One or two voices answered him, in English.
"That's right, you suck out the poison." Sergio said. "But I didn't get bit by snakes. I got myself overrun by army ants. And they're not only painful; they're actually toxic down here. Ma-Ti found me, and dragged me half a mile. Then he set me down, and foraged some plants, and carved them up to get the sap out. The Amazon is more than a garden; it's a medicine cabinet too. Ma-Ti made a poultice out of whatever he found, and cured my poison. I was still pretty weak, so he set up a stretcher and dragged me back to this very village. Almost a mile and a half in the Amazon."
The tourists were looking at Ma-Ti with no small amount of admiration. Ma-Ti kept his chin up but hated the attention.
"So, Ma-Ti helps me out on Tours sometimes. He knows more about this jungle than anyone, except possibly me."
Polite laughter.
"And those photographs laid out over there were taken by Ma-Ti." Sergio turned to him. "Would you care to say a few words?"
Ma-Ti licked his lips. "I… I um… I'm not very good at talking to people. Lots of people I mean. I can speak to… well, anyway… I like taking photos of the jungle. I'm not a professional. I mean, I'm pretty good. I don't mean to say that I'm… well, that's not important. The camera was a gift from my father. He liked things in the Jungle and I wanted to… to show him… Well, show others actually…"
It was a disaster. The Tour Group were all watching him patiently, with no clue what he was saying, when the Translator piped up with a wave of words that left Ma-Ti speechless.
"The photos are of things in the jungle." He said. "A lot of them are not exactly rare, but very few photos exist because they are so deep in the Amazon. I take these pictures and sell them here, partly to help out with my family and the village. But mostly, because I hope that if enough people see them, then they will come to see the sheer massive variety and beauty of the deep Jungle as I have seen it every day of my life."
The Tour Group took this in and nodded, one or two applauding softly.
Ma-Ti sent a grateful look toward the translator, who gave him a secret smile. The Tour Group had never known it wasn't Ma-Ti's words. It was what he felt, and that was enough.
A few of the Tourists bought some photographs. He told Sergio, who set the price, that they could get similar photos closer to their homes. Sergio pointed out that they were willing to pay the extra because that way it was a memento of the trip.
The village water supply came from the streams and rivers, fresh and clean and crisp from the rains. The villagers would collect it in jugs and bring it to the village where Ma-Ti's mother would mix it with limes and fruit slices, and serve it in cups and crockery that they had made from clay at the river's edge.
Sometimes the tourists would offer the village children sweets and chocolate. It was always accepted gracefully, but it wasn't necessary. When the children wanted chocolate, they helped themselves to the fruits and beans of the cacao trees. When they wanted something sweeter they had the mangoes, and the star-fruits, and the limes.
Ma-Ti's family made it a point to keep the tourists welcome. They had a small area set out, filled with food and drinks from the area. For some reason, the tourists were willing to pay relatively large amounts for what Ma-Ti could get by climbing a tree.
Balance was kept, and Ma-Ti welcomed it. Maybe if enough people from the cities loved his jungle the way he did, then maybe the loggers would stop one day.
Ma-Ti spoke Spanish, as did some of the tourists. The ones that came in groups generally had translators with them. Ma-Ti usually welcomed the new people, served them their food and answered questions about the jungle.
While his family maintained the village square, others prepared the foods, and many performed shows. It wasn't about the money. The village elders had warned about the traditions being ruined over money and greed. If they wanted evidence, they had only to point to the logging operation far up the road.
But the visitors lapped up the culture, loved the shows, and when the Tour Group followed Sergio onto the boat, heading down the Amazon River, Ma-Ti followed, perched on the keel.
The riverboat was the second safest way to see the Amazon Jungle. The foliage was unforgiving to the untrained. The river had its dangers too. A motorboat this size was generally pretty safe, but some of the larger crocs had taken on the paddle-boats that the natives used for fishing.
"Take a good look folks." Sergio was saying, loud enough to be heard by everyone. "You may think that we're keeping out of it by using the river, but I can tell you from experience, that this is the safest, most comfortable way to see the Amazon Jungle. In there, you've got thousands to plants, all of them reaching out to collect water or food or sunlight. They'll reach right out of the ground and trip you and catch you every different way. The humidity is so thick that you'll feel like you're swimming through the air, but the actual ground is bone dry because the plants suck up everything. More than fifty thousand plant species so far, and those are just the ones that scientists can get to. Only six percent of the world is Rain-forest, and that number drops by thousands of square miles every year, but that accounts for three quarters of all plants and animals in the world, and those are just the ones we know about."
Ma-Ti let Sergio talk. He'd heard this speech before. He traveled the jungle fairly often, getting photos, gathering plants... Cameras were snapping. Ma-Ti didn't exactly pose for them, but knew they were glancing at him.
"Every living thing in this Jungle is tough. They have to be, because The Amazon is the home of natural poisons and toxins. Creepy-crawlies the size of rats, and plants that have poisonous spines. I see many of you glancing at Ma-Ti, wondering how it is people can live here, and you wouldn't be the first. The Amazon was first explored by the Europeans in 1542, on an expedition by Francisco de Orellana, a Spanish soldier, who came in with more than four thousand two hundred people, and came out with less than eleven hundred. He declared at a 'Green Hell.'"
While on the river boat, Ma-Ti often took pictures. Something to remember the trip by for the tourists. He gave the film to Sergio who sent the prints back with them once they reached a town, sending the surplus back to Ma-Ti. The Camera was his pride and joy. There were very few film cameras left, but Sergio had a friend who was a camera enthusiast. He had bought rolls of film by the thousands; and now that arthritis had taken his hands for the most part, he sent them to Ma-Ti a few dozen at a time.
Ma-Ti had given Sergio some plants that helped with the pain, to take back to him. Sergio had returned the next Tour Group with the Camera as payment.
He took it into the jungle often. He knew how to treat it right. He slung the wrapped parcel into his shoulder bag. A large messenger bag that he slung over one shoulder. His father had made it from carefully tanned and cured animal hides. He had noticed one or two of the tourists admiring it.
He saw a red ribbon tied around one of the trees back from the riverbank and felt himself go cold.
Ma-Ti stood up. "Sergio, I have to go now!"
"What about your camera?"
"Wrapped in oilcloth. The water won't get to it." Ma-Ti promised.
"Okay!" Sergio called back from the aft section, and turned back to his Tour Group. "Say goodbye to Ma-Ti everyone. And cross your fingers there's no piranha or crocs down there right now."
Everyone murmured at that as Ma-Ti jumped off the boat without hesitation, landing feet first in the water.
Ma-Ti swam for shore as the Tour Group waved after him.
Coming up out of the water to land was jarring, going from the murky water filled with moss and leaves to the sheer enveloping wall of green that smothered anyone who walked into it.
The red ribbon was clearly visible against the green and brown tree trunk. There were multicolored creatures gliding like ghosts across the branches, the canopy, the jungle floor... But this ribbon was a distinct color. It was here, and clearly visible, so it was for a reason.
Ma-Ti untied the ribbon, and looked around. He found another one, leading deeper into the jungle. He went to it, took it down. Looked around. Another one, leading deeper still.
Ma-Ti followed the trail of bright colors. The last one was wrapped twice, making it distinctive from the other ribbons. Ma-Ti had seen these things before. He looked around... and found the Duck Blind. A small hideaway, hidden in the brush, with a clear view of one of the river branches. Here the water moved slowly, but it came right up to the solid ground. In the jungle, there was never two feet of ground together that you didn't have to slog through, climb over, or duck low.
The Duck Blind had a clear view of a watering hole, with red ribbons to point hunters through the jungle toward their best hunting spot.
Ma-Ti was not blind to the value of hunting. Many people in the jungle made their living through the year by taking what nature offered. But those people did not do it this way, sitting comfortably in their bunkers with high powered rifles, looking for a trophy or a rug. Hunting was done for food, or for warmth, or to survive the brutality that the jungle gave the disrespectful.
It wasn't done like this. Not by these poachers.
Ma-Ti had five red ribbons in his hand. You could hide a battleship in growth this thick, and the Duck Blind was meant to be invisible anyway. The Poachers would never find their way to this place now.
But Ma-Ti was not satisfied. He turned to go back to where he picked up the trail and came face to face with a Jaguar. He froze. He had never heard the cat coming. He did not look it in the eye, keeping his head down, willing the predator not to see him as a threat, or a challenge... or a meal.
Facing him head on, the jaguar leaned in closer, much closer, till Ma-Ti's hair was ruffled by its hot breath. It sniffed, seemed to be judging him, taking him apart and weighing his soul. Ma-Ti was frozen, somehow unafraid, but completely at a loss as to what was happening.
The Predator had the biggest golden yellow eyes Ma-Ti had ever seen. Its fur was thick and shiny. It had one ear missing, testimony to the battle for survival that this particular cat had fought and won.
The Jaguar sniffed and inspected Ma-Ti's face, then moved down, almost making contact between his teeth and Ma-Ti's throat, then lower still, till the big cat got to the ribbons, still in Ma-Ti's hand. He studied them for some time, returning his gaze to Ma-Ti's face...
Till finally, the huge cat just turned around and vanished like liquid steel into the brush.
There was dead silence in the jungle. And that never ever happened. Ma-Ti was still standing very still, nearly catatonic. He wondered if the Amazon had really just gone quiet, or if his ears had stopped working from the sudden close call.
And then, he wondered what the Jaguar had been trying to see in him.
I watch him for a time. I look closer than I ever have with any of the others. Wondering if I have faith enough in the powers of a spirit I do not fully understand to trust its judgment. Wondering if any of these humans will have faith enough in me to accept my own decisions and gifts.
It is a lesson in humility, that I am one part of something so much greater than I can reach.
Ma-Ti didn't know how long he stood in the middle of the jungle, waiting for something to happen, but his brain cleared enough from the fear that the jaguar would come back and eat him. And when it did he looked down and saw an army of ants were crawling over his legs.
Absently, he brushed the poisonous critters off him and started moving again, back the way he had originally come after jumping off the boat. He moved through the jungle relatively quickly. He was used to the brush, to the way the ground jumped up at him, to the way the branches reached out for him…
Nobody really moved fast in the Jungle, but Ma-Ti was small and nimble enough to make his way.
He scattered the red ribbons enough that anyone following the markers now would be lead back to the start of the trail, back closer to the roads. Ma-Ti had sent the Poachers walking in a big circle.
He checked his camera, climbed a tree, and waited.
If any of them are to follow my direction, I must show willingness to follow also. If they are to have any faith in themselves, I must show faith in them.
I can make the willing workers capable, but nobody can force the capable to be willing workers.
Decision made.
Ma-Ti.
He is important.
Sure enough, after a few hours, someone came. Ma-Ti pulled his camera, and looked through the viewfinder, getting a good look with one of his longer distance lenses.
He got a real good look at their faces. One with a small scar just under the cleft of his chin, the other with mismatched eyes, one blue, one green.
They were both wearing hunting clothes, boots… The clothing was impeccably clean. Either this was their first time hunting, or the clothes were brand new. An expensive set to be wearing for the first time.
Out of sight, Ma-Ti started taking photos. He got good pictures of their faces. He got clear images of their rifles. They were carrying large gleaming high powered hunting rifles. Clearly expensive, clearly brand new...
Ma-Ti put his camera away and slunk back into the brush as they did a lap around his ribbons.
The one with mismatched eyes was looking around in confusion. "How far to the duck blind did you say it was?"
Scar was glaring around. "Not... not nearly this far." Scar looked back and forth for a few minutes. "Somebody's been moving my marks."
The other looked around in fear at the jungle, hardly able to see more than three feet in front of him. "Are we lost?"
Scar glanced around. "No. The ones that lead from the road haven't shifted. Someone wanted to lead us in a big circle back to the road."
The one with mismatched eyes glared. "Mr Arjay, this is hardly an area to be taken off the beaten track. I enjoy a good day's hunting as much as the next man, but-"
'Arjay' spun on him. "Hey, what are you worried about? This is better. It's more traditional, being out here in the thick of it. We have everything we need."
Traditional? Traditional hunting means you eat what you get, and you do it to stay alive till the next day. Ma-Ti Thought violently.
Both of them looked around, and gestured. Arjay aimed up at the trees.
Gunshot. The birds in the trees went berserk and scattered. Both of them grinned and raised their weapons. They shot at the birds. Feathers went everywhere.
Arjay grinned. "Admit it. You're glad to do this here."
"I'm happy to stop walking, I'll admit." The other nodded. "It's hotter down here than I thought. I feel like I'm trying to breathe through a straw."
"That's the humidity. All these trees; all that leaf riot. The water canopy's too thick to be comfortable." Arjay said. "Ooh! Look at that!"
Ma-Ti, hidden in the branches, followed their gaze. A large Anaconda was there, hiding against the branches.
"You know what one of those skins goes for?"
They both raised their rifles again.
Ma-Ti felt his fingers grip the branch. He could just jump up and yell at them to stop. Hunting in the Jungle was illegal, and he'd caught them. But they had rifles. But they wouldn't shoot him surely? But they might not even check before firing...
Ma-Ti froze, terrified. He couldn't let this happen. Could he? He couldn't stop them... could he?
BLAM!
Ma-Ti slunk lower against the tree trunk and shivered.
"There! How about that?"
"BLAM! BLAM!
"Fantastic! Hey! Is that a Jaguar?"
BLAM!
"Ha! It was a tree frog."
"Colors looked right though."
"Well, they come in all colors here." Arjay was laughing. "Like the birds."
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
"Haha! Look at 'em run!"
Ma-Ti wasn't watching. Couldn't watch. They were killing everything that moved. He could still hear them laughing. The gunfire was actually drowning out the omnipresent screams of jungle life.
There were splintering sounds as the high caliber bullets ripped apart the narrower branches, more piercing squawks as some animals fell to the ground wounded.
And somehow, carried by all of it, was the laughter of Arjay, the hunter.
There was a soft thud as something fell to the ground next to him. Ma-Ti looked, and saw a small golden haired monkey, with a large groove cut into its side.
Ma-Ti bundled him up and ran toward the road, away from the bullets.
He made it to the Ranger Station. Sergio was there too, having returned from his Tour Group. Whenever some large groups were coming into the Jungle, the Rangers liked to know about them, just in case something went wrong.
Ma-Ti came running up to the station at a full run, gasping for air so hard that he couldn't take.
Sergio pulled him in. "Whoawhoawhoa! Take a breath. Take it easy Ma-Ti. What's wrong? Come on, just breathe."
Ma-Ti collapsed into a bench in the entrance. He put his head between his knees and sucked in air. He pushed the now unconscious monkey into Sergio's hands. "P-Poachers!"
Exhausted, Ma-Ti managed to get the whole story out.
Sergio got him a drink of water and listened, taking the monkey to the room with the first aid kit. "Well, I wish I could do more for you Ma-Ti, but this place isn't rated as a veterinary clinic."
"I know, but I didn't know where else to take him." Ma-Ti answered. "Where's the Ranger?"
"Out on a call." Sergio reported. "He asked me to stay behind and man the radio. They don't have a lot of staffing here."
Ma-Ti was waving at the radio. "Come on! You gotta get on the radio! Have him stop those poachers!"
Sergio got to the radio quickly. Ma-Ti got his breath back.
Sergio came back in. "He got the call. He's on the way there now, but Ma-Ti, you know, and I know, that by the time he gets there, those poachers will be long gone. Now, you got pictures..."
Ma-Ti nodded... and froze. "My camera!"
They both looked around the room, then outside, but the camera bag was gone.
Ma-Ti fell back into his chair. "What have I done? I screwed up!"
Sergio was about to answer when the radio crackled in the next room. "I... I have to take that."
Ma-Ti nodded. "Why not? It's not like there's anything else for anyone to do now."
Sergio went into the next room, leaving Ma-Ti alone with his guilt.
After a few moment, Sergio came back in. "That was the Ranger. Apparently he doesn't have to go looking. He's in town. He's had some complaints from a visitor. Something of a big shot with The Corporation. Seems he was on a nature hike with a prospective buyer, some big power deal they were working on, when somebody went and moved all his markers."
Ma-Ti looked up sharply. "A nature hike?"
"He wants the one who moved his markers arrested."
Ma-Ti scoffed. "He was doing something illegal. Besides, how can he arrest me? He never saw who I was. Matter of fact, I don't think he knew I was even there."
"He says he has evidence." Sergio said. "He's on his way here now with the Ranger."
Ma-Ti nodded.
"Ma-Ti, you should know, we can't really do anything for that monkey of yours."
"He's not mine. And why not?"
"The Ranger station is a government building. We can't have wild animals kept in here. I told you, it's not a veterinary clinic."
Ma-Ti was about to respond to that when he heard the sound of a Jeep pulling up. A few moments later, a door slammed and Ma-Ti could hear a familiar voice snapping at someone. A very familiar voice. "I mean it! You caused me and The Corporation a lot of money!"
"Sir, please just go into the waiting room for a moment and let me handle this."
Ma-Ti waited, worried.
The Ranger came in a moment later. "Are you Ma-Ti?"
Ma-Ti swallowed. "Um... yessir."
"I'm the Ranger for this area. A complaint has been made. I think you may have a story to tell me."
Swallowing in worry, Ma-Ti managed to get the whole story out, once again.
The Ranger's face hardened. "Well. What Arjay told me matches that well enough. He left out the part involving the guns however."
Sergio stood protectively by Ma-Ti. "I'm surprised he came to you in the first place."
"I'm done waiting!" Someone outside the room yelled.
Ma-Ti jumped, looked for a place to hide. Sergio kept a hand on his shoulder gently.
Sure enough, Arjay came storming in, glaring at Ma-Ti. "Is this him?"
Sergio looked down. "Yessir."
Arjay held out a familiar bundle. "I think you dropped this."
Ma-Ti stared. It was his camera. With his name and contact details printed on the back. He took it back and checked quickly. "Where's the film?"
Arjay turned on Ma-Ti viciously. "Son, where are your parents?"
"Back home in a small village at the edge of the Rain-forest." Ma-Ti said honestly.
"Well when you get home, tell your parents that you're being charged with Reckless Endangerment."
Ma-Ti was confused by that. "What does that mean?"
"It means that your irresponsibility could easily have gotten me and my friend killed out there in the jungle. You deliberately sought to get us lost in the middle of the Amazon by moving our markers, and it's only by sheer luck and skill on our parts that we survived."
Sheer luck and skill? You mean shooting everything that moves? Ma-Ti raged silently to himself. But what he said out loud was: "I… I-I'm sorry."
"You should know better. And that is why I'm taking your family to court. Maybe then you'll think twice before trying to deliberately-"
"Mr Arjay, the kid's family has nothing. Suing him won't get you anything." Sergio interrupted.
Arjay took that in. "There are punitive laws that allow for sentencing."
"You want to put this kid in jail?" The Ranger said in pure disbelief.
Ma-Ti shivered.
"What did he do? There was nothing on any of those ribbons that alerted people to a safety risk." The Ranger said evenly. "And sir, its worth nothing that poaching in the Rain-forest is strongly frowned upon. You could be fined up to fifteen thousand American dollars for-"
Arjay calmly reached into his inside vest pocket and pulled out a fat envelope. "Consider my fine paid in full."
Sergio picked up the envelope sickly. "Not the first time you've had to pay it then?"
Arjay gave Sergio a look. "You work as a Tour Guide yes? I'm pretty sure we have some Tourism connections at The Corporation. I would be very careful about casting aspersions. And about bringing yourself to my attention."
Sergio's mouth shut with an audible click.
The Ranger stood up. "Listen, you can strong arm people you pay for, but not me. You've broken the law, and you've demonstrated you've done it before-"
Arjay glared at the Ranger. "Who is your superior?"
"The District officer in this area is Mr Abel Cohn." The Ranger glared, knowing what was coming.
Arjay pulled his cell phone. "Give me a moment."
Sergio gestured at The Ranger, and Ma-Ti. Both of them followed him into the Private office. The Ranger saw the monkey right away. "What is this?"
"One of the exhibits on his nature walk." Sergio growled.
The Ranger sighed. "Terrific. Well, we found the guns in his car, and if we can match the bullets to this little fella's graze, we might be able to prove it, even without the cameras, but if we get caught with this thing in here... There's a station down the road that's rated for wild animal care. We can't keep him here. If Arjay catches it, he can make a complaint. Public health or something. Government buildings aren't aloud to have animals like this. Rabies, ticks, parasites. We don't have certification certificates for any of them. Monkeys are a major vector for rabies and parasites."
Ma-Ti rolled his head back. Was there nothing that could actually be made better?
"Arjay's on a crusade." The Ranger explained quietly. "He was hoping to seal a deal with somebody today over some big game hunting. Having an arrest by a Law Enforcement screwed that up. He wants blood, because The Corporation is going to hold him accountable for the loss in business."
Sergio snorted. "Well, nothing like a little bonding between billionaires."
There was a knock on the door, and the three of them slipped out, not letting Arjay see in. "Yes?"
Arjay held out the phone. "Mr Cohn would like to talk to you." He said politely.
Gritting his teeth, The Ranger took the call, and the phone, back into his office.
"Now, back to the point." Arjay returned his attention back to Sergio and Ma-Ti. "What this stupid child did was dangerous, and wasteful. If you had any idea how much it cost to even get his organized logistically, not to mention the expenses of paying you fifteen grand…"
It's not a necessary expense it's a criminal fine, because you broke the law! Ma-Ti felt like screaming.
"May I see you outside?" Sergio said darkly.
Arjay gave Ma-Ti a look and went with him, leaving Ma-Ti with his frustration. He knew the feeling well. He would spend the rest of the day going over what he should have said, torturing himself over why he didn't say it.
After a few minutes, Sergio came back in. "So, here's what's going to happen. He's going to replace anything of yours that was damaged, he's going to drop any charges, he's going to cancel any plans that involve your family and your village. And in return, he wants an apology."
Ma-Ti felt his jaw drop. "I moved some ribbons and stopped him from breaking the law. He broke my things, and I have to apologize to him?"
"Look, he's an arrogant man, and he wanted to go home with a trophy or two today. You stopped him from that, and that embarrasses him. He just wants to make an example of you. And if he doesn't get it here, he'll drag your parents into the hole just to show off that he can."
Ma-Ti wiped his face angrily. Hot, humiliated tears were forming, but he wouldn't let them show. "He killed everything that moved, and he was laughing the whole time, because he was having fun. He damn near shot me." Ma-Ti whispered. "Why should I be the one to apologize?"
"Because he has enough money to take everything your entire village has, and he's just cruel enough to do it, for the sin of standing up to him. He'll do it Ma-Ti. He'll take everything you have, and he'll make everyone watch."
Ma-Ti wiped the brimming tears again. "So he just gets away with this?"
"No. He paid his fine, and he got no trophy. He wants satisfaction. Give it to him, declare victory, and go home."
"He'll be back tomorrow with his guns and he'll do it all over again."
"Yes he will."
Ma-Ti and Sergio turned. The Ranger had come back in. "I have been... instructed by the Department that we are to extend our full cooperation to our allies and chief source of funding and equipment, within the law. Arjay has paid his fine; there is no further case against him." He turned to Ma-Ti. "So you had better stay away from him when he comes back tomorrow."
Arjay came in, looking decidedly displeased with the turn of events. "Well?"
The displeasure on his face was the only thing that kept Ma-Ti from changing his mind right then and there. "Mr Arjay, I am very sorry that I interfered with your… activities. I shouldn't have moved the ribbons."
"Don't let it happen again." Arjay said severely.
"No sir." Ma-Ti said meekly. I hate bullies.
Arjay collected his gun and glared at Sergio. "I understand the foreigners are good for tourism and such, but try and keep them out of the way."
This is our country. YOU are the foreigner. Ma-Ti wanted to scream. What he said out loud was: "It won't happen again."
"Good."
Arjay left. The Ranger looked quietly furious. He turned to Ma-Ti. "You ever been to the States Ma-Ti?"
"No."
"Then you'll have to take my word for it when I tell you, that all white people aren't nearly as much like walking scum as that one in particular."
The wrath in his voice actually made Ma-Ti smile. "I know. How many Tourists have you brought into my village Sergio? I probably know more of them than their own neighbors do."
The Ranger chuckled. "Well, I'm going to talk to some friends of mine in the Department, see what we can do about his passport, maybe his gun license, watch-lists, no-fly... there's still any number of ways we can make coming her difficult for him."
Ma-Ti nodded, comforted by that.
Sergio stood up. "It's getting late. I'll give you a ride home."
"One more thing." The Ranger said. "That chimp of yours was a pickpocket." He held out a hand to Ma-Ti. There was a small golden ring in his hand, with a warm yellow jewel on top."
Ma-Ti didn't take it. "Not mine."
"Well, either the Monkey was planning to propose tonight, or he swiped it off somebody. You brought him in, so it might as well be yours."
Ma-Ti sighed. "If I take this, what are the odds Arjay will accuse me of stealing it?"
"I don't think it's his size." Sergio said lightly.
Ma-Ti stuck the ring in his pocket. "Well, maybe mom would like it." He mumbled.
Ma-Ti returned home, getting a ride from Sergio. His face was burning with embarrassment the whole time.
Looking for something to distract him, he pulled the ring out of his pocket. It looked about his size, the jewel on top was something he couldn't identify but the symbol was one from his village's native language. There were only three hundred people left in the world who still spoke it.
It was the symbol for 'Life' but it could also mean 'Soul' or 'Spirit' or sometimes 'Love'.
It was something bizarre. His village had no metalworking. Not for anything like this… so why would the symbol be on this ring? And if it had come from a wild animal, living in the Jungle, why was it so spotless?
Ma-Ti closed his fist around the ring and looked up. They were getting close. "Sergio, would you stop here?"
"Are you sure? It's getting dark, and your village is still a good distance-"
"I'd rather walk." He didn't want to admit to his family what had happened. Having Sergio drop him off would mean admitting he came from the Ranger station.
Sergio stopped the jeep. "It took courage Ma-Ti, to swallow your pride and let the bad guy win. There are many people who would have rather taken the punishment rather than back down."
"Doesn't feel like something to be proud of."
"I know." Sergio said kindly. "But would snapping him back have made anything better?"
"No."
"At the end of the day, that's all you can ask yourself."
"I guess so. Bye Sergio."
"Ma-Ti. Look in the back before you go."
Frowning, Ma-Ti walked around to the back of the jeep and found a cage, containing the golden monkey, with a bandage around the graze. Sergio had saved him after all. Ma-Ti smiled for the first time since getting to the Ranger Station, and sent Sergio a grateful look. The older man nodded and pulled away.
Ma-Ti watched the jeep drive off. He turned and took a shortcut through the Jungle.
This was foolish and he knew it. Night came much more quickly under the canopy. There were things that walked the night in the Amazon. Things that would consider Ma-Ti a snack and nothing more.
Ma-Ti made his way quickly through to the river. He could follow that straight to his village. He approached the clearing when suddenly the noise dropped off to nothing again.
Ma-Ti froze, spooked. When the jungle went quiet, it was because there was something that all its creatures were hiding from.
Ma-Ti heard a growl and spun. In the dim light he saw a jaguar glaring balefully at him. And one of its ears was torn.
Ma-Ti backed away from it slowly, considering his options…
And then it got really scary. Eyes appeared. Cat's eyes, glowing reflective eyes, small beady eyes. All manner of creatures, many of whom were supped to be terrified of Jaguars. And then they were all there. Hundreds of them. Monkeys and Macaws. Crocodiles and toucan. Jaguars and Sloth. Frogs and Caiman. Capybara and Otters. Snakes and insects. Wild pigs and spiders. Anteaters and Boa Constrictors. Komodo Dragons and Leopards. Ocelots and Bears... creatures of every kind, every color, every variety. More animals of the Amazon basin than Ma-Ti had ever seen before.
The night had a thousand eyes and they were all gazing down at him.
Ma-Ti knew he should be sacred, but he wasn't. It was as if they had come looking for him. He looked them all and realized with sudden clarity that they had come looking for him. As though he was special to them.
As though he belonged to them.
And then, unsure of everything, he looked to the ring, and slipped it on his finger.
Every animal and bird threw back their heads and let loose a cacophony of howls and whistles and screams, the likes of which were rarely heard all at once, even from the deepest darkness of the Amazon Jungle.
And Ma-Ti simply fell down. He had been washed away in a tide of pure electric unbelievable power. It was far too beautiful and complex to comprehend.
He could not comprehend it, could not control it, could not take it in. He simply fell back and let it carry him away, carry him everywhere. The Jungle was no longer green, it was glowing with the light of every heartbeat, every breath that everything took. He could count the individual wing beats of every mosquito.
There was…
There was…
It was…
LIFE!
THERE IS LIFE HERE!
Ma-Ti found his gaze was drawn to the trees overhead, where a dozen spiders had woven an incredible pinwheel web that stretched a long way between two trees, gleaming ethereally in the moonlight.
Ma-Ti clung to the image. It was the only thing that made sense. He could feel a web. The web was all encompassing, and he was a spider that could not see the border of it, but he could feel every vibration, every gentle tug on the web.
He was filled with it. Every living thing in the Amazon was filling his soul, giving him part of its existence so that he could be aware of it. He could feel… the Heart of things. Of all things. Of each thing. Of many things. Everything that had a mind, every thing that drew a breath… He was filled with it.
Eternity passed and Ma-Ti just let himself listen. It was not within his power to do anything else.
Do you understand?
No.
I will teach you. The time has come to show you all.
All?
You will be part of something. You are one fifth of all my hopes put in danger.
I do not understand.
Then come with me. There are others you need to meet.
And every animal roared in defiance and adulation alike. It sounded like they were all screaming a battle cry. Ma-Ti stood and started walking. He didn't know why, or where he was going. He knew he couldn't get there on foot, but he was walking nevertheless. He felt like he was walking with someone. Every step he took brought him past some living thing, and every living thing was a brush against his senses, gentle and small, just letting him know it was there.
The others, the ones you're taking me to, who are they? Ma-Ti asked in wonder.
Kwame, Wheeler, Linka, Gi.
I don't understand.
They are like you, only not. Part of the whole, as you are. Given powers as you have.
To what end?
To the end of this madness.
AN: Ma-Ti has the most underrated power in the show. If he ever used it to the extent that any of the others did, he could have rewritten half of the admittedly few episodes I saw.
This particular chapter took a great deal of thought. Firstly to prevent it being based too much in cliche, secondly because the notion of the rich and powerful and corrupt flouting the rules has been flogged to death in every chapter I've written so far, thirdly because I know nothing about life in the Amazon. I've been treating the Jungle like a Nature Preserve; but I have to assume there's somebody there to protect the place.
But mainly, this one took a lot of thinking because 'Heart' is a hard to define power. The others can conjure an element and command it. That was clear. But Ma-Ti's power is something far more nebulous.
I gave a lot of thought to what Ma-Ti's powers should be. And more importantly, what his limits should be. It took the most original thought out of most of this story.
It may not be as clear as I would have liked, so to anyone who reads the Author's notes, Ma-Ti's power is that of Heart, but that's a word chosen simply because that's what the show called it. If you want to get technical, it's the power of Life-Force, Soul, Chi, Energy. There have been a hundred ways to describe it. I intend to make the practical effects of what he can do clear in future stories. Wish me luck.
So there's our team. Game on.