A/N: Reviews feed my muse, so thanks, everyone! ; 3;

Sciencegal - Oh, just wait...

musicluvr86 - Wish granted!

D - Everything shall be revealed, my dear dear reader. Kuku.

DuckiePray - No, not really. As necessary as it was, it still sucks for them both. *sigh*

CHAPTER 28: PACK (PART 1)

Tlaloc's stare felt more unnerving than usual whenever he and Leonardo collaborated on tasks. It seemed like the native resented eye contact no matter how many times the mutant attempted a truce through dinner invitations or small talk.

"This is ridiculous," Leo muttered. His hand-held file slid along a spearhead in his lap, leaving sandy, metallic shavings along his thigh.

'Hard to believe those bits come from an otherwise impenetrable metal,' he thought. 'I wonder if Melody knows this is what she's crafted from?'

"Our job is tedious yet important," Tlaloc said in Nahuatl. "Be thankful; Aynnite's high-temperature tolerance means one less step."

"No cooling the tips with water," Leo finished. "The weapons can only be ground by other Aynnite pieces, like with Diamonds, which leaves it stronger than if forged by heat. I listened to your father. But I wasn't talking about sharpening; that's second-nature."

"I noticed." The tribesman glanced up from between his piles of dull and sharp spears then inhaled.

"You can't feign ignorance anymore," the mutant added.

"Oh"—Tlaloc's head bobbed—"so because Ayotl speaks Nahuatl like magic mean I should be impressed?"

"I worked hard to learn your language."

"As hard as Coyo worked to understand English better?"

Leo shifted, thighs sticking to the coarse fabric of his straw mat. He cast a look towards the other Tonalquizca preoccupied with their jobs then met Tlaloc's stony gaze.

"You think me stupid?" Tlaloc continued in his native tongue.

"No," Leo answered in kind. "But if you knew…Sorry; I thought you would jump at the chance to report me."

"You, perhaps."

"Not Coyo."

The tribesman scraped his Aynnite file against a spearhead a little too harshly. The dark metal chipped and Tlaloc cursed as he studied its damage.

"You did not want to hurt her," continued Leo.

"I would not expect a Yaoqui to understand," Tlaloc replied.

"Understand what? That you care for her? That is obvious."

"My feelings forced me into a difficult position. Now I am almost as guilty as she is. Of course, you do not realize; Coyo would never tell."

"Tell what?"

The warrior grimaced at the weapon whose blade he sanded with rough hand movements. "The full impact of her treason," he whispered. "What it means. What would happen if it was exposed."

"Everything worked out. We—"

"Coyo betrayed Eztaca, Ayotl. Zaddir ignored the Teo's Golden Rule. For that, they would be"—Tlaloc swallowed, red face paling—"they would be executed."

"Execu—" Leo glanced over his shoulder then scooted closer to Tlaloc's mat, despite his glare. "That is ludicrous!"

"That is law. Set in place to prevent Yohualli."

"And I understand the caution."

"Because you know more than you should."

Leo couldn't deny that, and his expression said as much. "Look," he added, "if you want to blame anyone, blame me."

"I do," Tlaloc answered without hesitation or wavering. That alone spread anxious heat beneath the mutant's plastron. "Coyo never could help, well, helping. As a child, she would bring animals home, mostly those wounded or sick. Ayotl, pitzotl, ozomahtli, even miztli—it mattered not."

"She brought a Puma back once?" When Leo reflected, he could recall a brown-spotted cub pawing at his hand. But the hand hadn't been his. It had been child-sized with five fingers, and an unexplainable joy left him unbothered by the feline's needle-like claws.

"You remember," Tlaloc muttered. Leo glanced up, wordless, and the tribesman scoffed. "Coyo wanted to keep him. But an animal like that deserved freedom. Then not long after, she returned with Yolotli. She has this compulsion to soothe pain."

"She is empathetic."

"To a fault."

"Maybe in your eyes. Tlaloc." Voice strained, chin tucked, Leo rubbed his clammy palms together, resting his forearms on the spear across his thighs. "Before I came here, even after, I…I was ready to die. I wanted the world to stop. And for a time, it did. Then?" The mutant's hands wrung. "Then Coyo showed up. She made everything spin again, and though I hated her for it at first, I…I am relieved now. Thanks to her compassion."

Tlaloc's knuckles lost color when he gripped his spear shaft, the Aynnite file screeching along its uneven head. "And yet you let her risk her life. For your sake."

"Call me selfish, ignorant. I do not care. Without Coyo and Zaddir, I never would have started to move forward. I owe them more than I can repay, and I did take from them. Still, I am here, trying to give back."

"Before you reunite with your family."

All heat left Leo's body. He fumbled with his words as he often did when faced with the topic of his return, and Tlaloc's stare softened.

"It would have been kinder to keep your distance," the tribesman said. "Coyo is terrible at letting go. When you depart…"

"I have no idea when that will be," Leo said. He could hardly keep eye contact when reminded of the Chieftain's smile, so his attention fell on his Owl Eiehuia. "For now, my focus is set on helping Coyo lead."

"You?"

"Everyone emphasis on what she should be, not who she is."

"'Who she is' plays a part in why the Tonalquizca struggle."

"Being a leader means more than tough calls and fighting. It also includes playing smart. With a group this size, that is the best course of action. She is right not to engage as often as you and your father persist."

"It is not tact that guides her, Ayotl. It is fear. Avoiding the Yaoqui circling Xelihuiyan will end in tragedy. Mark my words."

"Tlaloc! Leo!" Coyolxauhqui's voice cut through the tension. She stood beside the males with her arms akimbo, petite mouth set in a frown. "The Teo have arrived. We must move before the Tepiani fail. Come."

Leonardo noticed blue-white bodies moving amidst the Tonalquizca. They glowed in the dusk and scrutinized him with pit eyes. Did they sense his Mozallo with Coyo and Zaddir? Felt like it yet not one of them spoke. Whatever they knew, they kept it secret and floated after the warriors as they followed their Chieftain into the rainforest.

The chill inside Coyolxauhqui stemmed from more than the rainfall. On opposing flanks, Leonardo and Tlaloc kept quiet in the crowd. Was that because of the Tonalquizca's mission? Or because of the males' earlier talk?

"Leo?" Coyo called. The turtle-man wiped water off his face, nodding acknowledgment. "Walk with Coyo," she added.

Leo looked to choke on his reply. Why?

"If I may," Nopaltzin interjected. The old man spoke in Nahuatl, rugged features set in displeasure when he approached his Chieftain. "There is no time for whimsy. We can barely see, the earth is sliding down the mountain, and you have lost our path."

"Oh." Coyo's head shook, her wild hair spraying rain outwards. Between the group ran an ankle-high waterway muddled by dirt and scat. Guess she had taken a wrong turn when it forked a while back. "Should we rest?" she asked. "Fi—find the path when the storm lifts? Or maybe another one?"

"Ometeotl's love." Nopaltzin's scarred chest puffed. He stepped closer to Coyo and lowered his voice, so it barely carried over the rain's pitter-patter. "A leader should not ask questions. They should have answers."

"For some things I do. This is—"

"Survival. And eventually, you must make choices."

"I know. I—I—" Coyo blinked weighted droplets from her eyelashes. "I do not want to make the wrong choices."

"Right or wrong, they need made. Indecisiveness could kill us."

He had a point. Still, Coyo's chest tightened when she considered how far from K'ekchi Village the Tonalquizca had come. She released a staggered breath as Nopaltzin returned to his position then shouted to ensure everyone heard her, "We will seek shelter then continue to the Tepiani once the rain lifts!"

Everyone complied, save for Leonardo. Coyo sent him a smile and beckoned him closer. He sloshed through the waterway, attention drifting to those who flocked around their Chieftain.

"So, why'd you want me up here?" he asked in English.

Coyo side-glanced. "Up?"

"Beside you. Th—this isn't my team."

"Quema." The 'yes' was more of a 'but'; Leo knew.

"You were Chieftain long before I arrived," he said.

"Mantli teach Coyo much."

"But?"

The young woman glanced over her shoulder to ensure no one, especially Tlaloc, was listening. "Coyo hate front. All eyes behind, watching."

"They make you nervous."

Coyo nodded.

"I remember that feeling," the turtle-man added. "Especially after my father dubbed me Jonin. My brothers may not have noticed, but, man, I feared I was doing everything wrong. I second-guessed myself. A lot. In my head, though. Not like you, not out loud."

"It weakness."

"No. Well, not in that way. How do I put it?" Harsh rainfall beat against the ferns that the Tonalquizca parted, and when thunder boomed above, Leo jolted. "It's, uh, it's a good thing to question and consider all possibilities. It can drive you crazy—literally—but a leader should be prepared. And if not prepared, adaptable."

"Ah-dap-tah…?"

"Basically: be able to handle any problem, no matter what."

"Leading hard."

"Tell me about it." The turtle-man spared a grin that seemed more reflective than heart-warming. He sighed, turning his gaze frontward as he parted a cluster of vines for his friend. "Want to know what made me less nervous?" he asked.

"Tlazocamati," Coyo answered, passing him.

"I trusted my brothers. A leader is just another role in a pack, and I had family at every vulnerable side to remind me of that."

"Family made Leo not nervous?" Coyo forced a chuckle that almost made her cough and strengthened Leo's grin.

"Your people trust you, Coyo," he said. "You should, too."

'I trust I will live up to my family's legacy,' Coyo thought. She wanted to stop trying. But that would make her hypocritical, wouldn't it? 'Helping others is easier. When it comes to me I—ah!'

A sharp pain cut through Coyolxauhqui's brain. She flinched as her muscles twitched, pressing her wet temples as she made eye contact with Nopaltzin. He heard it, too—a fearsome sound reminiscent of a Death Whistle.

"The Tepiani," Nopaltzin said in Nahuatl.

"Someone is moving them," Tlaloc added.

Which ones, though? And how? Coyo clenched her jaw and found Leo. He stared back, ignorant of the border's cry, then surveyed the Teonehnemi scattered throughout the group.

"Tonna"—a particularly short Teo lifted her chin towards the Chieftain—"can you sense which Tepiani is being tampered with?"

'Yes,' she answered. 'Near the quarry by the mountain base.'

'As well as the one at the river bend,' another alien interjected.

'And the one in the northern plains,' added a third.

Multiple sites and few warriors meant heightened vulnerability. Coyo hated the odds yet admitted if the Yaoqui succeeded in destroying even one anchor, it would devastate Xelihuiyan.

"Honored Chief?" Nopaltzin asked.

Coyo sighed. "We must split up," she said, shaky. "Nopaltzin, take Tonna and Chimalli with Ohtli and Sacnite. Head for the river. Ollin, Nelli will guide you, Papan, and Amoxtli towards the plains. Leo, Tlaloc, and I will be with Arrul at the quarry."

"And us?" a young man added. His voice cracked, and he lowered his raised hand, exchanging looks with the Tonalquizca's other adolescences.

"They are members," Nopaltzin said.

That did not make Coyo eager to toss them into battle, but what choice was left? "Eztli, go with Nopaltzin. Huemac and Coaxoch can come with me. Coalt, stay with Ollin."

"Chief"—Coalt stepped forward—"Huemac and I know the quarry better than anyone. If an ambush is required, we would know how."

"I agree," added Coaxoch. She sent the best friends a glance then regarded her leader. "They are always avoiding responsibilities there."

"Not always," said Coalt.

"Keep quiet, Chicha thief," Huemac added.

Thief? Coyo eyed Coaxoch, more so in confusion than anger or disappointment. Why would she steal Chicha? It tasted like a dusty rope.

"That matter can be addressed later," Nopaltzin interjected, head shaking.

"Right," Coyo agreed. "Find your groups. Use caution. The Tepiani are too far apart to help one another if…"

"Perhaps my father should take the plains," Tlaloc said. "They are closer, and he is—"

"Old? Weakened? Slow?" Nopaltzin snorted then laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "Fear not; I can do as our Chieftain asks."

"Ollin knows the river well enough."

"Knowledge is not the reason you ask for my transfer." Nopaltzin smiled—a short, poignant act. When he faced Coyo, it fell alongside his arm and Tlaloc's expression. "This is your choice, right, Honored Chief?"

"Uh." Coyo glanced at the two. "Well, I…"

The white-haired man tossed his Aynnite spear from his one hand to his other, motioning for his group to follow. "The sooner we reinforce Xelihuiyan, the better. We will guard the river, no matter what awaits us. I give my word."

"So do we," Ollin added.

The older warriors nodded, although their respect did little to lift their leader's spirits. She watched the Tonalquizca divide: six to the south, five to the north, and five to the east. And she struggled against a foreboding sense that sat like a lump in her throat.