Rex woke up being dragged. Lake water flowed between his fingers and pushed and pulled at the short hairs on his buzzed head.
He yearned for air so badly his skull pounded in concussive beats.
As if a merciless god had found him in the nick of time, Rex was suddenly above water. Small hands with iron boned fingers gripped under his arms and dragged him to shore.
Hot sand burned in the best way against his skin, sizzling away the cold water as morning sunlight burned bright.
A feline hiss forced his eyes open.
Syphen crouched over him. In his Nahual form he was much larger than his child-bodied self. At just about six feet/two meters tall, he was man sized and man muscles beneath the dark Jaguar spotted fur. Where there wasn't fur, his dark leathery green skin dripped with lake water and rippled with twisting muscle. His ears flickered at the sides of his head, listening to the rustling of many footsteps while his snouted face twitched, smelling a dozen scents.
A dozen people.
Even more so.
"Rex…. Help." Syphen said through gritted teeth.
Rex stood up. Syphen soundlessly flipped out of the way until he was crouching beside him, facing the opposite direction. Facing the object of his discomfort.
Rex turned around and found a crowd of people. Natives to the jungle clearly based on their darker skin, hide and plant based clothing and lack of military gear…..
Aside from the rifles marked with tribal paint and torn up vests made to fit their cultural identity.
One of bats and shadow based on the designs and the fact that some of them had sheered off their noses and ears extended inhumanely by bone jewels.
"Members of the church…." Rex thought.
Then a child stepped forward and dropped to a bow— but it wasn't a normal how. He dug his fingers into the dirt— keeping them stiff and curled like claws. And as he extended lower to his knees he hissed.
Like a cat.
The others followed.
"Panther calls them survivors…." Syphen said suddenly.
"Are they worshipping us?" Rex asked incredulously.
Syphen huffed and licked his black lips, "Panther says they prayed to Beto the Blooded in hopes that he'd spare them…. they were not stronger monsters…. So he was their biggest monster. Then we came. We are stronger monsters…."
"So now they pray to us." Rex replied.
"It's different Panther says." Syphen replied.
"Well yea, we're not their captors." Rex agreed.
"We are saviors."
"I don't like that." Rex thought, "All of you stand up!"
The people jumped at his words.
Syphen snarled and hopped around Rex in a panic. "No more help, Rex. No more Rex help, please!" He repeated in his usual spaced out jumbled attempt at English. Only now his voice was about six octaves deeper.
"What— what are you doing?" Rex said.
"I am saying stop. What are you doing?" Syphen asked.
"I'm about to tell these people to stop looking for saviors. There are none. We've all got problems and you only give yourself more when you expect someone else to fix them for you. No more worship."
"Panther disagrees." Syphen said.
"Yea? Well Panther also forgets how human time works and won't tell me how the fuck to kill Remulus so let's listen to me now, cool? I'm here. I'm in this. Not her. Me and you." Rex took a step toward the people.
"But Rex—"
"What?!"
Syphen stopped hopping around him and stood between him and the people. As he rose to his full height, he suddenly stood taller than Rex. He looked so natural in his Nahual form. More so than Rex, which felt hilarious considering the fact that he was so young and even less experienced.
"We are few..." Syphen said— almost shyly. "They are many…"
Rex had a reply ready. "The hell are you talking about, man?" But it never escaped his lips because he knew what Syphen was talking about.
It was obvious.
It was on his mind regularly. When he faced Hassan's pride— the Anhurians and Bastetians. When he met the other Totem Awakener's.
He was a pebble in a valley of boulders.
Syphen seemed to understand as well.
Rex stopped. "... points have been made."
"Where?" Syphen turned around.
"No— it's a figure of speech. I agree with you." Rex said, "But we can't do it the same way I did with you."
"Why?" Syphen asked.
"Because consent... and there's actual babies here." Rex said. "Where's your chief…. Or captain?" He yelled to the people.
Syphen held up a hand and turned to the people. He spoke in a language Rex didn't understand— but obviously the people did quite well as they looked up and between eachother.
"You speak multiple languages?" Rex asked.
"Yes….." Syphen said as a woman stood up and approached them.
She was beautiful in a menacing way. She was tall— taller than the others with a wide and flat face. A bone piercing looped through her nose. Face paint of a bat covered half her face along with a fake fang and red eye. Her ear on the painted left side was also extended with spikes and gems. She wore a leather cloak and dark dress with intestinal wrappings around her waist to give her shape.
In one hand she held a pistol with a silencer made of a sanded down turtle shell. In the other she held a machete studded with vampire teeth.
Syphen turned to Rex, "This is the kitten of Verhmelo Village's pride-lord."
"Kitten… daughter?" Rex said.
Syphen nodded. "The pride-lord is dead."
"So you're all that's left?"
She nodded.
"You understand English?"
"Little." She said, "I am Floren."
Rex held out his hand.
She eyed it in confusion.
"Nevermind." Rex dropped his hand and said to Syphen, "Tell her, her people need to be strong. Not worshippers. Tell her we can help them. We can be a team. But only if they want. Only if they want to make these jungles safe and help us win."
Syphen turned to Floren and began speaking their language. He sounded more fluently spoken than when he spoke English. Rex assumed that was because he'd heard more of the Portuguese dialects even if they were in a EMRA Military district.
After he translated Rex's words, Floren looked back to Rex. Her face was as stony as before. He didn't know if he'd offended her people by passively calling them weak or if she was greatful to not be speaking to a tyrant freak.
She nodded and spoke to Syphen.
Syphen turned to Rex as the people behind them began to whisper. "She says her people are strong. But strength can't be all. Either way, she's interested in what you have to offer. She says she will become the green-cat tribe if this keeps the vampires away."
"Ok." Rex nodded, "I have an idea."
"What?" Syphen asked.
"Do you think with Panther's help, you can guide these people to safer lands?"
Syphen looked away for a moment, eyes distant. Clawed fingers twitching. He looked back at Rex, "Yes. But why?"
"We can change these people….. but Remulus would know— he's in the Box with me. My unit reports could reach him and he'd wipe them out. So you can't let them be seen. But they all need to leave. Relocate. And when you've found a good spot, find me when we sleep. When I get free time once I'm up, I'll meet you guys and we can discuss the details."
Syphen blinked twice, "You want me to lead these people…?"
It's like Rex's previous words just hit him.
Rex smiled and pulled Syphen close to whisper in his ear, "I told you. You won't be alone anymore. If I can chance it here— if it works, we could have a pride. You could learn more about the world….. fight off more monsters. You could be a kid. It's what you deserve, man. I know you can do this. You outlived those goblins. You ripped out a world serpents eyeball. You can do this. WE can do this."
Syphen fought off a shiver and hissed quietly as he nodded, "We can do this."
"Now go. They're coming— if they haven't deployed air recon already they will." Rex said.
Syphen turned to Floren, said a few words and began walking.
Floren turned to her people and made a series of clicking sounds. They got up and hesitantly followed.
Rex headed the opposite direction, but only after they left.
He scanned the faces of every individual. They were labeled as psycho murderer worshipers, disease vectors and ignorant wild men. He saw the case files. He'd even shared a few thoughts that weren't the smartest.
It hit him then. He should've known better. He'd been in their shoes. The victims of poverty and military expansion that were simply labeled as the worst since they didn't fit in with the best. Couldn't fit in.
A weird essence of hope filled his tired body. They were more alike than he previously thought. Language barrier aside.
"I need to get back to my unit….. and hope my cover isn't completely blown to shit."
Rex took off with a superpowered feline leap and began climbing the cliff to go back the way he came.