The weight of their kill was heavy on Chatok's shoulders. Supported by a shoulder pole that stretched between him and Nequi, the dressed cervine wobbled in midair with each increasingly labored step. After they blessed the animal, they had worked quick to remove some of the prime cutlets, salting them to preserve the meat for later consumption. The bones, ligaments, and body, however, had other uses and had to be taken back to the tribe to be repurposed. As was the Jungle Goddess' wish, their people didn't waste any part of a kill.
Per Nequi's instruction, they had ventured far into the jungle deep. While the walk there had seemed quick - the excitement distracting from the distance; the tedium of their slow progress back was agony for the boy's restless, immature mind. The pole was beginning to hurt and his legs - as agile as they were in the trees, tired.
"Why did we have to go so far" Chatok complained, a boyish whine coloring his words.
"We have no choice young master." Nequi replied," As you know, the bucks avoid our village. Up the Great River, they avoid villages of our rival tribes. While some can be found in Forbidden Land, it is off limits for game. That leaves only this path into the jungle deep."
Chatok rolled his eyes, he'd seen deer while playing in the trees with Ruut. Sure - they were does, but he didn't understand why that mattered. Nequi, however, insisted they go for a buck. A buck was required for a boy's first hunt. Chatok would have been fine with a doe - he wasn't quite as concerned about masculine pride as his teacher.
Chatok''s mind returned to the pain of his body. He had recently noticed his body growing stronger, a sign he would soon grow into a man, but as is - he was far from a match to Nequi's superior strength. With nothing else to occupy his mind in the endless jungle, his eyes began to study the reddish brown back of the man before him. Nequi's broad shoulders carried the weight of their hunt with ease. His toned lats bulged slightly as they supported the pole. His skin did little to hide his strength and it didn't take much for the lean muscles to visibly flex.
Chatok's eyes drifted down the v-like taper of the man's back. They rested on Nequi's butt. Between the sweat and humidity, Nequi's loin cloth was painted flush against his skin. The fabric dipped slightly in the middle, outlining the sizable twin bulges that carried his weight. With each step, his gluts expanded into shapely, rounded globes. Chatok's eyes continued to hover; he found something alluring about their strength, their curvature. An odd excitement tickled his spine. Ruut came to mind. He realized the excitement he felt was the same feeling he'd had when Ruut touched his hand earlier that day.
As his mind turned to Ruut, he found himself imagining how Ruut would look with Nequi's strength. While Ruut wouldn't be trained as a warrior, Ruut had had long fantasized about having the strength and muscles of one. Chatok enjoyed the mental picture of his muscled friend he'd invented. Big muscles were a perfect match for Ruut.
When I'm cheif, I'll make sure Ruut has time from his medicine work to train to be as strong as he wants. He thought.
The rest of the walk, Chatok couldn't shake that mental image. There was something nice about it, something exciting, something he wanted for reasons he couldn't describe.
Between the fun of the hunt, the labor of their return journey, and these boyish daydreams, Chad had been lost for hours in the thoughts of Chatok.
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Back at the villiage
Seeing the opening in the tent, Sarah shot to her feet and made a break for it. Bursting out into the village, she turned her head. Around her were non-descript reeded huts and wild jungle. The path forward was unclear.
Distantly, she heard the trickling sound of a river.
The Great River came an unbidden thought, carrying knowledge she didn't realize she had. Where there was a river, there would be boats she figured. And where there were boats, there was a means to get to civilization.
Acting quick, she dashed forward. At first, she found herself wincing as the sharp stones of the ground pricked her soft skin. Soon, those pains seemed to fade. As she hopped off the dusty ground that surrounded the medicine man's hut and onto a wooded path that twisted through the village dark callouses began to form under her feet. Soon, the bottoms adjusted, sporting thick callouses better suited to a boy who'd never worn shoes. Her well-manicured skin had disappeared.
As she ran through the winding path of the village, Sarah hardly realized how second nature the route to the river seemed. It was as if she naturally knew the way.
Arriving at the shore, she adjusted her loin cloth once again. For some reason it kept getting loose.
She couldn't help but note that in spite of the jungle heat, she wasn't out of breath. Her sprint to the shore was intense, but it didn't feel tiring at all. She was filled with an energy, a new agility, she'd never felt before. She couldn't help but enjoy the feeling. Still, she was getting hot and bent over to cup some water to cool her head. Seeing her reflection, she paused. Her hair was shorter - about half the length as before. It was as if it had somehow retreated back into her scalp. As she stared at it, the color shifted. The platinum blonde dye seemed to evaporate in the jungle heat. From each strand the artificial chemicals left, returning the hair to its natural dirty blonde. It was as if the artificial dye wasn't welcome among the primitive naturalism of this jungle. Modernity had no place in this world. She stroked it slightly, while a far cry from the coffee brown of the villagers, it was far darker than she preferred.
Looking down, she was met with further surprise. Where her once ample chest lay, now sat a diminutive set of A-cup breasts. It was only then that she realized she had been sprinting without a sports bra. Such speed should have been painful, but wasn't given the changes.
A hand touched her flattening chest. It no longer had the give she was used to. It was firmer. Below, she noticed her curves had also faded. Her hips were more aligned with her ribcage, decreasing their overall prominence. Her bombshell figure was becoming blocky.
"Ohun ti n ṣẹlẹ si mi?" she said quietly to herself, not realizing she was speaking in a new tongue What is happening to me?
"Saa'rok" came a deep, commanding voice, interrupting her thoughts. Sarah turned. Before her stood a tall, leanly muscled man who gently lowered what looked to be a recently killed deer. Behind him, stood a tired, feminine looking figure - a boy she realized.
"Chatok just finished his first hunt. You are the older boy, show him how to tend to the rest of the kill by the river. I must visit the cheif. Teach him what I taught you."
Sarah didn't know how to respond, so she simply nodded. The man nodded back then turned to Chatok.
"Saa'rok may be just a boy like you, but he is older. Show him the respect he deserves. He has learned these lessons. Listen to him closely and you can demonstrate what you have learned to me later. I must now visit your father to report on our hunt."
Chatok nodded and the older man started down the wooded path towards the village center.
Turning Chatok's eyes met Sarah's. Confusion suddenly hit him. Where his mind expected the somewhat older boy - Saa'rok- his eyes found an oddly pale woman. A woman, it seemed, he recognized. The gears turned in his head began to turn. Suddenly a sense of fear gripped him as thoughts that had been buried during the hours of the hunt returned.
He didn't just recognize the toppless, white skinned woman.
She was his girlfriend.