Chapter 13: The Shock of His Life

When Marx went down from his room, Amaya had already changed into her protective clothing. She looked like a warrior princess. She wore snakeskin boots that extended up to her thighs. Her arms were covered with the same snake skin material from her upper arm up to the wrist, similar to what cyclers wear. She wore an alligator-skin vest fastened by a hemp string on her upper body. Her short skirt was also secured at the waist with a hemp string.

Marx was half naked.

"Uhmm, Aya, do you know where my shirt is?"

"Wait, I'll get it outside." Amaya went out and came back with the newly washed white long-sleeve and handkerchief.

Marx slipped into his shirt. He frowned when he did not find any buttons.

Amaya had guessed what Marx was looking for. She went into the room, got the shiny white objects from the shelf, and handed them to Marx.

Marx was speechless. It took a while before he found his voice. "Do you have needle and thread?"

Amaya did not know what he was asking for, so she shook her head.

Marx tried to tuck in his polo shirt but a large flesh on his chest and abdomen was still visible. Amaya looked worried.

"Wait! Daddy has a vest made from alligator skin. You can put that over your body. You are as tall and big as Daddy, so it should fit you."

Amaya happily climbed the room and returned with the vest. True enough, the vest was made of alligator skin.

"If you want, you can also put these in your arms. These are tough and will prevent cuts and bruises."

Marx accepted the piece of clothing. The joints were stitched together with hemp rope and, hence, could be adjusted. A two-centimeter rubber strip was attached to the upper and lower portion of the arm sleeves, making them stay in place.

Marx felt a sudden urge to poop.

"Aya, I need to relieve myself. Can you show me where the toilet is?"

Amaya led him out of the house to a small shack on the far side of the garden in the backyard. When Marx opened the shack, he made two steps backward. What he saw was a hole in the ground in the middle of the shack. To the left was a heap of sand with a wooden shovel on it. To the right was a big clay jar with a cover and a wooden dipper on top. Beside it was a smaller jar.

Amaya grinned at him and said, "This is the toilet."

Marx was dumbfounded. He suddenly lost the urge to relieve himself. But what can he expect from the jungle?

"Ahem, what do you use to clean, you know?" Marx stammered. For the first time in his life, he was ashamed to articulate himself.

"You can use water. There's the dipper, and the small jar contains soap." Amaya answered nonchalantly.

Marx looked at her blankly. Then he remembered that the emergency supplies contained a roll of toilet paper without the core. He hurried back to the house to get it, then entered the shack and closed the bamboo door.

"I'll wait for you inside the house. Please hurry up, as it is getting late." Amaya shouted on her way to the house.

Marx lowered his pants and squatted on the hole. It took him a long time to finish relieving himself. He then wiped himself clean with toilet paper and used the shovel to drop sand in the hole until he could no longer smell his poop.

He drew water from the big jar and used the liquid soap from the small jar to clean his hands. The soap smelt nice. He will ask Amaya later how the soap was made.

When he went inside the house, Amaya was already ready. She had a quiver full of arrows slung at her back. She also had a backpack made from wooden leaves. On both of her thighs were sheaths that held two sets of knives each.

As if to answer his question, Amaya blurted out. "We will go deeper into the jungle and the animals there are wilder and more dangerous. We need weapons to protect ourselves."

Marx took the backpack from the room and slung it on his back. He took out the gun from it and asked Amaya. "Do you have an extra sheath and knife?"

"You can use my Dad's. He made all this for me." Amaya beamed proudly as she passed another two sets of the sheath to Marx and he fastened it on his thighs.

"Is that a weapon?" Amaya pointed to the gun in his hand.

"Yes," Marx replied briefly. He put the gun in the side pocket of his backpack.

Amaya whistled. A tiger, a wolf and an ape appeared from nowhere. Marx stepped back and took out his gun.

Khalil growled and Amaya growled back at him.

"These are my friends. The tiger is Khalil. The wolf is Strata and this is Kong. The one who startled you this morning." Amaya introduced the animals to Marx.

Marx was afraid at first but he did not show it on his face. He still kept a calm demeanor.

Amaya purred at Khalil. "You ride Khalil so we can move faster."

Marx hesitated.

"Don't worry, Khalil is strong. He carried you here from the waterfall."

Marx obliged and the moment he was astride on the tiger's back, it started running leaving behind Amaya who shut the door.

Marx panicked when he didn't see Amaya, but soon, she was running beside him, along with the wolf and the ape. He didn't know that a woman could run so fast. She would definitely win first place if she entered the track and field competition.

Sometimes, she would suddenly disappear, and Marx would find her jumping from tree to tree, hanging on vines.

After thirty minutes, they reached the waterfalls. Amaya purred at the tiger and howled at Khalil. Khalil growled, and Strata howled. Soon, another tiger and a wolf appeared one after the other.

"That's Khalil's and Strata's mates. They found something strange, which might be what you are looking for."