So I kept telling myself I should do one of the more popular animes. You know, FMA, Death Note, Attack on Titan, one of those. It obviously didn't happen. I ended writing this on Shinsekai Yori (from the new world), which doesn't have even a hundred fanfiction works on this site. And I should probably mention that I've never seen Tarzan before, so this has no intended relation to it. I was explaining this chapter to a friend and she said it was like Tarzan, so I thought I should point out that I have not even seen it. I've been thinking about it, though. Anyway, I'm back! I was dormant for about a month, looking back. I went through about five different story ideas before being really inspired with this one. Trust me, I tried the three animes mentioned above. I got a few chapters into the Attack on Titan one before admitting it was crap, and I had no idea where to go with the Death Note story. I didn't even start writing the FMA idea I had, so maybe I'll write it in the future. But maybe not. Oh, and before you get reading, her name is Kyie. Not KyLie, but KYIE. Pronounced Ky-ee. Just saying.

The forest is unsettled. The usual clicks of the most common inhabitants aren't to be heard, and the songs of the tree creatures are off. I've never heard it like this. It sends shivers through me, making my thin fur stand on end. Something is dangerous. Not even the little things that buzz and choke through the light and dark venture to make their sounds. Brightness still illuminates the world, but even it seems weary. I can't see the source through the leaves.

I remain crouched to the ground, the long fur atop me draping to hide my body. The colors of most of the other animals blend into the forest with ease, but I feel like one of those that shines like the sphere above. Only my dark fur can hide me, but for some reason it only grows long on my head. I can't move without being visible because of that.

Twigs snap and I whirl my head to find the cause, ducking down to conceal myself farther. A familiar noise fades into existence. My breath escapes me, but I quickly gather it back. I've never understood, but every now and again I'll push out my air. I've tried to go without it before, but I always end up claiming a ton of it soon after. Now, every time I let it out so forcefully, I act with haste to get it back.

The noise emits from a small group of animals that I haven't seen for a while. The light has gone and returned at least four times since, but they're usually a regular sight. They have a sort of communication that I've been able to learn. It was difficult, more difficult than that of the tree creatures or the smaller ground ones, but if I need to I could give them what I want them to know. Still, there is much I don't understand. Their communication system is much more vast than that of the other animals. I find them interesting for a different reason, though. They don't have any fur, not even on their heads. They instead cover themselves with furs of animals they've killed.

"...-er Colony is closing in, but the arrival of the gods will ensure our victory, surely." I don't recognize the last sound, but the rest I comprehend. One of the other groups seems to be coming after them. I guess that means they're fighting, which would explain the tension heavy in the forest. The gods, though. They've mentioned them, but always as a faraway thing. Arrival...if I understand, that means the gods are among us. I wonder what they look like. A living thing that isn't an animal. I've never seen something like that. I thought it was only animals that could breathe, or eat, but they say that the gods do that, too.

"Yes, but the gods are young," one says to the one who spoke before. "Can they handle an entire army?"

An army? What is that? But I do know what it means when they say the gods are young. It means they're little, but they'll get bigger. I wonder if gods are the type that need to be watched over until they're full sized, or if they can survive without parent. I'd think they'd need a parent, because from what I've heard about them, they reside in colonies like these creatures.

One of them smacks the one who asked. "Don't doubt the gods, or they won't help us! And be quiet! Scouts aren't supposed to talk or we'll be found." I add the word Scout to my mind, listing that they shouldn't talk or be seen. I wonder why they can't. Silent from then forward, they walk past me without noticing my presence. Maybe I'm a scout of sorts, since I hide from them and do not make any sound.

I cross my legs, leaning back against a tree. If there is fighting, it's best if I stay hidden. Besides, this is a perfect place for something like that. Trees and bushes shroud me and there is a stream corner visible from where I sit. Surviving without moving here for a couple of days should not be too difficult.

Normally I would listen to the sounds of life, but at this moment they resonate within me wrong. I instead occupy my time watching the marching of the tiny, black ground crawlers. I've always held wonder towards these little black creatures. Many of them carry thick leaves much larger than them themselves. I imagine it to be like me, trying to move a large stone across the ground. Even though I struggle immensely, they can cover distances quicker than I can carrying things, despite my advantage in size.

A pair of pointy nosed grey yappers prance by, calling to each other as they play. The smaller one, the female, manages to wrestle the male to the ground before they dash off. I rub below my collarbone, a growing discomfort sprouting there. It's not itchy, but it sort of hurts. When will I find my mate? Every animal I've come across finds one at some point, sometimes many, but what is there to be my mate? Where are the others of my species?

My eyes begin to droop and I loll my head to the side, about to close my eyes. I meet the eight black dots of a prickly creature unlike any other. Screeching, I lunge to my feet too fast and stumble, falling backwards through the foliage. I scramble to gain my foot, turning to run-

-and freeze, a nearly naked animal staring down at me. Both of us stare at each other, wide eyed. Like the advanced creatures from before, it wears something resembling the skins of other animals, and yet it's like the skins of no animals I have ever encountered. However, what really stops me in my tracks is the fact that what little fur it has grows on the top of its head. It's darker than mine, and doesn't hang down as long as mine, but it's so very similar.

Then it hits me. Could this be it? Could this be the male of my kind? I inch closer, curious, and he doesn't back away. It's true, he smells male, but it's very subtle. It makes me think he must've been in the river recently, since his scent has seemingly been washed away. I push to my feet, rising. At my full height, he's still slightly taller than I, which only supports his being male. The males in nature tend to be bigger than the females.

He turns his head away, his originally pale face changing to red. I grin with delight. So our species does this, too! There are certain species that change color when they meet a mate. So we turn red. Does that mean I, too, have turned colors? I hold my hands out, but they don't seem to have changed. It must be an aspect only the males have. The sounds that come from his mouth are unfamiliar to me, but I don't care.

He reaches to the outer layer of animal skins around his body and slips it off, holding it out to me. When I don't react, he comes closer. He holds the skin wide, as if trying to cover me. Alarm shocks through me and I bare my teeth, keeping an eye on the skins. Seeing this, he retracts.

Steadying my breaths, I return my attention to the male before me. He still refuses to look directly at me. He takes a deep breath and once more tries to communicate. "What's you're name?"

Indeed it is something I've never heard before. Learning to communicate with him shall be vital, though, if I am to stay with him.

He directs his finger to himself, pointing. "I'm Shun. And you are?" He turns his finger to me. I copy the action, pointing at myself. Still, I don't understand and end up looking at him blankly. Releasing his air, he turns his finger back. "Shun. My name...is….Shun." He points to me yet again. "You?"

His tone is one of confusion. He wants me to give him knowledge. Is he asking if I am of his species? He seems to be calling himself Shun, so is that what we are? Shun?

I point to myself and do my best to match his pronunciation. "Shun."

He shakes his head and again turns his finger around. It seems he's caught on that he must do that, or I won't be able to understand. "Shun." For the last time, he aims his finger at me. This time, he simply tilts his head to one side in question. So, he means I am not a Shun? That he is, and I am not, is that what he's trying to tell me? But surely we are the same. Does he mean male and female? How do I ask him? If Shun is the word for male, what is it for female?

I furrow my brow, digging my nails into the side of my leg. A small growl emerges from my throat in frustration. I wish there were a way to understand him, but my ability to control things only goes as far as to make them move, not interpreting noises. It's taken long for me to learn the communication systems of the usual forest creatures.

A breeze drifts through the forest, ruffling the branches. shuuuuuunnnn. Something clicks together and I relax. He must like that sound a lot, to identify himself with it. I point to him.

"Shun." I point back to myself and pause. If he is Shun, just him, then what am I? What is a sound that I like so much I want to be known as it? There's the rushing of the water, the chirping of the tiny creatures….but the tree creatures make the sounds that carry me into sleep when the darkness approaches. Their singing always calms me. "Kyie. Kyie."

"Kyie?" he repeats. I like the call even more when it comes from his mouth. I nod enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. "Kyie, then. Would you mind wearing some clothes?" He steps closer to me, and I let him. "Although, I don't think you know what I'm saying, do you?"

Once again, he holds out the animal skin. I recoil, and he stops. Then, he sticks his arms back through them. He spins, then takes it off again. He repeats this action three times before holding the skins out to me once more.

Oh, I get it now. He wants me to put it on, like the way he did. I wonder what the purpose of such a thing is. It certainly doesn't look like effective camouflage, but his entire midsection and parts of his legs are wrapped in it. Perhaps they keep him warm, like animal fur. But it's warm enough without that right now, so why does he need it?

"It's okay, Kyie." Whatever he's trying to communicate, his tone of voice slows the rhythm in my chest. "I'm not going to hurt you, Kyie. I promise." He comes closer to me, close enough that I could reach out and touch him, but I don't. He does first. He lifts my arm and guides it through the holes in the animal skin, doing the same thing with my other arm. When he's finished, he pulls it together in front of me and does something so that it stays together even when he takes his hands away. Then, he extends his hand to me."Come on, Kyie. You can come back with us."

After examining his hand, I come to the conclusion he wants me to give him one of my own. I'm reaching to take it when the loud crunch of a big animal draws my attention behind him. Seeing my tension, he glances back to find what I'm looking at.

Two more with the same appearance crash through the green, breathing heavily. One has fur nearly as long as mine, brilliantly red, and the has other short, curly and light. They both stare at me just as Shun and I had done mere minutes ago.

"Who's she?" the red one communicates to Shun. "And why is she almost naked?"

"Does it matter?" the lighter one pants. "We need to keep running!" Fear is written plainly on his face, the most primal instinct of any creature, causing my guard to rise once more. I knew something was wrong! The forest is twisted. It has been for some time.

Shun points to the light one. "Mamoru, and that one," he switches to the red, "Maria."

I take a moment to shake off the unease and copy his points. "Mamoru, Maria." I point to him, "Shun," and then myself. "Kyie."

"Yes, good job!" Whatever he means to convey, I understand that he is pleased, so I smile again. I pause, though, before motioning to all of us and tilting my head in question. So each, as an individual, has a specific call, but what are we called as a whole? We are not the tree creatures, nor the small crawlers, nor those colony things from before, although there are a few glaring similarities.

He thinks for a moment, ignoring the sounds coming from the other two. Then, he motions to us and says, "Humans."

Humans. That is what I am. After all this time, I have finally learned what I am. It feels strange to have a name for it, finally. Humans. We are humans. Okay, I will accept that title.

But, what are humans?

But what are humans? I love that line. It was really fun writing this encounter, and really hard at the same time. I had to get her to somehow understand Shun without speech, so it involved a lot of pointing. I originally had both of them use cantus against each other, but then I realized Shun would have had his cantus sealed at this point in time. That realization left me extremely disappointed, but I changed flying leaves into him simply trying to get her to wear his coat. Did it work? I wish I could've used the other scene, but that would have contradicted the actual story. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go rest my mind. Writing a new fanfiction while tackling finals is not ideal. I'll post again when finals are over.

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!