Assassin V Assassin

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Livia loved the way the tribe responded to the news. The only thing she was worried about was Dah-Nee. He didn't seem happy at all, and he kept looking at Kane with a stern expression. After everyone sat down to eating, Livia and the others talked about the old days. "Remember when Nee tried to climb to the top of the big redwood when he was 7? He got about fifteen feet up before he slipped on the moss and fell to the ground. He would have been killed if Lee didn't throw that entanglement of vines over to him." Kee said.

"And I can't believe he was actually able to catch himself," Livia added, "he was falling so fast, I thought he was a goner."

"Yeah, which explains why you yelled at him and then cried for the next week," Toru said. "You were still pretty messed up from A-Kee and Tou-Kee's deaths. How are you doing with that now?"

Livia paused and looked down, "It still makes me sad, and I still have dreams about them, but since Tao-Vey found me, I've been much better." Livia squeezed his hand and smiled at him. Nee bristled and interrupted the moment.

"So are you coming with us tomorrow, Lee? We think we found the Agouti's burrow. There's probably about twenty of them in there. If we catch them and flush them out, we can have quite the meal. What do you think?" He beamed over at Livia as she smiled back.

"How are you going to catch twenty of those rodents? They're too fast for a slow poke like you to nab them," she laughed.

"Oh well you see, we have these large nets that some fire-headed, city girl sent us a while back. I think they're supposed to be for bugs, but we don't need them for an insect repellent," he teased.

"Those were supposed to make it easier for you guys to sleep at night without having to use all the eucalypti trees for repellent! Jerk!" Livia laughed and leaned against Dah-Nee. "I missed you, Nee. And I'd love to go hunting with you guys tomorrow."
 
Kane let out a low growl as he put his arm around Livia's shoulder, guiding her to nestle in his chest. He closed his eyes as he listened to the music, surprised at how much it sounded like music from his tribe.
 
Kane's defense surprised Livia. She guessed it would be strange for him to see her close to another man, but things weren't like that with Nee. "Kane, you know Nee is like my brother, right? You don't have to worry about anything happening between us." Livia grabbed his hand as she spoke. It wasn't particularly loud, but apparently it was loud enough because at that moment, Nee spoke up.

"She's right. She is my sister, so I'm going to be honest. I don't think you're good enough to be her sakish," the rest of the festivities continued, but the group of five quieted down. "I know Lee loves you and that Ah-Vee approves, and that makes me want to trust you. Even if you are a complete stranger, but before I approve of you, you have to show me your determination and loyalty to her." Nee stood in front of the two of them. Livia had wide eyes, she never expected Nee to say such things. The other members looked down, trying to mind their own business. They all liked Kane, but Nee was more protective of Livia than anyone else.

"Nee, he has proven his loyalty and love to me time and time again," Livia defended. "He's saved me countless times. How can you say such things to him?"

"He is not one of ours. He doesn't know how cruel and unforgiving the jungle can be. If he makes one mistake, he is dead and he leaves you and your child alone. I trust that he loves you, but I cannot trust his determination to live for you until I see it," Nee was right, and Livia could say nothing in defense. Kane knew tribal life, but he didn't know the jungle. It was dangerous, and a person didn't rely on their tribe, they were as good as dead. Livia shuddered at the thought of Kane dying.

"Just leave it alone for tonight. You can be overprotective later," she said, holding on tightly to Kane once more. Her body trembled a bit at the thoughts Nee put into her mind. Livia knew how competitive Kane got over these things. Nee had issued a direct challenge to him, and Kane never refused a challenge. "Babe," she whispered, "Please, don't do something reckless or dangerous. Think of me and the baby. We need you."
 
"Nothing that won't get me killed..." He promised to her, "I will show you I'm worthy of being hers. I'll show you... So you better keep your ears open!" He warned Nee, his upper lip curling into a snarl.
 
Nee stared down at him and smirked, "growl at me all you want, boy. We will see how worthy you really are." He left and went towards his hut as the party started calming down.

After another hour of congratulations, Livia and Kane were finally able to return to their hut. Livia was exhausted. Ah-Vee had already gotten the bed ready for them, so they climbed into it upon their return. "Kane, I love you and that is all that matters. Don't let what Nee said rile you up. He just gets protective, is all. He'll come to love you in time, like I did."
 
"If he wants me to people it, I'll prove it!" He told her sternly. "If that's what He wants, that's what he'll get!" He growled to himself, a primal fire in his eyes.
 
"Kane, calm down! How are you going to prove it? It's not something you can do in a day, you know? You prove it by getting to know him and him getting to know you," Livia didn't know what else to say to him. "Just go to bed, please. We can worry about it tomorrow." Livia laid down as the jet lag and events of the day caught up to her. She was asleep in minutes.
 
Kane waited until she was fully asleep until he bent down and opened up the vial around her neck, taking a quick whiff of it to enhance his vision for the dark. He very slowly and very carefully got out of the bed, peeking outside every so often to make sure he was the only one out.

Once he was sure he was the only one, he walked out of the hut, carefully walking beyond the border of the village. Kane climb a nearby tree before he began to travel treetop to treetop, scanning the area for any prey. And that's when he saw it... A jaguar.

He pulled out his blowgun, loading it with a dart before taking a deep breath, bringing the weapon to his lips before he fired it at the animal. His eyes widened as that only seemed to make the animal more agitated, "This is going to be harder than I thought..." He mumbled to himself, jumping down the tree branches to meet face to face with the jaguar.

Kane quickly pulled out his handcrafted knife out of its sheath, going to toe to paw with the dangerous mammal. He let out loud yells of pain as they both traded blows, one of his eyes being blinded by the blood that ran over it.

After a few hours of fighting the horrid beast, he fell to his knees, his eyes blinded from the blood. He had tears and reopened scars all over his body, but most importantly, he has his life. He grunted as he slung the beast around his shoulders, shuffling back to the village.

After his hours long trek, he finally made it back to the center of the village, dropping the jaguar at his feet. Kane feel to his knees and looked up at the night sky, screaming his heart out with one simple word of Livia's tribal language, "Lingou!" I have killed it! He screamed to the few stars he could see over and over.
 
Livia woke from her nightmares, drenched in sweat. "Kane!" she screamed, slowly realizing she was dreaming. It had been an awful dream about him being attacked by a jaguar once again. Blood was pouring from his body and he was covered in wounds and gashes. Falling to the jaguar in the end, leaving Livia alone in this world with his child. As her heartbeat returned to normal, she put her arm out and felt the cold chill of the bed beside her.

Jumping to her feet, Livia ran from the hut, looking in all directions. "Kane? Kane where are you?" She moved from place to place in the village, even waking Nee and Ah-Vee in her search. The three were standing in front of the ashen fire pit when they heard Kane re-enter the village, shouting about his kill.

Livia flew to him in an instant and stood frozen just feet away from him. Shock, fear and panic all set in at once as she surveyed the vision of him. He stood over the limp body of a jaguar, covered in blood. Cuts from the claws and holes from the teeth were all over his body, making the scars on his chest come alive again. She paled and her body began to tremble with fright, "What have you done, Kane?" Was all she managed to say before passing out into Ah-Vee's arms.

Nee ran to Kane in a fury in and grabbed the man's shoulders. "Did you think this would convince me of your worth?" he shouted. "Killing this animal and then bringing him back here looking like that? Look at what you've done to Lee-Vee! You made her heart stop! Did you even think about what it would do to her to see you like this? To see you covered in blood and torn to pieces because of the same beast that killed her parents! Do you think at all?!"

"Dah-Nee!" Ah-Vee called out, "This is not the place. Take him to my hut. He will need serious tending to. And take the jaguar to De-Wee's hut to be cleaned. It cannot lie there." As soon as Ah-Vee finished speaking, Kane's body gave way, falling as limp as the jaguar's. Nee carried him to Ah-Vee's as Toru, who had woken thanks to the noise, came to take Lee-Vee home.

Ah-Vee spent most of the next day tending to Kane and treating his wounds. He appeared to pass out from the blood loss, but a few herbs were able to treat that. Livia woke in her hut and walked to Ah-Vee's to wait for Kane to awaken. Nee had been there assisting Ah-Vee as well. "Lee, he is reckless, stupid, and he almost left you here. You cannot rely on this man," he said to Livia.

"Nee, I will not talk about this now. Tao-Vey has never left me alone before. He won't leave me now. I know that of him," she defended.

"Don't call him that. How can you call him your light and savior if this is what he does? He scared you to the point of passing out, Lee-Vee!" Nee yelled. "He goes out on his own, puts himself at risk and comes back looking like he himself was the one killed! That is not light!"

"Nee! He is my sakish and I will not have you speak of him in such a way! I will deal with this. Go home and let this be. He did this to prove a point to you!" Livia shouted.

"Exactly my point! He is supposed to show me he is a good enough man to stay by your side, but all he has shown is that he will risk everything to look strong! He can kill a jaguar, barely, but can he stand by you and protect that which he loves? That I do not know. And if he hadn't returned from this hunt, how would I ever have known!" Nee huffed and paced the room as Livia cried silently. "And now you shed tears over his foolishness while he lays on a table, unconscious, fighting death."

"Nee, please," Livia looked up at him like she was about to break. "I cannot worry for him and fight with you at the same time. Let this go and we shall talk about it later." Nee seemed to notice her fragility so he let her be. He walked out of the room as Ah-Vee walked into it.

"He shall live, but he will need awhile to recover. You may go sit with him. He should wake soon enough," Ah-Vee patted Livia's back. "You must stop stressing like this. It will harm the child," she said, as Livia walked past.

Livia sat beside the table, looking at Kane. Ah-Vee had applied healing medicine to all of his wounds and cleaned the blood. She could see claw marks slashed across his chest, over his old scars, and gashes on his face. This was the man she loved, and he had been torn apart by the same beast that killed her parents. Still, her parents had not gone out in search of a fight. This was Kane's doing, not the Jaguar's. Livia stared at him with a mix of emotions brewing under the surface.
 
After a few hours, Kane's body began to tremble as tears flooded down his face, "I-Im sorry! I'm sorry!" He apologized over and over, "I'm an idiot, I'm foolish, I'm selfish!" He wailed, "I know you must hate me now, and you have a good reason to be... Nee's right..." He mumbled quietly, "He was right! I am not worthy of being your Sakish! I don't deserve to be..." He cried out, turning his body away from her, ashamed of himself, "When I'm well enough to walk... I should be banished! Banished like was with my old tribe!"
 
Livia stood up, tears burning in her eyes and she circled the table to face Kane. She reached back her hand and slapped his face as hard as she could. "How could you?!" she choked through her sobs. "How could you go and leave me in the middle of the night and face that beast! Even as a tribe experienced with them we don't fight them alone! But that's what you did! You left me alone, Kane! And our child!"

Livia crouched on the floor beside the table, clinging onto the sheet that covered it with shaking hands. "What am I supposed to do if you're gone? What am I supposed to do if you leave this world? How am I supposed to raise this child without you?" Her anger turned into sadness, "We swore that we would give this child all the happiness we could! I need you for that! I can't do it alone! I can't be happy without you! You can't do this again,"

Livia choked down more sobs, "You can't leave me again! Do you understand? Do you? I love you, you fucking idiot! And you scared me to death, you asshole!" Livia reached over and held Kane close to herself, crying into his arms. Some of the herbs and medicine were getting on her skin, but she didn't care.
 
Kane only cried louder, his face now stinging with pain, "I was selfish... I am not worthy of being you sakish... Just banish me now! I only bring trouble for you!" He said as he looked at her, his face soaked with tears. "I can't be trusted... Not by my tribe... Not by your tribe... I can't be trusted by anybody..."
 
Livia flared with anger again, "Does what I think mean so little to you? I chose you as my sakish for a reason. If I couldn't trust you, I wouldn't. And as far as banishment goes, you're only banished when you put others lives at risk. So you're not going to get out of this by running away! You're going to stay here and face your mistakes. And I swear, Kane, you're going to make this up to me somehow."
 
Kane sat up slightly and faced her, "No... You mean my entire world... I know I've made a huge mistake..." He sighed, his eyes cast down for a moment before looking back up at her, "What must I do to make up my blunder to you? I'll do anything! Anything!" He pleaded with her.
 
"For a start, get better. These herbs will also erase the scars. And then," Livia took his hand in her own, still shaking, hand, "you have to spend every day of the rest of your life loving me. That's the only way I'll forgive you."
 
"Then I'll do that!" He said giving her hands a tight before putting them over his heart, his entire body trembling, "I love you! I love you so much! I'm sorry that I'm not the smartest... Or the most good looking, but I swear to the sports! May they smite me now if I lie! I will love you forever..." He said, tears flooding from his eyes once more.
 
"What am I going to do with you?" she said, leaning down and kissing him. This man was reckless to a fault, but she loved him with her entire being.
 
"I bet the tribe doesn't like me anymore..." He said slowly, watching her actions. He kissed her back gingerly, "But that doesn't matter to me right now... I could care less what they think. All I need are you two..." she told her, placing a hand on her stomach.
 
Livia smiled down at him. "The tribe might think you're a bit reckless, but the jungle didn't take you, so they will see you as capable." She paused thinking of what tomorrow would bring. "Nee will probably have strong words for you, but the rest of the tribe will probably see you as courageous."
 
"So you still feel like hitting me?" He asked, tilting his head to the side for her to hit him again, "I deserve all the pain in the world to bear." He said slowly. Kane closed his eyes as he braced for another slap, but after he didn't receive one, he just looked at her.
 
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