The Barbaric Man : 03
Chapters: 01 / 02
At first, it was difficult for Taemin to follow Minho because the night sky made the jungle dark. It was even harder to tag behind the dark tanned man since the footsteps Minho made sounded silent. Minho noticed that Taemin was falling behind further and further, he went back and grabbed his left wrist, guiding him through the jungle and keeping Taemin close behind him.
Although the blonde one didn’t know what to anticipate for, since he didn’t know what they were hunting, but he could feel the excitement flowing through his whole body. Earlier, Minho was being quick and swift, but now he slowed his pace to match Taemin’s. Taemin’s eyes adjusted to the jungle a bit, he could see all the dark shapes of the trees, leaves, bushes, and other animals.
Suddenly, we reached somewhere near a stream and a small entrance to a cave was seen just beyond it. Just when he saw that dark cave, Taemin had a bad feeling rushing through his senses. What lives in there? Minho placed his spear against a thick tree as he picked Taemin up and threw him over his shoulder, climbing up a tree. Taemin practically clawed the wide, toned back of Minho’s, trying to get a strong grip on him so he wouldn’t fall off.
Minho set the confused boy down on a sturdy branch and he stuck his index finger against his lips, motioning to be quiet. After Taemin gave a nod of understanding, the dark man nimbly jumped down on the ground and snatched his spear. He turned his neck and cracked it and walked towards the cave in a confident form out into the open. Taemin’s eyes were on Minho like a hawk, he wondered what would happen next.
Then Taemin finally saw it, he saw a smaller figure near the stream. He couldn’t see it well until he heard a vicious snarl and green, glowing eyes. The tree that Taemin was hidden in was only about 10 feet away from where Minho was standing, and Minho was standing just about 7 feet away from the figure. It was the jaguar from earlier and Taemin couldn’t believe his eyes. Don’t tell me he’s going to hunt that?! Taemin unbelievably questioned in his head.
It seems that the jaguar was limping a bit, probably from the fight earlier with Minho. The beast was still growling, warning the man who dares challenge it to back down and leave its territory, it even took a few steps closer. Snapping its head and showing its fangs towards Minho, but he didn’t move at all, rather he smirked at it for attempting to be cute. The beast lowered its head and its hind with up, about to prance and attack. Minho licked his upper lips and smiled evilly, his eyes seemed to be consumed with determination and a want to make things interesting. It was like this was all a game in the man’s mind.
Minho also went into an offensive position, holding his spear firmly in his right hand. Taemin couldn’t help but be consumed in this scene, he unconsciously moved closer to get a better view, but he almost slipped when he leaned his hand against a weak branch, it broke and fell. Taemin made a frightened noise from his mouth and quickly looked back up, hoping he wasn’t noticeable. Minho looked back to see what had happened, the jaguar was quick, it dashed towards Taemin.
The man tried to quickly follow, he threw his spear towards the beast, but it leaped into the air and clawed the tree to grab a hold of it. Taemin gasped in fear, he couldn’t move anywhere though, so he looked down and hoped for the best as he jumped off the tree just before the jaguar could capture him in its clutches. Fortunately, some bushes softened Taemin’s land; he scrambled onto his feet and ran across beyond the stream, near the ominous cave. Please, let no other beast be in there, please let no other beast live in there! Taemin prayed as he ran closer to it, not looking back. His heart felt like it was going to fly out of his throat any second.
Meanwhile, Minho lost his spear when he threw it into the darkness, when he saw Taemin run and the jaguar about to jump and follow him. He tackled it as it on its side while it was in mid air, falling from the tree. The creature yelped in pain as its head hit against something, Minho rolled off of the beast onto his feet, watching it lay in agony. Minho’s breathing was uneven and he was panting, he quickly scanned the ground, searching for his spear. He finally spotted it near a tree trunk and slightly under a bush about seven feet away, he quickly darted towards it to pick it up and finish his opponent.
At the same time, when Taemin reached the entrance of the cave, he could hear echoes of multiple whimpers. At first, the blonde boy stood frozen shock with fear in his eyes; he couldn’t even keep up with his breathing. Though, Taemin was nervous and scared, his feet automatically moved on its own into the cave, he flinched and turned around when he heard a yelp from a distance… Minho?
As Taemin was about to turn back and check to see if Minho was okay, he heard light movements in the cave and soft purrs. He whirled back around again, trying to listen closely to the sounds… Suddenly, he saw a black little paw followed by a leg… And then, showed an innocent little face of a kitty from the entrance’s light, only… It’s not a kitty; it’s one of the cubs from the jaguar. It’s a mother?
Taemin then dashed out of the cave back to where Minho’s location was, he began calling out Minho’s name. Minho, who just picked up his spear, heard Taemin’s cries and quickly looked in the direction where his voice was from. Suddenly, he heard the jaguar trying to attack from his blind side, Minho reflexively whacked the creature with the end of his spear in its rib cage, knocking the black feline aside. It let out another painful cry and began whimpering. Just when Minho raised his spear to do the finishing blow…
“Stop, Minho!” Taemin cried out, running as fast as he can towards Minho. “Don’t kill it!”
Minho turned around, confused… Taemin finally reached Minho and held his hand that the spear was in, the blonde one forced it down to lower it, he shook his head. “It… Has baby cubs… So, don’t kill it…” Even though this sounded crazy, for some reason, Taemin just couldn’t seem to leave the small cubs abandoned like that. Even if they might grow up into killing machines and eat him up, still, Taemin couldn’t find the heart to do that. From a distance, Minho could hear the cubs crying for their mother, he kind of understood what Taemin wanted but he didn’t understand why.
After Minho found the materials he wanted, he tended to the injured beast that almost killed him earlier. He tried to bandage its broken front arm and her ribs. Taemin was a bit touched that this barbaric man could actually understand and cared for this dangerous carnivore. When Minho was finished, the mother jaguar still laid on its side, slowly breathing. She blinked slowly at Minho, with a rather confused look in her eyes. Minho faced Taemin and grunted, waving his arms in the air, he then pointed at the creature… He took his left hand and made a fist while his right hand attacked all over his left. Then, he pointed to the jaguar again and opened his left hand into a flat palm and slammed his right fist into it, pounding it endlessly.
Taemin pretty much knew what Minho meant by that, if the jaguar ever attacks again, he’ll definitely take its life. The blonde boy smiled and nodded, there was still a problem though… What are they going to eat?