Trees and snakes and stuff.

::Holding his rifle close, Ryo stalks carefully through the trees, breathing in the deeply humid air. Although it makes breathing a little more restricted, he loves how clean it makes him feel internally. He slows down his movement so he can walk silently and keeps an eye open for any movement.::

::Movement he finds. Some bushes over there shudder.::

::Ryo's attention is immediately got by the bushes and he points his gun at them, slowly approaching.::

::A giggle is head from behind the bushes.::

(A child? A girl?)

::Ryo is confused now.::

"Hello?"

"Arf!"

::The sound is like a small dog barking, and is followed by more laughing. The laughter is distinctly human.::

(What...?)

::Ryo suddenly charges through the bushes, gun cocked and ready.::

::The boy sits on his knees, completely naked. He looks frightened when he sees Ryo and leaps up onto all fours, scampering away.::

"Wait! Hey!"

::Ryo gives chase, completely shocked to see another human here. He runs after the boy, not losing him from sight.::

"Stop!"

::Past Jungle Boy Aidan barks and laughs as he runs, his strong back legs providing large bounds while his front legs, his arms, direction which way he travels. He is nimble and quick, but makes sure all the time that the strange man is following him and keeping up.::

::Ryo isn't even half as graceful as Aidan. Mostly he blindly follows, getting hit by leafs and branches which pour their stores of warm water onto him and down the back of his neck while he chases the boy. He grunts and gasps a few times, nearly tripping often, but still manages to stop the boy disappearing from view.::

"Stop! We'll be lost!"

::After some minutes, Aidan does stop. He crouches on his haunches, turned around to face where he can see Ryo catching up.::

::Ryo bursts through the plants to where Aidan is and pants, out of breath.::

"Finally."

::He has to lean against a trunk to get his breath back.::

"Why did you run?"

"Arf! Rrrrrriff!"

::Aidan growls from the back of his throat, and yet his face smiles. He stops growling. If he had a tail, it'd be wagging. Freak.::

::Ryo frowns and cocks his head.::

"What are you?"

(... a native? He can't be, they don't live like this... and he's white.)

::Aidan mimics Ryo's movement and tilts his head to the side with a silly grin.::

(But he's so... animal.)

::Slowly, Ryo makes his way over to the boy.::

::Aidan takes fright and turns, running away again.::

"Wait!"

::Ryo's legs start to move, but he stops himself. What's the point? He should go back to the settlement and talk to the others about it, ask if they know what's going on. He sighs and turns around.::

(Which way is back?)

::There's a yelp from a short distance away.::

"Aw, great, he's hurt himself."

::Ryo walks in the direction of the sound.::

::It's coming from the den.::

::Ryo finds himself at the den.::

::Aidan gets as close to the settlement as he dares and tries to see Ryo.::

::Ryo heads out of the settlement, walking toward the spot where Aidan is. He's looking at the ground, thinking.::

(I need to get out of here... I need to find the others.)

"Hnnn..."

::Aidan makes a soft, sad cooing sound at Ryo and stands leaning against the base of a tree. Totally naked. Ew. Anyway.::

::Ryo looks up, his concentration broken. He walks toward the sound, stumbling on a very naked Aidan.::

"Aid! You're here!"

::He notices that Aidan isn't wearing any clothes.::

"...And you're naked... What happened to your clothes?"

::Aidan looks hugely upset. If Ryo tries to get too close, the boy will swiftly move away.::

::Ryo just looks at him.::

"...Aidan?"

::He moves closer, just to have Aidan move away.::

"Why are you acting so wierd?"

::Seeing that Ryo appears concerned once more, Aidan starts to move away. He twists and gives Ryo a huge grin suddenly before moving off into the trees, at a speed enough for Ryo to keep up with.::

(Is he rabid?)

::Ryo begins to follow him, making sure he can still see the village. He's not dumb enough to follow a naked man into the forest and get lost in the process.::

::Not even when it's Aidan? Aidan continues deeper into the jungle, turning around to grin at Ryo on occasion.::

(This is too wierd.)

"Aidan! Stop running away!"

::The settlement is growing farther and farther away.::

(Wait...)

::He stops following him.::

(What if this isn't my Aidan at all? The one in the cave wasn't this Aidan...)

::He's got a really bad feeling about this.::

"Aidan! I'm not following you any more!"

::He leans against a tree, watching.::

::Aidan is out of sight just now. But from the short distance away that he is, he screams horribly. Something's happened.::

(Aw, great, he's hurt himself.)

::He runs to him.::

::Aidan is being faced by a large lion. He looks terrified. He turns and runs another direction. The lion does not follow, but instead slinks off another way.::

::Ryo watches the lion slink off.::

(...What the hell.)

::He looks around, finding that he lost sight of the village.::

"Fuck this."

::He turns and starts heading back.::

:: Past Aidan appears out of the jungle and whimpers after Ryo. Don't leave him!::

"Why the fuck do you keep running away!"

::He's yelling now.::

"There's a fucking lion there! And he didn't even try to attack you!"