The Village

[BIRDS SINGING]

Leo slowly opened up his eyes, his mind was still in a haze. Everything around him at the time that he tried opening up his eyes seemed blurry but as he widened up his eyes and gained full consciousness, his vision became clear. Facing him were straws that were neatly arranged to form a cone shape. Leo soon realized that he was lying down facing upwards.

[Ha Ha Ha]

"shhh. Be quiet, he's still recovering"

Leo could hear the voice of Little kids laughing and conversing close to him. As he turned towards them, he immediately experienced a nasty headache and groaned in pain.

[UUUUNNNGGH!]

The two kids, a boy and a girl were startled after hearing Leo's groan. They looked at him and saw that not only was he awake, but also trying to move.

"He's awake! He's finally awake! Let's go tell everyone"

The two kids began jumping up in jubilation as they ran outside screaming.

"HE'S AWAKE!! HE'S AWAKE!!"

As the kids continued screaming, Leo began studying his environment.

"Where I'm I?"

His clothes were badly torn from his encounter with the man-eating insects, but his wounds were completely healed.

"What happened to me?"

The room he was in had a ceiling made of straws and walls that looked like they were built with mud. The floor was entirely covered with fur and the bed he laid on was just a pile of straw wrapped up in a cloth. The room looked primitive, but still had a certain kind of beauty to it.

[MURMURING]

Different voices resounded outside the room that Leo was in. He could hear all of the people outside talking and felt relieved that he could finally relax and figure out what was happening. He endured the pain in his body and tried to get up.

"I have to go out and meet with the inhabitants, I can't wait any longer"

Just then, as Leo managed to get his two feet to the ground and stood, he immediately fell face flat on the ground. Turns out his legs were still a bit paralyzed. The loud noise from the fall caused a few people to run in to check out the source of the noise only to see the pathetic sight of Leo lying helplessly on the ground.

"He hasn't fully recovered?"

"But it's been 3 days."

"What does this even mean?"

"Maybe the toxins were more powerful than we thought"

"Or maybe he just missed a step and fell"

The people sounded sad and angry as they kept going about the reason for Leo's fall. They all stood there watching him with no one daring to go help him out. Leo raised his head and looked at all the people that were in the room and smiled at them. He felt ecstatic now that he had confirmed that, they were all humans.

'But…why is no one helping me? Could it be that they are not friendly? You know what? I don't care. Being with humans whether friends or enemies, definitely beats staying in the jungle with all those creatures.'

The chatter from the crowd was disrupted by the comment of one of the men.

"What if Kiva was wrong?"

Everyone turned to look at the man, then turned back to Leo. They all glared at him with disdain.

[tip, tap, tip, tap]

The silence of the room was disturbed by the sounds of someone's footsteps coming from behind. Anyone who turned around to look at the person, immediately stepped aside.

"It's Kiva"

"Make way"

They made a path as a girl made her way into the room and walked towards Leo who at this point, was struggling to get back up. She was as tall as most of the men in the room and she definitely looked strong. Her body was mostly covered in amour made from an unusual material, but it exposed her naughty bits in a way that gave her a sexy appeal. Her hair was short and dark like her outfit and on her feet was a pair of sandals that had strings that ran around her legs.

Leo managed to get into a sitting position and raised his head to look at the person that had the respect of these people that couldn't help him. Or wouldn't.

"Wooow!!"

Leo was amazed at the sight of the girl. She was a beauty to behold. To Leo, every other person in the room had disappeared leaving just the two of them.

"My name is Kiva and I am pleased to see you finally awake and..."

She scanned through Leo in his pathetic state and developed a puzzled look.

"and in good health"

Her voice was smooth and audible, but at the same time, commanding.

Leo was shocked and short of words. He was excited at the thought that he was stranded in a world with someone as beautiful as her. When he came back to his senses, he looked away from her direction.

"My… my name is Leo."

His shy response and behavior had a mysterious effect on the crowd and on Kiva. Leo got the feeling that they were happy for some reason.

'Maybe they are happy because I speak their language?'

Kiva approached him with a smile on her face and crouched down to his position.

"It's nice to meet you Leo."

She reached out grabbing his hand and helped him get back on the bed.

"Where I'm I? Why was I brought here? and what is happening to my body?"

Leo's barrage of questions caused Kiva to look at him like his behavior was out of character. Almost as if the way he asked the questions countered his initial behavior, but Kiva brushed it off and proceeded to calm him down.

"Don't worry, I know you must have a lot of questions and in time, they would all be answered. But for now, you need to rest and regain your strength."

The sound of her voice was beautiful and succeeded in calming Leo down.

"Ok. I'll do that."

She let out a smile, and Leo smiled back.

"You must be famished."

Just then, Leo remembered that he had not eaten or drank anything since he appeared on this planet, apart from the poisonous insects that tried to eat him. The fact that he was now calm allowed him to realize how weak he actually was.

"Yes, I am starving."

[Clap, Clap]

"Bring our guest food and water!"

Some of the women in the crowd ran out immediately and returned in a line carrying different wooden dishes filled with meat, soup, and fruits. The last lady on the line held a wooden bottle shaped like a gourd and was filled with water. They presented the gourd and the dishes to Leo and bowed down to him before stepping out. Leo was amazed and elated to finally be able to eat and drink something that didn't want to eat him. He looked at Kiva and the crowd.

[Nod]

Kiva gave him a nod signaling him to fill up his belly. Leo did not miss this signal and immediately thanked everyone and dived right in. He took big gulps of the water.

[Ahhh]

And then continued to devour the meal like a savage beast. As he did so, Kiva turned around and walked out with the men and women, leaving Leo alone once again.

"Are you sure that he is one of them Kiva?"

Kiva turned around and faced a short old man that looked like he enjoyed causing trouble, the same man that caused the crowd to look at Leo with disdain when he brought up the possibility of Kiva's mistake.

"I'm sure mister Klaus. Good day."

Kiva moved away from the man with a look on her face that clearly suggested that she was doubting herself.