ADELYNN : The First Gift

Bare feet struck the damp forest floor in a rhythm so quick and practiced that the earth seemed to make room for Adelynn before she reached it. She flew between towering trunks and curtains of hanging vegetation, ducking beneath vines without slowing and planting one foot against an exposed root to propel herself cleanly over a rotting log slick with moss. Humidity clung to her skin, droplets shaken loose from broad leaves peppered her shoulders, and the thick smell of wet earth rose beneath every step, but none of it disturbed the grin threatening the corner of her mouth. Her eyes moved constantly through the vegetation around her, searching for signs of something worth hunting, although nothing they had encountered so far had managed to capture her interest for very long. Koa moved several strides to her left, his black coat making him little more than a pair of luminous green eyes whenever he crossed through shadow, while Naya kept to Adelynn’s right, her pale coat flashing between the trees before disappearing behind leaves again. The three of them had been running through the forest since before the morning light had managed to penetrate the layers above them, searching for breakfast without finding anything that particularly appealed to Adelynn, and she had already decided that anything willing to make her work this hard before breakfast deserved the honor of becoming it.

It is tiring, Koa told her, his voice slipping into her mind as naturally as her own thoughts, though the unmistakable satisfaction beneath it made Adelynn suspect he was preparing to blame her for the length of their morning run.

Adelynn glanced toward the darkness moving beside her and increased her pace. “So are you.”

Koa’s head snapped toward her. I am not tired.

“I didn’t say tired. I said tiring. As in exhausting. Difficult to tolerate.” She vaulted another root and landed smoothly on the other side, barely suppressing a laugh when an irritated growl followed her. “Although now that you mention it, you have been breathing rather heavily.”

Naya bounded onto a fallen trunk ahead of them, ran along its narrow length and leapt from the end without disturbing so much as a mushroom growing from the decaying wood. I noticed that too.

You did not.

I did.

Adelynn gave Naya an approving nod as they ran. “See? Your wife is concerned about you.”

My wife is never concerned when she is agreeing with you.

Naya’s tail flicked as she landed beside Adelynn. I am deeply concerned. He is getting old.

The sound that escaped Adelynn was loud enough to send a small cluster of birds bursting from a nearby tree, and Koa’s glare followed them into the branches before settling squarely on her. He had perfected that look over the years, the long-suffering stare of someone who had apparently spent far too much of his life questioning the decisions that had led him here. Adelynn had been receiving it since she was small enough to climb onto his back without her feet nearly touching the ground, usually immediately before or after doing something he had explicitly warned her not to do. Naya claimed Koa had developed the expression because of Adelynn. Adelynn maintained that he had always been dramatic. Neither had ever managed to convince him that this ongoing disagreement required his participation.

Perhaps the two of you should hunt without me tomorrow, Koa said.

“You say that every time we hunt.”

And every time I make the mistake of returning.

Naya moved closer to him, brushing against his shoulder for the briefest moment as they passed through a narrow opening between two trees. You would miss us.

I would enjoy the silence.

“You’d last half a morning.”

An entire morning sounds wonderful.

Adelynn opened her mouth to answer, but a heavy splash sounded somewhere beyond the trees, distinct from the quieter movement of water that had begun to reach them through the vegetation. Her expression changed immediately. The grin disappeared, her steps shortened, and one raised hand was enough for Koa and Naya to abandon their argument without another thought. They slowed together, listening as the ordinary sounds of the forest settled around them again. The disturbance had come from somewhere ahead, near one of the lower waterways where animals often gathered during the warmer hours of the morning, and Adelynn had no intention of announcing their approach before discovering what had made it. Koa veered left while Naya slipped right, each disappearing into the dense vegetation as Adelynn continued forward through the middle, slowing until even her footsteps vanished beneath the noise of the forest.

The ground softened beneath her feet as she approached a narrow channel of dark water, and an unmistakable musky scent mingled with the smell of mud and stagnant vegetation. Adelynn recognized it before she reached the bank, though the strength of it suggested an animal considerably larger than most she encountered along these waterways. She lowered herself behind a cluster of broad leaves and eased two apart with her fingers, revealing the ridged back of a caiman sitting partially submerged several yards ahead. It was a large male, thick through the body and powerful enough that its tail alone could make the morning considerably less enjoyable if any of them became careless. Most of its body remained concealed beneath the murky water, although the broad head resting near the reeds and the heavy shape extending toward the deeper channel gave Adelynn a fairly good idea of its size. Her attention moved briefly toward the surrounding bank, where exposed roots and patches of firmer ground offered several possible approaches. The animal had apparently settled in a particularly convenient position for a creature that had no idea three hungry hunters were considering it for breakfast. If Adelynn had wanted an easy meal, she could have hunted something that didn’t possess enough teeth to rearrange her limbs.

Caiman had become one of her favorite foods for a reason that had very little to do with taste and considerably more to do with spite. The first one she had ever attempted to kill had humiliated her. She had been younger, smaller, far too confident and thoroughly convinced that watching Koa and Naya hunt meant she understood everything they did. The caiman had corrected that misunderstanding by throwing her into the mud, nearly taking a chunk from her leg and escaping while Koa dragged her backward by the clothing around her waist. She had returned home furious, filthy and refusing to speak to either jaguar after they informed her repeatedly that they had warned her exactly what would happen. It had taken her longer to master hunting caiman than any other prey Koa and Naya had taught her to take down, and when she finally succeeded, she had insisted on eating until she could barely move simply because victory deserved proper celebration.

Years later, the satisfaction had never completely worn off.

You’re smiling, Naya observed from somewhere beyond the vegetation to Adelynn’s right.

Adelynn kept her eyes on the water. “I’m thinking about breakfast.”

You are always thinking about breakfast.

“Not true. Sometimes I think about lunch.”

Koa’s voice entered her mind from the opposite side. And she wonders why she was the only gift the gods dropped into our care.

Adelynn’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

I said nothing.

“You thought it loudly.”

Naya’s amusement warmed the connection between them. He has wondered for years what offense against the gods earned us you.

Adelynn slowly turned her head toward the place where she knew Koa was concealed. “You two didn’t even have cubs. I gave your lives purpose.”

There was a long silence before Koa answered. You gave my life headaches.

“You’re welcome.”

The caiman moved.

Every trace of teasing disappeared at once.

Its head rotated slowly through the water until one dark eye appeared between the reeds, fixed directly on the place where Adelynn crouched. She didn’t retreat. Instead, she deliberately eased farther from cover, giving the animal a clearer look at her while keeping Koa and Naya concealed on either side. The caiman’s body became perfectly still beneath the murky surface, but Adelynn could see the minute shift of its legs preparing beneath it. She straightened just enough to make herself an easier target and flexed her fingers at her sides.

It sees you, Koa warned.

“I know.”

Then stop presenting yourself like wounded prey.

Adelynn’s mouth curved again. “I want it looking at me.”

Naya answered before Koa could. That should not be difficult. You are very distracting.

“Thank you.”

That was not praise.

The caiman erupted from the water, launching its heavy head toward the figure standing close to the bank with enough force to send muddy spray across the surrounding vegetation. Adelynn moved at the same instant, throwing herself sideways as its jaws snapped shut where her thigh had been less than a heartbeat earlier. Mud and water sprayed across her back as she caught a hanging vine with both hands, swung around the side of a tree and released before the caiman could redirect its charge. Her feet struck the ground in a low crouch, but the reptile was already twisting toward her, its heavy tail cutting through a patch of ferns hard enough to flatten them against the earth. Koa hit it before it completed the turn, the black jaguar exploding from concealment and slamming into its flank with enough force to shove the animal sideways.

Naya had already begun moving from the opposite direction, springing from the vegetation as the caiman struggled to recover its balance near the water’s edge. Her claws raked across the softer flesh near its shoulder before she leapt beyond the reach of snapping jaws, drawing its attention away from Koa long enough for him to reposition. The caiman thrashed between them, suddenly confronted by predators on three sides when moments earlier it had believed there was only one vulnerable figure standing near the water. Adelynn rose from her crouch, mud streaked across her legs and excitement bright in her eyes as she watched it attempt to decide which threat deserved its attention first. Koa remained near the channel, preventing the animal from withdrawing into deeper water, while Naya circled along its exposed side, forcing it to keep turning whenever it attempted to retreat.

“Now,” Adelynn murmured, “this is breakfast.”

Her transformation began before the final word had completely left her mouth. Her body lowered as bones shifted smoothly beneath her skin, muscles reshaping themselves around a powerful feline frame while her hands broadened into paws and curved claws sank into the damp earth. Tawny brown fur swept across her body, followed by dark rosettes that spread over her back, shoulders and legs until the woman standing between Koa and Naya was gone. In her place stood a third jaguar, brown between black and white, her brilliant green eyes unchanged as she lowered herself toward the earth. Koa glanced toward her briefly before returning his attention to the struggling caiman, while Naya shifted farther along the animal’s side, already anticipating the position Adelynn would take once she joined them. The reptile opened its jaws again and twisted toward Koa, giving Adelynn the opening she needed. She flexed her claws against the wet ground, her excitement reaching both jaguars through the connection they shared before her familiar challenge followed.

Try to keep up.

Koa’s answering growl vibrated through the forest as Adelynn sprang forward, cutting sharply to the right while the caiman struggled to turn toward her. Her paws dug deep into the wet earth as she forced it to redirect its attention, and Koa struck from the opposite side before the animal could recover. His jaws clamped around the thick base of its tail, and the caiman reacted with enough force to drag him several feet through the mud before Naya rushed in from the other side and buried her claws near its shoulder. The three of them moved with the familiarity of creatures who had hunted together for years, instinct filling the spaces where commands would have been useless. Koa knew exactly when Naya would pull away, Naya recognized the moment Adelynn would push too close, and Adelynn understood both of them well enough to anticipate their movements without looking. There was no hesitation between them, only the rhythm of attack, retreat, pressure and repositioning that Koa and Naya had drilled into her from the time she was young enough to think bravery meant throwing herself at anything larger than she was.

The caiman twisted toward Naya with a violent snap of its jaws, leaving its back exposed for just a moment, and Adelynn seized the opportunity. She launched herself onto its back and sank her claws into the seams between the scales, forcing her weight downward while the animal bucked beneath her. The motion was strong enough to tear one of her hind paws loose, and before she could correct herself, the caiman threw its body sideways. Adelynn hit the edge of the channel and disappeared into the muddy water with enough force to send brown spray over the surrounding plants. When she surfaced a heartbeat later, ears flattened and green eyes narrowed, she felt Koa’s amusement through the bond between them before he ever bothered to speak, which somehow irritated her more than the fall itself. Do not say it, she warned as she climbed back onto the bank, and Koa, still fighting to keep hold of the tail, answered with infuriating innocence that he had said nothing. Naya, who had just avoided another snap of the caiman’s jaws, offered no such mercy when she added that Koa was thinking about the fact that Adelynn had been thrown.

Adelynn surged back into the fight with considerably more aggression after that, though she refused to admit either jaguar had anything to do with it. The caiman was still twisting violently between Koa and Naya, its heavy body churning the shallow water as it attempted to force its way back toward the channel. She circled along the bank rather than immediately throwing herself onto its back again, watching the direction of each movement until she recognized where the animal was placing most of its strength. When Koa pulled its attention toward the deeper water, Adelynn used the opening to spring onto its shoulders, this time anchoring herself lower across its body and spreading her weight more evenly. The caiman bucked beneath her almost immediately, but she adjusted her position instead of resisting the movement, shifting her paws wherever the heavy scales allowed her to maintain a secure grip. A violent twist nearly dislodged her again, forcing her to flatten herself against the animal’s back while Naya moved closer to keep its head turned away. Adelynn tightened her hold and waited for the next movement, refusing to surrender the position she had worked to secure.

The caiman bucked again, but this time Adelynn moved with it instead of fighting against the force. Naya struck near the throat as Koa released the tail long enough to reposition and cut off the path back toward the channel. Trapped between all three of them, the animal thrashed harder, its heavy tail smashing through ferns and scattering mud across the clearing, but the frantic strength behind the movement was beginning to fade. Adelynn tightened her grip and sank her teeth into the flesh just behind its skull, feeling the body beneath her slow in stages until the violent twisting became little more than weak resistance. Koa closed in at the same moment, and Naya held pressure near the shoulder until finally the caiman stopped moving beneath them. For several seconds none of the three released it, and the forest around them seemed to wait with them before gradually reclaiming the noise they had disturbed. Water dripped from leaves, insects resumed their steady hum, and a bird called somewhere far above while Adelynn remained crouched over the kill long enough to be certain the hunt was finished.

When she finally stepped down into the mud, satisfaction radiated through her so strongly that both jaguars could feel it before she spoke. Mine, she declared, looking from Koa to Naya as though daring either of them to disagree. Koa stared at her for a long moment before correcting her with a calm ours, and Naya sat beside him with an expression of complete innocence that Adelynn did not trust for a second. She reminded them that she had landed the killing bite, which Koa answered by reminding her that she had also been thrown into the water. Adelynn’s tail lashed behind her as she accused him of being obsessed with that detail, but Naya immediately made matters worse by reminding her that the first caiman she ever hunted had thrown her too. Adelynn shifted back into her upright form simply so she could glare at both of them properly, brown fur withdrawing as her body lengthened and wet braids fell over her shoulders. “I was a child,” she said, wiping blood and muddy water from her cheek, while Koa calmly reminded her that she had still been old enough to tell them both that she knew exactly what she was doing.

“That was confidence,” Adelynn argued as she stepped around the kill. “A useful quality, if either of you knew anything about it.” Naya’s amusement warmed the bond between them while Koa regarded her with an expression of complete disbelief, apparently unwilling to accept that she could still defend her childhood mistakes with such conviction. Adelynn ignored him long enough to examine the two jaguars properly, her attention passing over the mud covering Koa’s legs and the shallow scratches along Naya’s shoulder where the caiman’s scales had scraped against her during the struggle. Neither appeared seriously injured, although Adelynn stepped closer to Naya and brushed the damp fur aside with her fingers to examine the marks more carefully. Naya tolerated the inspection with quiet patience before nudging Adelynn’s hand away, evidently satisfied that there was nothing worth worrying about. Koa, meanwhile, had begun cleaning the mud from one of his front paws, looking entirely unconcerned with the fact that he had been dragged several feet through it less than a few minutes earlier. Adelynn watched him for a moment, searching for any indication that he had strained himself during the fight, but his movements remained as steady as ever. She was relieved to find them both unharmed, though she had no intention of announcing that she had been checking on them.

Adelynn would have died before giving either of them the satisfaction of hearing her say any of that aloud.

Koa stepped closer while she was still glaring at him, and Adelynn narrowed her eyes in suspicion when he stopped less than a foot away. “Don’t,” she warned, though she had no idea what he intended until he shook his entire body and sprayed mud, water and caiman blood over her from shoulders to knees. Naya’s laughter exploded through Adelynn’s mind so loudly that she nearly heard it outside the bond, and for several seconds Adelynn simply stood there staring at Koa in disbelief. He stepped away with maddening calm while she wiped a streak of mud from beneath one eye and promised that she could bury him deep enough that even Naya would struggle to find him. Koa reminded her that she had made that threat before, and Naya, still delighted, informed her husband that Adelynn clearly inherited her talent for grudges from him. The look Koa gave his wife only made Naya press closer to Adelynn’s leg, and Adelynn immediately wrapped an arm around the pale jaguar’s neck. “This is why she’s my favorite,” she announced, only for Koa to remind her that yesterday she had said the same thing about him.

Adelynn released Naya and crouched beside the caiman, inspecting their prize with renewed satisfaction now that the argument had run its course. It was a good kill, large enough to feed all three of them and leave plenty behind, and her stomach tightened pleasantly at the thought of roasting the meat once they reached her den. She considered the enormous carcass for a moment before slipping her arms beneath it, adjusting her grip around its heavy body and lifting it from the muddy ground. The weight would have been more than most people could manage without assistance, but Adelynn raised it with the same casual ease she might have used to collect a bundle of firewood. She settled the caiman across her shoulders, allowing its heavy body to rest behind her neck while she adjusted the position of its head and tail to keep them from catching against the surrounding vegetation. Koa stepped aside to give her room, watching without the slightest surprise as she straightened beneath the enormous animal. Naya moved several yards ahead to examine the path, and Adelynn followed with her prize balanced securely across her shoulders, already thinking about how she intended to prepare it once they reached home.

The journey back through the forest was considerably quieter than the hunt had been, although Adelynn seemed entirely incapable of remaining silent whenever Koa or Naya gave her a reason to speak. She moved easily between the trees, adjusting the caiman whenever a low branch threatened to catch against its tail, while her parents settled into the familiar formation they had used for years. Koa remained close enough to watch her movements without interfering, and Naya occasionally disappeared ahead through the vegetation before returning to their side. Adelynn had no difficulty managing the animal’s weight, though its length made passing between some of the narrower trees more inconvenient than she had anticipated. After ducking beneath one particularly troublesome branch, she announced that the caiman had apparently decided to continue making her work for breakfast even after dying, which earned her a quiet reminder from Koa that she had been the one so determined to hunt it in the first place. Adelynn informed him that she did not recall asking for commentary, while Naya observed that he had never required an invitation before.

“If anyone comes looking for me before I eat,” Adelynn announced as she stepped over an exposed root, “I’m pretending I don’t understand a word they say.” Koa reminded her that she threatened to do that every time someone from the village needed her, and Naya added that Adelynn had never once followed through. Adelynn adjusted the caiman across her shoulders and informed them that there was a first time for everything, although neither jaguar appeared particularly convinced. Naya pointed out that the moment someone came looking for help, especially one of the children, Adelynn would abandon her meal without a second thought. Adelynn considered that accusation for a moment before deciding it was deeply unfair that her parents had spent so many years learning how to argue against her.

“Then I suppose the people had better hope their next emergency comes with seasoning,” she replied. “Because if I’m abandoning breakfast again, someone is at least going to make it worth my trouble.”

Koa’s amusement reached her immediately, followed by Naya’s gentle observation that Adelynn would help them regardless of what they brought. Adelynn opened her mouth to argue, but the familiar certainty in Naya’s words made her smile despite herself. She knew perfectly well that neither jaguar believed her threats, just as she knew that she would almost certainly abandon her carefully prepared meal the moment somebody genuinely needed her assistance. That did not mean she intended to make the interruption easy for whoever came looking.

Adelynn continued toward home with the caiman balanced across her shoulders, listening as Koa and Naya resumed their familiar conversation beside her. There was comfort in the way they knew her, even when that familiarity made winning an argument nearly impossible, and she found herself smiling as the three of them disappeared deeper into the forest.

That was the irritating thing about being raised by creatures who knew her too well.

They were usually right.

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