Information
Yaretzi has a minion!
the Jagwa
the Jagwa
Yaretzi
Legacy Name: Yaretzi
The
Nightmare TigreanOwner:
LinAge: 12 years, 9 months, 3 weeks
Born: July 4th, 2011
Adopted: 9 years, 11 months, 2 weeks ago
Adopted: May 9th, 2014
Pet Spotlight Winner
February 24th, 2020
Statistics
- Level: 3
- Strength: 10
- Defense: 10
- Speed: 10
- Health: 10
- HP: 10/10
- Intelligence: 0
- Books Read: 0
- Food Eaten: 0
- Job: Unemployed
The air was still and quiet as we came upon the nameless ruins deep in the jungle. Immediately the archaeological team spread out, each of us claiming an area to research in hopes of finding clues about the people who had once inhabited the long abandoned village. There were five us (all of us young college students), and our professor who we revered almost like he was one of the ancient Gods we studied. The locals from a town nearby had warned us to stay away from the ruins, and refused to give us any laborers to help with the excavation. We didn't let that stop us.
...We should have.
On the first night, the professor never returned to the campsite. I remained behind with the others when two of the guys went looking for him. We heard the screams, like daggers piercing the night air. They didn't come back either. Unsure of what to do, we returned to the ruins in the morning. Perhaps it was just an elaborate joke; we wouldn't put that past them.
It wasn't.
There was blood strewn across the worn stones in the center of the forgotten village. Not just blood, though. There were... pieces of them. The other two with me made a run for it, but they didn't make it far. My heart was pounding in my chest as I heard them each scream in turn, only to be silenced by some unknown entity. I stayed where I was, knowing that to run would be to die. That was when I noticed it, the bloody paw prints of a jaguar near the place where one of the others must have been killed.
Had it been a jaguar? It could have been, but I doubted it was likely. There were plenty of things in the jungle for them to eat, easier prey at least. I decided to try to escape, I could take the little wooden boat we'd seen earlier and row my way downriver. Whatever it was wouldn't be able to get me. I noticed something following me, then. I didn't see it, but I could feel it - like a prickling on the back of my neck and the distinct sensation that I was being watched. I reached the crumbled stone village gates, and had the boat in my sights.
...And I screamed.
There was a jaguar standing in my way, regarding me with what I can only describe as a calm sort of interest. Her fur, marked with dark spots, was black as night and her yellow eyes almost seemed to glow. She sat, with her tail wrapped her around her legs, watching me as if waiting to see what I would do next. I stared right back. I wouldn't have to be a genius to know I was as good as dead. Running would be pointless. But she didn't strike; she only watched. A hint of movement caught my eye, but I relaxed seeing as it was merely the shadow of a passing bird upon the ground. I looked back to the strange black jaguar.
She cast no shadow.
"Are you a spirit?" I asked, tilting my head to side, wondering if it was a trick of the light. I was rewarded with an unmistakable nod of her head.
"Are you going to kill me, too?" The reply was a quiet stare that quite plainly said 'not yet'. I swallowed nervously and nodded. As I did, the jaguar faded into a cloud of black smoke and vanished into thin air. I looked to the boat, and back over my shoulder at the ruins. Hesitantly, I stepped toward the boat, but something tugged at my subconscious. Should I really be leaving? Without knowing why the spirit of a most likely long dead animal had slaughtered my colleagues?
Steeling myself, I returned to the ruins. I visited the areas where the others had worked the previous day, constantly aware of the watchful eyes of the jaguar spirit who lurked just out of my sight. The professor had made the most progress; already he was at work digging up an old burial mound. The other sites were similar, bearing obvious marks of our intrusion into the ancient place. Only one was different: mine. I had touched nothing, other than to carefully wipe the dust off of a round stone table in what had once been some sort of meeting place. There, I had laid out my books and began drawing a crude map of the town. Painstakingly, I had sketched the interior of the hall that I claimed as my work space, and the enormous Jaguar statue that guarded its entrance.
"You were protecting this place." I said to the silence surrounding me, knowing somehow that the jaguar spirit would hear. She appeared before me, her presence enough of an answer. "I will do what I can to repair the damage caused by their disrespect." I told her.
I lost track of time, as I carefully filled in the half-dug burial mound and did all that I could to erase the evidence of our time in that place. It could have been days, or even weeks that I spent there. I even lit a small fire in what had once been a large stone brazier in the center of the village, and burnt my maps and sketches. The jaguar never left my side, ever watchful. When it was done, I turned to her, and asked if I could leave. She nodded again, and I walked toward the little wooden boat that was still tied to a tree near the river. Then, the jaguar spoke.
"If I could ask you one last favor, kind human, please help me lead the lost spirits wandering here to their rest." I looked back the jaguar, contemplating the question.
"How?" I asked her, uncertainly. "I am no priest."
"I will show you the way, trust in me." I screamed as the ground fell away, but the Jaguar grabbed me the scruff of my neck. Gently, she sat me back upon the ground and I looked down at my tiny black paws in wonder. "Follow." She said, and I did.
It was the same place we had left, and yet it wasn't. The ruins were no longer ruins, but a bustling town full of life. They couldn't see us, though, the people who went about their day without a care in the world.
"They do not know that they perished of a strange illness many ages ago, and still they dwell in this place." The jaguar explained, as I padded to the space beside her and sat, marveling at how delightful it felt to have a tail and eyes that could see through the odd murk of the place. It was night, yet not. "We walk the paths of the underworld, and through the shadows we can see the spirits that cannot yet enter."
"Am I dead?" I asked, full of terror.
"No, merely dreaming." The jaguar told me.
"They seem happy, though. Wouldn't it be best to leave them be?" I suggested, watching as a pair of children chased each other around the bonfire in the center of town where we stood, invisible to everyone.
"Will you be able to keep your people away forever?" The jaguar countered, with yet another question.
"Even if you hadn't killed the others for their transgressions, I still wouldn't be able to do that. Eventually, I will die. Even before that, someone will wander here again, whether I wish it or not." I reply, knowing it to be the truth. Regardless, the place would be crawling with police when I returned to the world of the living. They would want to find the bodies, or what was left of them.
"Then they are not safe. Their home will be defiled, and then where will they go? We must lead them away from here while we can still save them." The jaguar insisted, and I found myself agreeing. So we lead them away, toward a brilliant light at the end of a black stone road leading out of the village. We traveled far, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Decades even; I had no way of knowing how much time had passed. But the jaguar became my friend as we walked the winding paths together. Until finally, we reached the light and guided and the villagers through it. The jaguar turned to me one last time, and bid me farewell as she too walked into the light.
I came awake, lying face-down in the dirt in the ruins where I had been before. Years had passed, I thought, yet I had not aged a day. I found my way back to what had once been our campsite deep in the jungle, but it had been long abandoned. The tents were decayed from exposure to the elements, and the jeep we had rode in was covered in heavy rust. I climbed in, and tried to start it to no avail. The key would no longer fit the lock which had frozen from disuse. I returned to the ruins then, thinking to take the little wooden boat that had been there. It was rotted, with holes in the bottom from years of the water soaking through it. So I continued on foot, using the river as a guide.
Eventually, it lead me to the town where we had asked for help with the excavation. The place was falling to pieces, only a few desolate souls remained. It was an elderly man that recognized me as I wandered through the dusty streets.
"You came here sixty years ago." He said in wonder. I looked at him with wide eyes, but I remembered the strange necklace he wore. It was a heavy gold chain, that held a beautiful jade charm that had been painstakingly carved into the likeness of a jaguar. It had been him who warned us to stay away.
"You have seen her, the guardian." He said plainly, and took the necklace off, pressing the jade charm firmly into my hand. "I did once too, almost a hundred years ago."
"What should I do now?" I asked the man, full of uncertainty. It felt to me as though I had befriended a goddess. There was no returning to my previous life, if anyone that I knew was even still living.
"Whatever you please." He said with a shrug. Wordlessly, I looked down at the heavy jade necklace and for a moment I thought I could feel the jaguar's presence. Was she still watching over me, from another plane of existence? I slipped the thick gold chain over my head and knew my purpose.
"I will stay here, and try to help this town rebuild itself." I said firmly and turned to face the meeting hall that was in a sad state of disrepair. "And I will see to it that anyone who enters those ruins with impure intentions never leaves them."
Jaguar image from: Gilgamesh-art||Story and profile by User not found: song||Background from: Fat Strawberry
...We should have.
On the first night, the professor never returned to the campsite. I remained behind with the others when two of the guys went looking for him. We heard the screams, like daggers piercing the night air. They didn't come back either. Unsure of what to do, we returned to the ruins in the morning. Perhaps it was just an elaborate joke; we wouldn't put that past them.
It wasn't.
There was blood strewn across the worn stones in the center of the forgotten village. Not just blood, though. There were... pieces of them. The other two with me made a run for it, but they didn't make it far. My heart was pounding in my chest as I heard them each scream in turn, only to be silenced by some unknown entity. I stayed where I was, knowing that to run would be to die. That was when I noticed it, the bloody paw prints of a jaguar near the place where one of the others must have been killed.
Had it been a jaguar? It could have been, but I doubted it was likely. There were plenty of things in the jungle for them to eat, easier prey at least. I decided to try to escape, I could take the little wooden boat we'd seen earlier and row my way downriver. Whatever it was wouldn't be able to get me. I noticed something following me, then. I didn't see it, but I could feel it - like a prickling on the back of my neck and the distinct sensation that I was being watched. I reached the crumbled stone village gates, and had the boat in my sights.
...And I screamed.
There was a jaguar standing in my way, regarding me with what I can only describe as a calm sort of interest. Her fur, marked with dark spots, was black as night and her yellow eyes almost seemed to glow. She sat, with her tail wrapped her around her legs, watching me as if waiting to see what I would do next. I stared right back. I wouldn't have to be a genius to know I was as good as dead. Running would be pointless. But she didn't strike; she only watched. A hint of movement caught my eye, but I relaxed seeing as it was merely the shadow of a passing bird upon the ground. I looked back to the strange black jaguar.
She cast no shadow.
"Are you a spirit?" I asked, tilting my head to side, wondering if it was a trick of the light. I was rewarded with an unmistakable nod of her head.
"Are you going to kill me, too?" The reply was a quiet stare that quite plainly said 'not yet'. I swallowed nervously and nodded. As I did, the jaguar faded into a cloud of black smoke and vanished into thin air. I looked to the boat, and back over my shoulder at the ruins. Hesitantly, I stepped toward the boat, but something tugged at my subconscious. Should I really be leaving? Without knowing why the spirit of a most likely long dead animal had slaughtered my colleagues?
Steeling myself, I returned to the ruins. I visited the areas where the others had worked the previous day, constantly aware of the watchful eyes of the jaguar spirit who lurked just out of my sight. The professor had made the most progress; already he was at work digging up an old burial mound. The other sites were similar, bearing obvious marks of our intrusion into the ancient place. Only one was different: mine. I had touched nothing, other than to carefully wipe the dust off of a round stone table in what had once been some sort of meeting place. There, I had laid out my books and began drawing a crude map of the town. Painstakingly, I had sketched the interior of the hall that I claimed as my work space, and the enormous Jaguar statue that guarded its entrance.
"You were protecting this place." I said to the silence surrounding me, knowing somehow that the jaguar spirit would hear. She appeared before me, her presence enough of an answer. "I will do what I can to repair the damage caused by their disrespect." I told her.
I lost track of time, as I carefully filled in the half-dug burial mound and did all that I could to erase the evidence of our time in that place. It could have been days, or even weeks that I spent there. I even lit a small fire in what had once been a large stone brazier in the center of the village, and burnt my maps and sketches. The jaguar never left my side, ever watchful. When it was done, I turned to her, and asked if I could leave. She nodded again, and I walked toward the little wooden boat that was still tied to a tree near the river. Then, the jaguar spoke.
"If I could ask you one last favor, kind human, please help me lead the lost spirits wandering here to their rest." I looked back the jaguar, contemplating the question.
"How?" I asked her, uncertainly. "I am no priest."
"I will show you the way, trust in me." I screamed as the ground fell away, but the Jaguar grabbed me the scruff of my neck. Gently, she sat me back upon the ground and I looked down at my tiny black paws in wonder. "Follow." She said, and I did.
It was the same place we had left, and yet it wasn't. The ruins were no longer ruins, but a bustling town full of life. They couldn't see us, though, the people who went about their day without a care in the world.
"They do not know that they perished of a strange illness many ages ago, and still they dwell in this place." The jaguar explained, as I padded to the space beside her and sat, marveling at how delightful it felt to have a tail and eyes that could see through the odd murk of the place. It was night, yet not. "We walk the paths of the underworld, and through the shadows we can see the spirits that cannot yet enter."
"Am I dead?" I asked, full of terror.
"No, merely dreaming." The jaguar told me.
"They seem happy, though. Wouldn't it be best to leave them be?" I suggested, watching as a pair of children chased each other around the bonfire in the center of town where we stood, invisible to everyone.
"Will you be able to keep your people away forever?" The jaguar countered, with yet another question.
"Even if you hadn't killed the others for their transgressions, I still wouldn't be able to do that. Eventually, I will die. Even before that, someone will wander here again, whether I wish it or not." I reply, knowing it to be the truth. Regardless, the place would be crawling with police when I returned to the world of the living. They would want to find the bodies, or what was left of them.
"Then they are not safe. Their home will be defiled, and then where will they go? We must lead them away from here while we can still save them." The jaguar insisted, and I found myself agreeing. So we lead them away, toward a brilliant light at the end of a black stone road leading out of the village. We traveled far, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Decades even; I had no way of knowing how much time had passed. But the jaguar became my friend as we walked the winding paths together. Until finally, we reached the light and guided and the villagers through it. The jaguar turned to me one last time, and bid me farewell as she too walked into the light.
I came awake, lying face-down in the dirt in the ruins where I had been before. Years had passed, I thought, yet I had not aged a day. I found my way back to what had once been our campsite deep in the jungle, but it had been long abandoned. The tents were decayed from exposure to the elements, and the jeep we had rode in was covered in heavy rust. I climbed in, and tried to start it to no avail. The key would no longer fit the lock which had frozen from disuse. I returned to the ruins then, thinking to take the little wooden boat that had been there. It was rotted, with holes in the bottom from years of the water soaking through it. So I continued on foot, using the river as a guide.
Eventually, it lead me to the town where we had asked for help with the excavation. The place was falling to pieces, only a few desolate souls remained. It was an elderly man that recognized me as I wandered through the dusty streets.
"You came here sixty years ago." He said in wonder. I looked at him with wide eyes, but I remembered the strange necklace he wore. It was a heavy gold chain, that held a beautiful jade charm that had been painstakingly carved into the likeness of a jaguar. It had been him who warned us to stay away.
"You have seen her, the guardian." He said plainly, and took the necklace off, pressing the jade charm firmly into my hand. "I did once too, almost a hundred years ago."
"What should I do now?" I asked the man, full of uncertainty. It felt to me as though I had befriended a goddess. There was no returning to my previous life, if anyone that I knew was even still living.
"Whatever you please." He said with a shrug. Wordlessly, I looked down at the heavy jade necklace and for a moment I thought I could feel the jaguar's presence. Was she still watching over me, from another plane of existence? I slipped the thick gold chain over my head and knew my purpose.
"I will stay here, and try to help this town rebuild itself." I said firmly and turned to face the meeting hall that was in a sad state of disrepair. "And I will see to it that anyone who enters those ruins with impure intentions never leaves them."
Pet Treasure
Archaeology Field Notebook
Tumbled Jade Beads
Blake Steeles Journal
Empty Spice Basket
Ancient Terracotta Pot
Gold Sun Relic
Damaged Book
Dying Leaf
Sociology: Perspectives and People
Broken Sacred Lands Pot
Sacred Ground
Right Heavy Gold Triangle Earring
Viqueen Jewelry
Broken Charcoal Sticks
Plundered Omen Islands Warrior Wall Scroll
Strapped Book
Jungle Patriarch Jade Jaguar Tooth
Trio of Golden Statues
Old Compass
Willow Twig
Saheric Cipher Disk
Basil
Clouded Leopard Jade Figurine
Oracle Accessories
Nori Bracelet
Delicate Artifact Necklace
Blank Parchment
Big Sack of Fine Jewels
Jade Bead
Tattered Old Book
Bonsai Leaves
Garden Path Stones
Sacred Ground
Steele Shovel
Skull