The Cursed Ruins of Pōmaikaʻi

Chapter 2

The Teo Tribe village was a fishing village on the edge of the jungle on the northern coast, serving as the capital for the Teo chiefdom. Other communities, also spread along the northern coast, have their own Chiefs, but Manti is the High Chief. Smoke could be seen rising from the inside, while outside, farmers tended to their small crop pits and livestock. The Teo are an indigenous tribe of the island, along with the Paea and Pele. They are still part of the same Pomaika'ian ethnic group, itself a part of the Polynesian ethnic family.

The poachers, obviously unfamiliar with the whole thing, were awestruck by the village. They shouldn't have been, and a push from Julie told them they should get moving or else she'd drag them inside.

Inside, it was a bit different. The village bustled with activity. A fishmonger hawked his wares, the medicine man worked with a patient, and a pig ran past them, chased by one of the farmers. Kainak and Julie could only imagine what that was all about. The village was filled with huts, approximately 50 or more. Neither of them even bothered to count. To their right, a middle-aged woman worked on some kapa cloth. Her granddaughter, or at least that's what Julie assumed, watched as her grandmother instructed her on the finer things of cloth-making. Further down the beach, some young boys were playing a form of bowling with an 'ulu maika, and argued over who was winning, because the kid who said he was winning was the son of a dog. Then again, that kid could barely even fight a frog.

The Teo are farmers, hunters, and fishermen. Their society is mostly patriarchal, although they've had the occasional female chief. And they are ambilineal, which means that a person belongs to both matrilineal and patrilineal descent groups. They are also not some "generic" Polynesian peoples. The term "generic" in this context might be a little, well... not politically correct. They also spoke their language, which was very similar to the Hawaiian language, save for the "T" sound, borrowed from the Tahitian language. But being on the north side of the island, they were culturally more alike the Hawaiians, whereas southern Pomoka'ians are culturally more similar to the Tahitians.

Kainak and Julie led the poachers to a hut just a few meters from the water, next to a building built on a foundation of stone. The kahuna, Kame, looked up from his patient and smiled at the two haoles, but that smile turned into a frown when he saw what they had with them. He wasn't frowning at the haole, but at the apparent miscreants they had with them. He stood up and strode over to them, getting into the faces of the poachers. They stopped, and, obviously they were intimidated by him.

He took advantage of this to stick out his tongue and bulge his eyes while chanting something in his native language. The poachers recoiled at this, but the kahuna's laughter made them feel sillier. "You got into more adventures, Kainak?" he asked in a slightly annoyed, but amused way. "A fine catch you have there! A better catch than Hilo's marlin catch last week!"

"We caught 'em near some stone ruins," Julie said. Kame raised an eyebrow, but he focused on their catch.

"We shall deal with them," he said. "Although one will want to face haole justice. We can send one to the haoles on the island. In the meantime, lock them up in those wooden cages over there."

Julie shoved the one poacher who teased her and Kainak towards the wooden cages. Kainak left one of the senior poachers and tied his wrists to a steak.

"Quit pushing me!" the teasing poacher said.

"MEMEMEH, QUIT PUSHIN' ME!" Julie mocked. "Shaddup!" She shoved him into the cage while shoving two more into theirs. "You're going on trial. You tried to kill some sweet little animals while in Teo territory, so you get to go in the cage."

"But it's so small!"

"Jeez, you're bitchier than my friend Barbara!" Julie replied.

Kainak stayed behind and talked with Kame. "We already killed one of them," he said while inspecting a tiki. "Julie shot him twice. The other one got away, but we suspect he's dead."

"How do you know that?" Kame asked. "He could still be alive."

"The predators will take care of him," Kainak replied.

"You're hiding something," Kame said, stopping in place. Kainak shook his head, but Kame wasn't buying it. "Where did the poacher go?" he asked.

"To the ruins," he said.

"Then he is dead," said Kame. "You know as well as I do how dangerous that place is. A surprise you weren't killed back then."

Kainak rubbed the back of his head and turned towards Julie, who was getting into another argument with the poacher. "You didn't tell her why? Oh Spirits, you're going to dig your own grave if you're not careful."

"I was scared," said Kainak.

Kame proceeded to smack him upside the head. "That's not an excuse, Kainak!" he said. "What have I always told you?"

"Be upfront and honest," Kainak moaned.

"Of course," said Kame. "Are you going to tell her?"

"Later."

"NO, NO, NO," Kame said, again whacking him on the head. "Tell her NOW." He pushed Kainak over to Julie and followed along.

"... And the next thing you know, you're a poacher!" the poacher began to sob, while Julie rubbed his back.

"There, there," she said. "The first step is admitting it."

"What's next?"

"You can still redeem yourself," said Julie. "Why don't we start by letting me braid your hair?"

The MALE poacher looked around, apprehensively and then nodded.

"Julie?" Kainak said, walking up to his mate/girlfriend. "I... just wanted to be upfront and honest with you about something.

Julie could see Kame behind him, and the medicine man's presence made the Jungle Dude nervous. Perhaps it was better that he be worried at this point because... Julie couldn't think of the right words to put it in. "About what?"

"About the ruins," said Kainak. "Those ruins are well-known among the Teo. They're... cursed, supposedly." He knew from her scoff that she wasn't impressed. "They're... supposedly haunted by 'oromatua-'ai-aru... ghosts, basically."

Julie couldn't hold the laughter in, and she broke out into a full one, with Kainak rolling his eyes and Kame doing the same. Even though Julie smacked the bars of the cage, the poacher inside was a little unsure. Must be because he had no idea what was going on. "You're serious, right?" she asked. "Oh, wait, you are. Let me laugh even harder!"

"NO," Kainak said. "I had a bad experience at those ruins when I was younger."

"Kainak, curses only work if you believe in them," she said. "It's a classic self-fulfilling prophecy. And ghosts? Don't get me started."

"You tried, Kainak," Kame said. "I probably should have mentioned she probably wouldn't believe you." Kainak didn't want to admit it, but the medicine man had a good point.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The poacher that Julie had shot in the chest was not dead.

He was dying, of course. The arrow stuck out of his chest while he writhed in agony. The smallest motion shot another jolt of pain through his chest. The only thing he could do that didn't cause a lot of pain was to reach towards the blue sky filtering through the trees. He hissed because that still hurt like hell. "You little half-naked jungle bitch," he spat. "When I get my hands on you—"

"You'll what?"

The voice was unfamiliar. The poacher looked and saw a pair of bare feet walking towards him. He tried to move again but couldn't. The figure clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Got yourself in a tight situation," he said. The poacher looked up, and his eyes widened. His poaching partner stood above him, naked and looking like a vampire, just without all the... vampire stuff. "How you doin'?"

"Johan?"

"No, he's dead," the man said with a smile that sent a chill down his spine. "I'm a... passing traveler. How about this? I get that arrow out of your chest, and you help me out? That sound good?"

"Johan!" the poacher feverishly pleaded.

"Oh dear, you're about to die, son," said Johan's body. "You want me to help you out? Just say it, I'll do it."

"HELP ME!" the poacher cried.

"Alright, alright, just hold still, now." Johan's body reached down and yanked the arrow out of the poacher's body, drawing a scream that sent bats and birds flying away. His chest felt like it was on fire while writhed and kicked against the pain until he heard Johan's body laughing. "Calm down, son, you're not dyin'."

The bewildered poacher clutched his chest. There was nothing, no blood, no arrow. He frantically stood up and for the first time got a look at Johan's body. Here, the man's inhuman smile struck more fear into him, and it was the worst he'd ever felt. And those eyes... those eyes. The body was Johan's, but the soul or whatever it was, was not. "What are you?" he asked.

"Just a passing traveler," said Johan's body. "I'm not a god. They don't exist. I need your help with something. And now that I've saved your life, I need you to agree to it."

"Anything," said the poacher.

"Perfect! Now, what's your name?"

"Phillip," said the poacher.

"Pleased to meet you, Phillip. Hope you guess my name," said Johan's body. Then the body clicked his tongue and laughed several times. "Oops, forgot you already guess mine. Let's just say, my initials are... R.F."

"R.F.?"

"Not important," said the man. "I have some... special abilities and techniques that might come in handy. I've got an idea where we can try it out. Shall we?"

The poacher nodded. Johan's body wrapped his arm around his shoulder and led him away. "Also, who was this half-naked chick you were talking about?"

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Kainak, nothing is wrong with skepticism," said the Chief of the Teo, Manti.

The Chief sat in his hut in the middle of the village, writing down some edicts and taking inventory of some crops his farmers had grown. His middle-aged face did not look at Kainak. His yellow and orange ʻahu ʻula, a feathered cloak to denote his authority, was draped over his shoulders, while his mahiole, a helmet, sat off to the side as he didn't need it right now. His servant did not once move, instead holding his clay tablet with the paper he used to write it down.

Kainak sat cross-legged across from him, his lips bunching up. Suffice to say, the Jungle Dude was a little bit disappointed in the way Chief Manti did not seem concerned about Julie's skepticism, instead accepting it. "Why are you confused?" Manti asked. "You know the haole; they do not believe what they cannot see. And you told me not too long ago that the haole like her prefer to see evidence." Manti shrugged. "She will come around of her own free will. Do not force her to accept it."

"But it really happened to me," said Kainak.

"I know," he said. "But, as I said, she will learn eventually."

"But not before she goes there."

"Then keep her from going there," said Manti. "Do not manipulate her; just ask her politely. I'm sure she'll agree to it."

"Sounds good," said Kainak.

"Are you staying for the luau tonight?" Manti asked. "Oh, wait. It's not until sundown. Either way, you're invited."

"Sounds good," said Kainak.

Kainak could not find Julie when he came out. He did ask around and found out where she was. She left the village for the shore. Like many Polynesian peoples, the Teo are fishermen, and their village is not too far from the shore. It's a bit of a walk, but not a tiring one, of course, just due south of the main Teo Tribe village.

There was a satellite village on the shore, where tribesmen worked on their boats. Like the Hawaiians and Maori, the Teo developed an outrigger canoe that not only helped them get to the island many generations ago, but they use for practical purposes like fishing and recreational purposes like many westerners would use an outrigger for.

There were also a few tribesmen surfing out in the ocean. Being a Polynesian culture, surfing was an essential part of their lives. Julie couldn't surf, of course. She tried that a couple times on a family trip to Los Angeles, but failed miserably each time and finally gave up on the third trip to LA. She didn't want to embarrass herself, although the dumb surf boys of SoCal probably didn't notice. Even worse, she was from Santa Barbara.

But it was a relief to get out of the stifling heat, humidity, and thickness of the Pōmaikaʻi rainforest to the openness of the beach, where the smell of saltwater refreshed her after taking in the stench of so many plants. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and endless blue skies, dotted with clouds—and a typhoon in the distance—was a much-needed sight for sore eyes and sound for also-sore ears. Yes, she loved the jungle, but she needed a break from it now and then.

And it looked like Kainak did, too.

Kainak soon came to the beach, walking up behind her. She turned around, getting a full view of his chest, which she always happened to be quite pleased with. "My eyes are up here," he said.

"Sorry," she said, finding his hair to be an even better view.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "I just wanted some fresh air."

"Okay," he said as she sat down on the sand, burying her feet into it.

"Oh, this feels nice," she said, lifting her foot and examining the sand getting in between her toes. To calm down, she focused on her foot. Of course, if some creep were staring at it right now, she'd kicked the bastard with that foot. To her, there was something about never wearing shoes again that was oddly liberating, aside from wearing the bare minimum of a standard-issue jungle girl outfit.

Okay, part of it was practical, because wearing shoes in a hot and humid rainforest would mean some pretty lousy athlete's foot. But as a jungle girl, she was connected to nature, and going barefoot was both symbolic and literal. Also the Teo, being related to the Hawaiians, have a strong cultural and social emphasis on going barefoot, so much so that it's the biggest reason Kainak, himself a Teo adoptee, goes barefoot.

It's also more comfortable. But, her soles were... kinda dirty. She needed to wash 'em off, so she got up and put her feet in the surf. She forgot there were a few calluses on her feet, so she cringed when the saltwater hit her soles. However, she relaxed and felt the dirt washing off. Of course, in the year she has not worn a pair of shoes, the skin on her soles has gotten stronger, providing her with better grip on the trees, dirt, etc.

But enough with the digression on the liberating aspects of going barefoot. The author wanted to save going barefoot from perverts who put up disgusting pictures of peoples' feet and distort the whole idea behind going barefoot. Also, going barefoot is probably not for everyone. It's best to talk to an experienced, licensed medical professional AKA, a doctor, than the author, who is not one.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her.

"Sure," she replied.

"You know those ruins we found earlier?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd just like it if you not go there," he said. "That place has bad memories for me, and... I'd rather stay away from it. And I'd like you to as well."

Looking at the honesty and concern in his expression, Julie leaned her head against his chest and sighed with the wind blowing some of her braided hair. "Sure," she said. "I just got excited, you know? Anthropologist instincts."

"I understand," Kainak said while wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly.