Young, Threatening Intruder

The remaining three tribesmen halted their chase, instantly shifting focus to the boat-like vessel that had appeared from thin air.

At the same time, the enemy scout rushed away at full speed. He was beyond curious about what had just happened. But at that moment, the scout was smiling wide. He kept looking back at the strange scene until his visage hurriedly vanished from view.

"I'M SO SORRY!!" the crash-landed man yelled, appearing to be no older than LaRee.

And, as the young man swiftly leaped off of his ship to confront the locals of the planet, the rushing tribesmen got a better look at him.

The young man wore a thin but long, purple coat with blue zippers and accents. It was also covered with patches, of varying sizes and differing shades of red. Five mismatching knives of roughly the same size were strapped onto the jacket's chest and sides. And the young man wore no shirt underneath, exposing his bare, well-tone chest.

His pants were long but not baggy, made of dark grey fabric with thick, purple patches over each knee. And his dark blue, military-grade boots were customized with emblems of a silver crown on both sides of each boot.

Across his face, the young man wore a belt-like strap perfectly fitted to his head, with the buckle at the rear. It covered the young man's left eye while running from the center of his forehead to under his left ear.

Nearly everything about the young man's attire was personalized, and not by a professional.

But the completely foreign appearance of the new arrival didn't matter to the tribesmen at that moment.

What they did take notice of was the young man's calm demeanor, despite standing before three huge, charging wolves and their fully-armed riders. That spoke volumes about the young man's confidence, and his potential strength or threat.

Also, it didn't help that none of those three understood a single word of what the young man was shouting.

Quickly catching on, the young man slid up his left sleeve, revealing a slim watch. It had a metallic band and only a thin, unlit screen. But, in less than a second, the young man swiped his finger over the screen to activate one of the watch's functions.

So, the young man continued to shout, "I'm sorry! This was all an accident!"

Just as the white wolves were drawing close, they heard more shouts erupting out of the intruder's talking wristband. Only, each new shout was done in a different dialect or tone. And the tribesmen still couldn't understand any of it.

"I'll check on Chief!" LaRee yelled. He veered away without another thought, redirecting his wolf to where his father had been launched away from the impact.

"And we'll kill the intruder!" both hunters shouted in unison, drawing their bows without pause.

Amidst the furious yells of the tribesmen, a hint of relief appeared on the young man's face when he heard them speaking some kind of language. The young man thought, *Good, if they have a developed language, then I just need some time.*

Thw-thwang…

The young man leaped forward to evade the incoming arrows. And his face continued to express only worry for the accident he had caused, with seemingly no concern for his own safety or for the threat of the charging hunters.

"I'm really sorry! This was just an accident!" the young man shouted even more, all while weaving through the arrows and running toward the white wolves.

"Weak fool!" yelled one hunter.

The second cried, "You're fast to die!"

Both hunters laughed as the intruder voluntarily drew closer. Despite missing their target with arrows, both hunters were quick to dismount their wolves and ready their tomahawks.

The white wolves were already baring their fangs, eager to rip the intruder to shreds. As soon as their masters hopped off, each wolf lunged in with claws and jaws at the ready.

R-ROAR! SMACK! SMACK!

Before either hunter could react, their wolves whimpered while collapsing to the ground. Suddenly, neither wolf was able to stand or move properly on their shaky legs. Not after having their jaws slammed by the heels of the young man's palms.

And the young man's calm yelling continued, "I'm sorry! I really am!"

"What you do!?"

"What evil magic is this?!"

The hunters, along with their wolves, felt rattled. They exclaimed out of impulse and shock.

But it only took a second for one of them to leap in with his tomahawk mid-swing. "Just die! Intruder!"

The young man ducked the swing with a back handspring, bounding away from the shaky, whimpering wolves.

The second hunter rushed in to flank the intruder. Though it would've been far more effective with their wolves joining the combat, as was their usual strategy, the second hunter shook off his nerves and berated, "Kill the chief, and you die!"

Chtink. Chtink…

After bouncing back to his feet, the young man had already drawn one of his knives to block the incoming tomahawk. And, just as the first hunter had thrown his tomahawk, the young man pulled a second knife to knock it aside. Never batting an eye.

"I'm sorry! I caused this, but it's all an accident!" the young man yelled again. "What can I do to make up for it?"

Still, no matter what dialect or language the man's translating watch tried, the hunters weren't understanding anything.

Then again, the hunters were no longer paying any attention to the strange sounds coming from the intruder's wrist. When pitted against an unknown opponent with such strange apparel and obvious battle skill, the hunters prioritized focusing on the threat of battle.

"Who are you?!" questioned the second hunter, keeping one foot back and one forward to be on guard.

"Why hurt the chief!?" the first hunter shouted. He also steadied his stance, preparing for a serious, potentially life-threatening clash.

And the young man simply replied, "I'm sorry! I know you don't understand me right now, but I will explain. And I'll do whatever I can to make up for the accident."

A few dozen meters away, beyond more trees and underbrush, LaRee and his wolf reached the fallen chief and the wolf pack leader.

Unlike the chief, the lead wolf's determination had wavered just before the crash, acting on its instincts to try and leap away. Though it was far too slow to do anything, the wolf at least managed to lean to the side and attempt to jump with the impact.

That resulted in the pack leader and chief being propelled away, crashing into trees, bushes, and whatever else happened to exist on their thrown, unintentional collision course. But it was better to skid through the jungle than to be completely smashed beneath that flying boat.

LaRee rushed to his father's side, brushing away the broken branches and smeared leaves from the chief's body. He carefully but quickly checked the chief's wrist.

"Thank the gods…" LaRee sighed loudly, letting his own heart start beating after that harrowing pause.

With his worst assumptions proven wrong, LaRee turned his focus to his father's obvious injuries. And LaRee's worries started to grow yet again.

The bleeding, open scalp. A surefire concussion. Over a dozen, large bruises littering the entire body. An uncertain amount of fractures beneath each bruise…

Just as LaRee was amazed to see no compound fractures or out-of-place joints, LaRee turned to his whimpering wolf.

Only a couple meters from the chief, the pack leader was laid out, unnaturally limp. Its hind legs were on the ground. Its head and front legs were up against the base of a huge tree. Its spine and torso were folded perfectly so it could lay across the uneven surfaces without a single gap. And there were no signs of life.

LaRee's wolf nuzzled up against the corpse, disregarding the blood and grass stains it gained while mourning the loss of its pack leader.

"... We have to act fast," LaRee stated, rushing to his feet. He put on a determined look while motioning for his wolf to draw near. "To let your leader rest. To tend to our chief. We need the other hunters. Let's go."

The wolf gave a light howl as LaRee leaped on its back. Putting on its own determined gaze, the wolf rushed back to where the flying boat had crashed down.

And right away, LaRee was astonished by the scene now taking place upon his return.

Thud! Thud!

Both of the dazed wolves, just as they were regaining their senses, were kicked in the side of the head. They were thrown back a few meters as their unconscious bodies toppled over.

All the while, the intruder was apparently trying to have some sort of discussion, making sounds with his talking wristband. At the same time, the young intruder toyed with the hunter duo without breaking a sweat.

"I'm really sorry!" shouted the young man. "I promise you, this was all an accident!"

LaRee's wolf howled with bravado, anxious to avenge the fallen pack leader.

But LaRee stopped himself and his wolf… For a split second, LaRee's ears caught wind of something strange from that talking wristband.

"... I… Sor… No… Fault…"

Not every word from the wristband made sense to LaRee, but a few outlying words were gradually becoming understandable.

However, LaRee's wolf dragged him back into the action as it charged. So, LaRee nocked an arrow, took his shot, and raced in with cover fire while closing the distance.

Thwang! Ch-chtink…

The young man blocked both tomahawks while turning his immediate attention to LaRee. With minimal movements, the young man ducked his head to the side and dipped his shoulder slightly, letting the whistling arrow whiz past his ear without a scratch.

"LaRee!" the first hunter yelled, sweat starting to drip down the side of his head.

The second hunter shouted, "Help! He's a big threat."

"The chief is alive!" LaRee cried out while launching another arrow. "Pack Leader has passed. But we can save Chief if we're fast!"

The young man ducked that arrow as well and finally showed a different expression. A half smile briefly appeared on his face and a curious squint honed in on the young wolf rider. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! This was all an accident, I can explain!"

During that momentary pause of battle, the three tribesmen all clearly heard the next phrases of the talking wristband. And they all caught wind of a partially accurate translation.

"I… Sorry! I… Sorry! Not… My fault…!"

Regardless of how amazed they were to hear a magic wristband speaking their language, those few words rapidly reignited burning anger within them and doused that bonfire with even more fuel.