Archive of Our Own

The Children of Echos tribe was as lively as ever when a certain man stepped foot through the entrance.

His pixilated companion floated beside him, giving a rather irritated growl. “Argh why do you have to do this stupid commission anyway? Its not like its anything really important!”

Kinich was used to Ajaw’s complaining. Especially since there was certainly no shortage of it. Plus he was tied to the creature by a contract they had struck between one another long ago. So he had to tolerate it whether he liked it or not.

“You know the answer already.” Kinich answered in a tone rather devoid of emotion.

“If it bothers you so much, you don’t have to follow me. Do what you want. Except, no causing mass carnage. I don’t need a repeat of last week. You almost got us banned from the hotsprings.”

The yellow dragon scoffed

“My lowly servant dares order the Almighty Dragon Lord Ku’hul Ajaw around? Thats a laugh. We do what we want!”

This earned a warning glare from the raven haired male. A look which said just enough to make Ajaw backpedal.

“Fine! Fine! No more chasing lowly mortals around and causing chaos-"

That was all Kinich needed to hear as his expression went back to neutral. “Good. I’ll come find you later.”

As he said this, the man started to walk away, headed up the familiar path which lead to the place in which he was supposed to meet the person whom given him the commission.

Leaving behind the grumbling dragon.

It took no time at all for him to reach the stage.

It was a famous place in the tribe. A place where dance battles were often held.

It was something of a favorite pastime for the people of The Children of Echos. Akin to his own tribes love of extreme sports.

And one of his friends was actually a frequent participant in these dance battles.

Music and cheering filled the air as people on stage showcased their moves, the crowd extremely hyped as he bore witness to the spectacle.

Nothing out of the ordinary. As the hunter scanned the crowd, he managed to spot two very familiar faces.

One which had spotted him in turn. The woman in question energetically beaming with pure joy and waving both arms. “Kinich! Over here!”

He almost instantly did just that, walking over to Mualani and their friend Kachina.

The little girl was also very happy to see him and had a small smile as well. There was just one problem.

A problem which instantly sparked feelings of deep concern within Kinich. And it seemed to show.

“Hello Mualani, Kachina.” It seemed like both of them had noticed the shift in the mood.

This was when the woman launched into an explanation. “You know how I mentioned I had a job for you? And that it had something to do with Kachina too?”

Naturally he knew exactly what she was referring to. After all, It was a big reason why he’d taken it over all the other requests he had his pick of.

Considering how much the two of them had grown to mean to him over their time of having known one another, Kinich often found himself automatically prioritizing such things when it was from them.

“Yeah I remember. Whats the whole situation exactly?”

While he knew some of the situation already, there was evidently one thing she’d conveniently left out, this reminding him a bit of the first time they all met. Back then, it had been a fairly similar situation, albeit less concerning in nature.

The youngest of the trio looked a bit nervously between them before speaking up.

”Its nothing serious…I just…accidentally sprained my leg. Please don’t worry too much about me-Im fine really!”

Part of him wanted to believe that, but an injury was still an injury. And on his friend no less.

“Im guessing thats why im here. Or at least, thats the real reason.”

Mualani laughed a bit nervously, clearly knowing that this had been a bit of a bad start.

“Yeah, Kachina here was going to compete in the dance battle competition today. But obviously she can’t. But she didn’t want to disappoint anyone so we were actually hoping one of the best dancers we know could take her place!”

Yeah, this really was a not so subtle hint. Mualani was often the first to sing his praises when it came to the things he was good at.

Especially his cooking skills and his dancing. But calling him ‘the best dancer she knows?’ He couldn’t help feeling like that was a bit of a stretch.

“I get the idea. I’ll do it.” He conceeded.

This evidently taking both girls by surprise to an extent. But their faces lighted up fairly quickly.

“Really? You're the best! I knew we could count on you!”

The woman from The People of the Springs had all but thrown her arms around him in an impulsive sort of hug.

Ordinarily Kinich was extremely uncomfortable with most touch. Especially hugs that came from nowhere. But this was Mualani. Someone especially dear to him.

And so he hugged her back. Albeit a bit awkwardly since he wasn’t used to this sort of thing. At least, not yet. They were working on that. In more ways than one.

Soon she pulled away as happy as could be. “Okay! Lets go tell the event organizer that your here! Once everything is settled you know what to do. Right?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

As they were walking over Kachina spoke up again.

“Kinich? I just wanna say thanks. For doing this I mean-”
This was fairly normal.

In fact, if he had to venture a guess, she was likely feeling a bit guilty that he even had to fill in for her. Much like how she got during the pilgrimage when things didn’t exactly go well for her or her team. How she was always quick to blame herself and even be extremely hard on herself.

But he wasn’t feeling the least bit bitter or inconvenienced and he didn’t mind reassuring her of that.

“Don’t mention it. It’s fine really.”

This seemed to somewhat ease her mind and so they left it at that. It was only a moment later that he was officially slated to compete.

So he was off to the side with the other two, making sure to stretch a bit. As someone who was always moving and accomplishing feats of acrobatics along with a plethora of other sports and such, The man from The Scions of the Canopy always did morning stretches to ensure he never pulled a muscle or such.

But when it came to dancing, it never hurt to go that extra mile just in case, lest he end up sustaining an injury to match Kachina’s or worse. As he finished stretching out his right arm, it seemed his time had come.

“Ready?” Mualani asked, admittedly already knowing the answer.

He nodded and that was all the reassurance she needed.

“Go get em tiger!”

It was moments like that that reminded him why he was so fond of her.

Kinich took his place on the stage easily, crossing his arms as he listened to the announcer speak.

“Alright folks! Are you ready? Because next up we have somewhat of a seasoned competitor! Malipo Kinich from The Scions of the Canopy! And hes competing against one of our own! Koko!”

There were naturally some mixed reactions from the crowd. After all, Kinich’s reputation proceeded him. And not always in the best of ways.

Some people were hyped on his behalf. Others were clearly preying for his downfall. Even the woman who was his opponent, Koko. She was giving him a somewhat condescending look.

It was clear she didn’t see him as any sort of threat. Even with his obvious capabilities. Actually, he was fairly sure she was somewhat new. At least, hed never competed when she had been in the mix before. But that didn’t matter to him.

He was ready. And his friend’s cheers only served to boost his confidence.

Both competitors were at the ready. And so that was when the music shifted to a somewhat different song.

The dance battle started off with Koko, she had picked moves that perfectly fit the song, moving in time with the beat, mostly sticking to what could be described both basic and advanced moves in the hip hop community. One that was most prevalent in the tribe.

First basic moves like the Hippity Hop where she did some basic foot work and arm movements, all the way down to a finisher where she cartwheeled and spun to end it off.

Kinich's dance style however was a bit different.

Combining both hip hop and arial techniques. He'd started off in a similar way, having adjusted to fit the shift in the song.

But towards the end of his routine he'd pulled off what was called A Webster to a backhand spring into a backflip. Acing the landing and receiving the biggest crowd of cheers. Evidently indicating that many adored his performance. Though some likely thought it was showy.

In the end, Kinich was declared the winner, walking off the stage after a round of congratulations, only to find his friends rushing up to him with enough energy and enthusiasm for the both of them.

Overcome in the moment, and as always being the impulsive one, Mualani had pulled him into a kiss. This most certainly caught Kinich and Kachina off guard.

But it didn't stop him from easing into it and, at the very least, kissing back. Only for the woman to pull back and panic a bit at her own actions.

“Oh sorry! I was just so excited and you were just so cool up there-I guess I couldn't help myself-”

She knew all too well how he was about these sorts of things. And it wasn't like they had officially decided what to call this thing they had between one another. But, to her surprise, Kinich shook his head.

“Don't be sorry. In fact.” As he said this, he ended up giving her another, very short lived kiss, a way to reassure her. "I really enjoyed it."

Needless to say, she was relieved and happy. Kachina was happy for them. This being emphasized as she giggled.

“You guys are together? I've been wondering about that.”

Exchanging looks with each other, it seemed they were finally ready to formally acknowledge it.

“I suppose so.”

He'd since learned that was what most people called it. It certainly wasn't just ‘friendship’ that was for sure.

In the end the whole thing had gone well and they all decided to celebrate. All in all, a great day.