The news about the animal attack at Lake Huron, Michigan sounded normal. A panther attack.

Sakima felt necessary to check it out anyway.

What panther drag down humans to drown? If it was hungry, wouldn't it be easier to just pounce out and attack?

His friends teased that he was-- "concerned about the panther because you have a connection with nature and spirits" --which was incredibly racist for them to say to an Ojibway.

They didn't know his job.
Didn't know what he could see.

He didn't know much, but there was only one possibility if the panther wasn't a normal one.

Normal, or not, I'm risking my life.
And he was going straight to Lake Huron to meet it.

The water was deep blue, reflecting the sky. The ground squished a little under his sneakers. He walked around the big green trees, shuffling and kicking away small pebbles in his path. A scent of nature, of forest-dewy, wet and fresh- hung in the air.

Hope Huds isn't here.

He looked forward, adults in green and grey gathering around the lake. They set tape around the area, and they brought many equipments that Sakima didn't exactly know how to describe. One was a black sniper, long and sharp.

"Oi!" he felt a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his gaze, and it was met with a pair of brown eyes and a wrinkled face. "Kid, what are you doing here? Haven't you heard of the attack?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied. He pushed his glasses up, and forced a realistic expression on his face with scratching his head. "Sorry. I forgot."
"Better go back to your parents," the man nodded, and pushed him back.

"Yeah, alright," he dug his hands in his pocket, gave a sorry smile. "Thanks, mister."

The last thing he wanted was having an argument with an adult.
They could've called his parents. And things would get worse from there.
He could lie, yes.
But better not.

He put up up with the act of casually walking off, steps slow, humming a tune.
He strolled the path back for a few steps, then looked back. They were out of his view, and he was convinced he was out of their view as well.

His right thumb finger pulsed. He hid his hand under his shirt, and ran to a nearby tree. It was glowing yellow, pulsing.

He flinched.
"It's him."

Ready or not, there was no turning back. If he didn't go, he would've bothered the whole Michigan forever.

He took a deep breath, chest tightening, and ran to the unguarded, northern side of Lake Huron.
Unnatural mists formed in the air on the side, the water in murky green.
It looked depressed, sad.

His breath stuck in his throat.

The Serpent River.
Of course.

He couldn't make it.
Not when Serpent River was in Canada.

But he did.

He ran, slipped into the wetness of the lake, and kept running. All the way until he reached it, shoes soggy, pants wet. He ran to Canada on foot. Illegally without permission from his parents.
Brilliant.
Just brilliant.

"Mishipeshu!" he called in Ojibway. "I came here to see you."

What replied to him was chirps and croaks from the creatures of the forest. His ring pulsed again. The yellow glow brightened.

"You're around here, and I can tell!"
The water moved. A big rock cracked into two. A small whirpool swished.
Sakima didn't know much, but he was sure whirpools weren't supposed to exist at Serpent River.

A glint of light caught his eye.
He gasped, and squinted.
Brown. Rusty. Shiny.

Copper.
"I see your tail."

He slipped a hand into his pocket.
The copper disappeared underwater.
Not just one copper, but a whole line of them.

Another rock cracked.
A growl hung by his ears.

He took a step back.
The creature came.

Body as big as a panther, muscled and fit. Claws stretched out of its claws, fangs barred as thin whiskers twitched. The scales on the brown skin glistened, even if no Sun came into view. Sharp spikes pointed along its back and tail. Its bulging red eyes striked a sharp gaze through his.

"Someone called me?" he hissed, voice low and quiet yet shrill and booming. Anyone would know it was dangerous at even the slightest sound of its voice. "I am the most powerful creature of the underworld. I claim this lake as my home, and no one shall bother my sleep."

"I am Sakima Lotstein. And I am a mortal who crossed the borders to see you."
"A mortal?" it growled, and sniffed the air. "A human, in fact. Weak, helpless, stupid humans."

"You ate the family on a vacation."
"I've had quite a lot this week," it sneered. "Humans, always going to places they know are dangerous. You humans thought you could do it. Could conquer fears and risk themselves. But not with me. I'm the master of water creatures. Even serpents could not go against me."

He's so confident.
Its tone was leisure and his steps were light.
So sure of himself.

"I don't come here for fun or to conquer fears," he muttered loud enough, gulping when the tail swished and sliced the big rock nearby into pieces. He held his head high, pale hands hidden behind his back.

"Then you must be a dinner," it licked its mouth. "Delicious dinner. I've had two, but I could keep you for tomorrow's breakfast."

"I'm not food," he replied, keeping his voice steady. " I actually came to beg you to leave this lake."
"Absurd, human. That's too much. I will not leave this throne, this territory just because a mere mortal begged to me."

"But you're scaring everyone away and my ring won't stop pulsing if I don't stop you, and my grades would drop down because of my guilt and lack of concentration, then my parents would know, and take away my privilege to get out on my own and dissapoint them," the words tumbled out of his mouth in quick mutters. His hands swiped in wild gestures as he talked.

Look vulnerable, Sakima.

"Well, I'll help you, filthy human."
"How?" he ignored the filthy part.

"If I eat you, no one can punish you and you won't have to fight against me at all. Win-win."
"No. Me dead isn't a win."

It pounced out of the water, tail swinging.
He leapt up in time, a foot on its head as he landed. His fingers clasped one of the copper scales, and pelt them off its skin with a loud ripping sound.

Mishipeshu bit his foot, and slammed him down on the ground. He stood on his feet immediately, taking a step back.

Mishipeshu didn't know what fair play meant.
It charged straight on, and clawed through Sakima's left cheek. He pushed it off with a kick before groaning, and fell on his knees. His hands clutched the cut, red blood coming out. He dabbed his shirt to the cheek. The pain stung, like a sharp jolt and a quick, deep stab, flowing to his veins. The pair of glasses he wore clattered to the ground.
He hissed, right eye capturing the blurry gaze of Mishipeshu's up from the trees slightly above the water.

"Puny, weak mortal."
He took the material from his pocket, his other hand touching around until he felt the glasses.

"A tool, to a fair fight?" it laughed. "Humans."

Laugh all you want.
It pounced, and tackled Sakima to the ground. The boy panted, holding up the neon green lighter, rectangular and steel at one side to Mishipeshu's face. He flicked it open, flames coming out.

"Fire?" it hissed. Its paws pressed to the boy's arms, claws scratching deep. "I know fire. You cannot use it against me."

He threw it forward. It caught in the creature's tongue. He pushed his glasses on, grunting at the sight of a slight crack.

It roared, and ran on four back to the river. Sakima propped up by his elbows, his upper arms pulsing with pain. He reached to the lighter, and raised it up. He clicked on it, as much as he could, when Mishipeshu pounced back.

The more, the better.

He flashed it to its coppery tail, light shining like diamonds. Green flames ignited, smokes coming out.
The monster dipped the tail into the river water.

"I told you, mortal named Lotstein, I know fire."
"Lotstein is my family name," he grunted.

"You cannot hurt me."
"But your tongue, I just did."
And I have my way to do more.

It roared.
Sakima raised an arm up, no matter how much the arm didn't want to. He held up the ring, glowing brighter than it had ever been. "Animikii, indaashaan!"

"He isn't here," he glared, ready for another pounce.
"If you're here, he's here too. He lives in the four directions. We're at the North side of Lake Huron. He likes light, I don't remember much, but I know he went to the Sun at some point," he slowly smiled. The panther creature did not attack, red eyes darting on him. Its fur rose upright slightly.
He's nervous.

"And I may be stupid, but I know he repels away underwater creatures like you. I do research before I came. There are no other panthers of American mythology except for you. Seriously, dude, make it less obvious next time. "

"He also punishes those who went against the right morals," it sneered.

"So?"
"You came here illegally on foot without permission, you filthy, stupid mortal."

"Oh, yeah. Crap."

"As promised, I'd eat you. Then he'd repel me away. Win-win?"

"No, I'm 16! I still have college and I want to marry and have kids one day!"

"You're in no condition to fight me anyway."
He didn't disagree.
He laid there, wet, bleeding, heavily wounded, tired. While Mishipeshu was there, prowling around, deadly, dangerous, still moving, only slightly injured.

It charged.
He muttered a prayer.
A mighty caw echoed. A blur of red light swooped down, and went straight into the panther.

"So you came," the latter growled, tail flicking and fangs barred at the bird.

"I sensed a Mishipeshu."

A roar.
A flapping of wings.
Sakima saw a great battle right before his eyes as the two animals threw each other and sliced anything they could.

Thank you.
It was like something from the Jungle Book.
The bird sliced the eye, than the panther swiped it away, and slammed it against a tree. It pecked the eyes with the sharp beak. The other scratched by the neck.

He had to drag himself aside as the two knew no boundaries, the Thunderbird almost cutting his arm with its wings.

The battle didn't look like it'd end very soon. Fishes in the river swam away, the forests switching between misty and swarming with light.

Sakima's fingers brushed against a surface, smooth and hard. He slowly looked sideways. The lighter, broken into pieces laid near his touch.
He grabbed it, dark brown eyes on the two powerful creatures.
Mishipeshu had its four legs spread unevenly. Animikii's wings flapped furiously.

They're both nervous.

"Pretty sure other waabi out there did things more heroic than what I'm gonna do," he muttered. "Well, every effort counts."

He threw it in their direction.
It zoomed in the air, Animikii's black eyes noticing it. The bird clasped the other's face, and dragged it forward. The lighter striked Mishipeshu right in the eyes.

Distracted with fury, Animikii easily tackled it down, and clawed across the belly. The soft spot amongst the armor.

Blood seeped out of its skin. The claws dug deeper. A soft, jelly-like substance came out a little. Before he could threw up or rate the situation Mature and Gore, Sakima quickly looked away, clutching to a tree trunk. Mishipeshu's screams of pain rung throughout the whole forest.

He closed his eyes.
His legs stood up fine, but his arms pounded more than his ring did. He leaned against the tree, a sigh out of his mouth in a small breath.

The roaring sounds of the panther disappeared in thin air. He waited.
A plop.
A big splash.

"Son of a human mortal."
He turned around. Fortunately, no spilling guts or gutless panther laid on the ground. Though blood trails were there, stretching to the river. Mists dissipated.

Animikii the Thunderburd perched on a small branch. It might've looked silly seeing a big bird on such a small thing, but Animikii looked grand, powerful, strong. Not a single funny streak of it in sight.

It looked straight into his eyes, like a sharp stabbing of needle. "You called me."

"I'm a waabi," he bowed down. "I needed help to defeat Mishipeshu."

"It is rare to find one who lets his pride down to ask for help," it nodded, as much as a bird could nod.

"There isn't any shame in asking for help."
It closed its eyes, then tilted it's head slightly.

"You've done something immoral."

"Uh, well," he stammered. "To catch Mishipeshu I had to go to this Northern side of Lake Huron. So now I'm in Canada. By foot. Illegally."

"And your parents, do they know about this?"

He winced. "No."
The bird made a squawking sound. A dissapproving one.

"But, but... I told them I'm going to visit my friend. And I did, just not for a long time. So, technically, I didn't make a full lie."
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as it slid down.

If a bird could sigh, it just did.
"I'll let you off this once for helping my fight against the panther. Don't expect for me to be so merciful next time."

As it flew away, he made his way back to the grounds of Michigan, United States of America.
"Just come up with an excuse for the bleeding.." he muttered. "And the wounds..."

His ring glowed.
"Not another one!"

W.

His eyebrows furrowed.

It burned into flames, swirling like a tiny yellow tornado, until it formed a symbol, one level with his eyes.

"Hold on, I swear I've seen that in a book called Kane Chronicles or something," he mumbled. "Because Waabi means able to see in Ojibway?"

His ring was being playful, forming golden sand of two floating thumbs up at him. "Since when can you do that?"

A low hiss of words whistled by his ears.

"Everyone knows this thing," he smiled to himself, as the ring went back to being passive and unattractive. "Or, at least, I do. El Derado, the Golden."