Kenny pushed his way through the heavy leaves and broke free of the thick jungle. He was god only knows how deep in the Ecuadorian jungles and specifically deep in the Waorani Reserve. This particular land was established as a way of protecting both the natives and tourists that would likely be killed for wandering in. So naturally, that was where Kenny was wandering in.
He wouldn't have tried to come to such a remote and dangerous part of the world without good reason. A condition he had lived with for many, many years had finally reached a point where he just couldn't take it anymore. He was willing to do anything for a cure and the only thing he could find was rumors of a tribe of natives near where he was that could cure him. The only problem was finding them because their tribe was extremely reclusive and despised outsiders. He couldn't get here legally and so that barred any air travel or even any assistance. All he could hope to do was to trek his way here on foot and find it.
The pack of supplies he wore made his shoulders burn as he adjusted the straps. He didn't know how long it would take to locate the tribe so he planned for weeks. He hiked to the top of the rocky outcropping and looked around. The great cliff he stood upon was overlooking a gorgeous waterfall and a wide, sluggish river. An endless thick jungle spread in every direction he could see, rising and falling with the steep mountains and low valleys of this land. The tribe was supposed to live near here and down river he could see some smoke rising through the trees. Without anything else to go on, that was the way he was headed.
Kenny huffed and puffed as he made his way down the steep game trail in the cliffside. He was pretty fit for a young man of his age, but these jungles were not kind. They were wild and unkept. Modern man had never tamed these jungles, and for good reason. They were violently reactive to anyone that tried.
"What... is that?" Kenny mumbled to himself as he saw motion in the distance. He squinted and tried to make it out but whatever it was disappeared too quickly.
Picking up the pace, he hopped down one rock after another until he got down to the river. The bushes and trees alongside it were pretty thick as well, but there was evidence of travel through here. Some kind of creature came through regularly enough that they had beaten down a path.
After another few steps he was forced to stop and adjust his pants. Heavy cargo with plenty of crotch and leg space. He needed it. Once everything was in order again, he continued onward in the direction of the smoke. From down here it was a bit harder to see, but he didn't need to anymore. It was in this direction alongside the river somewhere.
The water was muddy and it bubbled lazily by. He couldn't help a small desire to jump in. The jungle was humid and today it was hot. Sweat beaded continually under his heavy headwrap and he wiped at some that escaped down the side of his face. A drink of not-so-cool water from his canteen at least helped.
The river continued down through some bubbling flows and then banked off to the left, growing even wider and larger in the process. It was around that curve that he saw it. Standing there on the shore, completely naked with a spear in her hand. She was focused entirely on the water and her fuzzy brown ears twitched. Her eyes seemed to see something through the thick murk that he couldn't because she drew back and stabbed forward with amazing speed. There was a thrashing in the water and she pulled back with an enormous fish run through with the stone-tipped spear. A smile brightened her face and she quickly threw her catch down on the ground to stab it once more.
"Centaur..." He murmured, eyes wide.
She was just about as tall as he was with tanned skin and long dark hair. Vibrant red paint crossed her eyes and dotted her breasts and her belly. Her body from the waist up was a lightly toned woman with perky little breasts and a round, happy face. From the waist down, she was a slender deer with a sleek brown coat. Her little tuft of a tail twitched happily as she lifted her catch on her spear and turned around to bound away through the thick undergrowth.
The Waorani Centaurs were a ancient and highly reclusive people. Scoutings of their tribes have shown them to be entirely female and so many speculations were formed about their mating habits. The most widely spread and accepted one was that of capture. That they simply take a male from another tribe and keep him during mating season. Rumors circulate about these tribals being returned with certain changes to their anatomy that would lend credence to this idea.
Kenny looked down at the river and then over at the bushes through which she had disappeared. This large bend in the river was likely where they called home, but perhaps they were settled further down. The smoke in the sky certainly suggested it.
Whatever his speculations, he never got a chance to go look for himself. A woman, another centaur, bounded through the bushes behind him and pointed a spear at him. He jerked around at the noise and stared at her. She was bustier than the other had been and wore a more stern look.
"Uhhh..." He held his hands up and tried to look friendly. Specifically 'not-a-target-for-spearing' friendly.
"Invader. You will come to village." She barked in a rough accent, wagging her spear at him. Her speech clearly showed English was a second language.
"Of course! That was what I wanted!" He nodded eagerly.
She pointed behind him, "Go! Listen or I kill you."
That was wonderful incentive for him to turn and hurry down the dense path. She was right behind him the entire way. He was quite surprised at just how threatening a stone spear can be when a centaur threatened him with it. An agile looking, strong centaur. One with beautifully cut abs and big, round breasts. His pants were growing annoyingly tight and he tried to think other thoughts. His condition did not make that easy.
Past the next thick tree, he saw the village. It was how he imagined it would look, or at least very close to it. Long thatched huts were built in a large circle around a huge beach in the crook of the river's bend. Dozens of female centaur milled around, working on one thing or another. A few large fires were burning on the beach and the smell of cooking fish and vegetables wafted over the river.
"Cross here." She said, pointing at the river.
Kenny adjusted his pack, "Is it deep? I can't swim with this pack.
"Your head will stay above water." She said simply, jabbing his pack a few times.
"Okay..." He stepped off the shore and into the river. The first few steps brought him down to his waist and he felt his boots sinking into the mud. It took all he could to pull them free and keep walking. A few more steps and he was up to his belly. The boots were becoming impossible and they stuck him fast in the riverbed.
The centaur behind him walked with little difficulty, having been around the river her entire life. She pushed his shoulder, "Do not stop."
"I'm stuck." He grunted, trying to yank at his feet.
"Weak." She grabbed his arm and pulled hard.
His boots remained stuck fast, having been pulled down further by his struggling. His feet, however, were not and he pulled right out of them.
"Damn it! Come on, those are my boots. I'm going to step on a damn snake and die now." He grunted, trying to turn around.
"Go!" Her hand on his arm gripped him with an iron fist and threw him forward.
He flopped in the river and his heavy pack dragged him under. He thrashed and tried to plant his feet, but the sluggish river was stronger than it looked. It pulled him sideways and tried to drag his pack down as he was trying to pull up. The result was his lungs burning for air and him in serious danger of drowning.
