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Matheas's malaria would continue for a few more days before he could start moving around again on his own. The elder of the village granted him asylum for as long as the wolf saw fit to stay. Manuel, the young panther cub, would constantly visit the stranger, teaching him of the dangers of the Costa Rican flora and fauna that they would encounter. For a while, the two were practically inseparable. Of course, that was with the exception of the mornings when Matheas would sneak off to train. This didn't go unnoticed though for very long as Manuel always saw him leave. It was on this day Manuel, being the natural predator he was, decided to follow and find out what Matheas was doing.

Manuel followed the maned wolf through the tree tops so not to be detected. His black coat helped him blend into the shadows that the treetops provided for him as he stalked his prey. As Matheas came to an opening in the forest that gave way to a small field of short grass, Matheas began stretching his arms and legs in preparation. Manuel watched with anticipation from his treetop vantage point to see what Matheas would do.

After his stretches, Matheas began to slowly melt into a sort of dance. His body danced to and fro like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, his arms swaying in time with his movements. Manuel watched in amazement as Matheas pulled of amazing dexterous feats of flips and kicks that the cub had NEVER seen before. He HAD to get closer. He softly landed within the same path that lead him towards the field and slowly approached to get a better look. Matheas's movements were almost hypnotic as he performed several handstands, continuing the same rhythm he set for himself. Soon though, he would noticed the cub now standing in the open with a mesmerized look upon his face. Matheas couldn't help but smile a bit as he ducked down for a sudden sweep, which melted into a handstand kick, and then flips off of his hands back onto his feet, now standing before the boy.

"What is that?!" the youngster asked with bewilderment.

"It is a Martial Art from my homeland. It is called Capoeira."

"Capoeira," the boy repeated in awe. "Please can you teach me Capoeira Matheas? Please oh please?!"

Matheas couldn't help but laugh at the sound of desperation within the cub's voice. "I dunno... do you have the patience it will take for you to learn the stance?"

"Yes!" the boy practically yelled. "I am willing to learn!"

"And Eager as well," the wolf replied. "Alright I'll teach you. First you have to get the stance right. Capoeira is disguised as a dance to throw off your enemy so they will not see your movements in the rhythm. Capoeira is about balance, strength and constant movement."

Manuel merely nodded to his teacher's words. "Balance, Strength and constant movement!" he repeated happily.

With that, Matheas began his constant swaying back and forth, his feet constantly moved with his body, his arms swaying with his body movements. Manuel attempted this, but his flow was sloppy. he tried desperately to mirror Matheas, but it just couldn't sync up.

"Lengthen your stance," Matheas said. "Widen your stance for more freedom of movement."

Manuel tried to make the adjustments, but he still couldn't mirror up to his teacher. What seemed to be Manuel's issue was to getting that basic rhythm of how Capoeira works.

"Stop!" Matheas finally said after a while.

Manuel did as he was told and sighed a bit, "I can't get it like you can," he pouted

"Nonsence!" Matheas exclaimed. "I know what your problem is. You need music! how can you do Capoeira with no music?!"

Manuel watched as Matheas began clapping his hands in a rhythm, it was a bit slower than what he did, but enough for Manuel to pick up on it. After the wolf felt the cub had the rythem, he began singing.

"Pomba voou, pomba voou

pomba voou, gaviao pegou

Pomba voou, pomba voou

vou me embora desta terra

que querido aqui nao sou

Pomba voou, pomba voou

se querido aqui nao sou

vou pra onde eu sou

Pomba voou, pomba voou"

The wolf chanted in with the beat of his claps. Manuel eyes finally light up as he nodded his head to the beat given to him. He then began to sway once again, memorizing the song within his head, memorizing the beat. The sways then suddenly became as natural as walking to the cub. Matheas couldn't help but smile as he sung loudly, watching the cub finally pick up on the stance.

"Pomba voou, pomba voou"

The song repeated over and over in the young panther's head as he swayed. The wolf's claps suddenly began getting faster, more to the beat at Matheas was practicing earlier. Sure enough, Manuel was able to keep up without issue. The panther smiled to himself as he noticed what he was doing.

Matheas suddenly stopped and chuckled as he knelt down and caused the panther to stop. "The hardest part of every journey my friend, is always that first step. From here, the learning comes easy."

The two then suddenly turned towards a loud rustle coming from the entrance they had came from. The two spied Manuel's father approaching from the brush, with a wide smile on his face.

"Is he being a good student?" he asked.

"The Best!" the wolf replied.

"Daddy! Matheas is teaching me Capoeira!" Manuel yelled with triumph.

"I hope this is not a problem,"

"Not at all Matheas," his father replied. "I was just worried my son was out in the forest by himself. Then again, my son is the most capable person in the village."

"It's an instinct you can never turn off, or so I'm told," he replied.

The two trained in the early morning for 23 straight years, non-stop.Matheas taught the panther everything he could, every flip, handstand kick, every dodge every move. Manuel almost became obsessed with his newly found skill. He went as far to design a rope and pants that were similar to Matheas's. He would even practice everything he learned that day just before he went to sleep. He kept the same rhythm in his head, chanting the same song in his head.

"Pomba voou, pomba voou"

Manuel's 30th birthday tough would be a day that Manuel would remember forever. It started like any other day for Matheas and Manuel, starting with stretches and their standard warm ups. Manuel was ready this day. He had grown into a stunning young man, he was thin yes, but muscularly toned thanks to the full body workout the martial art offered.

"You ready to go Manuel?" Matheas asked after they had finished their warm ups.

"You're going down this time old man!" he exclaimed with ferocity.

Then, the dance began, both fighter mirrored each other bobbing and weaving back and forth in the same rhythm. After a few sweeps, they began exchanging kicks, each being met with air as the other dodged. when Manuel attempts to kick with a crescent kick, Matheas would spin his way out of the way. When Matheas tried to counter with a low sweep, Manuel would shift his body to handspring out of the way. After a few more exchanges of missed blows, the two stared each other down as they mirrored once again.

"You ready to go down old man?" Manuel said with a smirk.

"Call me old man again and I'm going to have to take you down a notch youngun..."

The panther just smiled as he prepared his body. He shifted his momentum to begin what looked to Matheas like he was going for and spinning jump kick. Just before Manuel would have made contact, it looked like his whole body suddenly dematerialized. Matheas suddenly stopped to look around.

"Manuel?!" he called out. His answer would come in the form the normal sounds of the rainforest. "Manuel where are you?!"

Without warning, Matheas felt a swift wind come from the right side of his face. He twitched at the movement to find that it was the foot belonging to the young panther. It had been stopped a mere inches away from hitting him in the head. The wolf slowly turned around in amazement as Manuel held his leg up, meeting his master's face with a smirk.

"What were you gonna do... old man?"

"My god," Matheas exhaled in amazement. "When did you learn that?"

"I learned I could do it a couple of days ago." Manuel replied as he finally lowered his foot.

Matheas just laughed, "Then I've nothing left to teach you, Manuel. You have far exceeded your master."

Manuel gave the wolf a gentle hug. "Thank you Matheas... for everything..."

The wolf reciprocated the show of affection with a smile, "It was my pleasure Manuel... Make sure you keep up your practice!"

"I will!" he said with a nod.

"We should probably..."

Before Matheas could finish his sentence, the two heard several loud bangs coming from the direction of the village. The wolf remembers this sound from his days in Rio, they were gunshots. To Manuel though, the sound was foreign.

"Thunder?" Manuel asked. "There's not a cloud in the sky..."

"That is no Thunder Manuel..."

"What?"

"Nevermind, Manuel... We must get to the village!"

"Why Matheas?!"

Matheas didn't speak any further, he began sprinting towards the village behind him. There was no telling what the maned wolf knew of what was going on, but it was obvious he wasn't telling Manuel anything.