Krissa ambled along the almost stepping-stone-esc path to the royal family's hut, her stomach in knots and her hands wringing one another. It was early in the morning, just before the first light had taken to the sky, and she had slipped out unnoticed by Slate and his sibling. The stone was cold beneath her bare toes, her ankles nipped by the breeze from where her pants had been cuffed up. Her pullover seemed to lack the capability to keep her warm at that moment, but she knew that eventually she would warm up; daily activities kept her busy, and ergo keeping her slender frame at a reasonable temperature. As she ascended, Krissa could only recall how fierce the prince had appeared the day before- fiercer than she had ever seen him during a hunt. Cupping her hands, she brought them to her lips and blew a hot gust of precious air, temporarily heating up her frigid fingers. The day would eventually come to its peak of fifty-nine degrees fahrenheit, but until then, she needed to get the blood flowing in her veins. Coming to a stop, she eyed the entrance of the royal hut, peering at the torches aflicker and then at what she could make out inside, lit by an inviting yet faint citrine glow. Hugging herself, Krissa took a step forward, her lips parting as she began to find her voice. Would the prince even be inside?

Glancing over her shoulder, she felt apprehensive at first, unsure of whether she should simply step indoors and search for his Highness on her own, or if she should simply call out and wait for someone to answer. As soon as her scrutiny returned to the inside if the hut, she was met by two large emerald eyes and a pale face. Cornelius arched his brows as she squeaked softly, nearly jolting back in surprise. "Your Majesty, I-I -" she stammered, then caught herself, swallowing. He tilted his dark head. Honestly, Cornelius was quite a handsome specimen. His cocoa-brown fur was thick and grew thoroughly, his shoulders broad and his neck thick and muscular. The prince stood at the same height as Slate did, a few inches taller than she. Cornelius seemed to be inspect her with mild confusion. "I apologize for the.. er.. the interruption. I was meaning to speak to you.."

'I've been awake for an hour,' he disclosed, shaking his head. His passive expression tilted away from her, gazing off listlessly across the silent clearing. 'Your company is not an interruption.' Cornelius then shot her a side-glance before pivoting and beginning to limp forward. Krissa, feeling as though it would be rude to simply allow him to walk away and wait for his beckon, followed behind as they traveled down into the center of the little town. There was a tense silence for a moment as the two came to the other side of the colony's main square, the prince coming to a stop as soon as he neared the entrance. He peered over at her, seeming to abruptly notice that she had followed, evidently leading to his lips pressing into a flat line. Cornelius came to all fours and settled back upon his haunches, raising a hand to sign. He seemed to be perplexed. 'What is it you wish to speak about?'

Clearing her throat, Krissa came to kneel next to him, meeting his height. Was this what you were supposed to do with an alpha. 'I want to thank you, for yesterday,' Krissa began. Cupping her hand, she created a "c" like formation, then waved it to the left; she then followed by giving him a "thumbs-up" and jerking it in the opposite direction. 'At the hunt.'

His emerald eyes expressed something that she could not quite make out in the dark. A huff escaped his nostrils, which she indicated meant he wasn't too pleased. 'Need to be more careful,' he advised. Krissa was surprised by his lecture. Was he actually concerned for her safety? 'You may be quick, but bucks are quicker.'

Now was her time for her brows to knit. Her head bobbed quickly, attempting to convey that she understood. 'I'm clumsy compared to apes. I need to learn how to move without getting in the way,' she interpreted. Sighing heavily, she readjusted so she were sitting with her legs crossed beneath her. Krissa looked off across the sleeping town, noticing that the sky was slowly illuminating into a lazy shade of royal blue. 'The only thing is… I don't know what I can do in order to make things easier.' The survivor understood that she was speaking her mind more often than not lately, recalling how she had attempted to tell Pine off just moments before the incident. Shaking her head, she held her tongue on the subject. There was no reason to go blabbing everything to everyone and their mother. Perhaps it had just been an accident that the brutish chimp had collided with her, but with his common impulsive behavior and his hatred toward her, Krissa was slowly beginning to understand Slate's suspicions. Why he was taking it to such an extreme as just about tearing into his brother and alerting the whole clearing in the process, she was unsure.

"Show you.. Have an idea," Cornelius piped up, his hushed vocals naturally hoarse within his throat. Krissa's pate turned and their eyes latched onto one another. They gleamed with something she yet again couldn't quite decipher. 'If you're willing to listen.'

Unease billowing in her belly, she hesitated. Cornelius had never offered anything to her- hell, they had barely spoken until now. Not only that, but he had nearly had her killed the day he had met her. If it hadn't have been for Maurice and Rocket, she was positive that her blood would have been spilled. Krissa swallowed, trying to ignore the chilling thought of her own throat being torn open. Wordlessly, she nodded, and followed the prince as he quickly guided her outside of their walls, heading down the slope in the dark. Her feet carried her with grace as they traveled over the cool earth, keeping up easily with the chimp as he trotted on all fours. Granted, she had to run in order to do so, but it was worth it. The fresh air kept her body at a comfortable temperature as she kept pace. Cornelius was right: perhaps she was quick. It had taken months for her body to adjust to such speed all the time, but Krissa was now thankful, for it had made her body even stronger than it had been before.

They eventually came to a dip in the ground where they ducked off to the left, taking a short cut down the mossy hill and the tumbling ivy. The clamoring sound of their bodies crashing through the brush alerted a flock of nearby doves, sending them up into the air in a panicked flourish of feathers. Cornelius hooted in amusement at the terrified birds and Krissa grinned in turn. Taking a bold leap to her left, she veered, dismissing her prince's grunts of question and startling another nearby flock with a burst of laughter. Once again, the royal chimp chortled throatily, slowing to join her. The sky was slowly growing brighter with each passing moment, and eventually the trees above were painted in thick looming veins of ink against the cobalt. "You know, I never ventured this far," Krissa admitted once the tension was finally gone between the two. It felt as though she were simply accompanying an old friend, just as she would Slate. Cornelius stirred next to her, listening to her carefully. "I mean, it was something I was planning on doing eventually, but Pine's patrol found me before I could. Truth be told, the waterfall was where I was planning on setting up camp."

"Fish means.. food" he agreed. "Water too." There was a pause. 'Not too smart though, moving. Could have been safe at old tent.'

She rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. "Slate wouldn't let me live it down when he heard that that was why I was captured…" Krissa complained, swinging a hand up in front of her in a wide gesture of ridicule. "I swear, he's like my dad was- always worried and uptight for no reason.."

Cornelius hummed in his own inhuman tone, as if he understood. "Protective," he added.

Krissa felt her ears burn. "It's going to get him in trouble some day.." she mumbled, trying to smother the conversation until it was dead. Thankfully, she was answered with silence from the prince, understanding that it was best to leave it alone. The two came to a clearing and Krissa had to narrow her eyes in order to get them to adjust to the dim light of the early hours. It only took her a few moments before she eventually realized that he had brought her back to the sight of the catch. She swallowed heavy. That's when she realized that she was alone, without a weapon, accompanied by the prince of the apes. Cornelius was a stranger to her, and upon realizing just how uncomfortable she felt without Slate being at least somewhere close, she couldn't deny the anxiety rising up in her chest. Thankfully Cornelius wouldn't be able to see it unless he searched for it.

'Come,' he gestured, vaguely coaxing her with an index finger. Krissa wasn't going to refuse him, now was she? Following after the furry king, she was careful where she put her bare feet, feeling apprehensive about basically everything she could put her mind to. What was he intending to teach her? Shouldn't Rocket be teaching her? Maybe even -

No, she didn't need his help. If she were going to somehow fit in, she needed to do it her own way, without Slate's guidance. Gotta push boundaries, she thought, knowing that her father would say the same thing. It's the only way to learn, babygirl. They approached the fallen timbre that she so clearly remembered jumping over and racing alongside of; bringing her fingers to grace across the wood, she allowed them to slowly explore its mossy, slick surface. Cornelius came to a stop and reached out, offering her a hand. Cautiously, she took it and he assisted her in stepping up on top. 'Focus on jumping and tackling. Use all your body force,' he began. 'Then we can focus on climbing.'

Okay, jumping and tackling... wait, what was she supposed to use as a target? Krissa looked to her teacher with a look of question, only to come to the abrupt realization that he intended for her to assault him instead of, say, a log or a rock. Her heart hiccuped in her chest as he began to back up, preparing to make his way down along the length of the log. Cornelius seemed to notice her apprehension and stilled. 'Don't hold back,' were the last few signs he made before sprinting away, heading toward the meadow. Holy hell! Kicking up moss beneath her, she bolted for the ground and went flying after him, fueled by adrenaline. Her heart pounded in her ears, startled by how quickly he had begun the lesson. Without warning, she just about wrapped herself around a gnarled old tree, although thankfully moved swiftly enough out of the way so she could avoid having an accident bring her first practice to a screaming halt. Krissa stumbled at first, but then began to gradually build herself up to a comfortable pace, ignoring the pain in her feet with each solid step.

It took her fifteen minutes to finally find him, and by then she had to stop and catch her breath. The chimp, breaking his facade of "prey", ambled over and rested himself up on top of the grassy slope not far from where she laid. The birds were beginning to sing in the trees, awakening just before the sunrise in order to watch the sky change color. "Do you have to move so fast?" she puffed, holding her throbbing face in her sweaty palms. Cornelius let out an amused snort and pant-laughed.

'If it doesn't feel real, it won't work,' he mused, rising and knuckling over. Krissa grunted as the prince gave her a nudge in the ribs, attempting to rouse her from her state of exhaustion. Cornelius then began to pad ahead, his pace slowly growing quicker. Over his shoulder, he continued to egg her on. 'Get up. We need to keep going.'

Krissa shook her head and rolled over, rising to her knees. "Why don't we try having you run a different way?" she suggested desperately. This unfortunately only earned her a look of displeasure, his nose twitching. Raising her hands, she allowed her eyes to fall. She still couldn't help but feel as though she were simply running in circles, chasing after some fool who felt that it would somehow help her. "Okay, fine. Your way or no way." As Cornelius grunted and turned, racing off into the forest, she groaned. This was clearly just a warm-up for him. Swallowing heavily, she leaned back, her hands on her hips. Krissa stared up at the sky for a moment, before she rolled her neck on it's joint and darted after him. Frustration burned within her gullet as she forced herself through each step of agony, her legs pumping quickly and her lungs beginning to ache from the exertion. Her system was already exhausted after perhaps a meter or so. "Damnit!" she hissed under her breath. Then, louder, "Damnit!" Suddenly, as if summoned by her outcry, she saw the approaching form of the prince- heading toward her. Her chest constricted and she just about felt her eyes roll out of her head from how much they bulged. Once within a reasonable distance, she quickly sprinted faster and then lunged, soaring forward and colliding with the prince with the force of a moving vehicle. The two went tumbling into the grass, the momentum sending them spiraling right toward the massive roots of the nearest sequoia. The prince's head knocked back against the trunk and then Krissa's face collided with his massive furry chest.

They came to a still and she rolled back, nursing her sore beak. Cornelius then began to hoot, immediately thrown into a fit of laughter. She wasn't sure whether it was toward her pain or their circus-act of a tumble. Nonetheless, she still couldn't help but laugh along and shake her head. Well, she had done it.. somehow. Perhaps that had been all that she needed; a little more spring in her stride.

A few more tries had gotten her right where she needed to be. Climbing had been interesting and she had quickly figured out that it was not her best strength, whatsoever. Without the muscular, long arms of an ape, she could hardly swing herself forward. Tightroping was interesting, yes, but genuinely swinging from branch to branch was a chore. She could jump well enough, but even then there had been a few occasions where the prince had had to rescue her before she fell to her death. Why Cornelius had chosen to bring her so high up into the air was a mystery to her. As the two returned back, the sun honeyed on their figures as they discussed future techniques, she couldn't help but feel as though she had just put in an entire day of work within the span of a few hours. They were just ascended the slopes toward the entrance of the ape village, the pebble-scattered paths loose and dry underfoot, when Krissa slowed her pace and stared off toward Cornelius.

The prince was nearly a foot or two away when he noticed her absence, gazing back over her shoulder. A faint bray caught her attention and her pate tilted, chartreuse eyes peering at her prince with a look of conflict and distress on her freckled face. She could not find her voice. How was she supposed to ask him? "Slate…" she began softly. The prince slowly began to approach closer. "Slate wants me to stay. Nova does, Poppy.."

Cornelius suddenly rose to his hind legs, matching her height and bringing her tongue to a standstill. His forest depths studied her own and suddenly she felt sheepish under his gaze. 'You'll have to pull your weight with hunting patrols, and with the females,' he elucidated, tilting his massive crown. Slowly, Krissa began to feel her rigid shoulders relax. He was accepting her? He suddenly reached out with a long sinewy arm and gripped one of her fragile limbs. "Good human. Maurice, Rocket- my father was.. right to trust."

Her eyes widened, dark lashes fluttering in confusion. 'I thought…' she trailed.

A pleasantly warm smile took on his thin ape lips. 'Visited me, in a dream.'

A dream? Thank heavens for that… Krissa was unsure if they had some sort of afterlife sorted out for them, or if they praised some sort of spirit or god, but they sure as hell had followed Caesar religiously. She wasn't surprised that his wisdom was thought of even years after his passing. Krissa's lips twitched and she nodded, but her eyes eventually fell. She had to consider all the apes within the colony, not just those who agreed. Pine… Cornelius's hand fell away. "Something.. else?" he asked gently, tenor vocals laced with disappointment. He could read her like an open book, it seemed. Apes were good at that, probably because body language was a huge part of their communication.

"Slate and his brother… they fight because of me. I don't want that." Krissa shook her head and took a deep breath, allowing her eyes to fall closed. Surely there had been tension before her arrival, but it seemed as though her presence had caused it to ignite into a hungry flame. 'I want to be here peacefully. Not cause conflict.'

There was a heavy lull, filled only by the cheerful birdsong in the canopy and the swaying of the autumn leaves. Krissa hugged herself, eyes trained on her toes. "Will give you.. Time," Cornelius finally suggested. Her chin tilted up and she looked up from beneath thick lashes. The prince held a look of understanding. 'Apes will always fight. We are family… they will become more comfortable now that you're part of it.'

Krissa hadn't quite thought of it that way. She swallowed gently and squeezed her eyes shut, nodding. "Just think. Give me .. an answer later," he reassured, reaching out and tapping a knuckle just beneath her jaw. 'For now, you are welcome to call ape village home.'

"Thank you," she breathed softly. With one last look of confirmation and a nod of her prince's head, the ape turned and dropped back down to all fours. Their journey continued, Krissa now feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

The human let out a hiss of pain as Krissa tended to his scraped and bruised face. His long nose was gashed rather deep, the cut glistening with unshed blood. His dark brown eyes pinched in pain, his teeth gritting visibly from between peeled lips. "Jeez girl!" he grumbled, shutting his bronze lids in complaint. Remaining silent, she continued to dab gently with a ball of cotton, sterilizing what she could. It had been so long since she had last communicated with a human being, so what else was she supposed to do? The two humans sat alone together, the stranger tied up just as she had been the day of her arrival, under the shelter of the Education Tree. It's massive branches shielded them from the showers outside, the cinereal sky spitting frigid droplets. Off a ways was Slate, staring off the other direction, his dark coat still disheveled and matted in places. "It's going to get him into trouble some day." Krissa had been right to think so.

Slate had stepped in just before Pine had had the chance to attack her, bringing his brother to the muddy ground and turning what had once could have been seen as a heroic act into in a mindless battle for power. The brawl had lasted perhaps two or three minutes before Cornelius had finally gone to intervene, although his attempt had evidently been thwarted when she had been first to the plate and pried Slate off of his sibling. Krissa knew that he wouldn't have made it in time. Pine would have died, and what's worse, her prince could have gotten himself hurt. They had immediately separated the two, Marshal hurrying his friend to the Medicine Tree so he could have him looked after. Slate, on the other hand, was now sulking off a ways, unable to even look her way. The council's silence left a looming cloud of "what-if" hanging above their heads. Krissa knew he would be punished.. But how severely?

"Could ya be a bit gentler?" asked the man settled on his back end, arms strapped behind his back. He peered up at her with one eye purple and swollen shut, the other displaying his obvious pain. Again, she did not answer, refusing to even give him a second's glance. Yanking his face to the side, she searched his collar with probing chartreuse eyes. A grunt escaped him. This was his fault. Finding no more cuts, she forced him down onto his side, his shoulder supporting him. Awkwardly, he shuffled, then allowed his cranium to rest on the hard stone. Krissa wrinkled her nose as she attempted to pull his shirt up and examine his sides that he had been gripping so arduously. "Okay, silence. I get it," he mumbled, still trying to strike up a conversation. She could feel other apes looking at her, feel them silently scrutinizing her actions. Did she care right now? No.

Nobody but Slate, Maurice and Poppy had shown her kindness on her first day. Without someone looking after this man, he could perish from infection or other unseen wounds. It was hard to work with this jerk's arms pinned to his sides. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she weighed her options. "So are you one of those people who can't talk? Like an animals trapped inside of a human body? 'Cause I've seen tons of 'em and you sure don't act like 'em." He spoke with a Boston accent, something she had only heard when she had gone to the coffee shop in downtown Chicago. She missed Mac. Without really considering all the attention she had upon her, Krissa reached down and used the knife strapped to her thigh to cut the bindings around him. The stranger was shocked at first, but then moved more comfortable, propping himself up with an elbow. The survivor eyed him for a little while before she figured she could trust him.

Krissa felt him leer over in her direction, but continued to ignore him. There was silence as she finally pulled up his clothing and began to feel his bruised side. Cracked, perhaps, but not broken. Marshal hadn't done his worse. Pulling him to sit up once again, the stranger let out a groan of complaint but said nothing. So he finally taken the hint that she wanted him to shut his trap?

"Why are you up here?" asked the man. No, no he hadn't.

"Why are you?" Krissa shot back, keeping her green eyes glued to his wrists as she began to clean a nasty cluster of cuts. He seemed almost startled, flinching at the sound of her voice. Finally, her head came up and their eyes met. A smirk laced his lips.

"She speaks," he mused, then his expression became stale, realizing he wasn't going to easily get her to join him in his own entertainment. Losing his smile, he observed her as she crossed her legs and sat in front of him, long buck knife in hand. His brown eyes nervously shot between Krissa's weapon and then to her face. "No. I meant up here.. With them."

Krissa felt her belly harden, angry that he even questioned her for a second. She curled her lip and tilted her chin up in defiance. "This is my home. I live here."

"And you aren't.." Her head tilted slightly to the side, her raven brows lowering upon her face. The stranger seemed to hesitate to spit out the word lodged in his throat. The stranger's gaze darted over her. Maybe she looked out of place to him, although Krissa couldn't help but feel that the two looked just the same: her hair was a wild tangle of curls, her freckled cheeks smeared with mud and dirt, and her pants dirty from months of going unwashed. Her NASA shirt was tied for better use and exposed a slight peek at her skin beneath, her burgundy sweatshirt tied tightly around her belt and her hips. Her arms and legs were muscular and strong. To tie it all together, Krissa was barefoot. "Sick?"

Sick? She cocked a brow and curled her lip. "No," she responded simply. "I've never been sick, in fact. The flu never got to me." Realization seemed to wash over his battered features, something slowly dawning on him. Krissa shot Slate a partial glance, catching his tawny gaze hovering over the two before they both averted their gazes in adamant. Swallowing nervously, she gave him a once-over. Apprehensively, she then asked, "Have you?"

"No," revelled the other man. Krissa felt as if she had just been hit by a steamroller, that single word of confirmation enough to cause her own stubbornness to melt away, revealing a look of shock. The two humans gawked at one another. Her heart began to hammer between her ears- no? There were others like her? Other living, breathing humans aside from Nova? She wasn't the only one… "There are others like us! We have an entire group-" Krissa's eyes fell to the side and she turned her head away from him, hiding behind a wall of ebony tangles. He continued to speak, chatting at a mile a minute. "- we've made camp an hour's walk from here. We were heading for this little town on the other side of the mountain and had stopped because we were runnin' low on food."

"What made you come up here?" she asked, her head tilting up to look over at a few orangutans settled up in the trees by the entrance of camp. Sharp was among them, he and his brother on sentry duty. That meant his sister was out picking apricots. Her knife slowly dragged over the stone, leaving a long white line.

"Lookin' for fish, following the river," he answered.

"It's not smart.. The river draws animals, prey and predators alike," Krissa drawled, finally tilting her head up to face him. Despite her resentment for Slate's constant reminders, they certainly came in handy when she needed wisdom. "The waterfall is our fishing spot. There's a pool where we go to cool off in the summer.."

"How long have you been with these monkeys?" the stranger grilled, his voice holding bewilderment.

"They're apes," Krissa snapped, jaw tightening. There was a beat as they both exchanged a look. Drawing back, she straightened her posture and sheathed her knife. Okay, he deserved an answer just as she did. "I don't know. For a few months, maybe." The conversation died down from there, dwindling to silence. Her chartreuse gaze hardened as it found Slate, sitting with his face becoming tacky from blood. The man across from her shifted and she stiffened, ready to take him down if he were attempting to make a move. His head turned to follow her survey of the dark grey chimp. "Man, he knows how to party, doesn't he?"

Krissa couldn't hold back the snort of amusement that built up in her nose. Turning her head, she looked over to see him simpering at her. So what if he made her laugh? "That's one way of saying it," she agreed bitterly. "Slate and his brother don't get along that well. You saw the worst of it.."

"Slate? They have names?" Oh, had he not known?

"Yeah, like you and I.."

He seemed entertained by this. He chuckled at the thought, earning an arch of her brow. "And what's your name? Leaf?"

Giggling, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "No, my name is Krissa," she replied, reaching up to tuck the hair back behind her ear. It felt good to talk to a reasonable human being like herself. Well, sort of. The stranger's brown eyes gleamed and he gave her a fond leer, smirking gently. Krissa couldn't believe that this was what she felt as she peered at his unshaven, bruised and puffy face. "Do you have one?"

"Well Krissa, I do in fact have a name," he replied, nodding softly. "People call me Nic. Now can you do somethin' about my eye, sweetheart? I like being able to see."

"Nic, as in Nicolas?" Krissa inquired, unaware of how his name brought a smile to her face. The young woman propped herself back up on her knees and began to examine his swelling eye. It certainly looked like it would need something cold to bring down the swelling, but she didn't think that the apes had some ice laying around. Instead, she began to wrack her brain for other sorts of compresses and herbs. Maybe Poppy would know? "Well Nic," she said, mocking his previous phrase. "I might need to talk to the others about plants that will bring down that nasty puffiness you've got there."

"As long as it don't smell, I'm down," he concurred, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Trust me, I don't think I can find anything that smells worse than you," Krissa teased, giving his nose a flick. The other human let out an exclamation and quickly reached up, preparing to flick her in return. Ducking out of the way, she swiftly shot forward and gave him a shove. Krissa let out another laugh as he fell back, the sound carrying across the village square, oblivious to the sets of tawny and emerald turning their way. It felt good to laugh and spend time with her own kind for once. Nic was a refreshing glass of lemonade to her parched throat, and she welcomed every drop of his humor with relish.

This did not last long, unfortunately.

Suddenly, in a brutish flurry of fur, a bulky body manifested out of thin air and intervened with a hearty growl. Krissa was thrown to the ground, earning a soft cry of protest. She knew exactly who the culprit was as she gazed upon his hulking shoulders and long muscular limbs. "Slate- what are you-" she began, but her words stilled within her mouth and hung upon her tongue as the chimp whirled on her, his tawny eyes cutting right through her willowy frame. Swallowing hard, she met his gaze but said nothing, knowing that he was silently challenging her to speak against his actions. Perhaps she would have talk back to him any other day, but she was hardly given time as the ape had finished retying their captive's hands and then whirled around once more, snatching her arm up in his long fingers. Krissa hissed as she was being lead away from Nic, reluctantly following as the dark grey chimp sunk to all fours, stalking forward and using his weapon to help himself walk. shooting him a look of apology over her shoulder as soon as she was released from Slate's grip. Why was she even keeping pace with him? He had no right to decide where she was to go. She felt her shoulders tense and she stilled in her tracks, eyeing the females that leered over in her direction, having noticed the escapade between her, Slate and Nic and almost grinning in a cheeky manner. Her lip curled and their heads slowly turned, one by one. He had no right to embarrass her as if she were a child!

Slate had noticed that she had stopped and was not turning her body in Nic's direction, and let out a pant-bark of frustration. The male quickly cut her off, rising to all fours and coming face-to-face with Krissa. He was inches away, his hot breath hissing across her cheeks, yet she held strong, giving him a look of disgust that read, "really?" Okay, maybe he did have that power over her. The male returned to his typical apeish posture and Krissa finally wheeled around, stalking off in the direction of their shared hut. Glancing over her shoulder one last time, she just caught a glimpse of Slate as he bristled and stared over at the other human, practically oozing testosterone as he asserted dominance.

"Males.." she grumbled under her breath before quickening her pace.

'What has gotten into you?' Krissa finally snapped, rounding on the adult male with her chartreuse eyes wide as saucers. Her brows were heavy and her freckled cheeks flushed from anger. She had had enough of his bullshit- he was getting on her nerves. She looked upon him, settled by the entrance upon his haunches, his head turned slightly in her direction, peering at her form the corner of his opticals. Without an answer, she simply continued to tear into him. Somehow, his silence pissed her off further. She had worried about him to a point where she had cried for a good five minutes after the twins' scuffle, only to be left alone as he simply stared off after his limping brother as he leaned into his companion. He had not signed nor spoken a word to her since the day before. 'First you nearly kill your brother, then you act exactly as he does!'

Edging closer, she noticed how his eyes averted almost in shame- if she had to guess, that was. Instead of shutting up, she began to vocalize her opinion, so he wouldn't be ignoring her. Krissa looked him over, aching to break that unspoken boundary between the two and examine his blood-smeared face and get a good look at that wrist he was favoring. Was that even his spear? "You scared me.. You scared everybody," she spoke, articulating each word with dynamism. "I woke up this morning thinking things might be different, but the first time I even get a chance to see you, you stalk right past me. I felt as though I were just… invisible. As if I were non-existent to you."

When she was met with more reticence, her seething veins fizzled out, defeated. Slumping down next to Slate, she curled her legs beneath her and sat on them, slouching so she could try and meet his eyes. His head turned and he let his eyes fall once again, avoiding her altogether rather than peering at her partially. Krissa felt her jaw set. "You just nearly beat Pine to death… don't you feel anything?" His eyes rose slowly and stared out toward the village that peeped through the archway. Her words hung in the air like a clump of looming vultures, circling and circling..

"Pine lied," Slate rasped, husky voice grating between her ears. Krissa slowly came to sit upon her behind, allowing her legs to curl inward just as they had done moments ago while visiting with Nic.

"He.. lied?" she echoed, drawling on the words in confusion. "Well.. I hate to break it to you, but your brother isn't exactly the kind to tell the truth."

If Slate's head had turned any faster, the bones in his neck would have snapped and popped. The look in his eyes caused something to stir in her throat, as if she needed to cry. The skin upon his face was purplish, his nostrils caked in blood and his lip slightly split in one place. One of his apeish brows held a gash, and his left eye was slightly puffy. His endurance and bounce-back completely left her aghast. 'He lied!' Slate repeated, his hands holding great force. 'He lied about father, about mother- he kept secrets from Poppy, from me-'

Father? Mother? Wait- hadn't it been established that Hail and Ring were their parents? Well, adoptive, sure, but… if Pine had lied about the two chimpanzees, just how big had this lie been? "Slate, I... I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured softly, her lashes fluttering in puzzlement. Reaching out to touch his arm, she attempted to make sense of it. "Please, I want to know.."

Clearly frustrated, Slate waved a hand of dismissal over in her direction and turned his head away, snarling under his breath. His shoulder tilted inward and he held himself firm, refusing to look at her once more. The ravenette flinched, the breath stilling in her throat for a moment before her fingers finally met the thick wiry fur growing upon his ulna. "Please…" she urged, her voice silky with milk and honey. Shuffling her body closer, Krissa gently coaxed him closer by giving his arm a small and gradual pull. Slate's entire body stiffened and his hair began to rise visibly in the late afternoon light. He was so stubborn… Sighing softly, she allowed her head to fall momentarily. She then straightened, trying a different approach. "Well at least let me have a look at your face.."

There was a tense lull before the simian unwound his tightened joints and turned his massive head toward her. His face was now closer, revealing more cuts upon his dark skin. Krissa frowned. Thankfully having grabbed her supplies before she had been so rudely forced to head home, she removed the cotton balls from her little medicine knapsack. She clicked her tongue and shook her head at the wounds, straightening up onto her knees and hovering over him. The ape drew back with a small whine of complaint, shrinking against the alcohol-soaked wipe and trying to get away from it's burning sensation. Eventually though, as she was looking down into his beautiful liquid jasper and cognac irises, he features relaxed to that of mild discontent and he allowed her to do her worst. It didn't take her long to finish up and then begin cleaning the matted patches of blood and dirt, making sure he was as good as new (or as good as new as an ape could get). Soon she returned to his primitive face and gently touched the gash upon his brow. Something stirred behind his gaze, flickering as thoughts ran rampant through his mind with no control or restriction. Before Krissa could remove her hand from his brow, she mindlessly allowed her fingers to glide up through his dark coat and continued to explore for any more wounds that she could not see. The gesture seemed to cause those clicking and whirring gears to stop, the male's breath whistling and hissing up into his nose as it hitched within his chest.

Krissa caught this tiny little gasp and stilled, peering down at him. His features crumbled, his steely facade gone. It was like looking upon the face of a broken child. Her lips parted and she went to speak about it, asking him why he suddenly seemed so crestfallen, but her words became entangled within her larynx. Slate unexpectantly ducked his head and curled his body into her's, his spear clamoring to the ground beside them with a wooden thunk. His head was warm pressed against her breasts and diaphragm, frame too large for her to wrap her arms around, yet she did so anyway, snaking her hand sup to his sides and bringing them to just clasp the fur upon his lower back. Krissa let out a soft laugh as he pushed her back, letting out an almost playful bray. With prying fingers, she began to gently tickle his sides, earning a hoot that startled her. The male then began to pant, chuckle, which indicated that he wasn't about to tear into her.

Slate then pulled away, the pair's mirth eventually dying down. They relaxed and sighed, both looking upon one another with a fond look. Unfortunately, it took the chimp's face only a few seconds to finally fall again, eventually reflecting an air of apologetic anguish. Krissa exhaled and shook her head, gazing in return and offering a soft and tender smile. There was an unspoken agreement between the two. She forgave him, it wasn't his fault. Not completely, at least…

Silently, Slate moved over and picked up the weapon she had been wondering about, and laid it upon her lap. Rolling it over, he began to show her all the symbols and the notches upon its shaft. After a moment, she glanced up at him and their eyes met once more. 'Is this your's?' she asked.

The weapon raised and rested blade pointed to the ceiling. The chimp's eyes followed it's point, then gracefully washed over's it's stem. His head eventually bobbed. "Yes…" he replied softly. Slowly, his gaze turned back to Krissa. 'My father's… Maurice gave it to me.'

Maurice? "So, Hail's then?" she assumed, but was soon answered with a shake of his cranium.

"Koba's."

She had heard that name before. Her throat became thick. Koba… only in faint whisperings around the hearths, or in stories told to white-tails- she knew bits and pieces about this unfathomably cruel ape, and could only draw darkness from the name, thus why a cold drop of fear ran down her spine. Her lips parted and she ended up staring at him, speechless. Koba had many title, to her own recollection: The human killer, the ruthless warrior, the bloodthirsty maniac, the oppressor of apes and man alike. "Koba… is your father?" she repeated, trying to make sense of it.

Slate nodded and then raised his hands to sign and gesture.

They sat together like that, even as Poppy entered and came to rest for the night, telling Koba's story and explaining how Mist, Button, Hail, Salt and Ring all played a part. They stayed up all night, even discussing Pine's secretive behavior, and the entire time Krissa simply allowed him to speak, telling her his story.

And by morning they were asleep together, in the same nest.

It was peaceful.

Author's Note: Heya pals, I'm sorry for not leaving an author's note in the last chapter. I have been pretty busy with working now, so like I've said before, progress may be slow, more or less.

We've finally hit 1,000 views!? What? I was screaming the day I saw this, and I'm pretty sure my entire family thought I was going to die. I'm surprised that they didn't break out the newspaper and hit me over the head a few times for being too loud.

Honestly, I'm blown away by how many people have been supporting this story and following the characters on this journey that is The Simian Forest.

If you haven't already, a prequel is in the works called Human Work (it can be found on my profile too). You can also check me out on Wattpad if you'd like (there are gifs and loads of other cool things there).

Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think of each chapter- it really keeps me going! Also, if you wanna hear more about the story and follow Krissa and Slate, feel free to drop a favorite/follow.

Love you guys so much xxx

Thank you so so much, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!