As warned, there is graphic content ahead! Tread carefully is all I am saying!


To Haley, it felt as if she stepped into heaven as she stepped out of the waterfalls. She didn't care that her clean skin left her bruises, scars, and scrapes more clear; she was overjoyed to finally feel her flesh relieved of its sweaty and sticky surface, and although her hair was still damaged and hard, she was glad to see its yellowish white tint for the first time in years. For a moment, all her troubles felt as if they had been washed away, allowing a relaxed sigh to brush pass her chapped, dry lips. She basked in the wondrous feeling until a cold breeze begun to nip at her skin and convinced her to put her coat back on in order to warm her unclothed body, her old clothing tied to the riverbank by a rope while the powerful streams attempted to wash the material clean. She didn't dare to think about her squabble with Koba as she sat down on the rocks next to the waters, looking like nothing more than a ball of fur with a head as she curled up underneath the Black Bear's pelt. Nevertheless, when you think of the devil, he shall appear.
When something suddenly crunched behind her, Haley nearly jumped out of her skin in shock before she quickly spun around to defend herself, but when she saw it was Koba, she only rolled her eyes and pulled the coat protectively around herself, nearly suffocating under its leathery interior. "Oh, what is it this time?" She muttered his way, completely oblivious to the fact that Koba was initially sent there against his will to apologize, "Come to get all up in my face with your disgusting one, or are you just here to look for a fight in any way possible, just to satisfy your deplorable needs?

Watching his face contort in rage from her vocal lashings made pride swell in her chest, but in one dreaded statement, her inflated pride was punctured, kicked, tossed aside, and walked on. "Told Caesar." He signed and watched as her face paled.
"Told h-him what?" She questioned with faked disinterest, seeing as she already knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Told Caesar about human's infatuation." He snapped without saying a word, his silent smugness disappearing underneath bubbling frustration, "He said human must leave."
"Liar!" She protested without a moment's hesitation and threw herself back to her feet to level with the cruel ape, her coat barely hiding what needs to be hidden on her nude body from his prying eyes. She couldn't believe that Caesar would ever say such a thing, not after how much they've been through together, but because of the fear she's been carrying in her heart since the moment she realized her feelings, Koba's every word stabbed, leaving her to wonder if Caesar did actually know and if he did want her to leave in response, with degust compelling his choice.

"Human thought ape would accept!?" He questioned with a ear-pitching and apish screech, which didn't really hit as far home as his words seemed to wound, "Ape and ape, human and human; that is how it should be."

"Shut up already!" She simply continued to deny his words from reality, shaking her head furiously - she couldn't believe his words: she just couldn't, "Can't you, for once, just walk away!?"

"Koba will when human leaves Caesar in peace." He finalized, grunting approvingly at his own conclusion, "Like Caesar wants!"

"That's it!"

Haley finally had enough, her anger and pain tipping over and overflowing like a volcano an instant, all of his taunting and tormenting mashing together in a single thought, and leaped for the figure in front of her, her muscular frame actually managing to tackle Koba to the ground. "Always saying the exact thing you think would hurt me," She yelled, fighting against his thrashing beneath her and doing everything she could to land a few punches of her own, causing the occasional blow to his rubbery and scarred face, years of swinging from trees paying off in ways she never expected, "Treating me like garbage - no, worse than garbage - like garbage that's been eaten and shat back out - garbage that looks like you!" For one final punch, she rose her fist to her crazed eyes, baring her teeth like the animal below her, but before she even had the chance, the air was knocked from her frail lungs in one impossibly powerful kick that sent her body flying through the air like she weighed nothing. Her startled cry was cut short when her form splashed back into the river, her head colliding with the stone bottom of the river with a silent crack, drawing just a prickle of blood from her skull that quickly dispersed into the clear liquid. She barely had time to struggle against the stream in her daze, however, before five strong fingers latched harshly onto her hair and jerked her back to the water's surface, earning another pained cry from her lips. Through her lightheadedness, she pointlessly scratched Koba's hand to be released as she was dragged to the riverbank, but in no time at all, she was tossed, face-first, back onto the rocks, the ragged and solid corners cutting easily into her delicate skin. She barely registered another apish and frightening scream before she felt Koba's foot press down on the back of her neck, forcing the side of her face to squish against the solid surface with an exhausted whimper. Just one more loud scream from him and she stopped trying to fight back, making him slam her face down one last time before he stepped away, holding himself high in his victory, and after a few unrhythmic breaths, she realized that victory was exactly what he had - victory over everything she still had left.

"Congratulations," She croaked and shakily pushed herself onto her hands and knees, allowing her to cough a few droplets of water from her lungs before she continued, "you won - you just defeated a lowly human." She knew that her admittance of defeat - or rather, her way of admitting defeat - would only antagonize Koba more, but she didn't care, seeing as she wasn't lying. She felt utterly defeated; her entire world felt as if it was no different than the droplets of water that were falling from her hair and shattering against the stones underneath her.

Just as she expected, her words hit the ape hard, and, not even a second later, an enraged growl echoed around her and her body was flung through the air yet again, only a faint yelp escaping her when she fell on her back against the stones farther away, her drenched coat luckily protecting her from further damage. A single groan escaped her once the world settled, but when she moved to get up, Koba's figure suddenly loomed over her, his powerful hands pressing her tired wrists down besides her head. Nevertheless, she didn't feel scared - she laid bare in front of the one ape that wanted her dead, but she knew she had nothing to lose; after all, if she survived, she'd have to leave the village and be on her own again, so what was there for her?

"Go ahead and kill me," she inevitably edged him on, relaxing her entire body against the stones and shutting her eyes in a strange peace, "but tell me, as an ape who'd tell me the truth no matter how cruel it may be," she continued, her small voice breaking as she clenched her fists so tight they shook from the pressure, "in another life, would it have been possible for Caesar, an ape, to have found me appealing, even if just a little?"

Even Koba couldn't help but soften his demanding physique at her words, his entire body seeming to slump at the defeat in her voice, and when she didn't even fight back when he let down his guard, his unintentional pity for her only grew. His scowl fell immediately while he merely stared down at her, but when her words truly sink in, another type of anger formed within him - an anger of defeat. Koba knew, if he killed her now, there would be no satisfaction and no victory, because that's exactly what she wanted - to die and be put out of her misery. Though, when his single seeing eye skimmed over her exhausted, gasping, and nude body, the black fur wrapped around her arms and legs like the skin of an ape, his thoughts drifted to her second question, and slowly, he felt something grow in him that he never wanted.

A single gasp escaped Haley when she felt warm, wet fur press flush against every inch of her body, Koba's heavy and sturdy frame resting on her without any warning and drawing a faint, involuntary whimper from her mouth, but she didn't say another word, nor make another sound, as his dry and harsh lips brushed over her soft skin, his tongue licking any bleeding wound he could find, and merely looked away, shutting her eyes as quickly as she could to try and block him out - she knew exactly what was coming, but she didn't do anything to stop Koba from doing whatever he wanted to her, her body simply laying there limp and worn out. She told herself, just this once, so she'd be able to know what one night with Caesar would have been like. She told herself, once would be enough to hate this and to realize that Caesar is an ape and it wouldn't have been possible to be together. But as two strong arms held her small body down without mercy or grace, littering her body in even more bruises, scratches, and the occasional bite-mark, she cursed herself with the truth: she knew Caesar would never have held her like that - he would have been gentle and kind, and he would have made sure that she went unscathed.

Strange, she realized, how, just when she finally cleaned the surface, she was darkened on the inside to the point of no return - she really was disgusting.


Ugh, this chapter is finally over - awfully written, yes, but over! This chapter was a part of my idea from the very start (yup, I have this entire story summarized in terrible handwriting on a damaged piece of paper), so apologies for those who hate it, but it's important. Ahem, anyways... so there you go! One down and still many to go! So what do you guys say? Do you want to save Haley from Koba taking advantage of her in her weak moment, or do you want to punish Haley for betraying her feeling for Caesar?