The night seemed more eerie than all others as Haley gazed pass thick tree roots to watch apes of all shapes and sized scavenge Muir Woods underneath the moon-lit skies. Carefully, Haley skulked back into the darkness of the camouflaged pit at the tree's foot and redirected her focus on her task at hand – though, with great reluctance. Gnashing her teeth in anger, Haley harshly tied the ripped piece of cloth around Foster's leg to stop the bleeding, tying down the flesh in which her sharp arrow had once torn through, and watched with satisfaction as he winced, all while wishing she could just announce their hiding place to the apes outside so a few of them could storm inside and take him off her hands. That, or Ellie could show up and do a proper job, anything that would lead humans away for good. After having spent a few minutes below ground and out of sight, the irony of her predicament hasn't gone unnoticed; glancing behind her and to Blue Eyes, who still stood by the exit on watch, Haley wondered if he would stop her again if she tries to get rid of Foster, but she knew, despite him being the last one of the three of them who should, that he would, and so, she only grumbled incoherently.

"You killed Kemp." Foster announced finally, as if still trying to process it himself, but his words didn't have the impact he might've expected and only earned him a scowl.

"And you killed my friend." Haley spat with one final and unsympathetic tug on his makeshift bandage, more pleased than ever that he bucked in pain. She knew it wasn't him who had done it, but somewhere deep down she also knew she had to justify her kill. For as long as possible, she hoped life would remain in chaos and keep her from admitting what she had done. She wished it was Carver, instead, who met her attack – she wouldn't have given a single care if that was the case. Still, despite her own behavior and retaliation against him, Foster seemed almost disheartened by her words – he had forgotten how attached she was to the ape king. He was dying to know why.

A sudden gibber intervened and stopped him from asking about it, however, Haley flinching at the sound before she whisked around in alarm, just in time to see Blue Eyes silently calling for someone outside. Despite her previous wanting, Haley immediately rushed to the ape's side, latched onto his shoulders, and pulled him away from the exit. "What are you thinking!?" She signed briskly and didn't give him chance to answer before she turned back to the hole of beaming moonlight. He tried to hoot for her attention, but she merely raised her hand quickly and signaled for him to shush. The ground outside crunched under searching steps, compelling Haley to gulp at the tension in her throat, and eventually, she creped forward, curiosity and inner quarry compelling her, but as soon as she peered through the thick bundle of tree roots, her eyes shot wide.

At the side of the hole, still resting on the ground, Foster fumbled through the pockets of his cargo pants and pulled out a blade for protection before he pressed himself deeper into the moist wall, his nerves growing tight in panic. If anyone found him there, he knew he was going to meet the same end as Kemp; he hadn't known the officer long, but he didn't need to know him to know that his end was a terrifying way to go. Yes, Blue Eyes protected Foster before, though he had no idea why, but he had brains enough to know that it won't work a second time – not against the entire troop. In a single night, his training in the military felt like nothing: he was no more than a sitting duck in there, which was a special present from Haley's enhanced archmanship, a quality Foster only knew what to call thanks to Alex's comic book. For the tenth time that night, he found himself praying that the others were alright. Soon enough, however, his breath hitched with fear for his own life instead, the sight of Haley slipping outside weighing heavy in his heart. He could hear a small, familiar, and kind exchange outside, though he couldn't make anything more out, but still felt justified enough to raise his shaking hand and pocket knife in front of him when footsteps skulked nearer. Only when a figure crawled inside, Haley following close behind, did he collapse against the ground with a relieved sigh, sluggishly slipping his weapon back into its place.

In a joyous reunion, Ash embraced his ape friend, relieved to see he hadn't been harmed by the humans; however, he was still in dismay after Haley told him with great opposition that they were actually protecting one of them. "Don't know what happened; all knew Carver hate apes." Blue Eyes explained sullenly – it wasn't like he wanted to protect the humans above avenging his father, but he knew his father would want him to know everything before he acts, "But father still trusted others – how this different?"

Ash wasn't sure if he understood Blue Eyes' reasoning – Koba said to attack human village, which was where he was heading moments earlier, so that was what he thought he should do – but somehow, the annoyed scoff that Haley gave against his friend's words made him nod in agreement. Somehow, he knew Blue Eyes was right. "Go tell others." Ash proposed with a small hoot, excited to put the sparked madness to an end before it grew to a flame more frightening than the one engulfing their village, but as he turned around to leave, Haley quickly blocked his way.

"Bad idea." Haley shook her head. Though she hated being there, she felt obligated to listen to the prince, as if Caesar inside of him burned strong, which it did: every word he said was like an unwelcomed reminder of her newly deceased love.

"Thought Haley would be by Koba's side faster than apes." Ash signed, unsure to a point of almost being curious to why she was even there, but unlike the explanation he was probing for, Haley froze at his observation while knowing blue eyes saddened behind him and out of sight. It was as if Haley only then realized that she should be with her mate, or at least be following his wishes, but unlike what he was seeing, it was terror that suddenly hit the woman – she could only imagine Koba's fury if he ever knew what she was doing, shakily trailing her fingers along the scar on her shaved temple to remind herself how he retaliated the last time. Swallowing her fear, however, she spoke with purpose, "He hurt me: I believe my blind respect for him went lost at that single blow."

"Hurt. Before." Blue Eyes added with a harsh grunt and without thinking, grabbing Ash's attention and not bothering to see Haley's alarmed face, "Haley not willing mate—"

Ignoring the raw dismay already clouding across their friend's face, Haley swiftly grabbed Blue Eyes' arm and tugged him away – unfortunately, they barely had enough room to stand up in, let alone to have a private conversation, but as long as it stopped him from signing, she didn't care. "Remember what I told you?" She warned under her breath, "I swear, if you say another word…"

"Didn't speak," the little smartass pointed out, but only earned him an accusing glower.

"Fine. If you ever sign or speak the truth, I will kill you," She renegotiated, her newly unenthusiastic threat only amusing the ape despite the situation, and quickly recalled that she only told him not to tell Caesar, "no matter to who." Nevertheless, that didn't change the fact that Ash already had an inkling of what was going on.

Stepping closer, he grabbed the two's attention, even Foster's, who was still lying, completely confused, on the ground. He really needed to learn sign, he told himself. "Koba," Ash began in a sorrowful pace, "did he ra—"

"Not the time." Haley interrupted, but it was more a matter of her not being ready to talk about it, so, if one looks at it that way, it really wasn't the time – not her time. "We should stay down here until everything cools down up top." She continued with a sigh and sat her tired body down as far from Foster as possible – she didn't trust herself around him, "Might as well get some rest, too." The apes looked to each other, silently pleading for the other to continue the conversation, one wanting to know the truth and the other wanting to tell it, but eventually they were defeated by reason and sat down as well, one placed close enough to the exit to watch for intruders. That, however, did not stop Ash's eyes from meeting Foster's for a moment before they skimmed the human male's wounded leg.

"What happened to him?" He signed carefully, by some means knowing that Haley didn't want to talk about that either, and indirectly making Foster give up trying to understand them and making him rest his head back for sleep. Blue Eyes tore his gaze from watch and onto the man, just to see if the wound was truly still there and that he did, in fact, witness his friend going berserk, but eventually he could only bow in the presence of reality and told Ash of what happened hours earlier.

Weak chapter, but hay, it's been forever since I've posted: I'm just happy my flu finally passed (which of course lasted my entire Fall Break) and that I could update! Hoozah! Also, thank you all for encouraging me to keep going and for being so patient with me! Btw, I totally just thought about putting Ash and Foster together in the future. No idea why, but lmao, I am so weird. The strange thoughts I get when writing worry me!