Ivy

Gripping the bow firmly within her hand, Ivy followed Lydia through the forest's lush undergrowth, slow and deliberate as she felt the earth give way beneath her feet.

In front of her, Lydia was moving forward in much the same manner, though Ivy could easily tell by the way that the woman carried herself that she was far more experienced in the art of hunting stealthily. Her strides were long, but steady, and every movement she made was purposeful, yet smooth and unhurried.

Ivy thought to herself that the woman reminded her of a mountain lion on the prowl.

Her bow was drawn in front of her, lowered, but at the ready in case an unfortunate animal should cross her path, and her dogs, Storm and Blaze, were trudging along just as quietly only a few paces away, sniffing for prey.

Be it deer, duck or hare, they would fall to Lydia's arrows, Ivy knew that much. She had seen it happen plenty of times before by now.

The young female chimp had been with the woman on several hunts already, learning to put her newfound skill with a bow to use and to help Lydia carry the kills back to the colony.

She could still remember the excitement she had felt bubbling up inside her chest when Lydia had first suggested she come along, even though Ivy's mother, Juniper, had been hesitant to agree to it at first.

"Come now, what good will all this practice do her if she won't get to use it?" Her father, a stocky chimp with his bottom left canine missing, had signed reassuringly to Mother. "We both know our daughter was not made for weaving baskets all day, Juniper."

Her father was called Shale, so named for his grey, wiry fur, which was only a few shades darker than Ivy's own, and which contrasted greatly to Mother's smooth, black pelt. They had always been an odd pair, her parents. Opposites that fit perfectly well together, with Mother's gentle, careful nature against Father's gruff, pragmatic personality.

Ivy had beamed at Father for the support, the faith he had put in her. While Mother had more often than not been concerned with Ivy's independent, adventurous streak, believing that it would discourage anyone from choosing her as a mate, Father had instead encouraged it, believing that it made her stand out from the rest of her peers. That it would not attract just any mate, but the right one.

"It is not a question about the number of suitors she will have, dear, but what kind of apes they are." He had often signed when the topic had come up late in the night, when Ivy had been sneaking peeks at her parents' signed conversations after they thought she had gone to sleep.

Needless to say, it was a subject the two had discussed often.

But as usual, Mother had been persuaded by Father's reasoning, and Ivy had been allowed to go with Lydia.

"Not like I could stop her anyway." She remembered her mother had said afterwards with a huff. "She is seven winters old. Almost an adult female in her own right."

And throughout this entire conversation, Lydia had just stood there, quietly observing the exchange while it had been obvious that she fully expected her suggestion to be accepted in the end. She had even winked knowingly at Ivy when Father had first interjected, making the young she-ape suppress a bright smile until her parents had reached an agreement.

Ivy could only chuckle at the memory now, several successful hunts later.

Returning to the present, she continued to follow Lydia along the barely visible trail some deer had left through the forest. The human woman had taught her that both she and the large hunting parties of apes followed these trails to find their prey, but whereas the apes set up a surprise attack and would chase herds of deer into an ambush, Lydia had to sneak up as close to her prey as possible and pick just one animal.

That knowledge had provided Ivy with a whole new level of respect for the human woman, because she knew that meant Lydia would have to hunt several times rather than just concentrate it all into one wave of chasing. She had often come home with more than one kill, which meant that she would have had to move on from area to area, building up every new hunt just as she had the previous one. Ivy had never thought of that before Lydia had taken her out hunting, always just assuming that she must have done it like everyone else, and that she only went to hunt on her own because she was human and couldn't keep up with the apes in the trees.

Ivy had never tried hunting like the ape males usually did, but she was pretty sure that she would prefer Lydia's method either way.

There was something meditative about this way of hunting. Being hyperaware of everything around you and controlling your movements so that they blended in with the forest. There was so much to think about and yet, it felt so natural that Ivy didn't feel like she was thinking at all.

She just felt.

Felt the breeze and the mossy forest floor. Felt her own breathing and the tightening and loosening of her muscles as she zeroed in on her target, step by step, breath by breath.

It was tranquil and riveting all at once, and she was only too happy that it was Lydia who was teaching her all of this.

She would welcome any opportunity to get closer to Orion's mother, really, and they did seem to have a lot in common.

Suddenly, Lydia stopped in front of Ivy, and the young female ape immediately halted her movements behind her human companion, waiting for instructions. The dogs stopped too and crouched down to lie flatly against the grass, something Lydia had trained them to do when she raised her hand in a certain way. It wouldn't do for the canines to disrupt the hunt – they were tracking deer, after all.

Lydia waved Ivy forward and the chimp snuck up beside the woman as stealthily as she could manage, at once spotting the little group of five deer, all of them does, grazing in the small clearing a few yards in front of the two huntresses.

"You take one, I take one?" Lydia signed, keeping her sentence simple as she still held her bow with her other hand. She inclined her head towards the deer, raising a questioning brow as she did so.

The she-ape's mouth fell agape at the question. Her? Downing a deer with her bow?

Sure, she had managed to kill a few hares on her previous hunts with Lydia, but she had missed the shot plenty of times too. For now, more times than she had hit her mark in fact, whereas Lydia seemed to hit nearly every time.

Sure, deer were larger than hares and therefore easier to hit, in theory, but to Ivy, they just seemed so much more massive. With a hare, one just needed to aim at the body and the arrow would be almost certain to hit something vital, but on a deer, there was a lot more room for errors. Lydia often spoke about how it was important to hit the animal around its chest area, seeing as a hit in a hindleg or stomach would mean the animal could manage to run away. If that happened, Lydia had explained, it would only prolong the beast's suffering, as it could walk with such an injury for days, even weeks, before succumbing to the wound – And Lydia was a firm believer in treating animals with care and respect, even if they were going to end up as a meal.

Ivy suddenly felt self-doubt creep into her mind.

"Really? A deer?" Ivy signed, excited and apprehensive all at once. "What if I fail?"

There was also the risk that the prey would disappear if she missed, and then it would be harder to track once it understood that it was being pursued. It might mean that they would return to the colony empty-handed, and Ivy didn't want that either.

Truly, it was a thrill to be a huntress, but it also came with a lot of pressure. And a lot of responsibility towards both the prey and the colony it was meant to feed.

But Lydia would be shooting too, so at least there was that.

The human woman offered a lopsided smile at Ivy's uncertainty, instantly easing the tension the ape felt.

"Then we consider it a lesson." She answered, blue eyes glinting with mirth. "And move on to the next one."

The young she-ape appreciated her teacher's honesty. How she didn't try to pretend that there was no way Ivy would fail. No false reassurances that she would definitely down her prey when the chance of her failing was very real. Even so, Lydia still managed to be a very encouraging and engaging teacher.

She had once told Ivy how she had taught herself archery, without any form of guidance, and that thought alone had made the young female ape's jaw drop in wonder.

"My mistakes were my teachers." The human woman had explained. "If I had never made them, then I wouldn't have known what not to do. That's why I'm not afraid of failing."

Looking at her teacher now, Ivy nodded with newfound resolve and took her stance.

The dogs remained where they were, eyes shifting between their master and the prey they had helped her track.

"Which one?" Ivy asked before drawing her bow, turning her head to Lydia for a signed answer.

"You pick." Came the woman's answer before her blue gaze turned towards the deer once more. "The hunter chooses the target."

Right, the chimp thought, turning back to the task at hand as she examined the small group of animals in the clearing. They all seemed in good health, strong, slender and alert. So, she would just have to pick the one she thought would be easiest to hit, then.

She zeroed in on the doe closest to her, less than 20 yards away, and crouched gently to get better cover behind the vegetation surrounding the clearing. Given Lydia's position to Ivy's left, she would most likely take the one at the edge of the clearing, as it seemed to the ape to be the only one the woman had a clear shot at, with no branches obscuring the path of her arrow.

"We shoot on three when you're ready." The human signed beside her before taking her stance as well, placing her booted foot just beside Ivy's so that she could feel the ape female's taps.

It was a system they had developed some time ago, as a way to signal to each other when they were ready to shoot, so that they could do it simultaneously. It was quite ingenious, Ivy thought, as it provided her with a way of silently telling Lydia when exactly she felt ready to take the plunge. It boosted her confidence to know that it was her who called the shots – a fact the young ape was certain Lydia was aware of.

Shifting the arrow from one hand to the other to knock it, Ivy raised her weapon and began to take aim.

Try not to try. She repeated inside her mind like a mantra, as she always did when preparing to loosen her arrow. It was a sobering reminder for someone like Ivy, who always, always strived to do her best. Who was used to have to try, and sometimes so much harder than others seemed to do because of things like her gender and small stature.

Ivy fought to control her breathing as she steadied her bow. This was it, her first attempt at downing a deer.

And though Lydia would most likely ensure that they didn't go home without a kill, Ivy still felt the pressure mounting. Felt the thrill of the hunt. The desire to succeed.

She tapped Lydia's foot with her own, once. Twice. Thrice – and their arrows flew, almost completely in sync, from their hiding place among the thick vegetation that hid them.

A brief, whooshing sort of sound was the only warning the unfortunate deer had to alert them of the fact that something was amiss, and even then, they hardly got a chance to react before it was too late.

Too late for both Lydia's and Ivy's targeted does, that is.

The remaining three bolted into the thicket opposite the huntresses as their two companions fell to the ground with a dull thud, followed by a short moment of thrashing. The sound was slightly muffled by the moss and grass beneath them, but soon, even that stopped as well, the animals now lying dead on the ground.

And just like that, Ivy had killed her first deer. Her very first doe and on her very first, real try to boot!

She practically beamed at Lydia as they emerged from their hiding place, her emerald eyes shining with excitement and pride as she neared her kill.

On either side of the two huntresses, Storm and Blaze bolted forward to inspect the fallen does as well, tails wagging, and ears perked with obvious interest. They were funny beasts, those two.

As she came close, Ivy saw that her arrow had hit true, right through the animal's heart – one of the best places to hit for an almost instant death, and the one Lydia had recommended her because of the large target area, ideal for a novice hunter. A hit such as this, while effective, did mean that some meat would be lost during the butchering later on, but with two kills being made, Ivy figured it wouldn't be an issue.

Besides, Lydia's arrow had hit her doe in the neck, piercing one of the carotid arteries and causing an instant, massive blood loss. The human had taught her that such a shot meant less meat would be lost, but that it was risky to make, and not recommended if one wanted to be sure to come home with a kill. The arrow could miss the arteries or the spinal cord, which in turn meant the animal might escape – now with a serious and rather painful injury.

But Lydia's many years of experience meant she could make such shots without having to worry too much about that – something which Ivy envied and hoped that she would one day master as well.

With a teacher like Lydia, she was already on the right track.

"That was a great shot, Ivy! You hit it right where you were supposed to!" The human woman praised her, making the silvery she-ape's ears go slightly red. It was always nice to know that you were doing a good job, and the fact that this came from Lydia, who Ivy had come to see as a mentor and who she hoped would one day be her mother-in-law, just made it all the more special to her.

She just couldn't help getting flustered because… well, because it was Lydia! Her mentor and future mother-in-law! The only human member of the Royal Ape Council and Orion's mother!

"Thank you, Lydia." The young she-ape spoke softly, something she had begun to do a lot more since Orion had told her that he liked her voice.

He had done so before he had left and since then, Ivy had practiced her speech every day, wanting to develop it as much as possible for his eventual return.

The human woman in front of her seemed to approve of this too

"Now, let's wrap this up and get back home, shall we? I think two deer ought to be enough for now." She spoke easily as she reached down to carefully pry the arrow out of the doe's tender neck, another gush of blood spilling forth with the action.

She then stowed the arrow away in her quiver before reaching for the crude rope that was slung around her shoulder and then began the task of tying the doe's legs together so that it would be easier to carry.

Ivy, who had seen this being done several times by now, mimicked the human woman and started preparing her own kill for the trek home to the colony.

At first, she hadn't liked this part of the hunt, coming face to face with a beast whose life she had just stolen away, but Lydia had been quick to teach both Ivy, and everyone else who received instruction from her, that it was just another part of the hunt, and that the animals they killed should be treated with respect.

"We take its life so that we can live – it's only fair that we look at the result and don't waste anything once it's all said and done." She would often say.

Ivy could see the logic in that and so, did her best to follow these instructions every time she went hunting now.

The young ape female tightened the rope around her doe's thin legs and helped Lydia hoist it onto a long, thick branch that the woman had found, and where her own kill had already been placed. When that was done, the two each went to opposite ends of the branch and lifted it to the point where their kills were hanging upside down, their heads bobbing gently as the ape and the human began to head back through the forest.


They had been walking for quite a while, having put about a third of the distance back to the colony behind them, when Lydia suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as her dogs began to growl menacingly.

Ivy had never seen them do that before and immediately felt a chill creep up her spine.

She hooted concernedly at Lydia when the woman put down the branch they were carrying and reached for the bow slung across her back. Her posture seemed strangely rigid.

Then, she looked back at Ivy, brows knitted together in a suspicious frown.

"Hide, Ivy." She ordered quietly, and though she wanted to protest, Ivy felt compelled by her teacher's tone to do as she was being told. It was urgent and commanding, but also laced with obvious concern. "Keep your bow ready until I give a signal."

The chimp dropped the branch with their prey attached and quickly snuck towards the nearest tree, a relatively young redwood, where she climbed up to sit, hidden, among the lower branches. From here, she could see how Lydia then ordered her dogs away into the thicket – an odd move, Ivy thought, if there was danger ahead – but she didn't dare question the woman's actions right now.

Something about the way Lydia had looked as she had ordered Ivy to hide had filled the young ape's heart with apprehension.

And soon enough, she found out why Lydia had acted so strangely, as Ivy, too, became aware of the rustling of vegetation and the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

And voices… human voices!

"I told you, we're fucking lost, Hank!" One said, clearly irritated.

"You think the Colonel is gonna reward us for splitting from the division, huh?" Another followed shortly after with a hint of mockery. "Fuck if I know how you got me dragged into this shit…"

"He's gonna thank us once we find those damned monkeys and their base, I'll tell you." Came a third, more commanding voice. They were all male, Ivy could clearly tell that from the darker quality of the sound.

She did as Lydia had told her and pulled out her bow, knocking it with an arrow in preparation for what she now knew was to come.

Humans. Human males… and one of them mentioned the Colonel. The one the apes were fighting.

They are soldiers! Ivy realised with horror gripping her heart like an icy fist, squeezing it tight as the three men suddenly came into view.

And they had done so before Lydia had a chance to hide herself properly.

The woman raised her bow but didn't get to fire a single arrow before she was being held at gunpoint by the man at the forefront of the group, who had quickly raised his weapon to defend himself.

"Stay right there!" Lydia spoke harshly, aiming at the man with the gun – the obvious threat.

"What the…?" Said the man Ivy had first heard speak. He stood at the back of the group and looked a bit thin compared to his two, more burly companions. Apparently, he hadn't seen the need reach for his own weapon, as he stood with both arms down along his sides, a dumbstruck look on his face.

The man standing in the middle of the group had had the sense to take a defensive stance and keep a hand on the pistol strapped to his hip but seemed to wait for instructions from the man already aiming at Lydia.

Ivy slowly pulled back her bowstring, waiting.

Watching.

Listening.

"Oh my, what do we have here, boys?" The obvious leader of the group spoke leerily. The one with the commanding voice from before. He tipped his large gun slightly downwards, as if pointing with it. "Put that thing down, sweetheart, and nobody's gonna get hurt."

The woman didn't follow the order at first, keeping the bowstring pulled taut between her fingers.

"Better do as he says, girl. We've got the big guns here, after all." The thinner man in the back spoke, though not as menacingly sweet as his companion had done. It still wasn't a pleasant tone, though.

Lydia seemed to think it over for a second before she unceremoniously dropped her bow, and the soldier who had had his hand on his pistol stepped forward and grabbed her wrists harshly, twisting them around her back as he stood behind her.

"Look at this, guys." The thinner man, the one who had made up the group's rear, called as he crouched over the branch with Lydia and Ivy's kills tied to it – lying forgotten on the forest floor. "Looks like someone has been out hunting. And got quite a large catch too."

He rose to his full height once more and shared a look with his two companions.

Not good…

The leader of the group pursed his lips and turned to Lydia once more.

"Now…" He spoke, still in that obviously fake, friendly manner of speech. "What's a pretty thing like you doing all the way out here - all alone and vulnerable?"

His tone made even Ivy feel bile rise in the back of her throat. It was sickeningly sweet and threatening all at once.

Lydia's disgusted scowl wasn't visible from Ivy's position in the tree, but she could very well imagine it.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." The woman answered tersely, a dangerous edge to her voice beneath a thin veil of cold indifference.

Ivy had never heard Lydia speak like that, and momentarily slacked her bowstring in surprise when she did. The human woman's voice usually had a warm, playful note to it, befitting her friendly and easy-going demeanour. It was rare that she got so angry that her voice lost that quality, and the bright spark in her eyes was traded for a cold flame.

Few within the colony had witnessed this change in the woman for themselves, and those who had maintained that it was indeed unnerving to behold, and that they were happy never to have been subjected to Lydia's fury.

But the soldiers surrounding her now weren't too affected by it, getting right into Lydia's personal space as they held her firmly in place.

"Then let me tell you why it is, sweet cheeks." The lead-soldier replied almost mockingly. "See, the thing is, we've got someplace we need to find, and you look quite local to me."

He openly eyed her up and down with a raised brow, seemingly taking in Lydia's appearance. Her worn boots and deerskin pants, her hide jacket and thin, black shirt underneath. His gaze seemed to settle on her breasts.

Then, he licked his lips.

And Ivy felt sickened.

"So, here's what's gonna happen." He spoke, his face inches from Lydia's own. "You're gonna tell us where your companion is-"

"Companion? What the hell are you on about?" Lydia interrupted, and Ivy was amazed to discover that there still wasn't a trace of fright in her voice. "I hunt alone."

It happened in a flash, the fist that suddenly collided with Lydia's stomach, effectively making her upper torso launch forward as all of the air was pushed forcibly from her lungs by the impact.

Ivy's grip on her bow tightened, her entire body tense with anger and anticipation.

But Lydia had yet to give a signal, so the she-ape stayed her hand… for now.

"Shut the fuck up!" The leader of the three yelled, his demeanour changing in a split-second. "Don't you think we fucking know that your scrawny ass can't carry that thing?! Two deer? You want us to fucking believe you need that much for just yourself?!"

He pointed at the bounty from their hunt as he yelled into Lydia's face.

"You fucking dumb bitch!"

Anger swelled further inside Ivy's chest, the flames of rage and indignation scorching her insides as she watched what was going on below. How dare they?! How dare they gang up on a defenceless female like that? Threatening her! Humiliating her! Beating her!

Had they no respect for a female's honour?!

Why wasn't Lydia fighting back? Why hadn't she given a signal yet?

Did I miss it? Ivy thought as a dreadful chill crept up her spine. What if I have missed it?!

What else were these men going to do?!

To Ivy's mounting horror, that question was soon answered by the soldier holding Lydia still from behind, as he slipped an arm around the woman's throat and forced her to straighten once more. He pressed his face into the side of her neck, soundly breathing in her scent.

"Come on, lovely. Just be honest with us and we're gonna be on our way before you know it… Or maybe…" The male human spoke in a sickeningly imploring manner. "Maybe I can show you a good time before that. You know, for being so nice to us."

Though Ivy had only a faint, nauseating idea of what a 'good time' meant to this man, his tone and body language, the way he sniffed at her and pushed his pelvis against Lydia's rear, conveyed the message clearly enough. He would force a mating with Lydia first chance he got – even a relatively young, inexperienced ape as Ivy could see that.

Such an act was seen as a horrific crime among the apes and the chimp was pretty sure she had once heard that this was also the case among humans.

It only served to make her grit her teeth as her breathing got shallow, and she now had to fight to control her straining arms, which were beginning to tremble ever so slightly – whether with fury or fatigue, she honestly couldn't tell.

But she would keep the string taut. She would be ready for Lydia's signal!

"Why don't you fuck off and suck a cock on one of your boyfriends here instead?" Lydia challenged, having now regained her breath and doing her best to tilt her head away from the man holding her. It seemed hard to do with his arm around her throat. "What the hell are you even doing here, anyway? What do you want?"

Ivy's eyes widened in realisation then.

Ah! So, this was why Lydia had yet to fight back! The reason why she had let these men go this far. She was trying to get information out of them! To get them to reveal how they had ended up here, so far past the apes' defensive lines.

Ivy couldn't help but think that Lydia was being reckless, risking her own safety like this to gather information.

Either way, it seemed to work, as the leader of the group took a strutting, proud step towards her and reached out to grab a firm hold of the woman's chin as he spoke.

"We're just out here looking for some monkeys, sweet cheeks. Some big-ass monkeys with spears and shit – maybe you've seen them around? They're good at hiding, I tell you. Real' good. But we thought we might find them easier if we went just the three of us. No whole division to fuck it up, you see." He explained, once again employing that friendly, bordering-on-leery tone of voice.

He reached up and took his helmet off, turning it in his hands and presenting the back of it to Lydia.

Ivy could easily read the simple lettering on the object from her elevated position above the group.

It read 'monkey killer'.

The human woman scoffed.

"They're apes, asshole. Not monkeys." Lydia spoke coldly, and Ivy could practically hear the mocking smirk in the woman's voice. "And you guys made a big mistake by coming here."

And then, before the man in front of her had even retracted his arm halfway back in preparation for another punch to Lydia's stomach, the woman whistled.

A sharp, urgent sound, and Ivy knew exactly what it meant.

The signal she had been waiting for.

The she-ape released the string of her bow, and the familiar, brief whoosh of an arrow piercing the air reached her ears.

She didn't have the angle to aim at the chest of Lydia's assailant, and besides, both he and his companions wore thick, protective vests on their torsos.

But she did manage to get a good shot into his unprotected thigh, and blood immediately soaked his pantleg.

And just as a shout of pain ripped from his lungs, Blaze and Storm came charging out from the bushes opposite the tree Ivy had been hiding in, immediately leaping at the man with his arm around their master's throat, and barking and growling as they went.

He instantly let go of Lydia and tumbled to the side, screaming and thrashing under the weight of the two large canines, who ripped and tore at his camouflaged uniform with their sharp teeth. The vigorousness as they yanked their heads from side to side made it seem to the she-ape as if they were trying to tear the flesh from his very bones – the man certainly screamed viciously enough for that to be the case.

And Ivy didn't sit idly by either as she slung her bow across her shoulder and quickly took out her flint knife from the deerskin belt around her waist. She then threw herself from the tree with a terrible screech as the third soldier, the thin one who had yet to be wounded, reached for his gun.

"Shit! It's a fucking ape, man!" He yelled, equal measures of surprise and terror present in his voice as he fumbled with his weapon.

They would be his final words as Ivy landed on top of him, effectively softening her own fall as the human male had his body slammed against the ground, her flint knife firmly embedded in his jugular.

She was too enraged by what they had done, what they had wanted to do, to think about the copious amounts of blood gushing onto her forearms as the human man bled out before she grabbed her bow and turned around to see how her companion and her dogs fared.

She didn't need to worry, though.

The moment the one holding her had let go to defend himself against Storm and Blaze, Lydia had charged forward at the man Ivy had shot in the thigh just moments ago. He hadn't dropped down completely to his knees but stood crouched, grabbing onto his injured leg with both of his hands.

Which meant he had let go of his gun.

"Argh! You motherfucking beast!" He had roared just before Lydia came forward, her hand swiftly reaching for the large hunting knife strapped to her thigh, which she quickly thrust into the large man's throat.

The look on Lydia's face sent a chill through Ivy's pelt as she watched the man cough and gurgle on his own blood, which spilled thickly down onto the woman's gloved hands. Her blue eyes were cold and her face indifferent, though her nostrils flared with her harsh, huffing breath.

She maintained eye contact with the soldier for a few, brief seconds before she yanked the knife from his throat as quickly as she had shoved it in, and he fell limply to the ground, as dead as the deer Ivy and Lydia had killed earlier that day.

She then picked up her bow and turned to the last soldier as she prepared one of her arrows.

Ivy, still with adrenaline rushing through her, stepped up beside the woman, her own weapon at the ready, should they need it.

"You bitch! GEEAAARGH!" The last soldier left alive screamed at the top of his lungs before another wave of pained cries left him, seeing as Blaze and Storm were still on him, growling and biting, with their mouths now bloodied by the wounds they had inflicted on the man's arms and right leg.

His clothes didn't even look like clothes at all anymore.

"Back!" Lydia gave a loud, firm command to her dogs, who immediately obeyed and, while still growling fiercely, retreated to Lydia's side.

The ape and the human woman looked on as the struggling man rolled onto his stomach and raised himself onto his hands and knees, heaving each breath with great difficulty.

Lydia remained completely still, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

"You… you fucking…" The remaining soldier rasped suddenly, lifting his face to stare at Lydia with eyes full of hatred. "YOU FUCKING SAVAGE!" He shouted grittily as he suddenly got up and charged towards Lydia, clearly not caring one bit that the woman was pointing an arrow at his face.

He was hit through his left eye at a somewhat downwards angle, and when he fell, headfirst onto the ground in front of the pair, Ivy saw how the arrowhead protruded from the base of his neck.

The brief thrashing of his body had the young she-ape bite her bottom lip in discomfort, and she lowered her own bow with trembling hands.

And it only got worse as her gaze drifted away from the man, only to find the gruelling sight of his companions lying dead just behind her.

That man… The one lying furthest away. She had done that. She had killed him. In a fit of rage and a rush of adrenaline, she had taken his life.

Ivy began to feel the blood on her hands now, sticky and warm, soaking her silvery fur and dyeing it an unsavoury reddish-brown.

"Shit…" She heard Lydia's voice, faint and disbelieving, and she turned to find the woman breathing somewhat heavily as she stood, bent over with her hands on her knees. "Damn…"

Blaze came over to Ivy then, whimpering quietly as he pressed his muzzle into her blood-soaked palm. He was no longer flashing his fangs in anger, but was once again the sweet, lovable pet that Ivy had come to adore.

"Are you alright, Ivy?" Lydia asked, having straightened and stepped over to check on the young she-ape.

But Ivy didn't react at first. Couldn't react. She had killed a man and her hands were covered in blood and she was far from home and Orion wasn't there and her parents would never let her hunt again and Lydia had almost died and…!

"Hey! Hey, look at me, Ivy. Look at me." Lydia grabbed her gently by her shoulders, searching for eye contact.

The pressure of Lydia's fingers coupled with the sound of her voice was what pulled Ivy out of her stupor, and the ape turned her emerald gaze towards the human woman once more.

"Lydia… I killed. A human." Ivy answered in a small voice, shock and guilt overtaking her features.

"I know… Trust me, I know, Sweetie." Lydia spoke softly, and Ivy was only vaguely aware of the fact that Lydia had used a term of endearment. One she usually only reserved for Orion. "You did what you had to do, Ivy. You did good."

The female chimp released a trembling breath, calming herself down. Lydia was right, she had had to do this. If she hadn't done it, Lydia would have been… They might have…

And then she looked up into the woman's deep, blue eyes, now devoid of the coldness they had previously held. Now they were filled with emotion. Concern, relief, pride. It was all there, in those blue, blue orbs.

And Ivy couldn't help herself, then.

"Lydia!" She suddenly exclaimed, throwing her arms around the woman's shoulders. "They hurt you! They wanted to… They were. Going to…!"

"Shhh… Hey, easy there, Ivy." Lydia soothed gently, wrapping her arms around the young she-ape in a comforting hug. "I'm okay. Nothing's happened. I knew you had my back the whole time."

The ape pulled back from the hug and shook her head at the woman. She didn't understand.

Sure, Ivy was horrified at having killed a human, but they had been a threat to them both. They had been predators – nothing more – and their blood, though revolting, would be washed out of her fur.

No, what really had Ivy tremble and spill tears of regret was something else entirely…

"But I promised… I promised Orion. That I would. Look after you." Ivy sniffled, emerald eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I promised him. Before he left."

Lydia tilted her head at that, a confused frown briefly showing on her face before she closed her eyes and shook her head in… was that disappointment?

"That boy…" She breathed tiredly, rubbing Ivy's shoulders comfortingly with her hands. "I think he set you up for an impossible task when he asked that of you, Sweetie."

And just like that, without really meaning to at all, Ivy cracked a small, careful smile, huffing through her tears.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?"