Chapter 5 - Crumbling Guide
"What is this place?" A young monkey said to no one in particular, surrounded by a cream coloured world that seemed to be never ending.
He seemed to be drenched in a numb feeling, as if he was physically inside clouds – but that was simple impossible. He could feel his skin and fur weigh heavy on his bones. He simply stood in place, looking in front of him, feeling as if he had no power to move at all.
"You see all of them down there?" A voice that was all too familiar rang out from behind him.
He turned around to see an unbelievable sight. The cream world faded to reveal the grey steel flooring in which two figures were standing on, one slightly taller than Ian himself and the other much smaller, and the large window in front of the two figures. The much smaller figure seemed to be wearing black boots with an iron ring on them. It was close to the larger figure's own boots, which Ian only saw occasionally due to the figure's long cape flowing back and forth.
And in a split second, he realized two things. The voice wasn't talking to him, as he was in that moment, and that what he was witnessing was one of his own memories. He almost always remembered them from the third person perspective. But unlike the usual way he saw them, this one was crystal clear instead of being obscured by bright lights. He knew that the small figure was him, and the larger figure was his father. And this day held a special place in his mind.
"Mhm." The young monkey hummed in response. He didn't look up to face his father, he never did – he always hated the sensation of looking into anyone's eyes. He stood as still as he could, looking out onto the Pipo Monkeys that were messing around outside and below the window.
"They'll listen to your every command, especially when you become their great leader." His father announced, a sense of pride that the young boy couldn't comprehend coming from each word.
The little monkey took a step closer to the window, to see everything better.
"…really?" A soft voice asked, coming from the child's mouth.
He didn't see it directly, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father smirk.
"Of course. They're just average monkeys, but you're more than that – You were made to lead them." His father announced once again.
The small, immature monkey didn't respond that time. He simply stared out upon the 'regular' monkeys below. The actual, older Ian didn't move or try to do anything – he just wanted to watch the memory play out again. This was the first time he had ever had his own physical form whilst watching a memory.
His father turned to face the young ape, causing the younger version of Ian to turn his head, before turning his entire body to face his father. The older monkey squatted down and moved his hands to one of his side pockets, as if he was searching for something.
"And every good leader…" The albino monkey started again. He then pulled out of medium sized burgundy scarf out of his pocket, and started to wrap it around the young child's neck – but not took tightly. "…needs to be recognizable."
When his father let go of the scarf, the young Ian lifted his hands and felt the soft, well made scarf. He rubbed his thumb over the fabric over and over again, staring at it. Just as the older Ian remembered it happening.
Suddenly, the young monkey's head unnaturally snapped to its right – staring straight at his older counterpart. The current Ian gasped, but couldn't move. He was frozen, stuck staring into his own younger, icey blue-grey eyes and his simple triangular frown. The same dazed expression he had kept for years was staring at him, almost as if it was judging him.
It didn't blink, it didn't move. It stayed completely still. Ian felt his breath get faster and unsteady, but he couldn't move or do anything. He was trapped, being forced to look into his own eyes.
"Ah here, wake up already!"
Several grapes fell onto Ian's head, and his eyes snapped open. He was sleeping, and not only that, he had slept in pass sunrise. He could only see directly in front of him. The little girl had her hands over her mouth, but it was clear that she was giggling. He could see a leg with a recognizable boot near his side. That's when he saw grapes fall in front of his eyes, one by one.
As a result he instinctively turned to his free side as he screamed "Ahh!". The older monkey that had been dropping the uneaten grapes on the younger one's head burst out laughing, and the human's giggling became louder. Ian got to his feet and looked at the taller monkey.
"Wh-what was that for?!" He fumbled, but it was obvious that no one was listening. In between gasps and wheezes, Paru could only give a snarky reply.
"You should've seen the look on your face!" Ian's eyes inspected the area, before stopping with a view of the ground. Paru was almost on his knees, he found it so funny. The little girl had calmed down by then and started to look at the purple clad monkey.
"Are we going to go to that town soon? You said we would!" She excitedly asked. Paru regained a somewhat normal breathing pace, and found himself able to speak properly once again.
"Yes, yes we will." He sighed, before taking in another long breath. "I said we had to wake him up first, and now that he's up – we can go soon." The tall monkey smirked.
What 'town', Ian thought to himself. He walked a few steps to be as close as he wanted to them, and looked at Paru.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Those were the only words he could manage to form with his mouth.
"There's a town nearby, and we're going there." The oldest of the three smugly huffed. The sides of Ian's mouth twitched, but no noises were able to be produced. He only had a stunned expression. The little girl began to jump up and down, and started to run off behind Paru.
"Yay! Let's go!" She stated happily.
"Hm." Paru hummed, and turned around to walk to the girl. Ian waited for a second before attempting to catch up to the other two, not saying a word.
It wasn't long before the trio could hear stereotypically western music playing nearby and the muffled sounds of people talking to each other. Yuki was brimming with excitement, and was almost dragging the larger monkey behind her as she held his hand. Ian was a fair bit behind them, taking his time while walking. Before his dream went so strange, he had been enjoying being at home and in the presence of his father.
But now, he was here and being forced to go into some human town by the orders of Paru. He couldn't do anything to stop it, or else who knew what could've happened. During the entirety of the walk, he could only reminisce on his dream and question Paru's strange intentions. Why would he be doing so much for this human? He looked up from his view of the ground, and saw that the older monkey and the human child were stopped in front of him. He copied them, and stood in place.
"Alright, you go explore. We'll be around when you want to get going!" Paru instructed in a manner that was very uncharacteristic, and the little girl giggled with joy.
"Okay!" She said, before running off to the left side – where the wooden town was located.
As soon as the girl was out of sight, the older monkey's grin fell to fed-up frown. The younger monkey walked closer to him.
"What are we going to do now?"
"We're going in there, hopefully to find something useful." The fully clothed monkey replied, without turning to face the boy. His hands began to rummage through his jean pockets.
"Do we really have to?" Ian sighed, beginning to fiddle with his scarf.
"Well, you can go off on your own if you'd like and starve." Paru snapped, glaring over to his companion. The young ape flinched, tightening his grip on his scarf.
"Ugh…fine." He muttered in response. He didn't want to meet his end in such a horrible way.
The older ape seemed to have pulled a type of purple fabric out of his jean pockets in that moment. He pulled the fabric down over his head and pulled it up to cover most of his face, revealing that the fabric was actually a bandana. Ian pulled the main chunk of his scarf up over the bottom of his face.
"Follow me." Paru stated, sternly.
The self proclaimed leader of the duo looked between the trees behind them, the same trees in which the small human had run through a few minutes earlier. They appeared to be next to some sort of western celebration festival, where several buildings had been put up to replicate the towns seen in old spaghetti western films.
Multiple shops and bar like buildings stood connected together, made poorly out of wood with hay coverings above the entrances to each one. At the end or beginning of the town stood a much larger but still as poorly made town hall. It towered above the rest of the buildings, but the rotting wood was impossible to miss.
The two apes had no idea if it was the beginning or their end of the town, if only because they were behind the town hall like building. This allowed them to see that the back of the building had its own, singular door to allow for entry. Paru turned his head to look at Ian, who was still a few feet behind him.
"We're going in there." He ordered, before going back to studying the area and the humans in the area. He couldn't see the younger monkey glare at the back of his head.
"Right, now."
The make-shift leader demanded. He jumped from the perch he had behind a tree, and onto the same level of dirt that the buildings were placed on. He didn't waste anytime, as he sprinted to the town hall's back wall and leaned his back onto it. He waited for a few seconds, listening intently to everything around him. No one had seen him sneak to the back of the building, he was in the clear. He glared to Ian, who was still hiding behind the trees across from him, and nodded.
The younger monkey's eyes widen and blinked a few times before he poked his head out from behind the tree line, and looked around. He pulled his head back before jumping down to the even ground. He ran over to the same wall, placing himself next to the taller ape. His breathing was loud and noticeable, which caused Paru to turn to him and whisper "Shh". The taller monkey put his ear against the wall for a few seconds before turning back to face the smaller boy.
"Follow everything I do." He ordered, once again. He moved his hand over to the door and began to slowly push it open.
His head peered through the now apparent crack of the open door, and inspected the room. It was sizable, but not too big. There was a single candle close to an arch leading to the main room of the fake town hall. There were several book cases lining the wall, and a few extra chairs were stacked up in one corner. The entire town hall was devoid of people, but you could hear somewhat distant screams from excited and upset children.
Paru straightened his back and slipped through the crack, and quietly snuck his way to the opposing wall – next to the small table which held the candle. Ian looked in afterwards, and stepped his way into the room and closed the door gently behind him. He tip toed over to his companion and stood with his back to the wall. The leader's eyes were looking intently in the direction of the arch. He took a step away from the wall, beginning to walk around the table. That's when the young boy started to speak.
"Why are we doing this? Why have we not ditched that human here? It's a danger to both of us, and you should know that." Ian blurted out quietly.
He didn't mean to ask it right then and there, but he had been holding it in for the better part of a day at that point. He lifted one of hands and held onto his scarf that was still covering the bottom of his face. Paru stopped moving. He didn't immediately respond, he just stood there – as if he was thinking. Then, he couldn't hold his thoughts in anymore.
"She's not the only freak of nature I wish I could get rid of."
The taller ape thundered, not turning to face the younger ape. Ian took a step back in surprise, the tone of the situation had seemed to have changed within a second.
"Wh-what?" The young monkey stammered back.
"You heard me." Paru began again, frustration leaking out of every word he spoke.
"Did you ever think about why I didn't just leave you there? Or how I stayed up all night making sure we didn't get jumped? They don't give a damn if I get captured, but they do if it's you. Because you're their damn experiment, an experiment that should've never even existed. You're more unnatural than any human you hate so much."
His back was still towards the younger boy, but his anger could be felt for miles. Ian's grip on his scarf tightened, and he took another step back towards the door.
"How…How dare-"
"How dare I? Your posh accent doesn't make you right, you don't even know what I'm talking about – eh, princey boy? If only you weren't sheltered and went through what did, maybe I wouldn't have to hold myself back from killing you all the time."
He threw his right hand up without thinking, and knocked the candle straight into the wall. The old, rotting wood couldn't handle even the slightest of flames, and the building was in flames within a few seconds. Ian fell back in shock, and skittered his way towards the door. He looked back to see who he thought was an actual companion of his.
The teenager's eyes were white, and the frown he had the entire time now had a sinister overtone. The flames behind him only made the scene more unbearable. Neither of them spoke. Ian got to his feet and ran out the door and back into the surrounding forest – ignoring the now present screams from the festival visitors.
The young ape kept running, he didn't even know where he was going. That was until his foot was trapped between exposed roots and he fell flat on his face. The fall knocked the wind out of him, and it became extremely clear in his mind that everything had become far too much to handle whilst staying calm. It was almost like something within him broke.
His eyes started to tear up uncontrollably and streamed down his face. He spun himself around and laid on his back. He grabbed his face with one hand, and formed a fist with his other before hitting himself in the head. His own reflexes prevented him from hitting himself with full force, but that doesn't mean he hit himself softly. He was gasping for air every few seconds. His mind wouldn't stop thinking about how his life had seemingly been ruined within only a few days.
Someone he thought he knew wanted him…to be dead and that same person was acting as if he knew something more about Ian himself. His mind wouldn't stop trying to think about how he could be a "freak of nature". Most of his thoughts, however, were a muddled mess of static. He didn't have any ability to pull himself up. He was stuck lying on the ground, alone, in the middle of no where.
Unknown to the two boys, Yuki had been having the time of her young life. She was running in and out of the neighboring shops and had been pushing pass adults and families. She had been given a complimentary cowboy hat and kept one of her hands on her head to hold it as she ran. She looked at all the notebooks and pens with desert designs, not finding herself too interested in them. She did get some looks from a few concern parents, but she never stuck around them for long enough to be asked any questions.
The only comment she actually heard was the familiar voice of a young light-orange haired boy saying "Mummy! I think I saw Yuki!", even then, she didn't want to go home yet. She just wanted to explore the little town. That was until she was in one of the shops and suddenly, people started screaming. By the time she made it outside, everyone who attended the festival was outside and the organizers were attempting to push people back from the cause of the commotion – the town hall was engulfed in flames!
The little girl's first thought was to run and join the rest of the humans running from it, until she saw a figure with familiar white and light indigo hair and a burgundy scarf. The figure seemed to be running in the opposite direction, back into the forest. She didn't even need time to think the situation over. She began to dash towards the monkey, dodging any adult that tried to stop her going near the fire. She was so preoccupied by running that she forgot to hold onto her hat – which promptly flew away into the wind.
As she made it to the forest, the monkey was already out of her sight and the older, more talkative monkey was no where to be seen. She looked around, where she could see faint indents in the mud – that were clear enough for her to figure out that they were footsteps. She began to run and follow them, keeping her ears open in case either of the two called her name.
Neither ever did, but she did hear the faint wavering breathing of someone nearby and assumed that it had to be the smaller monkey she had been traveling with. She had to walk down off the ancient, man made path and passed a few hoards of trees before she found the young boy. Her eyes were full of tears and her lip was quivering at the sight. She never liked seeing anyone sad, but especially someone she would consider a friend – even if the other person didn't feel the same way. She walked over to stand next to Ian.
"Mister monkey…" She whispered between sniffles. "Are you gonna be okay?"
Ian stopped his hand and laid it on his chest. He looked towards the human. Once again, another human seemed to be sympathetic towards him. He just didn't understand. He hated humans, so why didn't they hate him? He was so caught up in his thoughts that he accidentally stared at the girl. When he finally came to his senses, he blinked a few times.
"…Yeah. I will be fine." He responded and sat up. The little girl's frown had lifted, but not quite to a smile. She wasn't done with her questioning.
"Were you scared of the fire?" She was still looking towards the young monkey. Ian had stopped looking at the girl at this point, his gaze had moved to his shoes at that point. He waited for a few seconds.
"Yes, I was." He said quietly, and stood up to his feet. We can't survive on our own, the boy thought to himself, we're going to have to find Paru – if he's come to his senses.
"Can we go back to the pathway, mister?" The little girl asked, her tears now only a stain on her face. The older boy turned to look at her.
"Yes, yes we can." He answered.
As the little girl regained her signature smile and began to steadily walk back towards the pathway, Ian kept the same blank face he always had – even though the girl didn't notice. Though he had successfully pushed those once intrusive thoughts to the back of his mind, they stung like a drug-blocked migraine. As they both reached the small barren path, the little girl spoke to him again.
"What about Paru?"
It was a good question to ask. He didn't even have enough time to breathe in before rustling came from one of the nearby clusters of trees. As quickly as the rustling began, Paru stumbled out from the forest and onto the path. His cap's visor and one of the elbow's of his hoodie were singed. The little girl wasn't scared. In fact, she was excited.
"Yay! You're back!" She shouted before running over and hugging the monkey's leg. The tall ape huffed, and placed one of his hands on the young human's head and petted it.
"Heh, yeah I am. Hope I didn't take too long." He chuckled. He looked up to face Ian, not saying a word – simply glaring. Yuki started giggling.
"It's okay! Let's go again!" She took her face away from his leg and looked up at him, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. He huffed again, with a grin forming on his face.
"We are, we are." He laughed again, causing Yuki to squeal in excitement and jump up and down.
She ran back to Ian, and looked at him with lights in her eyes. All the young boy could do is start walking, in which the girl started to skip along next to him. Paru started to walk as well, but keep a few feet behind the younger two.
Ian couldn't help but look over his shoulder from time to time. Yuki didn't even notice once.