Krissa's pulse throbbed between her ears as panic began to set in. The woods seemed to stretch on forever as she flew across the needles, Liepa's face buried deep within the hood of her coat. The white-tail wept into her hair and held onto her shoulders for dear life, begging her not to let her fall. The ravenette clutched her pistol tightly, ears pricked in case anyone had followed her back from town.
Her morning had started off like any other. She had found herself waking up with the young baby curled into her for warmth amongst their sheets and pillows, the springs creaking as she sat up on the mattress and rose for the day. It hadn't even been dawn yet when she had pulled on her change of clothes and her socks, heading out into the kitchenette to make herself something hot to drink. The little cabin had been so cold, frost forming in incredibly intricate designs across the window panes. Jack Frost had always been such a creative fellow.
After a spot of breakfast, Liepa had pulled on her scarf and Krissa had collected her ration tickets, and they had headed out the door. A fine dusting of snow had fallen the night before, kissing everything with the faintest layer of powdery silver. The air had been so frigid that their breath had been visible in great coils of vapour. She had found herself wondering if she would run into Jonas, completely prepared to shoot that man if necessary. She had been ready since the day his blue-grey eyes had washed over her with the prickliness of a goddamn cacti.
Liepa wasn't a fan of him either, especially after their interesting introduction.
Things were going as they usually would: Krissa would follow the path and try out her singing voice, her throat growing better and better each day as time grew on. Winter had come finally, bitter cold and relentless, the wind coming off the lake shaking the entirety of the small little village. The chatter over their shared radio would sometimes become too much to handle and she would shut off the system, ignoring those concerned about the strength of the storm, some wondering if they would get buried in snow and be unable to reach one another. It was all so... annoying. Not that they were afraid of losing one another, but that they were afraid of the very force that had created them, created their land.
She had found herself stopping in her tracks as the sudden pop of a gun caught her attention. Liepa had grown horribly rigid, to a point where her little hands had dug into her skin too hard and she had ended up grunting in discomfort. Her pace had hastened despite her growing dread, finally reaching town in a hurry, her hair blustering everywhere in the nipping wind. The first thing she noticed was that everything was busy- too busy for such an early hour. Smoke billowed from chimneys, lights on in shops, the docks buzzing with life. The gunshots became more frequent, yet nobody seemed to flinch. It wasn't until she rounded the corner among the shops that she was confronted with something startling.
Her heart leapt in her chest as she recognised a handful of familiar bodies: Thistle, Gregory and Sharp stood a few feet from some old hunting targets set up in no particular place, guns held confidently in their leathery hands and sinewy arms. The more Krissa searched their humble town square, the more apes became visible. She swallowed and backed up a few steps, trying to calm the wave of nervous nausea suddenly creeping up from her twisting belly. "Who's that?" whispered Liepa in her innocent little voice. She huddled close in the cold, ambling up onto her shoulder and using her head as an easy place to put most of her weight, leaning forward.
"Bad apes," she whispered softly. "I don't like this... stay quiet, okay?"
"Okay," Liepa agreed, hugging closer. There was a beat as she adjusted her scarf. Hopefully they wouldn't recognise her with her hair cut so short. "Why shoot?"
Krissa swallowed and shook her head. "I don't know. I think they're... getting ready for something."
"Some.. thing bad?"
"Maybe.."
"Gut.. feeling?" Liepa prodded further, the top half of her face coming into view as she looked down at her. The ravenette couldn't help but smile as she nodded her head. Reaching up, she allowed the chimp to dangle from her arm, then extend an arm in order to nestle up against her front. Krissa slowly unzipped her coat and allowed Liepa to climb in while she rounded the side of one of the little buildings. Once the yearling was secure inside, she held close, the ape's breath hot on the side of her neck. "Quiet now..." the ravenette whispered, voice dropping once again.
"Quiet.." repeated Liepa, as obedient as always. Krissa leaned around the side of their hiding spot behind the grocers, watching those who sat atop rooftops and those who stood near one of the boats, looking at a map that somebody had splayed out for them. It seemed almost as if they were planning battle tactic, but that hardly made any sense: there were no members in their village that had any sort of martial experience. Not unless...
Krissa stepped out into the crowd and casually strolled along the banks, being side to keep Liepa hidden in her jacket even as the young one peeped out from beneath her collar for air and a quick look around. She couldn't fight the slight tremor in her hands as she watched a few familiar faces glance her way, oblivious to her identity. There were so many opportunities for them to recognise her, and yet here she was, simply walking through town without a care in the world. They were intelligent animals, but in a handful of people, who could pick her out? Nobody else but Slate or Pine. It struck her, suddenly, in one massive spike of adrenaline. Pine. This had to be his doing. The breath caught in her throat as she neared the shooting range, sound slowly bleeding from between her ears as she focused on nothing but the smell of hot lead and gunpowder, along with the dull ring from the loud explosives detonating.
Her head swung around and her breath caught in her throat. A head of blonde hair stood among a small throng of both apes and human beings, all congregated to hear what he had to say. Beside Jonas stood a figure, draped in a tattered cloak, thickly-woven twine holding a mask of marrow and bone to the back of his neck and shoulder, antlers splaying up in the air in one horrendously beautiful display. The chinobo brother stood just as proudly as his new-found ally, watching with cold, calculating eyes, his left optic startlingly milky and sightless.
"The morning of the assault, we will all gather for a brief discussion and run-down on battle tactic. For now, we ask that you refresh your hand at shooting: where we're going, we'll need our best aim," Jonas explained, voice slightly muffled by the cotton shielding his mouth. It was bitter cold, and Krissa knew that. She carefully wrapped her arms around Lips and herself, feeling the whitetail shift beneath her jacket. "While they do have the advantage of vegetation and the canopy, with the right amount of artillery, we can take them down. If we weaken them enough, we can gain the upper hand. Perhaps then they'll surrender."
A pit began to form in her belly, images of bodies cut down in a flurry of lead and claret filling her brain. Stepping from foot to foot, she tried to keep her numbing toes warm. Snow was collecting in her dark hair. "Cornelius needs to be stopped. I hope that you are all with me in this."
So, they were turning this around and pointing fingers at the wrong tribe? Jonas was so gullible, but then again, who wouldn't be when faced with the creatures you feared so greatly? Krissa knew that many of the human colony blamed the apes for the apocalypse, even if they were the ones testing on them to begin with. The Simian Flu had been a man-made disease. Man had played god and lost: this was their punishment.
War and misery.
It was only just.
The sudden pressure of somebody brushing past her caused her to quickly sway out of the way. Shifting politely out of the way, she muttered an apology through gentle lips and graciously blinked over in the stranger's direction. Her heart leapt for a second time the moment she was met with two equally startled ashen eyes. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her, didn't it? Liepa stirred within her coat. What sense did it make for Poppy to be with her brother? Unless... Krissa combed through her memories, all the way back to the foggiest from that fateful evening back at the ape colony. Initially she had thought the youngest out of the triplets to be easily manipulated and innocent from her brother, but now as she looked upon her, dressed in similar attire to Pine, a coyote's skull in one hand, Krissa's gut did flips.
Suddenly she was back in those woods, crouched as low as possible in the muck and slippery grass, trying her best to hold as still as she could. She was staring at this creature once more, an unpredictable, unfeeling alien from a whole other world. "Krissa?" Poppy breathed, gaping back at the ravenette, lips parting slightly. Her entire body had seized up the moment her name passed through the chinobo's mouth. Her voice had once been so warm and kind to her ears, but now- now it felt like a punch in the teeth rather than a gentle caress. Her hand subconsciously found her throat, feeling Liepa's head wriggle out of the collar of her coat and yet not even batting an eye.
The child's abrupt appearance drew Poppy's eyes away from her blanched face, her mind visibly churning with so many questions. Krissa could tell that she was torn, that she was confused and that she was shocked. Those questions bubbled at Poppy's lips, unsure of how to utter them. Her head then swivelled, glancing in Pine's direction, thus snapping the ravenette from her frightened stupor. Krissa quickly stumbled back, ignoring the sound of her name once more as she refused sit idle any longer. She could feel the attention being drawn to her like moths to a flame, knowing far too well that Pine would soon join them, which only urged her to move quicker. Krissa pushed past humans and apes alike, refusing to even bat an eye and apologise as she was barrelling toward home. Home. Where was home, now that the enemy was here? Wheeling around a bend, she unzipped her coat, allowing Liepa to struggle from her confines and hold on for dear life.
Faces passed by in one big blurb, becoming a muddled mess of acrylic flesh tones. How could she hide from them? They were everywhere! Her skin itched as if her veins were on fire and her blood was fighting to be let out. It wasn't until she slammed into someone and was wrapped in a set of strong, warm arms that she let out a frightened shriek, the sound raspy from the lack of vocal structure she was able to emit. "Easy, sweetheart," Nic calmly muttered into her ear. Krissa's body refused to relax as she struggled in his grasp, the sound of Liepa beginning to hoot anxiously in her ear only heightening her own fear. "C'mon, let's go take a look in Pablo's store, hm?"
'Pine,' her hands skated through the air, frantic and quivering. Krissa made a point of making blatant eye-contact with the human; her lips trembled ever so softly, the beginnings of hot brine forming and welling with her lids. Why was body-language so hard for other human beings to read? If this were Slate she were talking to, he'd be just as nervous. 'Let go- I have to-'
Nic seemed to have other intentions, instead offering a look of warning. His brown eyes flashed, as if trying to tell her something that she couldn't quite place. "Okay, I know, but just lemme-"
No, she had to get away from here! Krissa shoved Nic away as hard as she possibly could, then proceeded to weasel her way beneath his flailing arms, refusing to be caught by this clumsy goliath she called her other half. Everything felt wrong right now: she felt as if she were some sort of hunted animal, ready to attack anything in her way as she subconsciously drew her pistol from its holster. Could she even trust him at this point? "Krissa, come on, girl!" he called after her, jogging so he could keep up. The moment that they had wound themselves into a quiet enough alley, she bolted. "I'm sorry, just- hey!"
It had been quite some time since she had sprinted, especially with Liepa's significant weight upon her back, yet she understood why. Her throat felt as if it were full of daggers, grating against her trachea and choking within her bronchus stem. Soon she had left behind the pavement and had found gravel, then snowy leaf-litter that slipped and slid beneath her boots. Liepa whined desperately, her hair having risen along her shoulders as she listened to Nic calling after her adoptive parent. "Yell! Loud! Loud, loud!" the white-tail raved, before groaning and burying her face into her hood. The woods were far more silent, the snowfall muffling the crack of semi-automatics.
"Krissa, please, just stop running! They aren't following you!"
Her pace slowly grew weary, her legs feeling like rubber. Breaths became gasps, stepping becoming staggering. All she could taste was copper. The ravenette heard Nic beginning to catch up to her, ready to grab her arms and pull her back toward him without a moment's notice, and although she desperately wanted to get away... she couldn't keep going. Defeated, she reeled to a stop and leaned forward, allowing Liepa to leap to the ground and scamper off in the direction of the thick bushes. She would surely make it home before her, she thought. At least there, she'd be safe. "Kriss-" Nic's voice was very close, and soon he took was leaning forward, mirroring her position with his hands on his knees. Her pulse throbbing in her temples and she felt as if her face were going to burst like a rumbling volcano. "Where the hell are you going in such a hurry, huh?" he breathed, exasperated.
The survivor glowered up from beneath lowered brows, holding back a snarl. Eventually the human male straightened up, face pained from the exertion of their little game of chase, and he raked his fingers up through his dark hair. 'I'm running from him,' she signed, pausing to stand. "The ape that... tried to .. kill me. Or didn't you- did you not see him?"
"Oh, I saw that bastard alright," he grumbled, taking a few more quick sips of air whilst trying to calm his hammering heart. He needed to go running more often- he was getting too slow. "Just as ugly as I remembered. Krissa, they are going to lead Jonas straight into war!"
Krissa felt her ire return and gritted her teeth with a roll of her eyes. Pressing past him, she walked at a steady pace now, thankful that at least she didn't feel like she was about to throw up. Her cardiovascular system thrummed comfortably away, pulsing, throbbing, beating, living...
All thanks to Nic and Slate, the two who loved her most.
"I can't stay here," she began carefully. Her back suddenly felt extremely bare, despite the coat covering her shoulders.
Nic just about choked on his own throat, by the sounds of it, oddly enough. "You- I'm sorry, what?"
Her head tilted so she could catch him from the corner of her eyes. "I said that I can't- can't stay here!" she emphasised, her voice guttural from the run. With a quick flick of her small curly head, Krissa began to jog once more, the forest line in sight. She was right, and Nic knew it. Part of her understood where she had to go, too. Home. Breaking through the vegetation, she was assaulted by a wintry breeze and a gust of alabaster flakes. They coated her lips and her eyelashes, her bangs and her eyebrows; it was calming, to be touched by nature again, if only the littlest bit. The moment her eyes found the shoreline, she began to trot along the rocks, staring straight ahead of her.
"Are you nuts?" Nic shouted after her. Oh, so he was angry again? "You haven't even finished healing and you're wanting to leave without any supplies?" She ignored him, pressing on and heading for the little boat she knew wouldn't be too far off. The instant that she spotted its worn wooden surface, she picked up speed. "At least let Molly take a look at you before you-"
Off near the treeline, Krissa suddenly heard the soft keening of her whitetail, who she coaxed over so gently. At first she paused, cautious, but then Liepa ambled down from the canopy and quickly knuckled over. It didn't take long for her to bounce up onto her outstretched arm, nor for Krissa to hoist her up onto her shoulders once again, the two humans never stopping their game of chase. Picking up the ores, she pulled them into the boat, shoving it forward ever so hastily before giving it a push out into the tide and jumping in with a swift leap. Nic, by then, was protesting loudly and waving his arms. Her damp boots and ankles ached from the temperature of the frigid lake, but she wasn't focused on that right now. They would dry. What she was really focused on was the man who had sloshed violently up behind her and was now holding the back of the boat in place. Krissa, completely livid, wheeled around and met his eyes, their faces mere inches apart. "You aren't serious, are you?!" he gaped, breath coming out in a hiss of hot vapour. "How do you know that they'll even let you back in?"
She stood her ground, biting out each word in one clean, crisp sentence. "I'm going home."
"This is your home!" His voice was loud and higher in pitch, desperate to appeal to her. She did not answer, did not waver. She wouldn't be held back by him any longer. He simply stared then, it seemed, for far too long. They eyes graced over each other's faces. Finally, the other survivor cleared his throat, eyes squeezing shut in apology. "Okay- okay, I get it, I do, I just... you can't.." Trailing off, he met her pleading gaze. Silence was passed between the two before he shook his head. With a quick arm, she picked up the nearest ore and pushed off, the boat drifting away.
Then, with a twist and a tug of the motor's string, the boat choked to life for the first time in years since the end of mankind's reign, and she was soon flying. A certain sadness tugged at her belly as she watched Nic grow further and further away, still standing knee-deep in the dark lake water. He had been nothing but kind to her all this time, and he had loved her deeply, but... part of her hadn't been able to accept it.
It had been the part of her that had wanted to be home, to be with Cornelius's tribe.
As Krissa turned herself around and faced the wilderness, Liepa hooting in question as they began their journey across the lake, she felt an overwhelming rush that one could only describe as an epiphany. She should have left long ago. Now, Poppy knew he was alive, and she was sure as the day was bright that Pine would know too. She had no other choice.
Clouds danced along the mountains in great puffs and wisps, snow covering the woods in an endless blanket of chalk and down. They looked so dark, so peaceful and so, so inviting. Somewhere there, too, she knew her family was waiting for her. She was going home. Liepa slithered down and settled in her lap, her hand finding the ravenette's and drawing her attention. The apeling's large emerald pools widened up at her in curiosity, a smile twitching at her maw.
Krissa smiled too.