Despite Haley's better judgment to forget it, she found herself mulling over Luca's words while she pyramided some kindle atop her blistering tinder. "Always looks scared and careful around Koba—" She could still feel the jab of his words where they had hit her core; she knew he was right. And so, like a dangerous mash of salt to a wound, Maurice's own warning leaked through her thoughts. Maybe the old orangutan was right, she thought sullenly as she bewilderedly placed another piece of wood to the growing campfire, maybe she has changed from how she used to be. Unfortunately, she knew the prying gorilla was right and she was, indeed, afraid of her own mate, but why that stopped her from standing up for herself, she didn't know. In fact, when she spoke out of place the hour before was when she felt more like herself than she ever did in the past two years. She used to be steadfast to her opinion and unbendable against her beliefs, not to mention faithful to something she knew was right and also true when she knew something was wrong. Even against her own father, she fought many times. She used to be—

Pausing in her thoughts and in her progress with the fire, she wondered long and hard about how exactly she used to be, only to chuckle faintly out loud and neatly put another piece of kindle in the perfect spot when she realized the answer: she used to be like Luca. What happened to that Haley, she mulled drearily, ignoring the fact that she could feel Tinker, Rocket's wife, giving her odd looks for her random changes in expressions. Funnily enough, Haley would've happily been embarrassed by those looks for a hundred years if it meant the new turn of events would not have happened.

The startled whinny of a horse immediately compelled Haley's head to whip up in alarm, thought the distraction only bought an opportunity for the flames to nip at her lingering hand and for her to gasp in alarm and suck on the stinging tip of her finger before she allowed herself to process the sight of Koba rushing towards her– she would have cowered back, given her previous line of thought, had it not been for the distress already riddling his face. "What's wrong?" She signed quickly, seeming too in shock to speak her words, and rose, the campfire forgotten almost immediately.

"Just came from city." He rushed with a few guff and breathy hoots, "Humans dangerous!"

Unlike the urgency the bonobo might've wanted, Haley grew stalk-still at his warning, her face falling into disbelief. Completely unaware of his own slip-up, Koba merely turned confused, though Blue Eyes came to both their aid seconds later. Leaning his half-made spear against the small cliff-side behind him, the young ape stood from his spot atop a dried branch on the ground and walked into the conversation, Koba's attention immediately shifting to him, "Where Caes—?"

"You said you were going hunting." Haley interrupted, her tone frighteningly calm and empty, and enough so to turn a few heads their way, despite how quiet the talk remained – though she had been shaken up from her nightmare at the time, she was certain she couldn't have heard him wrong that morning. Slowly, she could feel the importance for her fear of Koba dwindling – compared to the reality suddenly dawning on her, him hurting her was trivial. And when Koba's face slacked into a state of faint panic when he grew conscious of what she meant, she knew he thought the same.

"Please – don't ever lie to me again – promise me!"

After two years, Haley could still recall her condition without doubt of her memory'd accuracy – it was the one thing she asked of him when they agreed to go into their relation- their farce. Whatever they have, it struck Haley, was nothing close to a relationship. And this only became clearer when the panic in Koba's seeing eye vanished, disgust and appall taking its place when the bonobo grew aware of the stares around them and noticing the audacity Haley was showing with standing up against him in front of everyone. His look – it reminded Haley of someone…

Carver.

"Koba not need permission." The scarred ape finally grunted. Haley didn't know if it was the threat to his pride that drew the words from his dull lips, but even if she had a care left to give, it was crushed between her gnashing teeth, anger once again burning through her. They had an agreement – it was not giving permission that she craved, it was truth. Thinking back to how Luca calmed her earlier, however, Haley forced herself not to lunge at her mate. Despite the tempting and almost overwhelming desire to do exactly that, she knew she couldn't risk another outburst on the same day, just like she knew that she was officially sick of groveling at Koba's feet just so she could stay near her old friend, weight lifting from her withering strength at the recognition of that fact. Still, she bit back whatever quip was threatening to spring forward and only scoffed at her mate before she moved to walk away. Nevertheless, even if her scoff was meant to minimize her insolence, it chopped harshly at Koba's dignity under the stares of the other apes.

Haley jolted back with a small yelp when five callus fingers latched onto her wrist like an iron vise, making her leer at Koba over her shoulder when she processed her situation. For a tense moment, the two of them just stared, as if daring the other to make a wrong move so he or she could pounce, but unfortunately, the longer Haley gazed into Koba's eyes, the more her endurance faltered. 'Stand down,' she could read his unsaid and unsigned words, 'know your place,' but even if she kept telling herself to do as told, the commands only set her teeth on edge. Finally, with an annoyed and daring growl, she tore her arm free, and immediately the apes grew eerily silent around them, not even the rustle of a bush or the familiar hoots of the spotted owl there to be heard. Though the air seemed quiet and peaceful, however, Haley could see Koba's fur bristling in anger under the stares of his colony. As if it was the straw that broke the camel's back, her actions ultimately forced a chilling screech across the village as Koba pounced at his mate – supposedly, Haley lost their little stare-down.

Meeting his attack with just as much force that was given, Haley braced herself for the collision with the sludge of dirt below as she was tackled down and forced her eyes to stay open while liquid mud splashed around her sides and into her face. Used to an ape's method for attacking, she interrupted when he raised his powerful fists to slam against her face and punched up at his own instead, though her already-aching wrist was grabbed before she had the chance; however, she took the opportunity and tossed her other arm up as well, gritting her own teeth in degust when her pointed index and middle fingers poked against the soft and moist surface of his good eye. Involuntarily, the ape flinched at the sudden sting and reached to protect it, only giving Haley opportunity to turn the tables and flip them over. Still, her opening was destroyed as well when Koba broke through his disorientation, snaked himself back through the mud, and kicked against her stomach with all the force he could muster, sending her flying backwards, just like he had done two years before. Haley barely had time to process the alarmed scream of Tinker before her body collided with the ape's cause for concern – the flourishing campfire; the young woman released a bellowing cry as red-hot embers seared into her exposed upper leg, hip, shoulder, neck, right ear, and cheek, shards and burning ash barely missing her eyes as they clouded into the air from the impact of her fall. Her body convulsed into a petrified shape as her skin simmered underneath the scattered bits of fiery wood like a pot of boiling soup, skin scorched full of red and swollen boils before Tinker had the chance to hurriedly pull her away and wipe the lingering pieces from raw flesh. Haley could feel her skin pounding acutely underneath the nasty burns, the corner of her mouth and the entirety of her ear feeling stiff from their charred surfaces. She could barely manage a whimper pass her ruined lips as unwilling tears worsened the sting of the exposed tissue.

In horror, Tinker studied Haley's nasty wounds as the girl stiffly laid in her hairy arms, her apish throat dry with a sudden onset of helplessness. Many times, Tinker has helped the young apes with a few minor burns they got while foolishly playing with fire, and they've healed with only insignificant scars, but as Haley's red-stained arm clawed on its own and turned rigid at her side, trembling with uncontrollable spasm, Tinker knew that simply applying a cold cloth wouldn't do. Still, despite her fret for her husband's friend, she wasn't in enough of a panic to ignore Koba's approach, nor was the regret and shame on his sullen face enough to make Tinker resist a furious hiss. At her warning, Koba halted immediately and took a cautious step back.

"You…" A hoarse and weak croak startled them both, however, Haley's voice nothing more than a frail lisp as she forced her loathing words forward and toward the blurred figure a few yards ahead, consciousness drifting, "…you really are… nothing… like Caesar." Even through her detest for Koba and the overwhelming agony coursing through her veins, Haley knew it was by an accident that she was in her predicament, but it didn't matter; deep down, Haley had known Koba would eventually hurt her in a way that neither of them will ever be able to take back, and clearly, she was right.