For about five minutes, they stood in complete silence, just staring at the impaled human corpse lying there in the mud before them. They were completely deaf to the chirping birds and singing frogs calling out all around them. The entire scene blurred into a messy nothingness, made of nothing but that white and red pile of flesh. They didn't even notice the few flies that had already been attracted by its rotting stench.

Finally, Koba got down from his horse and signed to the other two Apes, "What…is this?"

Rocket was breathing very shallowly as he answered, "We…I stabbed the wolf with Caesar's spear and threw him against that tree," Rocket signed, pointing to the tree back about 200 feet. "The blood and fur are still there. Then there are wolf tracks that lead all the way here to…," and it was such a strange sight that Rocket couldn't even sign for it.

Koba looked incredulously over at Rocket and signed, "Are you saying that the wolf changed into this man?"

Rocket gave a few distressed hoots, shaking his head and signing, "Didn't say that. I don't know…"

"As I've already said - this is just the latest impossible thing to happen this past day," Maurice signed, also descending from his horse.

Koba went over to the bloodied corpse, recoiling a little at first from the sight and smell of it. Then, still grimacing, he reached out and put his hand on the body's shoulder, pulling it up and pushing it over to get the man on his back. The spear still sticking prominently through him made the task a bit difficult, but it was nothing Koba couldn't overcome.

The man's face was overcome with a frozen expression of sheer agony. There was blood all around his lips, and even stained on his teeth. Koba bared his teeth in disgust as he grabbed hold of the spear's handle, placed his foot on the body for stability, and wrenched it out of the gaping hole it had created in the man's torso. In addition to the blood, it had little strips of flesh dangling off of it, something even Koba found a bit distasteful. He shook it forcefully to get them off. Most of them flew off instantly, some of them hitting Rocket in the face.

"Sorry Rocket," Koba signed, suppressing a laugh.

Rocket looked down, keeping his eyes on the forest floor. He wandered around the body, clearing away any leaf litter that obscured his vision of the wet earth. After he circled the body he stood up and signed, "No more tracks from here. No human, no wolf, nothing."

Koba snorted and shook his head even more, banging the spear down on the ground. Then he signed, "Okay, we need to figure out what's going on here."

Maurice looked around and signed, "Well, there are no foot prints either leading away from the body, or leading to it. So nothing else came this way. This is the same spear used to skewer the wolf, and it's impaled on this human in the same way. The wolf foot prints lead here, so there is only one explanation I can think of."

Koba shook his head and signed, "Someone could have covered their tracks. Put this body here and made it look like it's the wolf."

Maurice tilted his head and signed, "That's possible, but why would someone do that? And it also doesn't explain how Caesar's wound healed so quickly."

"What do you mean?" Rocket asked.

"A strange wolf attacks Caesar. By the next day, the wound is healed, the wolf is gone, and a human lies in its place. I think these things are connected somehow," Maurice signed, a worried look glistening in his eyes.

"What should we do?" Rocket asked.

Maurice took another look around, as if checking for clues. When he couldn't find anything else of interest, he signed, "For now, let's go back to the village, return Caesar's spear. We'll talk with him, tell him what we've found."

The other two nodded, and they all remounted their horses. Riding back the way they came, Koba stopped off at the river to wash the blood and flesh off of Caesar's spear. When he was finished, they continued on their way, arriving back at the Ape village in just little over half an hour.

When they entered the village, the other Apes were much more active. When the others all saw Maurice, Rocket, and Koba ride up to the village square through the back arch, they all stopped whatever it was they were doing and bounded up to the three. Amid all of the hooting and cooing, they all signed variations of the phrase, "How's Caesar."

As Maurice dismounted his horse, he waved off their inquiries with a lazy sign of, "Not sure yet," which was more honest than he wished. The other Apes followed them as they headed toward Caesar's tree fort, only stopping once Maurice, Rocket, and Koba had crossed the threshold to the spiraling stairs.

When they met back up with Caesar, there was only one doctor remaining; one of the female chimpanzees. Cornelia and Blue Eyes were also there, sitting off to the side and casually munching on some roots and fish for lunch. "Any news?" Koba asked, holding Caesar's spear in his right hand.

The doctor shook her head, signing, "None that we can see. There's not a single trace of the wound left, and Caesar shows now signs of any infection."

"Where are the other doctors?" Rocket asked.

"They left, other patients to see," she signed simply. "I was preparing to leave now anyway. There's nothing for me to do here, no cause for worry." She packed up the few pieces of equipment she brought and carried them out in her right hand, using her left to help her walk.

Caesar walked over to Koba with an outstretched hand. Koba stared at it for a second before remembering. He handed Caesar the spear, which Caesar took with a smile. "Thank you," he signed to all of them.

"Caesar," Maurice signed to him, "There's something…we need to talk to you about."

With a confused look, Caesar followed Maurice, Rocket, and Koba down the stairs to Blue Eyes' lower level. When they were inside, Koba peeked out to make sure no one was coming. With no one in sight, Caesar asked them, "What is it?"

No one was eager to volunteer their explanation. They kept their eyes down toward the ground, turning their faces away from Caesar. When the silence became too awkward to put up with, Rocket slowly raised his hands and signed, "We went to retrieve your spear, and….we didn't see the wolf."

Caesar's eyes went hide and he frantically signed, "It's still alive?"

Once more, none of them was willing to offer the necessary explanation. Koba kept absolutely still, as if refusing to let such an unbelievable idea escape from his hands. Rocket also stayed in place, believing he had already done his part. Eventually, Maurice realized that the onus was on him. He put his hands up and signed, "The wolf died but….," he couldn't help but pause, thinking about the absurdity he was actually going to sign, "after dying, the wolf…changed into a man."

Caesar squinted, thinking he might have misread Maurice's signs. He looked at Rocket and Koba, as if looking for some kind of confirmation. When they gave them none, he repeated the signs to Maurice. "The wolf…died…and then it changed into a man?" One by one, the three of them nodded.

Caesar's initial reaction was to shriek with anger at them for giving him such a ridiculous answer for what really was a pressing issue. Miraculous healing or not, he didn't want to suffer the faintest chance that that wolf was still out there, waiting to attack some hapless Ape. But he trusted these Apes above all others, except maybe Cornelia. So he kept as straight a face as possible and signed, "And….what makes you think that's what happened."

Both Koba and Maurice turned to Rocket. He looked back at them, grunting in frustration as he was put on the spot. He calmed back down and signed, "When we reached the sight of Buck's grave, he found the spot where I tossed the wolf last night. There was blood and fur, and…footprints. Wolf tracks leading away. We followed the tracks for another 200 feet until we found a body underneath the ferns. It was….the body of a man."

Caesar didn't look impressed. "So the wolf killed a stray human then."

Rocket shook his head and continued, "The wolf didn't kill the human. When we found him…..your spear was sticking through him." There was yet another long pause between them as Caesar looked from his spear to them.

Suddenly Koba blurted out with his hands, "I don't believe it either, Caesar. It's impossible. I think this was set up by humans. They switched the bodies and covered their tracks."

"But that doesn't explain how Caesar healed so quickly," Maurice signed, snarling at Koba, not very appreciative of his outburst.

"Explain," Caesar signed, jumping back in and looking at Maurice.

Maurice stood tall and began signing. "The wolf that attacked you last night was larger than a regular wolf, was more aggressive than a regular wolf, and it was traveling alone. An abnormal wolf attacks you, and before the sun has risen the next day, the wound has healed, the wolf is gone, and a man is lying in the place where it died. This isn't just coincidence, Caesar. I firmly believe that these things are connected….though I don't know how…"

As Caesar watched Maurice as he signed, Caesar saw in his eyes the deathly seriousness with which he felt. There was a deep fear lurking behind those beads of green. Caesar didn't know if Maurice was right or wrong, but either way, he was definitely genuine. Caesar nodded and signed, "I believe…that you did see whatever it was you saw. But the idea that a wolf can change into a man….seems impossible. How did it happen? And what would it have to do with my wounds?"

Koba gave Caesar a look of disbelief, signing, "You believe this?"

Caesar shook his head and signed, "I'm not sure if I believe, but we must remain open to the possibilities. I know from experience that humans are capable of many extraordinary things." Koba looked away and flashed his teeth for just a second. "You know it's true, Koba. Humans may be cruel, but there are no limits to what they can create. For all we know, this wolf might have been a human creation of some kind," and he shrugged.

Koba relaxed his posture a bit, signaling that he at least accepted the possibility. Rocket only became more confused with fuel added to the flames of uncertainty. Maurice simply gave a soft nod, appreciating the open-mindedness of their leader. "So then, what should we do?" Rocket asked.

Caesar shrugged again. "Nothing we can do. We keep our eyes open for anything unusual, but other than that, life will go on as usual."

At that moment, Blue Eyes descended from the upper level, looking at the four intruders to his bedroom, hooting and shrieking loudly, and pounding on the ground with his hands. "What are you all doing in my room?!" he signed frantically.

Standing tall , Caesar remained quiet as he gave his son a look as intense as his heaving chest. "Just talking, not your concern," he signed.

Blue Eyes didn't let up as he signed, "Why not?"

"Because you're young," Caesar signed.

This did nothing to placate Blue Eyes, who continued hollering and pounding as he signed. "I'm five years old! Stop treating me like a whiteass! Tell me what's going on!"

"No!" Caesar bellowed in a loud voice that shook every Ape in the room. Maurice, Koba, and Rocket all stepped back instinctively. Blue Eyes stared his father down, though he had at least silenced himself. As Caesar stared into those bizarre, eponymous eyes, he caught sight of something tortured – the fuel that fed Blue Eyes' fiery rebellion. Even though Blue Eyes kept his stare as stony as possible, Caesar did make out the slight quiver of his lip as he sank his head below his shoulders. Caesar let out a deep, long breath through his flat nose, relaxing his posture as he stood.

A distressed Cornelia hopped down from the upper level, looking around the room and signing, "What, what's wrong?"

Blue Eyes turned away, snorting as he signed to his mother, "Nothing."

Being well versed in Blue Eye's language of angst, Cornelia shot Caesar a hard look. Before Caesar could respond to her, Blue Eyes took off down the stairs, toward the village square. Cornelia let out two shrieks calling him back, but he was already off. Easing his shoulders, Caesar prepared to give chase when Koba put up a hand and signed, "I'll get him," and he dropped to all fours, rushing off to catch Blue Eyes.

Maurice looked back at Caesar and Rocket, signing, "We'll talk about this another time."

"If need be, yes," Caesar signed, "but for now, let's just leave it. Things seem to be just fine…or nearly so at any rate…," he added, turning in the direction of his fleeing child.

Maurice and Rocket turned around and strode out of the tree fort back to their homes. When they were out of sight, he collapsed onto his rear end, letting out a prolonged sigh, slouching forward. Cornelia walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, signing, "Is everything alright? What were you talking about?"

Caesar thought solidly about whether he should tell Cornelia about what Maurice, Rocket, and Koba had told him. In the end, it seemed pointless. Whatever happened was over now. There was no reason to upset her. He signed, "Nothing. Just talking about the fast healing."

She sensed he was withholding something and asked, "What did they say?"

Caesar shrugged and signed, "They're just as unsure as we are. Nothing to worry about."

When Blue Eyes was certain he was far enough away from the tree fort, he reared up on his hind legs and pounded the muddy ground with his hands. He didn't care about the looks given by the nearby Apes.

Koba showed up just a few moments later. Blue Eyes turned to face him, softening slightly at the welcome revelation that it wasn't his father. Koba signed, "Hold up kid. Where are you going?"

Blue Eyes snorted gruffly, signing, "Anywhere. Away. Can't take him anymore!"

"Your father just worries about you. He cares for you, like he cares for all Apes," Koba signed, leaning in to look Blue Eyes directly in the face.

"Don't want him to care!" Blue Eyes signed very briskly. "I want him to treat me like an adult!"

Koba let out a low whimper, reaching out a putting a finger gently onto Blue Eyes' lower lip. "Don't say that. There's nothing quite like a father's love."

Blue Eyes shook his head, letting out many snorts as he was assaulted by a guilt that mixed painfully with his anger. Deep in his heart, he couldn't ever blame his father for caring, no matter how tedious and annoying it felt. He didn't want to be the angry teenager he knew he was embodying. He panted deeply for a few moments before sitting down. Then he looked back up at Koba and asked, "Was your father like this?" If Koba answered with 'yes' then that would be very helpful to know.

Koba leaned back a bit, taken off guard by the question. "I…I actually never knew my father. Only my mother."

Blue Eye looked up immediately, regretting the question with every ounce of his being. He quickly signed, "Oh, sorry…didn't mean to-,"

Koba waved him off, and signed, "It's alright Blue Eyes. Not your fault." There was something of a low, hissing growl in his voice as he signed. It wasn't Blue Eyes' fault. Koba knew exactly who's fault it was. Wanting to change the subject, Koba signed, "Let's go hunting. Right now, just the two of us. I'll let you use one of my spears. How does that sound?"

Blue Eyes instantly perked up at the offer, standing tall on four legs. He nodded.

After picking up their horses from the stables, the two Apes rode off along the northern gate to the village, past the gorilla guard and out into the lush redwood forests spreading out for miles around. There was just enough light left in the day, even with the dense cloud cover, to get some decent hunting in. As they rode through the cool, moist air, Blue Eyes let the wind enter into his body, passing effortlessly through his nose and mouth. There was something so simply calming about riding through the woods, feeling the world around you pass by at an otherwise impossible blur. Far from the village, Blue Eyes could let out his anxieties, leaving them behind in the depths of the forest. Koba's presence wasn't disturbing in the least. He was one of the few Apes Blue Eyes could even stand to be around these days, certainly the only adult Ape.

About two miles north, Koba slowed his horse and signaled for Blue Eyes to do the same. "Come, let's go on foot from here," he signed, getting down from his horse and tying it to a nearby tree. Blue Eyes followed his lead. "Here," Koba signed, tossing him a spear, "you can use this. One of my extras."

Blue Eyes nodded, grunting and panting excitedly as he caught the spear. The two then set about looking for tracks, snapped foliage, or any other signs of recent animal activity. In the low light of the early evening, things were hard to discern. All in all, there was little left to be gleaned from the forest other than the subdued calls of birds sounding off all around them. They would turn over rocks and old logs only to discover a few frogs, salamanders, or snakes. None of these were particularly appetizing. Still, the relaxing atmosphere of the bush was enough to satisfy Blue Eye's tired mind.

After about a half hour or so, Blue Eyes looked to Koba and signed cautiously, "Your mother…what was she like?"

Once gain, Koba was unprepared for the question, stopping in his tracks and staring absent-mindedly at the forest floor. A few moments later, he weakly signed, "She was….a beautiful Ape. As kind and loving to me as your mother is to you."

"What happened to her?" Blue Eyes dared to sign.

Vivid flashes of a dark room, a terrified bonobo, and a foul-smelling, raging human struck like bolts of lightning in his mind's eyes. Somewhere, hidden in the ambient bird song was the sound of his mother's horrified screams, set against the violent poundings made against her body. The only thing Koba could find to sign in response was, "humans,"

Blue Eyes flared his lips back, hissing with the reveal of his stark white canine teeth. "Only they would be so hateful."

A simple smile spread over Koba's face as he appreciated his 'nephew's' scornful signs. "Right, Blue Eyes," he signed. "You show much wisdom for your age."

Those were the words Blue Eyes responded to best. He stood up proudly and signed, "Thank you, Koba. Father says that we shouldn't be so angry toward the humans. But I know that he is wrong."

Even this far out in the woods, Koba wasn't about to openly question the authority of Caesar, especially not in front of his own son. But masked behind his silence was a burning agreement, a resenting attitude forcibly buried underneath layers of false agreement. He resigned himself to signing, "It's easy to be merciful now, when humans are nearly gone. But should they ever become a threat again, I'm sure his mind would change."

"I don't' understand why you can't be the leader," Blue Eyes signed rather casually. "You're just as strong as father, and a lot smarter."

Koba failed to stifle his wide-mouthed laughs upon seeing Blue Eyes sign something like that. It was almost painful to see it coming from Caesar's own son. On the other hand, it wasn't as if Koba couldn't see the argument. But in the end he shook his head and signed, "No, no, Blue Eyes. Your father has earned his place as leader of the clan. We all live happy lives under his leadership."

Blue Eyes looked down at the ground. "I guess…but I still think things would be even better under you."

Koba gave his softest eyes to his friend's son, reaching out and placing his hand on Blue Eyes' shoulder. "Thanks, kid. But, I guess we'll never know."

A rustling of the bushes up ahead, caused both Apes to freeze in their tracks. Koba darted behind a large tree, pointing at an adjacent tree for Blue Eyes to duck behind. Keeping as quiet as possible, Koba peered around the lichen-covered tree bark, squinting through the shadow of the canopy. He caught sight of a disturbance in the bush about a hundred feet out. Holding his spear to his chest, Koba signed to Blue Eyes, "Sneak up ahead, I'll flush it toward you."

Blue Eyes nodded, keeping low as he crept into the depths of the underbrush. Koba mirrored the action in the other direction, walking on three legs and clutching a spear in the other. The movement ahead of them had ceased for the moment, but Koba remembered the spot where he'd seen it. Blue Eyes was now gone from sight, but Koba trusted him to be where he needed to be. He crouched low, waiting for the moment to come to him, withholding every breath to maintain the silence.

In a blink, he leaped out of the surrounding ferns with a loud snarl, landing with a thud and bull rushing the shrubs up ahead. A small, brown form shot out of the leaves, rushing like a blur across the forest floor. As Koba galloped behind, he angled himself to one side, cutting off its escape and driving it toward Blue Eyes. There was no sound to him other than his own haggard breaths going in and out against the backdrop of his flat feet and hard knuckles digging into the moist soil and pushing him forward in pursuit.

The brown blur collided with a black one as Blue Eyes jumped out from behind a tree, spear held in both hands. He brought the spear down with startling precision, his own shrieks of battle accompanied by the agonized cries of their prey. As Koba caught up to them, he looked down to see his borrowed spear embedded point first into the back of a woodchuck. Blood was gushing profusely from the back wound, splattered in all directions by the tortured thrashing of the dying rodent. In a final moment of decision, Koba raised his spear in both hands and brought it down on the woodchuck's skull. A crack. A splatter. Then silence.

They both looked down at their kill. Blue Eyes signed, "Not much, but it's something."

"It's tomorrow's lunch," Koba said, picking up the limp body of the woodchuck and hoisting it over his shoulder. Blood dripped liberally down his back as he walked with Blue Eyes to where their horses were waiting patiently. Both horses stood still, lazily staring out at the forest, only vaguely aware that their riders were returning.

Undoing the knot binding them to the tree, Koba steadied his horse as he sprang up onto its back. Blue Eyes did the same just in time for both horses to whinny suddenly, snorting out clouds of hot, condensed breath as they nervously stomped the ground with their front hooves. Both Apes pulled on the reins, managing to keep them still and quiet them down somewhat, but there were still obvious signs of nervousness in the swiveling of their heads and the increased rate of their breathing.

"What's wrong with them?" Blue Eyes asked.

Koba didn't answer immediately, turning his head in all directions and straining his vision to make out the faintest details in the surrounding forest. He couldn't see anything noteworthy, but that didn't make the grip on his spear any less firm. "Let's go, now," he signed.

Both of them tugged on the reins, the horses turning around and trotting anxiously back along the path toward the village. Koba, Blue Eyes, and the horses were all at full vigilance. A splotch of red along the side of the path caused Koba to pull hard on the reins, the horse coming to a startling halt with a distressed whinny. Blue Eyes followed suit with his own horse,

Crouching low by a small, passing stream, staring back up at them with wide, brown eyes was an adult human, a female judging from her more gracile form and long, fiery red hair. They might have mistaken her for a statue based on how still she was, if not for the small, foggy breaths escaping from her open mouth. The canteen she held in her right hand, angled against the current of the stream, was overflowing at this point, not that she noticed. Her attention was elsewhere.

The Apes and the human stared at one another in total silence for a solid moment. None of them was sure of how long that moment was, though it felt much longer than it probably was.

"Go!"

The single spoken word ran right through Blue Eye's whole body. He shivered just a bit as Koba's voice continued to echo all around them, bouncing off the massive tree trunks. It had an even greater affect on the human, who collapsed onto her rear, scrambling to get back on to her feet.

Koba had no use for her delay. He raised his hand, spear still firmly in his grasp, and yelled again, "Go! Now!"

This time the response was instantaneous. She rushed to her feet, canteen still in hand, and bolted off in the opposite direction of the village. They watched her flee until she was totally obscured by dense foliage.

"What do we do?" Blue Eyes asked.

"We go back to the village, tell your father. We put the gorillas on alert," Koba answered.

"We won't follow her?"

Koba shook his head. "She's weak. Even if there are others, they will also be weak. She's terrified of us. She's headed away from the village. We'll never see her again."

With that, they continued their journey back to the village. There were no more human sightings on their way back, and their horses had calmed down to their normal temperament. About half an hour later, they passed under the front arch to the village, a few gorillas lying almost lazily against the fortified wooden spires. Upon riding up to the village square, Koba let out a few high-pitched shrieks. These alerted many of the Apes still wandering around before preparing to turn in for the coming night. They began congregating around the two Apes, still sitting above them on horseback. Among the Apes alerted by the shrieks was Caesar, who walked briskly and bow-legged out of the tree fort and onto the rock overlook marked by the village insignia. When he saw that Koba and Blue Eyes had returned, he was instantly worried. "What is it?" he signed.

"Humans," Koba signed. The single sign was enough to set off the other Apes, but Caesar calmed them down with a single raised hand.

"How many? Where?" Caesar asked.

"Just one, female, around a half mile North of here heading farther North away from the village," Koba answered quickly.

Caesar looked around. Not seeing what he was looking for, he called out in a low, gruff voice, "Stone!"

A few minutes later, Stone came galloping up to the village square, grunting frantically. "What is it?" he signed.

"Put the gorillas on high alert tonight. Another human sighting," Caesar signed firmly. Stone didn't hesitate for a moment, nodding quickly before turning around and sprinting off toward the front gate.

The news quickly spread throughout the village. Every Ape with a spear kept it close by their nest that night. All the young were called in before the sun had fully set. Koba even let Blue Eyes hang on to the spear he'd lent him to go hunting, something that lessened his embarrassment as Caesar called him back to the tree fort. By nightfall, there wasn't a single candle shining anywhere in the village, not a single hoot, holler, or whimper to be heard from any hut. It seemed as if the entire village had been completely abandoned, and the hidden Apes hoped that any humans that might come in the night would think that it was.

It was midnight. Or at least that's what Maurice figured as he sat in his nest, as wide awake as he was at high noon. Even if it wasn't precisely midnight, it must have been close, either before or after. The moon was hanging directly overhead, casting bright blue moonbeams on the seemingly empty Ape village. It wasn't quite full, though it might as well have been for the eerie glow it was producing.

Maurice sat with his back up against the trunk, letting one leg dangle over the edge of the nest. He rubbed his pot belly slowly with his hands. The clam demeanor masked a fevered mind, fueled by thoughts racing from one end of his brain to the other. It wasn't the human alert that kept him up this late. If experience was anything to go by, then a lone, unarmed, human female was hardly something to be scared about. What was much more pressing to the old orangutan were the many lingering questions he had over the incident on New Year's night. The wolf and the wound. He supposed that Caesar's explanation – that the wolf, or man, was the product of human invention – was the beast explanation of any. He certainly couldn't think of a better one. But it was very distant from satisfying.

Out of the corner of his left eye, he caught sight of something; a black dot coming down from Caesar's tree fort. It was slowly and quietly making its way to the communal pond. As far as Maurice could tell from this distance, the spot was Caesar himself, stopping by the edge of the pond. His curiosity thoroughly piqued, Maurice hauled himself out of his nest and made his way to the bottom of the tree.

For a three hundred pound Ape, he moved with surprising finesse, without creating the faintest sound. Now at ground level, and a little bit closer to the pond, Maurice confirmed that it was indeed Caesar, who wasn't even bothering with bowls. He was cupping his hands into the water and bringing them to his face.

Maurice called out as quietly as possible, just loud enough for Caesar to hear him. He didn't want Caesar to feel like he was sneaking up on him. Caesar heard the call, and jumped in place, apparently startled. He turned his still-dripping face in Maurice's direction, letting out a long sigh. He gestured for Maurice to come closer, and Maurice followed.

"Sorry," Maurice signed, "Saw you coming. Was curious."

Caesar nodded and waved off the apology, signing, "It's alright. What are you doing up?"

Maurice lowered his eyes, signing almost blankly, "Can't sleep. I keep thinking about what happened to you."

Caesar nodded and signed, "Me too."

"I know that everything seems to be fine now…and maybe it is. But there's still so much that we don't know…and that scares me. It absolutely terrifies me. Things maybe fine. Or they might get much worse. We don't know, and if we don't know, then there's nothing we can do. Knowledge is power. Without it, we're powerless," Maurice signed, letting out many low, stressed grunts.

Caesar put two, firm hands on Maurice's shoulders, patting the long mats of tangled, orange hair. "I know, Maurice. I'm scared too. But until we learn more, there's no point in straining yourself. The best thing you can do now is just live like normal. Which for now means getting some sleep."

Maurice formed a small grin underneath the bushy mustache hanging over his lips. Then he signed, "What about you? Can't sleep?"

Caesar shrugged a little and signed, "Just a bad dream, that's all. Water clears my head."

"What was the dream about?" Maurice asked.

Caesar hesitated before signing, "Just… about New Year's night." He saw the concern start to grow on Maurice's face, and Caesar quickly added, "It's fine, Maurice. It was very scary, it's only normal that I would dream about it."

Maurice let out a low sigh. "I suppose you're right."

"Good. Now, we should both go back to bed, and try to get some sleep," he signed, giving a gentle touch to Maurice's left arm. Maurice nodded, and both Apes turned around, and retreated back to their respective homes.

Well here we are. Honestly, Chapters 2 and 3 could have been combined into one, but I was eager to post something. How will the apes deal with one of the most iconic horror-creatures in all of fiction? Stay tuned!

A quick thank you to the following people for their kind reviews, favorites, and follows. Your input is all very greatly appreciated and is what drives me to keep writing, even with the rest of life determined to get in the way.

amore1993, SarahMatrix04, Artista 321, chawk1993, Chaos Evans, BreetZel, Ladydaysingsblues, Purple Duskywing, 0Fenix, CookandBaker, Capricornia, Angel-But-A-Demon, Duchess Xanda, Ford1114, GeorgiaTypes, HaruAngel08, Karakin, Pokie4life, Human-Machine, RedtailHawk19