Tens of thousands of trees grow in this forest over hundreds of square kilometers big. Inside the forest, Pierre and Hector swing from tree branch to tree branch. On their backs they carry spears and bows, to supplement the Clan's meat stock. They smell this familiar leafy smell they always had when they visited the forest on a hunting or gathering expeditions.
"What will we have for dinner tonight?" asks Pierre, looking down at the forest floor for any pigs, deer, or boar.
"Maybe even that plant eater with the big horns," says Hector. "I remember hunting that once with my dad. Tasted different than pig or deer."
The chimpanzee sits silently while standing on the tree branch. He had known a peaceful existence for most of his life. He had heard of fights with other Ape Clans, but home was safe.
And now this happened.
Being away from the ruins of the village, inside this forest, hunting animals, is a distraction; Hector needs to keep his mind occupied. He looks at the treescape.
He had enjoyed the hunt. It is and has been one of the few pleasures of his life.
He notices movement.
He looks and sees a deer with light-brown fur.
He holds a wooden bow in his hands and nocks an arrow.
He stares at the deer, unaware of the two apes in the forest canopy above.
His heart races.
He very slightly opens his palms.
The bow slightly straightens, and the arrow flies out at a fast speed. They hits the deer with many newtons of force, and it falls.
"All right," says Pierre. "Time to cut it up."
He climbs down the tall tree as fast as he can. He approaches the downed animal, still twitching. Taking a stone dagger, the gorilla slits the deer's throat.
"All right!" calls out Pierre.
And then suddenly he falls down.
Something is trying to hold him down.
They are mans!
"Stop it!" yells the gorilla as he thrashes about. "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty man!"
Hector quickly gets down to the forest floor to help his friend. Picking up some rocks, he throws them at the mans holding down Hector.
They run off.
"And stay out!" yells the chimpanzee. He looks towards Pierre. "You okay?"
"Yeah," answers the gorilla. "I never seen any mans in the forest before."
The two apes then hear a scream, followed by a roar.
They run and take cover behind a large boulder partially buried in the soil.
They look and see a large brown bear standing upright, facing three mans.
"Food," says Hector, nocking an arrow into his bow.
The bear pounces on one of the mans.
The chimp quickly shoots, nocks another arrow, and shoots again.
The bear falls.
Grabbing his spear, Pierre runs towards the fallen bear and delivers the coup de grace.
One of the mans, who has dark brown fur on his head and face, stares at the two apes before leaving.
"We have a lot more food," says Pierre.
Oooooooo
"Want some bear meat, Rusty?" asks Pierre.
The orange dog pants, and the gorilla gives Rusty a piece of fire-roasted bear meat, who happily eats the bear meat.
"I have not had bear in a while," says Pierre's sister, Nicole. She eats another piece of bear meat.
She and Pierre and their parents, along with other apes, sit around one of the many campfires burning in the ruins of their home village. Both the bear and the deer had been roasted. Above them are gray clouds concealing the stars.
"Eat much as you can," says their father. "We need to store food in us."
"Our food stores were gone when Levain attacked," says their mother.
"there were mans in the forest?' asks Nicole.
"Yes," answers Pierre. "I saw three."
"There must be more," says his father. "Nicole not born when I last saw man in forest."
Hector swallows some bear meat. "There used to be wolf in the forest. No more wolf, Maybe some mans lived in forest now that the wolf is gone."
"So few of us," says Pierre. "Others taken by Levain."
"Nothing we can do," says his mother.
"But what about Madeline?' asks her daughter. "and the others?"
"They're gone," says her father. "We build again.. If we go after them, Levain will kill us. We lucky to be alive here."
"What if they come back and finish the job?" asks Hector. "What do we say to those that died?"
"What can we say to them? They dead."
ooooooo
It is still nighttime, and the apes in the village are asleep. Thee is only the sound of chirping insects.
Hector unfastens one of the horses from a makeshift hitching post. He has a dagger, a spear,a bow, and a quiver of arrows. He jumps on and sits on the black horse's back.
The chimpanzee knows what he has to do.
He sees a figure walking towards him. Hector soon sees that is Pierre.
"What are you doing?" asks the gorilla.
"Going to get the others back," replies Hector.
"Without telling anyone?"
"Someone has to find the others. We can't leave them behind!"
"Then I go with you," insists Pierre, unfastening a brown horse from a hitching post.. "I watch your back."
"Thank you."
the two apes ride out of the village, soon going onto the pathway.
"Know where we're going?" asks Pierre.
"From the Paris, left of the sunrise," answers the chimpanzee. He and the gorilla have had many years to know the sun rises in one direction and sets in another.
They ride into the darkness. They know the sun will be up eventually.
They can hear the footsteps of another horse.
Or rather, the running steps.
The two apes look.
"Joseph!" exclaims Pierre.
"You want to take the others back," says the bonobo riding atop of brown horse.
"We have to," replies Hector.
"Then you need me," says Joseph,."I have experience. We ride."
"Yes, sir," says Pierre.
The three apes continue to ride, crossing one of the old bridges over the Seine River. The black sky above turns purple, and then turns lighter. Sunrise is approaching.
"At least we know where sunrise is," says Joseph, as he sees a part of the sky brighter in one direction than the others. "We could just ride through these forests."
"Ride off these Toymaker paths?" asks Pierre.
"We don't want Levain to see us yet."
And so they ride through the forest. Occasionally, either Joseph, Pierre, or Hector would climb a tree to the top of the canopy, to both see what is in the far distance, and for any animals like bears or wolves that could physically challenge them.
And of course, they are all on the lookout for other apes. Like their Clan, other Clans would chase outsiders from their hunting turf with clubs and spears.
After all, Clans who could not keep other apes from hunting in their turf often starved to death.
They reach the edge of the forest. Climbing up to the top of the trees, the three apes take a look at what is ahead.
There is a wide expanse of open fields, perhaps over one hundred square kilometers big. All of them are clear. Some of the field are being plowed by oxen pulling plows. Some people plant seeds, and others spread manure to provide nutrients for crops. The three apes can spot walled villages in the distance, looking tiny from this up high and this far.
They climb down and get on their horses, and ride out of the woods. Immediately, they see an expanse of tree stumps, perhaps a few hectares in size.
"Looks like it was cut recently," says Hector. He recalls having to chop trees with a stone axe.
But their Clan never cut down trees of this scope.
They continue through the recently-cleared land and reached a wooden fence, marking off the boundary of the farm.
"We ride around," says Joseph. "No need to fight others yet."
And so they do. Soon they reach a dirt path between the fields, which seem to be divided into rectangular areas.
The sweet smells of the forest give way to the different kind of smell of tilled fields, ready to be planted with crops. They glance at apes working the fields, often guiding horses and oxen. One field has a herd of at least three dozen four-legged animals with brown-and-white fur, standing on a field of bright green grass. Two horses pull a wagon in the opposite direction; the wagon has apes in leather with hunting weapons.
As the three of them approach the village, they notice that the walled area seems to be over twice as large as their home village. They can see a larger gathering near the front of the main gate.
They soon reach the place. There is a line of tables lining the path to the village's main gate. People stand behind them, and there are various items from food to toys.
Banners are hung from poles, and each banner has the pattern of triangles inside triangles insider triangles.
"A market," says Hector. "I liked it when traders visited us."
"We can pretend to be traders, bro," says Pierre.
"Ah, welcome," says an orangutan. "You come to trade. You no trade unless you give something."
"You want your tribute," replies Joseph. "And the Levain want your tribute."
"Yes. This is Levain turf and we pay tribute to trade on their turf."
"I heard they fight against Clan that didn't yield."
"Yes. They killed many, took many, and the others hide in forest."
"Where were they taken?"
"Left of where sun rises. There is big farm, guarded by gorillas. Huge tall buildings belching smoke. They should have yielded. Now they are bottom."
"I thank you for your talk, sir," says Joseph.
Joseph, Pierre, and Hector ride out of the marketplace. They notice people walking along the dirt path, and w wagon traveling in the same direction they are riding. They then notice a whole bunch of apes going to a fallow field on the right.
Reining their horses, Joseph, Pierre, and Hector watch. There is a whole bun ch of apes in the field, all lined up. Circular wooden disks are set up.
The apes in the field hold something in the hands, pressing one of the ends of the objects into their shoulders.
Bolts shoot out from the devices, hitting the wooden circles.
Hector looks closely as the apes hold sticks and place it on the toys.
Another volley of bolts strike the circles.
"Like a bow," says the chimpanzee.
"That's cool," says a gorilla child standing nearby. "The grown-ups train in case the Levain want fighting apes for tribute. I want to play with those toys when I grow up."
"they can be dangerous," says Joseph.
He and Pierre and Hector ride off as those other apes continue practicing with their weapons.
Ooooooooo
"Look down there!" exclaims Pierre as he looks down from the top of a tree.
There is a clearing in the forest that they had just reached after a few hours of riding on horseback. In that clearing are some buildings built by the Toymakers.
"We'd better shelter here for night," says Joseph.
Hitching their horses to ancient posts, they go inside one of the buildings. Only light from a dimming sky and going through the windows illuminates this abandoned building.
"An untouched toy treasure," says Hector, looking around. "Wish we can take these with us."
Pierre looks at a drawing on a poster attached to one of the walls. The poster has a drawing of a man in cloths, with wheat-colored fur on his head.
"Toymakers loved drawing animals," says the gorilla. "Nicole would like this. I wonder how she is doing."
Many, many kilometers away, Nicole sits on a branch near the top of a tree not far from the village.
"I wonder what Pierre is doing," she says to her parents. The gorilla looks down. She climbs down and holds Rusty. "I know you worry about him" she says to the dog.