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King Soren looks at the Tower of the Great Ape Uzal. The light from the sun reflects from its shiny surface. “I’m only letting you do this ohee-lum because I want to laugh in your faces when you fail. It will lift my spirits. And when I finally get to feed you to the Acaer, I will have a full smile on my face! I will enjoy every moment of it.”
You stopped listening to King Soren’s constant heckling. The first thing that you do is make your way to the start of the tower.
The tension builds up in your body as you stand in front of the tower. A drop of sweat started to roll down your face. You knew what was at stake, and the pressure was immense. The king's words echoed in your mind, his authoritative voice adding to the gravity of the situation. Your legs felt weak, and your nerves frayed, but you tried your best to stay focused. You had to climb the tower, no matter how difficult it might be.
Karaee, standing at a distance from you, sensed your anxiety and worry. Her eyes met yours, and you could see the concern etched on her face. She knew how much was riding on your ability to climb the tower, and she was hoping against hope that you would be able to pull it off.
You took a deep, steadying breath, closed your eyes for just a few seconds, and placed your palm on the slick granite-like black stone. You can feel the coldness of the stone. You notice your reflection in the stone in front of you as you slowly focus your eyes on the top of the tower. That’s when it hits you. You take your palm off the stone, and you make your way past the crowd of apes.
“Look at this, the human is trying to escape!” King Soren yells out in protest and points at you. You freeze in place for half a second.
“Father! Calm down,” Karaee defends you, “Let’s see what the human is up to.” That gives you the chance to get through the crowd. Karaee didn’t want her father to know that she was in awe of humans. It would only provoke him more. That’s why she chose not to use your name at that moment. Using your name would have given it all away. Karaee didn’t want her father to know that the reason why you knew about the tower was through her.
Karaee’s mother just watches with a smile on her face. She knew that Karaee was fascinated by humans. Although with her best efforts, there was no way she could keep her daughter from pursuing her curiosity, wanting to know more about humans.
As you say, "Excuse me, I need to get through," all the apes around you make space for you to pass, clearing a path for you as you make your way forward through the crowd. You make your way to the entrance of the village. You step out of the village as all the apes scratch their heads in confusion and start to murmur amongst themselves.
When you return, all the apes can see your hands completely covered in sticky sap. You remembered near the river that the trees with the red bark had the stickiest sap oozing from them. You recall how difficult it was to remove the gunky stuff from your shirt.
You remove your shoes and proceed to take a large clump of sap and cover your hands and feet with it.
Karaee looks at you perplexed. She notices the sap in your hand and tilts her head while she meditates on what exactly you’re doing. “So that’s what you’re up to.” Karaee thinks to herself as she looks at her father who is completely baffled as well. His mouth is now wide open while he squints his eyes to look at the sap in your hands.
You jump up and wrap your arms around the tower as if you were hugging it. The crowd gasps as you grit your teeth. To your surprise, the sticky sap was working. Even though you were just a few inches off the ground the sap was strong enough to hold your weight up.
The first attempt was the tensest, but you feel a sense of relief wash over you. You now know that you weren’t slipping off the tower and falling back to the ground beneath you. You climb on and take the next step by moving your right arm up. You take it slow trying to give yourself time to focus on your next move. Once the sap was able to stick to the tower you then moved your left arm, then your right foot was next, then your left foot follows. You follow the same motion inch by inch.
Your breathing intensifies as the climb puts a toll on your body. The first few steps were nerve-wracking, but as you gained momentum, your confidence began to rise. The tower loomed above you, tall and intimidating, but you refused to let it overwhelm you. You took it one step at a time, slowly but surely making progress. The incredibly sticky sap was working. You almost wanted to laugh at the joy you felt but there was no time to lose focus. One wrong move and you could fall off at any moment.
While you continued to climb, you found yourself getting lost in the experience. The thrill of the challenge, the rush of adrenaline, and the sense of accomplishment combined to create a feeling of power and control. You can now feel the gust of air on your back from the wind as you scale yourself higher and higher. It was refreshing at times but also scary. All it takes is one strong gust, and you could potentially lose your grip.
“That ohee-lum is actually doing it.” King Soren whispers to himself completely awestruck with what you were doing.
With each step, you felt like you were rising above your fears and limitations, reaching for a goal that had seemed impossible just moments prior. As you slowly make your way to the top of the tower you suddenly lose your grip on your right hand. That alone made you slip a few inches down.
Karaee gasps. King Soren smiles as he snaps out of his awestruck trance. “You’re going to fall human! Just give up!”
Karaee covers her mouth in shock while she watches your right arm slip out of place from the grip of the tower. You quickly bring your right arm back into position. Although your momentum came to a screeching halt, you could see it, the top of the tower. You were so close, yet so far. You took a moment to rest but you knew your body was drained of energy. Your fears were coming true. You felt on your right hand that the sap was starting to lose its stickiness.
You were almost frozen in place and having a mini panic attack trying to get your thoughts together. You told yourself repeatedly not to look down, but you end up doing it, and that made you start breathing even harder than before. Sweat poured down your face as you began to close your eyes to try and regain your focus on the task at hand. You start to feel something strange. You could feel it. You could feel Pyro’s heart beating rapidly.
The red Guardian Stone began to glow brightly. Some of the intensity of the red light could be seen coming from your pocket. All the apes on the ground, including Karaee, looked up in astonishment and thought to themselves, "What was happening?"
“That human isn’t normal.” King Soren looks up at the red light coming from you. He steps forward wondering what exactly was happening to you.
Inkagi looked at the light and knew exactly what was happening. He had completely forgotten about your stone. A smile comes to his face wondering if Pyro was going to show up and scare everyone away. He thought for a moment that it was your clever plan to escape from the ape civilization.
You grit your teeth once again, your eyes now closed. You can sense Pyro nearby in the jungle. It is as if you can feel and see Pyro standing right in front of you, giving you his reptilian energy. The stone acts like a bridge. Pyro channels his energy to you. Suddenly you open your eyes, and you can feel a surge of energy coursing through your veins. Your eyes dilate as you start to pick up the pace again with no fear or hesitation. You can feel Pyro’s heart pounding and it feels as if yours palpitates at the same rate as his.
Pyro roars can be heard echoing throughout the jungle, you hear them as if you were standing right there next to him. His final triumphant roar happens right when you place your hand at the top of the tower. The energy he gives you finally helps you scale your way to the top.
“WOO!” You scream out when you reach the top. When you finally reached the top of the tower, you felt a sense of exhilaration wash over you. You quickly grab one of the small blue granite stones that sit at the top. You then sigh in relief as you hold it up high. You held on tight with all the sap still covering your hands and feet. A big smile can be seen across your face.
King Soren is completely shocked. He loosens his grip on his golden scepter and accidentally lets it fall to the ground, his mouth wide open.
You had done it! You had climbed the tower and proved everyone wrong. The king's arrogant words were now a distant memory, and all you could focus on was the joy of your victory.
You slip the small blue stone into your pocket and slowly make your way down. As you make your way to the bottom of the tower your eyes begin to tear up from the emotions you feel all at once. A sense of accomplishment, relief, and still a bit of fear all rush to your mind at the same time. You came close to failing and losing your chance to live.
When you step down from the monolith-like tower you are glad to be on solid ground again. You wipe the sweat from your forehead and try to remove the sticky sap from your hands. Karaee steps forward. She was the first to congratulate you, clapping you on the back and giving you a big hug. The rest of the tribe followed suit, beaming with pride and admiration for what you had accomplished. It was a moment unlike any other you have felt before.
Some apes among the crowd did not participate. They were not thrilled about the accomplishments of a human. They still didn’t trust you. And to them, you still did not deserve the honor. Instead, they turned around and returned to their homes.
“I knew there was something special about you.” Karaee clears her throat after she hugs you, stepping back with a grin on her face. She felt awkward after the hug wondering if that was too much trying not to make eye contact with her father. She was trying her best to not make it obvious that she was fascinated by humans. She then lets her father, the king, step forward ahead of her.
Inkagi now stands next to you, placing his hand on your shoulder. He smiles. “I never doubted your abilities.” You smile back at him and take a deep breath. Your face is still in shock at what you accomplished. You look back at the top of the Tower of the Great Ape Uzal, still in disbelief. It was like an out-of-body experience. As your adrenaline wears off, you start to feel extreme exhaustion come over you.
Looking at the group of smiling faces around you, you knew that this was only the beginning. King Soren opens his mouth to speak. "You have proven yourself today!" he says, his voice echoing across the village. "You have shown bravery and strength in the face of immense pressure. I am proud to welcome you into our tribe. State your names for the tribe.”
You say your name loud and proud and Inkagi calls out his name as well.
The king bends at the knee and asks for the small blue stone. You hand it over to him and he stands up and raises it in the air. With all his might he gives out a big gorilla call. “OOUG OOUG Ahhh!” The rest of the tribe follows as you look at all the apes giving out their monkey calls. He proceeds to bang on his chest a few times. “The two humans that stand before me are no longer ohee-lum. No one here is to call them that anymore! They should address them by their names.” He turns to look at you and Inkagi. He picks up his royal scepter and lifts it in the air. The scepter now hovers over your shoulder, “You now have honor. You now have our trust. I, King Soren, have spoken.” His voice, to your surprise, softens as he spoke those final words. He bows down to you and Inkagi. Karaee and everyone else do the same.
As the king stands up, the people around you cheer in agreement, some clapping their hands or stomping their feet in excitement. You can’t believe that you’ve finally made it. You’re officially a member of the ape tribe, and all the challenges that led up to this moment have been worth it.
A man pulls himself out of the raging waters of the Mighty Mizian River. He pulls his wet body onto the riverbank. Slowly with one hand, he drags his body forward. He tries to catch his breath. He feels weak and his left arm is covered in blood. He rolls his body onto his back once his body is completely out of the dangerous river. He stares at the bright cloudy sky in relief. It was Shintiro.
He remembers something. He quickly reaches into his animal skin sack tied to his waist. To his dismay, his green Guardian Stone was gone. The raging river must have taken it.
He lets out a piercing cry that can be heard throughout the jungle. He was tired, hungry, hurt, and frustrated. All he could think about was his missing stone. An eerie noise then invades his thoughts about the stone. He tries to get up and in the corner of his eyes catches a glimpse of a green mutated cat-sized insect. He notices another insect now crawling his way on the opposite side of him. He scrambles to grab his handmade knife. As he pulls it out one of the insect creatures jumps in mid-air to bite him. The creature moves straight at him with lightning speed, its fangs full of poison.
Shintiro reacts quickly and swings his blade forward at the hideous insect. With a deft hand, Shintiro slashes the grotesque insect with a powerful swing, sending it crumbling to the ground.
“COME ON!” He screams at the top of his lungs preparing himself mentally for the next kill. At this point, his body is running on adrenaline. He grips his knife tightly in anticipation.
The next insect tries the same, coming at him from a different angle. He reacts yet again with lightning reflexes. The creature falls to the ground next to him. It struggles to get back up moving all its legs in desperation. Shintiro shifts his knife in his hand and swings down in a fast-stabbing motion. He continues to stab it to death. Its sticky grotesque guts protrude all over the place. As he stabs, the guts ooze from the creature's abdomen creating a foul stench. Shintiro is unfazed by the smell and the sight of the guts.
He pauses for a second, then continues to stab it two more times in frustration. The second stab he lets out a short scream. He rips the knife out of the twitching creature’s body. His knife now covered in guts he places it down next to him. He notices his bloody arm and touches it for a second only to get a surge of pain in return. He grits his teeth and clenches his hand when he feels the stinging sensation on his arm. A jagged stone must have stabbed him deep when he was struggling to get himself out of the river.
He assesses his surroundings. The raging river next to him is extremely loud. The water constantly crashes into stones. He takes the time to focus. Before Shintiro does anything he quickly calculates his decisions before he makes his next move. But as he takes a breath of relief, he realizes that there are more of the creatures emerging from the shadows, closing in from all sides.
He then lifts his head high and calls out to the jungle. “JUNGLE! Hear me now. I am Shintiro. If you wish to kill me, do it now. Whatever you send, may it be prepared to die!” Although he was exhausted, Shintiro managed to pull himself up to his feet. He struggles at first to maintain his balance, but he repositions his feet to hold his ground. He readies himself, gripping his knife tightly, blood still dripping from his left arm, ready to face whatever comes at him. With a determined frown, he readies himself to fight for survival.
ns 15.158.61.18da2
