It was late at night. Zern and Poli just walked back to their camp after patrolling around as they saw Isha crouching before Ren's tent, trying to listen and holding back her laughter. The two clearly knew she was up to no good but couldn't resist their curiosity as they approached.
“Sssh… listen…” Isha whispered as they heard the voices coming from the tent.
"I… I can't take it…." Leinor moaned.
"Just relax! You are too stiff." Ren soothed him.
"No… It's too much; I feel like bursting apart!"
"You act so though, yet now you back down? You can take it; just try a little harder!"
"Uggh… it's too much, I… can't…" came the painful moaning, but outside the tent, Zern and Poli's faces were twitching while also turning bright red.
"Why…" Poli murmured as the exchange itself was… not weird; what made it unexpected was the owner of the lines was utterly reversed and not as one would expect.
"I told you, he is a boytoy!" Isha giggled.
"Watcha' doin'?" Rem came up suddenly. She just woke up because everyone was back and flew up sleepily. Because she was still drowsy, she knocked into Isha, making them stumble into the tent.
"Mmm?" Ren looked at them, sitting cross-legged before Leinor as they only held hands, wearing their underwear. "What… you all want to try?" she smirked.
"Oh… I thought you were," Isha sighed, disappointed, but Zern just placed his hand on her mouth, silencing her.
"I don't want to know what goes through your head; Thank you!" Ren shook her own head.
"I… can't… breath…" came the moaning, scared voice of Rem, who was mushed under Isha's breast, struggling to get free as they fell on her.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry~" Isha laughed as she sat back up, and the little fairy who insisted on coming with them flew up, fixing her pajama, a blue onesie, sticking onto her.
"I thought I was about to be crushed! They are heavy!" Rem moaned, looking at Isha, who was just grinning gleefully. "What are you doing? Is it something fun? They were trying to come in and play too!" She flew up to Ren curiously as Ren just looked at the others with slanted eyes making them inch backward.
"Yeah, I bet! But no, Rem, we were just trying to train. Sadly it seems like we can't continue like we usually do!" Ren gave up, a bit disappointed.
"Because you advanced?" Zern asked.
"Seems like it! When we try to share energies like we always did, the flow of mine is too much for even Leinor. The disparity between our bodies became significant, and he can't keep up." She sighed dejectedly. "I thought I could help you out like I did with everyone and push you all forward, but I won't be able to!"
"Ren's energy overwhelms mine." Leinor added, "It sends it into rampant overdrive, and I feel like exploding. I suggest none of you try it out. I can regenerate quickly, but you would be injured."
"Masochist." Isha laughed.
"Fuck you." retorted Leinor.
"You wish, boytoy~."
"Okay, okay, enough!" Ren sighed. "Let's get back to rest, everyone. We continue onward tomorrow! By Shaman's map, we'll reach them soon. I hope he was right that it is easy to get along with them."
"What can go wrong?" Poli stretched, standing up, followed by Zern.
"Now you just jinxed us!" Everyone scolded him at the same time.
"Yeah, idiot!" Isha added a well-aimed kick at his butt. All of them left in the end, except Rem, who now, knowing nothing fun was going on, just settled into the lap of Ren, going back to sleep.
"It seems like we have a third wheel for tonight." Ren smiled, stroking the little red cinnamon roll's head.
"You look like a big sister now~" Leinor pecked her cheek.
"Huh? Not like a mother? Perv."
"Hey!"
"Ahaha, okay, okay… let's rest a little." She leaned forward, kissing his lips, easing up Leinor's frowning expression, and soon they were snuggling up while Ren held Rem like a baby, enjoying the night, even though she felt full of energy, not sleeping at all.
The next day, after they continued on their way, it didn't take long to reach the village of the orangutans, which was based next to a shallow pond surrounded by willow trees. They immediately saw some average-heightened orangutans lying around, under the shade of the trees or upon them in nests or hammocks made from leaves and vines.
"They really look like a chill tribe," Isha murmured because when the apes saw them arriving, they just took a look before waking up the others, pointing at them, but other than that, doing nothing else.
"What's this smell?" Rem asked, sniffing around, clearly getting a bit dizzy, sitting down on Ren's head.
"Mm? Now you mention it…." Ren took a sniff for herself too.
“Oh… this is…” Isha joined in, too, clearly recognizing the smell. They soon realized that all of the orangutans were holding some kind of pipe, taking sips, and blowing out thick smoke once in a while. "This smells like hash."
"Are you serious?" Leinor rubbed his temples.
"Yup. We are selling it back at home! I recognize a good product when I smell one. It's good to relax a little!" Isha licked her lips.
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"Haaah… this is going to be interesting…." Ren murmured as they walked forward, approaching them.
Finally, when they got really close, one of the orangutans stood up, scratching her orange fur, coming close with slow steps before sitting down before them and taking a sip from her long, wooden pipe.
“Ah… huuuumans…. Cooooool… What ya doin' here? Wanna sip?" She asked with a slowed-down speech, stretching out her pipe, and before Ren could refuse, Isha already took it.
"Ohhh, this is good! Really good!" Isha took a significant drag from it without reservation.
"'Course!" the ape grinned. "Soooo… what ya doin' here?" She asked again, clearly not afraid of them.
"We just came to talk." Ren scratched her throat.
"'Bout the new village? Coooool, Coooool, we're cool with that!" She nodded as more orangutans came forward, sitting in front of them in a semicircle, all smoking their pipes, nodding heavily.
"You know about that?" Leinor looked around cautiously so they wouldn't be surrounded.
"Yeaaah… we know. The chimpin'chompin' gone all screamy and punchy yet died… Coool, Coool. They were asshooooles!"
"Asshooooles." the others echoed, nodding and taking a big drag from their pipes in complete sync.
"Woah," Isha murmured, blinking her eyes as hard as she could, ensuring she wasn't tripping. It was freaking her out how in sync the orangutans moved and spoke, seeing around 30 of them simultaneously do the same movement; It made her and the rest dizzy, especially after a whiff from the exhaled smoke clouds alone.
"You are well informed." Ren looked around them.
"Yeaaah… we are." The female orangutan nodded, and it seemed like she was the leader of the tribe. "The birdies talk a lot." she grinned.
"You have another tribe feeding you information?"
"Nooooo~ The birdies~" she giggled and blew smoke through her lips in the form of a bird that just flew away.
"Are they this high all the time?" Poli whispered into Leinor's ears. As he just shrugged in answer.
"Ahaha, a birdie flew away~" Rem giggled, who, from the scent of the orangutans alone, was already high as a kite.
"Oh my… Come, come, don't wiggle around too much!" Ren moaned, taking her into her arms like a baby while watching where the smoke disappeared, feeling something special about it, and the feeling she got from the apes made her tingle like their eyes could see into her soul.
"You're Ren, right-o?" The orangutan pointed with her pipe at Ren.
"You do know a lot." Ren said while she softened her gaze, smiling at the orangutan.
"Yeaaaaahh… I saw you." She nodded.
"When?" Leinor furrowed his brows.
"Huh?" She looked at him. "When I slept, in a dreeeeeam. Shaman sent ya. We saaaaaw everythiiiing. You gonna make it biiiiig." She grinned, munching on her pipe's end.
"Complete nutjobs." Leinor moaned under his breath, but Ren was taking it seriously, so he held back his frustration.
"You know my name, yet I don't know yours," Ren spoke after shifting Rem in her arms a little.
"Pongooooooo~"
"With that long of an O?" Ren grinned.
"Nooooo~" Pongo laughed with the others in tow.
"You said you saw us… Do you mean… in a vision? Are you all psychic or something?" Poli asked, getting curious.
"In the dreaaaam, we see the dream, which tells us the storieees we must know. Like you will come and all. Shaman is gooooood; I like him!"
"You must be his ex…." Ren murmured, thinking about what to do while Pongo took another drag.
"Ex? Maaaybeeeee… Oh, we will join ya."
"Really?" the group asked, surprised, just as in sync as the orangutans were.
"Yeaaaaah." all of them answered at the same time. "It will be coooooool. But…”
"But?" Zern gulped.
"Only after."
"After what?" Zern got a bit impatient and frustrated after an answer like that.
"The battleeeeeee. We ain't fighting; that's not cooooool."
"What battle?" Leinor asked with a stern voice.
"The battleeee!" the others echoed. "When you arrive, the chompy-screamy buffooooons attack. Asked by the Red Fur!"
"What are you speaking about…." Leinor flared up, losing his temper a little, which was rare, but Ren raised her hand.
"Is our town under attack? Right now?" She asked seriously.
"Yeaaaah." all of them nodded.
"Fuck… Everyone, double speed, we go back! Now!" Ren shouted.
"Yeaaaah… you goooo. We come when fighting is dooooone, 'kay? Cooooool." Most of them echoed as they waved at them while the group quickly rushed out.
"You believe those nutjobs?" Isha murmured.
"Yes. I have a strange feeling about them. I can't put my finger on it… yet…” Ren bit her lips.
"Woaaah… the colors are so faaaaast!" Rem giggled, totally stoned, still in her embrace, watching the trees whizzing by.
"You poor little joyball…." Ren sighed, giving her to Isha. "Keep her safe and hurry up."
"Just go! You are faster than us. We will be right behind you!" Isha smiled.
"Mm." the other three also nodded, agreeing with her.
"Don't be late… or you won't have any chance to have fun!" Ren smirked as she shot out, leaving behind only an afterimage of herself, made out of pure lightning, rushing back as fast as she could.
…
….
….
It was still morning, as the village was already up, working on the new buildings yet to be finished. Kang had just munched on a giant watermelon, crunching it like nothing, when he suddenly stood up, tall as a statue, and started growling, beating his chest. The other gorillas and chimpanzees immediately went into alert mode. The humans present did not know what it meant, but they were also alerted by it. The fairies were scared easily, starting to flock towards the center of the village, collecting and leading their tiny, simple-minded offspring to safety, who were still small butterflies.
"What is it?" Feynor arrived next to Kang.
"I feel strong killing. Baboons coming!"
"Shit… Evacuate the young, the fairies, and the weak!" He gave a loud order echoed again by Kang, and soon the younger chimps and gorillas were already leading them out.
It didn't take long before, from the west, loud screaming voices came, and from between the trees, a horde of baboons rushed out, numbering in the hundreds. Kang only roared, towering over the baboons who averaged around 1,5 meters tall, but the bigger ones had long, fang-like teeth sticking out from their mouths. When the wave of baboons reached the edge of town, Kang just swept out with his hand making four of them snap and crack loudly, flying away like ragdolls, yet against those numbers, he was surrounded a minute later.
"Fire!" came the voice of Feynor as the present human soldiers let loose of their arrows, aiming at the still rushing monkeys in the back while another squad rushed in, led by Feynor with swords and shields, trying to stop their advance on the village.
"Eat this!" arrived the voice of Shaman, tossing out small, round balls, and when they exploded, they released a thick, green smoke that made the baboons trip up, disoriented and confused, making it easy for the arriving chimps and Niji to bash their heads in. Their faces were covered with water-soaked clothes, shielding them from the gas and enabling them to finish off their invading enemies...
While the chaotic fighting was raging on, another roar came from the woods, and a more prominent, taller, more straight-standing baboon came out, wearing metal-like armor, holding a spiked mace in his hand, surrounded by three others. He just roared at Kang, then rushed out with inhuman speed.
The giant, white gorilla's response was simple, an animalistic, wild and deep roar, as his white fur completely hardened, turning into bones. After a few seconds, he was covered in a milky-colored, bone-like armor, meeting the mace with a punch, shattering it in the process.
"I'll kill you today, old one!" the baboon growled, showing his white, sharp teeth.
"We see!" Kang replied with a grunt and headbutted him, crushing his nose, before grabbing him, and with a spin, he threw him out, hitting one of the other, more giant baboons.
"Surround that fucker! Kill him, and the village is ours!" The first one roared with a bloody face as the four of them rushed at Kang. By now, the meadow was littered with dead bodies and the smell of blood, baptizing the little, unfinished town.