Kain drifted back to consciousness in the cave that he was staying in once he was able to get enough rest. He slung Grand over his shoulder and left the cave of light blue stone. Kain decided to continue walking in the direction of the edge of the island for now, as there was really nothing else to do. So, he continued on. After a bit of walking, he reached a stream that was much wider -about 20 feet- than the stream from earlier, but still did not impede him, as it ran alongside the path he intended to follow. He stopped by the path and took a drink from the water to find it tasting the same as the water smelled. He did not remember the taste of the water when he first drank from it because of the pain, but he suspected that the liquid must have tasted as enchanting as it smelled back then.
As his mind idly mulled over the taste of the water, a loud roar was heard, one that sounded like a bear or some other large animal, which was followed by a series of roars that Kain immediately recognized: the weird shrieks that came from the goblin-gorilla.
‘I really need a better name for those things. It’s exhausting to keep calling those things ‘goblin-gorillas’. How about… green apes? My family’s poor naming sense lives on in me indeed, but I like it.’
The creatures, now called by Kain ‘green apes’, seemed to number in the tens by the amount of screeching he heard from them. Despite the danger posed by the sheer number of green apes, he wanted to see what could prompt so many of them to gather together, despite their monstrous physical strength. The sound came from across the river, so Kain decided to jump over there and figure out what was going on. He backed up a few dozen feet and got a running start as he strengthened his legs and flung himself over the wide stream and landed on the edge of the opposing bank, just barely avoiding falling in. As he picked himself up again, he heard another roar from the lone animal and the dying shriek of a green ape. He began to run toward the commotion and, along the way, found a large number of smaller animals running away from the fight. He saw rabbits, which Kain noted as having different fur patterns from the rabbit he had come to blows with earlier, squirrels, rats, and mice all running away from the fight. After another few minutes of running and many more roars and dying shrieks, he finally reached the site of the struggle.
There was a clearing in the forest and in the clearing was a small pond. Though the water was once blue like the streams that Kain had seen before it, it was now dyed a bluish-violet and littered with the shredded corpses of the green apes. Beside the pond was a gathering of green apes, about a dozen give or take a few, and a large creature that looked like a blue crocodile with eight legs and a tortoise shell ten feet across while also missing a tail. The crocodile-turtle hybrid was snapping at the green apes as they continued to close in, trying hit and run attacks. Every time they closed in on one of the eight legs, the leg in question would rapidly rear up and slam down on the nearest green ape, crushing it and causing it to let out a dying shriek. The apes were all very similar, if not the exact same as the one Kain had fought before except for one that was in the back. It had a paler green skin color, making it look sick or diseased. It had its cloudy eyes closed when Kain had gotten there and, after a bit more fighting, it opened its eyes that seemed to glow and stared at the creature while looking for an opening. The crocodile flinched when the albino green ape glared at it and almost immediately retreated back into its shell. Despite its lowered guard, the other green apes kept their distance from the crocodile and simply surrounded it, much to the confusion of Kain. The answer came quickly, however, as the albino ape jumped towards it with a shriek of fury while unleashing a blue fog that immediately ignited into a blast of flame that barreled toward the entrenched crocodile. The fire still glowed orange, like it normally is, but the normal color did not portray the strength of the fire that aimed to end the crocodile’s life.
The blast struck the creature on the top of the shell and detonated with wind-shattering force. Dust was kicked up and a pained cry came from the creature which, when combined, blinded and deafened Kain to the end of the clash. Once the dust cleared, Kain saw the large creature lying near dead in the center of the blast. Its shell was pierced on the top with a hole that took up a good quarter of the space on top of the shell. The other apes that had circled around were digging into the body of the crocodile from the hole, tearing chunks of flesh from the opening. The albino ape, with its eyes still glowing, approached the crocodile with what could only be described as a taunting grin. The crocodile had no strength to fight any longer after the explosion, let alone while ravenous apes clawed and tore its flesh from its back. The albino ape raised its hands and curled them into fists which then came down with a deafening thud. The slam crushed the crocodile’s skull instantly.
The green apes did not spend any time celebrating their victory, however, as they immediately began to devour the flesh of the crocodile. All of the green apes that were in the shattered shell began to tear chunks from the opening and eating where they stood, soon finishing and diving in for more. The ones that were still surrounding the creature began to dig into the closest leg openings, and soon there were three legs dragged from the shell of the beast where the apes carrying them began to gorge themselves on the meat. The only one not caught up in the feeding frenzy was the albino green ape, which simply gazed down at the crushed skull in front of it. It then plunged its hand into the now shattered skull and pulled from it a handful of brain matter, still dripping with the bluish-violet blood that the crocodile possessed. The bloody mess was brought to the lips of the albino green ape, who opened its maw wide and stuffed its elongated mouth full of brainmatter. The ape swallowed the flesh and began to consume the head in a leisurely manner, all the while the other apes devoured the body as if they were starved. They were so invested in their meal that they failed to notice Kain, who had been staring at the sight with complete shock.
‘There is so much here to digest… Not only is chimeras of different animals common here, the ability to shoot that fog or gas is not entirely unique to the skittish rabbit. Even beyond that, that albino green ape could use it to such an extent that it blew a hole in the shell of that thing, which was impossible to break even with the strength of the other green apes. Also, it set the cloud on fire! I’m starting to feel the need to understand that ability if I want to make it out aliv-’
His thoughts were cut off when he saw the albino green ape finish the brain matter of the crocodile monster. Once the last scoop was swallowed and the blood licked from its fingers, it began to shake and shudder. Kain gazed at the creature’s odd behavior when most of the other creatures also began to shudder in place. He then noticed that the ones that remained normal began to guard the others and kept a watchful eye on the surroundings. Kain was forced to back off and continue observing by channeling energy or whatever it was into his eyes to overcome the distance. He focused on the albino green ape as it was the first to begin in its odd behavior. Kain’s observation did not last long however, as there was soon a visible change in the ape. Its body began to warp and stretch. Its eyes began to split, making four eyes in total. The same happened to its mouth and nose and ears and arms and legs and even torso. Eventually, the duplicate body parts began to move to the back of the creature, as a whole second albino green ape quite literally grew off of the back of the original. The second one was a complete copy of the first in every way, even having the exact same facial proportions. The only noticeable difference between the two apes after the process was that their eyes had a much duller glow to them. Kain absentmindedly gazed on as the other green apes also split themselves into two identical twins. After doing a headcount, Kain realized that their number at the end of the battle was 1 albino and 13 regulars. The count after their duplication was 2 albinos and 21 regulars.
Once the process was completed, the green apes looked around and headed in the opposite direction from where Kain was. As they left, disappearing behind the tree line, all that remained of their battle was the skeleton of the odd crocodile and one dazed and stunned onlooker.
