Way of the Knights

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Raven and Dennis headed towards the east where there are tons of vegetation. 

They walked side by side, Raven on the left and Dennis on the right. None of them said anything to each other which made the atmosphere a tad bit awkward. Needless to say, the monkey's curiosity towards this human was definitely high. 

Dennis had never met any human before but he certainly knows what they are through the stories on his tribe. And since he is young, of course he is curious about many things. He wanted to ask him a lot of question but he felt like it would bother the human, he didn't want Raven to get annoyed with him since he's already helping him with his predicament. 

"You look uncomfortable." Raven suddenly said out of nowhere. "Do you want to say something?"

"Oh! U-uh, no it's fine. It's nothing. I'm just worried about my big bro, that's all." Dennis hurriedly said defensively. He thought that he might've irritated Raven so he didn't dare to ask anything. 

"Don't be scared." Raven said in a softer tone. He glanced at the monkey beside him and continued: "I don't bite."

"W-well." Dennis stuttered and glanced at Raven first. He then mustered up his courage and asked: "May I know your name?"

"Raven." He replied as he parted the bushes aside, "My real name's Vendrick but many people call me Raven since it's much easier to remember."

"I see." Dennis replied, inwardly at awe on how humans think. He didn't expect this human to have a nickname that's after an animal. 

"I'm 15 years old. How about you?" Dennis asked.

"18, turning 19 soon." Raven replied as he ducked down to pass through some thorny vines. "I'm curious about something though."

"What is it?" 

"How are you able to speak human language?" Raven finally asked the question that has been bothering him ever since meeting him. This is the reason why he struck a conversation with Dennis. 

It is not an everyday thing where one would meet a beast that can speak the similar language as you are. So of course, Raven was similarly curious. If anything, he really wants to know more about the history of this tribe, maybe there's a surprise waiting for him. 

"Ah, that." Dennis replied, "It was taught to me by my parents."

"Your parents can speak the same language as well?" Raven asked while his brows were raised

"Yes." Dennis affirmed, "Majority of our tribe can speak as well, except for babies of course."

"You do know that the language that you're using are that of humans right?" 

"I'm aware." Dennis replied, "His majesty, the Monkey King, once told us that his parents were once the companions of a very strong human. That human took care of them and taught them how to speak. He said that when the human died, the monkeys were freed. Both of them decided to build a tribe that mimics that of human society in order to remind themselves of their human friend."

Raven was inwardly impressed by that story. While he's not completely buying it, he's interested to know more about this story since he had never heard anything like this before.

"Is the human settlement far from here?" Dennis asked curiously. 

"Yes it is." Raven replied in a heartbeat. "One will have to pass through many deadly territories before reaching it."

"Then you must be very strong since you got all the way here without dying." Dennis said.

"Well, I am rather confident about avoiding danger if necessary." Raven replied, not wanting to give Dennis any high expectations. 

*Dong!* 

The two of them were suddenly surprised by a loud and bass sound not too far from them. There was a rhythmic pattern on those sounds. 

Raven suddenly saw Dennis face changed. He then came closer to him and pulled at his clothes, saying: "That's him! He's calling out for help."

He then suddenly smacked his chest a couple of times, this action cause the same frequency as the one that they were hearing, only it was a little bit pitchy.

"Are you sure that it's your big bro who's doing that?" Raven asked, he then pointed forward and said: "There is cliff in there but we can't see him."

"I'm sure that's him." Dennis said with certainty, "I could recognize that sound anywhere. I'm sure that he's the one who's doing that sound."

Raven shrugged and said, "Alright, let's check it then." 

The two then walked forward towards the cliff but found no one in there. They could still hear the sound and it was louder as they got closer to the edge. 

Dennis ran towards the edge of the cliff and looked down. He then cupped his hands towards his mouth and yelled: "Big Bro! Where are you!?"

His voice echoed, there was a brief silence before both of them heard: "Is that you Dennis!?"

The young monkey's eyes lit up, he then replied: "Yes, it's me! Are you down there?"

"Over here! Look down a bit more!" The voice replied, causing the two to do what it said. 

On the surface of the cliff, there is a small protruding land which serves as a foothold for the ape. Dennis' big brother was standing there looking up to them with a flushed expression. Raven rolled his eyes while Dennis sweated nervously.

"How in the world did you got there!?"

"The fruit is here so I jumped down." The Ape replied. Raven could see that the ape has a strange looking fruit that its hiding on its underarms. "I thought I could come back up by climbing but I couldn't. The cliff is slippery since it just rained."

'How unlucky.' Raven muttered inwardly. He could tell that the ape was telling the truth. The cliff was still wet from the downpour earlier, due to its size it couldn't get a stable grip or footing on the cliff's surface, even just standing on the land where he was is still dangerous. 

"Oh no. What do I do?" Dennis muttered nervously as he racked his brain to find a solution for this dilemma.

Of course he was heard by Raven who's beside him. He stood up and ruffled the head of the young monkey.

Before Dennis could even say a word, Raven jumped down with an impassive look on his face. Dennis screamed due to shock and tried to catch Raven through all means available to him yet he failed. 

He watched as the human fell, the ape down the cliff also saw this and similarly panicked. As he fell down, Raven was looking at the land where the ape was standing. And he reached the same altitude, he suddenly kicked the air and stopped himself from falling, much to the shock of the two primates. 

His first kick stopped him from falling even further, the second kick was used to gain some sort of stability. The third kick was to gain momentum and the fourth kick was to jump to the land where the ape was. 

The two primates were gawking and stared at him like he was someone out of this world. 

Everything happened too fast, and from the unimpressed look on Raven's face, it seems that what he did was something so trivial. Dennis unknowingly released a breath that he didn't know he was holding. He then hoped that this human has a way to get back up or else, they were royally screwed. 

"Yo." Raven greeted as he landed in front of the Ape. 

"Don't you 'Yo' me!" The Ape replied, "You almost gave us a heart attack! You should've said something before doing dangerous tricks like that! Don't you value your life young man? Ai, seriously! What's with you young people nowadays. I swear you will be the cause of our deaths someday!!"

Raven's face turned a little bit unnatural when he heard the Ape's nagging. For some reason, this guy reminded him of his mother. 

The Ape also realized what he just said, it was then that his embarrassment caught up to him. He then said: "A-ah! Pardon me, young human. It's just some ramblings of an old Ape."

He then drummed his chest a bit and introduced himself: "My name is Allan. I see that you came with my little bro. He must've asked for your help."

Similar to Dennis, Allan also had a pitch black fur. It covered most of his body aside from his chest, his abdomen and his bottom. The fur on his head grew with a unique shape, making it appear like human hair. He had two fangs protruding out of his mouth, muscular body and long limbs.

"Yeah, he did." Raven replied.

"Then you have my gratitude." Allan gave a human-like bow, but his face turned unnatural once again. He then asked him: "Uh, how do you plan on getting us out of here?"

"Since I came here, I naturally have a way to get us out of here." Raven said, "The method I will use depends on you."

He then showed him two closed fists and said: "Choose."

Allan tilted his head in confusion but unknowingly picked Raven's right fist.

And before he knew it, he was already flying in the air. 

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