Monkeysrule
1st April 2005, 10:23 PM
Duh! Who else would write about monkeys? Here's the story I've been writing for a while. Non Pern. Sorry, Pern-fans!!
PART 1
. Garrel peeked out of his hole and scanned the skies. There was no tree hawk in the sky and no wildcat in the trees. However, he still felt the danger; the stillness in the air made the wolf monkey tense. Nothing stirred, and even the air smelled different, like an approaching storm. A really bad storm.
. Garrel sighed, and decided that he was just imagining things. No storm could smell that strong, and he was still groggy from sleep, anyway. Slowly, he crawled back into the carved out tree, and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn’t. What if there is a storm, he thought. What would happen? He’s heard stories of huge storms that rocked even the thickest skywoods, the largest of which were over two treelengths high and a quarter-length thick. But those were just tales to tell the little ones at night.
. Closing his heavy eyelids, Garrel finally decided to relax. When he woke, he forgot about his concerns, and went along with his day as he normally did. He went out with his friends on a wildcat hunt, a dangerous activity, for the cats were able to kill with one bite. However, if done properly, a good pack of wolf monkeys could leap off a tree branch and bite the vulnerable neck, killing the beast. Garrel and the gang were very hungry for cat meat. They usually brought the leftovers back to the treetown so the rest could eat. Hunters got first choice, so there were always willing hunting packs.
. They set off, leaping from tree to tree for safety and speed. Garrel’s good friend Leaf ran underneath them, for he was faster on the ground than in the trees, which was unusual for the wolf monkeys. Willah stopped to pick some berries and caught up with them later. She offered Garrel some, and then gave a handful to Leaf. They seemed to notice each other more and Garrel doubted it was simply friendship between the two.
. “There goes one,” she said after catching up. Leaf saw it and, alarmed, bolted up the nearest tree.
. “Warn a guy, Willah!”
. “I did, you molebrain-”
. “Don’t fight, you two,” Garrel interrupted. “We have a beast to kill.” They assumed formation and waited for the cat to come closer.
. “We weren’t fighting, you know,” Willah told Garrel as she eyed the beast with suspicion. “We were joking.”
. “Sure you were,” Dillan mumbled sarcastically. “Who wants to be the cat bait? I was the lure last time. You go, Willah.”
. “I nearly got killed last time,” Willah protested, shuddering at the thought of standing in front of a vicious wildcat, waiting for it to pounce.
. “But you didn’t. We pounced last minute,” Garrel reminded her. “You didn’t even get scratched.”
. “Why don’t you do it, then? It’s scarier than you think.”
. “All right, you win. But you do it next time. And don’t kill me.” Garrel nimbly hopped down and faked injury. He kept one eye on the beast and one on the branchy tree in front of him. As the wildcat crept closer, Garrel felt real fear, and fought the instinct to bolt up the tree. The reek of wildcat only added to the fear, for those beasts were notorious for causing monkeys to go missing. Just as the cat tensed to pounce, it let out a deafening roar, and fell to the dirt, Willah on its back, blood gushing from its neck. Garrel got up and helped Leaf and Dillan peal the hide from the dead animal, while Willah, licking her bloody lips, fetched help to carry the leftover meat to the treetown. Leef took a bite out of the leg and sniffed the air, a puzzled expression on his face.
. “It smells strange here, doesn’t it?”
. “Maybe it’s the blood.”
. Garrel then remembered the stillness of the air the night before. “No, I smelled it last night, too. It’s like a really big thunderstorm. It seams the other creatures smelled it too. Nothing moved.”
. “Well, there’s nothing we can do. Weather comes and weather goes, and we just have to live through it..” Leaf said, quoting the wise old Treeleader, Halon. Willah returned with a dozen able-bodied monkeys, who all took a large portion of the animal back to the treetown to share with the others. When the gang returned, they met up with the other hunting packs to chat about their trips.
. “Mellam, Tammin, and I killed two cats,” one burly male, Pelmar, boasted.
. “Yeah, but we tackled that big monster that Kobey is cutting up over there.”
. “How’d you do that?
. “Oh, we used that idea of Kunda’s, you know, jamming a shark stick into its neck. It really works; you should try it next time.”
. “Our beast nearly killed Ferd; we had to pull him up the tree before the stupid wildcat finally died. Our bite didn’t quite reach the spinal cord- it took forever to die.”
. “Is he all right?”
. “He’ll live. He’ll never hunt again, I suppose.”
. “Is he that badly hurt?” Hod, a small and thin-haired male, sounded truly concerned even though he hardly knew Ferd.
. “No, but who would want to after an incident like that?”
. “Hey, Pelmar, did you notice anything unusual about the air today?”
. Pelmar looked thoughtful. “Nope, but the others did. They said it was like an approaching storm, only worse.”
. “Let’s eat. I’m starving!”
. “Aren’t we all, Garrel,” Pelmar said, exasperated. “You shoulda eaten before hauling the meat back. Hunters do get first fill you know.” He called the whole treetown over to eat, and his strong deep voice echoed through the hollow. As usual, the Main Hollow was soon packed with hungry wolf monkeys, all given their portions of meat, and having conversations.
. “Hunting was good today- these meat chunks are big.”
. “Hey, Gorby, you gonna eat that?”
. “Don’t even think about it, Shola!” Nobody had anything to say about the stormy air, though Garrel could’ve sworn it was getting worse. Before he went to sleep, he peeked outside his hole, and studied his surroundings once more. Again, not a living thing in sight. Garrel looked up, and suppressed a gasp. Huge thunderclouds, larger than he had ever seen, loomed ominously in the moonlight. That’s one helluva storm, he thought. However, there was nothing that could be done- they would just have to wait it out. With that idea, he decided to warn the others in the morning, if they didn’t notice themselves.
PART 1
. Garrel peeked out of his hole and scanned the skies. There was no tree hawk in the sky and no wildcat in the trees. However, he still felt the danger; the stillness in the air made the wolf monkey tense. Nothing stirred, and even the air smelled different, like an approaching storm. A really bad storm.
. Garrel sighed, and decided that he was just imagining things. No storm could smell that strong, and he was still groggy from sleep, anyway. Slowly, he crawled back into the carved out tree, and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn’t. What if there is a storm, he thought. What would happen? He’s heard stories of huge storms that rocked even the thickest skywoods, the largest of which were over two treelengths high and a quarter-length thick. But those were just tales to tell the little ones at night.
. Closing his heavy eyelids, Garrel finally decided to relax. When he woke, he forgot about his concerns, and went along with his day as he normally did. He went out with his friends on a wildcat hunt, a dangerous activity, for the cats were able to kill with one bite. However, if done properly, a good pack of wolf monkeys could leap off a tree branch and bite the vulnerable neck, killing the beast. Garrel and the gang were very hungry for cat meat. They usually brought the leftovers back to the treetown so the rest could eat. Hunters got first choice, so there were always willing hunting packs.
. They set off, leaping from tree to tree for safety and speed. Garrel’s good friend Leaf ran underneath them, for he was faster on the ground than in the trees, which was unusual for the wolf monkeys. Willah stopped to pick some berries and caught up with them later. She offered Garrel some, and then gave a handful to Leaf. They seemed to notice each other more and Garrel doubted it was simply friendship between the two.
. “There goes one,” she said after catching up. Leaf saw it and, alarmed, bolted up the nearest tree.
. “Warn a guy, Willah!”
. “I did, you molebrain-”
. “Don’t fight, you two,” Garrel interrupted. “We have a beast to kill.” They assumed formation and waited for the cat to come closer.
. “We weren’t fighting, you know,” Willah told Garrel as she eyed the beast with suspicion. “We were joking.”
. “Sure you were,” Dillan mumbled sarcastically. “Who wants to be the cat bait? I was the lure last time. You go, Willah.”
. “I nearly got killed last time,” Willah protested, shuddering at the thought of standing in front of a vicious wildcat, waiting for it to pounce.
. “But you didn’t. We pounced last minute,” Garrel reminded her. “You didn’t even get scratched.”
. “Why don’t you do it, then? It’s scarier than you think.”
. “All right, you win. But you do it next time. And don’t kill me.” Garrel nimbly hopped down and faked injury. He kept one eye on the beast and one on the branchy tree in front of him. As the wildcat crept closer, Garrel felt real fear, and fought the instinct to bolt up the tree. The reek of wildcat only added to the fear, for those beasts were notorious for causing monkeys to go missing. Just as the cat tensed to pounce, it let out a deafening roar, and fell to the dirt, Willah on its back, blood gushing from its neck. Garrel got up and helped Leaf and Dillan peal the hide from the dead animal, while Willah, licking her bloody lips, fetched help to carry the leftover meat to the treetown. Leef took a bite out of the leg and sniffed the air, a puzzled expression on his face.
. “It smells strange here, doesn’t it?”
. “Maybe it’s the blood.”
. Garrel then remembered the stillness of the air the night before. “No, I smelled it last night, too. It’s like a really big thunderstorm. It seams the other creatures smelled it too. Nothing moved.”
. “Well, there’s nothing we can do. Weather comes and weather goes, and we just have to live through it..” Leaf said, quoting the wise old Treeleader, Halon. Willah returned with a dozen able-bodied monkeys, who all took a large portion of the animal back to the treetown to share with the others. When the gang returned, they met up with the other hunting packs to chat about their trips.
. “Mellam, Tammin, and I killed two cats,” one burly male, Pelmar, boasted.
. “Yeah, but we tackled that big monster that Kobey is cutting up over there.”
. “How’d you do that?
. “Oh, we used that idea of Kunda’s, you know, jamming a shark stick into its neck. It really works; you should try it next time.”
. “Our beast nearly killed Ferd; we had to pull him up the tree before the stupid wildcat finally died. Our bite didn’t quite reach the spinal cord- it took forever to die.”
. “Is he all right?”
. “He’ll live. He’ll never hunt again, I suppose.”
. “Is he that badly hurt?” Hod, a small and thin-haired male, sounded truly concerned even though he hardly knew Ferd.
. “No, but who would want to after an incident like that?”
. “Hey, Pelmar, did you notice anything unusual about the air today?”
. Pelmar looked thoughtful. “Nope, but the others did. They said it was like an approaching storm, only worse.”
. “Let’s eat. I’m starving!”
. “Aren’t we all, Garrel,” Pelmar said, exasperated. “You shoulda eaten before hauling the meat back. Hunters do get first fill you know.” He called the whole treetown over to eat, and his strong deep voice echoed through the hollow. As usual, the Main Hollow was soon packed with hungry wolf monkeys, all given their portions of meat, and having conversations.
. “Hunting was good today- these meat chunks are big.”
. “Hey, Gorby, you gonna eat that?”
. “Don’t even think about it, Shola!” Nobody had anything to say about the stormy air, though Garrel could’ve sworn it was getting worse. Before he went to sleep, he peeked outside his hole, and studied his surroundings once more. Again, not a living thing in sight. Garrel looked up, and suppressed a gasp. Huge thunderclouds, larger than he had ever seen, loomed ominously in the moonlight. That’s one helluva storm, he thought. However, there was nothing that could be done- they would just have to wait it out. With that idea, he decided to warn the others in the morning, if they didn’t notice themselves.