Monkey

*Flashback Chapter*

There was a small cave. Inside, a lonely man, hunched over and gazing upon dancing shadows cast upon a cold wall by a small, flickering fire. It had been so long since he entered this cave, and the man could no longer remember much of the outside world. Perhaps it was no longer there. How could he be sure? The man hadn't seen it for well over two hundred years. In fact, the shadows that danced on the wall seemed more like the true reality, rather than the faint, hazy memories that still lingered within.

Only when a warm light from behind shone upon his measly fire and washed away the shadows did he think to turn around, to see that the way out of the cave had always simply been behind him. He stood up and strode towards the exit, but the light was too bright to stare directly into, so he guided his steps by listening to the chirping of birds. As he passed through the exit, he felt embraced, loved, saved—like a drowning man being grasped and pulled up above the surface of the water by his own brother, just in time to take what would have been his last breath. Then, he felt himself falling. First, downwards, naturally pulled by gravity, then, he fell upwards, as if his senses were lying to him. Finally, he felt himself stretch and become longer, his head expanding and his vision blackening.

A crystalline shatter could be heard among many trees, and tremors could be felt in the earth by those who trod it. Clear-minded awoke the man in the cave, who now, found himself outside in a forest, half embedded inside some kind of large, cool block of ice, which itself had been embedded in a large, branching oak tree. Looking around, he tried to block his eyes from the sun with his arm, which he realized was stuck in the ice. So, promptly, he ripped his arm from the ice's firm grasp, shattering all of it at once and releasing him. It would not have been an issue if it weren't for the fact that he happened to be a good twenty meters up in the air (which the man realized after letting himself loose).

Crashing through branches after branches, he managed to land, at the very least, on his feet. This fall would most likely have been lethal for most people, but the man was unreasonably athletic—most would say superhuman. Among the flurry of leaves and dust that was sent airborne upon landing was a world unlike that which he was used to. Scratching his head, as if trying to grasp at his fleeting memories, he desperately tried to remember what had happened before he entered that dark, claustrophobic cave. However, his memories failed him, and he could not come to any sort of logical conclusion either. In fact, he could not even remember his own name. There were only three things that he could properly remember:

First thing: He was a warrior who served Angus the First, King of the Plains of Wisteria and of all its inhabitants. He could still remember about warriors and their ways—for he was one himself.

Second thing: The general geography of the world he inhabited. Though, this was limited to the shape of the land, rather than the nations and cities of the world. He also had limited memories of history that existed prior to his awakening. This knowledge was more so based on what he had once found interesting, and therefore it was in turn based mostly on tall tales rather than proper facts.

Third, and final thing, which was also both the clearest yet most perplexing memory—the words that seemed to echo endlessly within his head: "The Crying Monarch must be stopped."

Who or what the Crying Monarch was he could not recall, but it called out to him on a primal level, so he reckoned it must've been of incredible importance. He decided that it would be his lead to guide him. If of such importance it had, then there was bound to be people who could inform him about it. The man also desperately wanted to regain his memories. Somehow, he felt hollow, terribly pointless—like an empty, dried-up canteen under the mid-day sun of an endless desert.

"In that case, I'll just have to find an oasis where I can rejuvenate!" he optimistically thought to himself.

The rays of sunshine almost felt heavy coming through the tall, green treetops. He looked around again, this time shading his face with his hand. He was located in a large forest with all kinds of strange plant life. The blades of grass seemed longer, thicker, and wider than they should have been. The flowers were large and came in many colors, and they did not necessarily move along with the wind, rather, they seemed to breathe. The oak trees were imposingly tall and thick. If he hadn't known any better, he would have believed they reached all the way up to the clouds.

The man decided to close his eyes for now. He wanted to listen to the forest; his senses were remarkably keen. He could hear the wind moving the vegetation, and it seemed to sing like the wind together in chorus. There was a waterfall somewhere nearby, and from it streamed a river with many large schools of fish. However, he could not hear from where the waterfall flowed; intriguingly, it sounded as if it fell a great distance through the air. Many birds were chirping—serene notes that seemed to waltz to the singing of the vegetation. The size between them seemed to vary greatly, which he could tell by the sound of their wing flaps. It certainly surprised him when he noticed that one specific flock of birds, individually, were about double his size. However, the sound that bothered him the most was a huffing and puffing that was coming closer by the second. It was accompanied by the cracking and creaking of wood, rustling of many leaves, and the audible panic of any local wildlife in its path.

What appeared out of the dense forest seemed to be a gigantic ape, more than four times the size of the man, with four arms and a mean glare. Its fur was short and purple, and its abdomen, being free of fur, revealed its grand, primal muscularity. It huffed and puffed, perplexed, as it scanned the area of what had made the earlier shattering noise. Even the man himself could see the surprise on its face when it saw the comparably small primate lounging about just beneath it. But quickly, the ape instinctively knew that this 'small primate' was undoubtedly the culprit. It felt fear.

It let out a fierce roar that reverberated the very clouds, before smashing down onto the man. However, it was stopped mid-attack as three large birds, double the size of the man beneath the ape, came swooping down, pecking and clawing at it with their long, sharp talons. It seemed to only be mildly annoyed as the four-armed ape firmly, yet without effort, grabbed one of the birds by the neck and struck it against the others. One was sent into a nearby tree, dying on impact, the other one managed to finesse its way out of danger and flew off. The ape then tore the last bird into four pieces using all of its four arms.

"Now we're talking!" cheered the man, who proceeded to crack his neck like clockwork as he approached the monstrous ape.

Meanwhile—

It was a calm afternoon. Two fishermen were sitting by their favorite pier, hoping that today was the day when they caught and killed the legendary Thunderskin kingfish. Their oversized poles in hand, they were in anticipation, and ready for battle.

"This day, Jerez, will be the day the village finally recognizes our skill!" said one of the fishermen to the other.

"You mustn't expect what cannot be sure, brother. Expectation leads to disappointment, which in turn will lead to impatience, which in turn will lead to recklessness, which in turn leads to-"

Jerez was interrupted by his brother, Hairi, who didn't want to listen to his ramblings for the fourth time today.

"Spare me the lecture, oh, great master. I just wanted to spark some hope into our hearts."

"I am aware, brother. But hope must be grounded in reality."

"Yes, yes..." responded Hairi impatiently, wanting to return his focus to the fishing.

"It is paramount that your values should be built upon a solid foundation, you must-"

Jerez was yet again interrupted, but this time not by his brother, but rather, by a fierce howling in the distant forest.

"Did you hear that too?" asked Hairi, his tone alarmed.

"The howls of a great Oonvala, no doubt. It's coming this way!"

Both brothers reeled in their thick fishing lines and tossed the poles to the side.

"Get your greatbow, and fetch my sword while you're at it. I'll go prepare some explosives!" instructed Jerez to his brother, who was quick on the uptake.

After Hairi had gotten both of their weapons, he came to find Jerez in dismay.

"What is it, brother!?"

Jerez was collecting materials to craft explosives, but upon closer inspection, it seems they had either been tampered with or broken.

"It must have been those damned branch-lovers!" swore Jerez through his gritted teeth.

"No matter, brother! We must fight the Oonvala without explosives."

"Then we shall die, brother."

"Then at least we die together, as family."

The two brothers stood their ground at the docks, listening afeared as the great ape drew closer. To their surprise, however, it seemed as if it was heading towards the lake in front of them, where they had been fishing just a moment ago.

"Oonvala's despise water!" cried Hairi.

"This one seems irregular. I can only hear its angered screams—its footsteps are silent!" said Jerez as he raised his guard in anticipation.

The shock of the brothers could only be imagined, for what they saw coming out of the forest was a 'flying' great ape—a flying Oonvala. However, Oonvalas were not known as flyers, in fact, they had no such capabilities. When they squinted their eyes to get a better look at where the ape came from, they saw a chest-bare man, who had seemingly hurled the ape out into the lake. They could then hear the man shout out in excitement, like a howling monkey, as he took off in a zephyr of whipping winds towards the airborne Oonvala, before promptly kicking it, heel down, into the lake, causing a deafening noise and a gigantic wave to follow.

The brothers had to brace for impact so as to not be washed away by the incoming flood. After resisting the ebb and flow, a spray of water pattered lightly onto them, revealing a shining rainbow in the sky—the sky where no more ape could be seen; only a man of pride, laughing victoriously. They were about to cry out in joy, but quickly realized that the man, not unaffected by gravity, fell into the lake.

"I will help him!" declared Hairi as he removed his top and started making his way out onto the pier.

Jerez quickly picked up a nearby fishing pole that had washed up near them from the earlier wave and smacked his brother over the head with a satisfying whip.

"Hairi, you blaze-hearted fool! Do you truly think that a man, who, chest-bared and unarmed, singlehandedly threw—nay, TOSSED!—the king of the trees into a lake, needs any form of saving?"

Hairi caressed his head in an attempt to lessen the pain, before saying.

"Nay, I dare not say I am in any place to save such a man. But brother, in this water swims the legendary Thunderskin kingfish!"

Jerez's lecture came to halt as he realized the danger the man might find himself in. If the Oonvala is the king of trees, the Thunderskin kingfish may just be the king of water.

"If he is hurt from his previous battle, he may stand no chance against the kingfish in its own territory!" said Jerez, concerned. Hairi nodded along.

"We could never lure the fish onto land to fight it here. Our inadequacy has come back to bite us in our rears! It seems we must have to fight it in there now!" Hairi pointed towards the lake with his trembling finger.

"We may just die today after all, brother! Let us help him!" cried Jerez.

The two brothers charged towards the lake, but for a third time, interruption took place, as a giant purple fish head marked with luminescent lightning came plummeting down from the sky, landing just behind them with a loud splurge and splat, dressing the entire wooden dock in fish guts. The marking's luminescence slowly faded, and out of the lake jumped the chest-bare man, landing on the edge of the pier.

"Good thing I like fish, I was just getting hungry," said the man nonchalantly, before beginning to stretch. "It's been a good while since I had a fight, can't believe I rotted away in that cave for so long."

The man kept on babbling away, but the two brothers could not hear what he was saying, as they were too dumbstruck to pay attention.

"Jerez, isn't that the head of the legendary Thunderskin kingfish?"

Jerez could only nod.

"How will we prove ourselves to the village now?"

"The village's importance bleaks in this man's presence," replied Jerez before straightening his posture and continuing. "There is a prophecy that says that one day, the smallest monkey shall conquer the largest ape. That monkey shall become king of all there is, and the world shall follow his rule, basking in its glory." Jerez continued further, this time directing a question at the man in front of them. "Warrior, what is your name?"

The man stopped his babbling, pondered for a second, then responded.

"I'll be honest with you—I cannot remember."

"Then you shall be, "Monkey"."