A piercing agony cuts me in half, hardening my legs like dry clay. I can see the wave of creatures consuming the horizon. They get closer and closer each time I blink.

“Laval, what are you doing? Run!”, Eris screams from the bottom of her lungs.

She pulls me with her hand. I can’t stop looking behind me, even if she’s dragging me away from that crowd.

Loud howls form a symphony of wildness, followed by the percussion of paws running on the ground.

My legs return to their senses and begin moving with my will. I turn around and sprint far away from the stampede, but the darkness of the night engulfs us into a sudden, unpredictable maze. The cracking noises of leaves and branches can’t muffle down the stalking wolves; they get louder by the minute— they might catch us soon.

A sudden pebble gets stuck in between my toes— I loose my balance and trip. I can only feel the leaves breaking under my fall. But something lifts me just after, as it tightly grips my tunic.

I tried to scream, but fear shut my mouth.

And yet, the stampede is behind us. Maybe.

“How’re you this heavy?”

This familiar voice breaks the suspense haunting me. Childlike and brittle… It can only be Cragger!

“Alert! There’s a big tree nearby. Follow me!”

We follow suit the eagle’s words.

An explosion of leaves echo out of our sight.

“I— They’re getting closer!”

Eris’ voice becomes louder than before, "Cragger, please, hold my friend tight!”

He groans, “What do you mean?”, before a gush of wind pushes upwards on us.

Wing flaps can be heard, slow but steady. Worse— it seems that Eris picked us up just by herself! The pressure on my tunic gets stronger, starting to rip part of my clothes, and it worsens with my friends wobbling atop the sky, until I’m finally able to touch on high branches.

My friends proceed to hold themselves onto the tree alongside me. From the looks of it, as I stare downwards at the tree’s roots, the trunk is very, very tall. Weird enough, the branches are long yet sturdy, flowing in whatever direction it can.

The moonlight shines, hitting faintly on these huge, hollow seeds that hang from those branches. They’re not just hollow; they have open holes like doors and windows! Are they houses?

Cragger whimpers, “Eris… Tha’was close! How did you…”

“You just answered me by yourself.”

He sighs.

From below, the rush of wolves pass galloping in a hurry, avoiding us and the tree, but their noise attracts an unexpected rumble at our height too. We hear heavy panting, and it gets louder by the minute.

“Dude!”, the disembodied voice groans, “What in Cavora is going on?”

I look behind me and notice a small gorilla, perhaps a kid even, juggling from branch to branch until he reaches us— up close, his bright markings all across his face feel familiar.

“Ey, Gorzan!”, Cragger greets the child in relief.

“Oh, hi bud. Crocodiles never climb trees.”

Gorzan stares at us, suspicious of why we’re here in the first place. Though, he looks down once more, then analyzes us briefly, before nodding.

“So you guys are also troubled by this mess?…”

“Wait— what do you mean ‘also’? Where were you during all of the past Hundred Year Moon incidents?”

Eris starts to propel herself using an offshoot in an attempt to wrestle the kid, but he remains unfazed. The eagle’s eyes shine with tears— I suppose adrenaline also pumps violently in her, just like it does in me.

“…We stayed home each and every night it crossed our view. We’re not reckless, you know!”

I unwillingly giggle, my voice trembling a bit; now everyone’s attention is directed at me, so I lower my voice.

“Yes… We aren’t reckles… I guess…”

The gorilla laughs loud, swaying himself around. He’s amused, but I’m not. I don’t think my other friends are amused either. But he’s there, kicking his feet on the air, for a minute. Underneath his smile, I can notice he’s slightly nervous. Then, he returns to a calmer stance, hanging with one hand.

"You guys should come with me. My grandpa won't be happy to see us here like this..."

After being led with my friends by Gorzan into his village, we're greeted with faint lights that scatter across the enormous tree they're hanging from. Those lights all come from the houses of the Gorilla Tribe; one of them in particular strikes attention because of its flashy blue paint job. Gorzan points at it, telling us about a little party that was going on in there; it got previously interrupted due to the sudden wolf stampede, followed by our screaming. He proceeds to vocalize and whoop; the other gorillas who remained inside that house reply and wave at us. We swing our way to the party.

As we set our foot inside that abode, a dizzy sensation makes me lose focus; the seed is more hollow than I had imagined, with a lot of empty room, besides a circle of gorillas awaiting for us. One of them, a grayed elder, itches his dry lips before drinking straight from an open coconut.

"Thank you, grandson, for saving the future of Chima...", he bows to the child in relief, "When I heard them, I immediately recognized their voices... An old leader like me can't do much."

Gorzan gives him a massage on the shoulders. "Grumlo, don't worry about it, I brought them here just fine! Let's just relax and party!"

Another tiny gorilla, dressed up with flowers, hands us a handful of coconuts. Her blue skin bears a resemblance to Gorzan's, but her fur is brown.

“Drink it— you’ll feel much better, especially if you did a lot of exercise beforehand!

She crawls up to us, then whispers, “My bro loves coconut water… That’s because it helps you regain the salts you lose when sweating!”

Gorzan blushes in reaction after overhearing our small conversation.

He says, “Don’t mind G'loona, please! My sister's kinda talkative about our lives…”

“But she didn’t say anything special… Oh well, perhaps I do need to drink this more often”, I tilt the fruit at my muzzle and drink the refreshing liquid, “I tend to sweat a lot… Do you Gorzan?”

His face immediately becomes shiny, with water dripping from his forehead. He covers his face in shame and everybody laughs.

Eris starts to dance to the rhythmic clapping of the animals around us; Cragger also joins the fun; everyone chants and sway around eagerly... but me. I look behind, stare at the dead of night, thinking about the bucket of Chi we abandoned. Oh well, I wonder what those wolves did with it. The music bounces around the house— my ears hurt! Eris, however, probably noticed me crouched on the floor; she reaches her hand, inviting me to dance.

Should I?

My legs wobble and I fall back to the ground. She giggles and lifts me up.

"Don't be shy, Laval! I know you can dance."

"Yes... But—"

The gorillas stop their music. Grumlo's pale blue eyes shrink unexpectedly.

"You heard that?", he utters, "Troops are marching their way here. Gorzan, take care of the unwarranted visitors!"

The grandchild bows before hopping down the house; he descends from branch to branch, until I can't see him well at this height. I crouch again and tilt my ears forward; the silence helps me eavesdrop a husky voice below, then faint metallic noises. Eris sits near me, picking her feathers.

"Hey—", "Calm down..."

"Bring them to me!"

Afterwards, Gorzan comes back, panting and trembling.

"It's... It's the Crocodile Tribe's commander, grandpa! He wants Cragger and Laval!"

My blood runs cold— The commander, he said!

Grumlo coughs. "I suppose someone had to come rescue these children..."

I snap, "But— Why would it have to be the commander-in-chief? What about Cragger's dad! He's the king! Right, Cragger?"

He stays quiet. "I— uhh... I dunno..."

Gorzan pulls our hands, visibly afraid. Cruz— I can't even imagine what that deplorable criminal said to him!

"Guys... We have no choice", he whispers.

Cragger and I are brought down to the earth's level, face to face with the blue, tall, intimidating crocodile and his army. The moon still shines bright, but the purple tint has gone away. Gorzan runs back to the tree, and we're left alone with the crocs.

A medium sized vehicle stands behind Cruz; it's bulky and wide, with a crocodilian mouth open on the front. Cragger is slowly escorted by some guards to the back of that tank, slow enough to be deliberate; I see him distracted, his back facing me.

A blunt force hits my head and all fades to black.

That... horrible, disembodied voice— I know it... I've heard it one too many times. It pierces my skin without remorse. It haunts me, crawls inside my eardrums, spits on me, screams at me.

"And you thought that you could get away from me, brat!"

Cruz' foul breath hurts my eyes; I tear up, and whatever I could barely see is now gone. The humid and airtight room makes me squirm.

"What are you even doing?", I cry.

He pushes my head onto something hard; the pain spreads around the back of my skull. "Making sure you don't get in my way."

"Way of what?"

He hits me again, but I hold myself back from crying. "What do you have to do with the wolves?"

A finger shoves itself onto my muzzle; it pulls my mouth upwards, then snaps it back to place.

"You rat— Why should I tell you anything?" He stays silent for a moment, breathing heavily. "It doesn't matter anymore. I got what I wanted; you'll see it soon when I kill your entire family!"

No— not my family!

Chains rustle as I shake my body, trying to free myself. Cruz laughs with a raspy, sadistic cackle, before wet steps begin to hide his voice: "The Crocodile 'king' has a huge storm coming for him... Hah!"

Dead silence.

Here I am, once again caught in between these chains, hidden by the shadows of a selfish commander. 

"If someone tried to attack us, we'd have no choice but to defend ourselves", the words of my uncle echo in mind.

While I am left here to rot, Cruz will, without a doubt, start war against my tribe. Perhaps... kidnapping me was the plan, to avoid the wolves from being saved, to continue this disaster and take advantage of it? Stir violence from violence? Meanwhile, where is Crominus? He's the one in charge; where is he in a fragile moment like this! 

I stare down at my stiff, tightly held body; the strength of those chains begin to hurt my bones. An anguished sigh leaves my throat.

If I recall properly... Cragger didn't know where his dad was, right? I wouldn't be surprised if my Dad summoned him because of Cruz' actions. But it doesn't make sense for Cruz to be left alone and do what he wants!

Sudden noises– of what sound like sparks– burst around the surface; I hold my breath and listen to them, but they're interrupted by faraway screaming; it's followed by dashing steps that get stronger by the second, alongside a torch I see, being held by Crawley. He enters the cave, looks around, then whispers: "Dang it! Cruz has to stop drifting away from my plans!". When he noticed that I listened to it all, he gives me an ugly look, akin to a threat, and leaves the place.

"Troops, to the entrance! Go!", Cruz' orders manage to get inside my eardrums.

Noises of metallic weaponry clanging and banging around follow suit, but one seems to direct itself inside the cave. A tall brown crocodile, with a metal lower jaw, rises from the depths holding a torch.