Tear A Path 272 Absen

Apparently this place was bigger than it seemed. Despite the time they had spent here. none of them had ventured beyond the fighting area. The vines themselves continued to stretch much farther inwards where a small mountain rested, several caves dug into it's surface where the young scrambled around, playfully wrestling with each other in preparations of joining the fight on their own while the old and retired apes watched over these seedlings as they pa.s.sed their days.

Their destination was a particular empty plot on it's peak. On this quaint little lot, was a nest of sorts. carefully crafted with care, the smell of the forest in the morning dew still fresh on it, woven out of the forest itself, the vines slipping in and out the mound, it's soft fleshy tendrils the cus.h.i.+on on top of which a heaving beast lay under a blanket of fur that was crudely st.i.tched together.

Her perpetual slumber, a peaceful albeit somber topic for the leader of the apes. Under a blanket of fur, her body heaved with every breath, powerful but ever so silent. Her arms were as thick as the day they left but it drooped lifelessly off the side of the bed.

Gowan came forward, lifted the arm gently, brus.h.i.+ng the fur as he brought it back into the nest and into the blanket, before pulling it up to her neck and tucking her in. For one reason or another, it seemed like she knew he was there, despite the lack of change in expression there was an inexplicable calm that came from her.

Panda watched silently at the side as he cleaned her bed and wiped the sweat off her. The few years on that hill, she'd lived with Zhao Wei and they were as close as a family she had. But Gowan and his flock were like the next closest thing they had. The many nights they spent at his place, like that of a close neighbor were quite fun.

Like this it was like they had left some time ago, they were at least friends if not anything else. And when they reunited, they would only find that that friend's life had turned for the worse since they last met.

Thirteen wasn't sure what was going on, but from the way Panda stood still, she could tell it wasn't anything good. Panda was a speedster, no matter when she'd always be jumping around unable to keep herself calm, even in her sleep her legs were still kicking at the empty air. Right now however, she just quietly watched...

Thirteen a.n.a.lyzed this gorilla as well as she could. From Panda's expression, it was something important to her, and if there was possibly a way she could help then she'd utilize all her skills to do so. But from all she could see, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

She closed in on the body her hand inching towards the blanket, ready to pull it away to see what was hidden beneath. Her hand stopped just before, stiffened by the sensation of heavy killing intent that she was suddenly forced to bear. The giant ape had sent a threat warning her to show some respect.

But as soon as it came, the killing intent receded. A small body, Gowan's to be exact was standing between her and that giant. He gave her a consenting look, shocking the thing because he had never seen Gowan let any of the apes, even those of his colony get close to her.

Getting her consent to look, Thirteen gingerly curled her fingers around the blankets edge and pulled. Her eyes getting wider the more was revealed to her eyes.

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It didn't take long for Zhao Wei to wake up, the first thing he felt though was the numbness that had gone through his body. He remembered the moment right before he collapsed, and that feeling in his hand. But it seems that entering that kind of state for even a few seconds immediately drained him way too much. But that wasn't something he had to worry about right now, in the first place he wasn't even able to reenter such a state.

It wasn't like he didn't want to, but that state was more like a side effect from being in the coc.o.o.n too long. These plants, they were somehow connected to the nature and the laws of the new world, but even touching those laws required copious amounts of energy, energy that no living life form should even be able to hold within their bodies.

Even after resting, he woke up to a feeling that resembled thirst and starvation as if he had been deprived food and water for years on end. While that sensation a.s.saulted his senses for a few seconds, the next sensation completely overwhelmed it.

It was the slight brush of the wind against his skin, specifically in areas which had been used to the cold hardness of metal. Suddenly being exposed to nature absolute absent from it for so long, made the hairs on his skin tingle with energy, only now did Zhao Wei notice his shackles were gone.