Way of the Knights

---

"No! Please don't!"

Dennis who had been quiet for a while suddenly blurted out, which somewhat surprised Raven. Allan just sighed, it was as if he had seen this coming. 

"Are you sure?" Raven asked, "This guy just tried to kill you, you know?" 

"I know that…" Dennis said in a low tone. He looked down and contemplated for a bit before saying: "But killing him would just fan the flames of hatred even more. I want it to stop, not to spread even further."

"Just let it go, Human Bro." Allan said while sighing, "That's just how it is."

Raven looked intently at Dennis and found him staring back at him. He sighed afterwards and snapped his fingers at the listless monkey.

As soon as Gil heard the sound, light came back on his eyes. He shook his head and tried to regain his bearings. It was then that he suddenly remembered that he was out to assassinate someone but he was stopped by an unknown variable. His last memory was staring at the Human's eyes and then he suddenly woke up.

He then glanced around him and found the same human, standing and staring down at him. Gil's heart shook as he immediately reached out for his stone staff but found nothing. 

"I would advise you to stop on trying to do anything funny." Raven's bored voice echoed on his ears which made the monkey assassin stop on his tracks. 

Gil then recalled how easily this human easily thwarted his assassination attempt and thought that it would be the best for him to follow his advice, or else he would truly die here. 

"What did you do to me?" Gil asked as he found a gap on his memories. He's unsure but he was somewhat convinced that this human did something to him that made him lose consciousness without him noticing.

"Nothing that you will remember." Raven answered in a deadpan tone. He then ruffled the assassin's fur and said: "Why don't you be a good boy and just return from where you came from?"

On a normal day, anyone who tried doing this to Gil, would probably lose a finger or two as a lesson. But right now, Gil didn't even have an ounce of doubt that if he tried something harmful, he would die miserably. 

And if he's being honest here, he believed that this is not Raven trying to be nice here. This action is more of a threat rather than treating him nicely. He was even more convinced when he felt the terrifying intent being channeled through his body whenever Raven stroked his head. 

Raven rubbing Gil's head and said:

"Go. And remember that is was not my decision to let you go. Your life was spared by this guy." He said while pointing at Dennis. "Do what you want with that information."

Raven then started walking away but before they disappeared from Gil's vision, he heard his final words: "Remember that there will be no next time. If I caught you once more, I hope you're prepared."

And just like that, Raven and the two primates disappeared, leaving Gil unsure of what to do. In the end, he gnashed his teeth and went back to his tribe. 

He had to report what happened here. 

***

"Thank you for agreeing to my request, Sir Raven." Dennis said once they were felt Gil disappear. 

He was truly relieved that he was able to at least prevent Raven from killing Gil, even if the latter did just try to go after his life. 

"Hmm." Raven hummed and said: "I don't know if you should really thank me for that."

He then threw a glance at Dennis and then Allan right after. He then said: "But I'm confident that doing that will teach you a valuable lesson in the near future."

Allan remained quiet while Dennis was confused. He didn't understand what Raven was implying here but the latter wouldn't say anything more so he could only ignore his words.

The trio then continued their journey with Allan and Dennis leading the way. It didn't take long enough before the two eventually stopped on their tracks. They stood in front of a large boulder that is covered in moss.

Dennis climbed down from Allan's neck and stood beside him. Raven watched on until suddenly, the two started drumming their chest with a fixed rhythm. They would occasionally growl in the middle of them doing this, and their voices echoed around them. 

As soon as the two stopped their ritual, a reaction occurred on the boulder that's in front of them. A piece of the boulder suddenly caved in and revealed a hidden entrance. Allan looked back at Raven and gestured him to follow them. Raven shrugged and went along. 

The hidden entrance closed after they went in. Raven saw a staircase leading down, the passage was dark since the entrance was closed behind them. Nevertheless, the trio didn't need a torch nor any light source since they all could see pretty well in the dark. 

They continued following the staircase down until they reached an iron gate. Raven could feel several presences behind that gate. His brows were raised since he could feel that these monkeys were strong. He could feel a presence of two peak Tier 3 monkeys and a mid Tier 4 not too far away from them. 

The two, instead of knocking on the door, drummed their chests once more similar to what they did to reveal the hidden entrance. 

At this point, Raven already understood that this must he some sort of a password in order for them to ensure that whoever goes here, really is a part of their tribe. They couldn't afford to get careless since there is a tribe that's targeting them. He also remembered that Dennis said that he couldn't go back to the tribe without Allan or else he will be treated as a spy. That must be kind of a rule that they have to follow. 

As soon as the two finished their ceremonies, the doors opened widely and light suddenly flooded the dark cave. 

Raven felt the ground shook for a couple of moments, he also felt that the Tier 4 ape was rushing towards them. He secretly went on guard but it turns out that he didn't need to.

"Oh my goodness. Thank god you two are finally back." A deep voice echoed through the tunnel after the ground stopped shaking. 

Raven then saw and 10 meter tall Ape with black fur and four tails, wrapping Dennis and Allan in a hug using it's huge arms. This ape bore great resemblance to the two, other than the fact that it is larger than the two of them combined and had four tails wagging behind it. Raven was convinced that this guy must be elder bro that the two referred to.

The eldest broke the hug and started sniffing them all over while running his hands all over their body. Raven heard him ask: "Are you two hurt anywhere? Did you meet some bad guys outside? Did something happened?"

"Calm down, Eldest Bro." Dennis chuckled and said: "We're both fine as you can see. We'll tell you everything once we get back."

"Right, Eldest Bro. Here." Allan suddenly handed the strange fruit that he had been hiding all this time under his arms. 

When their eldest saw what Allan handed him, his eyes almost turned into saucers. He then grabbed Allan using his other arm and said: "This is…the Pulsing Flame Fruit!"

He then shook Allan slightly and asked: "How in the world did you get this? Weren't this on a dangerous place? Don't tell me you…"

The eldest then gasped and said: "Ai you stubborn guy! I remember telling you not to go after this! What if you got injured huh? And also, didn't I say that we didn't need to have any contribution for the festival since we gave out too much during the last time. Why didn't you listen?"

The eldest kept sighing in defeat as he worryingly gazed at his siblings. Allan scratched his head and said:

"Just take it and show it off. That would make the other shut up about us. At least, I hope." 

The Eldest sighed once more and enveloped the two into a fierce hug once more. It was then that the Eldest finally felt something was wrong. 

He didn't notice it right away but he felt like there was someone who's watching them aside from the guards at his back. As he was hugging his brothers, he finally saw Raven standing behind them. 

When the two felt their eldest froze, they instantly knew why. They then heard him whisper to them:

"Did you guys brought this human along with you?" His voice might be hushed but Raven could still hear it. 

"We did. Don't worry, he helped us along the way." Dennis replied.

"And he did save us from a predicament." Allan added. 

The eldest looked at them strangely and sighed. He then broke off the hug and went in front of Raven. He then performed a deep salute and said:

"We are humbled by your valiant presence, Sir Knight."

"At ease." Raven replied instinctively. And when he realized what he did, his eyes somewhat widened and asked:

"Wait, did you just perform a Knight's Salute?"