Finches

Chapter 16 - The Monkey Chief

Shelly seemed even more unsettled now, but Colt's curiosity was still growing.

"How do you claim an entire forest?" he asked.

The Monkey Chief's eyes widened and his mouth curled up into a grin. "By killing everyone else that comes near it."

Colt gulped, starting to share in Shelly's uneasiness. "Oh. Well, like my friend here was saying, we should probably get going."

He and Shelly moved forward, but the Monkey Chief stepped up to block their path out. The big monkey beside him shifted its stance in anticipation.

"Don't go," he said, more of an order than a request. "So few people wander into this forest anymore, and it's been so long since my Battle Monkeys have been able to test their skills on actual humans."

As if on cue, twenty or so decently sized monkeys decended together from the trees. To Colt's horror, they were all holding small swords. In any other circumstance this would have looked cute, but Colt got the feeling the monkeys knew how to use them.

"You know what?" Colt said in a small voice. "I think the Battle Monkeys are doing fine, skill-wise. No need to trouble them with something like this."

The Monkey Chief just smiled. "Oh, they really don't mind. They like to have a good time."

Okay, now the monkey man was really starting to creep him out.

Colt eyes the monkeys with dread. "Yeah, I bet they do, but it wasn't them I was really worried about."

The Monkey Chief pulled his leaf jacket tighter around himself. "Well this was fun. But I'm afraid I have to scram. Nice meeting the two of you."

The man looked like he was about to leave, then he thought of something. "Oh, and I also wanted to thank you."

Colt brow furrowed in confusion, then he saw something. A monkey scampered out of the distance and up to the Chief. The Monkey Chief lowered his free arm and the monkey got on board. As Colt took a closer look, he realized it was the capuchin from earlier. The Monkey Chief began tracing his finger on the top of the creatures head, tracing the scar that Colt had seen earlier.

"You brought me back one of my underlings," said the man. "This one's been known to escape quite frequently." He then looked down at the monkey, who was trembling ever so slightly. "Don't you, chum?"

Then the Monkey Chief placed the monkey back on the ground and it scampered off.

Colt tried to control his breathing but his anger was rising steadily. "You don't hurt that monkey, do you?"

The Chief's head snapped up at Colt, and for the first time a look of annoyance flashed over the man's face. When he spoke, he did so slowly. "Don't you go questioning what I do with my underlings," he said.

Then he was back to his normal, creepy self. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to the mercy of the Battle Monkeys. Although, I don't remember ever teaching them anything about mercy."

The Chief turned away, cackling to himself maniacally. Colt's mind went into overdrive as the monkey's continued to advance toward him and Shelly.

"Wait!" he heard himself saying.

The Monkey Chief turned back, an eyebrow raised.

Colt took a breath. "I just thought that you were the one in charge here, not the monkeys."

The Monkey Chief turned toward Colt completely now, as if being challenged. "You've got it right. I'm the one in charge."

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Colt nodded. "I'm just wondering, then, why you're letting the monkeys have all the fun. Unless you're just a poor fighter..."