Meeting the Family

Out of the trees emerged a hulking ape about half the size of the one that had been summoned in the swamps of the forest country, on his back was a type of platform saddle where people could sit like a bus. Leaning down on one side so the pair could board Tapp looked to the kid and smirked again, "Might take a while but you will adapt to not just the weather but the culture." And with that said he jumped into the air on the giant creature's elbow and walked up to take his seat on the platform and get ready for the ride to the temple.

After I heard the whistle a large monkey arrived, not quite the size of the last one we saw but still way bigger than an average primate. As Tappaja mentioned the culture as well as the climate needing to be adapted to I jumped up onto the platform on the monkeys back without a second thought and walked up to where Tappaja was and sat in the seat closest to him. I have never ridden a monkey before in my life so this would probably be the first of many odd experiences to come for me.

Tapp made sure Shizen was down and ready before he called out directions to their ultimate destination for the trip. "Alright then, lets get off to the temple and take the straight route. The fresh meat here can take the scenic route whenever he gets lost." The giant thing chuckled which shook the platform and then replied in a deep voice, "Sure thing boss, can't wait to see this tiny thing you brought back in action cause Im not impressed by the visuals." Without another word the beast turned around on all fours and started the journey to the center of the island, the valley temple.

I laughed slightly at the mention of me getting lost and the monkey bashing my visual appearance, good to know that the faith of me surviving here was high. But either way I would show them wrong eventually through persistence and skill. I pulled the sword and the sheath off my back and put it point first into the floor of the platform. I smiled proudly and said "You guy's are gonna be disappointed when I prove myself more than capable." I just sat staring into the trees with my sharingan active, taking in the sights and sounds of the forest.

As they continued through the jungle the kid mentioned how he planned on proving the man and the ape wrong about him messing up, in reality only the ape had doubts though for if hey here had been anything in his mind otherwise he wouldn't have bothered bringing him here. "Well then you have your work cut out for you, between the temperature and the physical extents you will be pushed to you will either be a master fighter in due time or dead in a month. Good luck of course though."

I listened to the man and smirked before replying "Well I don't plan on dying so it looks like I'm on the road to glory." I laughed and leaned back in my chair looking up at the sky. This climate was really harsh, the heat was almost unbearable from just sitting here, but I could handle it.

There was that life-saving confidence again, he was starting to really like this kid and not a moment to soon as they had arrived at the central point of the island after a good hour of travel, the valley temple. The valley dipped deep into the earth for miles around and down in the center of the bottom rested a pyramid-like structure composed of pure silver and gold, engravings of ancient stories that told the tales that created this paradise for the strongest warriors adorned nearly all of its outside walls with the exception of the one thousand steps which stood pure and unaltered since the day they were set in place. The giant ape leaned down and Tapp leaned into to whisper something to his student, "Loosen yourself and dont resist, trust me if you put up a fight with him you wont win." He didnt really go into detail because he wouldnt have much time, out of the trees sprang forward an ape like a flash of lightning to tackle Shizen to the platform and hold his hands behind his back while sniffing him for anything suspicious. Tapp just shook his head and sighed as he said, "Really now Shi Hou, this one didnt even get off the platform? Youre getting old and paranoid you know." As each of the apes hands could overpower the S rank warrior talking to him he put both of the kids hands grasped into one of his and used the other to flip off Tapp. "You know this is my job and my eternal duty, now since you said that as you did I can assume he belongs to you?" He shrugged, "More or less, belongs to himself really but I guess Im responsible for what my student does." The ape chuckled when he heard the word student and released his powerful grasp, standing up straight and walking off to disappear into the trees, never breaking away from his military stride even for a moment. Tapp offered his hand to help the kid up onto his feet again. "Sorry about that, security is tight."

I was astounded by the view that was in front of me, this place was apparently not only deadly but beautiful, as most deadly things in nature are. I listened as Tappaja mentioned not resisting and I wondered what it was about, my question being quickly answered by a monkey tackling me to the floor of the platform and sniffing me. Its strength was in human, I couldn't move even the slightest muscle. I was worried at first but once Tappaja began having casual conversation with it I realized it was friendly, and instead of taking the route of fighting it I went with a more comical approach. I said from underneath the grasp of the large monkey "I mean, I know I'm sexy but I'm not that kind of girl, you'll have to buy me dinner first." I laughed from under the grasp of the monkey hoping it didn't piss him off enough to rip off my arms.

After the always pissed off ape left the area Tapp just shook his head, getting the kid back up on his feet and signaling him to dust himself off before exiting. He himself jumped down to the ground and patted the giant beast that carried them here on the arm and thanked him for the help before starting to make his way down the slope towards the temple. The rest if the journey would be a sort of short pilgrimage, by nightfall they would reach the great steps and the encampment at its base for a well deserved rest but first they had to get there.

I stood up and dusted myself off while laughing before I leaped from the back of the monkey onto the ground with Tappaja and began to follow him on the pilgrimage to the very ornate building in the center of the valley. It was hot, really hot, so I took off my shirt and tied it around my head in a bandanna looking fashion and pulled out my gold blade and used it as a cane of sorts, giving me the appearance of an old hermit while walking, but I really didn't care, it was too hot to care.

As the sky turned a deep orange and red gradient they were withing a few hundred yards of the outskirts of the encampment, Tapp slightly raised his pace but never going above a brisk walk as now the temperature was a comfortable 70-ish degrees with a cooling breeze flowing in from the mountain. As they got closer the roaring fires with apes sitting around them smoking heavily. Quick, rhythmic, drum beats sounded as background to other apes performing dance routines on stages for crowds and all seemed to be having a good time. As they got inside some of them greeted Tappaja with fist bumps while others were to stoned to know what color their hands were, either way everyone seemed to be having a great time, proving that this was an opportune time for the pair to arrive.

I was relieved when the sun finally began to set and the unbearable temperature dropped down to an average 70. I kept the shirt on my head but sheathed my blade as we entered a camp with multiple fires with monkeys sitting around them, the smell of dank heavily in the air. I approached Tappaja's side within whisper distance and said "These monkeys....aren't quite normal are they?" I turned on my sharingan and inspected they're chakra signatures, all of them being much much larger than mine. These apes may have been potheads, but they could kick my ass even on my best day.

One ape approached from behind the pair and slapped the kid hard enough on the back the knock him forward and stumble a bit without meaning to. The beast stood as tall as a man, a bandana holding back his dreadlocks with a strong smell similar to weed but much, much, stronger suggested something about his habits but he was no pushover even among these fighters. "Say brutha mahn ya didn't tell meh ya were coming back home so soon. And it seems ya picked up a wee baby on the path to boot."

He hadn't noticed his oldest friend sneak up on them, this was one of those apes that couldn't tell a log from a river after the stuff he had been hitting tonight but somehow managed to sober up enough to say hello. "Well well well, look who we have here. This, lil'' red, is the guy to talk to if you want advanced hand to hand training or get high off your ass." The two threw back there heads and laughed as they wrapped one arm around each other for support as a large roll of smoking paper was popped in the human's mouth.

I was surprised when seemingly out of no where a large ape hit me on the back and sent me stumbling forward, almost onto the ground. I turned around and saw what looked like, to put it simply, a monkey baked off its mind. I smiled and rubbed my back before saying "Nice to meet you, the name's Shizen." He listened to what Tappaja said and thought it over. How the hell was this monkey a master at taijutsu.

Reefer just stood there not making a sound for a moment and stared off into the distant nothing and then all of a sudden as if nothing had happened at all snapped back into reality. Normally he could hit his special blend which was dawned, 'Monkey Fist', all day and not get as bad as this but today was a special day so he had broken out the extra hard stuff. Eventually he stated singing some kind of old love song to the air or something which proved that he may be out for the night.

Tapp could tell he was zoning out pretty bad so when the ape passed out he signaled Shizen to follow as he lifted his friend using his arm around his shoulders and sat him down at a table with three large chairs around it. Taking one of the other seats he waited to see if his student would follow and then offer him the giant roll he had been smoking, if taken it would probably make him black out the rest of the night but he may as well learn about the quote on quote dangers of the plants here on ape island sooner rather than later.

I couldn't help but chuckle when the monkey passed out in front of me and I followed Tappaja as he carried the monkey to a seat and it was then that I was offered a large roll. I took it and inspected it, it smelt very very strong and he could feel himself already feeling weird from just holding it and sniffing the fumes. I took it and said while smirking "Well I don't see why not, Carpe Dium." Right after I finished my phrase I took a hit from the roll given to me, and right then the effects got to me. My sharingan was activated but the whites of my eyes began bloodshot and glazed over. I began to laugh subtly and constantly and drew my sword from the sheath, stabbing it into the ground just for shits and giggles, this was strong ass stuff and I could feel the effects worsening as it went through my blood stream.

The ape was still passed out for a little while longer and wouldnt get to see the first little effects of Shizen's first hit but he did manage to wake up after his eyes went bloodshot which was normally the start of the good part people would talk about tomorrow morning. Continuing to just sit there the ape waited, it was things like this that made the hard work of growing his stash worth it.

Tapp chuckled as his student said he only lived once, though that would still hold true in reality the place he would go to in his mind after that hit might change everything he knows until he came down. Taking notice that Reefer had woken up he sat back in his seat and watched alongside his friend to see what would happen.

I took one more hit from the blunt and that was when all of my recollection of the incident faded, and my actions were not in the right mind and uncontrollable. I began laughing constantly and stood up very slowly. I was lethargic but not tired, it was an odd feeling to experience. I then realized I was very hungry and without another word to the two near me I slowly began walking in the direction of another one of the monkeys fires, I needed food and there was no way I was going to be denied it.

Unsure what was going on in the kid's head Tapp kept an eye on him as he walked over to the fire, most people would have just passed out on their very first hit of monkey fist but this kid pushed past that and was still on his feet even if just barely. The thing he was making sure of was not him starting a fight since there would be dozens of brawls at this celebration before it was over in three days, he was worried about the kid quite literally roasting his ass on that bonfire.

Reefer picked up on what Tapp was thinking and slowly made his way over to the fire himself, also having the munchies like the kid. He found a platter of snacks and picked it up, walking over to Shizen he offered it's contents to him as he himself grabbed a handful and stuffed his face.

As I reached the fire the monkey from before approached me and offered me a plate of snacks. I smiled and thanked the monkey before taking several large scoops of food of the plate and stuffing my face with it, not caring what it was. After eating I sat around with the group of monkeys enjoying in merriment, laughing and sharing stories of our pasts and even, because I had no real control of myself because of the strength of the weed I smoked, told them of my origins as an Uchiha, something I normally wouldn't have told even my closest friends.

He watched and chuckled slightly, the kid was adjusting well enough here. Even if it was just the smoke talking he was telling his deeper secrets which would be safe here on the island, granted that means eventually everyone here would know it there would be no way for outsiders to gain it from them. Feeling some of the munchies coming on he went and got a tray of snacks and raised it above his head so they all slid in his mouth. He put the tray down and burped loudly before wiping his hand over his mouth. Tonight would be fun.