As Vera walked through the crowded pathways, he faced a novel experience.
The year Vera turned eleven, Leng took him out to a zoo in the deep cold. Crowds of people stared at the chimps that were recently brought in.
Chimps not being native to the deep cold garnered excessive amounts of attention.
Today he saw the gazes of the people in the deep cold again, only it was chimps who stared.
The cramped market path split open as he passed through. A chorus of whispers followed him.
The occasional cub reached out to touch him, only to be dragged away by their mothers.
Renta, the chimp that was trading with Vera, circled around him. Yellow rows of teeth peered out of his mouth as he jumped around, advertising the human he'd brought to the village.
"Only five coppers to touch the human! What about it, Mom? Your cub seems interested."
His yellowed teeth glistened as he mimed the price with his stubby fingers.
The mother chimp dragged away her cub as he stared at Renta.
"Renta, will you stop this already! I didn't even agree to this."
"Calm down, Vera; a chimp's got to make money somehow."
Vera lowered his head as he sighed.
Over the past week he'd grown close with Renta. Besides his tireless puffery, he was a pretty sincere chimp.
Vera recalled Renta trying to sell him a rock he'd found for one of his skewers.
A rock blessed by the mountain god, my ass!
As the hustle and bustle of the market died down, Renta's shameless racketeering came to an end.
The two stood posted outside an old yet elegant house. Renta's grin turned to gritted teeth and a nervous smile.
"Wait here... I'll go talk to Ma."
Vera silently stood outside as Renta nervously walked into his house.
Within a few moments the sound of crashing pans and screeching chimps echoed through its firm stone walls.
Renta's unsightly yelps turned to ambient noise as Vera looked at the village. Unlike what he'd expected, the village was similar to most human villages in the Five Planes.
Stone-walled houses lined up against the mud path from the market. The occasional chimp cub hanging from the roof as their mother yelled at them. Lush foliage surrounded the pathways.
Although the village wasn't the same as the Bromwich, its warm atmosphere didn't differ by much.
Finally the ambient noise came to an end. Renta walked out as he rubbed his forehead.
"Come in, Vera." He chirped, as though nothing had happened.
"This is what happens when you write cheques you can't cash." Vera scoffed as he walked past Renta.
"Shut up! And what's a cheque? ..."
Renta walked behind Vera, almost using him as a shield from his mother's gaze.
"Welcome!" Renta's mother spoke cheerily as Vera entered their house.
"I'm Linda, Renta's mother."
Her cheery tone was juxtaposed with the screeches that echoed through the stonewalls. Although that was mostly Renta.
Vera bowed his head and introduced himself.
"I'll be burdening you for a few days; I thank you in advance."
"Ahh... It's no worry. I'm just glad Renta has made such a well-mannered friend."
The familiarity with human greetings perplexed Vera.
"If you don't mind me asking. Do humans come to the village often? Most of the people here seem acclimated to me."
"We've seen our fair share of humans, but it'd be an exaggeration to say they come here often."
"Ah... that's how it is."
While Renta told him about the matter, after the rock incident, Vera learnt to take everything he said with a kilo of salt.
As for language, Renta didn't know much. All he said was that they'd used this language for nearly three thousand years at this point. Which on its own told Vera how they shared a common language.
After some light banter, Renta led Vera to his room.
"Should we change the bandages now?"
"Yeah, the salve has dried out."
Renta pulled out another bundle of salve from his rucksack as Vera undid the wraps from his wounds.
"How did you even get this injured?"
"I fought the Bixie and won."
"Yeah, right. I bet you were the one who killed all the wildebeest as well." Renta scoffed as he slung his rucksack over his shoulder.
"By the way, this is the last bundle I have; I'll go out to get some more. Could you hand me a waterskin to trade for it?"
"Sure."
After handing Renta a waterskin of wildebeest blood from his belt, Vera made his way to Renta's bed.
The afternoon sun peered through a wooden rail over Renta's bed. The bed had a simple sheet over hay placed above a wooden frame.
It wasn't much, but it still beat camping out in the forest.
A pained groan escaped Vera as he lay down. The nonchalant expression he wore as he walked through the village finally wore off.
His neck for the most part was healed. But most of the pain came through his legs at this point.
During his battle against the Bixie, he'd fortified his legs with more than they could handle.
A lot more than they could handle.
Darkened streaks of skin ran through his thighs, his skin barely patched over the injuries. The muscles seemed to hold a different shape from before. Its once comfortable skin was almost stretched over it.
The pain of a thousand ants chewing on his flesh soon weakened.
As the afternoon sun softened, Vera fell asleep. The gentle breeze turning cold soothed him in his sleep.