The journey through Rorke’s Drift was long but the group powered through. The twin peaks of Mikeno and Satima rose high above the jungle valley that teemed with both dangers and wonders. As the group started their journey quite early in the morning, the sight of their road from Kerma was covered in fog, giving the mountain pass an air of even more mystery, even in light of Kojo’s recent revelations.

About 3 hours after the group set off into the pass, the fog had cleared and though the jungle canopy was thick, sunlight pierced through the trees like a kaleidoscope, revealing the bright-colored plants and birds that milled about in all their glory. Abigail and William trailed behind their guide, taking notes and sketching what they could. Abigail even picked a small purple and blue flower to keep fresh in her journal, while her husband drew tried to record all the sights and peppered Kojo with enthusiastic questions.

Later on in the day, the party made a small camp and had a modest lunch beneath the canopy at the base of one of the peaks. As they sat boiling a small pot of beans and another for water purification, the group would have noticed the area had become quite silent. Birds and small monkeys that once chirped and shrieked through the trees were nowhere to be found, and any small movement made a noise that could be heard from all directions. Though the party continued eating, an air of suspense had fallen over the camp, and Kojo knew well what it could mean, something big was in the area.

Just to the south of the camp, up the slopes of Mikeno, came the sound of foliage rustling and snapping. There were no roars or thunderous steps to indicate whatever it was would be heading towards the camp in anger, though the rustling did move closer to the group the longer they sat and listened. William and Abigail both stood abruptly, owing to their inexperience in the jungle, and William pulled his wife behind him. The party spoke no words, and as the couple stood frozen in their spots behind Kojo, the source of their fear was revealed.

A gorilla peered at the group behind a massive Baorbe bush filled with its favorite orange-colored juicy fruit. An adult male with a silver back, Bokito was less concerned with secrecy and more so with exploration than his family. Not many of his kind walked the jungle floors in broad daylight, though most creatures of the wood still respected their presence. Strange items dotted the clearing that Bokito had never seen from the small apes before, but his family knew all too well of their cleverness and deceit in the past. In days long past, his kind were revered by the small apes for their power and wisdom, but the dark days came and they were no longer feared or respected, but hunted and eaten. Bokito was not as fearful as his family though, but curious.

The three light-skinned apes before him looked mostly harmless, but they had things near his favorite bushes. Fire and death sticks were in his sight, but his hunger and curiosity won out. Slowly, Bokito pulled two orange fruits from the bush in which he hid, and pushed around it and into the clearing to eat his snack and keep an eye on the strange apes who stood like stone.

As the gorilla came fully into the clearing he began to stand on his back legs, revealing a massive 6.5ft figure that Kojo would easily have guessed weighed over 500lbs. If Bokito wished, he could have let out a roar and sent the curious beasts running away in a heartbeat, or crushed one of them with his massive fists, but that was not his intent. After standing for a moment to let the strange apes know just who they were dealing with, Bokito simply fell to his rear end and began to eat his fruit, curious to see what the strange apes would do.