When The Bard Came Visiting

Hyda held her mother closely for the last time. Now she was of age, she must leave her family and find another in order to continue her genetic line. Her brothers, however, were to stay with their mother and wait for females from outside groups to find them. Watching their sister leave and waiting for strangers to arrive left them apprehensive. If they didn’t get along with one another, there was no chance of strengthening the family group. Hyda only hoped that the new family she joined would accept her as their own, and as was custom, that she would find a mate she truly liked. Staying high in the trees, her ears twitched to track the calls of the other spider monkeys living nearby. Unlike her family, who were white-bellied spider monkeys, these other groups were not. It would take many days of travel to find others of her kind. She knew there must be some, for last year two females had joined her family from two separate groups. They"d told her the journey was long, and Hyda had noted their words. Reaching out to take hold of a branch, she swung, letting go at the top of her arc to fall a short way and then gracefully catch a branch from the next tree on her path. It was odd moving through the trees without her brothers, but there was another feeling rising inside her. Excitement. For the first time in her life, she could go anywhere and do anything she wanted—until she found herself another group to join. But for now, she planned to enjoy her freedom. She continued for another half day, using both her arms and tail to guide her through the great web of branches. After a while, her throat began to grow parched and there were no wet fruits around to take her thirst away. Below her was a large stretch of water sparkling in the late afternoon sun. Searching with her eyes to make sure there were no predators in her immediate vicinity, she dropped down the branches, one by one, until she was on the lowest, stretching out across the water. Wrapping her tail firmly around the branch, she lowered herself down. Stretching out Searching with her eyes to her hands to gather up the cool liquid, she brought them to her mouth and drank deeply. The water was sweet and didn"t quite satisfy her thirst, so she took another handful and was about to take one more, when the fur on her back began to tingle. She looked around and was just in time to see two large eyes peering at her from the water’s surface, with a long pointed snout directly beneath her. As the creature snapped, she managed to swing out of its way, grabbing the branch with her hands and scrambling back up to the top of the tree. The creature, disappointed, sank back below the water and she watched its shadow as it swam downstream. She clung to the tree, her heart still dancing about in her chest. How could she have been so stupid? Her mother had warned her of creatures like that, and she even had a vague memory of watching another mammal being snatched away with those great jaws. A chatter of harsh laughter rang out across the canopy and Hyda saw a whole group of monkeys observing her from the opposite side of the river. They were laughing so hard that some of them lost their balance and fell off the branch, dangling by their tails. ‘Stupid white belly!’ they called. ‘Maybe you should play in the river some more!’ In disgust, she howled and bared her teeth. They laughed even more so, her temper rising, she swung off before it overtook her. She was a lone female, and a small one for her age at that. There was nothing she could do against such a large group. She passed another group of monkeys, but still they weren’t the other white bellies she sought. Yet they weren’t aggressive towards her, contenting themselves to watch her pass without interruption, except to point her in the direction of a tree full of fruits, which she gathered and ate gladly. The night drew in quickly after that, so climbing to the very top of the canopy to scout for predators, she wrapped her tail around a strong upright branch and curled her legs up to her chest, resting against the trunk. Her eyes closed, but she did not sleep straight away. Instead, she listened; bats and large owls soared through the air and other nocturnal creatures howled as they hunted. Nothing approached her, however, so at last she deemed it safe drift off. The sunlight hit her eyes the next morning, but as she raised her head, she jumped up in surprise, almost falling from the branch. Two bright eyes stared at her, and as she looked back, she saw an orange triangle on the creature’s forehead, with a mass of black fur covering the rest of its head along with its back, legs and tail. A creamy orange patch adorned its stomach. Another white-bellied spider monkey! ‘You’re like me,’ she said, unsure what a male was doing out here. She looked around, but couldn’t see any signs of his group anywhere. ‘Where are the others?’ ‘Others? Oh, you mean my family group?" he asked. She nodded. He shrugged. ‘I don’t have one.’ ‘What do you mean? You must have one.’ He shook his head. ‘No, it’s just me. Well, it was, but now I’ve found you. So I guess it’s just us.’ She frowned, so he continued. ‘I was stolen from my group as a baby by some humans. They put me in a cage and were taking me somewhere away from the forest, but something happened and the cage was damaged. I ran away from them, but my leg was cut and so they trapped me again. But they were different humans this time. These ones helped me and fixed my leg. And gave me food. I’ve been living around here ever since.’ ‘Wait," Hyda said, trying to absorb everything he"d blurted. "What are these humans you talk about? And did you never try to find your own kind?’ humans ‘Humans are strange creatures. They’re like hairless versions of us, except that they live on the ground and have no tails. Some of them are dangerous, but others aren’t so bad. The ones who saved me live not far from here and if I can’t find any food, I go down to them and they feed me. Sometimes there are strangers among them, but they never hurt me like the others did. That’s why I’ve never looked for my group. I’ve never needed to.’ Hyda examined him closely. He was older than her, but not by much, and he had a carelessness about him that she had never seen before in a male of her species. Still, these human creatures sounded suspicious, and if he relied on them despite what they"d done to him, that made him suspicious too. him‘What’s your name?’ she asked, unwrapping her tail from the branch and curling it around herself. ‘Kido,’ he said. ‘What’s yours?’ ‘It’s Hyda,’ she said. ‘And I’m afraid I must go now.’ ‘Go where?’ he asked, his eyes going wide. Was he concerned for her? ‘I’ve got to find another group. It’s tradition that when we females come of age, we leave our families and find new ones,’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘That sounds horrible. If I"d grown up knowing my family, I don’t think I would want to leave them like that,’ he said, a visible tremor running through him. She laughed. ‘You wouldn’t have to. The males stay and wait for new females to join from other groups. My brothers still live in the same group as my mother and are waiting even now for the new females to arrive.’ Kido frowned. ‘I’ve got a better idea,’ he said, and grabbed her hand, leading her from tree to tree. They rushed through the treetops so fast she could barely take in any of her surroundings. Why had this naïve male dragged her off so suddenly? She had to find a new family soon or else she would be left on her own—or worse—with this fool. ‘Where are you taking me? I demand that you tell me!’ she screamed as he jumped from the top branches of one tree to cascade down to the bottom of another. She fell along with him, unable to break free of his grip, her stomach jumping up to her throat as she realised she would have to rely on him to get a strong hold on the next branch so that their conjoined weight wouldn’t make his hand slip and send them plunging into the water. As he landed his grip however, she realised there had been nothing to fear. Kido’s body was so accustomed to making leaps from such heights that having more weight and the use of just one hand didn’t even tire him as he held on to the sturdy branch. He swung upwards and planted his feet on it, finally releasing his hold on her. ‘I’m taking you to where the humans are,’ he said, pausing for a moment. ‘Why? I need to find a family to join, not run around with you and be a plaything for those creatures. What if they turn out to be bad, like the ones who took you from your home as a baby?’ she said, unsure whether to laugh at him or bare her teeth. ‘They’re not like that. Not at all. It sometimes feels as though they are my family, even the ones who seem to be different at each visit.’ He stood up and held out his hand. ‘Let me show you.’ theyThe sun had moved past its highest point by then, and she was hungry. She hesitated, then reluctantly took it. ‘If you really wish me to see them, I"ll go. But I won’t stay. I cannot.’ "I understand," he said, and they took off through the trees again. As the sun neared its final arc, Kido and Hyda reached what looked like a giant swollen node resting between two tree trunks. There was a hole in it where flat ground-that-was-not-ground stretched out towards them. It was filled with creatures resembling furless monkeys, except they had no tails, and judging by the awkward rigidity of their backs and limbs, were unsuited to climbing through the trees. They also seemed to be covered in large, intricate types of leaves that Hyda had never come across before, presumably to hide their bare skin. ‘What are those things?’ she asked Kido quietly, in case the creatures spotted her. ‘Those are the humans,’ he said. ‘Come, if we show ourselves, they’ll feed us.’ He swung across to land in the branches just in front of the ground-that-was-not-ground. ‘Look,’ one of the humans said loudly, pointing. ‘It’s a white-bellied spider monkey!’ The rest of the humans turned and chattered excitedly. The fur on Hyda’s back bristled. Another human came up to look, gently pushing through the crowd. ‘Oh, yes, that’s Kido. He’s one of our regulars. I expect he’s come here for his dinner,’ it said. This one’s voice was slightly higher, and Hyda had a strong instinctual feeling that it was female. Suddenly, it glanced up in her direction and gasped. ‘Well, well, Kido,’ it said, smiling. ‘Have you finally found a mate, I wonder?’ The female human walked off for a moment, but when it came back, it had a large bundle of fruits in its arms. She threw one to Kido, who caught it easily and began to eat. Then it held one out for Hyda, calling to her. At first, Hyda refused to move, watching the humans babble as Kido ate, and throw him more as soon as he’d finished. They made no move to capture him, despite being close enough to do so. Eventually, her hunger grew so strong she began to climb down to them, but remained on guard. Nothing happened, so she took a spot next to Kido and caught one of the fruits that the female threw to her. She bit into it, feeling the juice run down the fur of her chin. It was sweet and fleshy. ‘Is this one a regular too?’ the first human who"d spoken asked. The female shook its head. ‘I’ve never seen this one before. She looks fairly young though, so I presume she’s out looking for another group.’ ‘What do you mean?’ the other human said. ‘And how do you know it’s female?’ ‘When female spider monkeys come into maturity, they leave their natal groups and seek out new ones. The males stay, so unless they have a background like Kido here, who was originally taken from the wild by the pet trade, it’s rare for males to be on their own. Kido only remains with us because the rest of his natal group were all captured. Unfortunately, the traders who were shipping them crashed the van they were using and both they and the monkeys all died from the impact. Kido was the only one to escape, and when we found him he had a deep gash on his leg. After we treated him, we released him in the hopes that he would find somewhere to go, but he tends to stay close by.’ ‘So what will you do with the female?’ the other human asked, pointing at Hyda. Hyda looked at it and it threw her more fruit. She grabbed it hungrily. The female human smiled. ‘As long as she’s healthy, which she appears to be, then we will leave her be. Unless she decides to stay around here with Kido, which I have a feeling has crossed his mind.’ It turned its gaze to him as he offered his fruit to Hyda. UnlessHyda took it from Kido gladly. ‘Perhaps you"re right,’ she said. ‘These humans appear safe, and the food is good.’ ‘Will you stay, then?’ Kido asked hopefully. Hyda shook her head. ‘I will carry on searching for a new family group. But,’ she said, noticing his eyes grow dull, ‘if I can’t find one, or I dislike the one I find, then I may return here. If it is necessary, we may start our own family group.’ Kido looked at her, beaming. ‘If it is necessary,’ she said, sternly. If Kido’s head drooped, but he gave her some more fruit. She took it.