The booming laughter of the Blast Apes reverberated through the clearing, their deep, raspy chuckles echoing like rolling thunder.
"Harrr-harrr-harrr!"
The leader of the community, a massive, scarred ape with fur as dark as the midnight sky, guffawed alongside its kin. But amidst the raucous laughter, something gnawed at the back of the leader's mind.
It couldn't shake the uneasy feeling creeping up its spine. Its laughter began to taper off, and it glanced to the left, then to the right.
"Kurruuuughh?"
Nothing seemed amiss.
The other apes, intoxicated and blissfully unaware, continued to howl and pound their chests, thum, thum, thum, their bodies swaying from side to side.
The leader let out a soft grunt, shaking its head. Must be nothing, "Kururugh," it thought. It resumed laughing, though its voice was now more strained, forced even.
"Harrr-harrr-harrr!"
But the feeling didn't leave. If anything, it grew worse.
