A/N: First to address my guest reviewer. Thank you very much! You have gotten just that.
Now to address something quickly:
In my fic, part of the drug also altered the life-span of the Apes. They grow and age as humans would. At least for the sake of the story I want to tell. The oldest living orangutan was 58, so I suspect that "old ape" Maurice was in his 40s. And set him in his sixties here.
I would also like to thank everyone who read, Favorited, followed, and reviewed the first chapter!
Now that that's out of the way, let's return to the story.
...
CHAPTER 2
Ethan's Choice
Maurice didn't inform Ethan of his intentions to "adopt" him if all went well. Rather he chose to save talks of his living arrangements until after he had spoken to Caesar. A meeting which finally happened a week after Ethan's arrival at the colony. During that time, his very existence was a secret other than to the doctors, Caesar's family, Caesar, and Maurice. But by the time he was finally on his feet, Maurice had thoroughly coached Ethan on what Caesar wished to speak to him about.
Still, nothing could prepare the seven year old for being in front of the chimp himself.
He was tall, and powerful looking in ways that Ethan had never imagined from his father's stories. And while he wasn't as big in muscle as Maurice, he was at least ten times more intimidating. They stood there in his "office", with Caesar looking Ethan over quietly. However, he did his best to not regard this boy as he would a human adult, rather he tried to look at him as if this were an ape child, with a softer complexion and attitude. "It is an honor to meet you," Ethan signed, though it wasn't entirely true, he knew it was the only proper way to greet a king. "Caesar. I have heard many stories... My father once saw you in battle, he described you as... Awe-worthy," That much was true, he had been awed by the ape leader.
Caesar gave an amused snort at the thought of a human being in awe at him. "I am sure he would. Many are in awe of a talking ape," Ethan tried to hide his smile. "Ethan, before I decide what to do with you... I must know my people are safe," He signed, with a firm look his way. "Therefore nothing is secret here. What were you, and your family, doing in our territory?"
Ethan immediately looked down at his feet nervously. Would his answer be enough to assure the ape leader? After all, they haven't exactly been around humans anymore to confirm it. But none-the-less, he knew from Maurice this whole situation would decide his future after all.
"Things in the East were not good. There is a lot of fighting, little food, it was scary," Ethan explained. "Dad wanted a better life for me and mom. So he took us and left for the west lands. Trying to avoid you and find somewhere the apes hadn't settled," He said with honesty. "But on the way, they got sick... Not the flu, but something else. Then an animal raided our camp and took all of our food... And things just got worse," He explained, looking at Caesar. "I don't know how they died. I woke up one day and they wouldn't wake up... I think they were sicker than they would tell me."
Caesar stared at Maurice for confirmation, and the orangutan nodded. It lined up with what Ethan had opened up to him about not long ago. "How long were you on your own?"
"I don't know," Ethan replied with a childish shrug of his shoulders. "Dad was teaching me to tell time easier. But I lost count after a few weeks," He shook his head slowly, fear in his eyes. "I thought maybe some human colony survived and I kept looking eating off what I could find. But I found nothing. Then one night something attacked me... Maurice, he found me the next morning."
Caesar considered the child for a moment, but believed him. The boy betrayed nothing if he was not being honest with them. And he really had no reason not to be if he had found no humans. If he hadn't, they were his only hope for living any kind of life. "I choose to believe you. Because the closest of my friends does," Caesar told him honestly. "I am prepared to accept you into my colony, if you so choose. If not, we can only guide you to the boundary between the west and the east. From there you would be on your own, and I assure you it will be far more dangerous," He paused briefly. "Maurice?"
Ethan looked surprised, his eyes darting between the two. They were offering him sanctuary? Apes, the winners of the war, the species most dominant on Earth now, were offering for him to live in the camp of their leader? He barely had time to register that the orangutan that saved him had stepped forward, putting a paw onto his shoulder to grab his attention before signing.
"We cannot promise life here is easy. You are human, prejudice will exist. And you must learn our ways. Leave your old culture behind to become part of another. Though you should never forget it, or the family you have lost. That is not something we ask" Maurice told the boy as honestly as he could. "If this is your choice, you will live with me in my hut. But I warn you that it is small, I have lived alone for many years," He added. "But it is yours to also occupy."
Ethan's hand hit a seat, and he carefully took it, his breathing labored. This was a lot to take in, given he hadn't expected an option like this at all. He thought that, at best, they may send him off with clothing, food, and water. But to stand here and offer him a new home, well, to be honest, it was scary. These were not humans, and it definitely was not his culture. He was talking about completely abandoning his life and culture to what? Live with an orangutan in a small hut? Live among creatures he still, honestly feared aside from Maurice?
Caesar noted the fear in the young one's eyes, no doubt he knew what was going through his mind. In a way, Caesar had done this himself years ago, although he had been much older. He'd lived the life of a human very long, and giving it up to live the life of a true ape had undoubtedly been hard. "You have no reason to fear us," Caesar explained. "If you are as innocent as you say, I have no reason to hurt you. The moment you say yes, you are an ape," He explained. "And ape does not hurt ape."
Ethan looked up at Maurice, who stared at him with curiosity. Could he really look at an orangutan as a guardian, a father even? He paused a moment, the former he could, maybe a guardian and friend. But the latter, he wasn't sure whether that could ever happen. Especially given he had only lost his father such a short time ago. "You want to take care of me?" He asked Maurice's, their eyes meeting. "A son of the enemy? Is that what you want?"
"My quarrel with the humans ended with the war," Maurice signed honestly with a sigh. "I am old, a little over sixty years old. And with our... Evolution, I will live to be older than most of my species did before," Ethan nodded, though he wasn't sure he was following entirely. "I would not mind having someone to share my free time with, or teach of the world in my old age, as I have no family of my own."
The way Maurice looked at him, Ethan could tell the old orangutan was speaking the truth. He looked down, what did he have to lose really? For a moment, he sat there, and thought of the only way to properly answer the king. His king, now he supposed. He stepped forward, and knelt on one knee before Caesar. Stepping forward, Maurice gently raised his newfound ward's arm up to Caesar, and though Ethan looked curiously at him he simply nodded, and helped him outstretch his palm.
Caesar was careful to gently run his coarse paw along the boys arm and over his palm. The ape's sign of respect to their leader, and his sign of respect back to them. An ape, though Ethan would always be human biologically, from the moment he bowed before his new king he would be seen as an ape. "Thank you," Ethan signed as he was beckoned to stand. "I promise to do my best as... Well, as an Ape."
"Welcome to your new home, Ethan." Caesar simply signed to him. "I hope to see you make good on that promise."
From that moment on, even at age seven, Ethan knew his life would never be the same.
...
The meeting of the council had been one that had practically turned into chaos. But Caesar's rule was law, and as far as his most trusted of advisers were concerned, this was a final decision. One of them, Rocket, who despite being his second-in-command had not been told, was the first to voice his acceptance of Caesar's decision. Which was not a surprise, since Koba's ways and hatred of humans had caused the death of his son, he had made steps to helping ensure no ape turned back to his line of thinking. Lest they find themselves in another war, with many more ape lives lost.
The colony took things much less well, as most, if not all of them had lost something to the war. Ethan supposed it would be no different if the shoe were on the other foot. But as they made their way towards his home, he assured Ethan to give them time, and most would come to accept him. Ethan hoped that it would be soon, because he couldn't imagine living somewhere where he was constantly seen as a fox among sheep.
The ape colony itself was twice as big as the one they had lost seven years ago. Big enough to have its own "roads" that twisted and turned. They had set up shops of their own, for various things, with their own currency, and a grand meeting house in the center of town, and a schoolhouse for the children. All built from earth, wood, and foliage and shaped differently, much like the homes that made up the majority of the colony.
Maurice's home was near the edge of the colony, and though small was still big enough for an ape Maurice's size. It was dome shaped, and about the size of half of a one story home. And to Ethan, it looked very inviting and welcoming. As well as up in a large tree. Maurice smiled at the boy's fear, but simply hoisted him, pulling him onto his back calmly. "Hold on tightly."
Ethan had only enough time to throw his arms around Maurice before they were climbing. The boy yelped, staring down as they moved higher up into the tree, and down bellow the colony got smaller. He closed his eyes, but felt as Maurice reached back to hoist him slightly, keeping him safe. They reached the platform of his home rather quickly, and he again was let down on the wooden ground. "I will build a ladder for you. But for now, you will have to let me carry you home."
Ethan nodded slowly, taking a sharp breath as he got a better, up close look of where he would be living. And up close, he had to admit, it didn't look as "small" as one might think. "Home sweet home," Maurice signed, pushing open the wooden door. "Come in."
Ethan stepped in and found that the apes definitely lived differently from humans, as he had suspected. Maurice's home didn't have rooms, unlike Caesar's. Rather it was one large room, with a small "kitchen" area in the back, a sitting area in the front right corner, a table and chairs to be seated at in the center, and a massive bed big enough for Maurice to the furthest right. Everything was made from the same materials as the house, and to say that their ability of architecture impressed the boy was an understatement.
The real change up came when he saw the more ape-specific things. A bar hang from the ceiling on which Maurice probably could climb and hang, as it was big and sturdy enough. There was a massive chair, made from a hollowed tree trunk in the sitting room, bigger than any human. And lastly, a lot of fruit, leaves, and the like, from which he supposed Maurice ate the most.
It took Ethan a minute, in the awe of the moment, to find that Maurice had been prepared for his arrival. As in the furthest right corner, far enough away from Maurice to give him room was another bed. Adorned with hand woven blankets, to keep him warm during the night accounting for his lack of fur, and pillows to match. "You knew you were taking me."
Maurice carefully placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, nodding. "I saved your life," Maurice signed at him. "When I knew you were alone. I felt perhaps there was a reason for that," He carefully seated himself in his big chair. "Sleep if you wish, I know it has been a long day."
Maurice could say that again, it had been the longest day, or rather week of his life. He'd been rescued by apes, whom he'd learned his whole life to be afraid. Correction: he'd been saved by ape's who'd adopted him into their clan and were going to take care of him now that... Now that... Again, for the hundredth time in over a month, he felt tears fill his eyes. He had to be taken care of, he had to be kept here because his parents were dead, gone.
Would that pain ever go away?
He stood there, probably looking like a bumbling fool in front of his newfound guardian for the next minute. Until he felt coarse fingers along his back, pushing him gently. He didn't know how he got into Maurice's lap, but the ape was carefully holding him close, clearly understanding why he was crying. After all, ape's grieved just the same as humans, and the older, wise ape had lost enough friends to recognize it when he saw it.
"You are a tough little one," Maurice signed calmly, surprising his young ward. "You have gone though much in your young life. Yet this is the first time you have cried in our presence. But you must remember, grief is good. It means you remember," He explained, watching as the boy fidgeted a little in his lap, but didn't try to move away from the arm he had around him. "Because you are not alone, does not mean you must hide it."
The seven year old sat there in the ape's lap for a while, trying to push away the tears as he held him. It was hard for him to admit, but the way the ape held him reminded him of his father. Who would take him into his lap often when he was upset, or sad. On those nights, they might sit there, and he'd be distracted by his father teaching him new signs, especially when he was younger. And others, like on their trip out west, they would simply sit there, and he would cradle him, not unlike Maurice was now.
Alright, he understood, perhaps not all of the apes were bad. But he still wasn't sure what to make of the rest of the colony, nor would he know what to think until some time passed. At least for the moment, however, he felt like his faith was well trusted with Maurice. He considered this as he let out a soft yawn, feeling as though his crying spell had tired him even more than the long day he'd spent had.
He'd been about to get up from the ape's lap when the gentle ape signed. "Bed."
And to his surprise, rather than let him get up, Maurice carried him in his arms towards the small, makeshift bed he'd made for him. Once on top, he pulled the blankets gently over his ward, and looked down upon him quietly. He placed his hand on top of the boy's back gently as a parting for the night before signing. "Goodnight," Followed by a: "I am only a bed away if you need me."
Ethan watched his guardian carefully cross over to his own bed, and for the first time realized he wasn't the only one who had a long day. After all, Maurice now had gone from a solitary, older orangutan living on his own, to having a seven year old human living in his home. If anything, he was the one who had taken on the most of the two of them, given he now had a whole new set of responsibilities on top of whatever else he did in the colony.
Ethan mulled all of these thoughts over as he quietly stared up at the ceiling. He wondered silently what the following day would be like. Knowing it would be his first day where he would be allowed out into the ape colony, among the remainder of the inhabitants of his new home. That would be a true first test of the whole arrangement, and one that he looked to with both fear and nervousness.
He turned over on the bed quietly, and tried his best to close his eyes and drift off to sleep. With any luck, his fear would be unfounded.
...
Maurice woke him up early on account of the fact that he, as the ape put it, was in desperate need of a bath. He couldn't argue there, as he hadn't bathed in well over a month so he was happy to follow him down to the small body of water the apes used to bathe in. Embarrassed to strip near the ape, Maurice gave him his space in order to let the child slip out of his clothes, and jump into the water.
As the dirt and grime washed off his body, Ethan already felt better. He paid special attention not to hurt his wound, which had mostly healed by now, but he knew he still needed to be careful with. But after several minutes, Ethan felt much cleaner, and could see Maurice standing at the edge of the lake, holding what appeared to be a makeshift towel. He stepped out and allowed himself to be wrapped in it tightly, carefully drying himself off as he looked around.
It was then that he noticed that his clothes were gone. "Maurice, I may be an ape now," Ethan signed, slightly panicked. "But I don't want to go nude like one," He added.
Maurice chuckled, holding up a finger, he reached behind himself and brought something out. New clothes, Ethan realized, though nothing that humans normally wore. It was a simple shirt, and pants made from animal hides, and just about the right size for him. "Some apes, think the same as you. Want clothing now that we are our own "civilization"," Maurice signed with a small smirk. "I got you as many pairs as I could. You could not wear those clothes you came in, they were ruined."
Ethan signed a "thank you" before carefully taking the animal hide clothing, which he noticed to be hand stitched. Maurice yet again left him, allowing him to carefully slip into his new clothing. It definitely felt different than the ones the humans wore, but the animal furs were still soft, and comfortable. And Ethan could not resist moving back to the body of water, to look into his new reflection.
There he stood, looking no different than the day before. But at the same time, looking very much different. Yesterday, he was not as clean looking as he was now. Yesterday, he was not wearing animal fur as clothing. And yesterday, well, yesterday, he was only a guest in the ape colony. Now? Now, he had to accept that he was a permanent resident, and this was him now, Ethan the human ape.
Maurice's reflection soon joined him, and he tuned in surprise. The older ape seemed to know what he was thinking, given the look he gave him. "Change is strange at first," He signed to the boy in understanding. "But you will be happier here. If what you say about the east is true. Your father will have his wish for you to have a better life," He assured him.
Ethan had to wonder if that was fair. That he was going to experience a better life when so many other humans, including his parents, had never had the chance to. And for that matter could it actually BE a better life? He was not an ape, nor would he ever be, and that would make things difficult. "Maurice," He signed. "What happens if this does not work? If the other apes cannot accept me?"
Maurice regarded his ward for a long moment, shifting on his hind paws. "Hold your chin high. Caesar has decided you belong here. And therefore, you do, no one will dare challenge Caesar. Not after Koba," Maurice told him honestly. "And if they do, they will answer to me."
"I hope you're a good fighter, then."
Even if the boy couldn't hear him, the old orangutan laughed slowly. He poked the young human in the chest, and began to sign with a clear smirk. "I will have you know, young one, I am not just a teacher," He stated. "Old, I may be. Formerly a circus ape, I may be too," Ethan seemed surprised to hear that side of Maurice's past. "But a warrior, I am as well."
Ethan crossed his arm as the old orangutan motioned him back towards the ape colony. Maurice was a mystery, he realized as he began to follow the old orangutan back. A circus performer, a teacher, and a warrior? Just who had he just ended up in the care of? He thought of all of these things as he looked to the east. Back towards his home, or what was now his former home, he supposed. But it didn't have to be that way, he knew. He could run off, try and make it out in the wild until he reached home, where he knew he had family, had they survived in the time he had been gone.
Yet that was the trouble, his family could have all been dead right now. He could travel in the wild for months, and return to find his home gone. And then what would he have? Nothing. At least here, he figured he could make a new start, a new beginning. Here, perhaps, in time he would find the better life his father had wanted for him and his mother after all.
And so he turned, moving quickly to catch up to Maurice. As he caught up, he could see in the distance that the ape colony was now starting to bustle with life and activity. Maurice stared at him, noting the fear in Ethan's eyes. He outstretched his paw carefully, as a sign of offering it to his ward. Perhaps if he knew Maurice was right there, he could relax when he made his first walk into the colony.
Ethan stared back again to the wild to the east, this was his last chance, he knew. If he took Maurice's paw, and he met the rest of the colony, a new life would open up to him. And whatever that may mean, good or bad, something inside repeat that thought over and over in his head: there will be no turning back.
After several moments, he reached forward, and took the ape's paw, allowing the massive fingers to wrap around his hand. And together, they walked back to the colony, and into Ethan's new life.
...
A/N: And there are the two I guess set-up chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed this one!
