My little bird
I was back in the trees. But I had found a different tree to get up and was sitting on a sturdy branch, waiting for Dax to come out of the tent. I had watched the sunrise earlier, and was now bathing in its warm rays. I started humming the song Little Bird by Ed Sheeran and I couldn't help but to start singing it.
"If we take this bird in
With its broken leg
We could nurse it
She said
Come inside for
A little lie down with me
If you fall asleep
It wouldn't be the worst thing
But when I wake up
You make up is on
My shoulder
And tell me if I lie down
Would you stay now and let me hold ya
Oh
But if I kiss you
Will your mouth read this truth
Darlin how I miss you
Strawberries taste how lips do
And it's not complete yet
Mustn't get our feet wet
Cause that leads to regret
Divin in too soon
And I'll owe it all to you oh
My little bird...
My little bird
If we take a walk out
In the morning dew
We could lay down
So I'm next to you
Come inside for
A little home made tea
If you fall asleep then
At least you're next to me
And if I wake up
You see it's late love
Go back to sleep
I'm covered by nature
And I'm safe now
Underneath this oak tree
With you beside me
(Chorus)
And I'll owe it all to you oh
My little bird...
My little bird
My little bird...
Your my little bird"
I stopped there when I seen Dax come out of the tent frantically. I hurried down as he started calling for me. When I hit the ground I kicked a pebble toward him to try and get his attention as I hurried toward him. I brushed his shoulder with my fingertips. He turned around and sighed before crossing his arms over his chest again.
"You were in the trees again, weren't you?" He asked suspiciously.
I looked down for a second, then turned my eyes up and looked at him through my lashes. "Maybe." I signed.
He sighed, annoyed. "I don't know why you always insist on putting your life at risk." He said, his signing speeding up.
"I'm fine. I've been climbing for years and I've only ever fallen once. I know what I'm doing." I answered.
"Yeah, and when you fell, you broke your foot Rain. And you haven't climbed many trees in more than a decade, not since the Ape Riot." He replied.
"I remember how to climb trees." I said and signed stubbornly before crossing my arms over my chest.
"Redwoods? If you fall from there, you loose your life." He growled.
"Then I better not fall." I said.
We ended having a stare off, both of us glaring into each others eyes. I was annoyed that he never trusted my skills. I know that he's just worried because he loves me but his lack of faith in me hurt. Dax suddenly broke out into a goofy grin and started chuckling. I raised a brow.
"What are you laughing at?" I asked.
"You...you look just like mother right now." He said and signed while trying to control his breathing. The sight was too much, and I started laughing with him. Dax drew me under his arm and ruffled my hair, and I giggled and hugged him. He gave my temple a kiss and let me go, moving into the tent and tossing me a bag of jerky.
"Eat." He signed, still smiling.
I took a piece out and tossed him the bag, he took two pieces for himself and put the bag away again. I bit off a piece and chewed, plopping down onto the ground.
"So," Dax said as he swallowed a mouthful of jerky. "I guess we have to wait for Caesar to get here before we go."
I nodded. "It's a good thing they found us." I signed as I chewed. "We'd probably be dead right now, and not to mention we were going in the wrong direction."
"Speaking of that." Dax signed, and he got a look on his face. "Don't do that again, Rain."
"What?" I asked.
"Don't try and save me." He signed.
"That's ridiculous." I said. "How can you ask that of me? You're my brother, I'm going to do something if your life is at risk." Did he really expect me to listen to that bullshit?
"No, Rain. Not if it's a 1200 pound bear. I was fine, I could of handled it. You shouldn't of goaded it on like that. You can't outrun a bear, and I won't loose my sister." He shook his head.
"And you expect me to be okay with loosing my brother? Dax you weren't even supposed to come. I would have just gone high up in a tree until it left." I immediately regretted implying that it was his fault.
I sighed. "I'm sorry. Let's not fight, okay?" I asked.
He stared at me for a moment before nodding. I smiled and got up to hug him. He returned the hug and when we pulled apart, a horses neigh sounded. I turned to my right and seen a group of apes coming our way, a few, including Caesar, were on horseback. Dax and I stood up and waited for them to enter the clearing. They looked to have around thirty or so apes with them, but they stayed in the tree line while three on horses continued into the clearing.
I recognized Caesar and his son, Blue eyes, but I didn't know the third ape. The third chimpanzee's fur was dark and tinted silver, signs of aging. It had multiple scars all over its body, including a slash down its right eye, that same eye clouded over with what looked like cataracts. It's face was etched into a grim, narrow eyed glare, and I immediately felt nervous around this new ape.
Dax immediately took a step in front of me, shielding me halfway from view. I was thankful his toned shoulder blocked my view of the scarred ape, though I was still slightly annoyed. Did Dax think I couldn't defend myself?
"Will you take us to the dam now?" Dax called, I seen his shoulder move, so I was aware he signed as well as spoke. Some of the apes in the tree line, I noticed, looked genuinely shocked at his actions. Just as I had been, I thought.
Caesar gave a nod and a grunt, and looked pointedly to his right, and Blue Eyes got off his horse, and another took the reins from him. Four other apes in the tree line stepped forward with the young ape as he walked toward us. Our eyes locked again, but he quickly broke eye contact and stopped a few feet away.
"Give us your guns." He signed.
Dax immediately started to protest, but I stepped out and stopped his hands as the signed. I shook my head and signed. "Just give him the gun, brother." I signed.
Dax stared at me incredulously. "You can't be serious."
I arched a brow and and turned back into the tent and retrieved the rifle from Dax's backpack. I walked out and handed Blue eyes the gun, he took it, studying it for a moment, before passing it back to one of the apes behind him. I then reached into Dax's back pocket and took out the little revolver he had, emptied out the bullets so they tumbled with little thuds to the leaf strewn ground, and handed that too to Blue Eyes.
"Other weapons too." He signed next. Dax looked looked away and made a noise that sounded like a mix between a growl and a sigh, annoyed to all hell.
"Oh would you quit fussing? Honestly, just do as they ask." I said aloud as I signed, getting annoyed with his immature behavior.
"Yeah? Well if they decide to attack what do we do?" He snapped.
I got his machete from the edge of the tent and walked back. "I assume they have a similar mind set, don't you think? Just comply so we can go." With that I handed Blue Eyes Dax's machete.
"You want my bow too?" I asked.
The ape nodded. I nodded back and went back into our little tent again and grabbed my bow and quiver of arrows and walked back out to the clearing. I stopped in front of Blue Eyes and hesitated to hand him the bow and arrows. These two things were my pride and joy, I made them myself, with a few tips from Dax, but I made it on my own and I didn't make it for anybody but me, and I know that sounds selfish but I've been selfless all my life, and it feels good to be selfish now and then.
I sighed and sucked it up, handing my handiwork to the ape in front of me, keeping eye contact the whole time. His namesakes blinked and he looked away, passing it to a female behind him.
"Please." I said. "Don't destroy the bow. It's very special to me." I kept my eyes downcast as I said so.
I didn't know if anyone acknowledged me, I just hoped. I felt a finger hook my chin and lift my head, and I met Dax's eyes, and he gave me that, "chin up" kind of smile. I smiled back and looked to Caesar.
He nodded his head backward in a beckoning manner, and both Dax and I ran back to the tent to grab our stuff. I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and draped my camera around my neck. Dax zipped up the tent behind me and jogged to my side as I followed the apes as they walked forward. The apes surrounded us, and I could feel their stares boring into me from all angles.
I kept silent and tried to keep my eyes down, but I couldn't help glancing up around me every now and then. I was intimidated by the sheer size of both the group and each individual ape. I was like the runt of a litter, only it was just me in the litter, and being around so many tall and large and strong, intelligent animals was still making me feel smaller than before.
My eyes glanced up again and accidentally met with the blue orbs of Caesar's son. He held my gaze for a few moments as we walked, and after what felt like an hour of just gazing into those sky colored eyes, he signed to me. "Where did you learn sign?"
"My brother became deaf three years ago. We taught each other. With books." I signed back, keeping my mouth shut as I jerked my head in Dax's direction.
"He can't hear?" Blue Eyes asked.
"No."
"But he speaks. I once heard that deaf humans don't speak." He signed back. Where did he hear about deaf humans?
"Most don't. But Dax lost his hearing when he was sixteen years old, he remembers how to speak." I answered anyway.
"Weird." He shook his head.
I smiled and let out a small puff of air through my nose in the form of a laugh. We carried on silently up the mountain until we reached what looked to me to be a stream of lumber. We were at our destination, the loud thundering of the waterfall sprayed up a thin sheet of mist, making the wood damp. We started climbing, Dax first. We walked across the logs, but I strayed closer to the edge, while Dax kept back a bit. I stood on one that was jutting out over the waterfall to look down. I turned around and seen Dax staring at me with an unknown expression, and the apes had stopped and were watching me too. I stood with my heels on the very edge of the log, then waved one hand from my temple and out in a quick 'thank you, govna' motion and stepped of the log and dropped.
"Rain!" Dax screamed.
I had landed on the metal floor of the dam, and was looking up at my brother, leaning on the rail with a smirk. He glared down at me and jumped.
"Rain..." He growled.
I smiled nervously at him, then ignored him and looked up at Caesar and Blue Eyes, who were looking down at us.
"Come on." I nodded my head toward the door in the dam.
"Rain." Dax got my attention again. He cuffed me gently upside the head. "Don't do that again. Scared the fuck outta me."
I held back my laugh and signed "sorry" to him. He sighed and shook his head, smiling.
I tried the knob, but, as expected, it was locked. I sighed and backed away. "Locked. Dax, would you?" I asked, gesturing to the door.
He walked up to it and kicked the door. The wood was weakened by the constant spray of water, the hinges were rusted and the door fell easily under the force of the kick.
"Nice." I commented after taking out a lantern. I lit it and walked inside, hearing the footsteps of Dax and the apes as they followed me. I led them down the corridors, following signs as I went. I made it into the main workings room and turned the lantern off, seeing as sunlight trickled in through windows.
I quickly stepped down the stairs and began explaining to Caesar. "This is what we used to call, a small hydro. It was built to service areas to the North of here, but we've been working to reroute the power lines to the city." I recited what I knew about this from all my lessons. "The city used to run on nuclear power but that went down for the count years ago, so we've been using diesel generators and gasifiers. But if I can just get this dam working, then we have a shot at restoring limited electrical power." I made sure to sign the whole time in case they didn't understand.
"Is any of this making any sense to you?" Dax asked from beside me.
"The...lights." He responded in a whisper-like tone.
I smiled and nodded. "Exactly. This is your home, I know that and I don't want to take it from you, I promise. But if you can allow us to do our work here-"
"You, brought others." The scarred ape spoke up, saying it more as an accusation than a question.
"No. It's just my brother and I. I don't know for sure but I think it's safe to say that a team will be sent to see what's happened to us if we're not done in a week. But I don't know if I can get this whole thing running again in seven days, even with Dax's help." I decided to be honest with them.
"I'm just one girl, there's only so much I can do in so little time. But the sooner I get to work, the sooner I leave." I hoped I didn't just fuck things up. Caesar gazed around the dam for a few moments.
"Can't trust humans!" The scarred one yelled, stalking towards me, Dax was immediately by my side pulling me behind him.
"Koba." Caesar snapped, and the scarred ape, Koba, stopped right in his tracks.
I stepped out from behind my overprotective brother and faced Caesar again. "We're not a threat." I didn't sign this time, because I didn't want Dax to know what I was about to say, and I knew he wouldn't be able to read my lips at this angle. "If we are then you can just kill me now."
Caesar stared into my eyes for a long time, weighing the truth of my words. I sat still and waited patiently, trying not to squirm under all the eyes on me. I was worried they were going to reject us. What do we do then? They took our weapons. My fear was festering as the silence grew longer.
The great leader gazed into my hazel eyes for a long time, his face masked from emotion. I focused on my breathing, in and out, in and out, as I stared into the ape's green eyes. Then finally, he spoke.
"You...can stay." He said. Some of the apes looked at him, but none protested accept for Koba.
"Caesar, no!" He signed angrily before growling and turning to leave. Caesar watched the scarred ape go, a glare in his eyes. But when he turned back to us, the glare was gone.
"Thank you, Caesar." I said and signed.
He nodded and made eye contact with a few of his apes, before sweeping his arm out in a 'you can go' manner. Three left, leaving Caesar, Blue Eyes, Rocket, a gorilla and a large bronze colored orangutan in the dam with us. I didn't know if they wanted anything further, so I slid my backpack to the ground and sorted through it until I found my tool belt.
I secured it around my waist and and clapped my hands together. I turned to my brother. "Let's get started." He nodded and I made my way to the machinery. When I analyzed the wiring to see if I could get the communications system up, and realized it was a no-go, I gave up on communications and moved to a different area and opening the metal panel. I got on my back and slid under with a lantern for light.
The rest of my day was spent there, working on the wiring and things. After what I thought had only been an hour or two, I felt a nudge on my ankle. I slid out and sat up to see Dax looking down at me. I gave him a questioning look.
"Time to head in for the night." He signed.
I was about to question why, when I looked around and realized that the sun would be setting soon, judging by the small about of light straining in from the windows. I nodded and collected my tools before closing the panel and dropping my tool belt into the backpack.
"When did it get so late?" I asked, as I shouldered my bag.
Dax gave a thoughtful look. "Give me some time, I'll come up with a smart ass reply sooner or later." I laughed, and looked to where the Orangutan was standing with Blue Eyes, and another chimp.
"We're going back to our campsite, yeah?" Dax asked from behind me.
Blue Eyes nodded, and they led the way out. When we got off the logs outside, I seen Caesar and a few other apes waiting, Caesar on horseback. He nodded to us in greeting and turned the horse around. We started on our way back, once again flanked by apes. I started trailing a little ways behind my brother, exhausted.
When we got back to the clearing, I seen Dax standing frozen, staring at something. I kept my eyes on him as I joined his side, then I looked to where his eyes rested and gasped. The campsite was in ruins. The little tent was ripped to shreds, blankets and tin cooking tools scattered around the clearing, ripped and torn. I ran into the ruins of the tent, and started rummaging. I found what I was looking for and gasped in despair. The food rations we had taken were useless, trampled and eaten. What was left was too dirty to eat. I held up my discovery to Dax as he joined me.
"What are we gonna do?" I looked up at my big brother.
His expression was shocked. "A bear must've found it." He didn't seem to be answering me.
"Well its done it now. That was all the food we had." I sighed, defeated. "Brother, what do we do? We can't go back without finishing that dam, who knows what Dreyfus will do to me if we do."
He grabbed my shoulders lightly. "We'll figure something out. I'll take care of you, we'll be okay." He failed at his attempt to be reassuring.
"Without the tent we won't last the night, don't you smell the rain in the air? We'll freeze to death by morning, or that bear will come to finish us off, or some other predator." Then something else dawned on me. "Then what happens to mother if we're gone? She can't take care of the baby all alone." I was panicking. If both Dax and I die, then sooner or later so does my mother.
"Rain, calm down. Don't scare yourself." He tried to sooth me as I chewed on my lip and looked down at the tattered remains of our shelter. "Mother has Malcolm with her. She'll be okay with him around." Dax tried again.
"But you know how stubborn she can be. She probably wouldn't want to accept his help. That woman has a head harder than a rock." I said, looking down.
"She's not an idiot. She knows she has to keep herself alive for the baby inside her. And us." Dax said. That helped a little. Sort of.
"What are we going to do?" I let myself fall onto my ass, pulling my knees up and shoving my face into my arms. "We're gonna die." I sobbed into my arms.
"Rain." I didn't look up at Dax. He repeated himself and I looked up to see Caesar standing beside him.
"Say thank you to our lifesaver." Dax said.
I quirked my head to the side with confusion. "Caesar has decided to let us stay with the apes." Dax signed.
I gasped and my eyes widened as they flew to Caesars green eyes. All I could do was stare at him, mouth gaping like an idiot. This ape had barely known us a day, and yet had saved our lives twice. Confusion, shock and disbelief flowed over me at this ape's kindness.
"W-why..?" I was utterly confused. I was unused to kindness from anyone outside my family. At the colony, I'm a reject. No one gives a damn about me, so why the hell would this person who's not even human care about my well being?
Caesar never answered my question.