I woke up surrounded by fur. It was against my cheek. And I felt the heaviness of it covering me. I lifted my head. That's right. Someone had brought them to me in the night. But I hadn't been able to see what kind they were. And I hadn't cared either. Fall was starting to creep in, so the nights were starting to get cooler. Now that it was morning though, I could see the fur clearly. The one that had been folded up under my head as a pillow was definitely red fox, but the one that covered me was of a rich sandstone color. Cougar perhaps? I sat up farther to see if breakfast had been brought yet. A bowl and what looked like some kind of water skin sat across from me. I pulled my fur back and stood. I let out an audible gasp. More berries. And something else that I had eaten before, but it had been a few years—honeycomb. Someone was really going out of their way to make me comfortable. Was it Caesar? Was he feeling guilty about our botched encounter yesterday?

I started to feel bad. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't used to being around people. I took my ponytail holder off my wrist then gathered my loose natural waves in a ponytail. Then I sat and ate. The honeycomb was nice and chewy, but sweet. It paired perfectly with the berries. I grabbed the water skin and took a small sip. Yep. Definitely water. Not that had been expecting anything else. I took a large swallow. I heard hoots off to my right. A group of apes with spears stood in the middle of the village. Caesar stood on a large rock in front of him. He was signing to them. Some sort of hunting party maybe? Or were they scouting for something? Holy shit, I hoped they weren't going to look for my people. Not that they would find any. I hadn't seen anyone myself in over a week. I sucked the honey off my fingers, wondering if anyone was even bothering to look for me. Knowing Ellie she probably told everyone that I just needed space for a while. At least that's what I had told her. I still felt guilty about putting that weight on her, but I couldn't tell her the whole truth. That I had seen apes in the forest and had come to find them.

The hunting troupe departed, but one chimp remained. I watched in rapt fascination as Caesar jumped down from the rock and signed to the chimp. My eyes grew wide as Caesar then pointed in my direction. Oh crap. What now? Sure enough the other chimp made a beeline straight for me.

"Shit."

I sucked on my fingers some more, then quickly wiping them on the sides of my pants, I stood. The chimp unlocked my cage and sure enough, he beckoned me to follow him. I was halfway across the village when I heard a cacophony of shrill hoots and jibbers. I glanced to the left and saw a bunch of young chimps. The orangutan that Caesar had been talking to yesterday was with them. He was hooting and gesturing at some of them. I couldn't help but smile. As soon as I got to Caesar, I pointed to the group.

"What's going on there? Is that some kind of daycare?"

Caesar turned the direction I was pointing. "Maurice teach. Children learn."

I'm sure my face had to have lit up like a jack-o-lantern. "Are you serious? That's awesome! Does he…teach them English or just sign?"

"Sign. Maurice…does not…speak much. Few words."

That voice! I felt as giddy as a school girl and this time it had nothing at all to do with attraction (or not much anyway). This entire place was beyond amazing, but Caesar was by far the coolest thing about it. I could sit and watch him all day if I would know that it wouldn't lead to anymore awkwardness. Our eyes met and I felt like a magnet was pulling me. I felt my face flame up and quickly glanced away.

The ape that had just came get me (I hadn't even realized he had left) returned with a female chimp. She was carrying two empty baskets.

"Thorn and Iris," said Caesar. "You spoke…to her."

"Oh." I gave a nod. I glanced at the female chimp again. Of course. The one that Scars had been trying to scare.

"Um…hi,Iris." I signed hello to her. "And Thorn."

"You can…help…them. Gather…food."

My head jerked back towards Caesar. "Huh?"

"Thorn…and Iris…told me. I…" A pained look came over Caesar's face, as though he was struggling with something, "trust you."

I turned fully to face him, sadness and regret coming over me. How hard it must have had to be for him to say that. To tell one girl 'look I know you're not going to bust our asses in our sleep so hey, why don't you go pick food with my people?'.

"Caesar…" I stuck my hands in my pockets. "I can't…you don't know what this means to me." Suddenly I wanted to hug him. To tell him that everything was going to be alright. Finally I gave him a small smile, and to my surprise…he actually returned it.

"Iris, look at these!"

I had found a small berry bush low to the ground, behind the one I had been picking at. It had a lot of big, pretty berries on it. But it was hard to get to, as the brush around it was thick. She came.

"Big berries," I both said and signed. "But I can't…" I pointed at them, "I can't reach them."

"Let me. Arms long."

I moved aside and let her continue with those, while I moved to the bush next to it. The female ape next to me looked up and I smiled shyly at her. She inclined her head towards me. There was a small group of us: me, Thorn, and Iris. And five other female chimps as well. There were two other males also besides Thorn. I didn't know if they usually went or if they were here to guard me. I didn't mind though. I found I actually enjoyed being around them. I appreciated the quiet. Carver fussed at me so much. I guess he was so used to having to be my protector, a job that he had never taken to too lightly. He was ten years older than me. I had been a surprise baby. We were thick as thieves growing up, and we still could be when times got tough. But that was as far as it went.

After all of our baskets were filled, we headed back to the village. My back and legs were sore from all the bending, so I was ready to go home. Their home of course. I didn't even know what was going on at mine.

And surprisingly, I didn't even care.

"How can you let her go with them? Those are our females. How can you trust her?"

Caesar's hands clenched into fists. He had been hoping that the berry pickers would return before the scouters. But that had not been the case. So here was Koba in Caesar's treehouse, venting his frustration about Raine.

A frustration that Caesar was beginning to tire of quickly.

"There were males with her. She could not have caused harm. And I doubt she would have anyway."

Koba raised one side of his mouth in a lopsided sneer. "You trust too easily. We have found no sign of others, but that does not mean they are not out there. That does not mean they will not come."

Caesar grunted in frustration. "What do you suggest? Let her go? Kill her?"

"Why not kill her? She will only cause more trouble."

Caesar's nostrils flared. "From what I hear, it is you who are causing trouble. Why did you try to stop Iris from bringing food to Raine? Do you want her to starve?"

Koba raised himself to his full height, his hackles raised. To any unarmed person, the sight would have been terrifying. "Koba wants…her…gone!"

Caesar puffed out his chest. He was very much getting tired of this conversation.

"We can bring her farther into the woods. And we can-"

"You would have us leave her to die? To starve? Alone?" Caesar was furious now. "Why must you be this way towards Raine? She has done nothing."

Koba shuffled towards Caesar. "So you want to keep her here? As what? Your pet? Are you going to mate with her next?"

Caesar roared, puffing out his chest, his hands in fists. Koba didn't back away, but he didn't advance any farther either. Caesar wanted to hit him. But he wouldn't. What would it look like if he physically fought one of his top advisors and warriors over a human girl?

It would add fuel to Koba's fire. That's what it would do. And Koba would spread it like wildfire too, that their leader was starting to lose his shit over a human. So instead he just glared at Koba, his chest heaving.

"Leave…me."

Koba shrunk back a bit, but his next words were nothing short of a threat. "She will…bring trouble. Caesar…will see."

((((()))))

I was standing between the young chimp school and Caesar's treehouse, watching the young ones. Maurice was with me. I had called him over and was now asking him what I should do next. Surprisingly no one was bothering me, but most of them that passed were looking at me with either curiosity or scorn.

Maurice cooed softly to me. Then he signed, "You can watch children. Learn sign."

I smiled appreciatively at him. "I would love to sit and watch, but I would rather find something to help-"

I craned my head to the right as I heard an ungodly roar. I glanced up at Caesar's treehouse. That didn't sound good at all.

"Something's wrong!" I signed to Maurice.

He held out his hand to me, palm out. "Wait, child. Koba is up there."

I narrowed my eyes at the orangutan. I had caught everything he had said, but the name. "Who?"

Maurice opened his mouth like he was trying to speak. "Koba."

"Koba," I repeated.

I turned around and saw an ape coming down the platform. When he came around facing me, I recognized him immediately.

It was Scars.

((((()))))

Caesar paced in his tree house. Mate with her? Of all the things for Koba to throw at him. Caesar was so angry a shiver went through him, all the way down his spine. Or at least he told himself it was from anger. Mate with her. What an appalling idea. Raine was human. And even if she was an ape, Caesar still wouldn't just lay a claim on her. He didn't even know her.

Caesar heard a shuffling sound and turned to see the human in question standing right behind him, at the entrance.

((((()))))

Caesar's facial expression changed lightning fast as soon as he saw me. From a deep scowl to something totally unreadable. Was it relief maybe? It was hard to tell.

"Is everything okay?"

((((()))))

Her voice. So soft and delicate. Was everything alright? His entire world—no, his entire existence—had been shaken to the core in one day. And the scary part was, it wasn't even humans who had done it.

It was just her.

He nodded absently, not meeting her gaze. "Yes."

"Is there…anything I can do?"

Anything she could do? Oh there was plenty she could do according to Koba, each idea more unspeakable than the next. He had to find a way to protect her. But how?

"Nothing to help."

((((()))))

I wish I could read your mind. I know he couldn't hear my thoughts. That would have been incredibly phenomenal. But still. I wanted to shake him. To shake him until he spilled out everything. I felt so bad for him. Why couldn't I just see him as he was? An ape who was so desperate to protect his people that he was holding me captive. But there was more to it than that. There had to be.I just wished I knew what.

"Koba doesn't like me very much, does he?"

"Koba hates…humans. All humans."

His voice sounded weary. Dejected. And he still wasn't looking at me. It was time to change that. I closed the distance between us, and as I did, moved until I was more in his line of sight.

"Do you hate them. All humans?"

"Not all. Some of them good."

His gaze finally fell upon me.

"Any that you knew personally?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Maybe you can…tell me about that one day. After all this craziness is over, maybe we can…be friends. Or at least better acquaintances."

I rubbed the palms of my hands together as I spoke.

((((()))))

Caesar watched her hands. And he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for her to rub his fur like that. He inhaled deeply. Damn Koba. Caesar did not need to be seeing her this way. He turned his back to her. Looked out to the valley beyond.

"You should…go back to your cage."

He felt her hand on his shoulder and right away, his muscles tensed.

"I'm sorry if I'm causing you such anguish. Please know that that's now what I meant to do."

Caesar closed his eyes at her words. Took a deep breath. Her hand stayed, not touching him any farther, but not pulling back either. But he wanted her to touch him, he realized. And he wanted to touch her. To feel just how smooth her skin really was. He needed to get her out of here. Before his animal instincts started to take control.

"I will…let you know if you are needed. Please…go back to your cage."

His voice had come out gruffer than he had wanted to. Right away her hand withdrew. He heard her footsteps behind him, and when she spoke she already sounded more distant.

"I'm sorry, Caesar. For whatever I have done…I'm sorry."

((((()))))

I tried my best to fight back the tears as I trudged back to my cage. Why was I letting this affect me so much? I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream at Koba. But I had to act like I was the sophisticated one. So I went to my room.

Ha. My room. Hey it sounded better than cage. I had somewhat of a bed. And I had privacy. Well…privacyish. And maybe if I started referring to it as a room, Caesar would snap out of whatever spell Koba had apparently just put him under. He would see that I was not a threat, but as a fellow creature of this world just trying to survive like him. Maybe he would try again to let me take an active part in the group.

I slept a lot better that night. But the next day, no one came for me. At all. Accept to bring me food. I was beginning to become restless. And I was seriously starting to hate Koba. What in the hell had he told Ceasar to make him do a total 360 with me? I swore to myself that the next day would be different.

That night it took me forever to fall asleep. I was laying on my side with my back to the village. Finally I started to doze off. As I did I heard the sound of my door opening. I quickly turned over. It didn't even take me a whole minute to recognize him. He was holding something.

My messenger bag. He gently placed it next to me. I didn't tell him thank you. I didn't say anything at all. I just stared on in total shock…

As Caesar softly closed and locked the door…and disappeared into the night.