A/N: It's new update time! It's new update time! Aw yeah! In our last chapter, Sherman accompanied the apes on their deer hunt, and managed to not only kill two deer, but defend Caesar and Blue Eyes from a large bear that scarred Blue Eyes. He also got to meet Caesar's newborn son, Cornelius and hold him too. Now, Caesar feels like Sherman is ready to be initiated into the ape colony. Now let us continue where we left off, shall we? Enjoy!
Caesar and Sherman were now walking up the tall rock they did the night before when they announced Sherman would be going on the deer hunt with them. Now, Caesar was ready to make his grand announcement to the entire colony. An announcement a lot of the apes were going to be happy about while some would still remain skeptical. Once they were at the top, all the apes gathered around and looked up to Caesar.
"Sherman... saved my life... as well as... my son's! He killed a bear... and two deer!" Caesar began, which sent a lot of apes into a riot of cheers and banging of their chests. All the apes calmed down after a few more seconds and Caesar continued his speech, raising Sherman's arm into the air again.
"In three days... Sherman... will become... ape!" said Caesar, which a lot of apes cheered for. Sherman was initially scared for what their reactions would be to this news, but when he saw how many of the apes actually approved of the idea through their cheers, he began to feel less scared and smiled.
"Our family... will grow!" Caesar concluded, and after the apes cheered once more for a final time, Caesar and Sherman got off the rock and back down onto the ground. Blue Eyes and Ash were there at the bottom to greet him.
"Congratulations, Sherman" Blue Eyes signed to him. The chimpanzee seemed to be a little less depressed about what had happened an hour ago. Ash then approached Sherman and handed him a large pointed-end branch.
"We were about to catch some fish. Would you like to come with us?" Ash offered. Sherman then looked up to Caesar, and he nodded with a tiny smile, encouraging him to go with his son and friend.
"Alright" Sherman said before taking the stick and following them outside the colony and down towards the lake. Caesar then walked over towards the cliff near the school and sat down on the edge of it, watching the clouds cast themselves over the mountains. He then noticed Maurice approach and sit down right next to him.
"I was told the big news. Another son?" Maurice asked in sign language. Caesar smiled again, happy that the news of his newborn child brought joy to the tribe as well.
"Makes me think how far we've come, Maurice" Caesar signed to him. Maurice then looked out to the view Caesar was looking at a while ago before signing back.
"Seems long ago" he signed. Silence overcame the chimpanzee and orangutan for a short while before Maurice turned to his friend once more.
"Still think about them?" he signed.
"Humans? Sometimes" Caesar replied in signing. Maurice nodded and looked out to the view once more before signing to Caesar.
"Didn't know them like you did. Only saw their bad side" he told him.
"Good, bad... it doesn't matter now. Humans destroyed each other" Caesar replied.
"Apes fight too" Maurice pointed out.
"Yes, but we are family" Caesar told him. The orangutan only nodded. Caesar was now staring out at the horizon again and signed to Maurice while still looking out to the view.
"Wonder if they're really all gone. Besides Sherman and his father" signed Caesar before turning back to Maurice.
"Ten winters now. Last two... no sign of them. So besides Sherman and his father, they must be gone" Maurice replied. Caesar then growled at the mention of Sherman's father, unaware that he could be out there looking for him.
"Sherman's father betrayed him, Maurice. Sometimes I think if he's out looking for him. And that he'll try and take him back" Caesar signed to him.
"So what if he does? Sherman is an ape now, he knows where he belongs. If he can fight a bear, he can handle his father" Maurice signed back. Caesar began to worry a bit and this time used his voice.
"And what if he... can't?" asked Caesar.
"Then he will have us protect him" Maurice signed. Caesar nodded at that, he did agree that there were other apes who sided with Sherman and agreed with him that his father was wrong to lie and keep secrets from him. Sherman had become a strong young boy with a growing sense of independence, but he could always turn to others if he felt like he needed it. Caesar's worries were now laid to rest and continued to watch the storm clear out and the setting sun came into view.
Malcolm's crew had arrived in Muir Woods a while ago, and they had been hiking for quite some time. He had sent Carver to scout ahead while Peabody and Penny stayed with him, Ellie, Alexander, and Kemp. The walk may have only just begun a short while ago, but now Penny was feeling like her feet were aching.
"How much further is this dam?" asked Penny.
"Not too far, hopefully" Kemp answered.
"No sign of Sherman either. But he's gotta be around here somewhere" Alexander piped in. Peabody began walking a few feet ahead of the others and tried to look around for Sherman, but he couldn't see anything, the storm may have ended a while ago but the fog was still clouding up certain areas of the woods. After moving past a small patch of fog he saw something, it was Sherman. He saw Sherman holding a branch that was fashioned into a spear, his black shorts were torn to become a loincloth, and his shirt and converse were gone as well, and that he was walking besides two chimpanzees who also had spears as well as carrying a net full of fish of their shoulders.
"That bear wouldn't get me, Blue Eyes. I'm quick!" one of them signed to the other. Peabody could not believe his eyes, apes were using sign language to communicate with each other.
"It wasn't quick enough to catch me" Sherman signed back. And Sherman was actually communicating back with them as if he knew them as well.
"Easy for you to say, Sherman. You KILLED the bear and got off without a scratch. You're lucky" Blue Eyes signed to Sherman. Peabody was able to translate everything very well, his eyes went wide and worry and anger sparked inside him. His son actually took on a bear and killed it? Peabody began to walk forwards to Sherman, but then he noticed Carver standing right in front of them. Sherman and the chimpanzees stopped where they stood. He then raised his hands up and reached one of them towards his backpack and pulled out a revolver, which caused the apes to back away in surprise, but Sherman held up his own spear in defense and gave a scowl.
"Carver don't!" Peabody called out as he ran towards him. Sherman then gasped as he saw Peabody approach the armed man and tried to get him to put the weapon away.
"Sherman!" Peabody said with relief in his voice, but Sherman was still on the defensive side. He backed away slightly and stayed right beside Ash and Blue Eyes.
"S-Sherman?" he said again, this time with worry. Sherman then let out a hiss and baring his teeth like an ape would.
"That's your son? He's acting like a wild animal" Carver said.
"Sherman, why are you acting like this?" Peabody asked as he slowly approached Sherman with his paws up.
"You lied to me. You betrayed me. You sided with my enemies" Sherman said, not putting the spear down and keeping it pointed at Peabody.
"What are you talking about? Sherman, I would never betra..." the beagle was about to continue but Sherman cut him off.
"Don't come any closer!" Sherman ordered. Ash then stepped in front of the boy and growled at Peabody.
"Um... nice chimpanzee. Nice, very scary chimpanzee" Peabody said very nervously before Ash literally roared in Peabody's face. Carver then loaded the weapon and shot Ash right in the shoulder.
"Ash!" Sherman screamed before running over to his fallen friend and placed his hand on where the bullet struck him to try and stop the bleeding.
"It's going to be okay. Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine" Sherman tried to reassure Ash. Blue Eyes got in front of both Sherman and Ash and began screaming and making anger-filled chimpanzee cries. Sherman then saw Malcolm, Ellie, Alexander, Kemp, and Penny come in right behind them.
"Sherman, enough of this! That ape was being aggressive, he tried kill me. He deserved to get shot!" Peabody said, trying to get Sherman to see his side of things.
"He was protecting me from you!" Sherman said with anger in his eyes that now let a few tears fall. Before Peabody could try and grab Sherman away from Ash, he noticed several more apes approaching and hoarding the grounds above them. Sherman looked up and saw the entire colony had come to their rescue. Caesar stood on the top of a tree stump, and Maurice and Luca were in the trees holding their own spears. Rocket had just come down and ran over towards Ash and Sherman.
"He was trying to keep me safe. I'm sorry" Sherman said to Rocket, who looked down at the bullet hole and then towards Carver.
"They shot Ash! Shot my son!" Rocket signed to Caesar, showing how worried he was for the safety of his son before turning to Sherman.
"It wasn't your fault, Sherman. I don't blame you" Rocket signed to the boy to let him know it wasn't his fault that Ash was shot.
"Rocket, wait!" Caesar signed to the other chimpanzee to let him know to stay where he was before turning to Peabody and Malcolm's crew.
"We don't mean any harm!" Malcolm called out to the ape king.
"They're APES man, they can't understand what you're saying" whispered Carver.
"Do they look like just apes to you?" asked Malcolm. Penny stared up in amazement, the same apes that Dreyfus had told her and Mr. Peabody about had really been living in the woods this whole time after their battle against San Francisco's police forces on the golden gate bridge. She felt like this was the first time she ever got to see wildlife outside of the barriers of the zoo. She then saw Koba holding what looked like a long staff with wooden spikes on the end snarling at her, and she hid behind Ellie out of fear.
"Incredible" Peabody whispered as he stared in awe at the apes, especially Caesar. He had never seen apes who carried intelligence and communicated like humans did. Everyone then saw as Malcolm lowered his weapon and tried to approach Caesar slowly.
"Dad. Dad!" Alexander called out, trying to get him to stop.
"It's okay" Malcolm said to reassure his son.
"Put your guns down" he ordered. Kemp then looked to Malcolm as if he was crazy.
"You cannot be serious" Kemp said.
"Do it" Malcolm ordered with a slightly more strict tone, while locking eyes with Caesar who looked justifiably mad at him and his crew. All the humans put their guns down in the dirt and stood back up. Caesar then opened his mouth and shouted at them.
"GO!" he screamed. Peabody was now truly amazed, an ape who could speak like humans as well. Caesar then jumped down in front of Peabody and snarled at him, which sent him moving back towards Malcolm and the others.
"Okay, we're going. But please, just let me take my son..." Peabody begged. Another voice cut Peabody off before he could finish his sentence.
"GO!" Koba shouted. All eyes were on Koba now as he kept on repeating the word 'Go' in fierce shouts of anger and hate. Alexander fell backwards and dropped his bag into the bushes. He tried to grab it back, but Malcolm grabbed his hand and ran off. Everyone was soon out of the apes' view and ran back towards their vehicle. The Gorilla Guardians tried to chase them, but Caesar held his arms out to hold them back from chasing after the human intruders. Maurice then spotted the bag that Alexander dropped and picked it up.
"Caesar!" Sherman shouted before running towards him. Caesar was happy to see that Sherman was safe, but then he noticed the blood on his hands and worry took over again.
"I tried to stop the bleeding, I'm sorry" Sherman signed with his bloodstained hands before he pointed to the still wounded Ash. Caesar then looked to see the bag that Maurice held in his hands and took it from him to inspect it for a mere few seconds before handing it back to Maurice.
"Koba!" he called out. Koba came forwards and looked to his king.
"Follow!" Caesar ordered. Koba nodded and took two other chimpanzees with him, obeying Caesar's command without question. Luca tried to come with them, but Caesar held him back. He then looked down to Sherman again and got down on the ground.
"Why did that dog call you his son?" he signed.
"He's my father" Sherman signed to answer Caesar's question. Luca, Maurice, Rocket, Blue Eyes, and Caesar were now confused.
"Your father is a dog?" Maurice asked in sign language.
"It's an adopted relationship" Sherman told them. Caesar then stood back up and looked to Ash, who was still being held in Rocket's arms.
"Go help Rocket... get Ash...to healers. Keep... him safe" Caesar spoke. Sherman nodded and ran over to the wounded chimpanzee and helped Rocket carry him back to the colony.
A/N: And there you go everybody! Chapter seven! Peabody now knows where Sherman is and what happened to him. Sherman also saw Ash get shot protecting him, which now he feels guilty about. Peabody's mission to get Sherman back has failed now that he knows he's with the apes and that they are protecting him. Next chapter, things get more intense for both sides, human and ape. Please review, thanks!