My little Bird- 12
-two weeks later-
My life has made an enormous change since my last day in the city. Instead of waking up on an old, slightly creaky bed in a moldy room, I woke up on a squishy, comfy hammock filled with moss and thick furs and soft pillows. And instead of trudging through post-plague high school five days out of the week I was out playing with children, talking with Blue Eyes, and Ash, helping Lisa out with the horses, or in the healing hut listening in on the Obas lectures given to the apprentices. And instead of hoping a new shipment of food would be delivered soon so I wouldn't have to conserve so much at every meal, I could eat with Caesar's family.
Haze and Harley have been introduced, and now they're best of friends. They did everything they could together, which included finding out who could get into more mischief. It's a tie. My life with the colony has been wonderful, but I'm still at a bit of a delicate stage. Blue Eyes has been teaching me how to read ape body language, as well as helping me understand the apes more modified ways of signing, and I think my awareness has been helpful in getting the part of the colony that wasn't as fond of me won over. Though I still got looks filled with disdain and annoyance, though I tried to listen to Lisa's advice and not let it get to me. Nobody likes everybody, as she said. Not a bad saying either.
My wardrobe has been altered too, more suited for living in the wilds. I still have the outfits I brought along, but I've made new ones too. On the warmer days, I had a shirt that exposed the skin on my belly button, my scars peeked out from under the hem, as well as a doe skin dress that made me feel like Pocahontas. I had also made a pair of pants (with a little more difficulty) that ended at my ankles. Somehow, I even fashioned a pair of ankle high moccasin boots. Don't ask how, it took time and practice and a boat load of patience. For colder days, I had another pair of pants, and a jacket, though I had yet to perfect the warmth sealing parts of sewing jackets and preferred to use the jacket I had brought with me. I liked how I looked, I felt like I was really living like my ancestors. You know, if Cherokees lived with four different species of ape.
The clothes were comfortable and easy to move in and I found that they helped me blend in with the forest surprisingly well. Speaking of blending, Maurice had asked me during breakfast this morning if I could show how my bow worked. I quickly agreed, happy to be reunited with my favorite piece of craftsmanship. So now, I was at the horse pasture, whistling for Zira so we could get into the woods. The gorgeous mare trotted up and I opened the gate, taking hold of the reins hanging under her head. The reins were made out of elk hide, braided together several times to strengthen the ropes. She nickered in greeting and I rubbed her neck in return.
"Hey girl. Ready to head out?" I said to her as she leaned her head foreword, lips flicking at my nose. I gave her a quick kiss between her nostrils as I lead her to a rock that I often used to mount her. She knew the drill and I didn't need to gesture for her to stay as I climbed up the rock. I climbed onto her back and guided her toward where Blue Eyes, Caesar, Maurice and Rocket were waiting, mounting steeds of their own, with three extra horses with them. I nodded in greeting and noticed my bow in Maurice's hand as well as my quiver but I said nothing. I would let them decide when they wanted me to demonstrate.
We rode out of the village and quickly down the slopes leading up to the village. I had to keep my hold on Zira taut, for I could feel how much she wanted to gallop at full speed. Zira could get easily excited, and she loved to run. She could never have been a race horse, she was too strongly built, but given the opportunity, she would fly. I slowed her to a brisk walk as we reached the foot of the slopes, patting her neck to try and calm her down. Though she stayed at my desired pace, she lifted her hooves high at each step with her impatience. Zira grew annoyed with the slow, steadiness of our traveling and reached her head out to nip at the hind quarters of Rocket's mare. The horse let out a surprised yelp and both the horses' ears turned backward.
"Zira." I made the warning clear in my voice and maneuvered her away from the targeted equine. I reached my palm out towards Rocket, keeping my head inclined as my eyes glanced toward him every few seconds. Rocket swiped my palm with a grunt and when I lifted my head, I seen no grudge in his eyes. We continued through the forest until we reached a stream sheltered by a protective line of oaks. The apes dismounted, and I followed suit, tying Zira to a low hanging tree branch close to the water so she could drink if she wished.
I followed silently as Caesar lead us quietly through the trees. "We hunt now." He signed.
I kept my senses heightened as we traveled slowly. Birds sung in the canopy, flitting to and fro without a care in the world. I dropped my gaze to the ground and searched for signs of game trails. I soon found what I was looking for, five inch, two nailed hoof prints. I let out a small noise, not loud enough to alert any potential prey of our presence, but enough to get the apes' attention. I crouched down while signing, "Found something." I examined the tracks and found they were pretty fresh, and I listened to the forest as the apes came to see what I had discovered. I soon heard the sound I had been expecting. Almost sixty feet away, I could hear a buck grunting. I signed to them, and Caesar gave the okay to move in closer. Maurice chose to stay back farther, for his size and color would stand out in the woods, so he handed me my bow and I placed it in the soil as I carefully synched the belt on my quiver, careful to mute the sounds of the metal clasps. I quickly but silently caught up to the advancing apes, careful not to brush up against any plants or step on any twigs. That would be embarrassing.
When we were at the tree line facing the small, grassy glade the buck was in, still grunting, Caesar nodded at me. I took a deep, silent breath. Time to make it or break it, I thought. I stood slowly, using the shade of a tree to cover me as I strung an arrow. I adjusted my stance as I pulled the arrow back to my cheek, barely straining against the taut bowstring. I took aim, and drew in a breath before closing my eyes to clear my mind. I had to make this shot. I opened my eyes and let the arrow fly. It fizzed through the air and straight into the bucks neck, severing its spinal cord and causing the animal to drop dead without a sound. I lowered my bow and looked to Caesar, awaiting his appraisal. His sharp green gaze stared at the dark lump that rose up from the grass as his index finger rested on his chin, and I recognized a similar gleam in his eye to the one I seen in Blue Eyes whenever he was thinking about something.
Caesar's eyes met mine and he gave a nod. His attention went to gesturing at Blue Eyes. The prince gave a nod and walked out to collect the prey item. He heaved the deer onto his shoulders and I was again given another display of the prince's hidden strength as he made his way back with the buck on his back. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either, and I probably wouldn't have been able to lift its shoulders up very far. I tried not to stare. Caesar gestured at Blue Eyes to bring it to Maurice, and he quickly followed the order.
The orangutan took up the prey and ambled off in the direction of the glade. Caesar turned to me. "Good work. We will see how well you do next. Go with Blue Eyes and be back with the horses when the sun starts moving downwards." I nodded and Blue Eyes and I shared a glance to acknowledge the silent agreement between us.
Caesar and Rocket turned away with their spears and went up into the forest canopy. I took a deep breath, feeling relieved to have the watchful eye of the older apes off me. Blue Eyes and I shared another glance before he nodded toward in a new direction. I followed close behind the chimp, keeping my eyes out for any more signs of prey. This wasn't a full scale hunt, it was mostly meant for smaller kills, deer at the largest. So as we made our way through the tree trunks, I kept an arrow loosely strung in front of me.
After a quarter mile Blue Eyes stopped and held out a hand, telling me to freeze. I followed his gaze and seen two bucks grazing. We exchanged a glance and we both knew what the other was thinking. You take the left, I'll take the right. Blue Eyes silently climbed into a tree and I watched him creep through the foliage to get a better throwing angle with his spear. I moved forward as well and ducked against the tree to the right of the one the prince was in. We had to time this well, or we'd end up loosing one or both of our potential kills. I looked up into the tree and could scarcely see Blue Eyes's dark form among the leaves but I soon picked out his light hued eyes among the greenery, staring right back at me.
"Count to ten before you shoot." He signed. "One, two, three..." He started us off in sync. I continued the count in my head as I lined up my shot. At seven I sucked in a soothing breath and let it out on nine. On ten, I let the arrow fly. At the same time, above me a dark streak accompanied the arrow in the sky before they both took up residency in each of the bucks. Mine had gone through the back of the neck, as the animal had had it's back to me, and like the first it crumpled in a dead heap. Blue Eyes's spear went right through the other buck's throat, and I watched it twitch and struggle for a moment before it went completely still. Blue Eyes dropped from the tree beside me and we shared another glance before walking foreword.
"Nice throw." I commented as we approached the kills. I gazed at the antlers on the one my arrow stuck out of and deemed it had been older then the one beside it. Then I realized our mistake. "How are we going to get them back to the horses?"
It wouldn't be a good idea to take them back one at a time, a scavenger could come and take over the kill. But apparently Blue Eyes didn't have the same worries as me, and bent down to remove the spear from his kill before hoisting it up onto a single shoulder. He looked all lopsided for a moment before he had a little difficulty getting the other up onto the opposite shoulder with one arm. What the actual fuck. Fur could really hide muscle mass, couldn't it? I quickly closed my mouth when I felt my jaw going slack from amazement. Dear god I hope he didn't see that. He seemed to of not seen it, (thank god) as he was already walking back the way we came through the forest. I picked up his blood tipped spear from the ground and quickly followed, trying not to watch his upper back flex as he moved. I stopped a few times to pierce an arrow through the neck of a rabbit or a fat squirrel.
Maurice looked up from where he was sitting when he heard us enter the glade. He made a bit of a surprised sound when he seen the two deer on both of Blue Eyes' shoulders. He got up and ambled over to relieve the prince's load, and placed it next to the other whitetail buck I had caught where it lie on the ground. Blue Eyes dropped the last deer beside the others and gestured for me to place my three other little catches with the others. Maurice looked at the catches and nodded approvingly. I looked to Blue Eyes as he started signing.
"Looks like we're a little early. Might as well stay here until father and Rocket get back."
I glanced up, and seen the sun had moved down from its original place in the middle of the sky slightly. I nodded to Blue Eyes and went to go check up on Zira, hoping she hadn't tried to nip at any more horses. She hadn't, and was lazily grazing by the stream bank. I gave her a pat as I passed and decided to climb a large oak tree nearby. I pulled myself up among the branches until I found myself in a sun washed nook in the branches, and reclined comfortably with my back against the trunk. I closed my eyes and let the sun warm my skin as I listened to the sounds of the forest.
Below me, I could hear the sounds of the horses hooves kicking pebbles into the stream with a crack and splash every now and then, as well as the
swish of a flicking tail from time to time. But the sound I was really focusing on was above my head. I listened to the birds as they sung and called to one another. I soon found myself whistling back at them, and made a game of singing back and forth with them. I peeked an eye open when I heard a branch move, but my attention was caught by a little blue bird that landed on a small branch near my face, and I blamed the recent disturbance on an investigative squirrel. The bird chirped, and I reproduced the sound. It tweeted, and I made a whistle of my own.
I gazed at the small creature as it hopped closer to my face, and I lifted a hand, offering up the perch with what I hoped was a welcoming coo. The bird's head bobbed sideways for a moment before it hopped onto my side turned index finger with another tweet. I chirped back and gave a small. "Nice to meet you." The bird's neckline was decorated with an orange feathered necklace that flashed and glowed in the sunlight. It whistled once more before it fluttered up into the canopy, startled by another disturbance in the branches. I was a bit alarmed, that was the second unknown noise from the same direction. My mind instantly thought, cougar. My scars tingled slightly at the memory and a hand subconsciously moved to trace one of the slash marks left by the lion's claws.
My oddball eyes scanned the foliage for any sign of potential danger but I seen nothing. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was there, and stared intently into the green leaves. I startled when a squirrel burst through the leaves after an acorn. The squirrel chittered at me irritatedly and moved back into the branches. I let out a relieved sigh and giggled a bit at my silly paranoia. A frightened cry escaped my throat when a thud sounded above me, followed by a burst of cute, breathy laughter by someone who was not me. I looked up to see Blue Eyes climbing down from where he had landed on a thick branch above my head.
"Didn't mean to scare you." He signed, still smiling with his amusement.
I laughed again at my skittishness and shook my head lightly at him. "You gotta learn to stop being so quiet when your not hunting. One of these days I'll have a heart attack." I joked.
"Then Aria really will hang my head up on her wall." He played along, his shoulders moving up and down as more bubbly but deep laughter escaped him.
I huffed out a laugh but it quieted when the blue bird from before came back and landed on the knee that I had pulled up toward my chest. It chirped loudly at me with a high, shrill call, and I mimicked the whistle before the little blue bird zipped off into the sky. I watched it until it's feathers blended in with the cloudy blue sky with a smile before turning back to my friend. Really he was more like my best friend at this point.
"A bird who speaks to birds.." He signed, with an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. The closest I could find to naming it was as a content-ness of some sort. Whatever it was it made a light blush color my cheeks pink and I glanced down. But my eyes were missing his, so I stared back up into that pretty glacial gaze with a small smile. A smile softened his own features as well as he returned my gaze, and butterflies started doing acrobatic acts in my tummy as my heart thrummed in my chest not unlike that of my newfound feathered friend.
An ape's calling bark interrupted the moment and we blinked as the something-like-comfortable atmosphere dissipated around us. Hiding my disappointment, I gave a smile and a shrug to Blue Eyes before moving down a few branches before jumping down to the ground. I seen Caesar and Rocket with Maurice, adding more kills to the prey heap. With that, Rocket and Maurice began loading the three bucks onto the horses, while Blue Eyes, Caesar and I began placing the smaller prey items into a buckskin bag. With that, I untied Zira from the tree and mounted her, though she seemed annoyed to be moving away from the sweet grass. I patted her neck as she pranced in place, trying to throw her head.
"Easy. It's not like there's not anymore grass back at home." I tutted the animal. She tossed her head and let out an annoyed sound from her chest as her ears were turned back. I quickly gained my control and guided her toward the rest, who were waiting for Maurice to finish tying down the buckskin bag onto his horse. With that, the orangutan mounted his horse and turned it in the direction of home.
On the way back, Maurice was questioning me about the bow. I answered every inquiry willingly, holding nothing back. I explained that I'd made it, as well as the arrows. I told him how I'd made it, what I'd used, how long it took, it actually took me a handful of tries to get it right. The first one had been spindly and useless, the second looked well enough but it's bowstring was messed up. The third, and fourth also had complications that deemed them unusable, but the fifth had worked wonderfully. My quill was built from a whicker wood frame with waterproofed leather stretched and sewed over it, and then attached to a belt. The arrows were by far the hardest things to make, at least in the city. Here in the forest I doubted there would be much problem, and I said as much. Feathers were hard to come by in the city.
I already knew I'd be demonstrating the building process to them by the way Maurice paid close attention to everything I said about it, and I think he knew I knew. So I put in another two cents to the subject, speaking off the mind about how we'd have to lengthen the bow to accommodate for the longer arms of apes. So me and Maurice carried out the half silent discussion about the matter for the rest of the way home. When I knew we'd be approaching the Gates soon, another thought came to mind.
"Are you going to want the bow back when we get there?" I asked, before reaching up to take the bow off my back.
But Maurice shook his head and raised a hand, silently telling me to keep it. "It is yours." My lips parted in a moment of stunned silence, but they soon stretched into a grateful smile.
"Thank you." I signed. He nodded with a small smile of his own and patted my shoulder.
The top of the Gates were in sight now but some strange feeling caused me to look to my left. I seen a path stamped out into the earth, leading to what looked to me to be rows of over turned, dark colored soil. I eased Zira to a stop and asked, not taking my eyes off the patch in the ground, "What's that?"
I heard the other horses come to a stop with an irritated huff out of one. I glanced over when I seen Caesar steer his horse towards me to see what I was looking at. He gazed down the path and shrugged. "Gardens. Crops." He signed.
"That's so cool, I thought all the veggies were wild grown." I couldn't stop the comment anymore than I could stop the admiring smile from stretching my lips as I gazed at the well-tilled ground.
"Not perfected yet. Come, let's go home." Caesar dismissed my amazement at the accomplishment and nudged his horse back into a walk toward the village walls. I took one more glance down the path before silently instructing Zira to follow. Within minutes we reached the village, and I was greeted with the comforting sights of my new home.
I steered Zira toward the horse pasture and hopped off onto the same rock I got onto her back with and lead her to the gate to the field, opening it for the horse. She stopped with her nose just outside the barrier and I could see her eye looking at me. I gave her a small smile.
"Go on." I nodded encouragingly into the field.
She blew air into my face and nickered when I blew air right back into her nose before complying and slowly stepping inside the barrier. Zira kept her head level with her sturdy chest as she walked on, not grazing, her tail lowered more than normal.
"Oh come on. Don't look so sad." I called.
She turned her head and motored her lips at me. I sighed and opened the gate, stepping inside the field. Zira perked up and turned back to me, sniffing at me curiously. I reached up and patted her neck. Zira pushed her head into my shoulder, pushing me back a few steps, so I reached out and pushed her head away. She gave me a shove and then pranced a few feet away with a playful whinny. I laughed as I regained my balance.
"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" I called as I jogged after the beautiful mare. She pranced in a circle around me, nickering and pushing her nose into me. I laughed and started running into the field, listening as Zira let an indignant neigh. I stopped and watched her toss her head before dashing towards me. I laughed and ran, though the horse soon caught up to me. We played like this for a while, before I tripped and fell, laughing, into the grass near the gate. Zira nickered loudly before lowering her head to sniff at my face, her strong exhale blowing some hair out of my face. I giggled and reached up, holding the dappled mare's face in my small hands. She nuzzled my forehead lightly before her head shot up, one ear perked forward, the other flipped backward. I propped myself up on my elbows and turned to see what had caught the fire spirited horse's attention. There stood Blue Eyes, leaning his forearms on the wooden fence, watching me.
I let out a breathless, "Hi." I watched a small smile tug on his lips as he lifted his hands to sign.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Playing." I answered with a smile, sitting up and getting to my feet. Zira took two steps foreword, so her chest was pressed against my back. I was forced to take a step foreword. But she didn't stop there, Zira then used her body to herd me to her other side, she nuzzled my shoulder fondly before turning and snorting at Blue Eyes, ears turned back. She then nickered at me and starting acting all sweet.
"What was that, Zee?" I asked the horse as I made my way under the elegant arch of her neck to face my friend again. Zira let out an annoyed huff and repeated her actions, this time herding me even farther from the fence. That's when I realized that she was trying to keep me from Blue Eyes, and I immediately did what any other normal person would do. I started gushing at the cuteness of her wanting me to herself and rained down pats and scratches and kisses as I cooed at her. The big softy soaked up all the attention and reciprocated it with nuzzles.
"Can't have me all to yourself though." I added, giving her one last kiss on her broad silvery splotched cheek. I again passed under her neck and made my way to the fence so she couldn't move me anymore unless she decided to try to push me through the wood. I kept my eye on her, suddenly suspicious of whether or not she'd actually do that.
"Humans are weird." Blue Eyes signed, shaking his head as though I was an unteachable puppy. I smiled.
"I know." I answered.
"What even started that?" I assumed he was talking about what led up to my antics with the mare.
"Zira looked kind of sad so I wanted to cheer her up." I smiled, glancing back at where said horse hovered a few feet away, looking for the ideal patch of grass to mow down. I decided now was the time to leave the pasture and put some space between me and some of the yearling stallions who kept roughhousing with each other. I glanced back and bit my lip once outside the fence, I wasn't worried about them messing with Zira, I was worried about Zira putting them into their places. But I decided to leave the horses to their horse thing and return with Blue Eyes toward the Home Tree.
We chatted idly on the way back until both Blue Eyes and I received a spook when Ash suddenly swung down from one of the out-jutting timbers that bordered the sides of the village walls to grab onto each of our shoulders. Blue Eyes glared irritatedly at his honorary cousin and Ash beamed back. I liked the relationship they had, they reminded me of something familiar, though I don't know just what, but it was something pleasant, and seeing them up to their usual antics made me smile. I made it back to the courtyard by Home Tree while watching the two brotherly friends bicker back and forth with each other, sometimes shoving the other's shoulder playfully through a mask of indignation. *cough* Blue Eyes *cough* I was distracted by two furry balls of playfulness jumping onto me. Haze clung to my front while Harley occupied my shoulders.
"Hi, boys. What have you been up to today?" I greeted my favorite little troublemakers.
They both chorused in a sound that I knew meant they were trying to say, "Nothing!" Most of little ones have been getting more and more verbal and talkative. Much more than the oldest apes, many still had trouble with verbal speaking but were wonderful signers, and chose to stick to speaking with their hands.
"What happened when you went hunting?" Haze signed as best he could while hanging onto me as I walked. I lifted my arms up to cradle him so he didn't have to hang on. The children learned to sign very quickly, i learned very soon in my stay with them that ape children learn much quicker than human children. I felt a strange sense of pride knowing that, though I didn't know exactly where it came from.
"Oh, nothing much." I shrugged, letting Harley play with my hair.
"Tell us more! Tell us more!." Harley panted excitedly as he signed.
"It was a small hunt. It was for small game, not like elk." I answered.
"Well, what did you catch?" Haze signed, not at all phased by my dismissiveness.
"Just a few deer and rabbits with a squirrel." I answered simply. "Someday you two will be catching much better things than that when you're older." I added.
"I'm going to be the best hunter ever!" Harley signed, a wide smile on his face.
"No you won't! I will!" Haze signed up at his friend, glaring up at Harley's perch on my shoulder.
Harley shook his little head stubbornly. "No. You be best fighter." This quickly quieted Haze's complaints and they started chatting up at each other like no disagreement had ever taken place. I was pretty impressed at the maturity and honesty Harley possessed at his young age. I could see the beginnings of a long friendship between the two, and was happy I would be able to witness it. My thoughts were broken when I heard a beckoning hoot followed by my name. I turned my head to look for the source and my eyes quickly found the orange masked face of Deja. I smiled in greeting and nodded at her before giving my attention to the two younglings hitching a ride on me.
"Haze, Harley." I whispered excitedly. The tone of my voice immediately get their attention and they ducked their heads close to my face. I whispered a little suggestive plan into their ears and nodded toward Blue Eyes and Ash with a smirk. The two boys grinned in an adorably devious sort of way and I crouched down to allow them silent departure from my body. I watched as they slunk foreword and climbed silently up a large boulder. They hid from the still bickering chimps and when they walked just under the boulder, Haze and Harley jumped down and onto Blue Eyes's and Ash's head before clambering all over them. The surprise attack made the older males loose their balance and Ash grabbed Blue Eyes on his way down, and they all fell to the ground with surprised, incredulous cries. I giggled at the thought of their sore egos. I had to get Ash back for that spook earlier, as well as the near heart attack Blue Eyes almost gave me in the forest today, so this was a good form of karma.
Deja laughed quietly as she joined me, watching the little ones pester the boys. "Hi, Deja." I said.
"Hi. Aria asked me to go help out in the gardens. do you want to come?" She invited. I smiled widely and nodded.
"I'd love to!" I was excited to get to go look at what the apes could grow.
She lead me out of the village, passing the boys on our way, who were still struggling with Haze and Harley. They paused for a moment to watch us pass, and Harley signed energetically. "Got them! Told you I be best hunter!"
I smiled widely at the small bonobo. "Good job!" Haze jumped off of Ash's head and onto the ground, stopping only around three feet away from the boys.
"Where Rain going?" He looked up at me with an almost sad expression. I internally 'awed' at his cuteness.
"With Deja. I'll see you at dinner, okay?" I signed, giving him a reassuring smile. Haze hurried foreword and clambered up me to squeeze my neck tightly. I hugged him back and when he pulled back I set him down and nudged him back toward Blue Eyes, Ash and Harley. He rejoined his friend and Haze and Harley waved goodbye to me as I turned with Deja back toward the exit of the village.
We explained to the gorilla guard what we were doing on the way out before Deja led me down the slope and I spied the fresh hoof prints in the ground, and distractedly wondered which ones were Zira's. In a short amount of time, we reached the path I had seen earlier and this time, my curiosity was indulged as I made my way down the walkway with Deja. When we reached the end, I stopped and took everything in.
It was a huge field, it must have been at least an acre or two big. There were square shaped plots of land checkering the ground, some dark brown and sprout-less, some dotted and lined with green growth. I recognized lettuce heads starting to sprout and I spotted what looked like carrot shoots. The area was lined with bushes, some vacant, some bulging with black and blueberries. Apes were scattered here and there, crouching with the young plants. I noticed other apes with spears and such sitting the perimeter of the groves, and supposed they were watching out for predators.
Before I could take in the detail anymore, Deja tugged me along to a Brussels spout patch. I spent much of the day in the fields with Deja, and we were later joined by Brent. When the sun was starting to sink out of the orange tinted sky, many of the guards started calling to one another, not in an alarmed way, but an attention calling way. Deja explained that they were signaling that they wanted the gardeners to get ready to go. So the three of us finished up what we were doing, and stood up. I looked down at the dirt covering my forearms and could feel it on my face. My expression conveyed my distaste in being so filthy, especially so close to dinner.
"Don't worry. We'll stop by the waterfall to wash up." Deja said before patting my shoulder. Brent snorted, and we both turned to him with cocked eyebrows, silently waiting for him to explain himself.
"All you females are the same." He signed. "Always so clean conscious."
"You males say it's obsessive, but at the end of the day you're glad you have someone clean to snuggle with." Deja said.
"Not true. I'd snuggle with you even if you were covered in mud." He signed back, and his face immediately dropped into a surprised expression. There was a moment of awkward silence, filled with me smirking knowingly at the two Obas as they held eye contact. They both averted their gazes at the same time and Brent cleared his throat.
"W-we. Should go, now." He stuttered, and I was pretty sure only part of the stutter was caused by his lack of verbal speech. Deja and I agreed as I looked at all the other apes making their departure in the dimming light. We followed behind Brent as we made our way to a waterfall to clean up. (One of the first things I learned was that this forest was dripping with waterfalls) Deja glanced at me and I smirked at her.
"He likes you." I signed behind Brent's back.
"Don't be silly, Rain. Of course he doesn't." She signed back, silent and wide eyed.
"Whatever you say." I signed carefully, knowing the first hand gesture could cause sound and alert Brent of our conversation. I knew Deja was just avoiding the truth because of how shy she was, but I knew for a fact Brent liked her that way. This wasn't the first time he had slipped up, but most of the time he was much better at covering it up. I wondered for a moment as to why he hadn't told her yet, but then I dismissed the thought because, hey, that takes guts, and I wouldn't blame the poor boy for wanting time to build up his courage. I just hoped he wouldn't take too long, Deja was a pretty ape, and she had a personality to match. It couldn't be too much longer before someone else realized that too, and got to her before Brent did.
We reached the falls, and some apes were already there, rinsing the soil from their fur and grooming each other. Deja took her Obas mask off and hung it on a little indent in the rock by the water, taking in a deep breath. I smirked again when I seen Brent watching her from his peripherals, an awed, longing look in his eyes. He quickly snapped his gaze away and was saved by a gorilla starting a conversation with him. I turned and seen the reason he had averted his eyes had been because Deja was turning in his direction, and she let out a little sigh as she dunked her hands in the water to wash them.
"Did you see that?" I signed excitedly, keeping my signing tight and close to my body to fend off any eavesdroppers.
"See what?" She refused to meet my gaze, and I knew she was lying.
"I think you know." I signed back, giving her a smile before cupping water in my now clean hands and rinsed my face off before combing my hands through my hair a few times, pulling it to the way I like it. I brushed the loose soil from my knees as I stood.
"No I don't." She protested, though I could see the pink spots on her face turn a darker shade of pink, betraying her blush. I gave her a smirk.
"Okay." I decided to let it go, knowing she would never admit to anything.
With that, our little trio headed back to the village, trailed by an orangutan and a bonobo. When we reached the courtyard where most of us
gathered in the mornings and evenings, I was swept away by a sea of furry bodies. I fell to the ground with a surprised whoop. When my head breached the surface, I looked at my body to see it teeming with younglings. They scrambled over me, hooting and laughing and making their 'imp' sounds. I sat up and they clambered around me. I laughed as I received hugs and returned them as best I could. I reached up and pulled down the little girl who was sitting on my shoulders, combing her little fingers through my hair and when she made eye contact, she gave me a wide smile and threw her arms out in a "surprise!" Sort of way. I laughed and looked up when I realized I wasn't the only teenager laughing.
Blue Eyes and Ash stood a few feet away, laughing hard. Well, Blue Eyes was standing, partly. Ash was laughing too hard and his knees were giving out, and he hung heavily on Blue Eyes's arm, and the prince was swaying under his friends unbalanced weight. So together they staggered in place and laughed and held onto each other. The sight caused me to clap my hands together once and laughed out in joyous mirth. Some of the children separated from the pack and stormed the boys. Their already stuttered equilibrium toppled under the unexpected weight and they went down like a sack of potatoes, as they say.
This caused more laughter from everyone. I even heard laughter from the apes around us as they watched the three of us laugh under the swarm of children, who in turn thought this whole thing was hilarious. Soon the laughter dissipated and the children went off at the beckon of their mothers and other members of the community. Blue Eyes was up first, pulling Ash up by the elbow, who patted his back in thanks. I got my feet under me as the last of my giggles floated from my lips like silver bubbles in the ocean. Blue Eyes and Ash walked up to me, all of us had wide smiles on our faces.
"You two did that, didn't you?" I mocked a suspicious glare, though I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.
"Maybe yes, maybe no." Blue Eyes signed.
"The world may never know." Ash finished. I giggled and put a hand on my hip.
"Yeah, okay."
"Come on. Let's go get some food." Blue Eyes signed, still smirking.
I followed them to the stone slab that was laden with fruits and nuts and berries while the smell of roasting meat wafted through the air. We filled our plates but instead of going to join Caesar and Cornelia, we sat by a little fire pit and signed with each other as we ate. Soon I felt a weight on my back that made me haunch foreword for a moment before I turned to see Haze peeking over my shoulder. I smiled at him and offered up one of my blueberries. He took it and ate it quickly before coming to plop down in my lap.
"Rain and brother not with mother and father." He signed, his gaze switching between us expectantly.
"Sorry, Haze." I signed, giving him an apologetic look.
"We eat with you everyday." Blue Eyes added.
"Haze missed brother and Rain." He pouted. I 'awed' and gave him a hug.
"I missed you too." I signed, giving the top of his head a little kiss. He let out a giggle only a child could giggle and hugged me again. Haze spent the rest of the communal supper with the three of us, and I got a good show of watching Blue Eyes and Ash teach Haze how to play a game they made up when they were younger. The day soon ended and I retreated to my hollow for the night. I burrowed into the softness of my hanging bed with a yawn and drifted off into slumber.
-the next morning-
I was at the pasture, giving Zira a few carrots to go with her breakfast. I petted her nose as she chomped on the thick orange stalks. I heard the snort of a horse and turned to see Blue Eyes leading his horse to the pasture gate, hunters paint covering him. When he turned away from the gate, I got a look at his chest. Two ragged looking slash marks traveled from his left shoulder and across his chest, as well as a third under it, not on his arm. The cuts were bleeding, and I could see in his stiff body language that he was in pain.
"Blue Eyes!" I gasped, rushing toward him, completely forgetting about Zira. "What happened? Are you okay?" He held eye contact for a moment before turning his face away shamefully, the small smile he usually gave me was absent. I noticed another smaller cut on his left cheekbone, under his eye.
"Blue?" I prompted. He let out a small sigh through his nose and turned back to me, lips parted slightly.
"Come on, let's go to the Obas." I said gently, seeing his pride and maybe his ego was hurt. He looked down again and nodded slowly. I told him to wait there for a moment before jogging toward Zira and grabbing her reins as a lead rope and jogging toward the pasture gate, forcing the horse into a trot. I opened the gate and the horse seemed to pick up on my urgency and trotted inside the barrier with no trouble. I quickly made my way back to Blue Eyes.
We soon stepped inside the Obas' healing hut and spotted Aria. She was working on a gorilla with a badly scrapped up arm, and when she seen the wounds on her prince, she took a look around, noticing how empty the hut was, then back down at her own patients wound then back at us. It only took a quick scan of the area to see that any other Oba inside was with a patient.
"No one available right now. You know what to do." The head Oba signed.
My brows raised in surprise. "Me?" I asked.
She turned back to me. "Yes, you. Now go, that's not going to treat itself." She waved me toward the back of the hut, where supplies were kept. I shrugged mentally and pulled Blue Eyes toward the herb stores. Once in a room, I sat him down on a moss cot and went about finding a rag and bowl to fill with water. I went about gently washing away the blood and paint, trying to focus more on the injury than on the ape who was injured. Now wasn't the time for girlish thoughts. When the wounds were clean enough, I crushed the appropriate herbs into a past poultice before scooping some up in my index and middle fingers and starting to gently slather the healing herbs into the wounds on his chest.
Blue Eyes winced with a sharp intake of air at the contact. I whispered a swift apology, hating that I had to cause him pain but it had to be done. He grunted and I could see his jaw tighten as he clamped his teeth together. Once the three on his chest was taken care of, I dipped my finger into more of the poultice and gently rubbed it over the cut on his face, trying desperately to not blush, and tried even harder to avoid eye contact.
"How did this happen?" I voiced one of the questions ringing in my mind.
He hesitated before catching my eye with a sad look. "Bear." He muttered. My eyes widened and my mind immediately pulled up images of Dax trapped between a tree and a brown bear, swinging a machete desperately to ward off the beast. Both of us would have died that day had it not been for Caesar and Rocket. I closed my eyes and tried to banish the memory. My eyes slid open when I felt a touch under my chin, and I saw that Blue Eyes had hooked a feather light finger under my chin and was watching my eyes.
"I'm okay." He signed with his other hand, keeping his other on me. He gave me a small, one sided smile of reassurance.
I sighed and nodded lightly. "I'm glad you are."
Blue Eyes offered me another smile, and I was content to just stare into those pools of liquid sky, as I smiled back. I didn't know how I would feel if something really bad had happened to him, if something had happened differently during his confrontation with the bear, if he hadn't come back to me. I didn't want to imagine a life without his jokes and smiles so small you'd think he was hiding them. The thought poured a concoction of dread, fear and paranoid pain over my heart, and it caused confusion to bloom in my brain. It forced me to think about just how strong my feelings for Blue Eyes were. But I didn't know how to measure something like that, and I was left without an answer.
