Meeting Blue Eyes

Alex recognized the ape instantly. The eye color gave him away, along with the mass of scars across his chest. They were no longer red strips of fresh cuts but bright white stripes that glared through his deep black hair.

Blue Eyes was wide-eyed, both confused and terrified at what he had stumbled upon. The chimp's horse reflected his mood as it spun and snorted with heavy hooves, its ears flicking around in surprise. Alex could understand the confusion coming from Blue Eyes, yet he couldn't quite place the terror the chimp had in his eyes. Why would he be so afraid of them? He had a far superior advantage.

Alex saw the ape's eyes narrow as he looked from him to Riley, who was still crouched and scared stiff with her spear tight in her hands. The chimp bared his teeth and hissed at her and her weapon then made an even more threatening hiss when she pulled her spear higher.

"Blue Eyes! Wait!" Alex shouted.

The ape turned his head quickly, startled at the sound of his name.

Alex held up his hands, "It…it's me, A…Alex. Remember me? My dad's…Malcolm."

"You know him?" Riley whispered through her teeth, eyes still as wide as saucers.

Blue Eyes barred his teeth at her again then turned his narrowed glare back at Alex. Alex stayed still. Blue Eyes' horse kept stamping and spinning around until the chimp pulled on the reigns and settled the animal. With the horse now hesitantly still, Blue Eyes could get a better look at Alex below him and spent a few more glaring seconds until his eyes finally softened in recognition.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief until Blue Eyes jumped from his horse and landed hard in a cloud of dust in front of him. He was crouched low, one hand on the ground with the other holding his heavy spear behind him. Though his eyes remained on Alex, his spearhead was pointed at Riley instinctively.

She hadn't moved and seemed ever tenser under the ape's proximity to him and the weapon pointed in her direction. Alex could tell she was trying to figure out what to do. Relax? Attack? Run? He hoped she didn't do anything stupid, because he had an odd sense that Blue Eyes wouldn't react calmly to any sudden moves.

"Al…ex?"

Blue Eyes' voice jumped Alex back to him. His dark blue eyes held with the ape's pale blue ones for a few seconds before Alex nodded and gave a small smile.

A weight seemed to be lifted from the two, as Alex relaxed his hands and Blue Eyes lifted from his low crouch into an almost sitting position. They were quiet until a slight crack from Riley behind Blue Eyes made him screech and jump back into his crouch, surprisingly springing in front of Alex as if protecting him from the girl with the spear. He started hissing at her again until Alex regained his attention.

"Blue Eyes…th…this is Riley. She's a friend," Alex motioned to Riley and made his best effort to sign 'friend'.

Blue Eyes glanced back and forth between them many times, cheeks puffing out in time with his breath until he looked around the ground at his feet and lowered his spear. Alex finally saw Riley relax as well, falling to the ground in a similar fashion to when she had had her gun on him a few days prior.

Blue Eyes stood up then, jamming the blunt end of his spear into the soil at his feet then held out a hand for Alex. He took the ape's hand and stood, giving him a small nod and smile. Blue Eyes didn't smile but nodded back then turned back to Riley. Though Alex could see the caution the ape kept in his movements, he walked up to the still flabbergasted girl and held out his hand to her as well. She looked at it, then up at his narrowed eyes, gave him a cautious glare of her own, and stood by herself.

Alex had to admit it was quite shocking to see a chimp taller than a human, even if the difference was slight. Gorillas and some orangutans had obvious height differences, but all the chimpanzees Alex had met were quite short. Then again, Riley was a shorter average, with the top of her head barely reaching his shoulders.

Riley must've been surprised by the chimp's size as well, for she soon took her original spot on her log, negating the small height difference. Blue Eyes motioned and grunted to the spear still in her hands. She slowly set it on the ground in front of her and put her hands in her lap, earning another, more appreciative, grunt. Her intimidation faded into her normal, albeit forced, composed façade as she looked back at Alex.

"So, um…Alex," she glanced back at Blue Eyes and followed him as he tied his horse and took a seat on the ground opposite both of them, "You going to introduce me to your friend here?"

"His name is Blue Eyes. He…he's Caesar's oldest son," Riley's eyes widened and looked back at the ape. Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes again but hid his suspicious look quickly. Alex knew he didn't trust her and he didn't blame him. Hell, even he didn't trust her completely.

"That means you know where he is!" she was talking quickly, "If you can take us to your father then we can talk about what happened and fix everything!"

"Riley, we can't just rush into…"

"No," Alex looked back at Blue Eyes, a strange shame and pain running over his downturned face, "Cannot…go back."

"Why not?" Riley asked.

Blue Eyes sniffed and grunted softly then pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, turning his body away. It was astounding how quickly Blue Eyes could switch from terrifyingly intimidating to gut-wrenchingly helpless. Something bad must've happened to him. Why else would he be out here alone?

Alex thought about the rouge chimp that had been killed at the colony and flashes of apes fighting each other started rushing through his mind. Had there been an uprising of some sort? Had Caesar been overthrown? Were the new ape leaders sending apes out alone to test the human colony's defenses?

Alex mulled over his extravagant imagination before talking. "Is Caesar alright?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't get the answer he dreaded.

To his relief, Blue Eyes gave a small nod.

He kept his voice quiet, "Then…why are you out here by yourself? Why can't you go back?"

"Alex," Riley shook her head slowly. There was something in her eyes that made Alex hurt inside, like she knew the issue shouldn't be pressed.

She turned her voice to the dejected ape. "Hey, Blue?" she was trying to be friendly-like, yet a mass of nerves still seeped out, "Are you hungry?"

Blue Eyes slowly turned his head back but kept his face low. Alex could see a bit of red tint around the blue of his eyes but no hints of tears otherwise.

Riley continued once she had his attention. "I've read that chimpanzees eat meat sometimes…and…I got a couple of quail not too long ago, so…we were wondering if you'd like some. If not, then we still have a little bit of dried fruit left. What do you say?"

Blue Eyes looked down then back up to her and nodded. She gave an understanding, however cautious, smile back then went back to the quail that had been thrown to the ground during the scare.

The meal went slowly. While Alex seemed accepted by Blue Eyes to a point, the chimp had followed Riley's movements like a hawk, seemingly evaluating what she was going to do. The intensity in his ice blue eyes was unsettling, Alex thought; not scary unsettling, but uncomfortable unsettling, like the first time he had seen Maurice. The eyes of these 'evolved' apes, as many called them, were almost too human. Alex never liked to think it, but seeing an animal act so human-like was strange. He was so used to dogs, cats, and other animals just living their lives day to day without a complicated thought about the world around them that the idea of another species rising to human levels of intelligence was, well, scary. He had seen what humans would do to each other with their intelligence. Would another intelligent species be any different?

"Hey, Alex," Riley said quietly, motioning for Alex to sit next to her.

Blue Eyes still sat in his spot, no longer in a ball, but normally, picking at the few bits of meat left on a quail leg. The chimp followed Alex's movements around their small fire and set his intense stare on both of them.

"What do you need, Riley?" Alex said, loud enough for the ape to clearly hear. He didn't want Blue Eyes to have any suspicions about him at all.

Riley noticed his tone and seemed to figure out what he was doing. "I see the boys have ganged up on me already," she dropped her voice into a comical, Sean Connery-type tone, "Oh yes, I'm Alexander the Great and I'm Blue Eyes, son of the Mighty Caesar, and we're the best of friends! Who is this Riley person? Bra-haha!"

Alex ducked into his hood, embarrassed, "I…I'm sorry. I just…"

"Oh don't worry about it, Alex," she smirked, returning to her normal tone, "I'm the one who had a gun on you and a spear on him when we first met. It's kind of hard to overlook those wonderful first impressions."

Blue Eyes hooted for their attention, his eyes narrow and confused, "Gun?"

Alex started growing worried until Riley let out a loud, annoyed sigh, "Yeah a gun. That's how human women say hello. Sup, I'm Riley, here's my gun pointed at your face. How you doin'? Care for a cuppa tea?"

Blue Eyes was unprepared for her sarcasm and his look of confusion sent Alex giggling. Riley tried to keep a semi-straight face but she too had her composure crumble and fall into giggles.

The look on Blue Eyes' face just showed even more confusion, as if he was questioning their sanity.

Riley managed to calm herself slightly, talking back at Alex between giggles, "Honestly, I was just calling you over here to tell you that we need to set the tent up. It looks like it'll rain tonight."

Alex looked up into the darkening sky. The sun was under the horizon but its multi-colored light was starting to fade through thickening clouds. He glanced over at Blue Eyes, who stared up with them.

Alex turned back to Riley, "What about…"

"Oh, Blue can bunk with us if he wants to. It's a four man tent, there's plenty of room for him in there. Right, Blue?!"

Blue Eyes looked back down at them, giving a grunt that almost sounded like "huh".

"You're sleeping with us tonight," she raised her finger as if he was going to protest, "Now no complaints. I'll not have either one of you out here catching a cold."

"I think they're used to r…"

"Ah ah ah, none of that. Just help me get this thing up, okay?" she got up and grabbed the tent bag.

Blue Eyes had obviously 'argued' with Riley about having to stay in the tent, and almost took his horse and left until Alex convinced him to at least stay the night. Though it still perplexed him, he wouldn't bring up the chimp's desire to stay away from the other apes again. Instead, he told him they wouldn't think differently of him if he went another direction in the morning. Blue Eyes had hesitantly agreed and now made his spot in the back corner of the tent, sitting with his arms around his knees and focusing on his human roommates. Riley was lying on her side facing the far wall of the tent, pretending to read the National Geographic Alex had found with their small solar lantern, while Alex stretched across the middle between them.

Alex wasn't sure who would give up first, Blue Eyes or Riley. They both seemed determined to stay awake until the other passed out, still not trusting each other enough to let their defenses slide. Alex shook his head to himself and curled up in his sleeping bag. If those two were going to duel it out all night, then let them. Just as long as things didn't get dangerous.

The darkness of sleep took him over as the rain started to fall.


Decided to throw in a little humor in there to lighten the mood between them. Hope it didn't come off too corny.

Till next time ;)