During the still early mornings of this brand new day Pankun restlessly paced about an area as he awaited for any news from some of his apes. After Charlie's disappearance some of his other apes had started to go missing as well. At first it was unnoticeable but now after he had made his rounds in checking up on his clan members he'd come to find some of their huts empty and barren. At this concerning new issue that's arisen, he had quickly assembled a scouting team and secretly told them to keep an eye out on the ongoings that is occurring around them. On top of that he's also informed them to keep a watchful eye out for any of their missing family members as it is crucial that they be found first. What was going on here, why were his apes disappearing. He did not want to think of it but, seeing as his apes were only disappearing after they were invited into the colony, Pankun suspected that Caesar might be behind all of this. However yet at the same time he felt that Caesar might not be involved in it as well.
Growling softly to himself, Pankun perked up when his daughter had approached him and gave him a quick hug before informing him that she was going to go and freshen herself up by the creek nearby, also maybe heading on out towards the meadows as well. At hearing this, Pankun had quickly shot down the young chimp, explaining to her that it was dangerous right now and that she should not be going out alone. At this Xuě had tilted her head back up at him and had curiously asked him what was wrong. Of course he did not want to worry her and just said that it was dangerous for her to go out right now and for her to stay close. However she had insisted that she needed to go clean and that if she couldn't go to the meadow then at least allow her to go bathe herself. Pankun however felt that it was still not safe but when her friends had came on over and informed him that they were going to be together, only then did he allow them to leave the premises. Growling, Pankun dragged a hand down the side of his head in frustration. Xuě was as hard headed and stubborn as her mother when she wanted something. Only did when he heard footsteps nearing him did Pankun look up, seeing a few of his apes returning back from their mission.
"Anything?" he signed to the apes, hoping that they had brought back at least some kind of good news. The apes nervously glanced at each other before one of them step up towards to their clan leader and lowered his head as if in shame.
"I'm sorry Pankun we have not found anything new yet in our search, but we are trying," he signed slowly before raising his palm up in forgiveness.
Pankun grounded his teeth together at this news but heaved out a breath, relaxing his tense body. There was no use in getting mad at one of his fellow apes since it was still so early for them to have already found something. Slowly he placed his palm onto the other chimp's and swiped it gently.
"It is alright, you all just take a rest for now," he signed. It was saddening that they have not found a clue as of yet but there was no use in pushing them. Sitting back down, Pankun was starting to worry deeply for the safety of his own. During the middle of his thoughts however did he notice another set of scouts making their return back to him, meeting them with his hard gaze.
The orangutan from this group approached Pankun and eyed him worriedly as if he was disturbed by something. "Pankun, I think we need to talk," he signed slowly gaining the attention of their leader.
...
Taking a small blood sample that he had obtained from the injured bonobo, Lemming placed it onto a clean petri dish. Quickly the man took a droplet of the man made antidote and placed a dollop onto the blood. Closing the petri dish, Lemming moved it under a microscope and placed his eyes into the lens. Upon looking down at the cells, Lemming was quite fascinated with how the ape's blood cells quickly adjusted and welcomed the antidote, allowing the cure to coexist with it without it having any negative effects. Satisfied, Lemming pulled the petri dish out and selected a new clean dish, whereas he took a prick out of his own finger and placed a few drop of his own blood into it. Just like before he inserted the cure within the blood and placed it under the microscope. Taking a look at what was going to occur, the results were not what he had expected. Instead of his blood accepting the antidote like the ape's, his blood immediately rejected the cure and in turn the cure started to act like a virus as it started to destroy the microscopic cells within its surroundings.
"No..." Lemming breathed in horror as he took a step back from the microscope. "This... This is all wrong... This shouldn't happen," he said softly aloud.
Quickly he tested the cure several more times only for it to gain the same results as before. Letting out a disbelieving scoff, Lemming faltered backwards away from the machine and slowly made his way on over towards the window pane. Placing his head onto the glass the man's shoulder started to shake and quickly he placed a hand over his mouth as despair slowly started to overcome him. Taking in a shuddering breath, Lemming closed his eyes with his hands balled up and placed on his sides. Looking up at the ceiling the man gnawed at this teeth and let out a deep breath. No... He was not going to give up, not now after so many years of studying the virus and trying to counteract it. Turning back around the man approached his research once more and glared down at the objects that laid around him. If at first this did not work then he will find another way to counteract this virus, to find a cure to help the humans who still had hope in this world. Even if it killed him in the process he will succeed and with that thought in mind the man sat back down onto his chair as he prepped up another petri dish.
...
Back within the healing hut, there sat two young chimps who were wrapped within each others arms, keeping each other company, safe and sound. The smaller of the two leaned her head onto the bigger male that sat along with her while he placed his head on top of hers.
"Did you miss me?" Milo piped up, noticing the younger chimp look up at him and gave him a face.
"Humph! Of course not!" Cinder announced as she pushed herself away and turned her head the in the opposite direction. However she slowly let her gaze curve back to look at Milo, noticing him chuckle slightly at her reaction, which in turn caused her to smile back. Gently she reached out and straightened out the fur that lined Milo's chest, shoulders and arms, feeling him relax under her touch. "Were you scared? When they took you?" Cinder asked softly, letting her eyes gaze back up at the male.
"Yes..." Milo breathed, "I was scared for the both of us. I did not know what they were going to do to Rain and I," he answered solemnly. "But I'm just happy that I'm with you right now," he said softly.
Cinder let a smile envelop her features and hugged Milo closer to her, happy that nothing bad had happened to the both of them. Of course she had heard that Milo had gotten severely ill when he was captured but for now he seemed fine, if not a little bit lethargic at the moment. Besides all that she was extremely relieved that nothing else was wrong with them, she herself wouldn't know what to do if she had lost the both of them. Finding out that she had lost an older brother before, she couldn't bear the thought of losing another brother and a really good friend as well.
"Milo?" Cinder spoke up once more to which the older male hummed in response. She did not know if she should reveal such information to the ape but she had no one else to turn to. She could turn to her parents but even then she was afraid to tell them of what she had discovered. "I think... I think something is wrong," she breathed.
"Wrong?" Milo asked, pulling back slightly to gaze down at Cinder whom fidgeted slightly within his hold.
"Yesterday when I was out in the meadows, tending to the animals. I saw a few of the older chimps... They were walking into the forest," Cinder signed slowly, seeing the confuse look Milo was giving her, but waited patiently for her to continue. "I followed them, followed them deep into the forest and came upon a large group of other apes. They... They were making things... Such as ropes and cages... I don't know what they are using them for but it must be for something terrible because... Because I saw an ape there who was tied down onto the ground. I was so scared Milo, I did not know what to do, so I left and I don't know what happened to that other ape," Cinder whimpered as she leaned back into Milo's open arms.
"Did you tell anyone else?" Milo asked in concern to which Cinder shook her head quickly in response. Noticing the tears forming within Cinder's eyes, he quickly pulled her in close and gently rocked her back and forth. "Shh, it is okay. I am here now, we will find out what is going on together okay?" he reassured the smaller female.
Slowly Cinder placed her head on top of the other chimp's chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, letting that sound soothe and calm her nerves. She was glad that she was able to tell another ape of what she saw and hopefully figure out what was going on around them. "Who do we speak to first though?" Cinder asked to which Milo thought for a moment.
"If we want answers. I think it is best to let Gregoire and the others know. They are usually fast at gathering information," Milo suggested gaining a slight nod from Cinder.
"Right," she answered in a hopeful voice.
...
Xuě wiped at Blue-Eyes brow, letting out a small chortle to herself when she got a grunt in return. For a big strong chimp he sure acted like a little one when she tried to clean him. While they both had sat waist deep within the creek the pair groomed and spoke to one another about various things about their lives such as families, close relatives and much more. It wasn't until Blue-Eyes glanced around himself and then down at the creek that they sat in that he looked back down into the female's eyes.
"Xuě? Why are we still in the creek, are you not afraid of the water?" Blue-Eyes asked, getting a head shake from the white chimpanzee.
"No," she answered simply with a smile, "I've been around water a lot and know where not to tread," she stated simply. "Learned from humans to not be afraid," she finished as she waved her hand across the water's surface.
"I never knew humans that well," Blue-Eyes admitted.
"But you know them now do you not? I've seen them, back at the colony," Xuě asked.
"Just a little, only saw a lot of their bad side," Blue-Eyes answered.
"A little, a lot, does not matter as long as you have known them. Humans and apes do both good and bad," Xuě explained gaining a nod from Blue-Eyes.
"You are very tolerant of them aren't you?" Blue-Eyes asked.
"Only because I've lived with them for almost all of my life," Xuě answered with a warm smile.
After a few more moments the two rose out of the creek and made their way towards the bank. Both still dripping wet, eyed one another and let out a few small chuckles at how they looked. After their small laugh both Blue-Eyes and Xuě slowly found themselves drawn towards each other once more. Xuě looked up as Blue-Eyes lowered his head and was merely inches in front of her. Slowly Xuě reached up and placed her left hand onto the male's cheek with him leaning into her touch, eyes closing all the while. Tracing her thumb over the scar that ran across Blue-Eyes' right cheekbone, she looked back into the male's face as he slowly opened his sky colored eyes into a half lidded state and reached up to place his hand over hers. As the two were lost within each other, something dropped from overhead and landed with a loud thud just a few paces to their side. Blue-Eyes was quick to react as he suddenly placed himself in front of Xuě to block her from whatever it was. However what the male chimp did not expect was to see another ape standing just a few feet away from them, rising slowly and eyeing him with fierce green eyes.
"Hand over our leader's daughter," the bonobo signed gruffly causing Blue-Eyes to frown in return.
"Kaholo?" Xuě spoke softly as she peeked out from behind Blue-Eyes, "what... What are you doing here?" she signed curiously.
"I am here to take you back to your father, come now Xuě," the bonobo signed back to the white chimpanzee noticing the slight growl emanating from the blue eyed male.
Xuě could feel the anger slowly rise from Blue-Eyes and she placed a hand onto the male chimp's shoulder, causing him to glance back at her. "It is okay," she signed, "my father always does this. I will see you soon?" she signed to Blue-Eyes whom merely glance back at the other ape before turning fully to face her.
"You are not in trouble are you?" Blue-Eyes asked, hoping that him being with her did not cause it.
Xuě however merely shook her head accompanied with a small smile, "no, and do not follow okay?" she asked while holding onto Blue-Eyes' hands, gaining a single head nod from the male. Satisfied with his answer Xuě then walked around the brawny chimp and made her way on over towards Kaholo, stopping in front of him. Once there she glanced back to look at Blue-Eyes' confused face before she trailed after the bonobo back into the words, leaving the male chimpanzee alone, by the creek.
...
"Something to show me?" Rain asked uncertainly, keeping a wary gaze up at the older gray chimpanzee.
While rubbing the back of his neck, Rocket heaved out a heavy sigh before nodding in confirmation to his son's question. "Follow me," he gestured before making his way pass the other and leaping off of the tree that contained their home. Once on the ground, Rocket straightened himself up and thought about what he was doing. Looking ahead he knew where he must take the young ape to, to that place that was filled with nothing but sorrow and painful memories. At the sound of a soft thud behind him, Rocket closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, his mouth turning into a slight frown. He still did not like the idea of informing the young bonobo about this but Rain now old enough and had the right to know about himself. Taking a glance back both he and Rain locked eyes for a split second before he rounded himself and led the way.
As they slowly trekked across the giant courtyard, Rain kept his eyes at the various apes that frowned in his direction. However they seemed to turn their attention elsewhere once the older chimp in front of him shot them a glare. Glancing back at Rocket's backside, Rain felt a sort of reassurance from the older ape. For once he was glad that he was with his father even though he still had doubts and questions about him. "Father?" Rain spoke quietly as he kept trailing behind the other, "where... Where are we going?"
"You will know... Soon," Rocket said responded, keeping his pace.
As the two apes slowly made their way across the colony they entered into a section of the village that seemed to be deserted. There were only a few huts that were still standing and just a few apes still lived there. Once Rocket and Rain came into view the apes that made their home there offered the two a sad smile before returning to their huts. Rain stuck close to his father and curiously let his gray colored eyes wander about, taking in the almost empty scenery that was laid before him. Rocket on the other hand had kept a vigil eye on the younger bonobo and watched how he reacted and how he took it all in. To the older chimp it was hard returning to this closed off area within the colony. Sure he's been here many a times but that did not stop the terrible memories from bubbling back up to what had occurred here, in this place. However if he wanted to show Rain what the younger ape was seeking then he would need to traverse into this section that was filled with sorrows from the past.
"I... I know this place..." Rain whispered quietly, stopping within the middle of the empty trail, letting his gray eyes wander around. He swear he could remember it but could not place a finger on it. Eyeing a particular spot on the trail he slowly approached it and stood there. Looking back up and around him, Rain's eyes widened slightly when he recognized the area from his dreams, except this time it was real. This spot that he was standing on, this was the spot that female ape, his mother... Was standing on so long ago. His gaze soon fell upon Rocket who was standing a bit away from where he stood and smiled back at him sadly.
"Of course you do..." Rocket spoke up, causing the younger bonobo to focus his attention at him. "This was your home, after all," he signed to the younger ape.
"My... Home?" Rain questioned but he did not get the chance to ask more as the older chimp disappeared into one of the small huts that he was standing next to. Quickly bounding up to the spot where the older ape stood, Rain stopped in front of the small hut and held his breath. This small house that was made out of straws, tied wood works and mud made stones looked vaguely familiar to him, as if he's been here before. Then he remembered his father's words and slowly placed a hand onto the frame of the entrance way. "This... Is my home?" he repeated slowly, looking at the hut again in awe. Hearing some noises coming from within, Rain carefully stepped inside and was surprised to see various objects strewn across the ground, broken and battered, as if a storm had blown through the area. Taking a few steps to the side he picked up one of the broken wooden plates and gingerly touched the object's surface, feeling the old scratched and imperfections on it. There was a soft shuffling noise to his left and Rain rounded his head slowly to see the older gray chimp emerging from another room with what looked like a tan colored bag, held within his hands. The backpack looked old and withered, like the rest of the things around here. Besides its tan color, Rain could see that the old item also had some faded but dark red stains laced onto it. Slowly placing the broken plate back onto the ground, Rain slowly approached the older chimp and curiously glance back up at Rocket's face then to the bag within the older ape's arms. "What is that?" Rain questioned.
Rocket merely let his green eyes fall onto the tan colored backpack within his hands before he let them glance back into Rain's gray ones. Slowly reaching down to the side of the backpack, Rocket slowly pulled at the zipper and let the little noise fill the silent empty home before he reached into it. Gradually he pulled out a plastic bag that contained a yellow folder within. Unzipping the top of the plastic bag, Rocket reached inside and pulled out the yellow folder and merely gazed at the thing. Taking in a deep breath, he glanced back at Rain and slowly held the document out towards his son.
Rain looked into his father's eyes before he genuinely approached the older ape and took the yellow folded paper into his own hands. Feeling the smooth surface of the yellow paper, Rain did not know what this thing was and glanced back up at his father. "What... What is it?" he asked cautiously trying to understand why his father was giving him this human item.
"Open it and you will see," Rocket merely signed back to the youngster as he lowered the backpack onto the ground.
Rain however caught the sad look in his father's eyes and wondered why the older ape felt so. What was in this piece of paper that his father had kept hidden from him? What did the older chimp know that he did not? Maybe... Maybe whatever is in his hands right now might reveal to him the answers that he had been seeking. Biting the bottom of his lip, he slowly placed his index finger and thumb at the edge of the yellow folder. With a sigh, Rain open up the file within his hands and took a look inside of it.
...
Just after the humans had left to go work on the dam did Caesar return to the platform along with him mate to discuss of the on goings that has been occurring since his absence. Turning to greet each of his fellow friends, Caesar look round but did not see Rocket in sight. "You know where Rocket went off to?" Caesar questioned his mate who looked back up at him.
Cornelia look slowly up at Caesar and offered him a small smile, "I spoke with Ari, she told me that Rocket was going to be busy today... With Rain," she informed Caesar gaining an understanding nod in return.
"I... See," Caesar replied, proud that Rocket was not taking the time to talk to his son Rain. He knows that it will be hard on his friend but was glad that he was going through with it and just hopes that everything turns out well for them.
Caesar glance up towards Maurice and Luca as they approached and acknowledged them by giving them a nod to which they returned with a nod of their own.
"Good morning Caesar, I hope you are doing well," Maurice greeted with a warm smile.
"Yes thank you my friend, any news on how Milo is doing with his condition?" Caesar inquired.
"He is doing very well, very strong will, like the both of you," Maurice reassured both of the parents, gaining a smile from the both king and queen.
Caesar perked up when he heard his name being called and turned to face whomever it was. Surprisingly, Caesar watched Pankun and a few of his fellow apes approaching him, stopping at the edge of the platform. Taking a glance at his mate, Caesar slowly stood in between Cornelia and the other apes who all had spears and other sorts of weapons within their hands, "is something wrong?" Caesar asked the other chimp.
Pankun and his apes let their fierce eyes glance around at the apes that surrounded the king before he directed his attention back towards Caesar. "Don't play with me Caesar, where are our apes!?" Pankun questioned, gaining a confused look from the king.
"I do not understand your question. What is going on here?" Caesar asked.
"My! Fellow! Apes!" Pankun bellowed as his own warriors got in a stance as did Caesar's.
"I suggest. You lower. Your weapons. Friends..." Luca growled menacingly at the apes with the hostile display.
Caesar held up his hand to still his own ape warriors that were nearby and stared down Pankun who shot back a glare of his own. Letting his hazel colored eyes scan the apes behind Pankun, Caesar could see that they held a bit of fear within their gaze, surely they were not used to this kind of confrontation. However it seems something was amiss and had provoked Pankun and his warriors to act so, desperately. "I do not know what is going on nor am I aware of your situation, Pankun, but we can talk this through. Call off your warriors and I will call off mine," Caesar signed with a stern glare.
Clearly seeing that he and his group was outnumbered Pankun glanced back at his apes and then glared at the ground for a moment before letting out a low bark for them to lower their weapons. If this would prevent any kind of violence and unnecessary bloodshed then he would rather not risk the lives of his ape brothers. Glaring back up at Caesar, Pankun then watched as the king lowered his arm, with his apes sheathing their own weapons.
Glancing back down at Pankun, Caesar's eyes narrowed and thought about what the ape had said earlier, about missing apes within the colony. "Now explain to me. What do you mean by missing apes?" he inquired.
...
"Kaholo, what is going on?" Xuě asked while she followed the male bonobo deeper into the woods, now a fair good distance away from the creek. After a moment of silence, Xuě frowned and quickly ran in front of the bigger male and stopped in front of him. "Kaholo, I deserve to know. What is going on?" she asked with a concern look etched onto her face, "you are my friend are you not? Please," she finished. The bonobo kept his green eyes on the her but exhaled out a deep sigh before glancing down towards the side.
"Your father has recently learned that our apes were being taken from their homes ever since we have been here. He's learned that the colony's king might be plotting something and that we could all be in danger. So your father sent me after you and your friends, do not worry though, I have already found the others and had them return back to the safety of our apes," Kaholo signed.
"It can't be... Why... Why would Blue-Eyes... His father, do that to us?" Xuě signed, still confused.
"Blue eyes?" Kaholo repeated with a confused look on his face before the word clicked in his head and he turned slightly back around, towards the direction of the creek. "So that is his name..." he mused to himself. Facing Xuě once more he gave her a sympathetic look, "I do not know Xuě. All I am doing is bringing you back to your father. Even I do not know all the details but I trust your father's judgment to be prepared and safe," he explained.
"Maybe I can ask Blue-Eyes, he might know-" Xuě said quickly as she turned back around to go back but was stopped when Kaholo took a firm hold of her hand, preventing her from moving any further. Turning back around Xuě glanced at the bonobo who looked down at her with sympathetic eyes, shaking his head slowly all the while.
"I'm sorry Xuě but we cannot trust him right now. He is the son of the colony king correct? No matter how much good you think he is, he might be one of the apes who are kidnapping one of our own," Kaholo spoke quietly.
"How can you say that?" Xuě exclaimed in shock as she ripped her hand out of the other ape's grasp. "You don't even know him?" she said slowly.
"Yes... I don't know him... And you do not know him either," Kaholo said slowly, causing Xuě to stare up at him with wide eyes. "I know that he saved you... Your father as well as the rest of us are grateful for that. We really are... But... We just can't trust him. He could use it to get closer to you and right now you should not let your feelings for him cloud your mind. Xuě... he might be using-"
"No... Stop," Xuě spoke softly as she placed her hands over her heart and closed her eyes at the painful words. "He's not like that, he would never do that. He saved me from that mountain lion... His mother and father are good apes. He's told me about his little brother, saying how playful and how selfless he is, Blue-Eyes would never kidnap our apes. He and his family would never do that," she whispered aloud turning to look back up at Kaholo as several tears flowed down from her eyes.
"Xuě..." Kaholo voiced as he approached the white chimpanzee, noticing her taking a step back away from him as if she were afraid of him. He felt terrible for his friend but all he wanted to do was to protect her from harm as he himself was not sure what was entirely going on. So in a sense, her reaction towards him hurts quite a lot within his chest but he quickly pushed it aside, seeing to her safety first. Suddenly there was a painful blow to the back of his skull, causing him to stagger a bit before he fell forwards onto the ground.
Xuě heard Kaholo's body drop in front of her in a loud thud, surprising her quite a bit and could feel the sudden change in atmosphere. "Kaholo!?" she exclaimed as she ran on over towards her fallen friend however before she could take a few steps, a set of strong arms suddenly wrapped around her mouth and body. Taking a glance back, Xuě's eyes widen as she saw a giant chimpanzee doing his best to hold her down as she struggled and tried to scream through his strong grip.
"Help me here!" the big chimp barked to someone out of sight and let out a yelp as the white chimpanzee had actually bit him in the hand, causing him to let go of her. Staring at the teeth marks on his now bloody hand, the chimp glared down at the female ape and struck her down with his good hand.
"Hey! Careful!" one of the captors said aloud gaining a grunt from the chimpanzee who had attacked the female.
As soon as Xuě felt the powerful blow, it sent her flying backwards onto the ground and knocking the wind out of her small body. Dazed, she tried to get up haste-fully but there was a sudden heavy weight on top of her and before she could scream out for help, one of the apes had quickly tied something around her mouth, preventing her from crying out. With her heart pounding, Xuě tilted her head away from the chimp as he leaned down, baring his fangs all the while.
"Hurt me again. And I will hurt you worse," the chimp spat, gaining a shuddering nod from the female.
Xuě watched as the menacing looking chimp rose back up onto two legs and signed something to one of his lackeys. Within a moment she was pulled to her feet and was roughly put onto the shoulder of one of the chimp captors. Looking around quickly Xuě saw that Kaholo was in no better shape as he was unconscious and was tied down as well, being carried off somewhere. Tears started to stream down her eyes as she looked around frantically for any signs of help but nothing came into view. "Blue-Eyes..." she mumbled through the mouth gag, letting her gaze fall back onto the trail that lead to where the blue eyed chimp was, as she was carried away.