Legacy of the Planet of the Apes Chapter 1: The Crown, a planet of the apes fanfic

January 8th, 2038:

Cornelius rode ahead of the others to the human town excitedly. It had been so long since he was allowed on one of these excursions. Maurice had just about convinced the council to let him off the reigns this time, and he was not going to miss the opportunity.

As he finally arrived at the long-abandoned town, Nova finally rode up next to him What are you doing? We have to wait for the Gorilla Guard to show up. She signed. Cornelius laughed, and patter her shoulder. "Those guys are just a bunch of brutes." He said.

Pulling her off her horse, he motioned to the abandoned town. "It's perfectly safe here! Look, we only have limited time here, when the gorillas show up they're gonna need to sweep the town, run through every house, if we go now, then you're gonna have more time for your project." Nova's eyes widened as he said that, and ran off into another building.

In truth, it took almost an hour for Julius and the three gorillas he brought with him to finally arrive. By then, he had already cleared out most of the town and grabbed the few trinkets he found interesting. "You shouldn't keep running off like that!" The gruff-voiced gorilla called out. "You could've gotten hurt!"

"Hurt by what?! This place is empty! No humans have been around this place for years! I don't even know why we're here!" Julius shared a glance with one of his lieutenants. They both already knew why they had come here. "Come on, let's go." He starts to ride back, before pausing. "Where's Nova?"

As if on cue, there was a loud crashing noise from one of the buildings, a gas station. "Nova!" Cornelius cried out and ran off even as Julius called out after. Raising his spear, he found the back entrance and smashed in to see a boy, No older than 10, sitting on the floor with the same dumb look that all the infected humans had.

Before he could do anything, the boy bolted rushing out the nearby window. Nova, who was kneeling beside him, stood up to glare at him for a moment. Spotting Julius entering the room behind him, she signed We're done here. And walked out around them.

Though Cornelius wished he could say that he had no idea why Nova was suddenly mad at him, the Chimpanzee knew all too well why. It had only been a few weeks ago, and after several years of trying, when she, with the help of her father Maurice, was able to convince the rest of the council to let her go through with her little project.

That project being to try and bring more "smart" humans into the world. Bring them to the ape village to be taught and rehabilitated as she had been all those years ago. Even after it was approved, she had an even harder time finding missions she could go on, and those she did rarely ran into any human groups. That little boy in the gas station was the first they had found in a little over a year.

"I said I'm sorry," Cornelius repeated as he moved his horse up next to Nova. The girl sighed and remained to look forward. I know you are. She finally signed. I'm just… a little stressed out right now. I need a moment. Cornelius nodded and rode further ahead.

The village, the wall surrounding it, and most of the structures within were crafted out of polished stone gathered from surrounding caves and mountains. It had taken them a little under three years after his father's death before they could figure it out.

The ape village had grown even larger during the ten years since the ape war with Alpha-Omega. It now hosts over 2,000 different apes. While the lack of large trees made, or any particular high points making massive structures like the ones they had built in previous villages, they still managed to create a large palace for him to stay in.

A horn, recently built, was sounded to signal to the apes working in the field that their king had arrived. There was a loud cheer, of course. The gorillas tended to get a little violent with those who didn't despite his attempts against it. But both he and Nova could see that it was fake. He wasn't a particularly popular leader.

Bad Ape met them at the gates of the palace. Though still one of the oldest in the village, the chimp still managed to keep his hyper activeness active. "You make back!" He shouted joyfully. "You have good trip?!" Perhaps it was because of his old age that he never truly got the hang of human language.

Cornelius nodded politely. "Thank you, Bad Ape. We had a wonderful trip." Nova smiled in agreement, before looking around in confusion. Maurice? She signed. Where father? Bad Ape's demeanor changed almost immediately. "He go to council room." He said finally. "He not happy. Very sad." Cornelius shared a glance with Nova. This wasn't good.

The new council room was adjacent to his palace, so Nova went in there to wait for Maurice to be finished. The palace wasn't particularly large, mainly consisting of Cornelius's room, and a few other guard posts

What do you think they are talking about in there? Nova signed. Cornelius shrugged. "Same thing they talk about every time." He said finally. "When I'm gonna finally take over as king."

There was an awkward silence before Nova signed again. So when are you gonna become king? Cornelius sighed. It was a question he had been asked a lot since he had turned ten. "I'm only 12." He said. "I still have time." Nova looked worriedly at him. The council doesn't think so. Nor do the other apes.

"Well. I don't care what they think!" Cornelius shouted a little to forcefully, as Nova reeled back. "I'm not ready." He said softly. Nova smiled softly and moved closer to him. Don't worry. I'll be here for you. No matter how many humans you chase away. Cornelius smiled in return, feeling much calmer now. "Thanks, Nova. I'm sure Maurice will be done soon."

As if on cue, Maurice climbed up through one of the doorways and entered the room. The orangutan seemed to have been aged considerably by the latest council meeting, moving far slower as he moved towards them and placed his massive arm around his worried daughter.

Did you enjoy you're trip? He signed. He had never really started using human language either, Cornelius observed, though he guessed that this was more a personal choice than anything else. "It was fine." Cornelius responded, turning away. Maurice looked worriedly at him before bringing nova back out of the palace and towards their private shelter.

Nova couldn't sleep. Maurice was watching her for a long time before finally moving beside her. Is something wrong? He asked. Nova sighed, and turned to look at him. I don't think Cornelius wants to be king. Maurice seemed to sigh, and wrapped his arm around her.

He has to. Maurice signed back. Apes haven't had true leader in many years. Nova looked worried ply at him. But why must it be him? Maurice paused for a moment to consider this, before sighing. Because apes followed Caesar. Loved Caesar. We have hard time to take power. Apes accept Caesar son easier.

Nova was saddened by the thought. It's unfair. She finally signed. He just wants to go off on missions, and explore but you won't let him go on any interesting ones! Maurice pulled her down into a sleeping position. I know it's unfair, but that's what it's like right now. Unless someone more popular comes along, we're stuck with this.

Cornelius awoke to a loud horn. Something was approaching the gate. He could already hear the sounds of hundreds of apes climbing out from their various houses, and work spaces as he clambered to his window to see what was happening. And then her realized that the horn wasn't coming from them.

A massive group of apes were approaching the village. Larger then any they had seen before. Gorillas, Chimps, Orangutans, even a couple Bonobos. They were mostly on horseback, though some walked on two legs. But then he noticed something coming at the back. Some of the apes were dragging things. As he got closer to the gate, he realized that they were dragging cages.

It was when the pay were right at the gate when Cornelius saw the dozens of humans locked up inside the cages.