With the next day along with the rising sun, Caesar had gathered what little of his new inner circle of apes together and discussed his plans in preparation for the human soldiers. During this time, Cornelia, Tinker, Judy and a few other females were busy with the care of their still many injured. Pausing for the moment in her duties, Cornelia glanced back at her mate and could see that he was rather paler than usual and seemed as if he could barely even stand on his own two feet.
The sound of soft approaching footsteps drew Cornelia back from her staring and she turned to see Tinker, walking up to her. Cornelia watched as the petite female had stopped just right beside her and beamed up at her before Tinker soon took notice of Cornelius rocking steadily behind Cornelia's back. Shooting a warm smile at the small prince, Tinker glanced back up at Cornelia before she reached out towards the little one. In an instant, Cornelius leaped from his mother, right on over towards his honorary aunt's open arms.
Cradling Cornelius close to her person and letting the young prince play with her necklace, consisting of small beads and wiry rings, Tinker had then turned her attention back on over towards Cornelia once more, curious as to what her friend was looking at. It didn't take long for Tinker to notice the concern in Cornelia's face as she followed her friend's gaze right on over to where Caesar stood. When she had sighted Caesar, Tinker herself could see how sickly her friend and leader look before she turned back to face Cornelia.
"Caesar does not look well," Tinker signed, noticing Cornelia taking in a deep breath before huffing out.
"I agree," Cornelia gestured back, stealing a quick look at her mate before turning back towards Tinker.
"Do you think it was because of Koba?" Tinker asked, signing close so that the others could not see her signing the bonobo's name.
"I do not know… All I know is that Caesar looks very ill," Cornelia answered.
"What will you do?" Tinker asked as she adjusted Cornelius in her arms as he played with her necklace.
"I will have a word with my husband," Cornelia responded, turning to meet Tinker's apprehensive face.
Tinker glanced back at Caesar for a quick moment before she turned to look at Cornelia once more, worried about her friend.
"It will be difficult to make him listen to you," Tinker cautioned, weary at what her friend will do.
"Do not worry, I can take care of myself," Cornelia signed back with a small smile before her gaze wandered on down to her little Cornelius and she affectionately rubbed her hand down his back. "Watch my little son for me?"
Instead of answering , Tinker merely bowed her head once at her good friend and queen before she quietly stepped aside. Feeling a finger under her chin, Cornelia brought Tinker's face upwards and smiled down at her before she silently quadruped away from her. Heaving out a worried sigh, Tinker could do nothing but only watch from afar as she held the little prince within her arms.
As Caesar was busily directing the apes on what to do, one side of the inner circle slowly parted, causing him to pause in his instructions and turn to see who had joined them. To his surprise, Cornelia was there, looking at him with her stern leafy colored eyes. Standing there for a moment, Caesar noticed something about his mate and turned back to the apes, asking them to leave and fulfill their duties. Within seconds the rest of the apes quickly dispersed, leaving Caesar, Cornelia and just a few others standing there still.
"Cornelia what is the matter?" Caesar asked as he approached her, stopping right in front of the smaller female.
Cornelia however stared up at him for a long while, looking him over before she reached out and placed a hand upon his cheek.
"Caesar… You do not look well. You need rest," Cornelia gestured slowly as she looked her mate over.
At this, Caesar huffed out, closing his eyes momentarily as he took Cornelia's hands into his.
"I am fine. You should take care of yourself and Cornelius," Caesar reassured, meeting Cornelia's eyes.
Slowly Caesar made to turn around but felt a firm hand, taking a hold of his arm, effectively stopping him. Turning back around slowly, Caesar looked upon his mate once more.
"Caesar stop. You must rest," Cornelia signed angrily.
At this, Caesar couldn't help but set his mouth into a deep frown with his brows furrowing as he fully turned towards Cornelia to address her.
"Cornelia, you know I can not. There is much to do and we must-"
"Rest Caesar!" Cornelia cut off her mate, noticing Caesar's eyes going wide slightly before they turned hard and cold as he stared down at her.
At this display, Caesar had thought he had gotten his point across when Cornelia lowered her gaze while bringing her arms close to her chest. That however was quickly abated as she suddenly glared back up at him with her leafy green eyes, much to his surprise.
"How long do you plan to do this to yourself?" Cornelia questioned with a sniff her eyes watering over.
Caesar however stared at his mate incredulously, unsure of what she was getting at.
"You think I don't know do you?" Cornelia signed at Caesar, causing his brow to raise slightly. "You think that I don't know how dangerous the human soldiers are. That I don't know what humans are capable of. That I am being selfish," Cornelia continued, a couple of tears now falling from her eyes.
All of the apes nervously glanced at one another while they watched both their king and queen having their dispute. Rocket and Luca however momentarily met each others eyes. Stealing another glance at both Caesar and Cornelia, Luca signed to Rocket and the nearly hairless chimpanzee nodded back in return.
"I do know how dangerous the human soldiers are. That the apes need to prepare and must have your guidance. That you need and want to protect all of us. But… You need to look out for yourself too Caesar," Cornelia explained as she reached up slowly and hovered her hand over the bullet wound upon Caesar's chest. "What will happen to the apes… To your sons? To me? If we lose you too?" Cornelia signed to her Caesar, meeting his gaze.
The two apes kept their eyes locked upon each other before Cornelia lowered hers and she took Caesar's hands into her.
"I never ask anything of you… But I am asking now. Please rest. Just for today. Let Rocket, Luca and Andy take care of the apes," Cornelia finished, hoping that Caesar would do as she had asked of him.
Letting out a weary huff, Caesar then felt a strong hand placing itself upon his shoulder, causing him to look at whomever put it there. Unsurprisingly enough, it was Rocket who maneuvered himself so that he stood to their side.
"Cornelia is right Caesar," Rocket signed while Caesar blinked slowly at the bulkier chimpanzee. "Go. You need food and rest. You cannot lead apes the way you are now. Maurice asked Luca and I to take care of you and we shall," Rocket gestured to his friend.
"We already know what to do Caesar. You've made your plans very clear. Leave the rest to us," Luca grunted whilst pounding a fist onto his chest.
Feeling a bit outnumbered here, Caesar glanced at every one of the apes within his new inner circle and they all nodded at him, reassuring him that all would be well in his absence. Closing his golden green eyes in defeat and letting out a tired sigh, Caesar opened them back up and nodded at them. With that, Rocket and Luca then barked at the other apes and lead them away from their king and queen.
Turning back to face Cornelia, seeing her wiping away at her tear streaked face, a sudden pang of shame and guilt overcame him. He had been so focused in trying to help his apes, preparing them for what was to come. That he did not even realize that he himself was hurting his family and love. Seeing Cornelia so hurt by his actions, he couldn't help but reach out to his mate and pulled her in close into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry," Caesar apologized, rubbing his cheek atop of Cornelia's head. "I'm so sorry," he breathed softly as he pulled back and wiped away at Cornelia's tears with his thumb.
Hearing Caesar's apologies for making her worry, Cornelia couldn't help but let out a few sobs as she buried her head into Caesar's chest once more, glad that he was listening to her. After a moment, Cornelia had pulled back slightly and slowly reached up to cup Caesar's face. She then pulled his head down so that his forehead laid upon hers as they both stood there.
After a brief moment, Caesar had straightened up and smiled tiredly down at Cornelia who returned the gesture with her own. Cornelia had then reached on over and took his hand into hers as she slowly lead them away from the rest of the apes.
…
It had been a few sun cycles since Caesar, Rocket and Luca had left them to go back to the apes. After they had taken their leave, Maurice and the small human family had gone back into the house to check in on Koba, only to find that the bonobo was soundlessly asleep. Taking that as a sign to rest up as well, the occupants of the house had decided to call it a night and went to their respective resting areas, not without Maurice getting treated first by the worried nurse - Ellie first of course.
When the next few days came on by, Maurice had expected Koba to be up and about but to his surprise he found that the bonobo was still unconscious. Concerned, Maurice had made his way on over to where Koba slept and lightly shook the other ape, in hopes to possibly wake him up. When Koba didn't respond to him, Maurice was about to try a little harder before he felt soft smaller hands taking hold of his own. Turning to see who it was, Maurice was surprised to see Ellie standing there with a finger to her lips. Understanding that gesture, Maurice himself eased back away quietly and watched as Ellie quickly examined the unconscious ape on the sofa. Before long, the human woman turned back around and offered him a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. Your friend here is fine… He's just resting," Ellie explained in a quiet voice.
Maurice eyed Koba's still sleeping form for a moment longer before he turned to look up at Ellie and with a low croaking noise, nodded at her. Maurice himself wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Koba but this was the human whom had helped both Cornelia and Caesar heal from their sickness and injuries. Who had informed him that all was going to be well. Heaving out a final sigh, Maurice nodded back to Ellie, putting all of his faith and trust in her.
Throughout those several days, Maurice merely became an observer as he watched Ellie and Malcolm tend to the unconscious Koba. He watched as they renewed his bandages, cleaned his wounds and for some reason wrapped both his left arm and leg tightly in some strange cloth that was hard to the touch. Throughout all this, Maurice was sort of glad that Koba had been unconscious during the whole process. The injured bonobo would have never allowed the humans to ever touch him, most likely injuring the humans and himself even further. Once they had finished, Maurice had followed both Ellie and Malcolm into the back room of the house, where Alexander was usually at. Like the boy, Maurice was delighted to see him and would always greet Alex warmly, like a old friend every time.
It wasn't until late evening during the fifth sun cycle, after the fight upon the human tower, when the occupants were visited by Rocket and Luca, whom came to check on the status of everyone. It was there where Maurice had learned of Caesar's plans from his two friends. They were to send some of the wounded and females back into the forest, gather their dead and weapons for the soldiers that were coming for them. At this Maurice thought about it and it seemed like a good plan but a nagging thought at the end of his mind kept tugging at him, asking him that what if Caesar's plan did not go through? What would they do then? Speaking of Caesar, when Maurice had inquired about their leader, both Rocket and Luca had assured him that Caesar was doing just fine, that he was now properly resting thanks to Cornelia. Maurice couldn't help but smile at the thought of Cornelia. If there was any ape that would get Caesar to properly do something it would be the queen herself.
As the sky had darkened by the end of the day, Maurice hesitantly had to go back with Rocket and Luca, to at least make an appearance among with the other apes to avoid suspicion since he had been gone for a while now. Much to his surprise though, Luca had offered himself to stay with the humans and Koba, not take no for an answer. The silverback had stated that he had already spoken to Caesar about this and that the Gorilla Guard would be fine without him as he entrusted Ajax to keep an eye on them. As Luca spoke about Ajax he couldn't help but pound his chest proudly, knowing well that the young gorilla that he had mentioned would be more than capable of handling things while he was away.
With a defeated sigh, Maurice had to convey his leave to Malcolm and the others. They understood that his presence was needed back among the apes and wished him a safe trip back. Maurice however promised that he would return in the morning and with that was rewarded with a small smile from Alexander. Before he left though, Ellie had stepped forward and adjusted the bandaging that was wrapped around his head.
Things had been quite the same upon his return to the apes, seeing that their injured were still many and more apes had gone off to retrieve more food for them during that time. Maurice had met up with Cornelia and Tinker, relieved to see his two friends were doing well, despite the on-goings around that required their constant attention. Much later that evening, Maurice and the others were soon joined by a very tired looking Caesar who for the most part looked to have a bit more color to him, thankfully. The leader had inquired about the condition on Koba and their human friends to which Maurice informed that they were doing well, despite Koba whom had been unconscious throughout the whole day. Upon mentioning the bonobo though, Maurice had noticed Cornelia keeping her eyes upon him while Tinker held onto Rocket just a little bit tighter.
Soon enough all of the apes had tuned out for the rest of the evening and Maurice laid upon his new makeshift cot, staring up at the starry sky. He did not know what the future may bring him nor the rest of the apes. However he did hope that they will all find a way out of this and maybe establish peace instead of war with the human soldiers that were coming. With a deep sigh, Maurice closed his beady green eyes and allowed rest to take him for the rest of the night.
...
The next morning, Maurice had gotten up and gathered what kinds of food he can to take back to the humans and Koba, if he were even awake. He knew that they didn't have much but the least he can do was provide them with at least something to eat and drink. He had met up with a much awake Caesar and Rocket whom were getting ready to direct the apes on what to do. Upon seeing him the two chimpanzees halted in what they were doing and made their way on over towards him.
"You going back to the others?" Caesar asked, with Maurice nodding in confirmation.
Maurice could see that Caesar had wanted to come along but he was very much needed here still, to instill a sense of hope for the apes that were all suffering very much so.
"Need me to come with you?" Rocket offered to which Maurice merely held up a hand and shook his head slowly.
"No need. You both are still needed here," Maurice smiled as he signed to the both of them. "I will send Luca back as fast as I can, so that he can help as well," Maurice finished.
With that said between the three of them, Maurice turned around and made the trek all the way back to where Caesar's old human home was. It had taken him quite a bit but eventually the orangutan came upon the familiar looking street that lead down to the house that was covered in vines and leaves. Making his way up the small steps, Maurice lightly rapt at the door and waited patiently. Soon enough the door flung open and there stood a menacing looking gorilla that which was Luca. Upon seeing him, Luca's fierce scowl melted away into that of simplicity and he quickly stepped away to allow Maurice into the home.
"Hello Luca. How are you?" Maurice asked once the door was closed behind him and gaining a nod from the silverback, confirming that he was well. "How is Koba?"
Upon seeing his question, Luca seemed to have rather tensed up momentarily before casting his eyes into the room where the affirmed ape was, causing Maurice himself to tilt his head at the gorilla.
"He… Seems to be doing fine but…" Luca started.
"But?" Maurice repeated the gesture, now curious.
"You have to see yourself," Luca gestured back before taking the lead into the small room.
With the both of them quietly entering, Maurice could see that Koba was now fully awake but as to if the injured ape had heard them or not, the bonobo gave no indication as such. Instead, Koba seemed to be looking down at something that was held in his right hand. Curiously Maurice craned his head back around to look up at Luca whom merely huffed quietly before indicating with a head not back at the bonobo.
"He hasn't spoken to anyone since he had woken up. The humans tried to go near him but he only growled at them. I thought I had to protect them from him," Luca explained.
"Did he not speak even to you?" Maurice inquired to which Luca merely shook his head slowly, side to side.
Looking back at Koba once more, Maurice observed the silent bonobo for a moment before heaving out a long sigh…
"Let me try to talk to him," Maurice signed back to the silverback before placing the bagful of food onto the small stand next to them.
Easing his way silently into the room, Maurice kept his eyes upon Koba's form as he approached him. Stopping by the injured ape's side, Maurice peered down at what Koba was looking at and was quite surprised that the ape was holding onto a picture frame. Within it held a familiar smiling man along with a familiar looking young chimpanzee. Upon seeing this, Maurice could help himself but smile inwardly at the photo that had captured the warm moment between man and ape.
"Where am I?"
Maurice blinked once before he turned his attention back towards Koba. As the injured bonobo turned his head slowly to look at him, Maurice was quite taken aback by what he saw. Instead of the usual cold singular green eye that Koba usually gave off. Now there were hints of gold that swirled among that circular green that was very reminiscent of Caesar's.
A golden green eye.
That was why Luca hadn't quite explain Koba's condition to him before?
Hearing an annoyed huff from the bonobo, bringing him back to his senses, Maurice met Koba's glare once more. Taking in a deep breath, Maurice had let his beady green eyes wander on over to where Luca stood, now flanked by Malcolm and his family before letting his gaze fall back upon Koba whom was still awaiting his answer.
"Caesar's old home," Maurice explained simply.
At this Koba huffed out through his nose and simply glared back down at the photo within his hands.
"This... Caesar home?" Koba scoffed, eyes darting around his surroundings before turning his attention back at Luca and then at the humans behind him.
Cheeks expanding during his huffs,, Koba turned his harsh gaze back at Maurice for a moment before he finally let his good eye fall back onto the photo within his hand.
Taking that as a queue to be left alone, Maurice took a step back away from Koba and made his way on over towards the others. Glancing back at the bonobo, Maurice and the others quietly made their way into the back area of the house and discussed some things regarding of what was going on. From there Maurice had learned that the humans were just as surprised as they were about Koba's new eye coloring, stating that they've never seen it before as well. It was then Maurice had remembered something and disappeared from the table for a moment only to reappear with a sack, full of various kinds of meat, nuts, and vegetation for them. Accepting the gift in thanks they all enjoyed the food within their hands for the time being.
It was a little later that Luca had declared that he must make his return back at Caesar's side. Surprisingly though Malcolm stood up and announced that he too was going to join Luca to be by Caesar's side. Both Luca and Maurice eyed one another, unsure as to why Malcolm had wanted to join the apes in their endeavors but the man pleaded to go, stating that the apes would need his knowledge about the soldiers that were coming for them. There had been several arguments back and forth between Malcolm and the two other apes but eventually the man had won out and wouldn't take no as an answer. Sighing in defeat, Maurice merely turned to look up at Luca.
"Take him to Caesar. He knows more about humans than we do at least. Might help apes and human soldiers stop from unnecessary violence towards one another," Maurice relented.
Heaving out a grunt, Luca nodded and immediately stood up to leave, with Malcolm quickly talking to his family before following after the silverback gorilla.
…
Ray groaned sadly to himself as he sat at the base of a tree at the edge of the cliff, keeping a lookout at the sea. He was not alone of course; there were many apes there with him, all stretched out on the line to keep a close eye upon anything strange that might show up. Fortunately for the past few days, nothing had came in sight, so it was a little dull. But dull was good and that meant more time for thinking, healing, and mourning.
Cradling his hand upon the cold human weapon, Ray himself didn't quite like it very much. It was cold and hard and ushered death if one knew how to use it. It was very foreign to him and he detested it. He had wished that he had held his spear instead, which was warm and alive, an extension of himself… The spear that he and his father had made.
At the thought of his father the young orangutan couldn't help but allow his eyes to become wet. It was due to the fighting with the humans that Ray had experienced true fear. He had stood frozen on the spot during the battle and was immediately shielded by his father. At the time Ray was unaware that his father had been fatally struck with only the older orangutan grimacing and offering a warm smile to his son in the process. Soon enough during the battle, Ray was soon separated during the rush and the last thing he saw of his father was the older orangutan keeping his smile upon his features as he was swept away along with the other apes that rushed to fight for Caesar.
After the chaos had settled down finally, Ray soon came upon the familiar corpse of his father's body. Too shock at even the thought of it, Ray immediately sat down next to the orangutan, put down his weapon and picked up Hector's hand. Ray gently pressed his father's hand to the side of his cheek as if the notion would somehow bring him a sense of hope and comfort. However all he could feel was the coldness that radiated from his father's hand. Closing his eyes tightly it was then and there that Ray knew that his father was not coming back to him, like many of the other apes that were littered among the streets.
Ray was then lost and did not know what to do. He had always sought out his father for guidance but now… The older orangutan was gone and Ray couldn't help but let a tears slowly fall from his wide dark green eyes. He had sat like that for a long while until Ray felt large hand pulling him away from his father's corpse. Turning to see who it was, Ray was surprised to see his teacher and mentor - Maurice, staring down at him with solemn looking eyes. Huffing quietly, Ray immediately buried his head into the bigger orangutan's chest and wept loudly, uncaring that other could hear him. Maurice on the other hand, had simply wrapped his arms around Ray and gently patted his back, allowing the younger orangutan to let loose his tears and sorrow.
With the memory fading away, Ray leaned his back upon the tree he sat on with a sigh and idly swung his leg to and fro as it hung over the cliff side. As good as it was that they were to keep a lookout for any threats to the apes, but it was rather boring to say, especially when there was nothing to see except the vast fog that shrouded everything. Deciding to get a better look, Ray left the cold gun on the ground and climbed up the tree that he was on in hopes to get a better view of his surroundings. Once he had gotten to the top of the tree Ray looked out and couldn't help but groan to himself. Of course this didn't help very much as everything was still covered in a blanket of fog. However for him there was a gentle cool breeze up here and it helped eased his mind, letting it gently whiff away at his thoughts as he closed his eyes.
As he opened his eyes once more, Ray had then noticed something strange in the far off distance, on the water. The object looked strange, something he definitely had not seen before. At first he thought it was a whale of some sort, like the ones he had seen with several other apes when they had all gone to the shore by the forest. But this thing… it looked bigger and was moving unnaturally, something that a whale would definitely not do. A human-made whale.
Ray was just about to climb back down but stopped when he heard the most faintest of noises. It had been days since he had heard the distinct sounds of human voices and now he wished that he never had. Along with human speech, nothing good has ever come from it from his experience. However Caesar seemed to trust these humans and when Ray had overlooked Blue Eyes and Ash as well the two apes had seemed to be coming around to agreeing with their leader as well, especially since the day that those few humans that were lead from the city.
Even so, Ray himself couldn't tell which humans were good nor which ones were bad and that was the most frustrating thing about them.
While still in the middle of his thoughts, Ray immediately froze when he sighted the humans now as the giant metal whale got closer. Each and every one of those humans had guns within their hands and were all wearing strange colors that resembled leaves. He huffed out quietly and let his lime green eyes lower back down to where his own gun laid. There was no way he would make it back down to retrieve his weapon, if he were to he knew that he would be immediately spotted by the humans and he couldn't take that chance.
Quickly, Ray had dropped from the tree towards the cliff-side. During his descent, Ray could hear one of the humans yelling and alerting the others on board the metal whale. The moment he had landed, Ray quickly ducked his head when he heard the ever familiar ear-splitting sound of gunfire.
"Idiot! Don't shoot!" Ray had heard one of them shout.
"Too late, they probably heard that already," Ray heard another.
He wasn't going to take a look behind him to see which of the humans were talking. All he knew was that they were trying to kill him and that was all the verification he needed to know that these were the soldiers that Caesar had been warning them about. Now he need to make it back to Caesar and the other apes as fast as he could before the humans could get there.
...
Hours ticked on by and Maurice found himself sitting in the same room with Koba, whom was as still and quiet as the unmoving air around them. Ellie and Alexander had preoccupied themselves with cleaning the medical equipment that were used on Koba and had left the two apes alone for the time being. Noticing Alexander's sketchpad upon the table, Maurice had just about to reach for it when he heard Koba shifting, causing him to pause momentarily and look up at the bonobo.
"Asleep… How long?" Koba suddenly asked.
Seeing that Koba was now looking at him, Maurice heaved out a tired sigh as he thought about it.
"Six sun cycles," Maurice gestured back.
Huffing quietly, Koba's gaze lowered for a moment, seeming to think to himself for a moment.
"What I saw… What I heard… Is it true? Did Caesar saved me?" Koba asked, his vision still set upon the floor.
Letting out a low grumble, Maurice nodded in confirmation.
"Why!?" Koba seethed, glaring at Maurice with his singular golden green eye, whom frowned back at him.
"You should know why old friend. You may not see it but Caesar and other apes do care for you," Maurice explained before Koba had let out a grunt and glared elsewhere.
Hearing a light creaking sound towards his left, Maurice had then noticed both Ellie and Alex as they came into view, seeming having come to check up on them upon hearing Koba's snapping voice.
"Not just apes but these humans too," Maurice explained as he slowly turned back towards Koba whom had craned his neck around to glare at both Alex and Ellie.
"Humans…" Koba spat."Humans. Do nothing! But hurt apes!" he hissed.
"T-that's not true!" a voice suddenly called out, causing both Koba and Maurice to turn their attention towards Alexander.
"Alex!" Ellie reached out for the boy but Alexander would not be stopped, shrugging his mother's hold on him and taking a step forward into the middle of the room to bravely look at Koba.
"Not all of us humans are bad. There are some that only wanted to be left alone and even then we never even wanted to hurt apes. A-all we wanted to do was do our work and leave," Alex stuttered but stood his ground while facing the intimidating bonobo while Ellie walked up to him.
Koba simply stared at Alexander for a long moment before he dipped his head down, seeming defeated by the boy's words. At this they all thought that Alexander had talked some sense into Koba but a scoff from the injured bonobo, caused all of them to stare at injured ape warily. Rearing his face back up at Alexander, Koba merely sneered at the boy.
"Lies," Koba hissed before he tilted his head to the side and pointed with his good arm at the old wound upon his neck. "This. Human. Work," he started before he rolled his right arm over to show the ugly white scar that ran down the length of it. "Human. Work," he said a little louder, causing both Alexander and Ellie to flinch. "Human! Work!" Koba practically shouted at both Alexander and Ellie while he dragged his right hand down the left side of his face.
The silence was filled with the pants from the injured ape whom was staring down at both Alex and Ellie, the two of them holding onto each other for comfort upon hearing Koba's words. Seeing that they had no response to his accusations, Koba couldn't help himself as he smiled triumphantly over the two, knowing that his words rang true. That all humans were evil.
Maurice during all of this had been quiet as he stared back and forth from Koba and to Alexander and Ellie. What Koba had said was true, that a lot of humans were terrible. However, Alexander on the other hand was right as well and there were some good humans out there. With Alex and his family themselves being as such. While on the subject of Alexander, Maurice observed both the teenage boy and his mother Ellie as they held onto each other, their eyes wet with the hurtful words of accusation from Koba, seeming to understand where his hatred had come from. He knew that they were not the cause of Koba's torment but only because they were human, Koba had wrongfully blamed them… And this will not do at all. Turning his attention back on over to the injured bonobo, an idea struck him. Approaching his injured friend, Maurice looked Koba over once, gaining the attention of the still injured bonobo.
"Human. Work?" Maurice spoke gently, gaining all of their attention this time.
Maurice's beady green eyes looked his friend over before he slowly pointed to the makeshift cast that was on Koba's left arm and leg.
"Human. Work?" Maurice grumbled out gently, noticing the look of shock and surprise upon the injured ape's face. "Human. Work," Maurice softly said next, indicating with a finger at the bandages that ran over Koba's torso and backside, both Alex and Ellie slowly separating from each other and following his hand movements. "Human. Work," Maurice now pointed out the heaps of fresh supply of cleanly washed bandages and heaps of strewn out medicine next to them. "Human. Work," Maurice finished as he touched the bandage that was wrapped around his own head before reaching out and pointing at Koba's head as well.
Silence soon fell upon them once more and Maurice couldn't help but smile when he noticed that Koba had nothing to say.
"I agree Koba. There are bad humans out there… However, there are good humans too, if you know where to look," Maurice explained, waving his hand back to both Alexander and Ellie.
Following to where Maurice was indicating, Koba's golden green eye locked onto the two humans who stood in the middle of the room. Huffing quietly, he turned his attention to Maurice as the orangutan continued.
"Without their help, we would have lost you my friend. Together the humans here and Caesar did their best so that you would not die. These humans that you have put so much blame on," Maurice paused to look at both Ellie and Alexander momentarily before turning back to face the injured bonobo. "Really do care about us apes and are good." Maurice continued.
Grinding his teeth together, Koba looked from Maurice's smiling face to the two human's curious ones. Shaking his head and shutting his eyes tightly, Koba couldn't help himself as his mind tried to comprehend what the orangutan had just informed him. Were there good humans in the world? No. There's no such thing as good humans. Maurice was wrong… But how come he couldn't shake this inkling feeling deep within his chest as he thought more about it. How could he explain to himself about the two humans who were standing in front of him right now, looking at him with those concerned eyes, even after he had yelled at them were bad still? Suddenly an image flashed within his mind.
The vision was that of a woman who wore a warm smile upon her lips. Every time she would see Koba, her face would brightened and the air was filled with that of gentle human laughter… A calming noise.
Groaning quietly to himself, Koba reached upon with his his good hand and held the side of his head, as his mind rang loudly.
"Are you hurt?"
The soft voice from the human woman had brought Koba out of his throes. Heaving quietly, Koba turned his attention towards the human woman whom was looking down at him with a concerned look to her eyes.
"I have medicine that can probably help you," the woman continued quietly.
Even after he had berated her, accused her of the things that her kind did, Koba was still ever so surprised that the human woman had still wanted to help him. Why? Why would she do such a thing? It didn't make any sense to him.
Before anything more could be said a loud explosion in the distance caught all of them off guard, causing them to duck their head slightly.
"What was that?!" Alexander asked aloud.
"An explosion and..." Ellie paused for a moment before she suddenly approached the windows and looked out of it. "Gunfire…" she finished.
Apologies, not much for this chapter as it's just basically just exposition... Well, we do get a little bit more about a couple of characters at least. All we need to know now is that things are starting up now and we are introduced to Ray again! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. As always, Happy Readings everyone!