With the approach of next morning, Blue Eyes, Rocket, Alex and Malcolm all came upon fields where plants were growing in rows. Blue Eyes and Rocket however scratched at themselves, trying to figure out why the plants grew like that but Malcolm and Alex knew better. Soon enough the four of them saw several humans coming over a small hill to tend to the plants.

"Humans," Blue Eyes spoke up, turning to look back at the others.

"Yeah, there's a few of them too," Malcolm answered just as quietly as he lowered himself with the others.

"Looks like they're working the fields. Wondering what they're growing?" Alexander piped up.

However their forth companion, Rocket, did not take the sight of humans as wonderfully as the others.

"Must hide. If humans see. They will alert. Us danger," Rocket cautioned, already easing himself away and out of sight.

Agreeing with the nearly hairless chimpanzee, everyone else followed Rocket, who lead them away from the fields. Trekking along the side, the group soon came upon a hill, and below it a town. Rocket and Blue Eyes had seen many of the human towns while they were on their journey, mostly desolate and empty as far as they can both recall. This one however was quite full of life. Not very large like the city skyscrapers, but a cluster of buildings arranged around a common square.

"Human homes?" Blue Eyes spoke up, turning to face Malcolm.

"Indeed. I never would have imagined that there were small pockets of human life way out here," Malcolm breathed, a small smile upon his face.

"Hey guys! Look over there!" Alex said aloud, causing all heads to turn to where he was pointing at.

There in a rather large cage that was built out of branches, wooden posts, wire and rope, sat both Ash and Ray. Upon seeing the other two apes, Blue Eyes and Rocket had let out a unified relieved breath, smiling, knowing that their other two companions were fine. But they all were still weary when they noticed several humans around the cage. These particular humans did not seem hostile towards Ash and Ray, rather they looked more curious about them. Although that didn't hide the fact that some of the humans were poking at both Ash and Ray through the wooden bars and tossed small stones at them to get their attention.

This of course did not settle well with Rocket, as he saw some of the humans poking at his son and Ray like they were some sort of animal. With a low growl the nearly hairless chimpanzee made to move forwards but was abruptly stopped by a hand on his arm. Snarling, Rocket rounded back around to see who had stopped him, surprised to see that it was Malcolm, a look of concern etched upon his features.

"No Rocket. Don't," Malcolm prompted.

They all watched as Rocket slowly turned his head back to where both of the other apes and stared momentarily before letting out a deep breath, deflating his shoulders, nodding slowly all the while. Opting to glare at the humans from afar instead.

When the poking and rock tossing did not stop the group noticed a very loud young human, running out from one of the buildings, chasing the other humans away from the cage. To Blue Eyes' surprise, he noticed that some of the larger humans even backed away from the loud mouthed human female. As if they were submitting to her. Narrowing his gaze, Blue Eyes watched on as the human female would turn to look at both Ash and Ray momentarily before she walked off into the building again.

Eventually the girl came back out with another woman and they fed the two apes in the cage. Satisfied that Ash and Ray were being kept well for now, Blue Eyes and Rocket had then chosen to sit down and try to count all of the humans there. They found it hard to count all of them, partly because many of the humans looked alike and both Blue Eyes and Rocket weren't sure if they had counted some of the humans twice.

Curious of their two companions, Alexander had sat down with Blue Eyes and Rocket.

"What are you guys doing?" Alexa asked.

"Counting humans," Blue Eyes replied.

"Oh? How many have you guys counted so far?" Alexander asked with a smile.

"Not sure. Hard to count. Humans. Look the same," Blue Eyes replied with a frown.

"What?" Alexander asked with a wry face, confusing Blue Eyes.

"Humans look the same?" Hard to tell," Blue Eyes repeated.

"Funny how that is," Alexander commented, thinking on it for a moment. "Want me to help?" he finally asked.

And so Alexander along with his father helped both Blue Eyes and Rocket in counting the humans, concluding that there seemed to be about less than a hundred that walked about, so far as they could tell at least. This was of course, excluding the little humans.

To Blue eyes' surprise though, he noticed that there were quite a lot of the little human children here, much more than the ones back in city. Unlike some of the adults, the human children did not seem hostile to both Ash and Ray, more or less seeming curious about the two apes, some looking like they wanted to touch them through the bars but were eventually lead away by the older ones.

"Well, alright then!" Malcolm said suddenly catching all of their attention.

"W-what dad?" Alexander asked curiously.

"I'm going to go down there. Make myself known. Hope that these people are not hostile and will try to negotiate Ash and Ray back," Malcolm informed.

"No. Too dangerous," Blue Eyes warned. "If humans find out. You help apes. They will hurt you too. Too dangerous."

"Dangerous for them too, Blue," Malcolm countered as he pointed at the cage that held both Ash and Ray.

Blue Eyes and Rocket both turned their heads to look at their two caged companions before meeting each other's eyes, stuck in a dilemma of sorts.

"This is the reason why we came with you. With all of you. To prevent hostilities from both apes and humans," Malcolm explained to the two apes. "Let us help you," Malcolm said to the young prince.

At this Blue Eyes thought for a long moment. Maybe sending in Malcolm was not a bad idea after all. He could possibly negotiate the release of Ash and Ray. That is, if these humans were not hostile like the ones they've seen in the city. But then again this is putting the man in danger too and Blue Eyes didn't want that. There were so many wrong that could happen but yet there was a possibility that this could work for them as well. What would his father do?

Making eye contact with Rocket, the older chimpanzee merely grunted.

"Do what you think is right," Rocket gestured back.

After a long thinking process on Blue Eyes' part. The young chimp met Malcolm's eyes once more and nodded.

"You can go. But if there is danger you come right back," Blue Eyes ordered. "And if you don't return when sky is dark," Blue Eyes continued.

"And if I don't return by night?" Malcolm inquired.

"Then we get you. Ash and Ray," Rocket answered simply with a grunt.

"You got it buddy," Malcolm answered as he made to stand up.

"Wait, I'm coming too," Alexander spoke up as well, standing.

"No," Malcolm said simply, causing the teen to falter. "This is dangerous Alex. You are not going with me. I don't want you there if things go south."

"But-"

"No Alexander! Stay here with Blue Eyes and Rocket. They're going to need your help," Malcolm said sternly towards his son.

The teen huffed, glaring down at the ground for a long moment before nodding slowly. Upon seeing this, Malcolm's face softened and he reached out to give Alex a hug.

"I'll do my best to talk to these people. Get Ash and Ray back. You guys stay hidden until then," Malcolm spoke to all of them, gaining slow nods in return. "And if I don't return by sundown… Please. Just be careful."

With that said, Malcolm took in a deep breath and turned towards the town. After a moment more, the man made his way down the hill and straight into town. They watched with anticipation as Malcolm walked towards the other humans and was briefly stopped by several of them, his arms raised to show that he was friendly. It wasn't long until Malcolm was taken elsewhere and disappeared from view.

"If you father. Does not return. Then we do as we say. We wait until night. And get all of them," Blue Eyes spoke, turning to look at Alexander who nodded silently.

"We should. Be able. To. Sneak in. And free. Them," Rocket voiced in as well, trying to reassure Alex, if not he himself as he kept his eyes on Ash.

So that's what they did and waited patiently.

…

Making eye contact with the little human children Ash barked once at them, causing them all to let out small fits of squealing laughter before they dispersed quickly, only for them to all to crowd around his cage once more. Since he and Ray were brought here Ash had grown accustomed to this little game that he was playing with the small children. He would bark, they run, and then come back, only to repeat the process over and over again. These little human children were very much like their own young ones back in their home. Of course there were several times where one of the older humans would come over and take one of their little ones away from their play, giving him the dirty eye all the while but Ash didn't mind. As long as he kept himself busy and was not hurting anyone then he and Ray were safe. For now.

When they had first been brought into the human town both he and Ray marveled at how alive everything looked to them. These human all had little homes, were walking about, singing, eating and doing many strange things that they've never seen before. However when they were sighted all of the humans merely gawked at the both of them, some out of fear, others out of curiosity and a few in looks of wonder.

The humans had tied both he and Ray together tightly before some of they began working together on something. It wasn't until a little later that morning did both he and Ray had seen that the humans were working on some sort of makeshift cage for the both of them. They were immediately tossed inside and luckily Carla had vouched for their limbs to be untied since they were put within the cage. The other humans were hesitant at first but eventually they did as what Carla had asked. And the both of them had been like that ever since.

"Stop playing with children and help me figure out how to escape," Ray tapped Ash's shoulder to get his attention, frustrated that the older ape wasn't taking their predicament seriously.

"We will figure out later. The humans will get suspicious of us if they see us tampering with cage. Best wait," Ash nonchalantly signed back, close to his chest so that only Ray could see before he went back to making faces to the little human children, causing another uproar of a fit of laughter from them.

With a defeated sigh, Ray slumped his shoulders slightly and figured that Ash was right. If they were seen trying to free themselves, they both would be in more trouble than necessary. Best they should wait until then.

While he watched Ash making faces with the human children, Ray noticed one of them, a little female, he would assume by their longer hair and higher pitched squeals, was curiously watching him. Making eye contact with her, Ray tilted his head curiously at the girl as she slowly approached him. Meeting the little human girl's eyes, Ray's curiosity got the best of him and hesitantly he stuck his hand out towards her. The little human seemed timid at first as she twisted her body to and fro, not sure if she should approach him or not. After a little while though she finally decided to make her way towards him, standing just out of reach.

At this time, Ash and the other children had stopped in their play and were watching both Ray and the little girl curiously. The little human girl looked down at Ray's welcoming hand before she turned her dark brown eyes and met Ray's dark green ones once more. The two stared at each other for a long while before the little girl shyly reached out towards Ray's hand.

"Hey!"

Immediately Ash, Ray and the human children all turned their heads in the direction where they had heard the shout and in came running one of the older humans, bearing a large dangerous looking stick. Ray quickly pulled back his arm as the man raised the pole, brandishing it like a weapon and swung down with it, nearly striking his arm, where it was just moments before.

"Don't touch the kids you stinking animal!" the man shouted at both Ash and Ray, causing all the little ones to scream and run away from the scene.

"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted from behind all of them.

Turning around, Ash and Ray saw Feliz running out from one of the buildings and straight towards them.

"What's going on here?! What do you think you're doing?!" Feliz snapped angrily.

"One of your monkeys was going to rip my little girl's arms off!" the man shot back.

"Oh yeah? Well maybe someone should've been keeping an eye on their own kid! The apes are locked up! How in the world would the be able to-"

Ash and Ray were confused by all of the yelling that was going on between Feliz and the other human man, both screaming obscenities towards one another. Before long Ash and Ray both saw Carla walking up to the two and spoke calmly to both. Whoever this Carla was to the humans, they seemed to respect her and slowly the man turned around and left without another word, while Feliz merely frowned at the leaving human.

As both Ash and Ray separated from one another, they watched as many of the little human children were slowly being lead away by the bigger ones, leaving only a few left to look about and play quietly nearby. Hearing approaching footsteps, both Ash and Ray looked up, surprised to see the girl, Feliz glaring down at them.

"I leave for about five minutes and you guys are already causing trouble," Feliz snapped at them, noticing their heads lowering.

Just when Ash and Ray thought they were going to get another mouthful of lectures, Carla had stepped in.

"Feliz why don't you go rest for a bit," the older woman suggested.

While still glaring at both Ash and Ray, the girl took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"Ugh! Whatever! I can't believe we're even risking our necks for the both of you!" Feliz announced suddenly before stomping away, back in the direction from where she came from.

"Such a temper on that girl," Carla said aloud with a sigh before turning to face the two younger apes. "I'm sorry you two. It's not everyday that we humans see ones such as yourselves. Hopefully no other problems will arise from this."

Ash and Ray stared up at the woman, wondering to themselves if she had figured out that they could understand her. But as Carla looked on, she suddenly turned away and let out a small fit a of laughter, confusing the two.

"Oh dear. There I go again. Talking to myself," Carla said aloud while waving a hand in front of her face, like she was shooing something away from her.

And with that, Ash and Ray then watched as Carla slowly followed Feliz back into the building from where she came, leaving the both of them there alone once more.

"We should. Stop," Ray gestured to the older white flecked chimp.

"Yes," Ash agreed, sighing to himself before leaning onto the wooden bars, watching the humans from afar.

As the morning drew on, with nothing to do, and ignoring the persistence from the new humans that poked him with a stick and even tossed pebbles at both he and Ray. Ash was just about to doze off when he heard Ray hooting quietly. Jolting awake, Ash quickly turned to look at the younger orangutan before following Ray's gaze to see what had cause for his surprising hoot. When Ash finally saw Malcolm's form approaching the other humans from afar, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of the man.

They were both going to be saved.

Happy to see the older human, Ash was about to call out towards him but was immediately stopped by Ray, who latched onto his arm and shook his head quickly.

"Dangerous," Ray gestured worriedly.

At this, Ash huffed as his face fell and he slowly turned back around to look at Malcolm once more, noticing the older human glance their way quickly before turning to face the other humans around him. Then both he and Ray watched on as Malcolm was then led away, into one of the buildings. Leaving the both of them there, all alone once more.

"What do? Ash?" Ray whispered quietly as he took a hold of the cage.

"Do not know," Ash answered just as quietly as he too watched on with worry.

…

While the trio waited for Malcolm's hopeful return, the lack of sleep the night before was finally taking a toll upon the three. Blue Eyes had tried his best to stay awake, finding himself drifting in and out of a light sleep, lulled to slumber by the sounds of the birds, and even the chatter of the humans from afar. Eventually as the day wore on, Blue Eyes finally gave in to the serene sounds and soon closed his eyelids, allowing sleep to take a hold of him.

He knew naught how long he was asleep for, but Blue Eyes woke up with a start, surprised to discover that Rocket had too fallen asleep, draping one heavy arm over his face. With a tired sigh, Blue Eyes gently pushed his uncle's arm off of him before slowly pulling himself into a sitting position. Looking up at the sky, he noticed that the world was starting to go dark, seeing just the small twinkling lights of the stars appearing. He was about to get up and stand but someone's hand suddenly shot out and took a hold of his arm. He was about to react to the sudden motion but stopped when he heard Alexander's voice.

"Blue Eyes don't move!" Alex whispered, causing the chimpanzee to go still.

"What is wrong Alex? Where is your father? Has he returned?" Blue Eyes asked, reaching up to rub away the sleep from his eyes.

"Shhhh. Dad's not back yet but there's something else out here with us." the human teen replied, cautiously looking around. "Do you hear that?"

At this, Blue Eyes listened and soon enough he could hear the familiar sounds of nickering of horses. Horses? Out here? But then Blue Eyes and Alexander turned their heads when they saw the beginning of lights starting up in the town. It had always amazed Blue Eyes at what the humans had accomplished. They had made fire light without the use of the fire itself. A thing of wonder when he had first saw it, but now… It only brought him a sense of dread. A thing of fear in the way humans used it to search for apes in the dark… Like back in the city.

While on that thought Blue Eyes couldn't help but think about those horrors of that night that felt so long ago. Apes and humans dying in the streets. Yelling and gunfire everywhere around him. The strange lights that filled the darkness in all sorts of colors that he's never seen before. If these humans had these lights, then most likely they have other things too. Such as weapons, like the ones on the ship. In the city. The thing Malcolm had told him about. Small boxes that allowed them to talk to other humans over vast distances. Call upon enemies to come for them, to fight against his father. While thinking on these things, Blue Eyes couldn't help himself as he hunched over and began to rock back and forth, breathing quickly. His hairs standing on end, with his wide eyes staring at the eerie bright lights that shone in the darkness. As if it were mocking him and beckoning him to approach them.

He was afraid.

While he sat there, rocking in on himself, feeling like something was suffocating him, Blue Eyes suddenly felt a hand upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and see who it was. With the barest of the town's light just slightly illuminating Alexander's face, Blue Eyes could see that the teen was looking at him, his features full of concern.

"It's okay Blue Eyes. Breath. Just breath," Alexander spoke quietly.

And Blue Eyes did just that. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to steady his breathing, thinking on anything but the strange lights that reminded him of the battle in the city. After a little while, Blue Eyes managed to calm himself down enough to open up his eyelids once more, staring straight at the light that were produced from the town.

"Are you okay now?" Alexander asked hesitantly.

"Yes… Thank you. Alex," Blue Eyes said quietly.

"You gave me quite a scare there,," Alexander breathed back."You're welcome by the way."

There was a suddenly whicker of horses again, disrupting the two youngsters from each other, causing them to look around themselves. Soon enough there were the several beats of horse hooves off towards their left, beyond their hiding place within the bushes that they were hiding behind. Blue Eyes and Alexander held their breaths as they could now see the silhouettes of the horses and their riders, all outlined by the reddish hue of the sunset behind them, making them almost glow against the night of the world.

In that faint, vermillion twilight, Blue Eyes and Alexander could now see the riders upon three horses, all them apes. Keeping still the both of them watched the ape riders as they stared down at the lights below, struck with wonder and fear alike, just as Blue Eyes was.

Blue Eyes craned his head as he took a closer look at the three apes, noticing that one of them looked very familiar. Blue Eyes' breath caught in his throat when he noticed why the ape had looked so familiar. It was Fox, with a rifle resting casually across his lap while he stared down at the town. Frowning, Blue Eyes tried to look past Fox, but couldn't tell who the other apes were.

It couldn't be coincidence that Fox and the other two apes were on the same ridge as them, each holding a weapon no less. Those three must have been the apes who had followed them all the way from the city. The ones who shot at them back at the sanctuary. And were now here, looking for them.

Blue Eyes couldn't help but bare his fangs at Fox at such a betrayal. He could still remember the look the older chimp had given him, the day on the bridge. When he was frozen with fear when he and Ash were being shot at by the humans from the city. Blue Eyes could even recall the older chimp frowning at his father's plans and sometimes even speaking out against them, along with a few others.

Was Fox really going to kill him and the others? When did he decide that they should die?

"Blue Eyes? What do we do?" Alexander whispered, snapping Blue Eyes out of his thoughts.

Blue Eyes glanced slowly over his shoulder at the human teen before he placed a finger onto his lips. Alex nodded, knowing that they must be quiet. With that, Blue Eyes gingerly bent down and nudged Rocket to quietly wake him. To both Blue Eyes and Alexander's horror, Rocket made a snorting sound as he woke with a start. Thinking quickly, Blue Eyes reached for his gun, but Fox had heard Rocket and was already turning his head, looking in their direction. Blue Eyes froze, his finger merely inches away from his weapon while Alexander had too stopped in reaching for his.

Upon meeting Blue Eyes, Fox had let out a low hoot and the other two apes moved around him. As they both came into view, Blue Eyes could now recognize Stripe, who glared back at him. The other was Bon, another chimpanzee that had followed Pope before.

Breath caught in his throat, Blue Eyes could only stare with wide eyes as both Stripe and Bon recognized their prince by the bushes. Upon sighting Blue Eyes, Bon huffed and grinned menacingly his prince, while Stripe did not hesitate. Stripe jerked his arm up with his rifle, pointing it at Blue Eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Blue Eyes gasped when he heard the deafening sound of the gun and tensed his body for pain, but that never came. Instead, Blue Eyes was surprised when he saw a rock flying fast past him, striking his would be shooter right in the chest. Stripe had let out a surprised yelp as he careened backwards, plummeting from his mount with his gun firing into the starry night sky. The sounds of its repeating, echoing off into the far distance.

Gasping, Blue Eyes turned his head quickly towards his right, seeing that Rocket was already reaching down for another rock. As the older chimp reached for the intended object however, Rocket had to jump backwards as the ground in front of him kicked up dirt as Fox and Bon were now shooting at them, bullets missing them.

Blue Eyes quickly turned back to their attackers when he heard a yelp coming from Fox. It was then Blue Eyes had realized that unlike he and the other apes, Fox was still not used to his weapon and had not accounted the recoil from the gun. Blue Eyes watched as Fox tried to control his weapon but failed to do so, unable to let go of the trigger which knocked him backwards off of his own horse. As Fox fell, he had hit the lip of the hill, letting out a painful grunt, before disappearing from edge and into the darkness below.

By this time, Rocket had rid himself of his stupor, retrieved his weapon and was shooting his gun at Bon who had remained. Pope's follower was quick as he ducked behind his horse, the bullets whizzing by him, missing only by a hair. The chimpanzee then dropped from the animal and quickly jumped behind the hill for cover as Rocket continued to fire at him.

Scrambling on the ground for his weapon, Blue Eyes was breathing hard, desperate to find his gun that lay hidden somewhere.

"Blue Eyes?!" Alexander panicked.

"My gun!" Blue Eyes answered back.

As Blue Eyes finally found his own weapon again, lost in the confusion, they all heard another burst of gunfire from behind him. Turning around quickly, Blue Eyes was surprised to see a fourth ape, Aghoo, riding into view, his weapon pointed right at the chimpanzee prince. If the situation wasn't so dire and if Ash was with them. Blue Eyes could swore that his honorary brother would had fallen over, laughing, seeing how ridiculous Aghoo rode in on his tiny looking horse.

Alex and Blue Eyes however stood there, petrified by the bigger gorilla charging in on his horse with his gun pointed at them. The two youngsters then felt something tackling them hard from the side, sending them tumbling down the hillside they were on as Aghoo fired his gun again. The two youngsters grunted and hissed in pain as their bodies rolled down the rocky slope that nicked and dug into their sides. Eventually Blue Eyes and Alexander came to a slow stop and groaned as their bodies ached from such a fall.

Laying there, both Blue Eyes and Alexander groaned to themselves before someone immediately picked them up from the ground.

"Run! Quick!" Rocket barked at the two before he raised his gun up at the top of the hill and fired when he saw two shadows popping over it.

Quickly recovering and doing what the older ape had said, both Blue Eyes and Alexander followed suit and began to run through the darkness, dodging across the stoney hillside with bullets fizzing near them and striking sparks into the stones by their feets. Running the three finally found a boulder and quickly dove behind it with Rocket jumping behind it last as he turned and fired back at the other apes. The three of them could hear Aghoo bellowing in anger, rather than pain as he lost sight of them in the darkness. Rocket decided to try his luck again as he leaned out and fired with his gun but was confused when it didn't recoil when he pulled the trigger. Trying again, several more times, Rocket threw his weapon away down the side in frustration.

This was bad news for them. Their extra ammunition was on their horses, wherever they are. Which only left Blue Eyes and Alexander with however many bullets were lift within their own guns. And with what had recently occured the last couple of days they all didn't expect it to be much.

"What do we do? I-I don't think we have enough bullets left!" Alexander breathed turning his head towards the human town.

Following the teen's gaze, Blue Eyes could see that the town was no longer quiet. Lights blared from up on towers, and there was a good deal of yelling from below. A group of humans were forming up near the gates, with lights shining from their hands, like the ones Alexander and Malcolm used from time to time.

"We must leave!" Rocket panted as he stood fully erect and peered from behind the two youngsters. "Now!"

With a huff, both Blue Eyes and Alexander cast their sights back down at both Ash and Ray, whom were looking worriedly from their cage. Blue Eyes knew that his two friends couldn't see them of course as they were looking from light into darkness. But maybe they would have seen the flames of their guns. No matter what Blue Eyes had wanted to stay and rescue his friends, their safety was top priority right now. Rocket knows this and it must be even harder for him because he has to abandoned Ash behind.

"Yes, we must go. But which way?" Blue Eyes turned back around, along with Alexander.

Rocket looked around quickly before he perked up and pointed off in a direction.

"There! Slope on hill. Too steep for horses to follow," Rocket observed. "If they follow. Us. Without horses. Then we can ambush. If not. We will get ahead," he concluded.

Looking from Rocket to Alex, Blue Eyes stared up at the teen, waiting for him to voice in. Alex however merely nodded quickly, assenting to what Rocket had suggested. Turning back to his honorary uncle, Blue Eyes too nodded once, and together they bounded off through the brush and into the dark. As they all ran, gunfire exploded behind the three, but this time those sounds were met with reports, not from them but from the town itself.

…

Winter huffed as he followed close behind the large group of silent apes as they all crossed the dark and silent bridge. It had been about a days since the fantastical event that ripped one of the buildings apart but they had all managed somehow as Caesar and the other's had lead all of the females and children towards the water. It was there they stayed undercover until some of the apes had drawn most of the soldiers away once more. Then, once it was all clear, they began their journey back into the safety of the forest, in the darkness of the night.

Winter despised the night, glancing around he very much envied the other apes and their dark coats. Allowing them to blend in with the night and at least hide within the shadows if the humans were looking for them. But him? No, not with his white colored hair. Even under the faintest of night skies, he glowed like the light of the moon, which made it impossible for him to hide in the night. He couldn't help but remember how when he would always be the first one to be found in their hide-and-seek games after dark. He hated those times… When the other adolescents would go out to hunt small game, he was never invited, because he would alert their prey with his stupid white pelt.

Confirming of what he was thinking, Winter side glanced at Luca, Ajax and Brutus as they stuck close to him, hiding his white body from the prying eyes of the humans, if they were watching from afar.

Turning his sights upwards to where most of the warriors were at, Winter knew that Glade was up there, somewhere, looking down at him. Keeping watch just in case, should anything happen. Grunting, Winter knew that Glade had told him to leave but he couldn't just let it go. Why couldn't he stay with the bonobo? Why did he want to stay with the bonobo? That's what confused him the most.

"Why can I. Not stay. Here?" Winter asked Luca silently. "I can stay. And fight."

"Females have children. There are sick. Hurt. And old apes. Too. They need hunters. And. Warriors. To fend off predators. Strong backs. To help them build shelter. To protect them. This is what. We do. What Gorilla Guard. Does." Luca answered.

"But you. Fight. With Caesar," Winter answered back.

"Winter. Stop," Ajax warned from the front, turning his head slightly to address the younger gorilla, whom lowered his head slightly.

Luca huffed and reached out, placing a hand upon Ajax's shoulder before turning to look at Winter once more, as they all continued to walk across the bridge.

"Remember Winter. It is honor. For us," Luca reassured the young white haired gorilla. "Before apes. Had village. Before apes. Had wall. We gorillas. Were the walls. Like Buck. Before us. Who died. So that we. Can all be free," he explained.

Upon hearing this, Winter merely frowned in on himself as he continued to listen to Luca.

"We gorillas. Walk around. The troops. Encircle them. And do not let. Danger get through. That is you. That is Ajax. That is Korso and me. We may not. Be fast. And not the best. Swingers in trees. But we. Are strongest. And nothing. Can get past. Us gorillas." Luca informed.

"Except humans. With gun," Winter breathed.

"We have guns. Too," Ajax spoke up. "Do. Not worry. We fight humans. With their weapons."

"Most important though. Our home. Is gone. And we must. Find. a new home. For apes. And once again. We must be. Walls for our apes. For when enemy comes. They will seek. Weakest part of wall. To attack. That will not. Be you. understand?" Luca spoke to Winter as they continued.

"But… I have. No color. Am white. Enemies see me. From across forest. At night," Winter responded.

"Wall. Not meant. To be invisible. Winter," Luca explained, causing Winter to turn his head to look at the dark form of Luca curiously. "Simply knowing. That wall is there. Sends enemies running. In other direction. No matter what you are. You only need. To display strength," Luca finished.

As Winter thought upon Luca's words, on what it means to be in the Gorilla Guard. What they do in order to defend the apes. When hearing this and understanding about why it was necessary for him to go, he did feel a bit better. But that leaves the question of why he had wanted to stay. On that thought, his minded had then wandered back to before he had crossed the bridge.

With a snort, Winter was woken up by one of the other gorillas a few hours after dark. Blinking tiredly, Winter looked about himself, seeing that many of the others were already up and ready. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Winter himself felt like he had barely any rest at all with fearful dreams of falling, smoke and fire kept waking him during most of his rest. But now, looking around, he could see the other apes' slumped shoulders, as if they hadn't rest at all. He should at least consider himself lucky to have gotten a few winks in.

Hearing a small hoot towards his left, Winter had then turned to face a small figure quickly approaching him. That figure was none other than the bonobo Glade, who had kept near him in his hour of need.

"Time for Winter to go," Glade spoke quietly, making to stand up, once he was at Winter's side.

"What. About. You?" Winter asked hesitantly, standing up. "Coming. Too?"

With that question, Winter could see the bonobo beside him going quiet within the dark. As the silent drew on, Winter was starting to grow uneasy, unsure if the bonobo would even answer him at this point.

"Cannot go," Glade finally replied, noticing Winter's breath hitch slightly.

"Glade. Not coming?!" Winter huffed, worry lacing his voice. "Why?"

"Glade place. Is here. With Caesar... And other. Warriors," Glade answered in a quiet soft voice, unable to lift his head up to meet Winter's.

The both of them grew silent again, with only the soft padding of the other apes making their way out towards the bridge that connected the human city to their home in the forest.

"I… I want. To. Stay. Then," Winter began, trying to stand tall.

Glade's shadowy form merely looked up at Winter. He wasn't sure of what the bonobo was thinking as the smaller ape looked at him, unable to see his face in the night. But he heard Glade eventually heaving out a tired sigh and slowly shook his head side to side.

"Winter does not. Belong here," Glade quickly responded, confusing the white haired gorilla. "Winter needed elsewhere. With females and children. The old. The hurt and sick. They need Winter's strength," Glade piped up.

Upon hearing this, Winter lowered his head in shame and turned his head away from Glade, a deep frown etched upon his mouth.

"I. Not strong…" Winter grounded out with a huff. "Back in city. When the air shook. When building on fire. I was so afraid. Could not. Do anything. Am weak. Like what Aghoo said," Winter explaining his faults to the bonobo in front of him, shameful about them.

The both of them were silent for a long time as the sounds of soft murmurs and padding footsteps echoed around them.

"Winter not weak," Glade spoke up, causing Winter to curiously look at the bonobo. "Winter strong. Because Winter knows he is scared. But. Winter still stay. Want to fight. Want to help. Very brave. So that makes. Winter not weak. Not to me," Glade finished as he drew his arms close into his own chest.

Although he couldn't see Glade in the dark of the night, he somehow knew that the bonobo was staring up at him, smiling at him, and it made him feel warm and relaxed.

"Glade. Happy that Winter. Want to stay," Glade answered quietly. "But Winter must go. Protect our future," Glade finished sadly.

"But-"

Before Winter could say more, Glade had reached up and placed a finger upon the gorilla's lips, silencing him. The albino ape was surprised by this but then noticed the bonobo placing a finger upon his own lips as well in the faint light of night.

"Must be quiet now," Glade whispered, straightening out his back and he silently glance around them. "You must go," he said quietly into the night air.

Winter whimpered, quickly glancing towards the others as they were leaving before he turned to meet Glade once more.

"Be light for apes. Who have lost their way. In the dark," Glade spoke up, confusing the albino gorilla.

Before more could be said the last group of apes were now making their way towards the bridge in the darkness. With both Winter and Glade watching the moving shadowy masses moving away the bonobo turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. Glade however stopped and turned back around, reached up, cupped Winter's cheeks and brought their foreheads together.

"Please be safe Winter," Glade spoke softly.

"Glade. Too," Winter whimpered back, reaching up to hold the back of Glade's head for a moment before dropping his hand back down to his side.

With that said between them the two apes finally separated from each other and slowly went off in their respected directions.

With the memory of him and Glade fading from his mind, Winter noticed that they eventually made it to the other side of the bridge, unscathed. He looked around as the apes started to enter the dark of the forest, turning to look back at Luca, Ajax and the others. Winter watched as Luca walked up to him and stood there.

"I fear I will make. Poor part. Of our wall. Luca. Fear. that I am weak."

Winter then felt a strong grip upon his shoulder, causing him to lift his head to look at Luca's dark form.

"Fear. Not weakness," Luca said quietly. "Everything. Has something. To fear. It tells us. What our. Limits are. It whispers. Inside. Where only we. can hear. So fear can help. Tells us. Our limits," Luca explained, noticing Winter lower his head again. "But. Winter must remember," Luca spoke up again, causing Winter to raise his head once more. "Fear is not honest. It also lies. Like how a mother. Lies to protect. Her child."

Luca then put his hand behind Winter's head and drew the younger gorilla's head close so that their foreheads were touching.

"You will be strong. When times comes. I know," Luca explained.

Upon hearing this from Luca, Winter couldn't help but imagine that Glade was telling him the same thing as well.

Holy crud, I think this is the most the apes had ever spoken aloud to each other in a chapter without using hand signs.

I also forgot to mention a character that was used last chapter, which I will do here now:

Korso - From Revelations.

Characters that are now named in this chapter:

Bon - From Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the comic book series from BOOM! Studios.

Brutus - From Last Frontier.