Caesar met up with Luca and Maurice halfway up the pylon of the north end of the bridge. Together, the three of them considered the human camps that was set on either side of the great structure that loomed over the cold waters below. Caesar glanced down at the water, remembering that it now held many of his fallen brothers and sisters.
"They are waiting on something," Caesar signed to the other two.
"Waiting, waiting for us to starve," Maurice signed next. "Or more likely, for us to run out of drinkable water."
Caesar breathed through his nostrils. They had water and food, both for themselves and the horses, to last for at least another week at most. He was thankful that he had spent the days before the ship had arrived, making certain that they had supplies to last. But the human soldiers might not have known that.
But he also didn't think that was it.
"They fought hard," Caesar gestured. "Very hard, as if determined to destroy us in one big fight. They have us in a bad position. With their weapons, they could beat us now-why wait though?"
"They could beat us," Maurice answered. "But in doing so, many of them would die as well. Maybe their leader is not one to waste what life he has left," he concluded.
Caesar couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the human camp.
"Then he is waiting on something," Caesar replied. "More humans, a new weapon-something. So, we cannot wait as well."
"What then?" Luca signed next. "Do we take action or not?"
Both Caesar and Maurice turned to look at Luca. The gorilla sounded eager. He had been of the opinion that they should go on the offensive days prior. Now though, it seemed like Luca's option was probably the best for them at this point.
"We will go against the northern camp then. Where the forest is," Caesar gestured. "All of us, all at once. Hit them hard,"
At this Maurice breathed out deeply.
"So many of us will die," Maurice had signed. "Many had already abandoned us when we needed them the most. If we succeed at all, most of us will die," he concluded.
Caesar breathed deeply and side glanced Maurice. The older orangutan was right. During the midst of their fighting, many of their brothers had abandoned them, going who knows where. Caesar remembered as clear as day when Maurice had lumbered on over to him of the terrible news.
That had done their best to keep the human soldiers occupied. Keep their attention as long as possible so that their families could have the chance to escape through the forest. They were going to keep this front up as long as possible and once it was over, rejoin them, as planned. What Caesar and the others had not expect though, was nearly half their forces abandoning them midway through the whole ordeal.
Maurice, Luca and Caesar had concluded that they were supporters of both Pope and Koba. Someone had to be leading them and there was one ape that came to Caesar during their deduction. One who was capable of leading such a troop away under false pretence - Grey. He hand confided his thoughts to both Maurice and Luca, with the two apes agreeing that Grey was a high possibility, who had lead many of their forces to defect. Whatever the reason was now, Caesar had decided that he will deal with the turncoats later. That is, if they come out of this alive.
"Some of us might survive," Caesar responded. "That is better than none of us. I fear if we wait until the humans have what they want-whatever they are waiting for-none of us will ever see our friends and family again."
"It is better if we have a chance than not do anything," Luca signed to the orangutan.
Maurice frowned as he met Luca's eyes and then Caesar's. He then glanced back at the human camp before heaving out a deep tired breath.
"It is the most sensible thing to do," Maurice admitted, reluctantly. "If anything in war can ever be called sensible."
"War is never sensible," Caesar answered as he eyed the humans as well before turning his sights back to both Maurice and Luca. "Let our warriors know. Get them ready."
…
Neither of them were hunters like their mates or sons, but any ape from the old days knew something about tracking, and neither the trail Ajax had left nor that of the apes following him was subtle. Cornelia and Tinker had picked it up in the late afternoon and kept on following it.
From the looks of it, Ajax was either lost or not trying to return to Caesar; his blood led through territory that became more and more familiar as they went along, but it did not lead southward. Cornelia had a feeling she knew, then, what the gorilla's destination was.
As they approached the designated place, a gentle rain began to fall. Everywhere around them still smelled like smoke, despite the passage of time and despite the rain that was falling around them. Cornelia, Tinker and Maple were quite surprised to see how much of their home was still standing; the biggest timbers were scorched to charcoal on the outside, but the fire had burned out before reaching the heart of the wood. Most of the wall could still be traced, and even the spiral pattern of what had once been Cornelia and Caesar's dwelling retained a semblance of its shape.
In his pain, perhaps delirious state, Ajax must had returned home. To the place he had pledged to defend with his life. To the Ape Village, which Pope had burned down.
At first, Cornelia and the other two could not bear to set foot within their old home. In some ways the burning of their village. A place where all the apes had come together to build, was just disheartening for the three females. It was an unthinkable act, even for Pope. Especially for Pope. But they had learned that anger and greed was the emotion that twisted the very fiber of their being, that seemed to make all wrongs right. In this case, Pope's usurpation of Caesar's leadership.
Cornelia took in a deep breath of the smoke-perfumed air, and passed through the blackened gates, followed closely by both Tinker and Maple. The three of them walked through the trench closely with one another and eventually made it to the open area of the colony.
It was there they found Ajax, slumped against the wall in Maurice's school area. Maple had let out a frightened screech and had looked away. Cornelia however knew that the moment she saw him that it was already too late; his eyes were like glass, fixed on nothing and his fur was matted with blood, a pool of it forming on the ground next to him. Cornelia, Tinker and Maple walked up to the deceased gorilla and the queen gently reached out, closing Ajax's glassy eyes.
"He was still so young," Tinker signed as she held onto the trembling Maple.
"He is gone now," Cornelia signed back, turning to look at both Tinker and Maple, holding Cornelius closer to her chest. "Must not forget. His sacrifice," she continued.
While they were mourning for Ajax, the three females froze when they heard chattering, not too far from them. They all huddled together and looked about, trying to see where the noise was coming from. Then they heard it again, coming off a little distant away. After a brief pause, Cornelia made to move, but Tinker had quickly taken a hold of her arm, shaking her head all the while. Cornelia however met Tinker's concerned eyes with hers and took a deep breath before allowing her feet to move forward again, with the other two silently following after her.
As they neared whomever was making the noise, the three females finally saw that they were coming from a couple of apes, who seemed to be standing over something. The closer they got, Cornelia could now see that the two apes that were making the noises were none other than Shell, easily noticed by his single white ear and Flint, noticed by his black and grey hairs. Both were hooting and huffing at each other, signing frantically with their guns strapped to their backs. Cornelia was confused as to what the two were doing but as she glanced down at the ground beside them, she then noticed another figure there. There laying on the ground was another ape, with a spear lodged through his belly and a pool of red forming underneath him, muddling with the wet ground.
Cornelia then approached the three apes and as she got closer, she could now see that the wounded ape was none other than Thorn, who took notice of her and raise his gun. Both Flint and Shell noticed this, turned around, surprised to see the queen and two other follower of hers. They then quickly unstrapped their weapons and aimed them at the females.
"Flint, Shell, Thorn," Cornelia signed the three apes names. "Put your weapons down."
"No," Flint grunted with a scowl. "We were told. To shoot. You," he continued.
"Shoot us? We are no danger to you," Maple jumped in beside Cornelia.
"Why. You with Cornelia and Tinker? They traitor," Shell rumbled as well.
Cornelia then drew herself to her full height at the younger males.
"I am. Cornelia," she spoke. "Wife of Caesar. Your queen."
"Wife. Of. Caesar," Thorn haggard out from his spot on the ground, blood oozing down his lips. "Caesar killed. Pope and Koba."
"Pope was driven by madness. Manipulated our apes to fight. He deserved to die," Tinker signed next in anger. "Koba. He…"
"Is gone now too," Cornelia finished for her friend.
Thorn coughed, causing both Flint and Shell to flinch and hoot lightly before the wounded chimp recollected himself, chuckling quietly.
"Pope. Crazy. But Koba. Was strong," Thorn wheezed out.
"Koba. Strong leader," Flint agreed, nodding his head. "Strong for apes."
Cornelia gave Cornelius to Tinker to hold and then took a step towards the three younger males, they pointed their guns at her. She paused then took another step, then another, until she was much too close for either Thorn, Shell and Flint to miss her if they were to pull the trigger of their rifles.
"Thorn. Shell. Flint," Cornelia said softly but firmly. "Put. Guns. Down."
Shell and Flint bared their fangs at her but even if they did so, Cornelia could see the weapons in their hands shaking slightly. Thorn then huffed and coughed, loudly, blood oozing from his mouth. Seeing this, Cornelia then continued forward.
"Stay back!" Flint barked.
"Or we shoot!" Shell followed.
Cornelia however ignored the two young males and approached them. She kept on going, moving past both Flint and Shell, right on over to where Thorn was. She looked down at the wounded chimpanzee and slowly knelt beside him, not at all disturbed by the end of the gun barrels that were pointed at her. She looked down at the young male, seeing his wound, hearing his ragged breathing, noticing the way his limbs shook every few seconds. She couldn't help but offer Thorn a pitying look as she met his fierce green eyes. Cornelia then slowly reached out towards the chimp and brush away at his brow, tenderly picking away at the twigs and leaves that were matting his fur, surprising him, Shell and Flint.
"What doing!" Shell demanded.
"Grooming," Cornelia answered without turning away from Thorn who kept his eyes on her. "Caring."
Both Flint and Shell glanced at each other warily, unsure of what to do with Cornelia as she was tending to Thorn. Eventually though the anger that was set within Thorn's eyes began to fade away and he soon let his weapon sag to the wet ground with a thud.
"Hurt a lot?" Cornelia asked causing both Flint and Shell to look at each other questionably.
Thorn huffed but he kept his fierce green eyes upon the queen.
"Nothing. You can. Do. For me," Thorn grounded out in a hiss.
"You are wrong," Cornelia answered the wounded chimp.
Cornelia then slowly and tenderly eased herself right next to Thorn and slid his head down to her lap. She then smiled sadly at him and began to stroke the top of his head as if she were tending to her own child. Flint and Shell too lowered their weapons as they watched Cornelia gently brush back Thorn's head hair. Eventually both Tinker and Maple walked closer as well, joining them, forming a circle around Cornelia and Thorn.
"Why. You. Do this?" Thorn questioned.
"Because. You. Shell. Flint. One of us. Our family," Cornelia spoke gently.
Thorn's eyes widened momentarily at Cornelia's words before he frowned.
"I… Sorry," Thorn grunted out, before a coughing fit wracked his body. "A-about Ajax. Everything."
As Thorn spoke, his eyes now held a sheen of unshed tears, to which Cornelia simply smiled warmly back down at him, cooing all the while.
"I remember when you were younger, Thorn," Cornelia signed, so that he could see, so they could all see. "You, your little brother Fern, Fox, Shell, Flint, Ash, Lake, Maple, Ray, Winter, my Blue Eyes. The day with the butterflies. Do you remember that?"
Upon seeing this Thorn's eyes widened, as did Flint and Shell too.
"We Never saw," Flint spoke aloud. "Those kinds. Of butterfly before."
"There were so many. So pretty," Maple joined in. "All around us. Dancing. In the air."
"Yes, you younger ones hopped and turned about with them," Cornelia signed with a smile, turning to meet Flint, Maple and Shell's gaze. "Trying to catch them," she then looked down at Thorn again. "You didn't want to participate, but you also didn't want to disappoint your little brother, who wanted to play. So you joined, even though you were a little older. It made me happy, seeing you all like that. Just playing and having fun."
Thorn's nose twitched several times as he blinked, letting a few droplets of his tears to fall. He then reached out and touched Cornelia's arm.
"S-scared," Thorn whimpered.
Cornelia smiled down at him, her eyes were wet now as well.
"We only saw those butterflies once," Cornelia continued. "They went away, and they never returned. But we never forgot them, did we?"
"N-no," Thorn rasped.
"Like the butterflies and your little brother, we won't forget the both of you either, Thorn," Cornelia gestured to the young male in her lap. "I won't forget you. Your brother your mother, or your father."
Tinker them moved in and knelt right next to the both of them. She glanced at Cornelia before looking down at Thorn and slowly, she reached out and placed a hand upon his brow as well.
"I won't. Forget. You too," Tinker said softly as she cradled Cornelius tighter to her bosom, the little prince looking about curiously.
"I-I so… So sorry…" Thorn murmured now, his eyes moving restlessly, as if he was asleep and dreaming. "So dark. Can't see," he rasped.
"Don't think of that," Cornelia shushed Thorn. "That done. Now. Think. Of butterflies. Think of friends. Think of family."
"Family," Thorn repeated.
Thorn then let his eyes wander up to the sky, where the blue streaks were breaking in the clouds up above with the light rain.
"Fern," Thorn breathed.
A few silent moments later, Thorn's body stopped shaking, his face relaxed and his breathing stilled, the sounds of light rain falling around them. Seeing the life leave from Thorn's eyes, Maple couldn't help but let her tears fall from her eyes, as did Flint and Shell as well. All crying for Thorn who had finally left them, leaving them in peace.
Tears fell from Cornelia as she reached out and gently closed Thorn's eyelids, like she done with Ajax. Just as she had seen her husband do to countless other apes that had passed on before. For some reason, she felt as if she understood now, why Caesar closed the eyes of apes who have perished. It made them look like as if they were sleeping instead and Thorn resembled that. Looking as if he were casually resting after a hard day's work, in her lap. She then cradled Thorn's body close to her bosom, feeling utter sadness for losing such an individual.
"We…" Shell whimpered out, causing all heads to look at him. "We tried to stop Ajax. Try to make him prisoner. But he would not listen. Wanted to fight. He. He then. Then Thorn," Shell couldn't finish as his, burying his head into his arms.
Maple reached out and placed a gentle hand upon Shell's shoulder. She then slowly embraced the bigger male, with Shell returning her hug just as strongly.
Cornelia had known Thorn and his young brother, Fern, their tale was a tragic one. They were motherless after Fern had just been weaned from Sonja, who had fallen terribly ill the next few moons and with that, had passed on. Kimball, their father, had tried his best to raise his two sons, but unfortunately he too had succumbed to an injury he had sustained after a hunting accident, both Thorn and Fern finding their father's cold and unmoving body early next morning. She sniffed to herself as she brushed Thorn's cheek with a knuckle, wishing dearly that things had turned out differently for he and his family.
"Cornelia!" Tinker's voice whispered aloud, causing Cornelia to look up at her.
Cornelia then noticed that Tinker's head was directed elsewhere and she quickly followed her friend's gaze to see what the other female was staring at. To her surprise, Cornelia then saw, there, perched on one of the blackened walls of their home, sat Oak, one of the Gorilla Guards. He held a rifle in his hand. As he looked down at all of them. Both Shell and Flint looked nervous, unsure of what to do as Maple cowered down by Tinker's side. But Cornelia locked eyes with Oak, who didn't flinch at her stare.
Oak then jumped down from his perch on the wall, landing with a loud thud onto the ground. He then slowly knuckle walked on over to where the small group was and stared down at them. Flint and Shell looked terrified of him but they nonetheless eased themselves in front of the females nervously, using their bodies as a shield to protect them. Then to their surprise, Oak held his weapon out by the barrel and dropped it onto the wet ground with a plop.
"Ape. Not kill. Ape," Oak grunted before he bowed to Cornelia in obeisance. "No more. Fighting."
Upon seeing this, the group had let out a unified breath of relief.
"What do we do with Ajax and Thorn?" Flint asked after a long while.
Cornelia looked down at Thorn in her lap and then turned her head to where Ajax was by the school area.
"We will make beds for Thorn and Ajax in the trees," Cornelia answered turning to look up at Oak who nodded at her. "Put them to rest. Like the ones before them."
"What then?" Shell asked.
"Then we go home," Cornelia replied.
"What home? There is no home anymore," Flint gestured confusingly.
"Home. Home is with. Apes," Cornelia spoke softly as she met Flint's gaze.
…
Later that evening, Red came upon Rex who was overseeing the troop.
"How are we doing?" Red asked Rex who gruffed.
"Sampson and others are still on patrol around the perimeter. Pongo and his scouts have not returned yet, as well as Thorn and the other two that went with him to hunt Ajax down. Oak had gone after them," Rex informed.
"Keep an eye out. We don't want any of the traitors to surprise us when we are all spread thin," Red gestured to the dark haired gorilla.
"Why are we even keeping them? They are so much trouble. It is better to get rid of them. Like we did with Ursus," Rex signed as he glanced on over to where Brutus, Jeanpierre and Clarence were making their nests with the other apes who were not with them.
"We must keep them alive for now, in case they join our cause. Also this is to not upset Grey, so that he can lead the apes to safety first," Red explained.
The red gorilla then paused and look about himself.
"Where is Grey?" Red then asked, now noticing that their new king has disappeared.
"Do not know. I saw him over by the stone's ledge over there, but then he vanished. Maybe looking for his daughter again?" Rex answered.
At this, Red narrowed his eyes and had let out an annoyed huff.
"Grey may be good as the new Alpha, but his weakness for his missing daughter will be the death of the troop," Red explained.
"Why worry? He may not even be king for long anyway," Rex gestured.
"Yes, but we still need him to lead. He is next best one that apes will listen to," Red answered back.
"And we can't?" Rex asked.
"No," Red answered. "Not yet. At least."
Rex huffed and nodded understandably at the red haired gorilla.
"I will continue to keep watch then," Rex informed.
"And I will go on patrol with others. Maybe find Grey. Tell him to move apes faster," Red gestured back.
With that said between them both Red and Rex went on in their separate directions. One to the troops to keep an eye on them and the other to patrol and find their king.
...
As he rode in that boat of theirs, Blue Eyes had never imagined the sea like this, rising and falling in gigantic swells, the horizon vanishing for small eternities and reappearing as if seen from the top of a mountain, only to vanish into another watery gorge. He looked up at the sky and could see that it was pearly muddle, ran intermittently by rays of golden light and rifts of turquoise blue.
"Pretty isn't it? The sunset," a voice caught Blue Eyes attention, causing him to rotate his head towards the left, seeing Alexander. "The oceans, the sky, setting sun, all of it. I wish I had my sketchbook. It's rather beautiful."
"Beautiful," Blue Eyes echoed before turning his sights back to the sunset in the distance. "Yes. Beautiful."
Alexander grinned, a certain sadness set within the teens eyes before he turned to look at Blue Eyes.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you about Koba," Alexander said.
Blue Eyes turned back towards Alexander and breathed deeply. At first he did felt quite betrayed that both of the humans had kept the secret from him. But after his talk with Rocket, he now understood why they did it.
"It's okay. Had no choice," Blue Eyes responded, looking off down to the side.
Blue Eyes gaze darted up to look at Malcolm who was still at the steering wheel of the boat, Rocket standing right beside him. Huffing, Blue Eyes then let his gaze fall back down before he turned to look at Alexander again.
"Did not know."
"What?" Alexander asked, turning to look at Blue Eyes.
"Did not know that Ellie was not your mother." Blue Eyes said curiously.
"O-oh. Uh, yeah… She isn't," Alex responded quietly pulling his knees close towards him.
They both had gone quiet and Blue Eyes worried. He must have done something wrong as he noticed Alexander drawing in on himself. The human teen would only do this when he was upset. He didn't quite understand human emotions well enough yet, maybe he shouldn't have asked about Ellie not being his mother?
"But I couldn't ask for anyone else," Alexander spoke up, causing Blue Eyes to look at him. "She tried you know? Tried really hard to be a mom to me," Alex then huffed, one side of his lip turning up in a smile.
But Blue Eyes noticed that Alexander's eyes held something deep within them. Something akin to shame.
"But not me. I was a piece of work, now that I think about it. It was hard for me to accept that my mom, my real mom just up and left dad and I, you know? All I could remember was my parents coming to save me. After some kidnappers took me and some people. I was terrified, but they came and saved me. After it all went down. Mom, dad and I, we found a safe place. I was tired and fell asleep. Then next morning came around and I just never saw her again… It hurt, a lot. It wasn't until recently that dad told me that mom had left in order to protect us. Whatever that means. He said that she was sick," Alexander spoke out, wiping at his eyes with the back of his sleeves. "And I guess... I just kinda blamed Ellie that my mom disappeared. Man, I need to say sorry to her."
"I'm sorry. Did not mean to make you cry," Blue Eyes apologized.
"No. No. You're fine. Talking about it with someone finally, actually kinda helps," Alexander huffed with a sad smile before turning to fully beam at Blue Eyes. "Thanks for listening. You don't get a lot of people who would sit and listen to you," Alexander said quietly.
"People? Humans," Blue Eyes repeated, not sure what Alexander had meant.
"Apes, humans, does it matter? You're a person too," Alexander answered.
"I am ape. You are human. We are different," Blue Eyes said as a matter of factly statement with his head tilted.
"True, we look different but humans and ape. They're the same," Alexander smiled.
"How?" Blue Eyes asked.
Alexander then fully turned to look at Blue Eyes, before he gestured to his own face.
"I have eyes, up here Blue Eyes. Nose, ears, lips, just like you," Alexander pointed out.
Blue Eyes frowned as he looked at Alexander before huffing out and waved him off.
"Animals too. They also have eyes, ears, mouth and nose. All different," Blue Eyes grunted.
Alex seemed to think for a moment before his face lit up and he suddenly raised his left hand towards Blue Eyes, palm facing him with his fingers and thumb spread out.
"What doing?" Blue Eyes asked.
"Raise your hand" Alexander said.
Blue Eyes blinked as he looked from Alexander's face to the teen's palm several times before huffing out and did as was asked of him. He slowly lifted up his arm and showed Alexander his right palm with a frown. Then to his surprise, Alex placed his hand upon his own, so that this fingers and thumb lined up with each other.
"Your right Blue Eyes. We are different, physically. Like how you are a chimpanzee, I am a human and Ray is an orangutan. But we, all of us. Are the same," Alexander explained. "Apes? Humans? We all feel emotions. You and I. We feel fear, anger and sadness… But we also feel love, joy and courage in what we do "
Blue Eyes pulled back his hand and looked down at it for a long while, thinking about what Alex had just told him. Maybe Alex was right. Even if they were physically different, they were all very much the same. They walked upright, are able to communicate, can laugh and cry and feel a ray of emotions that just cannot be put into words or gestures.
"Same," Blue Eyes breathed in wonder, causing a smile to form upon Alexander's lips.
Eventually the sun dipped beyond the ocean's horizon and Malcolm had eased the boat that they were in closer to the shore's edge while they travelled along through the night. Since he and Alexander were the only ones that knew how to pilot the boat, Malcolm needed Alexander well rested before it was his turn to take over. So they all did what the older man had suggested, they would rest while he stayed up to pilot the boat that they were asked of how he was going to pilot in the dark, Malcolm had said that the ship had a built in compass and if he needed to, he could just shine a small bit of light on it to see where he was heading.
Rocket had procured a few blankets from under some compartments of the boat and gave each of the youngsters one. The older ape then wrapped himself with one of the sheets before he himself rested onto one of the seats nearby, Alex doing the same. Blue Eyes, like his uncle, wrapped himself with the blanket and laid onto one of the side seats.
The young prince must have been more tired that he had thought, as he laid down to rest. The instant he had closed his eyes, sleep had quickly taken over him. And in the dark, on the silent sea, he dreamed.
So a lot of differences in this chapter to all who had read the actual book. If you you have, is this change good or bad? Please let me know.
And for Alexander's part. Where he talks about being kidnapped. If you want the full story of what happened to him, I highly suggest reading the "Dawn Of The Planet" comic series by BOOM! studious to understand more of what he's talking about.
Apes mentioned in this chapter...
Revelations
Sampson - Gorilla grunt
Oak - Gorilla grunt
Original Characters
Kimball - Thorn and Fern's father.
Sonja - Thorn and Fern's mother.