If I were to have a title for this chapter. I would have called it "Revelation." Read and find out why.
"Ajax and Thorn. Dead?" Winter asked hesitantly while walking beside both Oak and Shell.
"Yes. Both are. Dead," Oak grunted. "Gone."
Winter flinched and kept his head low but nodded sadly in acknowledgement as he lead the way. He had looked up to Ajax like an older brother of sorts, but to know that he is now gone, hurt quite a lot. He knows that Ajax's family was going to be quite devastated upon learning about his passing. As for Thorn, he hadn't personally known the chimp, but did see the ape around as well. It was difficult to ever think of losing anyone. But then again, they were losing so much now too and anything could possibly happen to all of them. But knowing that maybe Caesar, Glade, and Luca could still be alive, gave him a sense of hope.
They all finally made it to the rest of the troop, located just within the trees of the forest; beyond lay a brambled landscape of succession of forest, patiently swallowing up the old human habitations and roads there.
The females and rest of the troops were gathered together in a cluster of trees near a stream. As they saw Cornelia approaching, they all began to chatter among themselves, some calling out to her, others shrinking from her sight, afraid to confront her.
"Cornelia?" Andy called to the female but the queen simply cautioned him and the others to stay where they were at.
Nodding, Andy settled back down, seeing that there were a few apes following her, one of them being Winter. Andy couldn't help but grunt in approval at the white haired gorilla, seems as if he wasn't so hopeless at all. But he turned to look at Rex and a few of the other apes whom were now gawking at the queen. Red had then took one of the apes aside and signed something to the chimpanzee. The smaller ape nodded and quickly sped off into the distance.
Cornelia saw the midwives gathered around a bed constructed just above the ground, using fallen logs as supports. Both she and Maple approached it seeing what was going on but the labored breaths of an ape was all that was needed for Cornelia to understand.
"It is Oaka?" Cornelia asked, turning to one of the females. "Is she having her child?"
One of the females that stood by the outer circle nodded and slowly parted, making way for Cornelia to walk through. As many of the other females followed suit, Cornelia made her way, until she could finally see Oaka. The female was panting loudly, obviously in pain, hand held by her mother, but when she saw Cornelia, she tried to sit up.
"No, Oaka," Cornelia stopped the female. "This is your time," she said softly, meeting the younger female's tired face and turned to look at Lala, whom nodded in thanks.
Maple watched as Cornelia crouched down next to Oaka as one of the midwives offered the queen a veil. She watched Cornelia slip it on and began to help the other females assist Oaka in the birth. Feeling a soft touch to her arm, Maple turned her head and was met with the smiling face of her friend - Lake. Letting out a soft hoot, Maple quickly threw her arm around the other female and held onto her tightly.
"I am sorry I left you," Maple gestured as she pulled back from her friend.
"It is quite alright. You and Tinker had to find our queen. And it looks like you both did," Lake signed back before she paused and looked around. "Where is Tinker?"
"She is with baby prince," Maple started.
The two females froze then when they heard a hoarse calls in the distance. Then turned when they saw Cedar arrive, wearing the crown of vines and strands upon her head.
"It is. Time. To break. Camp," Cedar said proudly "Red says. That Grey. Commands. That we. Should. begin. The day's march," she announced all around as she made her way towards the circle.
At this, the other females nervously looked about, chattering all the while as Cedar stopped near the circle, pausing to see a birth going on.
"We cannot," Cornelia spoke up, glancing in Cedar's direction, causing the other female to freeze. "As you can see, Oaka is in labor." Cornelia gestured.
Cedar blinked, shock written all over her face.
"Cornelia?" Cedar breathed quietly.
"Cedar," Cornelia acknowledged.
Cedar's face instantly turned into a scowl as she approached the former queen.
"You should not be here, Cornelia," Cedar gestured with her hands sharply. "Red says our king has called for your death."
"Does Red mean Grey?" Cornelia asked curiously.
"Yes," Cedar said aloud as she straightened up defiantly in the presence of the former queen. "Caesar is dead and Grey is our king now."
"And you are queen," Cornelia gestured back slowly, gaining a deeper frown from the other female. "Then you should know what that means. It means that you let your mate, your husband, know that the females will not move until the birth is done. And when both mother and child are ready to move," she finished simply.
Cedar's brow knitted angrily at Cornelia.
"I need only call the guard," Cedar shot back.
"Mother!"
All heads turned to the new voice and the all saw Maple slowly approaching, a stern look upon her own features.
"Maple! Where have you-"
"Enough mother!" Maple instantly cut Cedar off. "You know apes cannot go until the birth is finish. If you are truly queen then you know that it is custom that apes wait until a new mother and child is ready to move," Maple signed, eyes narrowing at the older female with the crown.
Cedar frowned at Maple but looked about when the other females around her began to murmur assent. Cedar looked around, confused at the other females, all seeming to agree with Cornelia and Maple. Frustrated, Cedar then had vented out a sharp pant-hoot.
"I am queen!" Cedar announced. "I will tell them!"
"And I. Will be. Here," Cornelia answered back. "With Oaka."
"And me too," Maple voiced as well, gaining a sharp look from her own mother.
Cedar huffed at the two other females before she abruptly turned around and stalked off to find Grey and the others.
…
This was it. This was now or never as Caesar stared down the length of the bridge. The fog was beginning to thin now, and soon enough it would clear for all of them to see.
"We stay together to the bottom," Caesar gestured and spoke to the apes all around him. "Then we split left and right. The right follows me, the left with Luca. Our targets are the mounted guns. If we reach those, that will clear the way for the unmounted apes."
As he explained this though, Caesar met the faces of each and every one of the apes around him. He knew that for sure, many of them will die before they reached the guns. However, he had to be strong. Be strong for them and lead them to victory.
"Apes! Together! Strong!" he bellowed into the air.
Behind the ape king, the rest of the warriors repeated the words, some of the apes roaring and screeching into the air. They all rang out as if from a single throat, piercing the mist and echoing over the waters far below.
And they all began their charge through the mist of the fog.
...
As soon as they had hit the shore, everyone quickly got out of the rafts and raced towards each other, grouping by the sandy seaside.
"Son?" Ash could hear his father's husky voice, causing him to turn towards the older ape.
Rocket smiled and reached for Ash, placing a gentle hand upon his son's neck and bringing their foreheads together. They had been separated for so long that it was very comforting to be near each other again. Rocket had swore to himself that he would never let anything bad happen to his child ever again, as long as he lived.
Ash on the other hand was extremely happy to see his father once more. In all the days that he was separated from the group, the familiar and protective presence of his father was one of the things he missed the most. And having it here, right now, was something that he would never want to be taken away from ever again. This feeling also extended to his mother as well, wondering if she was doing alright without him and his father.
Ash however though, pulled back and turned to look at the ship, a frown upon his lips. He then felt a gentle touch upon his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at his father, whom was looking down at him worriedly.
"Son, what is the matter?" Rocket asked.
"Human female. She helped me when I was sick and hurt," Ash gestured as he turned to look back at the ship. "She and human elder. All alone now," he spoke quietly.
Rocket huffed as he looked from his son to the ship that was now in the distance. He then stretched out and ape and hugged Ash close to him.
"Wait! Where's it going?" Alexander suddenly spoke aloud as he pointed towards the ship.
Everyone watched as the ship that they were on suddenly veered in one direction confusing them, heading back towards the ship that was firing at the bridge.
"I don't get it. Why is it heading to…" Malcolm started but then paused. "Oh no…"
It was then that everyone could see that whatever the other two humans were planning, they were not taking the ship out towards the sea. Instead they saw it racing towards the other ship that had the human soldiers on it. Then they all heard it.
"Apes! Together! Strong!"
…
Nearing the Golden Gate, the vehicle that both Ellie and Koba were in came down to a slow roll. They paused momentarily when they hear the unified bellows of the ape warriors that seemed to break through the air. All voices, unified and echoing as one.
The hairs on Koba's body stood up as he heard the phrase in the distance, bellowed out by his brothers. He couldn't help but feel the sense of warmth and pride blooming within his chest once more. Like the day Caesar had given him the bearskin and said those exact same words to the apes around them.
As he remembered that day, Koba's eyes grey slightly wide. He had made a promise to himself, that he would keep Caesar and the other apes safe. Do anything in order to protect them. Yet, he had forced his friends and the rest of the apes to fight with the humans. His breath caught within his throat and Koba quickly looked away in shame.
"Koba? What's the matter? You okay?" Ellie asked worriedly.
Taking deep breaths, Koba shut his eyes tightly before he nodded back at the woman, turning to meet Ellie's gaze.
"Am. Fine," Koba breathed.
They both stayed like that for a moment before Koba took in a final deep breath and straightened himself back up.
"Let's go," Koba said finally.
Ellie simply nodded at him and pressed down on the gas pedal of the vehicle, causing them to go as fast as they could through the city, making their way towards the Golden Gate Bridge.
...
One moment, they were all charging into a hail of bullets; apes and horses were stumbling and falling all around them. Then the next moment Caesar noticed that the humans had turned around and was firing off into the forest, which confused him. Curiously he had noticed that a few of the humans falling down, like they had been shot from behind. All of a sudden an area of the north end of the bridge erupted in fire, close to the humans, causing them to scatter.
"Naglfar, this is the USS Daedalus. You're coming in too hot. Take it down," came a rather loud voice.
Caesar wasn't sure what that meant but he and the other apes around him heard the noise coming from the ship that was firing at them from the sea below. Then to their surprise they all saw another ship, this one smaller but it was heading towards the giant one at an alarming speed.
"Naglfar. Change course or prepare to be fired upon," the loud voice rang out again.
As Caesar and the rest of the apes could see. Smoke started to emerge from the smaller ship as reports could be heard from the bigger ship. And then suddenly it was engulfed in flame and smoke. While making their way across the bridge though, Caesar and the others spared a glance at the sea below, only to be surprised as they saw the ship that was fired upon, emerging from the cloud of smoke and fire blazing on its deck, but still running strong. It kept its course and slammed into the hull of the larger ship. The sound, a moment later was horrific to hear.
As they all had paused a moment to watch the scene unfold beneath them, Caesar and Luca looked at one another, not understanding what had just happened. But then they turned their heads as the human soldiers were all suddenly fleeing and gesturing out to the burning wreckage on top of the sea.
Whatever it was though, had the humans running for their lives and Caesar was not going to wait and find out what it was. The way was clear and it was their chance. He had let out another loud bellow and ordered his warriors to charge forward.
"Into the forest!" Caesar shouted to his warriors. "No stopping! No Slowing!"
And in a matter of minutes, the survivors were all back within the safe confines of the trees, where they all belonged, leaving many of their fallen behind them.
Unbeknownst to Caesar and his army though, there was a vehicle that was charging through from the bridge behind them, making its way towards the forest as well.
…
As soon as he was notified by the chimp warriors that Rex had sent, Red had raced back to the troops as fast as his limbs would carry him. Soon enough, he finally found the conglomerate of apes near the section of the woods as he skid to a halt.
Red then started towards where the females were camped but stopped short when he realized a birth was going on. Frowning he looked about and saw that Rex and the other guards were standing nearby and made his way on over towards the other gorilla.
"What is going on?" Red asked.
"It's Cornelia. She's back," Rex informed.
"Cornelia?! Why was she not taken care of?" Red gestured angrily.
Rex flinched at Red's outburst but he simply pointed ahead. Huffing, Red followed Rex's finger and could see Grey was standing a few feet away from the females, shoulders rising and falling as if he had been swinging through the trees all day.
"He just got back from somewhere. Did not say where. But he spoke with Cedar and he told us to stand by," Rex informed.
Growling, Red stomped pass Rex and made his way on over to where Grey was standing.
"Grey! Cornelia she-" Red began.
"I know," Grey cut the rusted haired gorilla off with a grunt before switching to his hands. "Cedar already told me. She is with Oaka and her mother. With the other females," he explained simply, still breathing deeply, as if catching his breath.
Red turned his head from Grey and to the group of females that were in the cluster.
"I will. Go. Get her," Red grunted.
"You will not," Grey grunted, turning to look at Red. "Not when there is a birth going on. It will be breaking our customs."
Red snorted at the browned haired chimp.
"Then I will break. Custom," Red seethed lowly as he unlimbered his rifle and started towards the females.
…
Juno and the others watched helplessly as they heard Oaka's pained cries as she was in the midst of her labor. To his surprise though he and the other's turned their heads up when they saw Winter and Shell approaching. Curious, Juno watched as Andy tensed and turned to face the other young chimp and albino gorilla.
"What. You both. Doing?" Andy hissed at Shell and Winter.
To Andy and the other ape's surprise though, both Winter and Shell put a finger towards their lip to tell them to be quiet. Then Winter turned around and blocked Shell's form from the other gorilla guards as Shell quickly bent down and took out a stone knife.
At first Juno gasped and backed away, thinking that Shell was going to harm them or something but then the younger chimp was beginning to cut away at the heavy ropes that bound the warriors arms and legs.
"What doing?" Andy asked in surprise this time, with Jeanpierre and the others watching on.
"Quiet! We were told to help," Shell paused momentarily to sign before quickly going back to work.
"Told? By who?" Juno asked causing Shell and Winter to glance at each other for a moment before meeting everyone's gaze once more.
…
Several of the females looked up as Red arrived with his gun. He pushed his way through the first few females, until he saw Cornelia crouching next to Oaka and her mother.
"Cornelia!" Red grunted, and gestured with the gun.
"You will wait," Cornelia signed back to Red, not even turning to look at him. "When the birth is over, I will come with you."
She then proceeded to help assist Oaka, who renewed her push once more.
"Cornelia!" Red shouted at the former queen. "You come! Now!"
But she ignored him.
That angered Red more than anything Cornelia could have said. Snarling, he cocked the weapon of his rifle.
But before he could point it, Oak had suddenly stepped in front of him.
"Stop, Red," the other gorilla said.
"Move, Oak," Red growled at the other gorilla. "Or I shoot."
But even as he said it, Coral one of the gorilla females, and Ajax's younger sister, pushed her way through to join Oak. Then all of the other females stood, and moved to block his sight of Cornelia, Oaka, Lala and the other midwives that were helping.
"Move, all of you!" Red bellowed in anger. "I will shoot you!"
As Red met their eyes, he then noticed one of the females pushing her way through all of them to the front. He recognized Cedar, wearing the queen's crown upon her head.
"Cedar, you are queen now. Tell them to move," Red signed to the female chimp.
"I am," Cedar spoke as she turned to look at her fellow apes. "And I tell you, Red, to move back," she gestured to the red haired gorilla.
At this, Red couldn't take it anymore. He growled and slapped Cedar with the back of his hand. Cedar stumbled back, yelping in agony, as her hands rose to her face and cover it. Red could see blood on Cedar's teeth. To his surprise though, Red noticed Maple quickly rushing to her mother's side as a few of the females had caught Cedar as she was struck. Red watched as the brown haired female reached for her mother before she turned her defiant eyes upon him and like her the rest of the females stood firm, some even taking a step forward towards him.
Tired of this charade, Red raised his gun at the females.
Then someone struck him from behind.
Before Red knew it, he had lost his gun and went sprawling onto the ground. Shaking his head, Red slowly came up onto all fours and found himself face Grey, was was now standing at his full height, glaring down at him.
"Grey!" Red snarled furiously.
Grey merely glared back, keeping his stern frown and met Red with his dark green eyes. With a bellowing roar, Red then charged at the brown haired chimp.
Red was head-and-shoulders taller than Grey, and weighed as much as two chimpanzee warriors. But Grey was faster. He had let Red commit to the charge, then dodged to the side, boxing the rusted haired gorilla in the ear and then grabbing onto his pelt and swinging up onto his back. There he wrapped both of his arms around Red's massive neck, braced his feet upon the gorilla's back and pulled as hard as he could. He felt Red's muscles ripple beneath him as he tried to hold on, and for a moment it seemed possible. Red staggered forward, then turned and slammed his back-and Grey-into a tree. Grey felt the wind knocked from his lungs and the world spun around him but he hung on, grimly, but when Red repeated the tactic a second time, his arms finally loosened and he fell off from the heavy blow.
Red turned quickly and slammed his fists down at him but Grey managed to roll away from the attack, dancing back from the maddened gorilla.
Both panting now, Red came at Grey once more, a little more cautiously this time.
"Why do this?" Red growled. "Caesar will never forgive you now. You have betrayed him twice. Our only hope is to work together," he gestured angrily.
"I know! Caesar! Will not! Forgive me!" Grey shot back, causing Red to pause momentarily in confusion. "What I did. What I had to do. To protect all of the apes! To protect them! From you! And other apes, who betrayed! I will be traitor!" Grey huffed angrily while he signed with his hands.
At this, Red, as well as the other ape guards, warriors, females and elders, stared at Grey confusingly, not understanding what he was saying.
As Red thought about it, something dawned on him. The way Grey had moved the troops at a slow pace, kept the prisoners alive, not wanting them to be killed. The way he didn't care too much that Cornelia had escaped. The reason Grey had been disappearing recently.
As both Grey and Red had their stare down, the brown haired chimp closed his eyes momentarily as memories came rushing back to him.
Grey remembered the day, right after the battle atop of the human tower. He had seeked forgiveness from Caesar, his leader. The forgiveness was hesitant, but it was given nonetheless and Grey was humbled. Promising to never go against Caesar ever again, doing what he could to help the other chimpanzee.
Grey's promise had faltered though, when he had seen Caesar let the humans go with Red's words of doubt seeping into him, about their leader's mistrust in him. It was painful, of course, to hear such things, it hurt much more to even experience the distrust from Caesar himself. But Grey understood that it must be so. He did in fact, hid terrible things from his leader when he was with Koba, Stone and Pope… Yet, Caesar had still found it within himself to forgive Grey for what he's done. So, he carried on.
The way Caesar did things, questionable things, to promote peace and coexistence with humans. Yet their leader tried, to stop a war from happening between two species. Grey was terrified to learn what many of his brothers did to the humans who had no way of fighting, remembering it as clear as day, when Pope had killed that mother and child, back in the human city. That could have definitely have been his Cedar and Maple. Was that what they were truly becoming? Something that beyond an ape? Something akin to that of human nature? It was then, Grey knew, what he needed to do in order to help Caesar and the rest of the apes that sided with chimpanzee leader.
Grey himself would need to play the part of the traitorous leader.
Not long after, Grey had learned that there were many apes that was against Caesar's rule, meeting with him upon the rooftops of the human buildings. It was there, Red had announced to the turncoat apes that Grey himself would be their new leader. All accepting the brown haired chimpanzee for his role with Koba, just days earlier. It was… Astonishing to say the least. To be a leader of the apes. Yet, Grey himself knew it was wrong for him to do so. But if it would mean that it would keep his family, Caesar and the rest of the apes safe. Then he'll gladly be a leader for these ape traitors. Keep them in check, for as long as he can.
It was then he listened and learned of Red's folly plan. It was simple, effective, but there were many flaws within it that Grey himself could use to slow the turncoats down. He had informed Red of the females and that they would cause a problem. To which the rusted haired gorilla merely waved off as an afterthought. Never seeing the many mistakes that could fall through for the traitor apes. So, Grey had let it go.
There was times when Grey had doubted himself of ever taking on such a dangerous task by himself. Not able to speak about it with anyone. Not with Koba, nor Stone, both dead. And especially not with his family, that was the most difficult of all. Cedar had noticed his strange behavior and had confronted him many a times while they were still in the human city. Oh how much he had wanted to tell Cedar of what he was doing. How much he wanted to fall into her arms, close his eyes and believe that everything was just a bad dream. But he couldn't, for Cedar's and Maple's sake. But Cedar was relentless, never the one to give up unless he told her the truth, so he did what was best and distracted her, that evening. They coupled and Grey himself had felt much better the very next morning, but knew that danger still lurked close by.
It was the day after that Grey had learned of what Red had done behind his back. The idiotic gorilla had lead the human's weapon close to where the females and children were at, along with the elders and wounded too. Grey himself had been infuriated by Red and had reprimanded the gorilla, who didn't seem to care that much about the safety of their apes but instead only wanted to leave. Red got his wish though. With that surprise attack by the humans, Caesar had ordered that the females, young, elder, wounded, and ones unable to fight, be sent back to the safety of the forest. It was now, where the females and ones that couldn't fight, were now vulnerable to the turncoat apes and Grey himself feared of what may happen.
During the midst of the fighting, Grey had to abandoned Caesar and the others. Knowing well that the moment he leaves, there will be no turning back for him, ever. But still, he had to do this, to be the ones to keep the rest of the troops safe from the traitor apes until Caesar and the others could come rescue them.
And keep the troops safe, he did.
When Grey had returned to the forest he had encountered an escaping Cornelia, confused as to what she was running away from. He he gestured to her but then she turned around and fled from him. It was then he noticed that the queen was being chased by Red and a few of the other apes. Grey had put an immediate stop of the chase and had later learned that Cornelia had severely injured Pongo. Deep down though, Grey was glad that Cornelia was able to get away from them, hoping that she had found a safe area to hide out until it was safe.
It was inevitable but Grey had to watch as his brothers fought among themselves, the traitor apes taking control, killing Ursus, and scattered what was left of the noble warriors and guards into the winds. Instead of killing the "traitors" as Red had suggested, Grey immediately denied that. He needed to find a way to keep the apes from having any more bloodshed. So he opted that the prisoner apes be used as pack mules instead. At this, Red and the other turncoats did not object to this idea, actually finding the idea to be quite useful for them. So, they turned the rest of the guards and warriors into slaves, at best, to carry their equipment.
The looks Grey had received from Andy and the others had sent chills down his back, but he knew that it didn't matter of what they thought of him. They could hate him all they want, but as long as they were safe, he was fine with it.
When Grey had crowned both Cedar and Maple to keep them safe among the apes; Cedar had accepted her new role as queen, as if she had been waiting for it, Maple on the other hand. Grey was extremely shocked to have seen the younger female's outburst of not wanting to be princess. It had hurt him that she had destroyed the crown of flowers that he had made for her, but deep down he was very happy that Maple was able to recognize that the whole situation was wrong as well. But, like before, he had to put on a stern face and ordered the troops to march on.
Worried would have been an understatement for Grey when he had learned that Maple had disappeared from the troop that evening. He was completely and utterly terrified of what had happened to her. Grey himself had seen many of the females discussing with each other that Tinker had disappeared as well and he had hoped that maybe, the two had gone off to find Cornelia. He desperately hoped it so, but at the same time he also had to keep the rest of the apes safe.
Grey himself had often snuck away from the troop when everyone else was busy and safe for the time being, to go back to the human bridge and see how Caesar and the rest of the warriors were doing. His heart clenched from the devastation that was going on between both side. Both neither budging from each other, fighting as hard as they could to keep the other from advancing. Grey had hoped on several occasions that Caesar and the others would charge through, but they never committed. Eventually though, Grey had to go back and keep an eye on the females and maybe, hopefully see that his little Maple Tree has returned home.
Eventually it was time, when Caesar and the other apes had finally made their way across the bridge and Grey watched as they made their charge. He watched as many of his brother fell to the foul weapons that were directed at them. In his anger, Grey had done his part too, in order to help Caesar and the rest of the warriors. Grey had unstrapped a rifle from his back and began to unload all of the bullets form it, down at the humans that stood by the north end of the bridge. In their confusion, Grey could see the human soldiers looking about, to see where the attack was going on. Grey was lucky enough to hit something of the human soldiers and that caused an explosion to occur. He had then quickly ducked behind the trees when many of the human soldiers took notice of him and fired in his direction. Thankfully he was saved by a loud human voice that seemed to be coming down from below the bridge, on the sea. Grey didn't stick around to see what it was though, in that brief moment, he had taken the chance to head back into the forest, hoping that he had maybe helped Caesar and the other warriors break through the human barricade.
When Grey had finally gotten back to the troops, he was severely out of breath. Many of the apes around tried to see what was wrong with him but he merely pushed them away, noticing that there was a group of females. Grey was surprised to see his mate - Cedar, looking ever so livid, as if something had bothered her terribly. Before he could ask her of the problem, Cedar had burst in with wild hand movements. All Grey caught, was that Cornelia had returned, something about helping with birth and Maple's name. With a huff, Grey had immediately walked past Cedar and made his way quickly on over to where the females were.
As Grey approached, he noticed Cornelia helping several of the other midwives with Oaka's birth. Both Cornelia and Grey made eye contact briefly, Grey nodding, allowing her to proceed with assisting the birth, which in turned had angered Cedar even more so. Grey immediately regarded the frantic Cedar with a bark, instantly silencing her. Blinking, Grey then turned his gaze back to where Cornelia was and then his eyes traveled to where his little Maple Tree was standing, staring at both him and Cedar. Seeing her well, relieved his heart greatly and he made to approach the younger female but Maple took a step back from him, a frown still set upon her lips. With a huff, Grey nodded to himself and moved away from his daughter, allowing her some room.
It was a little later when Red came back, demanding Grey to stop Cornelia. Grey, annoyed with Red, informed the bigger ape of their customs and that it must not be broken. Red however, had other plans and was going to force Cornelia to his whims. When the red haired gorilla had stomped away, Grey had looked around and found both Shell and Winter standing off to the side. He had heard that these two had came in with Cornelia, so they were his best bet. He approached the two younger males and simply handed a stone knife to Shell, both the younger apes looking at Grey in confusion.
"Free the prisoners," Grey signed to them both.
Shell and Winter glanced at one another curiously before meeting Grey's gaze again, unsure of what he had just told them.
"Free prisoners?" Winter had asked.
"Yes, go now. Do it when apes are not looking at you two," Grey gestured quickly before he shoved both Shell and Winter away from the group.
After a few moments, Grey then heard the distinct cries of his mate, prompting him to turn around and look for Cedar. There in the distance, near the cluster of females, Grey could see Red towering over Cedar and Maple, as the rest of the females. With a feral growl, Grey then charged up from behind Red and struck the bigger gorilla.
As the memory faded from his mind, Grey opened back up his eyes and he met Red's glaring acid colored hues once more.
"You did this on purpose. Lied to us. Why?" Red asked.
"As I said, I did this to protect the apes," Grey gestured back with his teeth bared.
"We! Protect! Apes!" Red roared out angrily.
"Your way! Wrong!" Grey bellowed back. "Apes die! Because of you! It over! Apes no longer follow you! No longer follow me! We lost."
"No!" Red howled.
It was at that moment that Grey had realized he'd let Red get in too close; Red leapt into the air, flailing down at his head with his gigantic arms. Seeing this, Grey did the only thing he could think of, he ran straight into Red's attack, putting his shoulder beneath the larger gorilla as he was off the ground and pushed with all of his might as he heaved the giant ape over him. Red landed heavily onto the ground behind Grey and he quickly took the opportunity to scramble onto the gorilla's back once more, renewing his choke hold.
Red fought to get back up, and finally managed to get onto all fours, even as Grey was cutting off his air supply. He attempted to stand and slam Grey into a tree once more, but by this time he was already too weak from the lack of air. Red felt Grey tightening his hold further around his neck, feeling the brown haired chimpanzee using both his arms and legs.
In a matter of seconds, Red collapsed onto the ground, eyes slightly rolling back. Grey held onto Red for a few more moment, until he was sure that he had pacified the other ape, and then released the gorilla beneath him.
Grey then climbed, breathless onto his feet.
"No one!" Grey panted aloud, turning to face all the apes around him. "Is to harm. Cornelia."
With that said, Grey took a few steps and leaned heavily against a tree, hurting in every joint of his body. He had just won the fight of his life, and now the apes would be safe. Now he awaited for the ape's true leader to return and would accept any punishment Caesar will give him.
Huffing, Grey glanced back up and met Cedar and Maple's faces; one looked of confusion the other looked of wonder and pride. Grey couldn't help but meet Maple's smile, seeing the mirth return within her eyes.
"Grey?"
His breath catching in his throat, Grey turned at Red's voice, but he wasn't fully facing him when the gun chattered and the bullets struck him. Everything seemed to go white the moment he was stuck by the bullets, an ear piercing ring echoing within his ears, along with the cries of many of the apes screams too. The next thing Grey understood of what was going on around him, he noticed that he was now sitting on the ground, with a few bullet holes marring his abdomen. Gasping in shock, Grey had tried to get back up again but stopped as Red came to stand right in front of him. Huffing, Grey lifted his head and looked up at Red's snarling features, the gun pointed straight at his face.
So what did you all think of Grey?