WARNING: Fight-scene/slight gore ahead

Caesar

The hunt had only been a partial success for Caesar's hunting party, though he couldn't really complain either. They had managed to kill two black-tailed deer of a decent size, but the forest had otherwise been silent on their end. He hoped Lydia and Luca had better luck than them. Otherwise the portion of meat on their crude wooden plates tonight would be measly.

As Caesar and his apes neared the village, he saw that the duo was already at their designated rendezvous-spot, Luca carrying two deer on his back, a buck and a doe, while Lydia had just unloaded another doe off her back. She also had a couple of rabbits attached to her belt by a leather string, which she quickly untied to lay the rabbits on top of the doe. She smiled as Caesar approached with his group and reached out to brush her fingers against Roy's shoulder when he reached her, a tender smile across both their faces.

The nature of their relationship, the extent to which it went, was one of the things many apes in the village gossiped about, though none had dared ask the pair about it, including Caesar. It was a private matter and though apes in general were more open about such things than humans, no one would outright question another ape about his or her relationship with their mate. That was just a line that was not to be crossed.

So, it remained an enigma to everyone, though Caesar didn't really mind. He was more concerned with running the village anyway and keeping track of his son, who was growing more and more adventurous every day.

"So, five deer and a couple of rabbits. Do you think it will be enough?" Lydia signed to him, to which he nodded. It had to be.

"The females will see to that." He smirked slightly at her then, eyeing her homemade attire with amusement. "Will you be experimenting more with the new skins?"

She lifted an eyebrow at him as the apes around her huffed in amusement. Most had wives who had been present when she had explained about "human modesty" and had, thus, also been informed of this concept. Also, most of the village had witnessed her attempts at sewing, which had been quite amusing in the beginning, when nothing would fit and Roy would have to assist her with pressing the needle through the thick skins. The other males had teased him about it, though he faced it with dignity and got to throw it right back at them when Lydia's sewing began to look better and better, to the point that it was actually beginning to look quite decent. Then again, she had ruined a lot of good pelts to get to this stage…

"Now that you mention it, if you could spare me one or two, I was thinking of trying my hand at making a bag or satchel. Could be useful for gathering fruits, perhaps?" Her gloved hands moved swiftly through the air. They were fingerless gloves, keeping her hands warm while still ensuring a good drip on her arrows. It was one of the few things she wore which were not made by herself.

Yet, Caesar thought, it will not be long before she makes an attempt at this too, I am sure.

He nodded at her suggestion. The colony did have bags and baskets, but they were mostly woven and didn't last long with such frequent use. Bags made of leather would last way longer, the Ape King was sure of that much.

They started moving toward the village, the load of the day's kills being distributed among the apes. That's when they heard the sound of a vicious feline roar from the eastern part of the forest and everyone froze. Mountain lions were not uncommon, though this was unusually close to the village.

Not long after, frightened, high-pitched screeches sounded through the forest and everyone's eyes widened in horror. Caesar would know that scream anywhere.

"Oh, no…" The King heard faintly beside him.

Before he, or any of the other apes could move even a muscle, however, a blur of brown leather and dark hair passed Caesar and he only managed to glimpse Lydia's back as she dashed in the direction of the sounds between the trees, her dogs hot at her heels.

Caesar roared, lifted his spear and took to the trees with his apes, following the sound as Lydia had done, hoping against hope that nothing had happened to the children, whose distressed calls resonated through the forest.

The apes moved fast through the trees, but Lydia was still faster, Caesar noted with surprise. Her long legs easily carried her over the uneven terrain, jumping over fallen logs and across streams so fast Caesar almost feared she would stumble and hit the ground face first. He needn't worry, though, as she tore through the bushes undeterred while twigs and branches whipped at her viciously.

She only had one thought, Caesar knew, one goal motivating her to push on with still harsher breaths. Orion was in danger.

Like Caesar had recognised his son's distressed calls, Lydia had heard Orion's wails of panic, pulling her towards him like a piece of metal is pulled by a magnet.

Through his fear for his own offspring, Caesar was once again able to witness the devotion the woman had to the child. She truly was his mother.


Lydia

Lydia dragged air into her lungs violently as she pushed onwards, only faintly aware of the apes' angry hoots behind her. Her focus was on Orion's screams, and the roaring of the mountain lion she knew must be the cause of his distress.

It wasn't long before she burst through the bushed surrounding the clearing where Orion, Blue Eyes and Ash had encountered the beast. Her eyes wild with fury as she drew her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver. The dogs had arrived before her and were now barking angrily, but were unable to reach the cat.

The children had sought refuge in a tree, inching out to the thinner branches away from the beast, which was now making its way up the trunk after them.

It hadn't even noticed Lydia and the dogs' arrival, so focused on the supposedly easy meal that all else melted away in the eyes of the hungry cat.

Not for long, though.

Lydia drew her bow and screamed at the mountain lion with such anger that it momentarily startled the cat, as well as the children higher up in the tree. The arrow missed the ribcage of the animal by barely an inch and it hissed angrily at Lydia, perhaps thinking she wanted to steal a kill from it.

Her next arrow hit the beast in its left hind leg and made it scream out in pain before it jumped down from the tree, now targeting the offending human.

She was only faintly aware that Caesar's hunting party had gathered around the clearing high up in the trees. None of them did anything, though, besides hooting and screeching angrily at the mountain lion to scare it off.

No such luck.

Even as the cat hissed and looked around at the apes in fury, it would not budge. Instead, it began circling Lydia, who was angrier than the animal in front of her could ever be.

Storm and Blaze bit at the cat's heels and quickly moved out of the way when it turned to jab them with its deadly claws.

It jumped back when Lydia shot another arrow at it before lunging at her. She reacted fast, rolling to the side before the animal could get a hold of her, and reached for another arrow.

Her eyes widened in realisation.

She was out of arrows. Shit!

She whacked the beast in the face with her bow when it lunged at her again before throwing the bow away and pulling out her large dagger from its holster on her leg.

Fighting a mountain lion with a dagger… not the greatest idea I've ever had.

Orion's faint whimper reached her ears and was enough to fuel her anger, though.

And so, when the beast sprang at her again, she made sure to slice at it as she spun out of the way.


Caesar

Caesar looked on in horror at what was going on down below. He had ordered Rocket to climb over and collect the children while Lydia had held the predator at bay, himself lifting his hand to prepare for his apes to attack.

It was then Roy reached a hand out in front of him, stopping the king from giving the order.

Caesar turned to face the other male, so confused that he momentarily forgot that Roy had effectively defied his leader. The other ape signed hurriedly at Caesar.

"Must not attack. Could hurt Lydia…" He turned his attention back to the fight before adding, almost as an afterthought, "And she might lose focus. Could get killed for that." He was anxious, that much was clear to Caesar.

The king nodded slowly, also turning back to the fight going down below them. Still, he could not understand how Lydia was supposed to get through this unscathed without their help.

She moved out of the cat's reach time and time again, rolling, spinning and jumping. She had lasted longer than Caesar would have expected, though the beast had managed to rip her skin open here and there, most notably on her right thigh, where blood was now trickling down her pantleg. Another jab from the animal soon left four deep wounds on her exposed left hip, right above her pants, and blood immediately splattered across the forest floor. She let out a groan of pain as she jumped out of the way, mindful of her injured leg.

Looking at the mountain lion, Caesar was pleased to note that the beast was not faring much better. It still had an arrow lodged in its hind leg, which had caused it to limp heavily. It also sported several cuts on its front legs, though these didn't seem deep.

The dogs had not sustained any injuries, serving merely as distractions with their attempts at biting the huge predator. Still, it left several openings for Lydia to get out of harm's way, which was probably why she had lasted this long against the vicious animal.

It was then that Roy thrust a spear down towards the cat, startling it so much that it sprang backwards and turned to hiss and spit at him. Caesar saw an opportunity and signed for Rocket to throw his spear towards the cat as well, while the Ape King himself did the same only moments later. It distracted the predator to such a degree that Lydia was able to roll forward and rip Rocket's spear out of the dirt before the cat turned on her again with renewed hatred.

It didn't match the look on the woman's face, though. Her eyes, still sharply contrasted by her black war paint, were wild with unrestricted fury. It reminded Caesar very strongly of the look she had given the bear that had appeared the day he and his council had followed her to bring her back to the colony.

Only this was much, much worse.

The cat lunged forward a few more times, getting jabbed with the spear in the face, which made it move back to circle the woman once again, before attacking once more from a slightly different angle.

At last, it sprang forward again, opening its mouth in a vicious roar, only to have a spear thrust down its throat with all the power the furious human woman could muster.

The beast gurgled as blood welled up in its throat and spilled from its jaws, clawing pathetically at the spear before going completely limp and hitting the ground with a dull thud. Lydia stood over the cat, panting heavily and clutching her hip in obvious pain. The dogs both circled the mountain lion uncertainly before losing interest and sniffing around the area.

Lydia's eyes were still trained on the animal, as if it would spring back to life any second and retaliate.

Roy was the first to reach her as the apes silently climbed down to examine the slain beast. She startled when he touched her shoulder gently, though her eyes immediately went soft when she looked at him. Their foreheads touched and her shoulders instantly slumped with exhaustion, the adrenaline finally leaving her body completely.

When she opened her eyes again, Caesar had moved in front of her and was now taking in her appearance. Blood was trickling steadily down her legs from each of her wounds. The cat had also ripped a few holes at the left sleeve of her coat, though it seemed to only have affected the garment. She did have a rather nasty-looking wound on her right arm, though, and Caesar was sure she must have some bruises on her back from all this rolling around. There were a few sharp stones sticking out of the ground in the clearing, after all.

The Ape King bent down and pulled out the spear from the cat's throat and presented it to her.

"You. Did. Well." He rasped in his gravelly voice. He was truly impressed with her display of courage, though he did also think she was being quite reckless.

Not like he wouldn't have done the same for Blue Eyes, though, had he gotten there first.

She took the spear from him and weighed it in her hands, studying it briefly before looking up at Rocket, who had moved over to them as well.

"No," she replied with a slight smile, before handing the weapon to Rocket, "we did well." She looked around at the apes before returning her gaze to Caesar, who nodded in agreement.

A sudden whimper sounded behind Caesar and he turned around to face the three children who had gone up behind them, keeping a safe distance from the corpse of the mountain lion.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a stern look forming on Lydia's face as she looked down at Orion. Caesar and Rocket fixed each of their own sons with a similar look.

"What were you three doing outside the village? Alone?" The Ape King was the first to sign, his green gaze trained on his son, though he was speaking to all of them.

"We snuck out…" Came Blue Eyes' timid reply. He had never seen his father so angry before. Especially not at him, Caesar knew.

"Why?" The king pressed on.

"To show Orion the river…" Blue Eyes answered as he visibly shrunk under his father's stern look.

"It was my idea, please don't be mad at Blue Eyes!" Ash quickly signed with a timid but desperate look in his eyes. Rocket's head whipped towards him so fast Caesar thought his neck would snap.

"Ash? Why? Why did you not ask an adult? Your mother? Maurice? You know you cannot go alone! Have I not told you how dangerous it is out here for young ape?" Rocket signed fast, his movements jagged by his anger and worry.

Lydia said nothing, yet to Caesar it seemed that Orion was the one feeling the sorriest for this whole mess, even if he wasn't being reprimanded. His eyes were fixed on his mother's form, darting from wound to wound while his green orbs glistened with unshed tears.

It was not Caesar's job to tell Lydia and Roy how to raise their adoptive son, but through his anger and fright for his own child, he felt a twinge of sympathy for the young ape. He knew why they said nothing to Orion for now. The wounds the fight had left on Lydia was enough punishment.

Caesar grunted before anything else could be said and ordered that the cat be brought back to the village with them.

It was time to get home.

The Ape King watched as Roy turned to Lydia with a raised brow as he looked her over.

"I do not suppose you will let me carry you back to the village?" There was a certain hint of sarcasm in the way he said it, though the worry in his features was still clear as day.

Lydia scoffed with a slight smirk, despite her current condition and the severity of what had just happened.

"You know me too well." She started limping past Caesar towards the village, nodding at him as she passed.

Roy let out a defeated huff and picked up Orion, who curled up on his chest.

"You really should not walk in your condition…" He signed half-heartedly.

Caesar shook his head as he picked up his own son, who clung to his shoulders and buried his face in his father's neck.

"There's nothing wrong with my condition, Roy, can't you see I'm still standing?" Lydia challenged in an exasperated tone.

Truly, Caesar thought, if they are not mates, then I have no idea what they are…