Blue Eyes
No one had thought it odd that Blue Eyes had been gone for several hours once he came back to the tower, as they had all assumed that he had only been out hunting for human prisoners on his own, or that he simply needed some time for himself – his father had died, after all.
At least, that's what they thought.
He had returned yesterday late in the evening, the sentinels Koba had posted doing little to stop him.
Looking at it all with more clarity than he had done only hours before, Blue Eyes almost huffed mockingly at Koba's lax security measures. The guards were few and far between, and Blue Eyes had already spotted several areas where he figured he could escape with the apes loyal to his father. Koba had clearly put more of an effort into finding the last of the humans that had managed to get away in the initial takeover of their colony, rather than secure the perimeter against any potential threats – be they foreign or domestic. It would seem he really did think he was invincible.
That would only work in Blue Eyes' favour, however.
But he shouldn't underestimate Koba, he reminded himself quickly as he scoured the area containing the ape prisoners from afar. The bonobo might be brutal and rash, but he wasn't stupid – that much he had made painfully clear by now. Best to take caution and use every little detail he could gather of his surroundings to gain the upper hand later on. It was almost like hunting, really.
So that's what he did, though his impatience almost got the better of him several times during the entire day of human-hunting he had to endure before he was able to make his first move: give the imprisoned apes a sign and tell them of his plan once he had their attention.
He had found the task of hunting humans unsavoury the day before… Now, he found it absolutely despicable.
These creatures hadn't done anything to deserve this – they weren't the ones who had put Koba, or any of the other apes in cages all those years ago. They had just been trying to survive and now, they were paying the price for someone else's mistakes.
Though Blue Eyes didn't feel any particular sense of kinship towards these humans, he found himself wanting to free them now as well – simply because he knew they were innocent of the crime Koba accused them of.
Not all humans were evil.
How he regretted he hadn't realised that sooner.
But now was not the time to mull over the past, he reminded himself sternly as he picked up his gun and moved to sneak up beside the bus where the apes loyal to his father sat.
As silently and swiftly as if he was on a hunt in the forest, he crept forward between the abandoned cars and roadblocks which littered the street leading towards the improvised human cages. The amount of noise they made, yelling, crying and gasping in fright, provided good cover for Blue Eyes as he approached the prison. It was harrowing to listen to, however, and he found himself gritting his teeth in anger at it, especially whenever he heard the distinct wail of a child or infant, quite recognisable from the rest of the jumbled sounds that surrounded him.
The guards were too busy harassing some of the more… difficult prisoners over at the human cage to notice his approach, and in no time at all, he was at the driver's side of the bus, shielded from the eyes of any sentinels placed atop the human cage as well as the guards at the other side of the bus.
Having carefully devised his plan on how to get the apes' attention, he swiftly went to the front of the bus, drawing his father's symbol on the steam-laden front window – invisible to the guards, but quite clear to the apes inside the bus.
As expected, it didn't take long for someone to notice it and Blue Eyes wasn't surprised to see that that someone had been Maurice. He quickly made eye contact with the old orangutan in the rear-view mirror, making a shushing gesture once he had everyone's attention. They needed to keep quiet for the time being for this to work.
Before he went out of sight after receiving an affirmative nod from the ape prisoners, he made sure to catch Orion's eye with a meaningful glance, beating his fist once against his own chest to show his younger friend that he needed to keep faith.
He didn't stay around to see Orion's resolute nod – the look in his friend's eyes had been enough for Blue Eyes to know that he understood what he had meant.
Soon, it would be time to set his plan in motion.
Roy
When Maurice's low grumble had sounded through the bus, it had caught Roy's attention immediately and he had whipped his head away from the unsettling scene just outside his window to see what the old orangutan had been making such a fuzz about. The only sounds he had made since their imprisonment was cooing rumbles to comfort Orion and the other younger apes every once in a while.
This sound had been different, though. It was alert and had called for the other apes' attention, and Roy soon found out exactly why.
His heart had skipped a beat when he saw Caesar's mark drawn on the bus's front window, clear as day in the hazy steam that covered it.
Soon after, Blue Eyes could be seen in the rear-view mirror, silently urging them to keep quiet, his eyes full of meaning. At this point, Roy had little to no idea what was going on. They had been sitting in there, chained up in that enclosed bus, for over a day, and the air had grown continuously stifling as the hours had gone by, the sun beating down relentlessly onto their prison. The chains around his wrists were chafing his skin and pulling at his fur, and his throat was absolutely parched by his thirst. Not that they hadn't been provided food and water – they had been, sure, but it had been so minimal that none of the prisoners had been able to stave off the growing hunger in the pits of their stomachs or quench the thirst burning in their throats. Koba, seemingly, wanted to torture them into either submission or death, Roy was sure of it.
And at this point, he hadn't known if he should trust his own eyes to not play tricks on him and making him see things that weren't there, just to give him hope.
But then again, it hadn't seemed likely that all the imprisoned apes were seeing the exact same thing – he was pretty sure visions and wishful thinking didn't work like that.
It had to be true, then. Blue Eyes was there – seemingly to break them all out.
That had been earlier in the day, when all the humans were still being herded into their pen. Their cage. Now, darkness had descended over the city and the sharp, electric lights had replaced the sun's merciless beams. They stung Roy's eyes in much the same way, but they did not wield enough power to illuminate the entire compound they were being held in. Additionally, the surrounding area was still coated in darkness – ideal conditions for them to make their escape.
Still, something had plagued Roy in the time between now and earlier in the day, when the Ape Prince had appeared to draw his father's symbol.
What had prompted Blue Eyes to, quite evidently, go against Koba and free them?
Why had he used Caesar's mark in the first place?
What was even happening out there?
These, as well as a thousand other questions, had shot through his mind like one of Lydia's arrows did swiftly through the air, yet he had decided to put them aside for now. There would be a time and a place for that later – right now, as night had descended upon them and he was faced with the prospect of getting himself, his son and his trusted friends out of this improvised torture chamber, he'd be damned if he messed up by not following the instructions given to him.
Blue Eyes' plan seemed simple enough, and Roy had nodded in unison with the others to confirm that he understood what he needed to do as the young prince now moved further back behind the bus.
The thought had stricken him that Blue Eyes may not be trustworthy, given his idolization of Koba and obvious contempt for humans. Who knew what kind of plan the bonobo could have manipulated the young chimp into carrying out to make the last of the apes loyal to Caesar and his ideals abandon their cause?
But something in the adolescent's eyes had seemed… different, when he had caught everyone's attention earlier in the day. There had been a determination in them, a maturity which Roy hadn't seen before. He had only caught it briefly, but it had been enough to tell him that Blue Eyes was no longer under Koba's hateful spell.
Gone were the doubt and insecurities of an adolescent, replaced by the confidence of a grown male. It suited him well, in Roy's opinion.
And the way the prince had eyed Orion before disappearing behind the bus… as if he was silently promising the younger ape that it would all be alright... Even if Roy couldn't look Orion in the eyes from his position further back in the bus, the way his son's entire posture had perked up at the exchange was the last confirmation Roy had needed to know that Blue Eyes was serious about getting them out.
And armed with this reassurance, he now went with some of the other apes to the windows facing the human cage and they began to make a ruckus to gain the guards' attention – which didn't take all that long. A bus full of screaming, bouncing apes would be hard for anyone to ignore.
Soon enough, all of their present captors had gathered along the windows, some beating against the glass with their guns in an attempt to silence their prisoners, while others leaned against the windows to see exactly what was going on inside.
When they had all gathered there, a roar sounded from Maurice, telling everyone that Blue Eyes had given the signal to begin the next stage of the plan.
And so, Roy, Maurice, Luca and several others smashed the windows to pieces in the faces of their captors, sticking their arms out of the gaping, glassless holes and the bars in front of them. They each grabbed one of the guards and held them close to the bars to make sure they stayed put and wouldn't be able to fire their weapons, no matter the thrashing that ensued.
Then, the next stage of the plan was set in motion.
The second half of the imprisoned apes, which included Orion, had placed themselves on the other side of the bus. These apes now began swinging back and forth, tilting the bus from side to side until, finally, they threw themselves against the same wall as the rest of their fellow prisoners, making the bus topple over, crushing the guards being held against the windows.
When doing this, it was crucial that the apes holding the guards let go of them at exactly the right time – let go too soon and the guarding ape would escape and call for backup. Let go too late and the ape prisoners holding onto the guards risked getting their arms crushed.
Luckily, most managed to let go at exactly the right time, and the one or two apes who didn't only ended up with a couple of damaged fingers – nothing to moan about for now, given the situation. It could be dealt with later.
A deafening silence followed when the bus had landed on the ape guards with a heavy, metallic 'thud'. The humans, who had been standing in their improvised cage, yelling and screaming only moments ago, now all stood completely still as if they were a herd of deer scenting the air for danger. The apes had stopped screeching as well, as they now sat in the toppled-over bus, waiting for Blue Eyes' approach.
They didn't have to wait long, as a heavy weight soon landed on one of the side of the bus now facing the darkened sky, and the bars and a window was torn apart, revealing the face of Blue Eyes.
Maurice was the first to get out, hauling his enormous body up through the empty hole where the window once was, and Roy saw him shoot Blue Eyes a proud look and give the young ape a fatherly pat on the shoulder before he went on to climb down the underside of the bus.
One by one, the ape prisoners began to climb out of the vehicle, scurrying down to Maurice to gather by the older ape – they would all go together.
Roy opted to go as one of the last ones, making sure Orion got out before him, even if his son gave him a worried glance, as if he was afraid he wouldn't see Roy again if he let him out of his sight. He had received similar looks ever since Lydia had had to flee the village. Roy supposed it was only natural – one of his parents had disappeared without a trace and now, Orion feared his remaining parent would do the same, leaving him all alone in the world.
That fear of being left alone by people he loved had always been present in Orion, even before Lydia had been forced to leave the colony the first time all those years ago. His adoptive parents had surmised that their child had suffered some subconscious trauma from having his biological mother taken from him at such an early age. He had been too young to remember the incident, but such things could still affect those who had experienced it. Like a faded, almost invisible scar from an accident that has happened so long ago that it has disappeared from the person's body – but the ache would still be there for all to see.
Even so, one reassuring nod from his father was all it took for Orion to turn around and reach up to take Blue Eyes' hand in a firm grip, letting his friend haul him up and out of this horrible cage.
Roy felt his chest swell with relief and pride as the two young apes regarded each other briefly when Orion found his footing on top of the bus, only to reach around each other in a brotherly embrace. The two had always been close and Blue Eyes' behaviour recently had hurt Orion deeply. The fact that he was able to overcome it so quickly, to forgive so readily, and that Blue Eyes was basically risking his own life to save them, showed Roy that these two young apes were made of the right stuff. In this moment, Roy saw not two adolescent apes fresh out of their childhood years, but two strong, mature, adult males.
How he wished Lydia could have witnessed that. She would have been so proud.
Lydia… Roy thought as a lump began to form in his throat. He had to find out what had happened to her when he got out of here! The pain of not knowing this, of being separated like this, had eaten at him ever since she had left the colony.
Just as the thought of his mate reached his mind, gunshots sounded and bullets pinged against the metal of the bus as some of Koba's apes began shooting at it, having probably figured out what was happening by now.
Orion and Blue Eyes lowered themselves as soon as the sound occurred and the Ape Prince began to shoot at the attackers as Orion hurried down to the other freed apes.
Only a few apes remained now and Roy was the next to go after another youngster had exited the prison with hunched shoulders, hurrying away from the shooting while Blue Eyes kept defending them with his gun. When the young ape was safely out of the way, Roy climbed up through the hole, Blue Eyes helping him with a strong hand around his bicep.
Roy, however, didn't even get to stand to his full height before a sudden, searing pain ripped through his abdomen and the bottom of his ribcage. At first, he didn't realise what had happened, so sudden was the sensation that his brain did not register it the moment it happened. After a second, however, he roared out in agony at the feeling as all his senses were blocked and all he knew was pain.
He stumbled forward, faintly hearing Blue Eyes screech and shoot more fiercely at the attackers who had shot Roy – because that's what had happened, of that he was sure. He only just managed to tumble down behind the bus as he was caught in a pair of strong arms. The movements were brutish and rugged, tugging painfully at his body as they tried to keep Roy from hitting the ground and he realised that it was Rocket who had caught him when the older chimpanzee lowered his face to look Roy in the eyes worriedly.
Soon, he felt a second pair of arms holding him up and turned so see Orion at his other side, green eyes wide with fright.
That's when Roy realised that his legs were giving out beneath him and that it was basically the two apes beside him holding him up. Normally, he would have cursed at himself for such weakness, but the pain and the mounting stress to get the hell out of this place overruled that urge and all he managed was to attempt at making another reassuring nod to his son.
This time, Orion didn't look convinced. Not a single bit, in fact.
Soon, Blue Eyes stopped shooting as the last of the prisoners had been freed, jumping down to survey the damage Roy had taken. At least it seemed like he was the only one who had been shot.
"We must hurry! I know a safe place!" Blue Eyes began to sign frantically towards Maurice and Rocket, who both nodded resolutely.
Then, the young adolescent turned to Roy, still with that determined look plastered on his face. The thought occurred in Roy's already foggy mind that the prince had finally begun to look like his father rather than his mother – Caesar would have been proud.
What Blue Eyes said next, however, brought Roy out of his half-delirious musings immediately.
"Roy! You must keep awake! You will get help! Help from Lydia and the others! I know where she is – she is alive. Safe!" The signing was still so frantic Roy almost missed it, but at the mention of Lydia, his mind cleared instantly. Beside him, Orion hooted confusedly. Hopefully.
He almost thought it was a lie to make him keep going. To motivate him to move and survive – but the look in Blue Eyes pale gaze told him it was the truth. Lydia, his Lydia, was alive and safe!
"Must stay alive, Roy! For Lydia!" Blue Eyes added sternly. When had he gained such an air authority? Only a day or two ago, he was a scared, confused and resentful adolescent.
But he was right. Roy would stay alive for now – if only for a while, if it meant seeing Lydia again.
He could do that much.
And so, Rocket hauled Roy's arm up around his neck, supporting his friend as they went forward, escaping through the city in the cover of darkness.
Roy could literally feel Orion's concerned stare as they hurried off into the night, but his son said nothing as they began making their way through the abandoned streets of San Francisco, the distant screeching of Koba's followers urging them on.
His son would have to take comfort in the fact that he would soon see his mother again. Right now, Roy was in no condition to provide any fatherly support – he had to focus if he was going to survive long enough to get back to the safe place Blue Eyes had spoken of.
Back to his love…
Back to Lydia…
One last time…
