After her frail but scornful words, Haley couldn't tell what had happened to Koba, nor any of the others, and could only feel her body be carried away against her will, her burns screaming against the resulting breeze. Powerful and apish hands hoisted her from the ground and laid her down in the hut with the healers, a groan pushing free from her lips when her raw scabs scratched against hay and dirt. Yet, as moments passed within a daze, Haley dreaded the fact that her pain was already subsiding, somehow knowing the fact wasn't a good thing.
Nevertheless, the outline of her wounds thundered torturously enough on their own, only hindered by the sweet solace of icy wet cloths being draped on them, dipped in honey and egg whites to help. But still, against her will, Haley flinched with discomfort as the cool material wrapped around the entirety of her side, inevitably covering her right eye and ear and finally extinguishing the smoke that was clouding up from her singed hair. In the process, she felt her body heat get shattered where her clothes had previously been, now cut free with sharp, jagged rocks around the wounds. Despite the agony still jabbing to the marrow of her bones, her frame an agonizing combination of stiff and numb, Haley sighed shakily with relief as stabbing cold replaced her stabbing nerves – that is, only those nerves that survived the fire. Slowly but surely, she was left to feel a few more of them wither away.
Frantic, feminine hoots and gibbers tore through Haley's weakened alertness and she didn't need to see their signing to know the subject of their conversing; by the trembling of her limbs, Haley knew there wasn't anything more they could do.
It felt like hours passed of Haley watching the blurred, furred silhouettes through the corner of her eye, her neck locked in place by its own charred surface, before she finally noticed Lake was no longer in the room. Lake was an old friend of Blue Eyes and Ash before she began learning with the females about care and healing, so of course Haley was confused by her lack of presence. Though, her confusion barely lasted a second before the ape's reason for leaving dawned in her stomach like a nauseating punch in the gut, the sound of unsettled apes growing louder outside and weighing heavily with trepidation. However, no matter how much she attempted to force her body to move, trying to hide away in the shadows, her muscles wouldn't let her hurt herself more. And so, before long, Caesar's horrified face and wide green eyes peered into focus, Luca and Maurice's large shapes framing his disheveled figure.
Haley barely had time to avoid his gaze before it burned with a sudden and chilling rage and he moved away. "Where Koba?" She heard him growl to the others while her eye flickered to the other two, attempting to give them her best look of reassurance. By the looks they gave in return, hers wasn't very good. Both of them seemed in a state of panic, Luca shuffling around discretely, contemplating if he should interrupted the females to move closer.
"Don't know." Tinker signed in a rush in between her attempts to keep Haley's coverings moist, "Said he left to find you."
Not seeing him between then others, Haley felt an urge to commit an insolence and interrupt Caesar's conversation to ask them where Rocket was, but when she heard Caesar grunt furiously and stomp off, she knew Rocket must have left to find Koba as soon as he heard the news. He's always had a shorter fuse than his leader. Instead, something else tore pass her lips. Honestly, Haley had no idea what compelled her - maybe it was the hint of insanity that flickered in Caesar's normally kind eyes, or maybe it was something worse: the need to defend her mate. Or rather, a 'fear' to defend him. "I provoked him." Haley breathed, careful not to move the right side of her face too much, even though Tinker hooted frustratedly anyways. She didn't care how mad Tinker was at her for talking, however, because her confession did what it had intended: Caesar stopped and turned back to her. His face was scrunched and he was glaring at her, but not in anger - rather, it was clear he didn't believe her. She tried again, "It was an accide-"
A single huff stopped her and everyone immediately turned their attention to the gorilla in the corner, startled. He didn't elaborate, however, and rather gibbered accusingly her way. Luca's entire body seemed rigit, his face contorted in a strange mixture of worry and exasperation. When he heard what happened to Haley, he had felt his entire core jerk in horror - he felt sick, which was more than just embarrassing for him, given his ranking and position. His head pounded, his breath was heavy, and his body numb. He wanted nothing more than to chase Koba down and rip him into pieces, bite his neck flat, or to pound his head in, but he was too worried to follow Rocket. Instead, he was right next to Caesar as the council members promptly quickened their pace and swung home in the trees, leaving the horses with the rest. As petty as he knew it was of him, Luca wanted nothing more than to beat Caesar to the village, but gorillas weren't nearly as agile in the trees. As a result, hearing Haley defend Koba's honor made it feel to Luca as if his worry was being belittled. Luca had told her that he could see she was scared of Koba and her acting as if Koba didn't do anything wrong, it tied a vice around his heart. She couldn't have possibly been that badly distorted by Koba yet, right? And, as bad as it was, he was partly happy to hear the news, to know she regained some of the life she had when she arrived in the village.
But, of course, he couldn't bring himself to say any of this and rather hooted and huffed for Haley to stop, making it quite clear that he knew for a fact that she wasn't telling the truth.
Just as he finished, Ellie made an appearance anyway, with Alex, Malcolm, Foster, and Kemp right behind her. All of them were perfectly breathless and sweaty from their dash from the horses. Haley was flattered that so many were worried about her, but there comes a time where it just reaches absurdity - now was that time. Groaning faintly, ignoring the warning look from Tinker, Haley stopped Ellie from the predictable 'are you okay?' At least all of the strange events that have been following her accident have been officiant in somewhat distracting Haley from the pain. Only one statement was enough to bring her back to reality, though.
"Can't heal her." Tinker confessed slowly, "Burns too deep." Just like Luca, Tinker barely spoke in human speech, making her voice sound hoarse and raspy, but with the humans around, she knew she had to resort to hit. But the pause she gave made everyone on edge, Caesar's new-found attention slowly fading. Without a word, Tinker stared at Ellie with clear contemplation, actually making the human doctor understandably uncomfortable after a while. Eventually, she at least moved and startled everyone by shooing the other females outside, allowing them to leave, albeit they were hesitant. Haley, of course, was most startled of all. Haley understood if Tinker knew she couldn't heal her, but suddenly just ditching an attempt entirely and dismissing everyone - it was just a little too harsh. Though, she didn't have a chance to protest before a large figure shuffled into view and grabbed her attention. Earlier, when Luca interrupted Haley's feign of Koba's innocence, Haley had felt worried, but now, when his green eyes begun to reveal themselves in the darkness of his own shadow, the idea of him outing the truth was entirely irrelevant.
Gorilla hands, just like other apes, are rubbery and hard from the long periods of time they stay on them, building resistance to stones and twigs, and maybe that was why Luca's palms were more soft and smooth than others'. Years of being raised in the zoo granted him, although cruelly, a gentle touch. Haley only realized this when she felt his stubby fingers wrap around her unharmed hand carefully, her tiny hand going lost in his flat, giant palm. Haley was confused and bewildered, staring down at their hands in shock, but it wasn't the sudden show of affection that startled her, it was the tingling of her skin, the thundering in her chest, the swelling of her heart, the dryness of her throat, at the sweet gesture. For a moment, the pain in her body got worse from the sudden rush of blood in her veins, but she was too surprised to take notice. She knew he took her hand because he was too afraid he'd hurt her if he placed his forehead to hers, given his large frame, but somehow, such a faint touch affected her so much worse. Finally, Haley couldn't help but smile up at him.
"Human village," Tinker eventually spoke, still keeping her focus on Ellie. There was no real explanation to what she meant, but Caesar didn't need one. Those two simple words made his lips thin. He, of all apes, knew how much more advanced human medicine was, but the problem was: would Haley allow them to help her? She might be human, but she had a loathing for humans just as much as anyone in his troop, and it was no secret that she was stubborn. "She'll get worse." Tinker signed more furiously in response to his silence, keeping an explanation for Ellie for later, "She'll get sick!"
"I know." Caesar grunted simply in response, however. It wasn't like he didn't. Apes have gotten severely sick from minor burns, and just imagining what Haley's state could do to her made Caesar's stomach turn. But Tinker's determination convinced him nonetheless. "Human village," he repeated, circling to Ellie and the others, "could help Haley?"
"Yes," Ellie nodded shakily, still trying to process the sight of Haley, "We've helped others like… this. But," She added, glancing to the girl, "she will have to go there, and transporting her there will take some time."
This, of course, grabbed Haley's attention immediately. "You're not taking me anywhere," She snapped weakly before flinching when she tried to turn her head their way. "I'm not going anywhere," She hissed pass the pounding in her neck, "I'll be fine."
"The fact that you can say that only proves how bad those burns are." Ellie spoke before anyone else had a chance, a distinct professional tone in her voice, "The only reason you're not passed out is because your nerves were friend off," she paused when she saw Haley didn't even blink at the news, "and you know that."
"Even if I do-"
"Not discussion." Caesar grunted quickly before he addressed Ellie again, "Be... safe?"
"Yes, because she-" Ellie assured without a moment of waver, but as soon as she understood why Haley will be safe, she trailed off. Looking around, she swallowed her words and thought it better not to say anything else. Everyone knew exactly why Haley wouldn't be in any danger in the city: she's human. Luckily, no one was so small as take offence of reality, and rather, that's all everyone needed to hear before action was finally taken. "We'll have to use the jeep," Ellie spoke over her shoulder to Malcolm, who nodded in agreement.
Haley still tried protesting, but it was no use - no one really care about her opinion over the matter, they only cared about getting her the help she needed. Letting go of her hand, Luca followed the careful directions of Tinker and wormed his hands underneath Haley's knees and back and slowly hoisted her into the air, her skin and torn clothes sticky from the honey and egg whites. He cringed at the groans and whimpers that escaped her lips from the movement and kept the entire right side of her body as far from his fur and skin as possible, not wanting to hurt her more. How he wished he could enjoy the feeling of her numb body, as a result, collapsing against his chest, but it only made his anxiety grow. Haley, however, basked at the cold his skin offered against her cheek and shoulder, compared to the burning heat searing into the rest of her body.
As she was carried away, Haley found herself taking note of just a few distinct faces in the crowd: Blue Eyes, Ash, Cornelia, and… Grey. A close follower of Koba, it made no sense to Haley that he was still in the village, but there he stood, sneering as if she was pure stink to his senses. Through her blurry vision, Grey's glower burnt with immense and burning hatred, and somehow, Haley instantly knew her burns were the least of her worries, or anyone else's.
Gods, when will they get that dam fixed?
Great Scotland Yard, I just checked how many likes I have on my Planet Of The Apes stories (been a while, haha) and WOAH, that's insane. (OoO) Like, I seriously don't get why you guys like my writing so much, but thank you, haha! I love you all so much!
And again, please, if you're up for it, go check out my YouTube Channel: Geeky Fanatic. I should be updating WT next weekend. Depends if I get it done before my break is over.