WARNING!
If you don't want spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, DO NOT READ further!
Orangutans were not water creatures.
For a long while, water was his world … And then, nothing. It was quiet, and for a moment, he thought he was dead.
Will I meet the first elder, the great Caesar, now? Raka wondered, almost excited by the prospect.
Noa and the Nova—No, she said her name was May—they were both gone, and the soaked orangutan lay shivering and coughing and gasping for breath on the shore. It was this more than anything that convinced him he was not dead, not yet. Heaving himself up on one long arm, Raka spluttered and spit out water, and then more water … And then even more. Would it never stop?
As soon as he could breathe without choking and without water coming out of some part of his body, Raka slowly sat up, rubbed his aching head, and surveyed his surroundings. When he tried to stand, he sank quickly back to the ground.
So, I will stay here for a while, he thought, but kept an eye out for predators, and for who or whatever fished him out of the water, too. He was certain—well, he was almost certain—that he did not get out on his own. But where was his rescuer?
A sound, the lightest footstep, came to his ears, and he froze, wondering if he should play dead or sit up and say 'Hello' as someone crept towards him and slowly knelt down by his head.
"Please, don't be dead," a female voice whispered anxiously. "I nearly drowned pulling you out, so don't be dead?"
"I am not dead," Raka rumbled, and the female screeched and jumped back, eying him warily.
Raka opened his eyes fully and got his first look at her. Like him, she was drenched to the skin, and she was a young female gorilla, with the most remarkable golden hair he had ever seen on any ape. If she was of adult age, it was not by much.
"Thank you for saving me, young one," the orangutan said softly.
"I try to help all menaced by Proximus," she declared. "I could not save your friends, so I save you, instead."
"I am Raka," he introduced himself. "What do I call you, brave child."
"I am not a child," she declared hotly.
"Strange name," Raka grunted and grinned. At her puzzled expression, he laughed even harder. "Just a bad joke."
"Orangutans," she sighed, but she struggled against a grin of her own. "I am Julia Irayna."
"Which is it, Julia or Irayna?"
"Both."
"That's quite the mouthful," he smiled.
She drew herself up. "My brother named me after our father and mother both. Father's name was Julius, so he called me Julia. Mother's name was Irayna."
"It is a lovely name, my dear, but it's still a mouthful. Do you mind if I pick one?"
She did smile then. "Which one?"
"I'll decide later," he said thoughtfully. "Where is your brother now."
"I don't know, teacher," she answered shortly. Her face fell, and he hated making her look like that. It made her look even younger and more vulnerable.
She looked down at the ground. "He serves Proximus," she said in a near whisper.
"you call me teacher?"
"All of your people are teachers, are they not?"
"Well …" Raka appeared to consider. "Not all, but many, yes."
"Can you stand? I've built a shelter further back," the gorilla girl said, reaching a hand to help him up.
Raka took it and slowly regained his footing as he let the mysterious Julia Irayna lead him away from the shoreline.
A/N:
Hello patient readers. Here's another little Raka piece for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoyed it.