Geleel traversed through the trees, swinging from branch to branch as he was in the process of gathering a few fruits his mother had requested earlier in the morning.
He was a tad annoyed when he had to grab a papaya that was straggling at the end of a tree branch.
Fortunately, due to the fact that his genealogy had taken such a drastic change, his ability to climb like any chimpanzee combined with the sheer length of his limbs, it was fairly easy to grab the papaya without falling to his death.
Geleel smiled to himself as he now decided it was time to head back to the troop's line, the entire troop was looking for a new home, Alpha didn't tell Geleel why yet.
The young boy didn't take it seriously, he knew his father had no obligation to tell him everything.
Geleel made sure to tuck the fruits in the sack attached to his waist firmly before he began on his way back to his family.
He couldn't help but smile and laugh jovially as he swung through the trees, life was immaculate to say the least, he had gained the troop's respect and acceptance due to his bravery at such a young age, Alpha had acknowledged him as his son...and he would be getting a younger brother soon, what more could someone ask for?
Bang! Bang!* The loud bangs reverated through the air as Geleel's smile immediately morphed into a shaken expression as he was so shocked by the noises he almost missed a branch and fell to the jungle floor.
'What was that?' He mentally questioned as he now perched on top of a branch and ominously eyed the direction the strange sounds came from...it was gorilla territory.
Geleel only knew about two groups of apes other than chimpanzee, they all had their own territories in this jungle.
The Bonobos were much smaller and a bit more nimble than the Chimpanzees but they were surprisingly peaceful and not really a threat to the family.
Now the gorillas, which was the subject at hand here; weren't particularly aggressive, but they were large and extremely powerful, if they were to wage war against the family...the outcome would be very bloody.
Geleel would never venture into another group of apes' territory, mostly due to the warnings the troop had given against doing so, but his curiousity was getting the better of him at the moment, he simply HAD to know what those strange noises were.
The boy had already made up his mind as he began traversing through the trees and towards the direction the sounds came from, as long as he kept himself hidden it would be fine.
Geleel had finally come upon the scene that he thought the sounds had came from.
The entire scene before him looked like nothing but carnage...there was blood everywhere, 2 gorilla corpses laid slain on the ground, both female.
Geleel didn't know what to make of this scene, what could possibly be so powerful as to take down 2 ADULT female gorillas with so much ease?
Despite his better judgement, Geleel lacked a high fear to new things, so naturally he jumped down to the jungle floor as he landed with a thud following his feet touching the ground.
Though he tended to ignore fear, he was still cautious as he carefully inspected the bloody scene, carefully examining the bodies before him.
He noticed their wounds were inflicted upon their chest and stomach areas, judging by the blood that was seeping out of the wounds.
Their eyes were left still as their mouths hung open.
Geleel couldn't bare the sight fully so he simply closed their eyes for them as he stood up and began exploring the mayhem some more.
He then crouched down as he noticed some golden items on the floor...they were smooth yet sharp at the tip, Geleel picked one up as he began inspecting it, these small things were used to kill the gorillas?
"Why'd you have to go and shoot them like that?" Geleel heard strange sounds come from directly in front of him, luckily a bush hid him as he swiftly took to the trees to be cautious.
He watched safely from the branch he was perched on, the boy wanted to know what creature was making those noises, he couldn't understand what they were saying.
As the voices got closer, Geleel's eyes immediately widened, humans...what were they doing this deep in the jungle?
"Oh relax, they were just some early adult females, we have the prize here." One of the humans spoke that language again as it gestured to something behind it.
Geleel followed its hands as he noticed a large robust male gorilla laying on the floor, it was breathing, the humans had immobilized it somehow...this must be why Alpha warned the troop about these creatures, they had too much power.
The young ape boy realized the severity of this situation, if the humans were in the jungle and already taking down the most powerful apes, the Chimpanzees could be in danger too.
Geleel swiftly jerks as he prepared to flee the scene, he inadvertently dropped a fig from his pouch as he panicked and tried to grab it...but it was too late as it fell to the jungle floor with a thud.
"What was that?" Geleel's heart beat increased as one of the men instantly drew his weapon.
"What was what?" The other questioned as he was shushed.
The man with the weapon stalked towards the tree Geleel was in.
After a dramatic pause he randomly fired a shot into the tree causing a small flock of birds to fly out of the tree, but he didn't hit anything but air.
"Are you insane?" The other man questioned as the man with the gun sighed.
"I know I heard something..." He trailed off as he suspiciously eyed the tree.
"Come on, we have no time for this, we have to load that gorilla up, now." His partner urged him as he took one last glance at the tree before turning to go help his partner.
Up in the tree, the branch that Geleel was on was vacant, a gunshot was now present in the branch.
The boy had slung his body behind the tree's trunk so as to avoid being hit by one of those powerful weapons, his breaths were ragged and frantic as he eyed the gunshot in the tree...his chest heaved with every breath.
Memory struck him, his family...they could be in trouble next, he had gained a new determination now.
Geleel immediately made up his mind as he took off swinging through the trees again in a desperate manner to find his family and ensure they were safe.
'I'm coming mother, please be safe.' He mentally stated as he swung from branch to branch.
As Geleel neared the troop's line...his fears from before were made to be true, he heard more human voices shouting and he could hear his family screeching in peril as they tried to avoid being captured or killed by the humans.
Geleel perched on a branch as he tried to maintain his nerves, these people were ruthless, why were they doing this to his family? All of his people were in disarray as they ran about on all fours frantically.
His thoughts traveled back to his mother, where was she? Was she good? The baby...he had to find her.
Unfortunately before he could move his attention was turned to a loud anguished cry that no doubt belonged to Alpha.
Geleel noticed the King Chimp was on the floor breathing heavily as a human held him at gunpoint.
Before the trigger could be pulled Geleel had swiftly closed the gap between him and the human as he slammed his forearms into the back of the man's head before he could murder Alpha.
Alpha let out a breath of relief as Geleel immediately ran over to check on him.
"They ambushed us out of nowhere!" Alpha informed Geleel as they both stood up now.
"Do you know where mother is?" Geleel questioned Alpha as the latter's eyes widened...where was his wife.
Suddenly a loud but familiar screech rang through the air.
Geleel immediately turned to notice his mother being dragged away by a group of humans as she hooted and hollered loudly in distress.
He reacted faster than Alpha as he immediately bounded over to the humans in an irate manner.
Right as one of the humans placed Malu in a wooden cage, Geleel lunged at him and tackled him to the ground swiftly.
All of the other humans stared at Geleel in utter shock as the boy seemingly hooted and growled, even with the undeveloped and raspy voice he had, they immediately realized he sounded like an adolescent chimpanzee...but he was evidently human.
"Where did this boy come from?" One of the humans questioned as Geleel bared his teeth at them and looked at them all with irate eyes.
They all clambered and chattered amongst themselves as they eerily eyed the boy who was seemingly exhibiting ape like behavior, was he mentally unstable? Where did he even originate?
As Geleel bounded around angrily, his angered face turned into a shocked one as a needle pierced his neck with a pinch causing him to screech in shock and pain.
He shook his head as he swiftly ripped the object out of his neck, he tried to see what it was but his vision was already blurring...soon enough his body fell to the ground with a thud, all consciousness was lost.
Malu watched from the box in horror as the remainder of her family was still running around frantically from other humans...and her son had been immobilized right before her, she screeched frantically as she couldn't do anything to help him.
"What are we going to do with him boss?" A man questioned the human who had apparently tranquilized Geleel.
"What we do with all the other apes." He said with a smirk.
The other humans shared confused expressions, even if this boy acted like a ape, he was still a human being...
Sure enough, they had loaded Geleel into a box cage just like his mother, only he was unconcious and she was not as she cooed to him in hopes of comforting the boy, she wasn't aware that he was fully unconcious.
The trucks began driving off as Malu turned to see that they were moving further and further away from her family.
What had happened? These humans had came out of nowhere...and practically ripped her family apart, she couldn't see Alpha from this far, where was her husband? Was he safe? Was he...alive?
She placed her paw on her stomach as she thought to her baby...she never even had the chance to tell Alpha they were going to have another child.
Everything was going down hill...
"Just think about the profits men...I can see it now, you know how much bank we can make off of selling an ape boy?" The boss questioned his men.
They would make a fortune on this boy, the boss knew those stupid scientists would salivate at the thought of being able to run experiments and tests on this kid.
Approximately a Week Later...
Geleel had been sedated for most of the trip from Africa to California...not that he would know the exact difference of the two places.
Unfortunately as his vision blurred and he began to stir awake, he realized he wasn't in the jungle anymore...he didn't know where he was.
It was so white, and bright too, there was some sort of glass cage around him as he shook his head to fully regain his consciousness.
"We cannot keep a human in a testing lab! It's unethical!" Geleel heard a feminine voice shout.
"I do not care! This boy is the missing link between man and ape! He was with the chimps from West Africa when he was sold to us, if we can study him then we can make more money!" A masculine voice then shouted.
Geleel now stood up huskily stood up as he walked over to the glass door that caged him.
He hollered loudly as he banged on the wall wildly, he did not care about the random noises these humans were saying, he wanted to know where his mother was, and he wanted to be freed immediately.
"This isn't right Steven, you know it isn't." The female voice addressed the mocha colored man clad in a business suit as he brushed her off again.
"I will use this boy for every penny he is worth, I do not care about your moral compass." Steven said with a smirk as he walked up to Geleel's cage.
The ape boy still growled aggressively as he stared Steven down, all the while the latter was smiling at him.
"Now where is Will Rodman?" Steven questioned aloud.
"Right here sir! What was it you...needed?" Will questioned shakily as he noticed Geleel in the cage.
The scientist's jaw almost dropped as he realized the boy was clearly exhibiting ape like behavior...he knew Stevens loved money, but there was no way he was about to use a human for profit.
"You said you needed extra help with getting a break through on the ALZ-112...well, I give you, the missing link." Stevens said as he gestured to Geleel.
"No...no, this isn't what I meant Mr. Jacobs, who is this boy?" Will questioned as Stevens sighed, why was everyone being compassionate today.
"Why don't you ask him yourself? See if he speaks a lick of english back to you." Stevens gestured Will over to the cage as the latter arched a brow.
Will quickly realized the issue as he tried to communicate with Geleel, the only thing he recieved was grunts, growls, and snarls.
"Wow...so you weren't lying, he's real..." Will admitted to Stevens, when he was briefed about this hours prior, he was sure it was some sort of impractical joke, which justified the shock he had when he actually saw a human behind a cage.
"Now are you convinced?" Stevens questioned Will.
"It's still wrong...the boy needs to be helped." Will said sympathetically as he watched Geleel tire himself out in anger.
"Helped? Will, look at that boy, he's a savage! There will be no help for him, listen, it's either you use your research on him to find that cure for alzheimerz, or I will find someone that will, and I'll be sure they're not as compassionate as you are for this boy." Stevens made himself clear as Will gave him a distraught expression.
He was conflicted for so many reasons...Will started this whole project, the whole idea of curing alzheimerz just so he could help his father who suffered from the disease.
Now he had a whole new thought, if he didn't take care of this boy some other scientists...or worse, the government, would surely mistreat him in the name of science.
"Fine...I'll do it." Will finally relented as Stevens smirked at him.
"Perfect...glad to see we're on the same page." Stevens said as he patted Will's back and prepared to leave the room.
Will shared a look with Geleel, the scientist was lost on what to do, the ape boy was still confused and frantic about his new environment.
One thing was for certain, they both knew these next few months would be extremely difficult.
4 Months later
Geleel hadn't seen his mother for such a long time now...he had no way of telling how it's been, but he'd never been away from her this long.
The only things he'd seen as of late were testing rooms and lab coats.
Fortunately, that was mostly Will, Geleel was very abrasive towards the man at first, screeching and snarling anytime Will would try to interact with him.
After about a month, Will had proven to be what Geleel considered, one of the good humans.
The man didn't mistreat him or shout at him, he even gave Geleel food or sweet treats he'd never had before when he'd cooperate with Will's tests.
Will never really used any drugs on Geleel, but the former had begun teaching the latter sign language, and to Will's surprise, Geleel had caught onto the technique pretty fast.
At first Will was doing this to see if Geleel had any mental deficiencies but to his shock the boy did not...he was as smart as any other human being in his age group...he was actually raised by Chimpanzees, this wasn't a mental issue.
"Very good Geleel! You're signing is getting better by the day." Will complimented Geleel in sign language as the boy smiled and accepted the cookie Will offered him.
"Thank you." Geleel signed back to Will as he began enjoying the treat.
Will began to write some stuff down in his notebook as Geleel began exploring the lab he was in.
His eyes curiously wandered around the room as he took everything in.
That's what he loved about being with Will over the other scientists, they always kept him chained or cuffed, with Will he was trusted to walk around freely.
Geleel then arched a brow at an evolution board that was in the middle of the room.
The boy hooted and chittered as he tapped on the board.
He then began mimicking every form of evolution he saw.
Will turned to him as he smiled when Geleel stood up fully straight like the homo sapien on the board.
"You like the board?" Will signed to him as he nodded at him.
Geleel's giddy expression then morphed into a confused frown as he dropped back down to all fours.
"Why human keep ape in cage?" He questioned Will as the scientist was shocked.
He knew Geleel was smart...but this boy was becoming too aware.
"It is hard to explain..." Will signed to Geleel as the boy's head drooped, Will always said that.
The scientist was struggling to keep Geleel's curious mind at bay, this boy still didn't even know he himself was a human yet, and explaining it to him would be the hardest thing Will ever had to do...maybe even harder than finally curing Alzheimerz.
"Can I...Can I see my mother?" Geleel shakily signed as Will arched a brow.
"Your mother? Who is your mother?" Will was very much confused.
Geleel knew the humans had taken to calling his mother Bright Eyes instead of Malu, he was able to tell them his name by writing it after Will taught him his ABCs, Malu however, could not let the humans know her name.
"Bright...Eyes." Geleel slowly signed so Will knew who he was talking about.
Will stared at Geleel in disbelief...Bright Eyes was the best Chimp that he ran the ALZ-112 test on, he had no clue...she was the one that raised this boy?
A few moments later, Will had decided to put this to the test as he had some scientists usher Bright Eyes into the lab Geleel was in.
She hooted and cooed in confusion as Will gestured her over to Geleel.
She immediately froze once her eyes, which had been altered from their original brown had now become green with some brown flecks in the middle, locked onto his still brown eyes.
"Son..." She cooed as Geleel immediately bounded over to her on all fours.
When he closed the gap between them they both instantly embraced eachother.
"Mother...you have no idea how much I've missed you." Geleel relayed his longing for his mother's touch to her.
Will watched as the Chimp and human embraced eachother, there was no doubt about it, the boy wasn't lying, despite their biological differences...Bright Eyes was definitely Geleel's mother.
Maybe Geleel was the missing link after all...a human who had somehow altered his genealogy and speech patterns to move and speak with Chimpanzees...it was uncanny.
4 more months
Another 4 months has passed as Will agreed to move Geleel's cage next to his mother, he didn't want to keep them separated for more than they had to be, it wouldn't be fair.
Geleel still pestered Will about when they'd be able to go back home, but the man never gave a direct answer.
The boy was happy that he would atleast be able to be near his mother...especially since he had just given...
"Do humans know about the baby being born?" Geleel questioned his mother as she denied it.
"No, but today I will not do tests, I must protect the baby." Malu informed her son as he affirmed this, the baby should come before some stupid human tests.
Geleel got a nicer look at the baby, he was so small...his eyes looked like Malu's the same odd coloration that she'd developed in her eyes from the ALZ-112 had transferred to the baby chimp.
Perhaps the most noticeable part of this baby chimp's body was the shooting star shaped birthmark on his right chest area, it was a nice signature.
"Have you thought of a name?" Geleel questioned his mother.
"I was hoping you would have some suggestions." Malu said as they shared a laugh.
Geleel couldn't help but smile at his little brother, he would've preferred for him to be born under better circumstances, but he was here now, and he vowed to protect his mother and his baby brother with his life if any of these scientists seemed ready ti try anything.
Almost as if to spite Geleel, Franklin and another scientist by the name of Donnie had walked up to his mother's cage, seemingly ready to get her to come out.
"Alright Bright Eyes, today's the big day." Franklin said with a smile as Bright Eyes snarled at him.
"Alright Donnie, get her ready." Franklin said as he sat at his desk and began typing away.
Donnie then stepped up to the cage as he failed to notice the irate glare Geleel was sending his way, but he did take note of how frantic Bright Eyes was behaving, though he was callous about it.
"She's got stage fright." Donnie joked as he began putting the code in to open her cage.
"Is that what it is?" Franklin sarcastically questioned as Donnie snickered.
He then began opening Bright Eyes' door as she screeched loudly and immediately pulled it back shut.
"Hey! Hey!" Donnie shouted as he made the silly mistake of putting his hand in her cage.
Bright Eyes screeched loudly as she grabbed Donnie's arm and pulled him forward firmly slamming his head into the glass cage as he began panicking.
Geleel hooted loudly as the entire lab area was thrown into commotion.
"She's gonna break my arm!" Donnie shouted as Franklin immediately panicked and ran over to Donnie.
"Bright Eyes! Let go!" Franklin shouted as Bright Eyes let's Donnie go, the man's momentum forced him to fall back into a wall with a loud thud.
"Are you okay?" Franklin questioned Donnie who groaned in pain as he held his arm.
Geleel snarled at Franklin, the man was usually so understanding and kind to the chimps, but how could he ask if HE was okay right now?
Franklin eyed Bright Eyes warily, he never saw her act out like this, the only time she'd behaved like this is before her mind was altered by the ALZ-112.
She bared her fangs at him to let him know that was only a warning, if they kept being a threat to her and her baby the next time wouldn't be a warning.
Geleel watched as the humans had spent the next 15 minutes plotting something...it would appear they weren't going to leave his mother alone anytime soon.
He watched as Franklin placed a fizzy orange drink on the counter for his mother, he knew she had a liking to the drink.
These humans could not be trusted right now though, this felt like a trap.
"Here Bright Eyes, it's your favorite fizzy drinkkk." Franklin said in a sing song tone as Bright Eyes hesitated for a bit before slowly reaching out for the drink.
"No mother!" Geleel grunted as he tried to warn his mother, but it was already too late.
"Now Donnie! Get her neck!" Franklin shouted as he swung the cage door open and Donnie tried to snag a catchpole around Bright Eyes neck, only for the Chimp to react swiftly with a loud screech as she dodged the pole and swiftly grabbed it.
"No! No!" Franklin shouted as Bright Eyes ripped the pole out of Donnie's hands.
"Mother!" Geleel hooted as he banged against the glass of his cage.
Bright Eyes then leaped up as she slammed Franklin's back against her cage which was out of now.
When she got off of Franklin she was panickedly trying to get back into her cage so she could protect her newborn.
However, when Franklin brandished a tranquilizer gun, Bright Eyes immediately thought it was time to run, she wasn't in the mood to get sedated.
"Bright Eyes! No! Don't run!" The Chimp handler shouted as Bright Eyes screeched loudly and ran out of the lab.
Geleel gained a panick expression as he watched his mother flee the scene, all Hell broke loose once Franklin sounded an alarm.
The ape boy blocked his ears in annoyance as he tried to keep his composure in this dire situation.
He then looked over to his mother's cage and noticed the baby wrapped in a red blanket as it cried profusely.
Everything was going bad right now, he just couldn't wait for it to cease.
About an Hour later
Geleel didn't know how long the fiasco had lasted but, when it ceased...there was a bad feeling in the air; he was sure something was off.
When he saw Franklin come back down the lab with tears raining from his eyes...he immediately knew something was wrong.
He eyed Franklin weirdly as the man went into his mother's cage and kneeled down.
They both shared a look before they heard cooing.
Both of them then realized it was the baby...Franklin almost gasped outloud as he realized the small chimp laying there cooing and chittering.
"Oh my God..." He said in a hitched voice as he reached down and scooped up the baby in the blanket.
Geleel grew angry again as he made loud noises in protest of Franklin picking up his baby brother.
Soon enough, Geleel calmed down as he realized Franklin had no intentions of hurting the baby, but he still couldn't calm down fully, where was his mother?
Franklin suddenly gasps as he hid the baby in a container swiftly.
Geleel was confused as to why until he saw Steven Jacobs had entered the room.
"I trust you have euthanized all those contaminated apes by now, Franklin?" The man questioned as Franklin regained his composure.
"Yes sir...but, what are we doing to do with him?" Franklin questioned as he gestured to Geleel who was glaring at Mr. Jacobs from his cage.
"Get rid of him." Jacobs said coldly, his British accent cutting through the air like butter.
"What? No...no! I've already killed 12 apes I am NOT killing a human being next." Franklin affirmed himself as Jacobs laughed.
"Kill? Are you out of your bloody mind? This boy is still the missing link, when he is disciplined he will become my trophy horse; I would never tell you to kill him." Jacobs confirmed as Franklin arched a brow.
"Then what do you mean?" Franklin questioned his boss.
"Don't be stupid Franklin, after the disaster that transpired out there today the CDC will have every right to come raid this lab, we can't leave him here, if they see him, this entire company would be shut down indefinitely." Jacobs began.
"I've already made arrangements to place him in the San Bruno Primate shelter, the owners will keep our secret for the right price...for now, get him prepped for transport." Jacobs ordered Franklin who had no choice but to nod his head.
Jacobs then walked up to Geleel's cage.
Geleel growled at him as Jacobs mocked the growl.
"Growl all you want monkey boy, you're my meal ticket for the rest of your life now." Jacobs said as he chuckled to himself and began leaving the lab.
Geleel glared at his back; but after awhile Geleel stopped paying him mind, he still needed to know where his mother was.
A few moments later Will had arrived in the lab; and he looked completely defeated, looks like his presentation went bad.
"Where is my mother?" Geleel signed to Will who averted his gaze from the boy.
"Where is she!?" Geleel signed with some aggressive grunts following.
He then turned as he heard the familiar squeaking of cart wheels coming his way.
His eyes widened in shock as his mouth hung wide open...no, this couldn't be.
There laid his mother on the card, dead, four bloody holes in her stomach.
His mind immediately flushed with memories of those two dead gorillas.
Geleel fell silent, completely silent and still, he could not believe it, he WOULD not believe it...his mother was dead, she was...murdered.
Will swore to protect them and he...he let humans kill his mother.
Geleel had gone completely numb by this point, the only thing he was made aware of was after 5 minutes had passed, Franklin had open his cage.
"Alright now Geleel, please don't make this difficult-" Franklin is cutoff as Geleel immediately lunged through the door with an irate snarl.
He immediately tackled Will to the floor as the scientist cried out in fear for his life.
Geleel had looked completely feral now, even more wild than the day Will met him.
His eyes flashed dangerously, his teeth were bared, he was raining down on Will's face with ape like strikes.
Geleel didn't care anymore, everything Will promised to him...was a lie, he was just like the other humans.
As Geleel continued to assault Will, he was met with an all too familiar prick at the back of his neck.
It was a tranquilizer dart, Franklin had shot Geleel with it as the boy's vision began to blur.
He tried to fight the drug...he still had to protect his little brother and avenge his mother's death...but it was to no avail, as once more, his face met the cold hard floor as he was rendered unconcious.
Many Hours Later
Geleel had found himself stirring awake, but unlike the white smooth looking lab environments he'd grown accustomed to, he'd woken up on cold and dirty concrete as he was surrounded by a silver grated cage.
He stood up on his hind legs as he looked at the array of other cages, nothing inside them, but as he tried to peer into some sort of open area, he could swear that he was seeing...apes?
"Looks like the ape boy finally got up." He heard a voice say as his head snapped to it.
He noticed a middle aged man walking up to his cage with two blond haired children by his side.
Geleel eyed the family warily as he noticed the children looked to be around his size or in his age group, the man however was far older than he was.
"Listen, I don't know if you understand what I'm saying, but I've got a lotta money riding on keeping you here safe and hidden, so do me a favor and try to stay healthy and out of trouble with those apes out there." The man said with a feigned smile.
"My name is John Landon, this is my son Dodge, and my daughter Emilia." John introduced himself to Geleel who made no effort to acknowledge the introduction.
"Heh, this is gonna so fun." John said as he turned to leave, Dodge following.
"Do you think he can actually talk to apes dad? Or is that just a load of bull?" Dodge questioned his father.
"First off, watch your mouth, second, we'll see in a few days when we let him into the play area with them." John said as their voices faded away.
Emilia stayed back for a bit, her blue eyes locked onto Geleel's brown eyes, she was seemingly studying him.
The boy didn't know what to think of her, she seemed so harmless...but so did Will...he remembered, humans were never to be trusted again.
Emilia finally turned and walked away as Geleel was left alone with his thoughts now.
The ape boy immediately dropped to his knees as he felt tears begin stinging his eyes...he didn't know what to do anymore, he was stripped away from home...his family, his mother was shot dead and his baby brother...he didn't even know what happened to the infant, he could only hope and pray that he was safe.
A few days later
Geleel had watched for days, the other apes that resided in the cages come in and out of those cages from the play area.
When ever they were in their cages they would hoot and holler at him loudly which to be expected; he was a new ape in their midst.
Today was different though, the Landons has actually opened the top part of his cage for him...he was allowed to go out into the play area today.
Geleel didn't hesitate to climb up out of the cage and begin walking on all fours to the play area.
"10 bucks says Rocket rips his arms off." Dodge said with a snicker.
"Don't say that!" Emilia shouted as she swatted her brother's arm.
"What? Atleast it would be cool." Dodge said as he crossed his arms.
Emilia chose to ignore him as she noticed Geleel had finally made it to the playroom.
Geleel stood up on his hind legs and looked around as every ape stopped what they were doing and began looking at him in confusion...why wqs a human in their play area so casually, little did they know, this was no ordinary human.
Geleel began walking forward as he was seemingly not phased by the stares he was getting, he was not afraid of these apes.
As the ape boy walked by a large cage he noticed a large gorilla was behind built in cage in the play area.
The gorilla breathed heavily as it then began roaring loudly and banged against the cage aggressively.
Geleel was unphased, after everything he'd been through as of late, he could care less about anything right now.
As he had seemingly found a spot to be by himself, suddenly, a large robust male Chimpanzee with hardly any fur had dropped down in front of him with an audible thud.
If Geleel could remember the tag on his cage correctly, he knew this muscular ape's name was Rocket.
Rocket walked up to Geleel as he snarled at the boy, when the latter didn't back down or show fear, the former grew angry.
Rocket then stood to his full height, and while Geleel was only 5'6 at the age of 12, the boy was still about two inches taller than Rocket, ofcourse the bald chimp had the muscle advantage.
"What do you want?" Geleel grunted at Rocket as the latter and every other ape in their vicinity was shocked that a human could understand and speak like them.
"Submit and bow your head, now." Rocket grunted at Geleel, if the human understood apes, he would know to submit or die here today.
"I bow to no one here, you are not my leader." Geleel informed Rocket who snarled.
"Is that a challenge?" Rocket questioned as Geleel offered no response, he only growled instead.
Rocket then began to hoot loudly and swing his arms back and forth as a sign of a aggression.
Geleel was unimpressed, and without a warning, he firmly head butted Rocket in the face.
All of the other apes began to hoot loudly as Rocket's nose had begun bleeding.
The decibels in the play area continued to rise as the apes got louder and louder.
The Landons watched in horror as they did not expect this to happen at all...they actually didn't know what to expect in the first place but it would seem this boy was actually speaking to these apes...but right now it would appear a fight was about to break out.
Geleel noticed how angry Rocket had become.
The ape boy then began climbing the tree in the middle of the play area as Rocket gave chase.
Every other ape was still hooting and acting wild as Geleel led Rocket all the way to the top.
Geleel swung around the top of the tree as Rocket was confused as to what Geleel was going to do.
It was too late though, Geleel spun around the tree's top and delivered a firm knee right to Rocket's face, eliciting a grunt of pain from the Chimp and sending him crashing to the floor with an audible thud.
All of the other apes looked on in shock as Geleel dropped down snd stood up over Rocket...they couldn't believe it, their leader was about to be beaten by a young human boy.
Geleel grabbed a sizeable rock and looked at it, he then looked down at Rocket who looked up at him with a fear filled expression, it's funny how bullies want to cower when you show them you're not afraid to defend yourself.
The ape boy rose the rock high above his head as he seemingly prepared to slam it into Rocket's face.
After a small pause, Geleel tosses the rock to the ground much to everyone's shock, no one was more shocked than Rocket though, he looked from the rock to Geleel in confusion, why was he spared?
Rocket stood up as he gave Geleel a confused gaze, the latter had no care for taking over an ape colony in this prison, his family wasn't here.
Suddenly a dart hits Rocket in the neck as he fell to the ground unconcious.
Geleel snaps his head towards where the dart came from as he saw John aiming the gun at him.
There was no time to react as a dart was promptly injected into his shoulder...back into unconcious he goes.
A few days later
The familiar buzzer rang as Geleel knew it was time to go out into the play area.
The boy felt his stomach pang him slightly as he climbed up out of his cage, he hadn't ate any of the nonsense John had given him as food and the effects were starting to dawn on him.
He ignored it as he made his way into the play area.
The other apes had earned a level of respect for Geleel ever since he technically bested Rocket, though the latter was still the Alpha because he never submitted or got killed.
But nobody, not even Rocket wanted to mess with Geleel after the fight.
Geleel climbed up a rock formation as he opted to sit alone and watch all the other apes do random inchohesive activities.
He noticed a female chimp by the name of Cleo flash him a smile, he offered her nothing but a gruff expression, he wasn't in the mood to smile.
Suddenly a large mass dropping down next to him drew his attention.
Geleel turned to see a giant red-furred ape come and sit down next to him, he had seen this ape before, his name was Maurice, even though Geleel was conflicted about his feelings as of late, this strange had confused him because he'd never seen his species before, not even in Africa.
"I...Maurice." The strange ape signed to Geleel as the latter was taken back by his ability to sign, even though it was inchohesive.
"Geleel...where did you learn to sign?" Geleel questioned Maurice.
"Was circus ape, learned to do sign for food." Maurice explained as Geleel eyed him oddly.
"I've never seen a ape like you before, what are you?" Geleel questioned him again.
"Orangutan." Maurice informed Geleel, the latter had never heard of that species of ape before.
"How you get here?" It was Maurice's turn to question Geleel.
"Human lab, they sent me here, I don't know why." Geleel answered as this puzzled Maurice, Geleel himself was human, atleast he appeared to be, why did he talk about them as if he wasn't one?
"You have family?" Maurice questioned Geleel as he offered him a fig.
"Had, mother dead...don't know where my brother is." Geleel signed before biting into the fig.
"Why always look angry?" Maurice questioned Geleel, the latter paused to look at Maurice before turning to face the other apes again.
"The world hasn't given me much reason to not be angry as of late." Geleel signed, and that was the end of the conversation.
The buzzer rang as every ape, including Geleel began moving back to their cages.
Later That Night
Geleel sat in his cage, he couldn't go to sleep due to his stomach pangs.
That fig Maurice gave him was like, the only morsel he ate when got here.
He was sure starvation would kill him before depression did.
When the top half of his cage suddenly opened, Geleel looked up in confusion...it was the middle of the night, the humans never let apes out at this time.
He cautiously began climbing out of the cage as he made his way to the play area.
When he got there, he noticed a plate of human food laying on top of the rock he was sitting on before...he never really ate cooked human food but it sure smelled good.
Geleel carefully made his way over to the plate as he looked around for any sign of trap.
He inspected the food to see if it was tampered with...it seemed okay, before he knew it, Geleel was savagely eating the food, and boy was it good.
As Geleel continued to eat and enjoy his meal, a sudden snap drew his attention as he immediately turned his head to it.
The person he saw standing behind him left him shook.
It was John's daughter, Emilia...what was she doing here?
"Wait, no, no!" Emilia shouted in a hushed tone as Geleel bared his teeth at her and began backing away.
"I don't mean any harm I swear! I just saw that you hadn't eaten much and decided to fix you a plate of food." Emilia admitted as Geleel stopped baring his teeth for a second...wait, that was her? It actually kinda made sense...
Geleel then stood up as he made his way towards Emilia slowly.
He began to inspect her now much like the food.
"Oh!" She exclaimed as he lifed her arm up.
Geleel jumped back due to her exclaimation.
"Sorry! You just scared me..." Emilia informed Geleel as he tried to ensure that he knew she was safe.
"See, no weapons on me." Emilia showed him her pockets.
Geleel tilted his head at this girl, there was something weird about her, she didn't seem like any other human he had encountered, even with a father like John Landon, she seemed so welcoming.
Geleel reached his arm out to touch Emilia's necklace, he flinched and pulled his hand back at first; but when she encouraged him to touch it he did so, it looked so beautiful as the moon shined off of it.
"This is my mother." Emilia said as she opened the locket on the necklace to show a woman that looker just like Emilia in it.
Emilia wasn't even sure if the boy understood her, but he seemed to be calm around her now.
Geleel then pulled his hand back from the necklace as he turned and walked back to the plate of food.
"Is it good?" Emilia questioned him as she sat down in front of him.
Geleel naturally didn't answer her but, she could tell from the way he was devouring the food that his answer would be a yes.
"Okay, I'll leave you alone now, I'll be back to get that plate and make sure you're safely back in your cage before my father hurts you." Emilia said in a worried tone as she prepared to leave.
"Stay." Emilia almost froze in her place as she heard a gruff and hoarse voice call out behind her...there was no way...
"What?" Emilia questioned as she turned around to make sure she was hearing properly.
"Stay...with...me." Emilia knew she heard right for sure now, he spoke...he could speak.
"You can talk?" She questioned in disbelief as Geleel offered her no reply, his voice sounded so cracky and hoarse, almost as if he never used it...which wasn't too farfetched.
"Listen to me Geleel." Emilia said as she got serious and sat next to Geleel.
"You can't speak outloud around my dad or my brother okay? It can put you in a lot of danger." Emilia explained to Geleel as he looked at her in the eyes, why was she warning him as if she really cared?
"But now that I know you can talk atleast I know you understand me, you wanna learn more words?" Emilia questioned him.
Geleel looked down at the plate, he really was wary of trusting another human again after Will...but this girl was breaking him down so effortlessly right now...
"Yes." Geleel answered as Emilia beamed at that.
"This is so exciting." She said as she smiled at Geleel.
"Hey." She called out as Geleel's brown eyes locked onto hers.
"Can you also teach me how to do ape stuff?" Emilia questioned as Geleel was taken back by this, why would a human want to learn to be ape?
He saw no harm in teaching her simple stuff if she wanted, it was just odd.
"Yes." Geleel affirmed her request as she beamed again.
Emilia gathered up Geleel's plate as she realized he was finished with the food.
"Emilia." He spoke her name in that raspy voice, it almost shook her that he knew how to say her name after only hearing it once or twice.
"Thank...you..." Geleel said as he stood up.
"You're welcome Geleel, now get on back before we get in trouble." Emilia warned Geleel as he nodded at her before turning to run back to his cage.
Emilia smiles as his form disappeared...she had no idea that this friendship would blossom into something indestructible one day.
As the years went on, Geleel and Emilia would meet up virtually every single night, the latter would bring food and the former would thoroughly enjoy it.
Emilia would teach Geleel basic phrases and sentences as he had actually become fluent in english as the years went on, he had found his voice as time went by.
Geleel taught Emilia quite a few things too, he had thought her how to climb the tree in the play area, she'd actually become really adept at climbing due to his suggestions, it was far too late in her life to defy her genealogy like he did but, she could still climb better than any average human.
They began practicing sign language together, and Geleel taught her what different screeches, hoots, grunts and chitters meant.
Before they knew it, this was more than just a teacher and student thing, they had developed a genuine connection.
Emilia had grown into a formidable woman over the past 5 years that Geleel had spent in ape jail...yes, 5 years.
It was around 12 at midnight as Emilia laid next to Geleel and they both were admiring the stars.
"Sometimes I wish I join the stars up there." Geleel said to Emilia.
"Why?" She questioned him.
"It just seems like a fun life to live, you shine bright, and you just...exist." Geleel said as Emilia arched a brow and chuckled at him.
"You know, for an ape man, you still shock me everytime we talk, you are the strangest boy I have ever met." Emilia said as she played with his messy, unkept fro.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Geleel said with a sly grin.
"Careful, if Cleo finds out I'm complimenting you she might want to rip my face off." Emilia said with a chuckle.
"Why?" Geleel questioned her as Emilia sighed.
"You're so smart yet you can't figure out how much that ape likes you huh?" Emilia questioned Geleel as his face scrunched up.
He never even thought about having a wife or anything of the sort since he'd been here...but he was getting to that age.
"Cleo doesn't like me like that." Geleel shot down Emilia's teasing.
"Suuuure." Emilia said sarcastically as Geleel rolled his eyes.
After a pause he turns to Emilia as he found himself staring at her, he didn't know when he realized it, but Emilia had grown into a beautiful young lady.
"Em." He called her nickname as she hummed.
"What do humans do when they love eachother?" He asked her as she was taken back by this question.
"Uhh, well, you can give gifts, or show signs of affection like hugs, or hand holding, or...kisses." Emilia answered as Geleel arched a brow.
"What's a kiss?" He questioned her.
"Oh God, okay so basically, two people who love eachother very much put their lips together as a sign of love." Emilia further explained as Geleel fell silent.
"I know it sounds weird to you bu-mph!" Emilia's sentence was muffled as she felt another pair of lips on her...she couldn't possibly believe it...Geleel had kissed her...and she wasn't even stopping him, she closed her eyes as she deepened the kiss herself.
After a short moment they separated as they looked eacother in the eyes, brown eyes battling blue.
"Em...I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't hav-" It was Geleel's turn to be cutoff as Emilia iniated a second kiss, much like before, they closed their eyes and deepened it.
When they separated again, Emilia smiled at Geleel.
"So...you love me?" She questioned him as he hesitated.
"...Yes." He answered her.
"Then say it." She demanded.
"I love you, Emilia." Geleel finally admitted it as Emilia felt as though her heart was dancing right now.
"I love you too, Geleel." She returned his love as they kissed again...it was sealed; they were firmly in love.
A few more months had passed as Emilia and Geleel continued having their secret meetups, now it wasn't as teachers of eachother, now it was as lovers.
Emilia stood in her home's bathroom as she smiled at the thought of the ape boy, she really fell for the boy that was raised by Chimpanzees, her mother always said she was wild, but this was next level.
Suddenly a wave of sickness swooned over her, her face became panicked as she dropped down to the toilet and began throwing up violently.
Emilia didn't know what was wrong with her, she was perfectly fine then...
The only possible reason, and the scariest one was her last explanation.
So naturally Emilia had bought the test; yes, a pregnancy test.
She sat on her bed waiting for the result, tears came to her face as the test was pending.
Positive...it read positive, she was pregnant.
How was she going to explain this to her father? How was she going to tell him the father was the same ape boy she was supposed to stay away from?
That's it, no one could know who the father of this baby was...not even the father himself.
Now she just had to figure out how to tell her dad she was pregnant...that was the final issue she had to resolve...she would think of something.
3 years later
Geleel sat next to Maurice on their rock as the two looked over the group of ape prisoners, much like they did everyday at playtime.
"How are you today Maurice?" Geleel signed to the wise Orangutan as the latter cooed to him letting him know his day had been good.
Geleel had become somewhat respected by every ape in the jail, except for Rocket who still had a bit of a grudge against the boy, it was never fully resolved.
Fortunately, other apes respected Geleel because he was kind to everyone, unless they were unkind to him, he wasn't a whimp either, he was the only ape crazy enough to roar back at Buck, the large gorilla that was isolated from everyone else, though he wasn't scared of the evidently larger and stronger beast.
"What your day like?" Maurice signed to Geleel who sighed.
"I don't know...something is wrong." Geleel signed as he alluded to the fact his meet ups with Emilia weren't as frequent as before, something was wrong, she was hiding something, but she wouldn't tell him.
"What problem is?" Maurice questioned Geleel.
Before Geleel could answer, the buzzer rang, they had to get back to their cages.
Geleel now sat in his cage as the tarps were draped over his cage, this is usually what the Landons did when they didn't want someone to see Geleel.
He heard Landon's voice calling out to some new ape as a chimpanzee clad in a red shirt and black pants bounded over Geleel's cage.
"Hoo-hoo! Stupid monkey!" He heard Dodge taunt the new ape, he must've played a trick on the newcomer.
Dodge had grown to be more grimey than he was when they were younger, he was plain evil.
He had shocked Geleel twice now, only stopping because Emilia warned him not to do it again.
Suddenly loud hooting and banging on the cages reminded Geleel of the newcomer, the new ape was causing everyone to go into a frenzy.
"Is that all you got? It's a mad house! It's a mad house!" Dodge shouted as he egged the apes on to act crazier than they already were.
Now Geleel was surely curious...he wanted to see this new ape, for he knew what was to come.
Chapter Fin
A.N.-I didn't expect this chapter to be this long AT ALL, it honestly could be two chapters but, the backstory chapter is done, I'm sure if you're a planet of the apes fan, you know who that new ape is hehehe, the canon movie starts next chapter.