Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Willow and any alterations to the original storyline plot her presence creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.
Born To Lead Chapter 1
Pain-filled screams echoed in the village making those listening wince in sympathy and some understanding.
Inside the massive old oak tree that Caesar claimed as his own, he was stressed beyond belief. Seeing his wife burdened with such pain was bad enough, but to have it continue for so long was more than worrying it was downright terrifying. Cornelia's labor had started as the sun began to rise early in the morning. It had continued well past mid-day and now with dusk rapidly approaching the end to her ordeal was nowhere in sight. The longer this pushed on the higher the possibility was he might lose both his wife and unborn child.
He wasn't the only one concerned the midwives assisting their queen in the birth made no effort to hide their growing alarm. Their faces were covered with veils, but Caesar could clearly decipher by their eyes there were complications unseen to the rest.
Clutching his wife's hand, kneeling beside her, Caesar signed "How much longer?"
"She's nearly there it won't be long now," signed Tall, one of the midwives.
Fortunately, those words panned true. A few minutes later it was time for Cornelia to push.
Hooting, Tinkerl signed "Push, Cornelia. Push now!"
At this point, Cornelia was extremely worn out from a combination of pain and lack of energy. Cornelia's strength was fading the length of time diminished most of it, but true to her nature she refused to give up. Determined she would bear this burden as any mother would. Growling she pushed with all her might Caesar squeezing her hand in support while the other pressed against her back as though lending her his energy. The seconds that passed felt like hours, but Cornelia and Caesar were soon rewarded with a tiny squeak quickly followed by the telltale noise of a newborn's cry. Caesar immediately exhaled a huge breath of relief believing the danger had now faded.
Excited hoots and grunts were voiced and spread among the midwives and other females attending the pair as the gender of the child was identified.
Excitedly, Tinker, the wife to Caesar's 2nd in command Rocket, signed "It's a boy!"
Caesar felt his heart soar at the announcement. If he were a bird instead of an ape he'd be speeding through the sky screaming his joy. A father, he was actually a father and not only that, but also, an heir to this kingdom. Smiling he watched as the tiny fussing infant, only slightly bigger than both of his hands combined, was placed on Cornelia's chest.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Cornelia instinctively wrapped the baby in the protection of her arms bringing it further up her chest for when it became ready to nurse for the first time. She nuzzled her face against the baby's own hoping to quiet the little one. It worked, his wails died off, but instead of eating the infant snuggled against his mother for warmth.
The baby opened his eyes for barely five seconds, but those few seconds were more than enough for him to be floored by what he saw. Because of the virus inhabiting their bodies, all of the apes had green golden eyes. In this case, the child was born blue without obvious signs of the mutated pigmentation in his eyes. An unusual trait for someone in their tribe to have, but still a good one.
Beyond pleased with this result Caesar turned to the midwives, signing"Well done all of you! I am eternally grateful for your assistance here today. I don't know if-."
Caesar's grateful speech was interrupted when Cornelia screamed the expression covering her face revealing the extent of her pain. Taking care not to harm her son in any way she curled into herself. The force behind the pain almost completely overrode her strength of will.
Rapidly moving his hands, alarmed, Caesar signed "Cornelia, what is it? What's wrong?"
Cornelia was unable to answer him. The moment she tried Cornelia shrieked even louder than when her first contractions hit startling the baby into crying again/
Snapping his head toward the midwives, rapidly, Caesar signed "What's wrong with her? The pains should've stopped!"
Shaking her head, bewildered, Tall signed "We don't know."
Reaching out a hand Tinker placed it on Cornelia's stomach in an attempt to comfort the new mother. Needless to say, she was dumbfounded when she felt something move underneath the skin. It didn't take her long to realize what was happening.
"There's another one," signed Tinker, eyes wide.
"What," said Caesar. He was so caught off guard that he actually spoke instead of using sign language like the others.
"There's another baby in there," repeated Tinker.
The baby was then taken from Cornelia so could move more freely in the bed. He was handed off to the surprised father. Despite how astonished he was Caesar tenderly took the child in his arms mindful not to hurt him.
The midwives returned to their positions preparing to catch the new child leaving its mother. Only when it slowly emerged did they find the cause is for her agony. The second infant was breeched. This was bad, for a first-time mother like Cornelia a breeched birth could kill if handled incorrectly. This, at the very least, explained more about the intensity behind her contractions. In comparison, breech births were always more painful than regular ones.
"My Queen, you need to push one more time," signed Tall.
Exhausted Cornelia whimpered a tear streaming from the corner of her eye. Cornelia was so tired she didn't know if she could do it.
In encouragement, Caesar gently stroked her head. Their eyes met and the love Cornelia saw there was exactly what she required to fight. With the assistance of the midwife and her husband, she managed to expel the little one safely. The waves of pain inside Cornelia subsided, but they weren't out of the woods yet.
Unlike the first baby, this one was absolutely silent not making a single noise limp in the hands of the Tinker. Working fast the females cleared the baby's airways rubbing its back to get it to breathe.
All the while Caesar and Cornelia looked on in dread with baited breath thinking this surprise arrival was dead. Those fears were dispelled when a small cough was heard followed by squeaks. The tenseness in Caesar's body disappeared upon hearing it. The child was alive after all.
Facing Caesar a bright smile shining through her eyes, holding the baby close, Tinker signed "Caesar, you have a daughter."
Baffled Caesar fell to his knees in disbelief staring at the baby in Tinker's arms. Twins! He looked to Cornelia who was already gazing softly back at him happy tears rolling down her face panting heavily from the effort.
The baby was then placed in Caesar's free arm that the boy wasn't occupying and he gave her a closer inspection. She was roughly the same size as her brother but was maybe a touch smaller. Her fur color was the same shade as her brothers. While she was crying she opened her eyes allowing Caesar to glimpse of the dark green residing in them. Besides the darker color they held compared to his own, she basically inherited his eyes. In fact, she greatly resembled how he used to look at that age after he was born. Wailing she waved her fists in the air ready to take on the world singlehandedly.
Chuckling Caesar bent nuzzling her gently to quiet her. At this new sensation, the child's wails were reduced to little sniffles as she rolled in her father's arms restless.
In the commotion, one of the midwives left their leaders dwelling telling all the others waiting anxiously outside the joyous news. All the apes broke out in cheers. Twins were such a rare occurrence among apes that this was taken as a sign. A blessing bestowed upon them foreshadowing good things yet to come.
But the celebrations were cut short before they had a chance to begin. A large clap of thunder boomed not far off in the distance signaling the coming of a storm. The birth had distracted the majority of the apes from noticing the storm approaching the village. Paying closer attention to it Caesar caught the wind whistling outside pushing against the oak. If his instincts were correct this was going to be a bad one.
Giving the babies back to Cornelia, grunting, Caesar signed "The danger has passed. All of you need to take shelter from the coming storm. Return to your own huts until it disperses."
Nodding the females complied with his instructions. They were all eager to meet their own families sharing with them news of what they just witnessed.
Alone at last Caesar settled beside Cornelia on their bed handing the babies to her to hold. Cornelia took them gladly radiating immense love on her face. She brought the babies to her chest helping them to nurse for the first time.
Pressing his head against Cornelia's, rubbing their son on the back of the head, Caesar signed "They are beautiful, Cornelia. What shall we name them then?"
As the storm was growing in power outside the pair debated over names for their children. Eventually, they settled on the name Blue Eyes for their son representing his abnormal eye color. But for their daughter, there was a huge blank. They threw names back and forth at each other hoping to make a connection. None of them were suitable.
Eventually, they chose to leave it be for the time being. The name would come to them, but, for now, everyone had to ride out the storm.
Cornelia and the newly dubbed Blue Eyes were already fast asleep listening to the powerful storm beyond their tree while Caesar took longer to drift off. At one point the female infant pulled away from her mother instead snuggling deep into his fur for sleep Caesar was initially amused at this not bothering to get her to let go but instead placed a hand over the baby securing it to him permitting her to stay put. If the baby got hungry he would simply hand it back to Cornelia for her feeding.
This is how the new family of four spent the night riding out the storm sheltered in their home warm, dry, and safe.
In the morning the tribe took note of the damage. The storm had been so intense it had knocked a bunch of trees over a couple of rugged structures were in disarray. Thankfully no one was injured just left somewhat disgruntled.
When Caesar awoke inside the dwelling shared with Cornelia he had a partial view of the damage wrought outside, but that's not what caught his interest. Standing in the center of a high meadow spread along the mountain's upper flank was a single willow tree. It stood tall and strong while others had been knocked over by the pounding winds hailing them. Watching the tree's branches swaying in the gentle breeze Caesar finally had an idea of what name to give his newborn daughter.
Eyes green as the leaves on a willow tree, personality already fierce and unyielding like the bark that held the tree steady in that terrible storm that reigned terror on them there was only a single choice to take.
"Willow," whispered Caesar, slowly, stroking her head with his fingertips, the baby squeaking pushing closer deeper into his side. "Your name shall be Willow. May you be as unyielding, kind, loving as a willow tree and a terror to those who would do us harm."
And what a little terror she would become living up to the name and not only to those outside their village, but inside too.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Surprise! I don't usually update as fast at this, but because I'm so hooked on the series right now the ideas have been going to crazy in my head for this franchise and proud of it too. :D
I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D
For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.
Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.
So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.
I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.