Hello again, friends!
Another chapter is in store. I hope you all enjoy.
I didn't have much planned for this one, but it came out surprisingly well. For those of you who enjoy Noa and Mae moments, there's quite a bit in here to feast on.
Reviews are welcome and encouraged!
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
-Immanuel Kant
Act 1 Chapter 4- The Crossing
Sunrise brought an overcast sky and slightly cooler weather, making travel less burdensome. After a small breakfast of leftovers and fruit, the group wasted no time in collecting what few belongings they had, filled up jugs with water, and began their arduous trek.
Without horses the going would be slower, but the revelation of Mae's intelligence assisted them a great deal. She claimed to have the location of the human settlement she sought to join. And so it was agreed that they would escort her first and then break off in search of Noa and Caesar's stolen clans.
The path forward led them out of the forest. Green hills and tall trees gave way to smaller vegetation. The soil, packed, black, and muddy, shifted into sand; coarse, white, and loose. Difficult to traverse. Mae seemed to trudge on fine but Noa felt himself growing a tad bit unsteady. He wasn't used to this…unstable terrain.
It seems we have found the purpose of humans walking on two feet.
Still, he did not complain. There was no use in doing so. His clan was out there, suffering at the hands of an unknown monster and getting them back took top priority. If that meant working side by side with a human, so be it.
As the morning stretched on, he and Mae took the lead while the two senior apes were content to stay behind. It felt odd. Noa, as the firstborn son of the Master of Birds, had been skilled in the art of tracking from a young age. His beloved father ensured he was well versed in picking up scents, detecting changes in temperature, picking out damaged leaves, footprint marks, and more.
Yet here was Mae. Employing the same skills. Seeing what he saw. Hearing what he heard. Reacting, perceiving…understanding.
Noa had been taught all his life that echoes were to be avoided. Neither seen nor heard. The Valley beyond was forbidden. He'd heeded that command…the trouble was echoes did not heed that same command. The second Mae entered his life, everything changed.
He never imagined that he'd rescue an echo from certain death. Or that echoes were called humans and that humans talked. At least this one could.
"Is something wrong?"
Noa looked away in embarrassment. He'd been gazing at Mae too long to be considered polite.
"Forgive me. I didn't mean to…stare."
"And yet…you were staring."
It was one of a few things he had to get used to. The revelation of Mae's intelligence felt like the cracking of an egg. And not just the one he'd lost a few days prior. Without the need for silence, this human was every bit as smart as the average ape. Maybe smarter. Raka called humans slow witted. Mae's mind was as fast as an eagle soaring through the air and as sharp as its talons.
"Three nights ago…I believed echoes to be…lesser."
"Now you know better."
Sharp indeed. Those talons cut to the bone.
"Why do you call us that?"
"Hm?"
"Echoes," Mae clarified. "Where does that name come from?"
Now they were entering uncharted territory. Now she was the one who stared and it wasn't comfortable. Eye contact was something echoes seemed to thrive on. Her interest was piqued. He could tell. Noa granted her the privilege of hearing the story.
"Because you sound…the same," Noa explained as he adjusted the staff slung around his back. "When I was young, elders told stories about an animal who lived beyond the valley. An animal who sounded…like ape."
He made the appropriate sign, forgetful that she may or may not know the silent speech.
"On hunts…when villagers called out to each other in the forest, an echo would follow. Something different and yet…similar. We did not know what it was. So the elders called you echoes. It made sense…for a while."
Far from being offended, Mae showed a hint of openness.
"My species has a name for you too."
"What?"
"Chimps."
How peculiar.
"Short for…chimpanzee?"
"Yes."
"Where does…that name come from?"
Mae frowned, though not out of disapproval.
"I'm not sure. It's what we've always used."
Noa contemplated this. Echoes knew they were chimpanzees? The term eagle clan used most often was 'ape', as did others like gorillas and orangutans. For as long as he could remember, this had been the custom. 'Chimpanzee' was used on special occasions.
So how did humans find out about this?
"Raka was right. You are…smarter than most," he told her.
"So are you."
It was an unexpected compliment. Mae was very…reserved most of the time and he sensed she chose her words as carefully as an ape picking fruit from a tall tree.
"I am…still learning."
"You learned how to fix that staff," she pointed out, nodding towards the weapon around his back.
It never occurred to Noa that fixing the weapon might be a sign of some extraordinary ability. He didn't think it was…important.
"I have yet to master the training…of eagles," he said, making the appropriate sign.
"Training eagles?"
"Yes." He saw she desired to know more and was happy to explain. "My clan raises eagles. To hunt and scout. My father…was the master of eagles." He let out a sigh of disappointment. "But it seems…I cannot live up to his name."
Noa didn't know why he was telling this to her. But when the young chimp caught Mae's eye again, he was surprised to see not mockery but empathy.
"Your father would be proud," she said. "And I'm sure you'll become a master someday."
His mother once said that like the eagle, kindness will circle back around if you give it to someone else. So when Noa managed to eke out a 'thank you', Mae smiled in return. A small but genuine emotional gesture that reminded him of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds after a rainstorm.
He knew so little about this human. And yet Noa could see as clear as day that she too was…important.
I am the Lawgiver.
He couldn't be. It ran counter to reality. Caesar was not a 'lawgiver', he did not 'give laws' or exercise that level of control over his clan. They followed him because he was strong, because he took care of them just as they took care of him. It was family that motivated his actions, protection of his people, not the desire to rule.
Damn it! This was not the way to think about it! None of this was possible! Apes did not just die and wake up in the future. There had to be an explanation.
From what Raka said, it sounded like many generations had passed. Maurice, Rocket, Blue Eyes, Lake, Cornelia, Cornelius, they sounded…past tense. His heart sank ever lower. A stone drowning in a pool of anguish.
No! They were alive! At least Cornelius, Maurice, Lake, and Rocket had to be. They'd escaped to the oasis. That much was clear. Yes, that was it.
Cornelius oversaw an era of peace and harmony.
His son was grown up. At the very least it was heartening to hear he survived and led the clan to greatness. But surely that did not mean…
Caesar agonized for the entirety of that morning. He spoke when spoken to, but otherwise did not engage in any meaningful conversation. Content to let Noa and Mae take the lead, he hung back with Raka.
Stepping through the shifting sands, he tried to make sense of what he knew and the tale Raka relayed. On the surface, it appeared straightforward. Some years had gone by that was certain. But certain things didn't add up. For one, the story had several inaccuracies. Enough to blur the line between fact and fiction, including what was said about humans, or rather what was not said.
Maurice. An epic story teller, he always carried a soft spot for humans and Caesar guessed he didn't want to sully their name. However, it was far from an end to the internal contemplation. Other things also did not add up.
If he'd passed out at the oasis, why did he wake up in the middle of a forest? How did he get there? Why was his injury intact if so much time passed? How had that time passed without aging or change?
Caesar pressed a hand over the bandage that covered his right chest. Thankfully, he had not aggravated the wound during the fight with the masks. The dull ache had subsided and the connecting arm was easier to move. Raka noticed him touching it.
"How is your…wound?"
"Better. Much better."
"Good…I am glad the remedy is working. I will…apply more tonight at camp. Please tell me if the pain gets worse."
Oh, it was worse, Caesar thought to himself ruefully. Just not in the way Raka thought.
Caesar had almost shed tears listening to the parts about his wife and two sons. Offering to take the first watch had been a convenient way to save face. He didn't want to cry in front of Raka. He didn't want to admit that his family was gone…forever.
The second you fall into despair, you've already lost.
His heart ached; yearning in ways unimaginable to the soul. He would do anything to see them. Tell Blue Eyes and Cornelia…how sorry he was for failing to protect them…
Focus.
Caesar had an ominous hunch that wherever this adventure led, answers lay on the other side. Would he like what he found?
'Don't ask obvious questions.'
The human had been right despite her arrogant hostility. And it deepened the mistrust between them. Mae had her agenda and that agenda did not involve the safety of any ape in their group. She was hiding something. And given that Caesar's head felt like the stove top Will used to boil water, holding his tongue felt like a losing battle.
His thoughts stopped at the memory of Will Rodman. Another arrow to the heart. Another person he'd never see again.
Father. I wish I had your guidance.
Caesar had been a leader for so long he'd forgotten how to surrender himself in the arms of someone else. To melt into comfort while a pleasant voice whispered that everything would be okay. Will, Charles, and Caroline were the only three people with that ability. What would they say? Get angry? Take charge? Avoid the danger?
Indeed, danger became more apparent with each passing step. As the haze of powerful emotions receded and the present returned to the forefront, the chimp noticed several oddities out of place in their journey to this supposed human colony.
Human settlements were not subtle places. They usually left obvious clues to their presence in a particular area. Footprints, campfires, trash, small trinkets like dolls, toys, or discarded tools. Perhaps a house or two with smoke rising from the top. Caesar saw none of these indicators.
The scent of humans was also quite strong. They liked to mask foul odors with strange red sticks they rubbed under their arms. But if Mae didn't have access to that kind of hygiene (a single whiff of the nose confirmed that), others would not either.
What evidence of life he did see was all ape.
"Something is…not right," he muttered to Raka, who looked at him with concerned eyes.
"What is wrong?"
"Humans did not come through here. Only apes."
That raised the scope of anxiety quite a bit.
"How do you know?"
"Smell the air."
Raka did so, confirming Caesar's hypothesis.
"Perhaps…we are not close enough to humans."
"Horse tracks are everywhere," he said, dispelling any optimism from the orangutan. He pointed at the trail of hooves ten feet away. "They are fresh."
"Perhaps this is…the only way to get to her people."
Raka's faith in Mae was bordering on the absurd. Caesar hadn't lived through countless battles and a bloody war by being naive.
"We are in enemy territory," he said bluntly. "And they are still pursuing us."
It went against all common sense. You did not cross into land held by an opponent unless there was an absolute need or a plan to go through it. They had no map; Mae was going off pure memory and she had told them almost nothing about the settlement itself.
"Noa and Mae are sure that this is the direction where the clans were stolen."
Raka's words settled the bubbling pit in Caesar's stomach and sparked a glimmer of foolish hope. The anticipation he might yet see his family kept him silent.
Still, Caesar kept a sharp eye. Every rustle of the bushes, every caw from a bird was a potential threat. He desired to reach their destination soon, or at least some place safer.
His wish went unfulfilled. As they moved on, several odd, X shaped figures came into view. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were designed to be crude versions of humans or apes. It was ambiguous. They resembled scarecrows that humans used to put in their yards in San Francisco. Except these were far more unsettling and made Caesar's blood curdle.
Half an hour later, they came across an old bridge. Man made by the looks of it. Wooden with pikes attached to its side. Worn nets created a makeshift but flimsy protection for those unlucky enough to fall off the side and into the water below where the true danger lay.
Currents formed powerful rapids beneath the bridge, making the river far too strong for any human to swim across. The danger went double for apes, who could not swim at all.
The group stalled. A strong sense of foreboding surrounded the crossing belied by its imposing nature.
"Are you sure this is…safe?" Noa asked Mae.
"The bridge leads to an old road that goes south," she replied, dodging the inquiry into personal safety. "That's where I'm headed. It's also where your people were taken."
Satisfied with that explanation, Noa was the first to take a step forward. Mae followed and then Raka. Caesar was the last to consent.
Feet splashing thin puddles and rolling water were the only sounds to be heard. They moved as though one wrong move might be their last. Fear ruled their footsteps.
Caesar was prepared to shoulder the burden until he saw something at the base of the bridge, half buried, poking out of the sand.
"Stop."
He held up the vile mask in his hand for them all to see.
"Masks have been here. We should find another path."
Mae shook her head. "There is no other path. This is the only bridge in the area."
"Then we find a shallow part of the river to cross."
"That will take too long."
Confounded and infuriated by the human's vague stubbornness, Caesar lost his patience.
"Enough. What is the truth?" he challenged. "Where are you leading us?"
She fired back swiftly. "I told you. There's a massive ape colony responsible for the atrocities against your clans."
"In the same area and direction as a human settlement?"
"Something like that," she said with a full blown sneer.
Caesar saw she had a talent for obscuring the truth but not outright lying about it. He wasn't going to let her weasel out of this one.
"You have something else in mind," he growled.
It was Raka who intervened, holding out both hands to broker peace.
"Let us…calm down. There is no need to fight amongst ourselves."
"You don't know humans like I do," Caesar said, dropping all pretenses of objectivity. "They are…untrustworthy."
Raka's voice, warm and self assured, wavered for the first time.
"What a thing to say! Our Lawgiver-"
"Was wrong," Caesar finished with such harshness, he thought the orangutan might faint where he stood. "A fool to think he could ever find happiness."
Noa stood, transfixed, utterly nonplussed at the raw emotion unfolding between the three parties. He couldn't have known that Caesar was talking about himself. Angry herself, Mae grew more defiant.
"Whether or not you trust me, this is the only way to find your people. Take it or leave it."
Just as the tension was about to spill over into the coursing river itself, Noa's eyes widened.
"Look!"
At the end of the crossing was the same violent gorilla they'd fought a day earlier. His mere presence was intimidating enough for ape and human to forget their disagreements.
"Get off the bridge," Caesar ordered. "NOW!"
No one needed to be told twice. But as they ran towards the sandy shore, three more apes popped into view. Like trolls from a fairy tale, they'd been hiding underneath the bridge.
The trap had been sprung.
Mae fucked up.
She knew that the second that damned gorilla appeared. They'd been lying in wait the entire time. Caesar, the chimp who was too smart and too clever to fool, had been wiser in his assessment of the danger.
Desperation had pushed her to take a chance anyway. Time was not on humanity's side. If the ape colony situated in the old naval base at Coronado Bay learned what was underneath their noses…if they accessed the compound and found what was inside…
Mae didn't want to consider the horror. So she did what was necessary; act with decisiveness. For the good and glory of the human race.
That's what she did. Fight. She'd been trained her entire life in martial arts. And though her strength paled in comparison to a full grown ape, fighting did not just entail offense. Using precise footwork and supreme reflexes, she slipped out the reach of a mask that attempted to grab her. When another tried the same thing, Mae spun around, using the momentum of the ape's weight against him as he went tumbling down the dune.
A third might have succeeded. His iron grip threatened to pull her arm out of the socket. Until a roar and swing of an electrostaff knocked him unconscious.
Noa to the rescue. The chimp's face was contorted with a fiery rage not meant for a face so gentle. He swung out his arm in an unmistakable message.
Get behind me.
More masks came. Noa struck one directly in the head, which sent the enemy tumbling into the river. He ignited the staff and sent one hundred volts of pure electricity into the ape's system. A third opponent, skilled and more experienced, grabbed the staff when Noa swung and issued a nasty headbutt, sending him backwards.
Unarmed (regrettably), Mae employed the use of one evolutionary advantage humans still possessed. She picked up a jagged rock and flung it as hard as she could at the mask. Blood spilled and teeth shattered with a sickening crack.
"Told you we can throw things."
She offered a hand, which Noa accepted with thanks. But the masks came just as quickly they were eliminated. In seconds, five more surrounded them.
To his credit, Noa refused to back down and Mae found herself admiring his bravery. It occurred to her that he'd lost just as much as she had. A human and an ape, united in common cause. The Council would have considered it blasphemous.
If an ape runs, run faster…
If an ape hits you, hit back twice as hard…
If an ape questions, speak no truth…
If an ape speaks, silence him…
Beggars couldn't be choosers. She placed her back against Noa's, ready to fight to the end.
Being an ape devoted to peace did not make Raka an incapable fighter. Caesar was quite thankful for that fact. He was undersized for a male orangutan, but he wielded a tree branch with ruthless efficiency. Two swings sent a host of masks in the air like flies.
A loud screech alerted him to another attacker brandishing a knife, which came within an inch of his left side. He seized it, crushed the attacker's elbow and delivered a jaw rattling punch.
Experience from countless battles made Caesar a formidable opponent, and an expert at fighting without weapons. A poorly aimed punch from a mask grazed the side of his ear but his found its mark. Three double fisted blows pummeled the mask into the ground.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Mae dodge an attempt to grab her arm. Human females were no match in combat against full grown apes, but he couldn't concern himself with her just yet. Surviving took priority.
Raka swung again and clubbed a mask in the head, opening a path into the underbrush ahead. If he could find a way to reach the other two…
Quick as lightning, a tremendous force slammed into Caesar and he ate a mouthful of sand. He rolled away from the electric strike of a staff and kicked the adversary in the head.
Caesar saw his opponent was a hairless ape, much bigger than his comrades. Unmasked, he wiped away a mouthful of blood with a sadistic leer. Violence was in this chimp's soul.
A flash of unsheathed metal signaled a knife. A small, sharp blade that the hairless ape loved to employ against hapless victims. He lunged with a stab to the stomach, which the chimp caught but was pushed backwards by sheer force of strength, slamming into one of the scarecrows.
Pinned, 'Lightning' gave a nasty grin and withdrew the knife, slashing Caesar's hand.
With a yowl of pain, he acted on instinct. Utilizing the same technique that once worked on Koba, he jumped up and grabbed the arm of the scarecrow while his right foot blocked Lightning's arm. A kick from the left foot smashed him in the jaw.
'Ape shall not kill ape'. That was the rule- the law- he gave to his people long ago. Since then, he'd broken it twice. The cruelty of life didn't allow for the luxury of deciding when to be merciful. Sometimes, killing was your sole option.
Caesar rushed towards Lightning, intending to end his existence when a horse cut across his path. A sharp electrocution rattled his bones as he fell forward. It was easily one of the most painful things ever experienced. An attempt to rise was met with the same reaction, this time it struck him directly in his bandaged wound.
He had enough strength to look up and see the same enormous gorilla snarling down at him from on high.
"Submit."
Panting, Caesar struggled to form the appropriate words to express his hatred.
"Go…to…hell."
A saying he'd learned from Charles, who explained it was one of the most insulting things a human could say to another human. Whether this gorilla understood its meaning was irrelevant. The intent was more than adequate to showcase disdain.
"If you do not…your friends will die."
He gestured to the left where Noa and Raka were also down on their knees, arms twisted behind their backs. Caesar noticed that Mae was not considered part of that cohort. She stood, arms gripped by two masked bonobos, terror in her eyes.
Both were fixated on Noa.
The gorilla ignited his staff and lowered it until blue-white sparks stopped mere inches from his face. He nodded towards Lightning, who raised the knife and approached Noa with the intent to kill.
"Wait."
Caesar said two words he'd never uttered in his life.
"I…surrender."
The gorilla withdrew the weapon and swung it down into the sand with authority.
"Stop," he said to Lightning, who complied (though he failed to hide the disappointment of being unable to slice someone's throat). "Secure the prisoners! We're taking them home!"
The other apes hooted and roared in celebration. Caesar collapsed onto the ground.
'Home' was not instantaneous.
Hands bound together by rope, they were led forward for countless hours like dogs on leashes. Onwards they trudged, regardless of personal comfort or energy as masked guards on horseback mocked their defeat.
Noa had never felt so downcast…so useless…so jumbled. Raka had called him that the first night after they met.
'You have experienced…bad things. It has made you…jumbled.'
The words rang true. The loss of his father and clan had caused him to become unbalanced. Now, he was a prisoner.
High noon progressed in the afternoon, afternoon turned to a fiery pink evening which cooled to dusk. Tired, exhausted, with fur in dire need of grooming, Noa wondered just when they were going to rest. Or if they would be allowed to rest at all. By some miracle, the prayer was granted.
"There is a clearing up ahead. We will rest there for the night," Sylva announced. During their burdensome trek, he paid close attention to the names of their captors. Sylva was the leader of the masks. The one who killed his father.
"Lightning, set up camp. I will secure…the perimeter."
Lightning obeyed with relish, snickering as he jerked his prisoners forward by the leash. Hatred was a strong emotion that did not come naturally to Noa, but if any word was to describe how he felt about Lightning, 'hate' came closest.
Reva and Hondo were the two apes assigned to guard him and Mae. Donnie and Leap kept an eye on Caesar and Raka. He'd been concerned for the human during the unforgiving march. She was smaller, weaker, and a target for abuse. Some of the apes threw rotten food at her.
She endured every name, every revolting object thrown her way, every humiliation that would break the hardiest of souls. They picked on her because she could not fight back. Noa's respect for Mae increased as a result…as did his desire to disobey the masks.
As the day's long walk ended, they lumbered into a small dell that bordered the forest just above the sandy dunes. Lightning grinned in a twisted, manic demeanor that reminded Noa of broken glass.
"Have a seat…baby bird."
He was shoved roughly to the ground, as was Mae. Lightning leered at her, narrowing his eyes in disgust.
"Human so ugly."
The other apes laughed in appreciation. Lightning gave a sniff into the air and made a face.
"She smells like…ship rat."
More laughter. More fuel to fan the flames of Noa's righteous anger, which he found himself unable to contain.
"She smells better than you."
A chorus of cackles and hoots rang out from the surrounding soldiers. Lightning's gleeful leer reverted to a murderous glare of death.
"What did you say?"
Noa stood up. Whether doing so was foolish or brave was subjective, but he did not care at the moment. He refused to let the hairless ape scare him when the latter got right up in his face.
"I asked you a question."
When that ultimatum failed to rouse a reaction, Lightning snarled in frothing anger. He socked a massive fist into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him.
Gasping for air, Lightning tilted Noa's head upwards and showed his lethal incisors.
"Does baby bird…care about the human?"
Jeers of disgust showered down upon Noa. But he did not rise to the bait. This pushed Lightning's sadism to new heights, who hoisted Mae from the ground and placed a knife near the edge of her collarbone.
"Maybe…I make her ugly face…uglier."
The dagger traced a dangerous path from Mae's shoulder up to the neck where it settled at the edge of her mouth. The young chimp roared in anger as the pointy end began to press into her cheek…
Lightning yelped in pain as Mae jabbed her right elbow into his groin. This stunned almost every ape into silence, who regarded humans as incapable of putting up a physical challenge. For Lightning, the blow wounded far more than just his loins. Pride demanded revenge and when his bearings were regained, raised the knife with a terrifying screech.
"LEAVE THEM!"
The voice had come like a clap of thunder. A powerful command from the authority in the sky. And though his hands were tied together and carried no weapon, Caesar stood mightier than anyone inside the camp.
In spite of his status as a bloodthirsty grunt, Lightning was smart enough to recognize a challenge to his authority. A challenge that could not go unanswered. Apes followed the strongest branch and if the path of that branch led to Caesar, it would be so. Noa knew this to be true. It was the law.
Smarting from the prior embarrassment, Lightning limped over to the other two prisoners. The other masks parted ways to allow him to pass.
"Something you want to say?"
Raka looked fearful for the life of his companion and his eyes widened as Caesar stared down the masks' second in command. He never blinked.
"Pick on someone…who can fight back."
Lightning brandished the knife in his face, the threat implicit and guaranteed.
"I should…carve your face."
"You can try."
A gobsmacked Noa felt the tension on the very ends of his fur, its potency powerful enough to create a full blown melee. Fortune intervened on this night, as Sylva and his scouts returned before either side could move a muscle.
"What is going on here?!" he barked.
Lightning, bowed slightly in deference.
"Trouble with…the prisoners. This one…"
Sylva hopped off his horse and correctly deduced Caesar was the source of the trouble. With as much menace as the four hundred pound gorilla could generate, he thumped towards the chimp.
"What is your name?"
"Rocket."
Noa had to suppress his own surprise at the fake name. He could not fathom the reason.
"Rocket," Sylva repeated, looming large over Caesar. "Here is your…first lesson. Remember your place."
He jabbed his staff into his chest with a crackling jolt. Caesar did not go down. Sylva jabbed again, twisting and turning the electricity with brutal force. It took a third shock to bring the chimp to his knees. But there was no cry of pain, no beg for a reprieve.
"Step out of line again…and I will kill you."
Finished restoring order to the camp, Sylva boomed out orders.
"Get a fire going!"
A scurry of activity sent the masked soldiers to look for firewood and scrounge what little food there was to be found in the area. An ape bumped Noa and Lightning gave him a nasty look but no harm came to him. A sigh of relief let out.
This is getting dangerous.
He looked to Caesar, currently being helped by Raka into a sitting position. They caught each other's eye across the dimly lit camp. They did not speak nor sign, but the implication of thanks was understood.
Noa felt a mix of anxiety and awe. Caesar had just as good as saved his life at great personal risk. Mae's too. There seemed to be no fear in this ape. A strength that stemmed from some power yet unseen. Like a river that flowed without a source. A true leader.
Why did he not speak true?
Truth was important. His father had taught him to speak honestly from the time he was young. Lies created misfortune and trouble. A good leader did not lie. So what did Caesar have to hide? Why was the truth so close and also so far?
He turned back to Mae, dirty and shivering as the temperature dropped. Caesar did not trust her. She did not trust apes. But masks wanted her. Somehow, Noa believed these things to be connected. It was all quite confusing.
Seeing her pitiable form, torn clothes smudged with dirt, smelling worse than a wildcat covered in filth, Noa couldn't bring himself to feel that same level of suspicion. Her suffering was terrible. At the hands of apes, no less.
"Are…you okay?" he whispered.
Mae nodded, showing that she was unscathed but not unscarred. Noa saw that in her. He saw it in himself. In the past few days, he'd learned just how cruel the world could be.
Noa pulled her in close, denying the human odor the satisfaction of upsetting him.
"Keep warm," he said to her.
Mae embraced the kindness, allowing herself to be drawn against his body, his fur providing a small measure of comfort.
It promised to be a long night.
Alrighty then! 4 chapters in and lots more to go.
Next update should be next week or the week after. Rock on!
~The Wasp