Humanum Opus (The Simian Forest Saga: Vol. II)

I. Filth

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A bright and beautiful morning had turned into something far more sinister than Koba could have ever imagined. One moment he had been idly pondering how the hot blood of a doe stained and melted the frosty grass so quickly; how the trees' bark was slippery, how the wretched stench of the last wildfires was now no longer polluting the air— as they had been for several months. The next he was staring down the scrawniest human he had ever clapped eyes on. Stone had been the one to catch his attention, his sudden vocalization of surprise breaking the tranquil hush of the morning rain. His fellow ape's cloudy warpaint had been disturbed by sweat and petrichor, yet nonetheless, his face conveyed distrust and malevolence toward the beast. He felt the same stirrings, only encouraged by the sudden bristling of his hunting party and something older than the earth itself that coiled within his belly: infernal rage. 

Still, he drank its appearance in. Long, oily hair was wound up into a messy nest upon the top of its head, her skin dirty and scuffed from an obvious lack of bathing. Two huge eyes stared terrified at them and it stumbled back, falling clumsily onto its backside. Koba stood from where he had been cleaning his spear, taking on a heavy defensive posture.

To see a human in their territory was almost unheard of; most were too busy destroying one another. After the shitstorm they had blown up, many of their putrid species were smart enough and remained terrified of their kind. To venture into these woods was suicide— one in which Koba relished the idea of making come true. His trusty spear would see to that.

As he took the lead and finally moved from his stance, he happened to notice how she clutched at her leg. The fabric of her jeans were soaked with blood, fresh and continuing to spill, likely victim to some sort of bullet wound. Koba moved fast, letting out several barks of sound to startle her further. Truthfully, he preferred it when they ran. It made the chase more fun, much like hunting prey animals.

She was too scrawny to be a deer, though.

The human woman tried her best to scramble to her feet and take flight, but it was clear that she was beginning to succumb to the pain, unable to shake it until she was safe enough. Koba's hand swept forward and with one smooth movement, he had her by her heavy red hair, yanking her back and eliciting a shriek of terror from her. Stone and a few others shuffled closer themselves, baying encouragingly; they knew that this human had to die for daring to even breathe near the colony's home! 

The grizzly bonobo wrenched his victim's head back and exposed her throat: it was almost too easy. His blade grew dangerously close. He could almost smell her sour blood. Her body would convulse and she would be one less pest on the face of this planet— she saw the flash of his spear and yelped. "Help!"  Her voice shrill and grating to the ears like the whine of a gnat. "P-Please- l-let me go-"

"Koba!" A familiar, powerful voice stopped him dead in his tracks, although his simmering blood did not cease to seethe. His grisly head snapped forward and swung around, his partially clouded eyes latching onto his king. Caesar's pale face held a hardened look of disapproval, his expert hands flattening and waving forward, before pointing an index toward the human he held captive. 'Release her,' he signed, demanding that he let go of the young woman.

A confusing combination of chagrin and anger flushed through him and his trademark scowl deepened, yet he simultaneously dropped the pathetic whelp, her small and fragile body colliding with the ground. It only took her seconds to gather herself on shaky, wounded limbs and draw an item he had dreaded she would have: a gun. The click of the hammer being drawn back had both him and the chimp at his side taking a step back. She wavered, swallowing thick in her throat and holding her weapon with trembling hands. Koba was surprised that this scrawny creature could even lift the heavy weapon, let alone be able to fire it without snapping a wrist. He couldn't fight the anxiety that rose within his belly and he let out a defensive growl, which was silenced as the barrel was turned toward him. 

"D-Don't even think about it," she breathed, voice wry in her throat. Despite the evident signs of fear radiating off her like pollen from a flower, she kept her voice steady. "I'll leave, I promise, just let me go!" Caesar faced her completely, his body language cautious and unsure. Koba couldn't believe this... was he planning on taming this thing like a wild filly? "Nobody has to get hurt."

Koba watched as his king hovered and internally debated with himself, the entire wood silent aside from the occasional call of a cuckoo and the bull sparrows chattering in the canopy, oblivious to the drama below. His hunting party waited on the edge of their seats, although a few let out a cry or two of distress. "Put.. down .. the gun," Caesar finally encouraged, his voice soothing yet level, as if speaking to a child holding them at spear-point. She flinched at the sound of his voice this time, her large eyes giving away her increasing amount of fear.

Her dusty lashes fluttered, catching the light. "What..." Her breath hitched slightly. "What did you just say?" Koba had been enjoying her silence while they had had it.