eyes of the forest - a kingdom of the planet of the apes story

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇

The ache in your wrists and leg were taking its toll on your body, your feet catching in the sand every few steps as you feel yourself becoming weaker. The sun is lower in the sky and you know you've been walking for a couple hours at least. Your whole body feels numb, the dried streaks of tears leaving a tingly feeling on your cheeks.

Somehow you stopped worrying about where they were taking you and all you could think of was Raka. He was so kind to you even though he barely knew you. He had a parental aura to him, like you knew you would be safe around him, or like you could tell him things and he would listen without judgement. He gave you food, and warmth, and friendship. You can't help but think it was your fault he died.

You grunt as your feet falter and your knees hit the sand, the ape in front of you not stopping and instead tugging on your rope, making you stagger forward once more.

The gorilla next to you reaches down and grabs both your wrists, lifting you up in front of him. "Keep walking!" He shouts in your face, making you wince. Noa turns around and snarls at the gorilla, who simply aims the crackling staff at him as a warning.

The gorilla throws you back down and Noa helps you up by your hands, looking at you with a concerned expression. He slows his pace some to keep by you in case you fall again, even though his rope is slightly shorter than yours and doing so pulls on his wrists more.

~

Apes hooted and screeched from all around as you and Noa are dragged into an old rusting ship. A particularly ugly grey ape walks up to you and eyes you up and down, making your body feel tense. In the blink of an eye he grabs your wrists and brings you uncomfortably close to his chest.

You lean back to try and create some distance but he just smiles threateningly at you. A glint of light dances off the knife in his hands he brings the blade up to your face, running the cold point down your cheek.

Noa shrieks at him, another ape holding him back by his bound wrists. The ape in front of you brings the knife down and cuts the rope on your wrists in one swift motion when the gorilla comes up and grabs your arm, pulling you away.

"No, no no!" Noa calls out, your fingertips barely brushing the fur on his forearm before you get dragged away, staggering every few steps to keep up with the large gorilla.

Apes hoot all around you, eyeing you with a look you can't quite place. The gorilla leads you through rusting stairwells and hallways winding through the ship before stopping at a large door and throwing you inside the room forcefully. You spin on your heel to face him with wide terrified eyes, he leans down to your height and smirks at you. "Don't try anything." He says in a low voice, his breath fanning over your face making you pull away.

With that he stomps out the door and slams it closed and you hear the shift of the lock click into place. You let out a shaky breath and tangle your fingers in your scalp, resisting the urge to pull your hair out from stress.

You look around at the room you're in, while you know you're a prisoner here, the room doesn't look like a cell one bit. It has plants in various pots and jars lining some walls as well as bookshelves with an endless amount of scattered books laying about. It looks lived in, cozy even.

You walk over to a worn out armchair sitting in the corner of the room with a pile of old and cracked books on a small table next to it. You flip the top book open, skimming the words inside when a clattering behind you catches your attention.

"Don't mind the big guy, he's a bit rough around the edges, especially to strangers but he'll warm up to you." Your stomach drops and your mouth goes dry as a human man wobbles over to you and you instinctively back up.