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

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇𝙸𝙸

"Noa!" You whisper out, your legs already carrying yourself to him. "Are you, okay?" He rasps out as he also attempts to whisper, his eyes scanning you for injury and lingering on your head where Proximus had grabbed you.

"Yes, i-i think so. Are you?" You question him, he simply sighs and shakes his head. "I do not know. Proximus is holding my clan as prisoners." He responds sadly, looking to the ground. Your heart sinks, a feeling of guilt washing over you for having a fleeting moment of happiness when everyone around you is suffering.

"I'm sorry..." You whisper out, Noa looks up at you almost surprised. You expected him to make a comment about how he didn't think humans could feel sorry, but he didn't. Instead, he asked something else.

"Do you know, what is in the vault?" He questions, looking deeply into your eyes and making it a bit hard to form your thoughts with his intense gaze. "Yes." You nod, and you see his face contort in thought, something he often did when he was thinking hard about something.

"And you know a way in?" You nod again, and he pauses once more, gathering his thoughts. "What is in the vault?" He asks, eyeing you almost suspiciously. You sigh as you think of the right words to say. "I don't, really know, i think it's like a book..." You inwardly groan at your lack of explanation. You hope he doesn't think you're trying to be secretive with him.

"It holds knowledge, i think it can make humans able to talk again." "A book can do this?" He asks, his brow furrowed in confusion. "This one can," You respond. "and that's why Proximus wants it." You walk closer to Noa to emphasize the importance of your next point. "Noa, he cannot get whatever is in there. It will only make him more powerful and he won't stop until he's taken every clan he can find."

Noa looks at the ground as your words sink in, his eyes darting at various objects as the gears in his head turn. "One last question," He begins. "Raka said, apes and humans lived together, as one. True, or not true?" He looks at you intently.

You sigh, carefully mulling over your words in your head. "True, but, apes used to be silent. Humans ruled the earth. And then a virus spread, and it gave apes the ability to speak, and made humans silent. But, living together, is still possible." He glances up at you, a confused expression on his soft features.

"I lived with apes, with my mother." Saying the word felt like you were swallowing pricker bushes, your eyes beginning to sting but you held back your emotions. "They taught her sign, and they taught us how to survive off of the forest." A soft smile graces your face as you remember the apes who helped raise you.

"Apes, lived with you?" He questioned with a dumfounded look. You almost felt insulted as if he was baffled by the idea that apes could tolerate living with a human. "Yes." You nodded, trying not to let your tone convey your offence.

Noa sighs and walks up to you, your heart rate picking up again at how close he suddenly is. "I have, a plan. Do you trust me?" He holds his hand out between you and you look down at it. Do you trust him? The question bounces around in your mind as you chew your lip in nervous thought. Then the realization dawns on you. You trust this ape with your life.

"Yes." You slip your hand into his, the warm contact sending tingles up your arm but you ignore it. Noa's eyes crinkle, almost in a smile as he pulls you over to the hole in the ship wall. "Good, now get on." He commands and turns his back to you. It took you a second for it to click, he wants to carry you as he climbs down.

Your face heats up at the thought, only having been that close to him when you were on his horse, but you climb on his back anyway, carefully, like you might hurt him. But you don't think you could even if you tried.

Noa waits patiently until you're firmly holding onto him before he begins his descent. You cling to his torso as you try not to look down, burying your head in his shoulder, his fur tickling your nose.

You inhale a bit of his scent accidentally, he smells mostly of saltwater and rust from his time here, but there's a hint of something underneath, something smoky and earthy, like burning wood or morning dew in a meadow.

The thud of Noa reaching the ground alerts you and brings you back to reality. Noa lets you down gently and you wait for his next move, grateful that it's so dark out so he can't see your flushed face. You really hope apes don't have good night vision.

"Come." He commands, and you obediently follow as you both crouch low to the sand, trying to stay hidden. He brings you to a tent and points out at the dam holding the ocean back. "See that bridge? I want to blow it up, with these." He holds up one of the explosives the apes were using as he lets you process his plan.

Seeing the perplexed look on your face he elaborates further. "We go in, get the book, you open the door and Proximus brings his apes in while i go to my clan. Then we blow up the bridge, the water comes in, and we escape." He gestures with his hands as he talks, trying to make it easier to understand.

You go over the plan in your head, deciding it's actually pretty solid and you look up at him and nod. "Let's do it."

word count: 1002
i know this chapter is short, i woke up really sick this morning but i wanted to get something out today. to make up for it i might upload two chapters tomorrow xx

- raine