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

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇𝙸𝙸𝙸

Your fingers wrap around the metal wiring, winding it up around the explosives as you wait for Noa to get back. He said he would 'get help', whatever that meant, before running off. You don't know where he's going, but you trust him.

Your hands falter as the thought crosses your mind. You actually trust him, more than you should. Thinking of him left a strange feeling in your stomach, but you quickly shook it off, needing to focus on the task at hand. "y/n," Your whispered name brought you back to reality as Noa walks up to the tent, along with another ape.

"This is Soona. Soona, this is y/n." He introduces you two, 'Soona' looks at you like you were a talking dog, but to her you probably are. "Hello." You whisper out politely, and she just nods at you with a small smile on her face.

Your hands stop, and you glance up, seeing an ape silhouette watching the three of you before it walks closer, all of you tense. The ape crouches down and looks at Noa intently. "You cannot make hard climb, without Anaya." The ape says in a cheery voice and points to himself.

Noa and Soona sigh, and the three share a brief hug, putting their foreheads together. Your heart aches for a second, wishing you had that closeness with someone again, your growing need for companionship gnawing at you.

"Hello echo." 'Anaya' says sweetly as he waves at you, and you smile at him. You notice he's the same ape from dinner. Looking at him better now, you see he looks a bit older, with a tired face but kind eyes.

~

You grunt as you carry the heavy tins of gunpowder over to the bridge, the three of you emptying the sacks as Anaya spills one on the ground in a circle around him, looking up at you watching him and he hoots softly. You sigh and continue your work, Noa copying your movements and glancing at your hands every now and then to make sure he's doing it right.

"I will go with Anaya, safer that way." Soona nudges Noa as she teases him. "Anaya, wait! Stop, Anaya, you're doing it wrong..." She whisper yells at him as she waddles off, chasing her friend. Noa just watches them with loving eyes.

"You care about them, yes?" You ask as you continue setting up the gunpowder. "We were raised together. They are my closest friends." He responds, a small smile appearing on both your faces as he talks fondly about his companions.

You felt like you should say something, thank him for helping you or reassuring him that you'll try your best to help him. Maybe some part of you just wanted to deepen your bond with your only ally, hoping for some sense of companionship like he had with Soona and Anaya. "Noa, i-"

"He's just going to rebuild it." Your words get cut off by that voice, you stand, the apes behind you doing the same as you come face to face with Trevathan. He shakes his head as he walks towards you.

"I don't understand you. You had a good opportunity here, and you're just going to throw it away? What, for them?" He gestures to the apes behind you, and you feel Noa bristle slightly at his words.

"You don't belong here, and neither do i." You say calmly, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, not knowing what he's been through with Proximus. "Come with us. You can be free from here, from him. You don't have to be his pet anymore." You look intently into his eyes, pleading with him.

He looks at Noa and back at you, his gaze holding nothing but malice. "He's gonna skin your monkey alive." He says sinisterly, you hear a soft hoot from behind you and wonder who it was from. "And you, well, you're gonna learn." He looks you up and down, sending a shiver up your spine before he turns to walk away.

The four of you watch his figure, just letting him get away. You panic, you've come so far, you can't let him ruin it for you now without even giving you a fighting chance. Before you know it, you're jumping on him, covering his mouth to keep in his screams as he falls to his knees, flailing his arms and trying to throw you off.

You wrap one hand under his chin and another over top his head, and summoning all your might you pull your hands in opposite directions, a sickening crack sounding from inside his neck, before his body goes limp and he falls face first onto the sand.

You pant heavily and back away from him, clutching your stomach to try and keep down the bile building up in your throat. You look to the apes, all three of them watching you with wide eyes and frightened expressions. Your heart aches at how scared they look of you. You didn't want them to see you do that.

"I-i had to..." You whimper out, hoping your few words would convey that you're not a monster and you only killed him out of necessity. "He was gonna...i had to-" You stutter out, unable to find the right words, as your mind races.

The sight of Trevathans' body laying limp in the sand only makes you more nauseous the longer you stare at it. You whimper and back away, covering your mouth to try to keep from hurling. A soft touch on your shoulder makes you jump, and you look up to see Noa looking down at you with concerned eyes, Soona and Anaya watching you as well.

"It's okay," he begins, his tone a bit unsure. "it was him or us, right?" He tries to reassure you, but you can sense the unease in his eyes. You nod, grateful for his attempt to comfort you whether he meant it or not. You shakily stand up, looking away from the corpse in the sand and out to the water splashing against the metal poles.

~

Trevathans body falls into the water with a large splash, you watch as he slowly sinks into the dark depths of the ocean, shivering a bit at the thought. You pull away from the edge, the apes looking at you.

You share a glance with Noa, silently agreeing to enact the next part of the plan.

word count: 1079