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

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇𝚇𝙸

The cold water numbs your ankles as it rushes past you, sending a chill through your whole body. The weather has been steadily getting colder as the weeks pass, meaning less fruit to collect, so you and the apes have been fishing as much as you can before the streams freeze over.

"Ugh!" You groan out, as your spear misses yet another fish. "I can't do it." You sigh and look to Soona who just giggles at you. 'Keep trying.' She signs from her spot on the rock, also attempting to catch some fish. Her strong arms hold the spear steady, before plunging it into the stream and pulling out a wiggling fish flopping on the end of the spear.

Anaya hoots in praise and claps his hands while Soona smiles and looks away. Noa watches all three of you closely, smiling softly while he sharpens up the tip of his own spear.

~

"We are going to go back." Soona says, holding hands with a flustered looking Anaya, who just waves to you as they walk off. Noa huffs and rolls his eyes, joining your side in the stream.

"It's cute, give them a break." You say while the ape just watches the fish below him. "It's gross." He murmurs out, bringing his spear above his head, and you see the muscles on his back and shoulders tense up as he takes his stance. You almost reach out and run a hand along his back, but you stop yourself, your face heating up just from the thought.

You look at Noa's face, whose sharp eyes are locked on a fish leisurely floating his way. His brow furrows in concentration when he suddenly brings his spear down into the fish, his muscles tensing as he makes the kill with astounding speed and precision.

The sight of him reaching down and pulling the spasming fish out of the water has you in a sort of trance, until you realize he's looking at you, and you glare at him. "Show off." You mumble as he just huffs out a laugh and tosses the fish onto one of the rocks with the others he's caught.

You raise your own spear, aware of Noa's eyes on your form but you ignore it and focus on the creatures gliding through the water. Your eyes lock on one swimming your way and you bite your lip in concentration, before bringing your spear down into the water, and missing.

The end of your spear collides with nothing but wet sand as the fish hurriedly swims away. You sigh and turn to Noa, who is not so discreetly holding back a smirk. "They're too fast for me, i can't catch anything..." You pout at him, ready to give up and starve rather than put yourself through more of this embarrassment.

Noa tosses his own spear aside like it weighs nothing and he steps closer to you. Your breath hitches as he gently guides your arm to raise up your spear. He places a large hand on your back and the other over your hand holding the spear.

"Wait for the fish to come to you." He whisper out, his breath fanning over the side of your neck. "Do not strike until, fish is right under the spear." The low rasp in his voice makes butterflies erupt in your stomach, and you draw in a shaky breath, the cold water doing nothing to cool your heated body.

"y/n." Noa breathes out beside you. You look at him, realizing how close your faces are as those bright green eyes bore into yours. "Your heart is beating fast, you need to make it slow and focus." Your eyes widen for a second before looking away and nodding. The knowledge that he can somehow tell your heartbeat only makes your nerves worse than before.

"Remember to breathe, slowly." You nod at his words and follow his instructions. You take a deep breath and train your eyes on a fish swimming your way. "Wait..." Noa whispers next to your ear. You wait until the fish is right under your spear tip before striking it down right into the middle of the of its body.

"I did it!" You cry out and smile up at Noa who lets out a few hoots in excitement. You bounce on the balls of your feet as you pull the fish out of the water and examine your kill.

"I knew you could." Noa says, a happy lilt in his tone. He puts his hand out to you and you stare at it for a confused moment, before he grabs one of your hands and guide your knuckles together. You guess it's some sort of congratulating gesture.

"Come on, will be dark soon." He says and you nod, stepping out of the icy water gratefully. You hand Noa your spear as he puts them on his back and you begin putting the caught fish in a bag to carry them back to the colony.

A rather large fish slides further down, the slight layer of ice covering the rocks carrying it smoothly. You precariously hold onto a smaller rock, sliding down to grab the fish, careful not to fall into the cracks between the jagged rocks.

Apparently the fish had other plans, because as you pick it up it flops violently, using what little bit of life was left in it, effectively knocking you off balance as you slip on the ice and fall between the rocks.

word count: 919
i know this chapter is kinda short, the next one will be longer <3

- raine