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

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇𝚇𝙸𝙸

"Noa!" You cry out as you fall, the ape screeching and rushing to you but he's too late. You land roughly, rolling your ankle and grunting in pain as your body collides with the ground. Noa looks down at you through the cracks and hoots at you in worry.

"I'm okay..." You call out as you sit upright, inspecting yourself for any broken bones but only finding a sore ankle. "Can you, climb up?" Noa calls down and you try to stand but limp and wince as your foot throbs. "I don't think so, the rocks are too icy and i hurt my leg when i fell."

Noa glances behind him worriedly, trying to figure out what to do. "Are you going to go get someone?" You ask him, your worry growing the longer you're down there. Noa shakes his head. "It will be dark soon, i do not want to leave you alone." He grunts out and huffs in frustration.

Suddenly, his heavy frame lands with a thud beside you, the sound echoing through the cavern walls. "Wha- Noa! Now we're both stuck down here!" You fuss at him, while he just ignores you and picks up your leg to examine your sprained ankle.

You shiver a bit from the cool breeze blowing in from the dark tunnel to your left, Noa notices it too and his head perks up, his nose smelling the air fervently. "Do you think that's a way out?" You ask, knowing going in might be your only option. "Maybe." He rasps out and pulls you up by your hand, letting you lean on him to walk as he wraps an arm around your waist.

The both of you stop at the entrance of the tunnel, not wanting to go into the pitch black mouth of the eerie passageway. "I do not, smell anything." Noa says and looks to you, waiting for permission to help you into the tunnel. You look back at him and nod, knowing even if there was something in there, you'd be safe with him. "Okay."

You hobble through the dark tunnel, the icy stone under your bare feet only making you colder. You shiver a bit and lean into Noa's side, his fur and body heat warming you up a bit. "Look, there's light..." You say as you see a soft glow coming from up ahead, but once you reach it you both stop in your tracks.

The two of you walk into a cave like structure, with stalactites coming down from the ceiling and stalagmites cluttering the rocky floor. The soft sound of water dripping brings your attention to a small waterfall in the corner of the cave. You limp over to it, reaching your hand out and feeling the freezing cold water on your skin. You look up to see small ice formations that must've frozen over the cracks of the cave as it got colder.

You turn to Noa, who's admiring some bioluminescent moss growing all over the rocks. You walk over to him, still looking around the cave in awe. "What is this place?" You ask softly, your voice echoing off the damp walls. "I don't know. We have never, been down here before." Noa says as he looks up at you.

You run your fingers through the glowing moss, giggling softly as the bioluminescence shines brighter under your touch. Noa studies your face, the way the soft blue light from the moss reflects off your skin, casting an ethereal glow across your features.

You glance up at him and your smile drops, noticing the intense look in his eyes that could only be described as longing. "What is it?" You whisper out, feeling a bit uneasy from his fierce stare. Noa doesn't respond, and instead reaches a hand up and winding a piece of your damp hair between his fingers. He brushes the hair behind your ear, his fingertips lingering on your cheek as he runs them down to your neck.

He looks back up at you, the hunger in his eyes sending a shiver up your spine as you breathe a bit heavier. Noa's lips part gently as he looks from your eyes to your lips, his gaze hazy and full of need.

A cold wind blows through both of you, and Noa turns to the other side of the cave. His hand drops away from your neck and he takes a step back. "I think, i smell a way out." He says, his voice low and husky. You nod and take a deep breath, trying to calm your racing heart.

You take Noa's arm as he helps you out of the cave, walking through another pitch black passageway and seeing daylight up ahead. Noa pulls himself onto some rocks, helping you up and you block your eyes as they adjust to the sunlight.

~

The walk back to the colony was mostly silent. But not the comfortable kind that you and Noa can often fall into, an awkward kind. Your mind raced as you lay on your bed, your fingers picking at the soft bear pelt under you. Although reluctant at first, the apes had agreed to build you your own hut. It was low to the ground so you wouldn't have to climb and had a bit more privacy than the towers did. It suited you, even though it was small it was cozy.

You glance down at your ankle that's slightly shiny from the paste Elder Luna put on it after scolding you for getting hurt again, but you know she's only looking out for you.

The flap to your hut opens and you immediately feel your face heat up as Noa walks in, with Soona and Anaya behind him. "What, happened?" Anaya asks, worry lacing his tone. "Elder Luna says you fell, between the rocks." Soona says while Anaya inspects your swollen ankle and you just nod at her.

Soona smacks Noa's arm, who lets out a hoot and backs away from the angry ape. "You have to watch her, echo's are fragile!" Soona scolds him as Noa just looks at her guiltily. "It wasn't his fault, the rocks were icy and i slipped." You say, trying to soothe the protective Soona. She softens a bit and accepts your answer while Noa just gives you a thankful look.

After talking with your friends and satisfying Soona enough that she feels she can leave you, they say goodbye. "Come, let her rest." Soona says, putting her hand on Anaya's shoulder and guiding him out. "Feel better, echo." Anaya says sweetly as he waves at you while being dragged out of the tent, leaving you and Noa alone. There's a moment of awkward silence and you wonder if he's thought any more about what happened between the two of you in the cave.

"Painful?" He asks, nodding to your foot and you gather your thoughts. "Not as much as it was, it will be fine." You look back up at him to see distress on his face. "Everything okay?" You pry but he doesn't answer and just looks away. You scoot over on your bed for him to sit and he does, leaving an arms length distance between you two. "What's wrong?" You coax him softly.

Noa sighs and runs a hand through the fur on his head. "Do you...have bad dreams?" His question catches you off guard and you mull over your words but he speaks again before you can respond. "About, Proximus?" He adds, and your heart aches a little at the strain in his voice.

"Yes," You answer. "mostly about being trapped in the pipes of the vault with the water rising." You admit to him. You didn't tell anyone you'd been having nightmares about that because you didn't want to seem insensitive to the apes who didn't make it out of the flood. You realize Noa has been quiet and a thought crosses your mind.

"Have you been having bad dreams?" You ask gently. "Yes." He replies softly, still not looking at you. "About, my father." He says, his voice breaking slightly. You sigh and chew your lip in thought, unsure of how to comfort the ape. You move a bit closer to him and reach your hand out, gently placing it on his shoulder and you run your fingers through his surprisingly soft fur.

"I'm sorry." You inwardly curse yourself for that being the only thing you're able to come up with. But apparently it was enough, because Noa looks at you with a soft smile and blinks away his watery eyes as he takes deep breaths.

"Would you like to sleep here tonight?" You blurt out, the words pushing past your lips before you could stop them. "It might help with the bad dreams..." You say sheepishly, every part of your body tense as you hope he doesn't reject your offer, that would be awkward. But what if he accepts your offer? Sleeping next to your friend would be even more awkward! Regret flows through you as you wish you could go back in time and stop yourself-

"Yes." He whispers out, looking at you with his soft green eyes. "I would, like that."

word count: 1538
yay longer chapter. i promise they'll get together soon !!

- raine