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

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚇𝚇𝙸𝙸𝙸

Your eyes flutter open to beams of sunlight filtering in through the cracks in your tent. A feeling of safety and warmth envelopes you and you smile softly, stretching while relishing in the good nights sleep you finally managed to have without any nightmares.

You roll a bit to feel warm fur on the side of your arm and you look up to see Noa, breathing heavily and his face relaxed as he sleeps peacefully. Waking up next to your closest friend was something you never expected to happen in these last two months with the apes, but you enjoy the feeling nonetheless.

You glance down at his hand that lays open loosely on the bed spread, reaching your own hand out and stopping just before his fingers touch yours. Your mind races with thoughts back to the two of you in the cave, how he looked at you, how he touched you, softer than anyone has before.

You wonder if you were just reading into it or if he felt what you did, but in all honesty you don't know what you felt. You've only ever been with your mother in her camp all your life, moving from place to place with the few apes who taught you sign and other survival skills. There was never anyone your age, let alone human. You wonder if a human and an ape having feelings for each other was even heard of.

You glance up at Noa, a bit startled to find his eyes open and looking at you, his face inches away from yours. "Good morning." He whispers, his voice even lower and raspier than usual from just waking up. "Morning." You say, trying your hardest to ignore the tightness in your chest. "How long have you been up?" You whisper, searching his eyes for a glimpse of thought behind the myriad of dark green and brown.

"Not long, just woke up." He whispers back, looking at you with a soft smile. "Did not, have bad dreams, this time." He says in a happy tone. You smile at him and you see his eyes shine with an emotion you can't discern. "Me neither, actually. I think it's cause you were here..." You say quietly, hoping he doesn't notice the warmth in your cheeks from your last sentence.

"I think so too." He says softly, glancing down at your hand that's still resting by his. You look down at his fingertips that are slowly flexing, before ever so gently reaching out to brush against yours. You reciprocate his gesture and interlock your fingers with his large ones as he holds your hand extremely delicately.

"y/n!" Soona calls as she bursts through the curtain. You and Noa immediately pull your hands away and sit up to see Anaya walking in after her. "We cannot find- oh, you are here?" She says confused, looking to Noa, who just looks at you and shrugs. "You were not in your tower this morning, we could not find you. Got worried." Anaya says with his soft eyes, and you feel a bit guilty.

"Slept in here, last night. With y/n." Noa explains to his friends, who just look at him confused. "Why?" Soona asks and you and Noa glance at each other, neither caring to explain the nightmares you've both been having. "I was cold," You blurt out. "humans don't have any fur, so we get cold..." It wasn't totally a lie, the weather has been getting chillier.

"Uh!" Anaya grunts out with some hoots. "Why did you not say that? I bring you, all the blankets." He says as he turns to leave the tent before turning back around. "Stay here!" He says excitedly before wobbling off, to fetch you all the blankets apparently. You almost laugh at the dopey ape, but your smile drops when you see Soona glaring at you and Noa, studying both of you intensely.

"I see, what is going on here." She says sternly, as she walks closer to Noa and pokes at him. "What, are you talking about?" He says as he swats her hand away. "I have known you, your whole life. I see everything." She says, in an almost motherly way. "It's okay, i think you would be good mates." She says, smiling at you as you gasp softly and your face heats up while Noa looks away with a flustered expression.

The curtain opening again catches all your attentions and the sight of Anaya walking in with his arms full of various animal skins and pelt blankets would've made you laugh, if it wasn't for Soona just embarrassing you and Noa like that. "Anaya no! She does not need all of those, you will suffocate her!" Soona scolds him while shooing him out of the tent.

You take a deep breath and glance at Noa, unable to hide the small embarrassed smile on your face. He glances at you aswell, his brow furrowed and his lips pulled tightly as his fingers tug at your fur blanket nervously. You open your mouth to say something when Soona and Anaya walk in again, the latter holding only one blanket this time.

"Here you go, have this one." Anaya says softly as he hands you what looks to be a wolf pelt. "Thank you." You nod to him and he smiles brightly. "You need, more?" He asks, already walking to the large pile of blankets just outside your tent and Soona simply huffs in frustration. "No! No, thank you...this is enough." You stop him before he can dump more blankets into your arms, and you find his eagerness to help endearing, even if he is a bit clueless.

"Good, she has blanket. Now you put all these back." Soona says firmly as she drags Anaya out of the tent. You watch in amusement as the ape struggles to carry all the fur pelts, dropping some on the ground then dropping more as he bends down to pick up the first ones.

You glance at Noa who seems to be studying the tent wall. He finally looks at you and there's a moment of awkward silence as you two sit uncomfortably from Soona's words. You gather up the courage to look at him and nod to the tent opening. "We should-" "Yes." And with that you both leave for breakfast.

word count: 1059
soona is the number 1 shipper confirmed

- raine