Heading into the forest, Noa brought the horse to a trot, it’s hooves sounding on the ground with a steady rhythm that Amara loved to hear, she closed her eyes and hugged her father tightly, resting her head against his back.
“father... when will you teach me?” she asked, her words slightly muffled as she kept her head against his fur “will I one day... be like you?”
Noa turned his head to speak, his heart swelling with love “one day, you could... be better than me”
Her eyes opened quickly with shock “better... than you?” She scoffed “never” she closed her eyes again and began to hum the eagle song as they travelled, Noa smiled and began to hum along softly with her.
Finally bringing the horse to a stop, Noa found that this was the perfect place to search for items, a waterfall was nearby and the calming sound of the stream created a lovely ambience around them.
“let us search for things here... see what we can find” he dismounted then helped Amara down from the saddle.
Noa went one way whilst Amara went the other. They did this every time. The pair of them searching, looking out for objects.
Amara walked slowly, scanning the ground for anything worth keeping until she saw a small hut with plants growing all over it. Her curiosity piqued as she began walking slowly towards it. She leaned in the doorway and saw some items that she had never seen before. Stepping inside, she picked up a very old, tattered hat, she rotated it in her hands, examining it and grunting softly with curiosity, she placed it atop her head and giggled with amusement until a sound outside caught her attention, she looked up and saw movement through the hut window.
Turning around to head for the door, she dropped the hat and walked slowly outside. As she walked around the side of the building, she saw a tent, her eyebrows raised quickly, intrigued as she saw movement inside and walked with soft footsteps towards it. She stopped in front of the tent then pulled back the door and crouched down, she gasped when she saw a being, a human boy that stood up quickly in fear at her arrival.
“P- Please... please don’t hurt me” he said, wrapping his arms around his torso.
Amara raised an eyebrow and stared at him. She could see the scared look on his face and put out her hands in an attempt to calm him “I will not... hurt you... what are you... doing here?”.
The boy stumbled over his words for a moment then managed to speak “M- My family were here with me... we were looking for other humans like us... b- but they went away and never returned” he motioned around his camp “we weren’t going to be here for long, but-“
Amara leaned in, the top of her head touching the tent doorway as she examined him, she tapped his arm with the back of her hand “you are...not ape but... you are like me” she moved closer, tilting her head to the side. “you are... alone here... yes?” slight concern in her expression.
The boy nodded “well... I have waited here for three days” he shrugged as his eyes glazed over with tears “so I guess I’m alone now”
The young chimp sighed and shook her head “you are not... safe out here alone... you come back... with us... will be safe”
The boys eyes widened with fear and he shook his head “I- I can't”
Amara stood up and held out her hand “you can... father will keep you safe... follow me... we have a horse”.
The boy hesitated for a moment then timidly took hold of her hand, the texture of her calloused skin greeting his.
Amara lead the boy towards the horse, but before the pair could get very far, Noa quickly approached his daughter, a metal box in his hand “Amara... look... I found-“ he stopped abruptly when he saw his daughter holding the hand of a human, his eyes widened but his eyebrows quickly lowered as he moved forward in slow strides “Amara... get away... from him... now” Noa’s voice low and demanding.
She raised a brow, confused “but, father... he is scared... of us”
The boy quickly moved behind Amara, trembling from fear “I- I won’t be any t- trouble”
Noa shot the boy an angry scowl “you... can speak too?”
The boy nodded quickly and clung to Amara's sides.
Amara raised a brow at her fathers last question “wait... father... what do you mean?... have you... seen one like him... before?”
Noa growled, seeing a human touch his daughter sent waves of anger through him “I do not know... how he got here... but we must go now... leave him”
Amara stayed put, one hand on her hip “he needs... to come with us... to our village... not safe here”
Noa grunted and wrinkled his nose as the memories of what he had said to Mae came flooding back. He grunted and turned away for a moment then turned back to the pair “fine... he can come... but any sign of trouble-“
“there won’t be, I am alone” the boy insisted.
Noa scowled at the human child then scoffed and headed back to his horse. the children followed.
The boy nudged Amara's side and whispered “my name’s Ethan, by the way”
“she did not... ask of... your name” Noa’s stern voice boomed off of the trees around them, making Ethan gulp.
The three of them rode home in silence, Ethan’s nerves were still high, the thought of Amara’s father being so powerful sent a shiver down his spine, he had always been taught that apes were bad, he knew they could kill him in an instant but he didn’t know what other choice he had at this point, he secretly kept a gun in the band of his trousers just in case.
Arriving into the eagle clan village, the residents noticed Noa’s scowling expression, they wondered what the problem was but their queries were soon answered when they saw the human boy sitting behind the leaders daughter. Soona and Anaya were working on training their eagles, both hearing the commotion, they turned around and saw it, both exchanging shocked glances.
Ethan’s eyes widened as he saw some villagers training their eagles. He watched in awe as the birds flew over his head, ducking down slightly and feeling the breeze of their wings as they swooped past.
“Oh... I forgot to mention... we raise eagles” Amara giggled.
Noa could hear a lot of murmurs between the villagers, he closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth “enough!” he called and the village quickly went silent.
Dismounting from the horse, Noa saw Soona quickly approaching him, he rolled his eyes, preparing for a lecture then helped his daughter down. He stared at the boy, the thoughts of Mae flashed through his mind. He narrowed his eyes and huffed with agitation then lifted the boy down from the saddle.
Soona stood behind her husband, one eyebrow raised, waiting for him to turn around. Noa sighed and looked at Amara, he signed with slight humour “she’s behind me, isn’t she?”
Amara nodded, giggling “hello mother” she ran to her and hugged her.
Soona looked at Noa, a confused expression on her face as she hugged her daughter “I told you” she motioned to the boy.
Ethan’s gaze switched between Noa and Soona as he trembled with nervousness.
Anaya noticed the human’s nerves and walked closer to him, his gaze soft and sympathetic “Hello, Echo”
The boy nodded and managed a small smile “h- hello”
Soona looked at Ethan, her expression softening at seeing how scared he was, she crouched down to his level “where are you... from?”
“Valley beyond” he replied, a tremble to his voice.
Suddenly, one of Amara’s friends, Akio spoke “Noa went to... valley beyond once!” he ran to Amara’s side then looked at Noa “You did!”
Amara frowned with confusion, looking at her father “uh... what?”
Noa put a hand on the back of his head and frowned, glancing at his daughter, he knew there was no going back now “I... went to valley beyond... yes”
Amara examined his face, seeing the obvious disapproval “you... did not tell us... these beings existed... why?”
Noa shook his head “Amara... once... Me, Soona and Anaya were like you... curious... wanting to explore... but there was bad... a lot of bad”
His daughter frowned, confused “what was... bad about it?”
Noa sighed “you do not... need to know”
Ethan walked over to a nearby log and sat down, Noa’s glare following his every move.
Soona shook her head and nudged him “Noa... maybe human is not... bad... he is small”.
Amara grunted “father... he is not a threat... he is so much like us”
Hearing those words sent a chill down Noa’s spine “he is... not like us” he growled, scowling at the boy.
YOU ARE READING
Conflicted minds
FanfictionEight years had passed since the previous events with Mae. Noa had become a great leader, flourishing after his father, he had decided not to speak about the humans, feeling it was better to just avoid the topic all together and now raising a daught...
