Clova *COMPLETE*

Chapter 18-Back Home

The ride home was quiet, Clova sat at the back of Caesar's horse next to Blue Eyes. His head was down and was still embarrassed of his previous action as he ignored his fellow apes' concerns. Clova looked at his scars, the three deep wounds were aligned on his chest and oozed with blood. Concerned, she tapped Caesar's shoulder and he turned his head, her finger then pointed to Blue Eyes as he was unusually quiet.

"Is he upset?", she signed. Caesar looked at Blue Eyes, an ashamed expression on his face.

"Yes.", he replied.

Clova lowered her head, she felt bad for Blue Eyes. Minutes later, she was lost in her thoughts to realise they had arrived back home. Ash tapped her on the shoulder, his gentle gesture brought her back to reality.

"You coming off?", he asked.

Clova responded with a nod and Ash picked her up and lowered her down from Caesar's horse. She scanned the area for Blue Eyes and saw him with Koba.

"Don't feel bad, Blue Eyes.", he comforted. "Scars make you strong."

Koba lightly patted Blue Eyes' head before he walked off, she watched as Blue Eyes sat down in a corner fiddling with a rock and stick. He didn't notice her presence until she sat beside him, he looked at her with a glum face and continued playing the with the rock. Clova adjusted herself so she sat in front of him and carefully caressed his scars causing him to wince slightly.

"Are you okay?", she signed.

Blue Eyes didn't answer and sighed heavily. He stared into nothingness as he started snapping the sticks into smaller branches. Clova gently shook his shoulders.

"Dont be sad, I thought you were brave.", she replied honestly, a broad smile on her face. Blue Eyes smiled slightly at her comment and dropped the sticks.

"Father doesn't think I can do much, he assigns me to smaller tasks like fishing and wood collecting.", he signed sadly, Clova listened to his doubts and felt bad, she as well as Caesar know that Blue Eyes is more than that, this was a typical teenage phase he was going through."I can do more, I just never get the chance."

Clova shook her head. "Father just wants to keep us safe, I mean look what happened today.", she pointed at his fresh scars.

"I would be so so sad if I lost you, mother, Cornelius and father.", she signed a massive frown on her face.

Blue Eyes sighed again and rubbed her head, her combed hair now a ruff mess. Clova looked at him and scowled causing Blue Eyes to chuckle. They both sat together for the rest of the afternoon and occasionally shoved, hit or bump each other playfully.

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Later, the apes gathered around the wide food stone and ate a variety of fruits, nuts, fish, meat as well as the large bear they hunted earlier.Blue Eyes and Cornelia sat at the top by the table, Cornelia placed two thin wood planks beside her filled with food.

"What's taking them so long?", he asked, slightly concerned. Cornelia took and patted his hand.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon.", she replied reassuringly. She looked at her eldest son's scars slightly worried.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt? I can ask the obas to tend to it again.", she offered. Blue Eyes shook his head and rubbed his caring mother's shoulders.

"I'm fine, mother. Koba said scars make you strong.", he reminded.

Almost instantly, Clova turned around the corner joined hands with Cornelius who linked arms with Blossom, which instead of her wearing her usual pink flower behind her ear, it was replaced with a dark blue tulip. Both Cornelius and Blossom had grown slightly, reaching Clova's lower leg when they stood. Once Cornelius spotted his family, he released his hold from Clova and ran to them hand in hand with Blossom, his face was enthusiastic and lit up.

"Mother, I found this flower and gave it to Blossom!", he signed happily. Blossom fiddled with the pretty tulip on her head.

"I think it's beautiful.", she signed gratefully to Cornelius.

Blossom then grabbed Cornelius' head and placed it on hers for a brief second before she walked away to her own family across the table. He and Clova sat next to Cornelia who pampered them with the fruits she set out for them. While they ate, Blue Eyes spotted Cornelius glance over at Blossom, their friendship grew and grew everyday and by the looks of it, he wasn't the only one who assumed their blooming romance. Cornelius felt a sudden nudge in his arm and looked at his older brother, a sly grin on his face.

"So...", he started. 

Cornelius rolled his eyes, fully aware of where this conversation was going. "You and Blossom, huh?", he teased. Cornelius shoved him away and turned to Cornelia and Clova.

"Mother, Blue Eyes keeps teasing me!", he whined. Cornelia looked at Blue Eyes and gave him a soft yet stern look.

"Stop teasing your brother.", Blue Eyes nodded in response but gave another push on Cornelius' arm, he snarled and threw a seed at his head. 

Clova giggled, it was always funny to watch their mini play fights and arguments especially when witnessed by Blossom because Cornelius' would then use that to act more macho by attempting to fight Blue Eyes in front of her whenever he teased him. The two brothers were so caught up in their brotherly spat, Cornelius didn't realise Blue Eyes injuries.

"What happened to you?", he screeched in shock. He used his hand to touch his scars and Blue Eyes hissed from his sudden touch. 

"A bear tried to attack us.", Clova signed. Cornelius' concern lowered dramatically into an uneasy fit.

"Did he get you too?", he signed frantically. 

Cornelius grabbed Clova and examined her skin, he checked her arms for any signs of scratches and marks. His hands rubbed through her hair and sighed in relief, not a single hair out of place. Clova took his hand and sat him back down.

"I'm fine.", she comforted. Cornelius nodded in understanding and fished his food, once done all the other apes made their way inside their dens and huts as the torches were being lit up. Cornelia grunted softly to her children.

"Time to go back home.", she announced. Cornelius automatically reached out for her hand, Blue Eyes and Clova followed behind as they climbed their stairway up to their room.

"When will father be back?", Cornelius wondered. Cornelia gently patted his head.

"Soon."