The Lost Experiment

Chapter 2 Shared Meal

A/N: The picture above is what Gabrielle looked like when she was first left in the woods. Even though I used my name the picture is not me. I got it off of google.

Chapter 2

Caesar's POV

As we headed home I thought about the human girl. She said she wasn't exactly human even though she looked it. She wasn't at all bothered or surprised by us; she wasn't even shocked that we could speak. The way she interacted with my son, you would think she had kids of her own even though she was just a kid herself. The way she dealt with Koba was impressive. She had a relationship with him, they had an understanding. He tolerated her, what had she done to earn his respect? ~"Thinking about the human girl?"~ my wife signed.

~"How long do you think she's been on her own?"~ I asked. She seemed to have built her whole life out here. She had said something about being here for years, but she had never bothered us and we had never come across her. Why was a social creature so content to live on her own? There were some nights I could hear a voice on the wind, singing. I wondered if it was her. Whatever the case she had saved my son, for now she would be tolerated till I knew more. She would be allowing us to hunt on her territory.

That night I listened to a song that was carried on the wind, "Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby

Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay

And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow

Bless you with love for the road that you go

May you sail far to the far fields of fortune

With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet

And may you need never banish misfortune

May you find kindness in all that you meet

Chorus:
May there always be angels to watch over you
To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay

May you bring love and may you bring happiness

Be loved in return to the end of your days

Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you

I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay

Chorus:

Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay."

~Time Skip~

The next morning my hunters and I passed her camp and I saw her in the river fishing with her spear that had the bear's tooth on the end. She waved at us and signed that the snares weren't set, we could go where we wanted, she had taken them down because a predator had broken them earlier this morning. I nodded to her and moved on, tying my horse near her camp site as the others did. She would let them be and make sure no harm came to them.

I went to where she took me last night and the others surrounded the area, the herd was still there. We would be eating some fine meals now. On my signal we attacked and moments later we had two deer. We moved past her camp site and gathered our horses and she was sharing the fish she caught with a hungry wolf. The wolf sat beside her as she ate her meal. She was completely calm with this wild creature beside her. I didn't get her at all.

I returned to the colony with our kills so everyone could eat, it would be the first time in weeks. It was possible this girl had saved us. I went back to her tent later with some deer meat to say thank you and I saw her working on her snares as the wolf worked on some old bones. Was this wolf her pet? I came to sit across from her and asked, "Pet?" pointing at the wolf.

"No, friend. He's just hungry; he's been kicked out of his pack. I share my food with him and he keeps me company in return," she replied. I nodded; the pair were lonely and hungry.

"As a thank you, for saving us," I said handing her the meat I had brought.

"I should be thanking you," she replied taking it and giving half of it to the wolf and breaking the last piece in half. She handed half back to me as she took a bite of the other piece of the already cooked meat. I was confused by what she meant; we had done nothing for her in the time she had been here. She had clearly known of us and left us alone. She had saved my son when the river could have taken her.

~"It's for you,"~ I said.

"I'm sharing," she replied. I hadn't eaten much and was still hungry.

~"Thank you,"~ I said grateful. I sat and joined her for a quiet meal and the wolf ignored me and her.

"Do you know a Maurice by chance?" she asked.

~"Yes, why?"~

"He's free," she said tears starting to pour down her face. "He raised me for the first three years of my life before he was taken away. I haven't seen him since. I miss him. He's been the only one to show me love in my life."

"How long have you been out here?" I asked.

"Since I was five," she replied. She was still just a child and she was hunting on her own, climbing trees as if she had lived out here her whole life, gathering food. She had spent most of her life out here and on her own. It was incredible she found a way to survive without any help from anyone. Ape children couldn't do that, it was surprising that a human child so young, still so dependent on others could.

"I'll send him down," I said.

"Thank you," she said hugging me. Once I had finished I ran off into the trees.