14. Information (1/2)
during the still early mornings of this
and new day pankun restlessly paced about an area as he awaited for any news from some of his apes. after charlie's disappearance some of his other apes had started to go missing as well. at first it was unnoticeable but now after he had made his rounds in checking up on his clan members he'd come to find some of their huts empty and barren. at this concerning new issue that's arisen, he had quickly assembled a scouting team and secretly told them to keep an eye out on the ongoings that is occurring around them. on top of that he's also informed them to keep a watchful eye out for any of their missing family members as it is crucial that they be found first. what was going on here, why were his apes disappearing. he did not want to think of it but, seeing as his apes were only disappearing after they were invited into the colony, pankun suspected that caesar might be behind all of this. however yet at the same time he felt that caesar might not be involved in it as well.
growling softly to himself, pankun perked up when his daughter had approached him and gave him a quick hug before informing him that she was going to go and freshen herself up by the creek nearby, also maybe heading on out towards the meadows as well. at hearing this, pankun had quickly shot down the young chimp, explaining to her that it was dangerous right now and that she should not be going out alone. at this xuě had tilted her head back up at him and had curiously asked him what was wrong. of course he did not want to worry her and just said that it was dangerous for her to go out right now and for her to stay close. however she had insisted that she needed to go clean and that if she couldn't go to the meadow then at least allow her to go bathe herself. pankun however felt that it was still not safe but when her friends had came on over and informed him that they were going to be together, only then did he allow them to leave the premises. growling, pankun dragged a hand down the side of his head in frustration. xuě was as hard headed and stubborn as her mother when she wanted something. only did when he heard footsteps nearing him did pankun look up, seeing a few of his apes returning back from their mission.
"anything?" he signed to the apes, hoping that they had
ought back at least some kind of good news. the apes nervously glanced at each other before one of them step up towards to their clan leader and lowered his head as if in shame.
"i'm sorry pankun we have not found anything new yet in our search, but we are trying," he signed slowly before raising his palm up in forgiveness.
pankun grounded his teeth together at this news but heaved out a
eath, relaxing his tense body. there was no use in getting mad at one of his fellow apes since it was still so early for them to have already found something. slowly he placed his palm onto the other chimp's and swiped it gently.
"it is alright, you all just take a rest for now," he signed. it was saddening that they have not found a clue as of yet but there was no use in pushing them. sitting back down, pankun was starting to worry deeply for the safety of his own. during the middle of his thoughts however did he notice another set of scouts making their return back to him, meeting them with his hard gaze.
the orangutan from this group approached pankun and eyed him worriedly as if he was disturbed by something. "pankun, i think we need to talk," he signed slowly gaining the attention of their leader.
...
taking a small blood sample that he had obtained from the injured bonobo, lemming placed it onto a clean petri dish. quickly the man took a droplet of the man made antidote and placed a dollop onto the blood. closing the petri dish, lemming moved it under a microscope and placed his eyes into the lens. upon looking down at the cells, lemming was quite fascinated with how the ape's blood cells quickly adjusted and welcomed the antidote, allowing the cure to coexist with it without it having any negative effects. satisfied, lemming pulled the petri dish out and selected a new clean dish, whereas he took a prick out of his own finger and placed a few drop of his own blood into it. just like before he inserted the cure within the blood and placed it under the microscope. taking a look at what was going to occur, the results were not what he had expected. instead of his blood accepting the antidote like the ape's, his blood immediately rejected the cure and in turn the cure started to act like a virus as it started to destroy the microscopic cells within its surroundings.
"no..." lemming
eathed in horror as he took a step back from the microscope. "this... this is all wrong... this shouldn't happen," he said softly aloud.
quickly he tested the cure several more times only for it to gain the same results as before. letting out a disbelieving scoff, lemming faltered backwards away from the machine and slowly made his way on over towards the window pane. placing his head onto the glass the man's shoulder started to shake and quickly he placed a hand over his mouth as despair slowly started to overcome him. taking in a shuddering
eath, lemming closed his eyes with his hands balled up and placed on his sides. looking up at the ceiling the man gnawed at this teeth and let out a deep
eath. no... he was not going to give up, not now after so many years of studying the virus and trying to counteract it. turning back around the man approached his research once more and glared down at the objects that laid around him. if at first this did not work then he will find another way to counteract this virus, to find a cure to help the humans who still had hope in this world. even if it killed him in the process he will succeed and with that thought in mind the man sat back down onto his chair as he prepped up another petri dish.
...
back within the healing hut, there sat two young chimps who were wrapped within each others arms, keeping each other company, safe and sound. the smaller of the two leaned her head onto the bigger male that sat along with her while he placed his head on top of hers.
"did you miss me?" milo piped up, noticing the younger chimp look up at him and gave him a face.
"humph! of course not!" cinder announced as she pushed herself away and turned her head the in the opposite direction. however she slowly let her gaze curve back to look at milo, noticing him chuckle slightly at her reaction, which in turn caused her to smile back. gently she reached out and straightened out the fur that lined milo's chest, shoulders and arms, feeling him relax under her touch. "were you scared? when they took you?" cinder asked softly, letting her eyes gaze back up at the male.
"yes..." milo
eathed, "i was scared for the both of us. i did not know what they were going to do to rain and i," he answered solemnly. "but i'm just happy that i'm with you right now," he said softly.
cinder let a smile envelop her features and hugged milo closer to her, happy that nothing bad had happened to the both of them. of course she had heard that milo had gotten severely ill when he was captured but for now he seemed fine, if not a little bit lethargic at the moment. besides all that she was extremely relieved that nothing else was wrong with them, she herself wouldn't know what to do if she had lost the both of them. finding out that she had lost an older
other before, she couldn't bear the thought of losing another
other and a really good friend as well.
"milo?" cinder spoke up once more to which the older male hummed in response. she did not know if she should reveal such information to the ape but she had no one else to turn to. she could turn to her parents but even then she was afraid to tell them of what she had discovered. "i think... i think something is wrong," she
eathed.
"wrong?" milo asked, pulling back slightly to gaze down at cinder whom fidgeted slightly within his hold.
"yesterday when i was out in the meadows, tending to the animals. i saw a few of the older chimps... they were walking into the forest," cinder signed slowly, seeing the confuse look milo was giving her, but waited patiently for her to continue. "i followed them, followed them deep into the forest and came upon a large group of other apes. they... they were making things... such as ropes and cages... i don't know what they are using them for but it must be for something terrible because... because i saw an ape there who was tied down onto the ground. i was so scared milo, i did not know what to do, so i left and i don't know what happened to that other ape," cinder whimpered as she leaned back into milo's open arms.
"did you tell anyone else?" milo asked in concern to which cinder shook her head quickly in response. noticing the tears forming within cinder's eyes, he quickly pulled her in close and gently rocked her back and forth. "shh, it is okay. i am here now, we will find out what is going on together okay?" he reassured the smaller female.
slowly cinder placed her head on top of the other chimp's chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, letting that sound soothe and calm her nerves. she was glad that she was able to tell another ape of what she saw and hopefully figure out what was going on around them. "who do we speak to first though?" cinder asked to which milo thought for a moment.
"if we want answers. i think it is best to let gregoire and the others know. they are usually fast at gathering information," milo suggested gaining a slight nod from cinder.
"right," she answered in a hopeful voice.
...
xuě wiped at blue-eyes
ow, letting out a small chortle to herself when she got a grunt in return. for a big strong chimp he sure acted like a little one when she tried to clean him. while they both had sat waist deep within the creek the pair groomed and spoke to one another about various things about their lives such as families, close relatives and much more. it wasn't until blue-eyes glanced around himself and then down at the creek that they sat in that he looked back down into the female's eyes.
"xuě? why are we still in the creek, are you not afraid of the water?" blue-eyes asked, getting a head shake from the white chimpanzee.
"no," she answered simply with a smile, "i've been around water a lot and know where not to tread," she stated simply. "learned from humans to not be afraid," she finished as she waved her hand across the water's surface.
"i never knew humans that well," blue-eyes admitted.
"but you know them now do you not? i've seen them, back at the colony," xuě asked.
"just a little, only saw a lot of their bad side," blue-eyes answered.
"a little, a lot, does not matter as long as you have known them. humans and apes do both good and bad," xuě explained gaining a nod from blue-eyes.
"you are very tolerant of them aren't you?" blue-eyes asked.
"only because i've lived with them for almost all of my life," xuě answered with a warm smile.
after a few more moments the two rose out of the creek and made their way towards the bank. both still dripping wet, eyed one another and let out a few small chuckles at how they looked. after their small laugh both blue-eyes and xuě slowly found themselves drawn towards each other once more. xuě looked up as blue-eyes lowered his head and was merely inches in front of her. slowly xuě reached up and placed her left hand onto the male's cheek with him leaning into her touch, eyes closing all the while. tracing her thumb over the scar that ran across blue-eyes' right cheekbone, she looked back into the male's face as he slowly opened his sky colored eyes into a half lidded state and reached up to place his hand over hers. as the two were lost within each other, something dropped from overhead and landed with a loud thud just a few paces to their side. blue-eyes was quick to react as he suddenly placed himself in front of xuě to block her from whatever it was. however what the male chimp did not expect was to see another ape standing just a few feet away from them, rising slowly and eyeing him with fierce green eyes.
"hand over our leader's daughter," the bonobo signed gruffly causing blue-eyes to frown in return.
"kaholo?" xuě spoke softly as she peeked out from behind blue-eyes, "what... what are you doing here?" she signed curiously.
"i am here to take you back to your father, come now xuě," the bonobo signed back to the white chimpanzee noticing the slight growl emanating from the blue eyed male.
xuě could feel the anger slowly rise from blue-eyes and she placed a hand onto the male chimp's shoulder, causing him to glance back at her. "it is okay," she signed, "my father always does this. i will see you soon?" she signed to blue-eyes whom merely glance back at the other ape before turning fully to face her.
"you are not in trouble are you?" blue-eyes asked, hoping that him being with her did not cause it.
xuě however merely shook her head accompanied with a small smile, "no, and do not follow okay?" she asked while holding onto blue-eyes' hands, gaining a single head nod from the male. satisfied with his answer xuě then walked around the
awny chimp and made her way on over towards kaholo, stopping in front of him. once there she glanced back to look at blue-eyes' confused face before she trailed after the bonobo back into the words, leaving the male chimpanzee alone, by the creek.
...