An Unstoppable Dawn

4. Friends Reunite

The next morning

"You ready?" Malcolm asked me, stopping the truck."Ready as I'll ever be." I answered. Knowing that I was sure, he lended me my shotgun and we stepped out into the sunny, bright Redwoods. "Wow, I ain't seen the woods like this in ages..." I soundly mumbled, smiling at the beaming light from within the trees.

"That looks like a trail. Maybe we should follow it carefully." I recommended while Malcolm took the time to get into preparation of finding the dam. We started to walk up the ramp and saw decorations hanging on trees and sticks which intrigued me as we continued hiking up the hill. While I was panting, I looked ahead to see a civilization right before my very eyes. Its fires were dimmed out and it was empty with inhabitants. Me and Malcolm moved cautiously, keeping our guns against our chests as we proceeded forward. I perceived to see small huts with blankets made of leaves and baskets with fruits and I was astonished by the beauty.

All of a sudden, we heard footsteps that trudged behind us and my eyes expanded to a great size. Malcolm slipped his eyes over to me while I bit my lip fearlessly before we both began to roll our heads slowly behind us. Our gazes were locked on a inhumanly large gorilla who towered over the two of us with a stoney expression. Both of our hearts stopped and we kept our guns clutched into our chests.

"Ahhhh! Ah!" The massive gorilla roared, causing many birds to fly away quickly. The both of us moved back sedately before we saw other gorillas encircling towards us. We instantly dropped our weapons and stood close to each other before raising our hands up in surrender. It wasn't long before two gorillas roughy grabbed us and took us to the unknown. Many apes watched us as we were being dragged past the entrance of their territory and inside their home where many hoots from the apes gathered around us. We then stopped and were face to face with many apes, staring at us longingly. Out of nowhere, a bonobo with a scar across his eye came into our view, examining us with rough facial features. The two gorillas poked us in our backs, motivating us to move forward until we both stumbled into the moggy weeds and we both kneeled down. Unexpectedly, a ape came into our vision on a high ledge and realized that it was the ape leader that we encountered yesterday.

The ape silenced his colony and elevated his arms high. He stared at me for a while until he let out a surprised gasp. He jumped from the ledge and walked towards me steadily and his eyes popped instantly.

"Kiara?" He asked in sign language, shaking the other surrounding apes. "Caesar?" I was applaud that it was actually him. I didn't want to spill out any tears so I stood back on my feet until the gorilla grabbed onto my arm out of instinct.

"Release her, Luca." Caesar demanded. The gorilla stared down at me and decided to let me go. Caesar walked up to me and grabbed me in for a hug. My fingers squeezed into his fur while he patted the back of my torso. "My... good friend." Caesar said in a raspy voice, hoisting my lips into a smile.

"Caesar. You know this human?" The gorilla asked him, bouncing his gaze from the two of us. Caesar smiled softly and placed a hand on the big gorilla's arm. "She's a childhood friend of mine." He reasoned with the gorilla while I nodded my head. I peered over at Malcolm who was gratefully smiling at me while I responded with a grin. Caesar intervened and looked at the scarred bonobo, who was ready to pierce Malcolm with his spear. "Leave him, Koba." He told the bonobo, making him hesitant before he surfaced his spear on the ground as Malcolm stood back up. Caesar turned over to me with a overreacting smile and held my hand.

"Both of you. Come this way." He signed, holding my hand as I leaned over to hold Malcolm's hand for him to come along. The encircling apes watched in shock as Caesar walked us up a ramp into a huge hut that was unlike the others and I figured that this was his home. He brushed the grassy doorway for us to allow ourselves in. "Come sit down." He said, assisting us over to seats that took the form of rocks. I sat close to Malcolm while he watched the ape leader in confusion.

"Why didn't you kill us?" Malcolm asked Caesar, causing him to turn slowly. The ape leader walked over to sit in front of us.

"I... knew that... you were... not a... threat." Caesar explained. I smiled at his improved english and knew that he turned into the ape I was destined that he would become. "Are you king?" I asked him in sign language, making him smile.

"Yes. These are my people." Caesar signed to me, taking a look outside his hut at his apes. "You've grown so much since we last seen each other." He remarked. Malcolm started to smile at our reuniting moment and chose not to be a burden while we chatted. Caesar took his eyes off of us and twinkled towards the doorway to his hut where we turned to see two apes enter. "Come." Caesar ushered us to the two other apes.

"Honey. Son. This is my childhood friend I told you guys about." Caesar signed to the two apes. The female ape stepped towards me and lended her hand out to me. "I'm Cornelia. Caesar's wife." She introduced. "It's very nice to meet you." I sighed to Cornelia as we shook hands. Caesar grabbed my hand gently and walked me over to the male ape as Malcolm patiently followed behind.

"This is my son, Blue Eyes." He introduced. I looked at him and smiled. "Hello." He simply said, refusing to look into my eyes in timidity. "Hi." I replied with a sign, making him look at me in shock.

"Oh and this is Malcolm, my friend." I told Caesar as they all looked at him, allowing him to wave at them civilly. We then walked back over to the rocks and sat down to start engaging in conversation.

"So what brings you here Kiara?" He asked us. "We heard of a dam that can help provide light." I told him. "That's what we are looking for and some of us will have to work there to restore the unlimited power for the rest of the survivors." Malcolm finished off. Cornelia gasp which made us turn to her quickly. "Survivors? There are more?" She asked us in bombshell. "Just a few since we lost many of them." I understandingly told her as she nodded her head.

"Father..." Blue Eyes let out. "It's alright, son." Caesar comforted him. "We were asking if you would allow us to do our work there?" Malcolm courteously asked the ape king. The queen and prince looked up at him with uneasiness until Caesar came to a decision.

"You... may work there... but... only one condition." Caesar spoke. I stood up to look up at him. "I promise there will be no harm and if there is, we will prevent that." I told my ape friend. "We don't want that for your people." I continued while I saw Blue Eyes stand up to look at me. He clapped his palms on my shoulders before I looked over at Malcolm.

"Can you head back to inform the others?" I asked Malcolm as he looked worried. "Of course but what about-" he was paused by my soft voice. "I'll be fine just go and be careful." I insured him, walking over to him to hug him. He rubbed my back slightly and fixed my hair before he left out of the hut.

"It's still very early. You should take a nap for a bit, my friend." Caesar advised me, scrutinizing my dozy expression. I inclined with my head and he offered me a sleepy area made up soft, bushy leaves and a small fireplace to keep cool. "Whenever you awake, make sure to let the small fire out." Caesar reminded me before walking past me to the entryway. Cornelia smiled at me as she followed behind her husband. While I was in preparation for my nap, I noticed Blue Eyes walking slowly to the entrance as he turned around to glance at me. We shared a long gaze at one another before he left the hut. When he exited the hut, I rested on the cozy bed and smiled with my eyes closed, meditating my mind back to my reuniting with my childhood friend. He now has a son and a wife as well as a kingdom of apes, becoming the king they needed. I couldn't been any more proud of him and I know Will, Caroline and Charles are too.

FYI: when the text is shown in italics after a ape's speech, that demonstrates them using sign language and when it's normal text, that indicates the ape speaking. This is for anyone who is confused by the text changes throughout my story.