An Unstoppable Dawn

6. Graceful Supper

Luca took me over to meet with the females while I stood behind the towering gorilla. "The queen must be here." Luca thought, leading the way to her. I saw Cornelia with a satchel that was suitably similar to Alexander's bag as she came to me.

"I've found a bag down in the woods on our way back." Cornelia revealed. I saw a picture poking out of the pocket of the satchel as she handed it to me. I wrapped the strap on my chest and kept it in my possession, ready to return it to Alexander. I glimpsed at the basket Cornelia had that was filled with luscious fruit. Luca and I assisted in helping the females bring the baskets back to their village and with all my strength, I hoisted the basket on the top of my head. When we got back to the ape village, we saw lit up fireplaces and apes gathering to eat.  Out of exhaustion, we rested the baskets of forest fruit on a rock while other apes witnessed.

"That was a bit of a load..." Luca joked, panting in weariness. "Tell me about it." I signed to him, putting my hands on my small hips while letting out tiring breaths. I soon glanced down at Alexander's bag that I had across me and knew that I should return his beloved belongings. "Give me a moment. I need to make a quick run." I told Luca as he allowed me to slip out of the village. I sprinted down the hill until I saw the tents of my companions and saw Alexander sitting on a log, eating a meal.

"Alex!" I bowled to him, running up to him for a friendly embrace. I sensed his chest ceasing while my arms were around his hoodie he had over his head. Alexander had a solid expression afterwards before he peered down at his satchel across me.

"My satchel! But... how did you find it?" He was aghast that I retrieved his satchel he longingly searched for. Acknowledging the introductory him and Cornelia didn't have yet, I looked up at him. "A friendly, generous ape found it and lended it to me so I can return it to you." I simply told him. His face transitioned into inquisitiveness. "Ape?" He asked me dementedly. I gave him a side grin and turned around, leaning into Alex's shoulder.

"You see that up there? That's there home! The apes we ran into yesterday. That's their home." I disclosed to him, pointing my finger up towards their civilization. He stared up at the ape colony's ginormous home in bewilderment and smiled. He then moved back over to his food and offered me to sit with him. I slipped my mind over to the invitation Caesar's family proffered me tonight and I didn't want to miss out on it. "I saw that picture... of your mom." He said to me, sitting down and placing his bowl of food in his lap. "I figured you would see it. I was gonna ask you about Ellie." I added, nestling next to Alexander as he looked at me. "Is she your stepmom?" I asked him, fathoming that she wasn't his biological mother. "Yeah. I was gonna tell you that my actual mother passed away." Alexander told me. "And Malcolm met Ellie and they got married..." I smartly finished off. "Yeah. But I'm trying to go through with it." He admitted, looking at me with halfheartedness. "Ellie is a very good woman. If you spend time with her, you might begin to rub off on her, Alex." I advised.

"If you say so..." Alex brushed off. "I'm serious Alex. I know you miss your mom but you have to try to move on. She wants that for you." I reasoned with him, looking into his eyes with seriousness. I gazed up at Caesar's home as I stood up to look down at Alexander. "Now I have to go. I don't want to miss their dinner." I told him as he looked disappointed. "Okay. Goodnight." He plainly said, smiling hugely at me. "Goodnight." I said back with a smile as I walked off.

When I entered back to the ape village, I saw Caesar and Cornelia holding hands while they walked down the ramp. I stared at the king and queen in awe while the proudest tears began to flood in my eyeballs. I'm so proud of him. I then saw Maurice and Rocket waving at me from afar so I casually walked over to them.

"Hello Kiara." Rocket addressed. "Hi guys." I replied back cheerfully. "Come, take a seat dear." Maurice offered which I happily accepted as I perched down with the two apes. "This fruit looks so good." I signed, desirably looking down at the fruit bowl.

"Caesar has told us much about you. You must've known him for a very long time." Rocket pointed out, nibbling into his fruit. I rotated my head to see Koba grudgingly eyeing me while sitting with Caesar and his family.

"I don't understand why Koba hates humans so much..." I stated, turning back over to Rocket and Maurice. "I don't think that all humans are bad. Some are good like you and some are bad."
Maurice apprehended. "He's just generalizing us humans to a degree." I told the wise orangutan while Rocket gave me impressive, wide eyes. "Did Blue Eyes tell you about his past?" Rocket asked me. "He did, earlier. He said that Koba is always on his back about hating humans." I told them. Maurice shook his head with tiring bother. "I'll just continue to ignore his hatred." I confidently said. "Great idea." Rocket and Maurice both signed simultaneously as I devoured my dinner.

"I forgot to ask how old are you?" Maurice asked me which made me improperly dropped a berry from out my mouth. "I'm 18." I muffled, chewing up the stuffed berries in my mouth. "You, my son Ash and Blue Eyes are about the same age." Rocket mentioned. "I'm happy you three were better acquainted today." He thoughtfully approved. I smiled softly at this fact until I realized that I finished up my dinner. "You should get ready to prepare for rest soon. We got work to do in the dam with your human companions tomorrow." Maurice memorized. I got up and waved to them before heading back to my tent. Suddenly, something unknown urged me to climb up a tree to look at the view above ground. While keeping my balance, I saw the city behind the huge red bridge far in the distance, lights dimmed and isolation fumed the air.

"We really need to get to work on that dam." I muttered to myself as my hair blew in the cool, night wind. I then saw my group's tents in my visibility and wanted to practice my Tarzan skills throughout the trees. I took a brave breath before I leaped from one tree to another repeatedly until I reached the tree that hovered over my tent. I jumped down and rolled safely back on my feet with my athletic reflexes. "Holy shit. I didn't know I can do that..." I breathlessly whispered to myself, chuckling with courage before I crawled into my tent and hopped into my covers. I let the many thoughts in my head dissolve in my brain before my eyes closed and my body went into a hibernating state.