A Gentle Touch [UNDER REVISION]

An Example To Follow

(If you've read the new chapter on War Technicalities, don't worry, you're not paranoid if you see the obvious similarities to this one. This chapter starts the exact same, in fact. They drift in different directions near the end, however - this chapter officially marks the split of the time-lines.)

L

ike the typical Maurice, the orangutan had to get the last word in, but despite herself, Haley hoped for more, and something less vague than what he had told her. Nevertheless, her wishes went unheard and only silence loomed across the troop as they returned home without any more interruptions.

"—Haley, Caesar's friend, could get lost along the way."

Over and over again, his words repeated themselves like a broken record in the young woman's ear, but, like a child who's confused by her parent's Shakespearian quote or the restaurant's fortune cookie, Haley couldn't understand what he meant. Blissfully ignorant, she touched her face with great interest, trying to feel some trigger to Maurice's hint on how she was changing. Naturally, she knew she has changed quite a bit, the burning sun and passing years have taken care of that, but she was growing, so change should be expected, so what was his point then – did he mean to say she changed in personality or soul, or maybe in spirit and beliefs? Of course not, she concluded – she hasn't changed at all. Again and again, she kept denying her intuition's search for the truth, and only a high-pitched screech clawing at her ears was enough to snap her out of her thoughts, the sound startling enough to make her fall the rest of the way down her horse as she was about to get off. Through Maurice's distracting and amused gibbers at her clumsiness, Haley took nearly no time at all before she saw the source of the sound dangling from Caesar's home about the village, waving to grab his attention in case her bellowing didn't. She heard Maurice grow silent as soon as he saw what she did, and while they watched their king rush up the spiral to his home, Haley felt her stomach turn – just like the rest of the troop, Haley knew from the midwife's alarming sound that she was not the bringing of good news.

And so, with Koba still not returned from his supposed hunt, Haley never went back to her own home and simply sat with the orangutan by the school, her anxious eyes permanently glued to the tree house. She still felt something was off about Koba's leaving, and she still wondered what Maurice's words meant, but her worry never wavered, nor did it allow other thoughts to bother her, though she never left to go see if Cornelia was alright either. Like Maurice knew, and like Haley knew Koba most likely assume the opposite to, it was not because of some hatred towards the queen ape that Haley didn't go see her, but rather the opposite. She will go visit later, when Cornelia's better, she decided – she knew the female ape would hate Haley seeing her in such a condition. Despite the atmosphere, Haley felt her lips pull into a sad smile at the thought; she could see why Caesar fell for Cornelia: she was stubborn, strong-willed, and always stood for what she believed, no matter what anyone else said.

Still, the fleeting moment of affection quickly shattered when a familiar uproar broke out at the village gates once again, the sound quickly setting Haley's teeth at edge. After almost no time at all, the same image unfolded in front of her: Malcolm shoved into everyone's line of sight like he was being put on trial. However, her scowl quickly faltered when her eyes flickered over his appearance – even from afar, she could see that he was in no worse state than when she left him at the river; in fact, he was standing tall on his feet, unlike the last time where he was dragged through the mud and kept of his knees. Bewildered, Haley sent Luca behind him a surprised and questioning look, which went unacknowledged when the large gorilla only grunted and looked away. Again, her thoughts were rendered irrelevant when something interrupted, but this time alarm bubbled up her throat, the sight of Rocket getting ready to go alert Caesar sending her shooting to her feet, Maurice's warning coo going unnoticed. "Wait!" Haley called to the chimp in a whisper as quickly as she could, and to her delight, she was able to stop him before he was able to steal Caesar from his ill wife – she knew Caesar would have felt a duty to his people and would have wanted to speak with Malcolm, and she knew Cornelia would have allowed him to do so, neither being something Haley would allow. Yet, when Rocket froze and gave Haley a look that demanded a much-needed explanation, her explanation went lost to her; instead, she simply kept her eyes on him with a silent plea flickering in their depths. She couldn't let him alarm Caesar; even the king of apes shouldn't leave his wife in that condition. No one could've been more surprised than she, however, when she saw Rocket's tense muscles slack under his nearly fur-less skin and he glanced to Malcolm with a defeated look. Without words, Haley somehow knew he understood, and somehow knew permission was given for her to do as she pleased. Though, as she made her way over to the human male, she needed to force herself to ignore the smoldering glares from the apes around her, even though her gaze appeared no different towards the older man.