Surviving

Chapter 2

I was in the forest. How I had gotten there I had no idea. I looked around. I was in the clearing where I had first seen the apes. It was empty. There was a noise in the bushes behind me and I spun round to face them. There was nothing. I backed away from them, remembering what had happened last time I was here. Suddenly I heard a shriek behind me. Spinning around I saw the ape I had saved lying on the ground in the centre of the clearing. Blood stained the grass beneath him in a widening pool. I gasped and rushed over, kneeling beside him. He looked up at me with frightened eyes. "You didn't save me" he whispered, eyes accusing. Tears filled my own eyes as I replied.

"I couldn't save you" I choked out. The ape began to cough, and blood rolled down his chin. He looked up at me again and suddenly I was looking into the eyes of my brother. He smiled sadly.

"I know you couldn't. No one could've" he said. I reached out my hand but couldn't seem to touch him. His eyes narrowed slightly. "You broke your promise" he said. He didn't sound angry, just sad and resigned. I looked at him in confusion. "You died" he said. I frowned at him.

"No I didn-"my words trailed off as I looked down at myself. My top was shredded and drenched in blood. I heard a growl behind me and looked round just in time to see the cougar's gaping mouth envelop my head with a sickening crunch. There was a blackness and then I was falling. Silence. Water hit my skin. Wind whipped past my head, tangling my hair around my face. "I died" I thought I disbelief. I'd broken my promise. "I'm sorry" I whimpered. The thundering roar of the waterfall drowning out your words. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"......I'm sorry....."
The sound of your own voice, whimpering brokenly, woke you with a jolt. You were warm, safe, despite the tears that still rolled down your face. Something strong and reassuring envelopes you. "Bad dreams gone?" asked a voice in your ear. You turned your head to look. Koba's scarred face looked back at you. It really wasn't something that should make you feel better after a bad dream but surprisingly it did.

"Y-yes" you replied shakily. "Thank you"
Koba grunted, shifting to pull you tighter against him. After a while you spoke again, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "What happened? Did you get lonely or did you want your nest back?" you asked, smiling slightly. You expected him to get angry or come back with a crushing reply, so you were vaguely surprised when he simply said:

"Koba know what it like to have bad dreams"

You turned your head to look at him but when he refused to elaborate, you let it drop back against his chest. Although you would never admit it, it was a nice feeling to be wrapped in someone's arms. Even if it was just a scarred ape who was so unpredictable you weren't sure if he would suddenly kiss you or rip your jugular out. Thankfully, he did neither and the warmth of his body lulled you back to sleep. As you drifted off you heard his deep voice whisper in your ear "Sleep now, Koba here"

When you woke, daylight was streaming into the hut through cracks in the walls. You peered through half open lids, trying to remember where you were. Memories of last night came back. The dream. Koba. You looked over your shoulder, but the nest was empty. You were slightly relieved. Waking up next to him would have felt to familiar.
You groaned as you got to your feet. You had no idea what you were supposed to do so you decide it would be a good time to check out the ape village. As you climbed down the winding staircase, you were struck once again by the ingenuity of the ape's infrastructure. A few apes looked up at you as you passed them, but most were too busy to spare you more than a cursory glance. As you walked through the village you were astounded by the way they lived. Here and there there were apes menacing spears but more of them seemed to be skinning the elk, stretching out the skins for tanning and preparing the meat for eating. Some had beads woven into their hair and more delicate feature. You guessed these were the females. Walking further took you to the chalkboard and you were amazed to see that it was a school. There were about ten small apes squatting round a large male orangutan as he pointed to the words on the board and taught them sign language.
You were so caught up in the lesson that you didn't notice a shadow fall over you, so when you looked up to see a large gorilla looming over you, it took all your self-control not to yell in fright. "Is there a problem?" you asked him calmly, despite the mild heart seizure you were currently experiencing beneath your ribs. He did nothing, choosing instead to glower down at you. You tried again "You know, I'm beginning to think that ape I saved wasn't very popular from the reception I'm getting" you said "Unless you all just enjoy being a-holes for fun" The gorilla continued to do nothing, and you began to get angry. The apes around you had stopped to watch and you knew that didn't bode well for you. "Yeah okay look. As much fun as its been having you stand over me intimidatingly I want to get over there..." you said pointing at a spot behind him "and you're standing here" you said pointing at his feet. "so if you could just move, I could disappear from sight and everyone will be happy" Still the gorilla did nothing and you scowled. "Fine" you said, trying to side-step past him. A furry hand shot out, grabbing your arm, and you gasped in surprise. The gorilla pulled you back to face him and finally he spoke.

"Caesar. Want. Speak. Human" he said. You gave him you best death-glare. He remained stoically unimpressed, so you dropped it.

"Why didn't you just say so?" you sighed, shrugging.