Blue Eyes pushed his horse to its limit, weaving through trees and over logs like a cross country race. He knew he had to get as far away as he could as fast as he could, for his father and the others would be sure to follow him. He couldn't face them, not after what he had just done.
It had all happened so fast...
He and one of his friends, Bronk, had been goofing around when Oliver decided to jump in and cause mischief. Blue Eyes still couldn't recall all that happened after that. He remembered Oliver's playful hoots and hollers, him jumping on he and Bronk, and then the world went fuzzy, like a haze of terror suddenly washed all over him. It was only after Bronk and Rocket, who had come out of nowhere, pulled him screaming off of Oliver that the haze lifted and he saw what he had done...
His horse snorted angrily under him as he forced it down a steep hill. He could feel his eyes start to burn with tears...
There had been hooting and screaming all around him, but all he could focus on was Oliver at his feet. The young bonobo's face was covered in dark red, his brown eyes completely terrified and confused at what had just happened to him. Bronk had rushed over to him and quickly dragged him to the healers.
Blue Eyes remembered he had been frozen to his spot, both figuratively and literally, for the mass of muscle that was Rocket held him hard in place. He didn't fight him. He couldn't fight him. He couldn't do anything.
He remembered Rocket yelling at him, or more like hooting and yipping with sign language mixed in, but it all met deaf ears and blind eyes, and before the giant chimp had gotten really into it, Blue Eyes had broken out of his grip and ran up into the trees to his home.
He remembered how he had tried to hide there, a naïve notion when one really thought about it, but he had been too delirious with panic that any thoughts past closing himself off in his room were quickly disregarded.
He was alone long enough that he had started giving himself hope that somehow all this was a bad dream or that it had been strangely overlooked. Unfortunately, one look at his blood covered hands screamed that it was real and the sound of his father's footsteps said it wouldn't be ignored.
Blue Eyes had to admit that his father's first words surprised him. Go and hunt? Just the two of them? What was he getting at? His confusion only lasted a few seconds though.
He knew his father too well. Probably better than his father knew him. No...definitely better than his father knew him. The great ape couldn't tell he had figured out what was going to happen when they went on their 'hunt', but it was written between his words like rivets in a tree's bark.
He was planning to take him out and talk with him alone. To find out what was wrong with him. And after they returned, there would be some sort of council meeting to decide how he should be punished.
It was there, looking into his father's concerned green eyes that Blue Eyes decided on his own punishment, and once he was alone again, he made his move.
He had leapt from his perch, weaving his way through the tops of the trees as quietly as he could, careful to not alert the others. Once he had reached the pen where they held the horses, he kept himself low, trotted to the back, climbed over the fence, and found the fastest horse they had. In his haste, he didn't bother opening the gate and ended up jumping over the fence, his horse barely making it over. He had thought his escape had gone off without a hitch until he weaved himself through the makeshift maze of a main gate and right into Luca. The giant gorilla had only enough time to exchange startled glances with him before he spun the horse around him and took off into the woods...
It had been a few minutes now since he had left Luca dumbfounded at the gate. His horse was fighting with him angrily, its attitude sour from being pushed so hard. He wanted to ease up. To slow down and give it time to rest, but he just couldn't. He was already starting to hear the screams of many apes following. How far away were they? Not far enough. The sound alone made his heart bleed.
They would be furious with him. They would punish him. He needed to be punished. He hadn't killed Oliver, but he might as well have. What he did was unforgivable and as Caesar's son, his punishment would be even more severe.
Tears were flowing freely now.
He would never recover from this. How could he look any of them, especially his father, in the eyes after what happened? All he could see was his father and Koba on the human tower, Koba trying to use their Ape Code against him. His father had seen through his lies, knowing that Koba had killed and injured numerous apes for his own selfish reasons. Koba died for his betrayal, but even in his malicious actions, he had had reason behind them. Blue Eyes had none. He had no reason for what he had done. It just happened. He couldn't control...
The rumble of branches overhead and hooves behind him broke him out of his thoughts. They found him.
"No no no no no..." he huffed.
He tried pushing his horse harder but it was spent, froth raining out of its mouth and nostrils flaring with its strained breathing. He finally gave up on the horse and leapt into the trees, hoping he could somehow out maneuver his followers and hide. This proved a useless move as he was instantly cut off by two screaming chimps. He screamed back at them and changed course, quickly swinging to their left. More met him and he tried another route, again with no luck. Surrounded and out of breath, he stopped and looked all around him, trying to find a better way out, but there was none. He was caught. How did they catch up to him so fast? Had he been so hasty in his escape that he had run around aimlessly in circles?
He leaned into the tree for some kind of support as his body shook with over-exertion and fear. He could hear the other apes closing in on him, but he locked his eyes tight before they came into view. There were soon hands around his arms and his let his body go slack in their grip, surrendering to whatever punishment they would give him. Strangely though, the hands that carried him to the ground were unnaturally gentle, almost calming, like they were not there to restrain but to comfort. This made him even more uneasy. He risked a glance at his captors and saw none other than Maurice and his father. Both were looking ahead so they luckily didn't notice his eyes on them before he shut them hard again.
He was set on the ground and felt his father come in front of him and place both hands on his shoulders. The sounds of the other apes around them were deafening, but he still managed to make out his father's raspy voice.
"Why?" he said. Blue Eyes clenched his hands at the pain he heard meshed within the word.
The others were growing louder. Some he could tell were furious by the sounds of their screams, and yet others seemed to be trying to calm the others down. It grew louder and louder until the booming sound of his father silenced them in an instant.
Blue Eyes could feel their eyes on him now and he felt his body sink into the ground beneath him under their weight. He was crying again and tried to hide it, leaning his head all the way to the water-drenched soil.
His father's hands were on his shoulders again. He could hear Maurice clicking and grunting to his left and every now and then a hand lifted from his shoulder then fell back. What they were signing to one another, he didn't know or care.
"Son," he heard his father say as he gently tried to lift him up off the ground. He fought him and pushed his head down harder. He couldn't look him in the eyes again, he just couldn't, but he also knew what was coming next.
"Look at me," the words through his father's clenched teeth were demanding, yet there was a break in them Blue Eyes couldn't place.
He slowly raised himself up. The thin mud that had covered his forehead now ran down his face and mixed with the lines of tears. It was when he hesitantly met his father's green eyes that he saw the same lines of moisture running down the creases beside his nose. He glanced at some of the other apes around him. Many held his father's concerned stare, yet regrettably, it was the apes with the looks of distrust and anger that sank into him. Theirs were the same look Koba had been given. The same look he felt he deserved.
"Why?" his father said again, all hints of 'Caesar's voice' now gone.
He looked down at his hands, the blood on his knuckles still shone in spots under the layer of mud. "I...am not...ape..." he stuttered between pained grunts.
His words were weak, but, strangely, after saying them, he could feel his body grow stronger as he looked back up at his father. The green eyes he met were stunned. Before his father could think of a response he kept going, finding more strength in his words.
"I attack ape...no reason...I...leave apes...before...happen again," he tried to make his face hard but he could tell he was still trembling.
He could hear apes behind him hoot in agreement. His father silenced them with a raised hand.
Blue Eyes could tell he had shaken his father up because words failed him. What happened with Oliver was an accident, he signed, Come back to the colony. We do not know what is wrong, but we will try to help you, together. You are my son. Please...
"NO!" the word came out angrily, echoing among the trees. Blue Eyes stood as tall as he could. None of them would listen. Yes, they would try to help, but none of them had the first idea where to start. Not even he himself had any idea what was going on with him. All he knew was that the only way he could ensure no one else got hurt would be if he left.
Maurice began to sign, but his father stopped him before any words could be formed.
"Let him go," he said quietly.
It was Blue Eyes' turn to be wide-eyed. He obviously didn't know his father as well as he thought.
Caesar motioned for a fresh horse and a spear. It was Luca who brought both. The gorilla seemed hesitant to give the weapon over; Blue Eyes was hesitant to take it.
All eyes turned back to his father.
I hope this decision will be the right one for you in the end, he signed, then sighed heavily, "Promise...you will come back...for your mother...brother...and me."
Blue Eyes couldn't give him a straight answer for he didn't know. He felt the heat behind his eyes start rising again and he gave a quick nod.
His father gave him a proud but sad smile and pressed their foreheads together before Blue Eyes mounted his horse and left his family behind.