#pota Mae | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

blogthebooklover · 10 days

Text

Smite The Wicked/Into The Sunlight

Author's Note: This one shot is based on Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is almost 7 pages long on my Google Doc, lol. I do have a fan art WIP of this scene, be on the lookout for that soon. This is also available on Wattpad and FFN. I do not own Planet of the Apes, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Noa burst through the door, smiling widely and feeling ecstatic, “We did it! We beat them back, Mae! Come, come, come and see.” He was about to leave to see the victories again, and briefly turned his head to look over his shoulder. Mae was lying unconscious on a bed, in a small dark room and she wasn’t moving. Noa went down on all fours and hopped over to check on her. “Mae, you are safe…now,” he said, nudging her arm carefully. The female human still did not move. Noa placed his hand on her forehead, and then stroked her temple with the backs of his fingers. She felt cold to the touch, like from being outside too long in the winter or during a rainstorm in the spring and summer.

“Mae?” he asked softly, and then his golden jade eyes widened slightly, “oh no.”

The young chimp grabbed his canteen of water nestled along his hip, cradled the human’s head in his other hand, and brought it to her lips. The water dripped down the sides of her mouth and cheeks. Noa’s eyes widened this time in fear and shock. He dropped his canteen, not caring about it spilling onto the floor and soaking into his fur. “Oh n-no…,” he whispered, taking hold of her small hand in his, squeezing it as gently as he could.

He felt tears well up in his eyes, as he gently wrapped the human female in his arms. Burying his face in her neck, he let out soft sobs, his shoulders bobbing as he tried to hold back from sobbing and hooting too loudly.

Behind him in the doorway, Anaya, Soona and his mother Dar glanced in when he entered to tell Mae the news. They saw Noa bring his canteen up to Mae’s lips for some water, only for her not to take it at all. The three apes glanced at each other in concern and sadness for the young ape and his human friend. Soona embraced Dar, burying her head in the older ape’s shoulder. Dar gently stroked the younger female’s head, keeping an eye on her son and feeling tears well in her own brown orbs. Anaya reached out to pull the door shut to give Noa some privacy, and a chance to say goodbye to the Echo.

Noa cradled Mae’s unconscious body in his arms, gently stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers. He had placed her head against his shoulder, gently brushing away strands of her hair from her face. The young ape bit his bottom lip, as he tried his best not to hoot in sadness. Noa was too far gone into his mourning to take notice of the door opening again. Or the heavy footsteps coming up behind him. He then felt someone’s hand on his shoulder, looming over him and his friend.

“Is she dead?” asked Proximus Caesar darkly.

“Because of you,” Noa accused weakly.

“It was… my duty for…apes.”

“Duty?! For apes?! ”

“In the name of Caesar,” the bonobo king huffed, “to keep apes strong.” Noa shot the barest, most hurtful and hateful of glances over his shoulder at the bonobo. “The true Caesar…wanted to live…in harmony with… humans,” the young ape argued weakly, putting an emphasis on the word true. Proximus sighed audibly through his nostrils, before growling slowly, “I am the true Caesar. My words…the apes follow.”

The bonobo king turned away from Noa, releasing the younger ape’s shoulder. “Now, we are rid of the human girl. We will find more…and make them…our slaves. Better yet…we will kill them all…and this world will be ours.”

Noa had placed Mae back down on the bed, and laid her hands on top of each other over her stomach, and lightly patted them before standing up to face the bonobo. “Kill…all humans?! Caesar cared for humans…as well as apes. And…there can be no world…without humans…without her,” the young ape interjected defeatedly, gesturing to the human girl behind him. “Mae…made her choice…Noa,” Proximus said, glancing over his shoulder at the chimpanzee, “she died for humans…and humans are always selfish. They do not…know how to…love.”

“‘Humans… do not know…how to love?’” Noa repeated before challenging Proximus, feeling his hackles rising along his neck and shoulders “and what…do you know of love? Who do you love?!” He suspected his golden jade eyes were wild with grief and anger, because he noticed the bonobo’s own brown eyes widened slightly and inhaled sharply.

“I…I love my kingdom,” Proximus for once in his life, stumbled on his words, “I tried to make you understand, Noa. That humans are…wicked and weak. To teach you…the ways of Caesar. But I was wrong…you are also…weak.” Noa curled his fingers into fists, and gave the bonobo the most deathly glare he could muster. “No…you are the weak one… You are the wicked one… ‘And the wicked shall not go unpunished!’” The young ape repeating the words the bonobo used during one of his speeches.

Proximus snarled at Noa before lunging forward to grab the chimp. Noa was two steps ahead of him, bending at the waist and tackling the bonobo right through the open door. The chimpanzee banged his fists into the bonobo’s face and chest, screeching so loud it rang through the air. He simply did not care anymore, now that Mae laid dead in the room behind him.

Proximus grunted as he kneed Noa in the abdomen and pushed him off. The bonobo beat the younger one in the face and chest. The chimp could feel blood, he couldn’t tell if it was his own or the older ape’s. Noa grabbed Proximus by his shoulders, and headbutted the bonobo as hard as he could.

He stumbled off of the chimp, and Noa crawled away from the false king. The young ape felt a hand wrap around his ankle, dragging him back to the bonobo. Noa kicked Proximus in the face with his other foot, causing the bonobo to release his ankle. The force from the kick was enough for the older ape to knock against the metal railing of the ship. Proximus became disoriented when his head banged against it.

X.X.X.X.X.X.

Back in the small room, Mae stirred awake, blinking rapidly for her eyes to adjust in the forthcoming dawn. She brought a hand to her face and head, checking for any signs of injury. She turned her head to survey her surroundings, the young woman was in a small room and was lying down on a cot with a worn blanket underneath her. There was a door to her right, and she could hear the sounds of apes fighting each other. She gasped softly when she heard Noa screech in pain, and the other ape he was fighting was Proximus Caesar. Mae heard the older ape’s head bang against the metal railing, and Noa coming into view in the doorway.

She called out weakly, reaching out for him, “Noa!”

The young chimp turned his head, his golden jade eyes glistened in surprise and unshed tears of happiness at her. He hopped over to her on all fours, and crouched in front of her. “Mae,” he exhaled, grabbing her outstretched hand and feeling relief that she was alive. He gently picked her up in his strong arms, and she wrapped her own around his neck.

As quickly as he could, Noa carried Mae out of the room and ventured further into the ship to find a place to hide. Eventually, the chimp placed the girl onto his back, and climbed up into the rafters. From their hiding spot, Noa could see Proximus had come out of his disoriented state and was searching for them. The bonobo growled in frustration, sniffing the air for their scents, but the salt from the ocean was too thick to trace them. The chimp stiffened when he noticed Proximus was right under them now. He felt Mae tightened her grip slightly around his neck and chest.

Then the bonobo glanced above into the rafters.

“Going somewhere?” he snarled in wicked delight, before ascending up to where they were.

Noa told the girl to hang on as he climbed further away from the approaching bonobo. The chimp swung from rafter to rafter, he felt Mae hold on as tightly as she could on his back. They could hear Proximus along the rusted metal, prompting Noa to climb faster. He could feel Mae losing her grip around his torso. He had to hurry to find a safe place for them. The young chimp found an opening to the deck of the ship, swung from a metal rafter, and pulled himself and Mae through it.

Mae let go of the ape at once, when she was safely on the deck. He was about to join her when something grabbed him by the ankle, his eyes widening in surprise. He was pulled back down into the opening, releasing a screech of fear as he disappeared. “NOA!” Mae screamed, reaching out for his hand through the opening.

X.X.X.X.X.X.

Proximus threw Noa onto a rafter, the younger ape hitting his head against it. The bonobo placed his foot on the chimp’s chest, slowly pressing down as he sneered, “I thought… you were like me, Noa. I was wrong…” Proximus leaned down further, pressing even more into Noa’s chest, causing the chimp to choke. The young chimp could feel himself becoming lightheaded.

“Your heart is too…human!”

Noa growled at the bonobo, grabbing onto his ankle and using whatever strength he had left, pulled the older ape’s foot off his chest and tossed him to the side. The bonobo grunted in pain when he hit the metal wall of the ship. The young chimp pushed himself up, looking around for the way he took to get to the opening. Proximus struggled to get up, feeling disoriented from the force. The older ape pushed himself up, only to slip on a wet patch of dirt and grime on the rusted metal.

Proximus grabbed hold of the edge of the rafter, hanging on with whatever strength he had left. The bonobo growled in frustration as he contemplated a way to get to the younger ape, and finish him off once and for all. There was a loud creak in the metal, the wet spot had created an indentation in the rafter and then it snapped in half. Proximus hooted loudly in fear as his half broke off and dangled in the air. The bonobo screeched out for Noa to help him.

The young chimpanzee was halfway near the opening to the deck, when Proximus had called out to him. The bonobo was dangling from half of the rusted rafter of the ship. Noa dared to briefly look down at the bottom of the ship’s interior. It was a very large and long fall from where he was, and where Proximus Caesar was still hanging on to the metal half. The chimp made eye contact with the bonobo, the older ape reaching out his hand in desperation.

Noa growled in frustration at this predicament. From the opening to the deck, he could hear Mae yell out for him. He turned his head to look at her, the human female was halfway through the opening and reaching out her hand to his. The chimpanzee gritted his front teeth together, contemplating whether to help Proximus, or grab the human female’s hand to safety.

There was another creak in the metal, and Noa quickly turned his head toward the sound. The rafter half where Proximus was dangling from had moved again, this time away from the other side of the ship. The bonobo screamed out for Noa to help him again, reaching out his elongated arm to the chimp. The younger ape knew it was useless to do so from the far distance between them.

Noa could only think of one thing to say to the disgraced king.

“I agree with you…on one thing. My heart is too human…”

X.X.X.X.X.X.

The bonobo roared at him as the rafter broke completely off, and the reverberation from the metal caused the older ape to let go. Proximus fell into the recesses of the ship, with the rafter following after. Noa could hear both the older ape hitting the bottom and the metal rafter falling on top of him. The chimpanzee winced at the sound as it echoed throughout the ship.

Noa closed his eyes briefly, he didn’t know if it was a moment of silence for the bonobo, or utter shock from such a gruesome way to die. He inhaled sharply through his nostrils before ascending upward to the human female reaching out to him. The young chimp clasped his large hand as gently as he could around Mae’s much smaller hand. She had some help from Anaya and Soona as all three of them pulled him through the opening. The two chimpanzees embraced him tightly, hooting in happiness that their childhood friend was safe. They touched their foreheads with each other, huffing lightly with joy as Dar approached as well to wrap her son in his arms. He touched his forehead with his mother, feeling grateful that his friends and family were safe.

Noa turned his attention to Mae after his mother released him from her embrace. The human female stood there shyly, her gaze not quite looking at him as he approached her.

It was Mae who eventually stepped forward and wrapped her small arms around his neck. The young chimp was shocked at first that it was the human who initiated this intimate gesture. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, one around her back and the other stroking her hair gently. He felt her small hand grasp the fur along his shoulders, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She felt so small in his strong arms, he suspected she felt perfectly comfortable at the same time. Noa would keep that thought and feeling to himself.

She pulled back to look into his golden jade eyes. The human female had a small smile on her lips, and he returned it in kind.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, turning his head slightly to his left, he noticed it was his mother with Soona and Anaya next to her. The older female chimp gently took his hand and Mae’s into her own, and placed them on top of each other before placing hers on top of their entwined hands.

Then Anaya placed his own hand on top of Dar’s and then Soona. “Together strong,” Dar said softly. Noa noticed the tears streaming down Mae’s cheeks.

He raised his free hand to her cheek, and gently wiped away her tears with the backs of his fingers. That small smile from earlier was still on both of their faces.

X.X.X.X.X.X.

The four apes and the human female joined the rest of the Eagle clan in the courtyard of Proximus’s domain. Anaya surged forward, hooting in delight and encouraging the others to join him. Dar and Soona stayed behind with Noa, taking in the celebration going on around them. Noa looked around for Mae, until he glanced over his shoulder behind him.

She was standing in the shadows of the rusted ship, her right hand grasping her left forearm and looking away at something in the distance. The young chimp huffed lightly before nodding to himself, and slowly approached the young human.

He reached out his hand to her, offering her a small smile. Mae glanced down at his large hand before meeting his golden jade eyes.

He nodded slowly, silently telling her it was all right. She placed her hand into his, and he pulled her into the light of the day.

Noa led the human female over to his mother, Anaya and Soona, and turned to the remaining Eagle clan. The rest of the clan stood there silently in the courtyard, staring at the human female next to their new leader.

Mae glanced around at the Eagle Clan, her grip on Noa’s hand tightening slightly in anxiety. She could feel all eyes on her, some of the apes closest to the quintet had sniffed in the air around her. She couldn’t tell if they were scenting her as a friend, or sniffing in utter disgust as a foe.

Then, a young female child ape approached her slowly.

The child ape glanced back briefly at her mother, the older female raising her hand in a way of saying it was okay. The little ape turned back and came to a stop in front of Mae.

The child ape blinked slowly, moving her head up and down taking in the human’s appearance. Mae let go of Noa’s hand when she crouched down to the child’s level.

The little ape cocked her head to the side in curiosity, hooting lowly under her breath. Then, the child reached forward and brushed the backs of her fingers against Mae’s smooth cheek. The human gasped softly at the contact, before giving in and slowly embracing the little ape. The little ape placed her forehead against Mae’s, accepting the human entirely. Mae felt fresh tears stream down her face in joy.

A few more child apes approached Mae, cautious at first, and then began touching her hair and clothes in curiosity and wonder. The human smiled at the ape children around her.

One of the child apes grabbed Mae’s hand, and began leading her into the crowd of the Eagle clan. The other apes lightly brushed their knuckles against the human’s clothes and arms as she passed them.

Noa looked on proudly as Mae traversed through the Eagle clan, his people accepting the human as one of their own.

187 notes · View notes