Maurice the Orangutan

When Elisa had come up to the surface to rest for a while, her love had wanted to stay with her but she’d reassured him that she’d be alright and after some hesitation, he’d gone to hunt for them. She was sat close to the water still, not straying too far so that he could always come up to the surface to make sure she was alright. 

 Maurice peered curiously at the human from where he sat on the roof of a garage near the docks. He made a small hoot in surprise when she turned to face him, but neither ran away nor moved towards her.

 She seemed more afraid of him than he was of her, which Maurice found was common. Though he tried to be friendly, not many could understand the way he spoke with his hands, but when this one moved hers in a familiar motion, he gave a small hoot of excitement.

“Friend.” he signed back, swinging down onto the docks a few meters away from her.

“Run.”

Maurice mustered what energy it took to warn the humans. Ceaser was dead, but he couldn’t stop to think about that, not when the humans and the colony were in such terrible danger.

He beckoned the humans to follow him, with Rocket on hand to guard the rear. The colony would hopefully be too distracted by Koba, who was taking the gun off of Blue Eyes, that they would not follow them. Even after all these years, what Maurice had said to Ceaser so long ago still rang true: Apes Stupid.

The orangutan and the humans were able to shepherd the humans through the tunnel, with the Gorilla Guard being distracted. Maurice stopped at the entrance and grunted at them urgently, gesturing towards the woods.

“Go! Hide!” 

The dark-skinned man and another quickly descended the mossy slopes, but Alexander, who had given Maurice the book, lingered behind. The boy looked into Maurice’s eyes with a mixture of gratitude, fear, and sadness, and the orangutan blinked and hooted lowly at this young friend. He knew this was the last they would see of each other, and it saddened him greatly.

Ellie tugged him away by the arm, and Malcom pushed them on, stopping to look at Maurice and breath a short, “Thanks.”

The ape nodded and rumbled again, but then raised his arms and began pushing the air towards the good man. Go go go!

Once the humans had a fair headstart, Maurice turned around, and saw the first few chimps racing through the Gorilla tunnel. He braced himself, Ceaser may be dead, but he had been his third in command. He must still command some respect: he could stop the madness before it began.

He stood up, and then brought his fists crashing to the ground, letting out the loudest, fiercest noise that had ever been heard from his usually gentle mouth.

Caesar was dead, or so the maddened bonobo thought, but in Koba’s mind he had not slain the alpha.

“Human gun!” he had cried, and a human gun it was indeed. In the twisted mind of the bonobo, humans had killed Caesar, as surely as if they had fired the weapon themselves. His hands were merely set in motion by the deeds of humans.

The hairless creatures were pure evil, and they must all die or be caged for life. Only then would the apes be safe. Koba had no lust for power for its own sake  - he was a warrior, with no taste for politics - but if he had to step into the position of leader for the time being in order to defeat the humans, then he would.

If he had to step aside in favor of Blue Eyes, Caesar’s rightful heir, he would do that also when the time came. But for now, there was a war to start, one that the apes had to win if they were to survive.

Grunting with frustration, Maurice ordered the older chimps to follow him, and ran back through the tunnel, causing several apes to stop in confusion, not knowing which direction to go. He knew Koba wanted war with the humans, and that such a war would bring about the deaths of many on both sides. The only way to stop it was before it began.

Maurice came into the main clearing in time to see Blue Eyes and Koba touching heads. The chimp was young, so he would look to the bonobo for guideance, and to act as a leader. Rocket and Luca were no where to be seen.

Maurice stood on his back legs and let out another bellowing roar.