#ripplesandflames

Blue Eyes had looked to this day with both anticipation and dread in his younger years, but even in his wildest nightmares, he could not have predicted these circumstances.

He rode upon the back of a horse only recently his own, behind him an entire colony of followers... even more recently his. Leader of the apes, a role so suddenly and violently forced upon him. The young ape hadn't been afforded the luxury of time to process how he had arrived to this point; an immediate and harsh lesson that his own personal problems did not always come before those of the tribe.

He had lost so much in the past twenty-four hours. They all had. But as Blue Eyes looked to one side where another horse closely flanked his mare, the relief and gratitude he had for what little family he had left was immeasurable. Little Cornelius clung to Lake and whimpered every now and again, no doubt reliving the horror of the night’s events. Blue Eyes was the lucky one. He had lingered at Lake's nest perhaps a bit longer than he should have the previous night, and it had saved Blue Eyes' life... and spared him Cornelius' trauma. He had witnessed their mother's murder. Blue Eyes had not. He couldn't understand the extent of his brother's grief, but at least they had Lake... Who cared deeply for the little chimpanzee, and hadn't hesitated to take him from Caesar when he had asked her to.

To his other side, the old warrior Koba, the only one of Caesar's closest that had stayed with the tribe when their leader had left them to avenge his wife. At least the bonobo hadn't left with them. It brought comfort and reassurance to the prince who had never lead the whole colony on so much as a hunt. Leading a few apes on the search for a new home had been one thing, but this was altogether different. On top of everything else that had happened, Blue Eyes felt drained of everything. But he had to at least fake enough confidence for the apes to believe in him. Having Koba as his right hand certainly made that easier.

He knew that Caesar had told Koba to stay so that Blue Eyes would be protected. Only a couple of years ago, this would have been offensive to the prince. Now, though, he was only relieved. Blue Eyes feared death more than he would readily admit to anybody.