So, while I should be doing everything else and continue my other stories, I gathered my courage to write and post my first Planet of the Apes story. I don't know what will come out of it, I do have the plans, but I have no idea how often I will update.

The most important note for the story is that it is set 25 years after War (and thus will have many OCs, but I kept the original characters, too, because I love them to death) and will run on different perspectives. One is that of the apes that will appear in the new game, The Last Frontier, I took one of the main characters, Bryn from there and since the game hasn't come out yet, I worked with what little I could gather from the wiki/the 6 minute video from the game. Bryn seemed sympathetic and I thought he and his tribe could fit the main theme of the story.

The other main perspective will be, of course, that of Cornelius, now an adult and king, and how he and his tribe deal with the changes around them and within his own big family. I may take longer at one part at a time, but I will try to balance it to the best of my abilities.

"Speech" ; "Sign"

I hope you will enjoy my story and I hope I can give you further chapters soon.

I.

When the chickadees began to sing and the small hedgehogs began to emerge did Bryn know that spring had truly come.

Though he had lived through numerous springs, nature's awakening never failed to fill him with deep wonder. Bryn wasn't old yet, but he was growing elderly - he had seen more than thirty springs and more than one generation grew up before his eyes, young apes to reap all the goods the mountains had to offer during the awakening season.

Bryn was proud of what they had achieved in the past decades since they separated from Caesar's leadership after Koba's war with the humans. He was but an adolescent back then, barely an adult, but he remembered those crazy times. His father took his mother and the three of them - when both Tola and Juno were still alive - and with some others they took refuge in the nearby mountains and never came in contact with their old tribe ever again.

Now they had their own tribe, their own home and their own lives and the tribe was thriving. They have migrated and spread through the years, always searching for new places to explore and new hunting areas. They fought with humans, fought for their survival and independence, and in the end, gained it. They didn't have to raid human settlements during the winters anymore and hadn't used their guns for years.

Their separation happened twenty-seven years ago and Bryn had been the Alpha of the tribe for twenty winters. Under his leadership, both their territory and their numbers were growing, though during the first years he was constantly challenged, mainly by the gorillas of which their tribe had many - they were the best adapted to life on the montane areas and thus the tribe raised quite a few silver-backs. Fortunately, there were just as many chimpanzees and orangutans who backed up Bryn and were happy to keep him as their Alpha.

The King of the Mountain emerged from his nest. His young mate, Ney was still asleep and Bryn didn't want to bother her. His son, himself an adult now, slept in a neighboring nest. Since they never stayed in one place for too long it was unnecessary to built permanent settlements. The first rays of the Sun just barely touched upon the land and Bryn knew the guards were already up, some of the scouts already out to search for food.

Bryn wanted to lead a small hunting group to look for mule deer. He remembered how much Tola loved those hunts. Their father often took part in hunts in their old home and since Tola was older, he was allowed to go with them much sooner than him. Bryn remembered how excited he was during his first hunt with the adults - then the humans came and everything went downhill from there.

It took years, yes, but eventually they found their way.

And right now, Bryn took peace in looking over the morning. The tribe was slowly waking up and he soon saw his son greet him from his nest before going down to the stream for a drink. Bryn watched him go when a hand sneaked over his arm. His mate, Ney yawned and rested her head on his shoulder like she used to almost every morning. She hummed, still bleary but smiled when she felt her king's lips brush her own.

Ney laughed softy in quiet little pants as Bryn pushed her back into the nest and hugged her, showering her in tender kisses from her neck down to her stomach. She had to fight the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and gently pushed him away.

"Not now, Bryn." she said out loud, but then resorted to signing, "The hunt. The others must be waiting for you."

Hearing the disappointed whine from the Alpha caused her to laugh again.

"Later." his lips swept across her chest one last time, "You won't escape from me."

"Bring me some liver."

Bryn finally got up and took his spear in his hand before he descended from his tree. Many of the tribe greeted him as he made his way to the stream, only the nearby birdsong and a few of their own calls interrupted the morning's silence. It promised another calm spring day, one the Alpha was quite content to have.

And, like the calm before the storm, it came to an all too sudden and abrupt end.

Bryn was gathering the males for the hunting party when a cry from one of the gorillas thundered through the community, causing an outburst of panicked yelps from the apes. Bryn almost dropped his spear - that kind of vocalization was usually used for trespassing humans, some caught while wandering inside their territory, but they hadn't seen any humans for years. And they never encounter any other strangers.

Yet, it seemed the guards caught someone and Bryn needed to see who or what it was. His son and mate already started calming the others and Bryn trusted them to keep the apes under control while he investigated. The king quickly collected himself and ran to their territory's border to see what was going on.

Indeed, two gorillas were dragging a body across their shoulders and when they saw Bryn they put the stranger down on the ground. It was different from a chimpanzee - a bonobo, Bryn realized - and the king could see he was bleeding from multiple places - at first, he wondered if he was still alive until he saw him gasp as he was lowered onto the ground.

He had never seen him before. Which meant...

"Bryn..." one of the gorillas, a guard called Maximus called to him and started to sign, "We found him near the scrubland. He doesn't know sign."

Bryn nodded, "Call healers. Fast!"

Maximus ran to the community's direction while more gorillas gathered around the unknown bonobo. Bryn noticed Ney and his son, Dane were also there, but he turned to the other gorilla who brought the stranger in.

"Did he fight you?"

"No." the guard quickly signed back, "We found him like this."

Bryn frowned. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, but he refused to show it. The Alpha took a step forward and knelt down beside the stranger. He was a young adult, must have been about the same age as Dane. He wore two necklaces with small antlers of white-tailed deer, the skin of a hare adorned his upper arm, a pelt - now torn and bloodied - was wrapped around his torso and his face was painted with white lines in unfamiliar formations. All the marks of a hunter.

The young male's body was full of bruises and wounds, his breathing was ragged and his green eyes looked pleadingly at Bryn. The elder chimpanzee felt his chest tighten and he made sure to talk with a gentle tone.

"Can you speak?" he spoke slowly, still more used to signing.

Everyone held their breath as the male gathered all his strength, "Yes."

"Who... are you?"

"My... name is... Minar..." the male panted, his voice broken, "from the... Lakeland."

Bryn had no idea where this "Lakeland" was, but it confirmed their suspicion that he was not of their tribe. However, before he could have asked, the bonobo, Minar spoke again.

"Are you... Caesar?" he asked and Bryn almost jumped in surprise.

Caesar... how long had it been since he last heard that name...

"No." he answered, frowning, "I am Bryn. I am the Alpha of this tribe, King of the Mountain. I do not know... where Caesar is."

He had to stand up to make place for the healers, a chimpanzee and an orangutan who immediately started tending to the wounded hunter. Bryn, however, knew their efforts would be futile - the hunter Minar was dying. He exchanged a look with Ney, he could see his mate was just as shocked and worried as he was, but while she was allowed to show such emotions on her face, he was not.

"Who did this to you?" Bryn asked, already anxious to hear the answer.

Minar took a few deep, ragged breathes before he could reply, "O-Others... came... attacked... our tribe... we fought... but... had to... leave... home..."

"Others? Who are... others? Humans?"

"No..." Minar shook his head slowly, he coughed weakly, "Apes... strangers... do not... know them..." he closed his eyes, it seemed he was at the last of his strength, "Their... leader... ca-alled... the C-Co..."

With a last gasp, his body ceased its losing struggle and his eyes didn't open again. He was unmoving. Dead.

Bryn took a deep breath, his chest trembling with the force of his heartbeats.

"Urko!" he bellowed and the leader of the guards appeared immediately. The king put a hand on the gorilla's shoulder, as if to steady himself for a moment, before signing, "There might be others. Search the area. Do not kill."

Urko nodded and called out to the other gorillas who soon followed him out of the tribe's territory - and who knows what else they might find out there where they had not yet explored. Bryn sometimes played with the thought, throughout the years, that there might be others besides them, but he never hoped to actually encounter a member of a totally unknown tribe. To meet one from their old tribe - if they didn't destroy each other with the humans - he was ready.

Or, at least, he thought he was. But now, they not only got to know there was another tribe, they also knew others - other apes - attacked this tribe and drove them out of their home. And if this Minar, wounded as he was, got this close to finding them...

Who knew what they would encounter next.

"Father?"

His son came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Bryn closed his eyes for a minute. Decades ago they fled from the war to find peace. They fought the humans for food and territory and won. Peace reigned among them for years and he hoped... how he hoped they would never have to give it up again.

"Gather everyone." he spoke aloud to Dane, his eyes never leaving Minar's motionless form, "We need to get ready."

"For what?" Ney asked desperately. Oh, but she was so much younger - she never had to see war and bloodshed before, already born into the mountain tribe years after the fights ended.

"What of him?" the orangutan healer gestured to the dead body, her hands slow and soft. Bryn could see she could barely hold back her tears; she never had anybody die in her hands.

"We will hold funeral for him. Like true hunter." he then finally turned away to face his shaking mate, "I will take care of you." he signed and pushed his forehead gently to hers.

He hoped dearly that he could keep his promise.

"Another one! Again!"

"What do we do with this one?"

"We need to stop them!"

"Cornelius—"

"Enough!"

Cornelius stood before the trembling human being - more being than human - who now cowered and whimpered upon hearing his roar. The crude ropes held his hands behind his back, his long beard was discoloured and his skin filthy and the clothing he wore was in shreds, barely enough to cover him. The human, of course, like the others before him, couldn't speak and Cornelius wondered how much he understood of them and his surroundings.

"Did he steal from us?" he asked with a much milder tone now that he had the gathered apes' attention.

"Yes, father." one of his sons answered, "Caught him at the fruit trees." and he held up a bag full of apples and other fruits which the man attempted to steal and gave it to Cornelius.

The Ape King took one look at the bag before turning back to the shaking human. He truly felt sorry for the poor creature, skinny and dirty and clearly cold, his eyes were darting about all the apes around him in unconcealed fear. The Alpha wanted to bury his forehead in his palm, but fought down the urge.

"Cornelius..." he heard a rough voice from his side and turned to face Rocket, his uncle and advisor. He was one of those old apes, the first generation to wake back when his father freed them, who was still more adept at signing than talking, "This is the third we catch since spring came. We cannot let them continue stealing from us."

Cornelius nodded, but then, to everyone's surprise, he turned to the gorilla holding the human man down, "Let him go, Arrow."

With that, he gestured to Rocket and his son to follow him while the others, even through some outrageous calls, led the human away to the border of their territory to release him. Cornelius put a hand on his old mentor's shoulder before he spoke, "Call Maurice and the council together. We will discuss this."

Rocket sighed deeply, canting his head to the side ever so slightly as he watched his king he helped raise. So many years had passed, the old chimp was finally starting to feel his age: his hands and face were more wrinkled than ever, the fur around his head - the little he still had - was almost completely white and he only realized how slow he became when he watched the younger apes run and climb the trees with ease he didn't dare hope to ever get back.

But he was healthy and satisfied with his life. Tinker was by his side still, as well as his old friends Maurice and Lake. And the son of his best friend was a true king in his father's image and a great leader on his own. Rocket was happy to raise him and for years he had been happy to follow him, even if he couldn't always read the younger ape's mind.

Like now.

"Do you have a plan?" he signed softly and earned a smirk from Cornelius that made him look like his father when he was an adolescent. The Alpha nodded and Rocket patted his arm before leaving to find the council members. However, his son, Soror caught his arm before Cornelius could have entered their dwelling.

"Father," his son signed some as well while he spoke, his voice much smoother and clearer than those of the older apes "These humans... never learn. If you let them go all the time..."

Cornelius sighed. Of course, Soror could have never met the humans when they were still an intelligent species. Cornelius himself was just a child back then when his father fought the war against them and ever since then they hardly met humans they had to fight with - and in recent years, the only ones they met were these unspeaking primitives they couldn't possibly regard as equals. And as such, they couldn't be punished like apes. They had to be treated like all other animals around them.

Cornelius knew this deeply saddened his mentors, mainly Maurice, who still knew humans before they became primitives. He taught him how his father valued the humans' help and trust, even though there were many who betrayed his trust - but still, Cornelius was taught to value their lives and he never saw a reason not to. It was just harder to teach it to the younger generation who, by now, saw the apes as superior to these sick humans.

"Killing them is not the solution, Soror." the king spoke.

"They're just pest like fox and tick."

"We will deal with them. Where is your—"

At that moment, another young male jumped down next to them. He looked just like Soror, but unlike his twin brother, his face was beaming with a smile and he still held his bow in his hand. Cornelius smiled at his other son. Twins were very rare among the apes and he remembered the shock he felt when his mate delivered not one, but two sons for him at the time. The princes were adults now and full members of their ever growing tribe.

"Another human?"

Soror rolled his eyes at his brother, "We caught him... But you, Titus, go hunt instead of protecting the tribe."

"Jealous because I found... first human nest sooner than you."

"Huh... you're more interested in hunting than even females... But your spear not as sharp as your mouth..."

"At least I know where to stick my spear..."

"Titus!"

They heard a female voice from the dwelling and soon the queen stepped out, holding the hand of their sister. The princes fell silent and bowed their heads immediately and Cornelius just smiled - his queen commanded respect. His own mother must have been like this back when she was Caesar's consort.

"Sorry, mother." Titus signed and the family's youngest ran up to him.

"When can I go hunt with you?" the little girl asked and Titus lifted her in his lap.

"When you're older and bigger... You'll be best hunter of apes." he threw her in the air, earning loud, panting laughter from the princess before passing her to Soror who tickled her until she was out of breath. If there was one thing the twins agreed on, it was their unconditional love for their little sister.

However, even during the council meeting, Titus' mind kept returning to his bow. The council, mainly the elders - Maurice, Rocket, Lake and Stone - and his father discussed a set of decoys and a new housing to keep the humans from foraging in their area and, since he was, as a prince, part of the council, it was his duty to participate and sit still for all the meetings. But as soon as his father stood, the young ape jumped, too, and unconcerned with his brother's protests, he took off into the trees again from where he came.

"Someone has to feed the family" he said and laughed at Soror's expression before he jumped away. With spring coming, the forest was getting greener and many of the prey were emerging. The breeze was warm against his face as he carefully climbed down from a tree when he finally spotted a pheasant among the scrubs. Titus kept low, readying his bow.

He pulled an arrow from his quiver without a sound and took a step forward. He was still far enough that the pheasant didn't notice him and Titus huffed quietly in satisfaction when another appeared. His green eyes focused on their prey and didn't see anything else for that moment when he pulled the string back, ready to release the arrow—

Something pushed against his neck from above, something cold and sharp, almost hard enough the break his skin. Titus froze and slowly lowered his bow as he stood. He looked down to see that the end of a spear was pressed to his neck and as he followed the thick shaft to its owner, he met another set of green eyes locked onto his.

The ape was hanging from the lowest branch, her pitch-black body almost blended into their surroundings. She was smaller than him, her frame gracile and agile and she jumped down from the branch without ever moving her spear from his neck. Titus could see she wasn't a chimpanzee - a bonobo, of which there were some still among his tribe, peaceful and gentle kin. However, this bonobo had unfamiliar paint cover her face and chest, her limbs were well-toned and she wore a lace of antler around her upper arm. Her eyes, firm and sparkling, never let go of his gaze.

A hunter was just as surprised to see him, Titus could see that much. Yet, she was someone who managed to catch him off guard.

Someone he had never seen before.

Thank you very much for reading!

I know things are still slow, have to get past the introductions and setting the status quo. I have to see how much and how fast I can write, but I hope I can get the next chapter up soon enough.

I hope you enjoyed it!