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Headcanons – What if you were present during the events of the movie?

Pretty self-explanatory! I watched the movie again the other night and I had the thought so I thought writing some headcanons about it would be neat.

Admittedly this does focus more on the relationship between you and Mae as opposed to Noa and you, as well as you dealing with your own shenanigans, but I thought that it was a very interesting thing to think about and wanted to explore it (there is some sprinkling of you x Noa but not as in your face like my other stuff). Sorry if this is way too long I had a hard time trying to figure out where I should jump ahead—this might be a flop but I really hope not

Mae desperately wanted to get that hard drive, but I am of the mind that it would be better if humans slowly phased out from existence and let the apes inherit the earth. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels that way, but lmk what yall think about it

RELATIONSHIP: Mae x Reader (can be read romantic or platonic, whatever you want to interpret it as), Noa x Reader

MEDIA: Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

WORDS: 10.3k

SUMMARY: Messing around with the canon of the movie

WARNINGS: angst, movie-typical violence and tense situations, more bullet-point story telling, some slight deviation from the original plot

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You and Mae had grown up together, born within a week of each other you both would be connected at the hip for much of your childhood

There were many memories within the concrete walls you called home, years of laughter and smiles echoing within your mind. You had spent each and every day by each other’s side, exploring the compound and getting into mischief. You were happy, you hadn’t known anything beyond the iron latches of your home

But you yearned for more. As you got older, you wanted to know more of the outside world, you wanted to see it for yourself instead of flipping through the pages of books or staring at faded photos. You read books upon books of what laid outside of those doors, what kind of trees and plants that grew wildly on the outside; you wanted to see what the animals in your books looked like in real life. Your need to see the world grew with each year

You remember when you and Mae were taught about the disease that wiped out humanity and let the apes rise to power; you remember the look on her face. She had seemed upset, and spoke very little for the rest of the day

You found her later in the evening, your curfews breathing down your neck. She had lodged herself inside of a vent, and had her arms wrapped over her knees. Her blue eyes were wet with tears. You sat down in front of her, slowly putting your hand on her knee

“It’s not fair.” She said, her voice was raw. “We should be living up there, not down here. This place is a prison.”

You scooted closer to her, taking her hand and entwining it with your own, she leaned closer into you.

“Maybe it won’t always be like this.” You started. “Maybe one day we can live up there, safely. Together. You and me.”

Mae’s smile was sad, but around the edges you could see that you had managed to carve out hope for her. “I’d like that.” you smiled at her and leaned into her side, your fingers still interlocked

It seemed that your wishes would be answered.

Your colony had gathered to discuss a plan of action. There was a government compound down towards the coast; it held files, weapons, and a data hard drive that could restore communications in your own bunker. This would change everything

Mae was the first to volunteer to go and you second, following behind her. You could see determination burning in her eyes

You’d follow along with her, if she was going into the world, she wasn’t going without you

You shoved your belongings into a backpack, you were taking in the details of your room as you were getting ready. You weren’t sure when or if you’d ever see the inside of these walls again. You were struck with a deep sadness—the room you’ve spent your entire life in was little more than a cell, and now that you were an adult it could hardly fit you as well as it used to. It was decorated with books and drawings on the wall, evidence of your life strewn around.

This room raised you, but you’ve outgrown it

A knock from the door made you jolt, and you turned around to see Mae standing behind you. Her backpack was secure on her body.

“You ready to go?” she said with a smile

“Uh, yeah, yeah.” You pushed your water bottle into your own backpack. “Ready when you are.”

Your hands and legs felt restless as you, Mae and your group walked to the shelter’s door.

You wanted to be ready, you were excited to see what the outside looked like because you had only seen the world through photos and descriptions in books

But you were afraid. You weren’t ashamed to admit that to yourself

As the door opened and light poured in and blinded you, your eyes were momentarily closed as you followed your group outside.

When you opened your eyes and blinked away the blurriness, you breathed in and the air felt crisp and fresh. It filled your lungs; you breathed in through your mouth and nose as much as your body would allow. The air smelled wild, like the earth and sky and plants around. There were large satellite dishes surrounding you, and the grass surrounding the bunker was more yellowish than you were expecting but it was new

The sky was blue. You had never seen something so blue before. The clouds looked so much puffier and softer than you thought they would, the pictures did not do them justice! You were desperate to see what trees looked like next

You turned to look at Mae and she had the same wonder in her eyes, you had never seen her hold such awe in her expression. She seemed thrilled, ready to sink her teeth into the new world

However, this feeling of wonder was not to last

A week into your expedition, your group was attacked by apes.

They were ferocious. They came in the night, riding in on horseback and they wielded long spears that sparked and cracked loudly with electricity. They wore masks, and the largest one (the leader you presumed, a horrifyingly large silverback gorilla) barked orders at the others to kill you all.

Your entire party was slaughtered, save for you and Mae, who managed to escape into the dark night. In the panic and the overwhelming cries of your dying companions you and Mae had run away with none of your belongings.

Yours and Mae’s hands were tightly clasped together, holding onto each other until the strain you put in your hands ached up into your forearms

Both of you collapsed against a tree when the sun rose, both of you trembling with tears staining your cheeks and stinging your swollen eyes. You held each other for a long time, sleep unable to reach either of you

For a week you and Mae struggled to brave the wilderness. You wandered about, searching for weak prey or forage, but it wasn’t easy. Your stomach growled more often than not, keeping yourselves filled was the hardest part. You became covered in dirt and mud, your sweat mixing with the substances of the earth and cementing it on your skin.

At night, when Mae was asleep, you would stare out into the open world from the fire you and were managed to make. You’d gaze upon giant and broken buildings, you think they were called skyscrapers, and you’d admire them. They were larger than you thought they’d be

As you’d walk with Mae, you’d look down and observe the ground below you. there was a stark difference between the forest and its earthy ground and the hard concrete ground below you—they were called roads, if you remember your book correctly.

You decided you didn’t like concrete. Despite there being cracks and broken pieces strewn about, and various grasses and plants grew out from between those cracks, you couldn’t will yourself to appreciate the humanmade terrain.

There was something… off about it. You couldn’t get rid of the thought that where this concrete is now trees used to be, and even though you are years past the prime of humanity there are still such pervasive remnants of what used to be.

It wasn’t something you liked

One day, Mae’s shoes got torn apart by a particularly aggressive chunk of concrete. Both soles of the shoes were torn, dirt and moisture leaked inside and harassed her feet. When she sat down, she discarded her shoes somewhere to the side. You stood in front of her, your arms crossed across your chest and your expression fully perplexed.

“We’ll need to find you another pair of shoes, you could get hurt like this.” You rubbed your chin

Mae stretched her legs out, individually wiggling her toes. “I don’t know, it doesn’t bother me.” She stood up and walked around. “Yeah, this isn’t that bad.”

“But we’re walking on old concrete? It will cut up your feet?”

“No, it wont, it’ll be all fine.”

“Mae—”

“Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

Don’t think I fuckin forgot miss gurl was walking around this world with the dogs out. Awful choice

Anyway, one day you and Mae wandered near a large corridor. It was dark, and you couldn’t see what laid beyond. You could hear faint noises coming from inside, and you hesitated. However, Mae ventured forward.

Before she walked through the entrance you grabbed her hand. “What if there’s something dangerous?”

Mae looked at you, then back to the corridor. She gripped your hand tighter. “There’s already danger out here, what if in here is safer?”

You wanted to argue, but hesitated. You inhaled and stared at her hard. “I’m staying out here. I’ll be right here; I won’t go anywhere. If you’re not back in thirty minutes, I’m coming after you.”

Mae nodded at you. she squeezed your hand before letting go, and she proceeded to go forward into the dark. You watched her as she went, her figure growing darker and darker until you could no longer see her.

You sat down on a rock and waited. You counted the minutes she was gone, every time you counted to 60 you’d write it in the dirt below you. You made it to 28 minutes and forty-seven seconds before Mae came barreling out of the corridor. You caught her in your arms, and across her arm was a bloodied lesion. You frantically examined her wound, turning her skin over in your hands

“What happened? Are you ok?” you gripped her head in your hands

“I’m ok, I’m fine—there are apes out there.” Your gut churned

“Mae, maybe we should consider the possibility that we can’t do this. We’re all that’s left of our group, we need to… go back.”

Mae looked at you like you had shot her. “No, we can’t. We cannot give up; we need to find that government hangar and we need to get that hard drive.”

“Mae, everyone will understand if we come back and explain what happened—”

“No! We can’t!” she pulled away from you, her eyes locked on you. “We can’t let their deaths amount to nothing. We need to succeed, we need to know if there are others out there.”

She was right. You knew she was. You were terrified of what else this world had, but if you were honest with yourself, you knew what this meant to her and didn’t to disappoint or fail her.

You also loved being on the surface. It was new and exciting, and you felt like you belonged up here. But you didn’t know how to live in this world, it’s only natural to want to return to what you know to be safe

“I’m gonna go back, they seemed different than the first apes we saw.”

It took you a moment to fully understand what she said. “What?”

“They were different, they only followed me because I took something of theirs.”

“WHAT?! What were you thinking?!”

“I dropped it before I came back, don’t worry—”

“I’m going to worry. You can’t go back, they hurt you!”

“Not badly!”

“They still hurt you!”

“Ok, look,” Mae put her hands to her face, rubbed her eyes before dropping them down again. “There are apes behind us, and now in front of us. These ones didn’t look threatening, they didn’t have any weapons.”

“They couldn’t have hurt you with just their thoughts, Mae.”

“It was a sling, not a true weapon.”

“How do you not consider a slingshot a weapon?”

“I’m still going.”

You felt your skin prickle with aggravation—was she trying to get herself killed on purpose? These apes allegedly were different, but you still felt heat broil under your skin. You glared at her and she glared right back, you inhaled while grinding your teeth.

“There’s nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?” you thought you’d ask, last ditch effort to see if she’d come around to reason.

“No.” Mae still held firm, although her eyes did soften after your perceived stand-down

Fine. If she wanted to be that way, then she could be. “I’ll set up out here for the night, deeper into the brush so if those apes that attacked us track us down, they won’t see us right away.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be back, safe and sound.”

If you lead those apes you pissed off back to me, like a fool, at least we have a place to hide before they attack us, is what you wanted to say, but you felt that would aggravate this interaction further

later into the evening, after Mae had once again left to chase after apes, you had set up a small camp within the brush. You were nice and hidden behind a fallen log and a handful of large stones, which provided cover for your fire. It would need to be put out before you went to sleep, but you wanted it burning long enough for Mae to find once she returned

the sun had begun to set a while ago and was almost fully complete going over the horizon, and you were beginning to get nervous. You had yet to venture into the corridor, but if Mae hadn’t returned within the hour you’d have to prepare yourself for the possibility of you having to go after her

again.

before you could finish the thought however, you heard the sound of hooves hitting the earth in the distance. You felt stress overtake you immediately, and despite the cover you had found you ducked down further, concealing your position

you heard them, then you saw them. The same mask-wearing apes that had attacked yours and Mae’s group that night prior, were here

they had tracked you, they had found you. you were petrified

you heard the silverback bark out orders to his underlings, and by whatever grace left in the universe they did not go past the treeline. Instead, they charged forward, hooting and howling as they entered the tunnel

your thoughts raced with so many possibilities; what if they turned back and smelled you, then came to kill you? what if while going through the tunnel they encountered Mae and killed her? What would happen if they killed you both? No one would ever know, and you’d never see Mae again. Or what if they didn’t kill you and took you back to whatever base of operations they had, and decided to torture you for the hell of it?

Any and all ways seemed like hell

however, they all charged the tunnel and did not return for well over an hour, Mae’s whereabouts still unknown to you. your heart and mind wouldn’t let you sleep, your breaths resisting your attempts to even them out.

Finally, in the dark of night and while the moon was high, the apes came back; but this time with more apes than before

However, what you saw shocked you

The apes that had attacked your group were very different from these new apes; these new apes all looked highly distressed, any of them that tried to talk back or resist received an electric shock from one of the apes on horseback

Finally, it clicked for you: these vast amount of apes were taken hostage by the apes that had slaughtered your own crew

Kind of a bummer to see that some apes were more like humans than you would’ve hoped for

You watched from your hiding spot amongst the shrubbery and wood, witnessing the apes as they dragged others old and young out of the tunnel and further out into the valley

Once it was all over, you felt winded. You weren’t even the one kidnapped (ape-napped?) and you still felt exhausted and overwhelmed. But one person was still ever-present in your mind; Mae, Mae, where is Mae? Did they take her? Did they kill her?

On the brink of sunrise you had managed to work up the courage to walk inside the tunnel and look for her, because if she needed your help you wouldn’t make her wait anymore. What if she was inured, by herself, and afraid? You needed to go get her

But just as you took your first step forward you saw her; covered in dirt, breathing heavily, not a single new scratch on her. You gasped and ran to her, wrapping your arms around her tightly so she wouldn’t vanish from your hold again. She returned your hold just as tight.

We’re gonna jump ahead a little bit, you and Mae have been following these two peculiar apes; the first one a chimpanzee, Noa was his name, and an older orangutang Raka. Playing dumb was rather easy, thankfully one evening on your journey Raka was kind enough to throw you and Mae a few fruits which you quickly devoured

Raka gave you and Mae a blue shawl for you to share, much to the reluctance of Noa, and both you and Mae snuggled together under it

You watched the apes in front of you intensely, you couldn’t help your fright

The orangutang, Raka, spoke to Noa open and plainly, blissfully unaware you could understand every word he spoke. He spoke, you were deeply fascinated by this

“Seems that these humans are… close. Perhaps they have formed a bond, find comfort in… one another.” He was right about that, you did find comfort in Mae, she was the longest and truest friend you’ve ever had

You managed to relax enough to fall asleep for a short while, which in of itself is a grand feat since you’ve barely slept since the attack, but you were woken up when the chimp—Noa—got up from his place by the fire and began wandering off. Intrigued, you decided to follow him, lagging behind so he wouldn’t immediately know you were there

You followed him as he found his way into some kind of observatory, and when you found him he was hanging from a giant telescope. You watched him and he watched you, cautiously, and then you approached. You looked inside the telescope, and saw the stars that passionately burned above your world

It was amazing, it was stunning, you couldn’t help yourself as your mouth hung open slightly. Seeing stars in the sky as they are did not compare in the slightest to the images you saw in your books

When you pulled away, you saw Noa studying you, observing your behaviour. He seemed in awe as well, as he was still under the impression that you weren’t like him. You scampered away, eager to escape the intensity of his watching.

The following day, you and Mae found yourselves clinging to the backs of Noa and Raka as you all travelled through the woods. You came to a stop as you four encountered zebras and a small pond

Mae dismounted from behind Raka, following close behind her you slid off the horse Noa was on and stayed close. As you approached the water, the small ripples licking at your ankles, and you stood next to Mae and watched as… a herd of humans came and drank from the pool with the zebras.

Raka and Noa spoke amongst each other, leaving you and Mae alone for a single second

“Reduced to nothing but animals.” Mae whispered, you had never heard her sound so solemn. You held her hand, but this didn’t bring her much comfort

The sullen peace of the moment was interrupted, as an ear-splitting horn could be heard from across the pond.

The masked apes. They had found you. the silverback zeroed in on you and Mae and commanded his apes to retrieve you both. In the following chaos, you lost sight of Mae and Raka

You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, dodging and weaving throughout the foliage and hiding between the other humans surrounding you. you maneuvered around the traps set up for you, luckily you dove and hid within a bush that grew close to a tree. Apes rode past you, you thought you could faintly see Noa riding across and above on a ridge, but you lost sight of him quickly

You saw Mae, she kept frantically running, and several apes were pursuing her. You stayed put, not moving and hardly breathing. You heard her voice in the distance, she called out for Noa. After that, you did not hear her; or Noa, or Raka.

You trembled, the realization that you were alone dawning on you like ice slicking down the back of your neck. Surely, they’d come back for you, they wouldn’t just leave you behind. Mae wouldn’t leave you, she’d figure out a way to get turned back around and return to you. You were sure that they’d be back any moment, that they were just circling around so that they wouldn’t run back into the apes that attacked—

“SEARCH THE AREA!” you jolted, tears beginning to sting your eyes. “FIND THE OTHER ONE! THEY CANNOT HAVE GOTTEN FAR!”

It was their leader, the silverback gorilla. His voice was dominating, horrific, not a single trace of mercy

You heard the apes move out, shoving apart bushes and lifting themselves over logs to inspect the area. They were close, surrounding you on both sides, there was no clear way out for you. They’d catch you, they’d kill you. You wiped your tears away from your eyes

Panic and fear make you do stupid things. It clouds your mind, strips you of your higher thinking and leaves you with nothing but your instincts. Your eyes were blown wide, your heart thundered in your ears, your breaths were shallow and rapid.

“I know the human is close. I can smell it.”

You leapt out of the bush you were hidden within and ran as fast as your legs would carry you. You heard the eruption of yelling around you and inevitably you were tackled to the ground

To be fair, you did struggle and resist. You kicked and screamed, trying your best to escape even though it was truly no use because they had caught you. You managed to bite the hand of one of the apes that had subdued you

Unfortunately, you were overpowered, your arms were bound behind your back and you were thrown onto the rump of a horse. You glared down at the ground, tears streaming down your face. However, your vision of the ground was soon obstructed by the gorilla that had been hunting you and Mae down

He gripped your head by your hair and made you look at him, you didn’t stop yourself from scowling at him. The bastard had the audacity to laugh in your face

“Proximus will be pleased with you.” you saw a glimpse of his horrid teeth, you held your displeased face although you wanted nothing more than to crumble.

The horse you were on rode away, and you saw the forest get further and further away. You didn’t see any traces of your group, you hung your head against the horse and let your tears fall, staining your face and sinking into the fur of the horse

The ride was brutal. There were few breaks, and when the night arrived the ape still pushed the horse on. Your forearms were raw and burned under the ropes that held them. Your stomach, which has been pressed into a horse’s arse for many hours at this point, lurched with every movement. You felt your stomach’s acid slosh up into your esophagus several times

Your head hung loosely, watching the dirt turn to sand under the horse’s hooves. You heard the call of another ape, which you realized was the call of the silverback that you had heard the day prior, and felt your bitterness rear its head

The horse stopped and you let your head sag, listening two more pairs of hooves approach

You looked up and you’re so happy you did, because you saw Mae and Noa approaching you. Your glee was quickly smothered when you realized that they were bound by rope as well

Your captors made Noa and Mae walk in their binds while you remained on the rump of the horse, the beast riding next to the one that had Noa following along behind.

You saw Noa, who had been stripped of all his items, watching you from your peripheral

You looked up and stared back into his eyes, something you hadn’t done since that night with the giant telescope. You could see him much better in the light and you took the opportunity to study his details. His arms were long and muscular, his torso seemed firm underneath all that fur of his. Had he been human, you’d find him more attractive. Although, there’s nothing about him currently that you’d necessarily consider ugly; just different. Maybe with an adjustment period you’d dare say he’s not that bad to look at

Ugh, stop thinking like that, you scolded yourself. Only a small amount of time away from your group and you think an ape is attractive? Pull it together, yeesh.

You couldn’t stop looking, though. His kind and soulful green eyes are what stuck out to you most, freckled with specs of gold

Noa looked at you, and in a subtle move he slightly gestures towards you with an upward nod of his head, and then he tilts his head toward Mae. You watch him, squinting your eyes in confusion, before he repeats the action. You look back at Mae, who you see now has been observing your interaction

Oh. Yeah.

You look back to Noa, who was still gazing at you. You nod slowly.

Finally, after what felt like hours of being carried and dragged across the sand, your group arrived at a tall fortress, a giant metal boat eroded from years and years of damage and lack of upkeep.

Getting dragged inside, you swivelled your head to and froe looking up all the apes around you; in the beams directly above you and even further up in the boat, large numbers of them all around your side. You stuck close to Mae, but in the kerfuffle, you were knocked forward into Noa’s back

He looked back at you, concern laced in his eyes, before you three were ripped away from each other. You and Mae were dragged away by the silverback, separated from Noa

You and Mae were thrown into a room, the door locked behind you.

You and her embraced, both your bodies shaking

“I was so scared for you, I’m so sorry we didn’t come back—”

“We’re together now. We’ll be ok, whatever happens.”

You and Mae were granted a small reprieve; you spent a good half hour in the makeshift shower that had been put together for the third human in your new living space, who introduced himself as Trevathan.

You were happy to wear clean clothes and didn’t pay him much mind, but it seemed that Mae took offence to his existence

“At least I’m not the helping the apes.” She sneered down at him, it had been a moment since you had heard such detest in her voice.

“You gotta realize that this world doesn’t belong to us anymore.” Trevathan retorted her before shambling away

If you were honest with yourself, you didn’t like the idea that it was your ‘rightful place’ to rule over the planet; just because you were human. Sure, that might’ve been how it was before, and that some still hold that sentiment and may feel that the apes usurped the planet from humanity, but you thought it was absurd that humanity should have ownership over the whole planet

Furthermore, didn’t humans… make the apes? Isn’t humanity the sole and entire reason why things are the way they are now?

All things considered, things could be worse—planet-wise, anyway. You’ve been exposed to so many new things up here, everything was so different than what you had grown up with, juxtaposing everything you knew

Your youth was encased in metal and concrete, dark shadows down long daunting hallways. There was always a cold draft that haunted the rooms of your compound, lights and the computer systems were always the priority, so the primary sources of heat were wearing sweaters or huddling under blankets.

Up here, everything was bathed in the glory of the sun. You had never seen so much green, so much life, everything that crawled and walked and flew or swam living in rhythm to the ways of the world around them.

You haven’t been up on the surface for long, but you felt a part of you growing each day, telling you that you couldn’t go underground again. Not when this was what the world was

But you didn’t feel right, assisting in the pursuit of dominating the world. You had decided that you preferred the green of the forest to the grey of your ancestors.

Dinner with Proximus, the self-proclaimed ape king, was tense. Trevathan was playing court jester as the king laughed at some story or joke he was telling

Sitting across from Mae, you kept pestering a bowl of particularly voluptuous looking grapes. You couldn’t keep yourself from plucking handfuls up and shovelling them into your mouth, you hadn’t eaten in over a day and a half. The juices burst onto your tongue and the flavour was unlike anything you had ever tasted—

You felt Mae kick your shin and you hissed before looking up at her, both your cheeks sheltering grapes. She made a face at you, a mix of hard judging and exasperation, and you shrugged while plopping another grape into your mouth. She scowled at you, and looked down at the table

You rolled a grape her way. It brushed against her knuckle, but she didn’t pick it up.

Proximus spoke, his voice dominating the room and making you drop a grape onto the table with a gentle thud. Noa walked tentatively into the room, obeying the king’s order to sit

“An ape and two humans. Travelling together is… quite an adventure.”

He claimed he wanted to evolve, instantly. That the only way to do so was inside the vault, the same vault you and Mae needed to get into. The fury you could see in Mae’s eyes was potent. You felt your own hair stand on its end when he brought up your slaughtered companions, their screams which you had worked hard to suppress rearing into the forefront of your mind.

“I know you are coming here to get inside my vault.”

“It is not yours!”

“Oh. It is now, isn’t it?”

You chewed the inside of your cheek, shrinking into yourself as the ape king went on. You looked to Noa, who had not said much this entire time and you saw him glowering at Mae before shifting his gaze to you.

You looked away

Later in the evening you and Mae found yourselves in your room again. The moon was high in the sky, you were sat in a worn chair while Mae paced

“We need to get inside of that hangar, we can’t keep wasting time. We need to get inside of there.” She had been walking for so long you could’ve sworn the floor was worn in the places she’d been

“Well,” what you were about to say could be treasonous. “I’ve been thinking—”

“You have an idea to get into there?” Mae unfortunately lit up, and she stopped pacing to look at you expectantly.

Breathe, just breathe. “I’ve been thinking that, maybe we should… leave.”

There was a long beat of silence and it held more intensity than when you had been in the throne room of Proximus

“…what?”

“Mae, this becoming more and more than what we agreed to. There is an entire army out there, ready to follow that ape king and let him lead them to their deaths. We weren’t prepared for this, we should start thinking of ways to get out—”

“We’ve come so far! We can’t just leave now!”

“Mae, we didn’t know that there were apes guarding this place. This will kill us both, I didn’t sign up for—”

“This IS what we signed up for!”

“I didn’t want to go!” you stood up as you shouted at her, your face felt hot and you were wild as you breathed through your mouth

“I came out here because I was scared; for you! You were so ready and willing to just barge out here, and that scared me! I didn’t want you to have to go by yourself, because if you died out here and I never saw you again I wouldn’t know what I’d do with myself!”

You huffed, your throat felt tight. Mae just looked at you, then looked away and glared at the ground.

“I didn’t realize I made you come out here.”

“Oh, for the love of— Mae, you are my best friend. There was no scenario where I didn’t decide to follow you.” you approached her, taking her hands into yours. “And you know what? I’m happy that I did, we’re seeing the world and it’s amazing. But Mae, we need to know when to bow out and that time is now.” You stared into her eyes, desperately needing her to understand you fully.

Mae’s upset was palpable. She was mad, sad and devastated, but she supposed she understood your point of view.

She would’ve followed you too.

Mae sighed and you immediately felt relieved, hoping that she had finally agreed with you, that she understood you and saw that you had to go back and that this pursuit wasn’t worth your life—

“Please. We need to do this.”

“Mae, no—”

“For me. Please.” Mae squeezed your hands.

“We’ve come so far. We’re so close. Let’s finish this, and then we can go back I promise.”

You were so fucking angry with this woman.

“…ok.”

Mae breathed and deeply inhaled; her breath was gentle as was her smile. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the loud thump behind you both. You jumped and clutched each other as you turned around, you both came face to face with Noa.

For you it had seemed like a blur, going thru the motions of getting down from the boat and onto the solid and firm wall that kept the ocean at bay. You had never been this close to an ape before, and basically being carried down the ship by Noa was the first time you’d been so close to one

Despite knowing him for almost half a week now, you still felt freaked

Briefly, while you, Noa and Mae set wiring around the compound you were introduced to you were introduced to two clan mates of Noa; Soona and Anaya. Quietly and as swiftly as possible you all spread gunpowder around the path across the dam.

Mae’s plan, and for what exactly she needed an explosion for, you waited on asking her

And then Trevathan appeared. He threatened you all and insisted that how things were now were the new norm and that you had to get used to it. When he turned, you watched as Mae flung her body at him and tackled the old man to the ground, choking the life out of him, squeezing tighter and tighter until his life was smothered.

You had stayed back with the apes, and now for what felt like the hundredth time you felt horrified. Horrified that you have now just watched your lifelong friend murder someone so plainly in front of your eyes, no mercy

You don’t know how you had convinced yourself that neither you or Mae were not capable of killing another person so easily.

You watched as Noa and Anaya shoved him over the edge, and just like that he was gone to the open ocean.

Mae somehow seemed over it already. You followed her as she started walking away and in front of the rest of your group.

“You didn’t need to kill him like that.” you said, her expression becoming covered by the dark as the light from the torches got farther and farther away. “He was old, had broken ankles. We could’ve tied him up, gagged him and hidden him.”

“And what would’ve he told Proximus when he was found come sunrise?” she turned her head towards you. “Or what if he made enough of a commotion to alert them while we’re trying to get inside? We couldn’t have risked it.”

“I just feel like killing him shouldn’t have been your first choice.”

The crashing of the ocean waves against the stone cliffside became louder and louder, as Mae pushed on you turned to look back at the apes. Soona and Anaya followed closely to Noa, but he was focused on you.

The water was cold, it violently crashed over you and your efforts to cover your head with your arm was hardly enough. You could see Mae ahead of you and could hear the frantic hooting of the apes behind you. You climbed up, Mae wasn’t waiting for you nor the apes to catch up

Sopping wet and shivering in the cold air, finally you all stood at the bottom of the tall and daunting cliffside.

“Now, we climb.” Mae said, her own voice sounding worn from the walk across the oceanside

Mae held onto Soona, and you clung to Noa.

His smell was potent, his closeness made you feel anxious, it made you want to cringe but you were more terrified of the fall that waited for you if you pulled away. Noa was strong, seemingly unbothered by your weight as he carried you both, his hands easily finding grips in the stones

A rock fell above and past you, one of the rocks under Noa’s fingers fell loose and you both fell momentarily. The panic that surged through you knocked the wind out from your lungs, but Noa still held you firm.

As he righted himself he pulled you up closer against him, if that were possible, and you wrapped your arms snuggly and secure around him. Your heart hammered in your chest, you were certain Noa could feel it against his back—maybe even hear it.

He turned his head towards you. “…shit?” his voice was so close, the warmth of his breath curling around the shell of your ear

Had you been not dangling off the side of a wall, you would’ve laughed at the fact he had picked up on a word from your kind. No doubt he heard Mae say it.

You clung to his body tighter, digging your fingers deeper into his fur. “Mhm.”

The relief you felt when you finally got off the wall and to the top was immense, but that feeling was overshadowed by the stress of entering inside the government hanger. After all this time, all the death you’ve seen and everything you’ve been through has led you to this moment.

You didn’t want to be here.

You followed Mae, still lingering behind her and being closer to the apes, Noa especially. Torches lit, you walked inside and started to make your way deeper into this concrete labyrinth.

As you descended further inside and the power was restored, your group was separated; Noa and his friends going in one way, Mae going off in another direction, and you were left to wander around by yourself.

These walls are less comforting than you had hoped they’d be. They’re tall and overbearing, copper and steel pipes laid and twisting all around you. You haven’t seen the grey dankness of an underground compound for what felt like such a long time. Despite wanting nothing more than to return to the security of your own bunker for the entirety of your journey, that desire was not present anymore

You felt… claustrophobic. There wasn’t enough space, there wasn’t enough green or blue skies or the sound of birds and the rustling of leaves nor the sound of the wind.

You couldn’t be inside of a bunker. You needed to stay out in the world.

You walked down a hallway, you turned a corner and saw a balcony that overlooked the rest of the compound. As you stepped out you gazed upon the compound as a whole.

Weapons. There were storage cases everywhere, no doubt holding guns and grenades and other forms of inflicting harm. There were jets, loaded with missiles. Tanks. You had never seen something like this before. You felt sickened; there were weapons in your bunker too, and before you were separated from your bag days ago you had a weapon of your own… but this whole structure held enough ammunition to wipe out each and every ape waiting outside the metal doors

Is this why you were here? Is this why you left, what all of this was really about? Is this what everyone else at your bunker wanted to obtain? Weapons that would leave unimaginable destruction in their wake?

Is this what Mae wanted?

You heard footsteps behind you, the sound of Mae’s boots thumped against the concrete. When you turned you saw her, with the apes close behind. Noa, Soona and Anaya seemed… off. Mae approached you quickly and wrapped her arms around you in an embrace.

“We did it, I got the hard drive.” She says into your ear. “All we need to do is get outside, and then we can go back home.”

You weren’t sure if you understood what home was supposed to be anymore

Then, it all happened so fast.

Mae opening the iron doors, the sun pouring in and revealing sand, before Proximus walked inside.

He threatened Noa, two of Proximus’s apes grabbing you and Soona with knives pointed at your throats. Your heart was hammering in your ears which was worsened when a loud bang echoed through the air, silencing the commotion. You were dropped and quickly shuffled away, rubbing your throat

Mae held a gun, smoke drifting from the barrel into the air. One of the apes fell, his blood dripping down from his wound.

“Mae, don’t.” you looked to Noa, who had his hand out to Mae. You looked to Mae, her hands firm around the weapon. She ran, and when she ran you were compelled to dash after her. She drifted to a stop and slid to the wiring you had set up hours ago, hitting the exposed wires together and setting off a giant explosion

There was a beat, then the dam burst and the ocean flooded in. You ran behind Mae, and watched as many unfortunate apes were swept away by the current as the water rushed inside the compound.

You felt a brief moment of reprieve; the weapons inside this compound would be submerged or destroyed

But you knew what Mae had nestled in her bag. If that drive made it back to your compound…what’s left of humanity would resurge, and bring more of those weapons with them.

“We did it, we’re safe.” When you heard Mae’s voice you turned to her, she was still looking towards the ocean as it swept away almost everything that stood. From her side profile, you could see a slight smile.

“We can go back now, like I promised you.” Mae turned and started walking to you, her hand reaching to grasp yours. “We can go home.”

You pulled away. The confusion on her face was immediate

“We can’t. Not with the drive.”

“What do you mean?... we got what we came for, we can go—”

“We need to destroy it. We cannot bring it back with us.”

Now Mae stepped back, her hand pulling back and gripping the strap of her satchel. “What?”

“We can’t, those weapons—”

“We are not destroying the drive! We have come so far and lost so much, and we have accomplished our mission! We are bringing the hard drive back!”

“No, Mae. We’re not. We are throwing it into the ocean,” you took a step forward and she took a step back. “…and we are getting rid of it.”

Shock took over Mae’s entire face. “How could you say that? This will connect us to what’s left of humanity, and we can—”

“Mae, you saw what I saw! All those guns, those machines, they will destroy the world! They will kill everything and everyone, lives will never be the same.”

Mae scoffed, looking you up and down. “This world does NOT belong to the apes!”

“It DOESN’T belong to us either!”

You and Mae stood at a standstill. The sound of the ocean was distant. Your eyes were locked with hers, her bright blue eyes swimming with anger.

“…I can’t let you leave with it.”

“I’m not asking you to let me do anything,”

You sharply inhaled, your hands curling into fists as you scowled at Mae. Mae stood firm, you didn’t feel good watching her when you didn’t know which pocket she had put her gun in. You smelled the salt of the coast, felt your heart speed up

You charged at her, Mae put her fists up as you slammed into her. You made a grab at the bag at her side, but Mae gripped your wrist in her hand tightly. You both struggled, you reach for the bag and while Mae was trying to wrestle you away, you both fall hard against the metal surface under your feet.

You threw a punch across Mae’s cheek as you landed down on the ground, you maneuvered yourself on top of her body in a straddle and kept hitting down on her. Mae lifted her arm up and slapped you hard across the face and you staggered, she took the opportunity to push your body off hers and let you land against the floor

You hit the side of your face against the iron, your face scraping against the rust. You grimaced but quickly got up and tossed yourself back at Mae. Before you could try to get back on top of her, she kicked you in the gut and you landed backward. Your stomach throbbed and you lifted yourself up onto your forearm, you became aware that you were too close to the ledge of the boat which led down into the watery depths.

You stood up, your face badly scraped with your blood pebbling at the exposed flesh, you could feel a bruise on your stomach forming already. Mae stood to face you and approached, a bleeding mark across her cheekbone. She huffed, a tear streamed down her cheek.

“Please. Come with me, don’t do this. I forgive you, please come with me.”

You felt your own tears sting your eyes, your mouth trembled. You let your tears fall, but you knew what you had to do was right and was true to yourself.

“I can’t. Not when we’re carrying that drive.”

Over the thumping in your ears, you could hear Mae’s faint whimper. “I’m so sorry.”

Mae rushed at you and you lifted your hands ready to fight, but her punch never came in the form of a fist but as a shove in your chest. You stumbled back and fell, but instead of being caught by the harsh metal you kept falling— down off the surface of the boat and towards the water below. Fear consumed you, but your flailing was useless. You watched Mae for as long as you could, her figure still standing at the ledge until your vision was overtaken with water

You were plunged into the waves, they were violent and turned you forward and back. You tried to surface, but you weren’t able to keep your head above long enough to fully fill your lungs. You tried to take a breath before you were submerged again but your timing was off, and water rushed into your body before shoving you back under

You couldn’t breathe, you couldn’t see but you could feel your body twisting in the waters. You felt yourself flip upside down, and your eyes blacked out

You couldn’t feel anything, couldn’t see anything

Then your felt a hand on the side of your head, something or someone shaking your shoulders. You tried to breathe in but found you couldn’t. your eyes flew open and you were helped to your side by a yet to be seen person, and as your eyes looked down you saw pale sand underneath your fingers and crusting on your skin. You coughed and gagged, choking out water from your lungs. Finally, you gasped with your mouth hung open wide and let the air inflate your chest and let the life that was nearly choked out of you return to your body

Your eyes looked around, you first saw the kingdom of Proximus far in the distance. You turned towards your legs and saw a trail that led from the shoreline higher up the beach where you currently laid.

You felt a hand resting on your shoulder, your eyes found it and tracked it immediately; the palm was large and encapsulated your entire shoulder. It had fur covering the knuckles and went further up an arm laced with fur. Your eyes followed the arm up until you met the face, and you were relieved to see Noa’s friendly face.

You coughed some, lifting your soggy shirt to cover your mouth. “Thank you.” Noa patted your back as you hacked out the rest of the water.

“Would not… leave you.” Noa’s hand stayed on your arm. You were looking at him, gazing into his green eyes that were still as striking as when you first saw them. You looked behind him and saw many more apes waiting behind him. Soona and Anaya close by eased your nerves, but you still felt your gut lurch at the vast amount of them there were.

“Who…who are they?” you gestured towards the band of apes.

“They are… Eagle Clan. Noa’s clan.” He looked back at them fondly. “Was taken… by Proximus. Now… they are back and we are going home.”

You could see the happiness radiating off of him, he had completed what he set out to do. You wanted to bask in his happiness with him

“Where… Mae?”

You felt your throat tighten immediately. “… I don’t know.” You whimpered

Noa seemed to understand. You weren’t familiar with interpreting expressions that weren’t human, but looking at his features they were pulled with remorse.

Noa stood up, but his large hand still lingered on you.

“Come with Noa… can stay with Eagle Clan.”

This wasn’t what you had in mind. If you were told a month ago that you would find yourself embraced by the kindness and mercy of an ape, you would’ve told that person they were mental. But here you were, your wounds fresh and stinging while the rest of you was covered in sand.

You had no idea what living in the wilderness was like, you and Mae had barely survived on your own. However, you weren’t with Mae now, and you didn’t know where she was. She wasn’t coming back for you, that one thing you knew for sure.

You knew you couldn’t return to your bunker either—no doubt Mae would inform them of your betrayal. You have no where to return to, while there was a melancholic feeling present you didn’t miss it.

You didn’t miss the dry and lonely walls of your compound, you were ready to live in the new green

You took Noa’s hand, which was so much larger than yours it swallowed it, he lifted you up from the sand.

“Thank you. I’d really like to come with you.”

The walk back was long, three days time, your injuries you sustained from your fall and fight with Mae were nagging you the entire time. There were moments where you felt all the strength you had wheeze out from your body, but thankfully Noa helped you keep your strength up (with the help of Soona and Anaya, and a female ape named Dar who was Noa’s mother)

You had never been surrounded by apes like this and not been afraid, but a day in to being around them you started to relax. There was a part of you that had felt the craving of another human’s company, but at those times you made your way closer to Noa and spoke with him

You asked him about what his life had been like before he had taken on this adventure, and he told you about it. When he had explained to you the meaning behind why he was a part of an ‘Eagle Clan’, you were the most intrigued you’ve ever been.

His life sounded so fascinating, and as the days went on you found yourself becoming more and more attached to his clan.

And him, you suppose. It was nice to still have someone you could call friend after everything

When you had arrived at the site the Eagle Clan called home, you were heartbroken to see what disarray it was in. There was a faint lingering smell of smoke, and there wasn’t much of anything that had been burnt. However, the apes around you seemed determined.

They began rebuilding straight away, and you helped in anyways you could. From helping to find things to eat, to carrying stacks of branches and wood and helping tie things together you kept yourself busy. Noa (who you determined was now the leader of the clan, surprisingly) had offered you a place amongst his people (apes??) and you did not want to squander the opportunity to prove you were useful

A week had gone by. Mae was still at the forefront of your mind most nights when you were alone, but you were managing. You’ve figured out how to fall asleep much quicker in the night, which helped keep many of your thoughts at bay.

One day, while the sun was still high in the sky, you were helping put together a drying rack for fish. There was still much to restore, but getting one of their staples back up and running would have the clan back in shape in no time.

You were still sore, but being consistently fed by the clan had helped you along the way, your wounds scabbed over and healing well

You were focused, trying to tie a knot tight enough so that it wouldn’t let the whole thing fall apart, when you felt a tap on your shoulder. When you turned you saw that it was Soona and smiled at her. However, when she did not smile back, your happiness to see her was dampened

“Are you ok? What’s wrong—” she pointed behind her, and you stopped your sentence to follow the direction her finger was pointing.

Noa stood just outside the outskirts of the village, that seemed normal. Why would Soona bring your attention to…

It took you a second to realize, but someone else was there with him. A human.

You watched and scrutinized this person, but it didn’t take long for you to realize who it was.

Mae.

You looked to Soona and nodded at her, silently thanking her for bringing this to your attention before making your way towards Noa and Mae. They seemed to be deep in conversation, Noa handing her something before they stood looking at each other. Mae’s eyes found you quickly however, and you could see on her face that still even after everything, she was relieved you were ok

You stood next to Noa, staying by him and not approaching Mae any further. You studied her face, her eyes now welled with unshed tears. She had collected some dirt on her clothes and face, the mark you had left on her cheekbone scabbed over like your own wounds

You stared at each other for what felt like hours. You wanted to drink her in, even though you should’ve been mad at her she still managed to keep that section of your heart that was dedicated to just her

“…looks like you’re healing well.” You were the first to speak. It took a lot to not let your voice break

Mae sighed, she was shaky. “you’re healing pretty well, too.”

Another beat of silence filled the gap between you. What could you say to each other, when your last moments together were spent attacking one another?

“You know, you can still come back.” Mae said, her voice brought you back from your thoughts. “I won’t say anything, nothing at all. It would be like we never fought, and our lives could go back to normal.”

What even was normal anymore? “It won’t change the fact that we fought, nor how I feel about bringing it back. I don’t know if I can go back, not after everything.”

The sadness in Mae’s eyes deepened. “Are we still friends?”

“I don’t want to not be friends.” You didn’t try to hide the break of your voice this time

You both moved, crashing into one another and wrapping your arms around each other. You held on tight while your tears streamed down your cheeks, staining the fabric of her shawl. You felt a similar wetness on your own shoulder.

You had known Mae your whole life, from the moment you were born you and her were hand in hand in almost everything. You were each other’s everything; but there was distance between you now, despite your hearts still holding love for one another. You breathed her in, committing her smell and warmth to your memory. You wanted to remember this moment, her arms holding you with the same affection you held her.

Mae snivelled. “There’s nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?”

“Is there anything I can do to change yours?” you wrapped your arms around her tighter, somehow you made it possible.

You felt a rush of new hot tears run down against your skin. “I have to do this. It’s important to me.”

“I know.”

You and Mae pulled away from each other, both your eyes red and tears streaming down both of your cheeks. You held hands, her thumbs running over the surface of your knuckles while you clasped her fingers tightly. You know she had to go, she knew you had decided to stay. You smiled at her wetly.

“You’ll always be my best friend.”

She laughed, a sound you hadn’t heard in such a long time. “You’ll always be mine.”

Your hands squeezed together, you let go of the anxiety you held. When Mae let go, you still felt her warmth in your palms, the feeling of her skin lingering. You watched as she returned to her horse and climbed a top the saddle. She looked at you and Noa one last time and waved, you waved back to her.

She smiled one last time at you, before urging her horse forward. You watched as her silhouette became smaller and smaller until you could no longer see her in the distance. You didn’t stop yourself from crying, gasping as the pain fully hit you and you covered your face in your hands. Noa’s hand gently embraced your shoulder, providing you with reassurance

You lifted your head, you nose barely holding your snot and tears freely and uncontrollably coating your skin. You took Noa’s hand into yours and you moved into him, wrapping your arms around his torso.

Noa wrapped his arms around you, hesitantly, and began to rub your back.

You’d be okay. You knew you would be.

You just knew you’d really, really miss her.

-----

AND WE’RE DONE WOOOOOOOOO

So so sorry if this dragged on at any points, thank you so much if you got to this point!! This was certainly a project, but yknow I’m really satisfied with the result of it. this took me a few days to brainstorm and rewrite, and I can say I am content with this piece.

I also cried when I was writing the end I was like DAMN I am COOKINGG

Anyway thank you for reading :] have a good day/night wherever you are

#mae x reader

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