Clova *COMPLETE*

Chapter 3- Innocent Life

Inside the top hut of the Ape Village, Caesar and Blue Eyes brought the child in and laid her on a bed made of moss and sticks. She kept crying, her face red as a cranberry. Caesar eyed the child, unsure of what to do. Cornelia entered the hut as she carried Cornelius.

"Try rocking her.", she suggested.

Blue Eyes then reached his arms out to cradle the fussy child, he jumped back when she kicked and wailed louder. He held his arms up and walked back away from her, Cornelia passed Cornelius to Blue Eyes and approached the girl. She used the blanket to wrap securely around her as she was still cold, she held the child to her chest to keep her warm as she gently rocked her arms to the side, calming the child down.

Finally relaxed, the baby slowly fell into a peaceful slumber and Cornelia placed her back on the makeshift mattress. They all watched her sleep but Cornelia was curious about her marks and bruises.

"What are those marks? Is she injured?", she signed to Blue Eyes, obviously concerned for the little girl's health.

"I don't know, we found her like that.", he answered as he placed Cornelius down. Cornelius walked over and reached for Caesar's hand, Caesar looked down at him and he pointed at the sleeping human.

"Are we keeping it?", he signed. Part of him looked hopeful and wanted to know more about the strange looking creature.

"No.", he said.

He then tugged slightly at Caesar's arm and pointed his finger at the child. Cornelia took Cornelius and held his hand, she then placed her hand on Caesar's shoulder.

"We can't leave her back in the woods.", she argued. "She will die."

"We will return her back to the city tomorrow, humans must be looking for her.", he stated. Blue Eyes then cut in.

"But we found her in the woods. In a dirty box.", he signed, clearly he was on the same page as Cornelia. Caesar listened to the debate case in his family, maybe the humans weren't looking for her after all, she was dirty, smelly, cold, hungry. She was abandoned. He then made up his mind.

"We will keep her until we know what to do with her.", he reasoned.

Cornelius hooted in joy and Blue Eyes smiled, Caesar could see he was already attached to the child. He looked over to the child, observing her bruises. He turned to Cornelia, who also watched the girl.

"When she wakes up, it will be good to get her cleaned." , he signed. Cornelia nodded and took Cornelius out of their hut, it was almost time for his nap. Caesar and Blue Eyes were left in the room.

"Go hang out with Ash, I'll watch her.", he insisted. Blue Eyes shrugged and walked out of the hut. Caesar sat down at the wall opposite the child. He watched as she slept peacefully, not fussy one bit.

A few hours passed, Caesar was sharpening sticks for fire when the child started to cough before breaking into a fit, she cried loudly and shifted uncomfortably around the moss bed.

Caesar's head shot up at the child's sudden outburst and rushed over to the bed, a foul smell engulfed the room into a chamber of odurs. His nose wrinkled into a churned flare as he got closer and tried to find the source of the stench, he examined the fussy child and spotted a soaked patch on the blanket in between her legs. He could then guess where it came from.

Being as careful as possible, he lifted the child, he replaced the foul blanket with a hand stitched rug instead, she wailed uncontrollably in his arms. He exited the hut and peeked in the next room, there he saw Cornelia asleep with Cornelius in her arms. She stirred at the sound of crying and saw Caesar in the doorway, she too could smell the odour.

"Does she need changing?", she asked. Caesar shook his head.

"You rest, I'll take her to the lake.", he insisted.

Cornelia nodded and laid back down with Cornelius, he then walked outside into the Ape Village, recieving much attention from other apes probably due to the odd smell. He climbed onto his horse and rode off into the woods, he ignored all the confusec looks he got as he travelled to the lake.

About ten minutes later, he dismounted his horse and entered the shallow waters. He supported the child on his shoulder and sat on a smooth rock, he then soaked the makeshift rag into the water and dampened it, he gently squeezed over the baby's skin and she flinched, unused to the cold temperature. Caesar noticed this and tried a different strategy, he placed the damp rug beside him and slowly dipped her into the water. He expected her to get used to the cold river which she did before he could continue. When the baby's fussing stopped and was calmer, he took the cloth again and cleaned her up.

When he'd finished, most of her scratches and and sours had swelled down and the foul smell had disappeared. It wasn't long until she started to cry again, he noticed that she used her fingers to scrape against the roof of her gums, indicating that she was hungry. Caesar grabbed the cloth and dried her with it as he walked out of the river and mounted his horse, the held the girl who rested her hand on his arm rubbing his now matted fur.