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kidasthings · 2 days

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Echoes of Eden by Kida

Noa x Mae - #mommaknowsbest

Chapter 3: https://www.tumblr.com/kidasthings/751031002718240768/echoes-of-eden-by-kida?source=share

Chapter 4

They made it back to the Eagle Clan village at daybreak, just as the first rays of early light touched the earth and migrated through the trees above. It painted the ground cover with a dappling effect, shifting penumbras and warming daisies.

Mae walked among the apes wisely sticking close to Noa. Anaya gave her a wide berth all the while, nervous eyes flicking her way when she strayed too close. Soona was much the same, save for the steady eye contact when they did trade looks. The rest of the small contingent remained at a respectful if suspicious distance; only Noa seemed moderately comfortable with her in his immediate vicinity.

The welcome party at the village consisted of a few curious ape children and Dar, Noa’s mother. She threw her arms around her son, gave Mae a curious look, and then patted Noa on the back before speaking in hushed tones with Anaya and Soona. Mae stood awkwardly, highly aware of being the only human amongst sentient animals. There was still the chance one or more of them might try to assume issue with her for the flood she set upon them, and for this her guard remained up. The village, despite her paranoia, buzzed about her without fail. Apes were climbing half-built structures, connecting beams, and the young ran amongst a small herd of horses at pasture in a clearing dotted with wildflowers. Their shouts and hoots of joy reached beyond the treetops, unmarred by the fact their clan had barely survived the year.

Because of her.

Eventually Noa returned to her side, gesturing for her to follow him with that world-weary look he usually sported. Relieved, Mae followed and found him leading her off to a crude shack that resembled the one in which they had first met; it seemed these were used primarily to store fish. This one, however, had a different purpose.

Inside the raw-wood walls was a cache of human weapons and supplies. An ape of stature stood posted at the door, nodding at Noa but glaring balefully at Mae as they simultaneously ducked inside.

Everything was abandoned on the floor in a haphazard pile: a few rucksacks, dented weapons, sharp hunting knives, a canteen or two, rope, and other random oddities. There was not much, admittedly, but what Mae sought wasn’t exactly of size.

Mae drifted down to her knees, alighting on the packed dirt floor. “Is this everything?” she asked Noa without losing focus on the heap before her.

“Yes,” Noa confirmed.

“I see.” She floated her palm over the pile, mimicking a scanning device. Her hand hovered over the first brown knapsack, travel-worn and rusted at the buckles. Gingerly, she touched it and ran her fingers over the flap. It was secured by a simple button from the top, zippers being an exotic novelty rarely seen anymore. Carefully, she opened the bag and rifled through the contents.

Nothing caught her eye at first. There were three small knives, a few canned rations, a water flask made of animal bladder, and something that looked like –

Mae pulled out a crinkled piece of faded paper and held it up before her face. Dust motes floated lazily across an old illustration made by the hand of a child. Pastel paints depicted two stick figures, one larger than the other, holding hands. The taller one sported short blonde streaks, likely a representation for hair, and the shorter one had longer hair of the same hue. Both were smiling; simple lines curved their two-dimensional mouths upward to their dots-for-eyes.

Sucking in her cheeks until they were hollow, Mae refolded the paper and placed it back into the bag. She continued, patting down the sides and coming up empty save for a small silver key on a thin ring. She could hear Noa shuffle his weight from one foot to the other, indicating he was growing impatient. Utilizing the soft sound to her advantage, she surreptitiously used a sleight of hand technique to slip the dented key into the inner pocket of her short jacket.

Mae hazarded a quick look behind her; Noa was still staring at her back, arms folded, but there was no recognition on his face that anything was amiss.

The next bag proved more interesting. This one, black and made of canvas, contained an array of pistols with silencers. Pushing past those, the brunette located a dark metal container at the bottom of the bag. It turned out to be a lockbox secured by a small gold padlock looped through a latch on the side.

The word MASTER was emblazoned on the front.

Mae ran her thumb over the worn word in the metal, realizing it was a remnant of the world before.

Reinvigorated, she turned the box this way and that, examining the angles. Inside, something rolled back and forth in a reassuring, cylindrical way. Mae pitched her chin inward towards her collarbone and a few errant wisps of hair disconnected from her braid and swept forward, brushing the sides of her face.

Her pupils rapidly dilated behind the curtain of her hair.

Silence.

Without fanfare, Mae returned the box back to the bag and made a small show of picking up other various artifacts in the human-made heap. She stood and turned around when Noa made a small sound.

“Thank you,” she told him quietly, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I’m done.” Her voice, quick and clipped, followed the path of her footsteps as she carried herself outside of the ape-made hut.

Noa’s green eyes tracked her as she swept past him, the lower lids tensing at the edges. Finally, he nodded and removed himself from the structure to follow her out.

“Are you leaving to … follow them?” he called after her.

Mae stopped in mid-step, now well within the village proper. The ape posted outside the door traded curious looks with Noa as both watched the long line of Mae’s rigid back.

“I should,” she told him, voice muffled while she remained turned away, “but if you would allow me to remain a few more days, I can rest before returning.”

This caused the villager standing watch near Noa to silently reveal long canines, but Noa just shook his head at him before approaching Mae.

“I will … speak to the council … about it,” he told her, that stilted way in which he spoke comfortingly familiar. “For now … stay at the edge of the … village.”

“I can do that. I left my horse tied up over there.” Mae pointed off to a stand of trees to the south. “Hopefully, she isn’t too thirsty by now. I need to check on her.” Her expression remained stony and shuttered.

“Something … wrong?” Noa asked, tone too low for the other villagers to catch.

Mae’s head made a small adjustment in his direction. “No, I am just tired. Thank you for letting me look. What do you intend to do with all of it?” She was not settled with the idea of leaving human weaponry with the Eagle Clan. Her body turned halfway, her profile perfectly in view.

“We will … look through it,” Noa stated grimly. “It is ours.” He looked off to the woods, where both could hear the distant whinny of a frustrated equine. The breeze picked up, stirring the fur along his low forehead. “She sounds … hungry.”

“She had plenty of grass around. Water is more important. Do you have any nearby? I saw a lake to the north…”

Noa nodded, finding comfort in the discussion of logistics. Logistics were emotionless, effortless. He rolled his gaze over to hers, holding it. “We have a … pond in the meadow … she can drink from.” He pointed east, where the villagers’ horses were at pasture.

“Better yet.” Mae flashed him a too-tight grin, and then startled when an ape woman in a new blue shawl approached them.

“Noa, a word,” the ape said, her tenor deep and calm.

“Yes, mother.” Noa turned to Mae once more. “I will return later.”

Mae smiled then, a short spread of her lips with a quick nod. “Right.” She spared a second to and gave a once-over of the ape Noa had addressed as “mother”, and the object of her focus did the same. No words were exchanged, save for a small incline of the head on Dar’s part.

Mae spun on her heel and made off for the woods before slipping between the trees. Once the human was out of sight, both mother and son turned back to their conversation.

“Are the echoes gone … from here?” Dar inquired, now that they were passably alone.

She received a firm affirmative in the form of a grunt.

The older ape’s eyes slipped over to the ape standing next to the weapons hut, and then she motioned with her hand for Noa to follow. “Come.”

Noa trailed obediently and without objection. The pair winded their way through a gaggle of giggling ape children watching two older apes practicing fish retrieval with their newly hatched eaglets. Noa thought he spotted Soona’s long stare as she tended to a nest of eagle eggs nearby, but he could not be sure.

Eventually, they ended up at the entrance to one of the two rebuilt sky towers. Dar passed through a beaded partition, beckoning her son inside.

Within the structure a wooden ramp led to higher levels, spiraling well above their heads, but Dar paid it no mind. “Let’s speak of … the echo,” she said firmly, taking a seat on a woven mat near the back of the main floor. She patted to a place next to her, offering Noa a shallow cup of water made from a hollowed oyster shell. “Drink?”

Noa had no issue understanding who she was referring to. His thoughts would not detach from that echo. Dar’s son sighed, and accepted the shell gingerly with two hands, palms up. He took a small sip and set it aside on an overturned basket. Dar gave him a reassuring smile and placed her long forelimbs before her in a pleasant mien. “Tell me what ails you, son?”

“I do not … know what to … do,” Noa admitted, lost.

“About the echo?”

“Yes,” he replied haltingly, expecting immediate censure.

To Noa’s surprise, Dar did none of that.

She signed, “I can imagine.” Her smallest finger glanced off her forehead, shooting up with her left hand. Then, switching to words, she added, “Do you … think she is dangerous to … us?”

“Not right … now,” Noa returned, although he cast his gaze over and down, indicating doubt. “I believe … she feels bad … for flood.”

“This is good,” Dar told him, nodding in apparent acceptance.

“She wants to … stay, rest,” Noa said quickly. “Could you ask … the elders if she can … stay a few … days?”

Dar thought about that for a moment or two. Her warm toffee-colored eyes scanned Noa’s face, seeking a truth he would not voice. At last, she nodded and leaned over to place a hand over the ball of his shoulder. “She saved … Soona, yes?”

Noa nodded, “She put us all … in danger, but she saved … Soona’s life first.”

Dar considered this information, an internal debate roiling about in her head as a distant expression took up residence on her face.

Finally, she gave a short nod. “I will speak to them.”

For that, she was awarded with a small smile. “Thank you, mother.” he signed.

She signed back, “Of course. For now … keep an eye … on her.” The ape matron lifted a gray-brown index finger to one eye, illustrating her words. “Could be … trouble yet.”

Noa blew out a quick exhale before his mouth made a moue of distaste. “I fear this.”

Dar nodded, mollified by her son’s suspicions. It would do him well to have them. She gave his shoulder a good-natured shake before releasing it. “Go, you have much … to do.”

“Thank you, mother,” Noa replied.

Dar nodded. “Before you see her … call on Sun. He may … help.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

They took their leave, Noa standing slowly before exiting the tower. He looked to the south, where he imagined Mae to be, and pondered over her loyalties before calling to his eagle in the way of his clan.

A cry sounded from above, his winged companion never too far away. As the bird alighted on his wrapped forearm, Noa snorted and welcomed the pain of the talons as they dug into his hide. The bird’s watchful, amber eye flicked towards him, head snapping this way and that, wings partially extended and at the ready.

“Sun,” he began, as if there were some secret between them that only they knew, “keep watch over Mae.” The bird, somehow understanding although it was impossible to believe it so, gave his handler a look of avian scorn. Its razored beak parted, clicked shut, and a shrill cry emanated from its trachea.

“Calm,” Noa told the bird, giving his bonded’s back one pat with his long fingers. The bird fluffed its feathers, appearing momentarily larger, and then dropped into a temporary crouch before launching himself from Noa’s arm. The heavy weight of the raptor now released, Noa watched it circle once overhead and wished it could also do the same for the weight on his chest. He rubbed his clavicle with his hand, trying to distill the phantom pain he felt there.

He might have a chance to rectify that when he spoke with her later that night. For now, Sun would keep watch. Noa watched until his eagle disappeared over the tops of the trees, momentarily wishing for the gift of flight.

How easy it would be, to fly away, he mused.

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #mae #noa #mae x noa #nomae #planet of the apes #noamae #kotpota #rise of the planet of the apes #monster romance #enemies to lovers #slow burn #interspecies relationships #kotpota fanfic #kingdom of the planet of the apes fanfiction

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kidasthings · 3 days

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I think it is ah, very interesting that Mae only wears the color blue. And blue happens to be the color of Noa's mother's shaw he lets her use, which he calls is important, and the color of the feathers in his armband in the end. Do you think there's any significance?

Yes, actually.

First, blue is a color of trust and loyalty. Dar, being Noa's mother, wears a blue shawl which is symbolic of her trust and loyalty to her son and clan. This is important to Noa.

Blue also has a reassuring quality and relaxes the psyche. It is security, reliability and support. When Noa gives his mother's shawl to Mae for the first time, he is symbolically extending all of those things to her.

Mae remains distrustful, but the peace offering of his mother's shawl plants the first seeds of trust for Mae and starts her questioning her own negative beliefs about apes. Her disheveled appearance at this stage also reflects her inner turmoil.

Later, at the end of the movie, Noa wears an armband of blue feathers. He symbolizes security and safety for his clan, whom he saved in the flood. It is a mark of a hero who supports his family and community, one he is fiercely loyal to.

Now, this is where it gets interesting.

The fact that Mae is also sporting that exact same shade of blue in her cowl (and eyes) indicates that she has started to turn the corner in that scene. Yes, she had a gun hidden behind her, but she does not use it. The gun is symbolic of the last of her suspicions.

Instead, Noa hands her Caesar's medallion and places it in her palm. She smiles, almost gratefully, and accepts it. Her appearance is now neater, more put together, and she is wearing blue. She is calmer, more grounded inside, and this is reflected in her appearance compared to earlier scenes.

The medallion, like the color blue on both of them, indicates mutual support and the beginnings of shared trust. Peace, as it were.

It's a symbolic color that ties them together for the next two movies via an unspoken loyalty. It also reflects the experiences they went through, which is its own kind of bond. The two are intrinsically tied, for better or worse.

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #mae #noa #mae x noa #nomae #planet of the apes #noamae #kotpota #rise of the planet of the apes #color blue

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kidasthings · 3 days

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Can’t stop this train now that it left the station!

I've just completed watching every Planet of the Apes movie there is and one thing I noticed is that there is always a Human/Ape kiss. And, judging by Mae and Noa's interactions, they are probably gonna get a kiss. AND ITS GONNA BE HELLA AWKWARD.

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #kotpota #planet of the apes #mae #movie #pota #ape #mae x noa #nomae #noa

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kidasthings · 4 days

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Great minds think alike. XD

Pretty much the entire time in the movie.

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kidasthings · 4 days

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Pretty much the entire time in the movie.

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #mae #noa #mae x noa #noamae #nomae #planet of the apes #kotpota #rise of the planet of the apes

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kidasthings · 4 days

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@duel1971 Welcome to the dark side. Enjoy your stay. :)

I was ready to judge everyone shipping noa and mae but after seeing the movie I actually totally get it

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kidasthings · 5 days

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Yup. This.

nothing more to say

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kidasthings · 5 days

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You are so welcome!

Mae and Noa are not Disney-coded; they are clearly Ghibli-coded. Their journey reminds me a lot of the classic Studio Ghibli films, maybe also because of that wild and nature-filled setting, but mostly because the other day I thought of this scene from "Princess Mononoke" and it's literally them, and you can't deny it. I mean, I need fanart of this scene but with Nomae, someone please make it, that's all I'm asking for, I'm not a very greedy person, lol.

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kidasthings · 5 days

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I took a 'stab' at it. It's just pen on paper - I've never drawn monkeys before:

#noa x mae #noa #kotpota #studio ghibli #mae x noa #nomae #kotpota noa #kotpota mae #planet of the apes #kingdom of the planet of the apes #fight me #mae #princess mononoke

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kidasthings · 6 days

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I try, I try. :) Thanks!

Kingdom has frankly made me feel crazy. I've seen the movie three times. Noa gives both "important" items to Mae. He doesn't choose between Soona and Mae when literally asked. He gives a bullshit "we were born together" answer (what does that mean, bro?) which literally sounds like he thinks of her as a sister. (Which checks out, bc that's the vibe they actually had lbr) He carries her. Rescues her on horseback. Bonds w/her through the whole damn movie. And all their tension? Not to mention Owen and Freya being the literal faces of the movie and all the promo. I just need to know if they have written the single most unintentional enemies to lovers story or if its all intentional and we aren't crazy.

Let me let you in on a little secret that might shed some light on what is going on, here.

Shhh... don't tell anyone. I don't think they could handle it!

The Planet of the Apes Franchise has had many, many examples of human-ape hookups and pairings before in the comics, and hints of this can be found on the big screen (Taylor and Zira kissing, the almost-was ape-human hybrid child).

Some examples of ape-human pairings in the franchise have been:

Malaguena (human woman) and the male chimp Grimaldi from "Terror on the Planet of the Apes"

Tonus, a human-hating gorilla, fell in love with a "chimp" named Valia who was really a human woman in disguise named Myndith. It more or less changed his stance on humans "Blood of the Apes" miniseries

Fauna, a blind chimp female fell in love with Pete Burke, a human man an episode of the Planet of the Apes TV series

Various examples of human-ape hybrids, such as the mud people

Some examples of ape-on-ape mixes also occurred:

Minister Shiva was half chimp, half gorilla (Dark Horse comics)

The Chimerae were descended from gorillas, orangutan and chimp blood (Dark Horse, again)

Lieutenant Mungwort was part chimpanzee, part gorilla

You can find all of this detailed here for reference:

So, yeah, if they were hinting something between Noa and Mae, you can bet it would be on-point for the franchise to do that.

Intentionally.

Because, you know, the Planet of the Apes has this long history of mixing species, both on-screen and off.

I know some claim it's bestiality, or zoophilia, or whatever to ship Noa x Mae, and that's fine. Sing it to the rafters, you do you.

I still stand by the fact that if someone claims this and pays to watch the Planet of the Apes movies in the movie theater they are financially supporting their own claims of bestiality and zoophilia for a franchise that has always promoted ape-human pairings.

For the rest of us, it's just par for the course and a typical ship.

Hope that helps!

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kidasthings · 6 days

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Let me let you in on a little secret that might shed some light on what is going on, here.

Shhh... don't tell anyone. I don't think they could handle it!

Some examples of ape-human pairings in the franchise have been:

Malaguena (human woman) and the male chimp Grimaldi from "Terror on the Planet of the Apes"

Fauna, a blind chimp female fell in love with Pete Burke, a human man in an episode of the Planet of the Apes TV series

Various examples of human-ape hybrids, such as the mud people

Some examples of ape-on-ape mixes also occurred:

Minister Shiva was half chimp, half gorilla (Dark Horse comics)

The Chimerae were descended from gorillas, orangutan and chimp blood (Dark Horse, again)

Lieutenant Mungwort was part chimpanzee, part gorilla

You can find all of this detailed here for reference:

So, yeah, if they were hinting something between Noa and Mae, you can bet it would be on-point for the franchise to do that.

Intentionally.

Because, you know, the Planet of the Apes has this long history of mixing species, both on-screen and off.

I know some claim it's bestiality, or zoophilia, or whatever to ship Noa x Mae, and that's fine. Sing it to the rafters, you do you.

For the rest of us, it's just par for the course and a typical ship.

Hope that helps!

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #mae #noa #mae x noa #noamae #kotpota #nomae #planet of the apes #rise of the planet of the apes #monster romance #noa x mae #kotpota noa #kotpota mae #interspecies relationships

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