A Darker Path
Summary: What if Tarzan, as a baby, had been killed by Sabor, and his parents had lived instead? How different would the story be? A darker look at the Tarzan story, and how a father could transform into a monster, by witnessing the death of his son.
Only one thought was running through his mind. Get them two off this boat. "Elizabeth! Grab the baby and get inside! I'll hoist you down!" No time was wasted, as fires licked at his back on the burning ship, as he had to force his screaming wife and newborn son into the rowboat on the side of the ship. Her screams, he thought, I have to get them off. And quick, this ship is burning down more every second.
He had no idea how the fire had started. It could've started in the kitchens, those cooks were always so unaware of all those open flames. It could've started in any lamp on the ship, gas leaks were common, but usually never led to fires. And certainly never led to the entire ship being engulfed in flames.
The crew was nowhere to be seen. They could have snatched their own rowboats, or jumped off the ship, it didn't matter now. He could see charred bodies on the floor, smoke rising from their backs, as once living travelers had begun the transformation from human to ash.
"I can't leave you here Thomas!" Elizabeth screamed, holding the baby boy tightly to her chest, ash-stained tears streaming down her cheek. He slowly touched the side of her face, which seemed to calm her slightly, and gently coerced her into the rowboat. "I promise, I won't leave you," he replied, reassuring his crying wife with a small smile. Grabbing onto the rope to his side, Thomas began to lower his wife and son into the ocean, until an unsuspecting form jumped out from the darkness, with a pointed hat on his head. It was the captain.
His formerly white beard was now stained dark gray, and his eyes had a maniac glare to them. "Get your hands off the last rowboat, damnit!" the old man yelled, "This captain ain't going down with his ship!" The captain reached his red-charred hands out to Thomas's neck, strangling him to get a hold on the boat. Elizabeth screamed, watching in horror as her husband was choked to death by the old man, laughing with an insane craze to his voice.
But regaining his composure, Thomas latched his hands onto the captain's front coat, with a grip that practically ripped the skin off the body. The captain howled out in anger as Thomas clutched at his chest, but went silent as he narrowed his eyes onto the man he was choking. Thomas managed to spit in the captain's face, and mutter, "Have a nice swim pal." And with that, the father threw all his strength into his arms, throwing the captain into the air, and down into the sea, hearing him hit the water with a splash, and listening to his choking gurgles for air, until he drowned under the sea.
Thomas put a finger to his lips to gently quiet his weeping wife, as he began to grab back onto the rope, and lower his wife and son down. But as he looked behind him, the fires inched closer and closer to him, and soon he began to feel wisps of the flames at his back. He yelled out in pain when they came too close, as Elizabeth put a hand to her mouth to stifle more screams. But Thomas continued to fight through the pain, as he pulled on the rope harder, putting pressure on the pulley above him. Soon, the pulley broke snapped from pressure, throwing him to the side as the rowboat crashed into the sea below.
Worried, Thomas looked over the side of the burning ship to see his family safely on the boat, and regained his composure as he readied himself to dive off the ship. Leaping off the sinking ship, he landed in the water with a crashing thud, submerging himself completely. Elizabeth and the child looked on in angst, waiting for a sign of the man to emerge from the waters. And soon, he splashed up with a deep gasp for air, swimming quickly over to his wife in the boat, with her red hair blowing absently in the wind, and a warm smile upon her face.
Still holding their son in her arms, Elizabeth reached her hand down in the water, helping up her gasping husband. "Oh, Thomas!" Elizabeth cried, as she drew him into a deep embrace, pulling back only to lay a warm kiss on his lips. Elizabeth scruffed the beard at Thomas's face, and he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, looking down at his son afterwards.
"Is Benjamin okay?" Thomas asked his wife, a concerned look upon his face. Elizabeth wiped away a stranded tear and gave a nervous chuckle, replying, "Of course, we have a brave little son." Thomas looked at his sleepy son, scruffing the slight patch of hair on top of his head. Reaching an arm around his wife's waist, the couple looked up to the ship once more, almost completely submerged in the black waters. Thomas led his wife to a seat on the rowboat, and grabbed two oars in his hands, reassuring his wife with a kind nod of his head, before rowing the boat with the current, towards a sandy beach in the distance.