Prologue
White Totem
Another new fic. I've got to force my brain to work on older works.
This story was inspired by the Marsupilami shows (Disney and Marsu Productions via YouTube), The Jungle Book, and Tarzan.
And don't worry. Our yellow friend and his family will come up in a later chapter.
I do not own Marsupilami, The Jungle Book, or Tarzan. I do own the OC's.
Far away, in the jungles of Palombia, an explosion could be heard near the darkest part. For a place that had no such noises, hearing such a sound could put any animal on the defensive. But for one animal, he decided to investigate. He was an unusual creature with rabbit/dog-like ears, a big nose, and a very long prehensile tail. The natives call his kind "Marsupilami."
But there was a difference with this particular Marsupilami. He was young, possibly just became an adult, yet his fur was pure white. Not even black spots were present. His burgundy eyes, though show kindness, unwillingly instilled fear in others. To the animals in the jungle, he was a freak of nature, a reject. Not even his own family wanted him and practically tossed him out of the nest at a young age.
He was used to being alone. The other animals would ridicule him or throw things at him. Then there were the animals that didn't care about his unusual appearance, but instead thought of him as a source of food. He had to observe from afar in order to figure out how to survive. How he did when he was only minutes old remained a mystery even to him.
The native people, however, see this white Marsupilami as a sort of spirit of the jungle. Outsiders could probably call him a ghost. There were even a couple who wanted to capture him because of his unusual fur alone. But he always evaded them and left to his musings.
It was by sheer luck alone that he managed to acquire a mate. She was a normal Marsupilime, but was distinguishable by a sport of "freckles" on her face. She was very shy and often kept to herself. It was the mystery of the white Marsupilami that started her attraction to him. He, in return, received kindness that he had been long deprived of. The two loners were soon not alone anymore.
Upon hearing the explosion near the river, both he and his mate awoke with a start. Uncertain if it was a threat, he urged his mate to remain in their newly-built nest near the grotto in the darkest part of the jungle and began to swing from the trees. He hoped whatever made that sound wasn't a threat to him or his beloved, otherwise he would have to figure out how to stop it. He climbed to the top of the canopy in order to find where the sound came from. What he saw was a patch of earth in the distance in flames.
He had seen fire before and knew it was either a good thing or a bad thing. From the way it looked from his vantage point, it didn't look good. He swung on vine and tail towards the site until he was about a quarter way, when something caught his burgundy eyes. It was small and floating downriver. Down from where the fire was. It was an easy debate on what he should do next. Carefully, he swung down to the ground, keeping one eye on the object and the other out for jaguars. As soon as he was close enough, he used his tail to catch the object and bring it to shore where he got a better glimpse of it in the light of the full moon.
It was a wicker basket, similar to how part of his nest was built in material. He had seen these whenever he was near the village and knew they were used to carry things. He looked inside and saw that this basket was also carrying something. It was small, about the size of a large melon. It was wrapped in cloth so as to keep warm. The only things he could see were a face and a tail. Both clearly didn't belong to one another.
The face was human, pale with green eyes staring up at him and a tuft of yellow hair peaking from the cloth over the top of its head. He could even tell that it was female. The tail, however, was long, yellow, and had black spots.
A Marsupilami tail.
Now he was no expert on humans, but he knew no human had a tail. Not even a baby. Cautiously, he lifted the infant up, but found no Marsupilami underneath. Instead, the tail remained attached to the infant. Carefully, he removed the cloth until the infant human was exposed to the elements before he looked again. Once again, he was surprised as the tail was literally a part of the child.
This confused him greatly. Was it a human? Or a Marsupilami? Looking towards the glow, he could only guess that the infant came from upstream. However, he couldn't exactly bring the child there with him and he sure as heck won't leave her behind. Looking down at the infant, he caught sight of the smiling babe as she giggled, reaching up to his face.
The action melted his heart. He couldn't take her or leave her here. But perhaps his mate could watch her until he got to the bottom of this mystery. He turned around and returned to the nest with the infant in his arms. Upon returning to the grotto and springing back into the nest, he placed the infant onto the soft feathers before waking his mate up.
She took little to stir, but when she awoke, she was confused. It wasn't morning, so why was her mate waking her in the middle of the night? Did it have to do with that strange sound they heard minutes ago? Her mate just smiled as he pointed to something in the nest. Curious, she turned her head and was shocked to find an unknown creature in their nest. This alone made her jump through the nest's thatched roof and into the tree.
Holding the infant with his tail, the albino Marsupilami climbed the tree to fetch his frightened mate. She shook as she clutched her faint heart. She was never one for surprises but this took the piranha. She gave her mate a questioning look before he proceeded to explain in their tongue what had happened and asked her to hold on to the infant while he tried to figure out what happened. But before she could respond, her mate swung away after delivering the infant into her arms.
Now she was not yet a mother, but she had to figure out how to take care of it until her mate returned. And the first hour what a bit hectic for her as the infant started crying and she struggled to figure out what was wrong. Her first instinct was that she was hungry and tried various fruits, none of them the child could eat. Upon seeing that the infant had no teeth, the Marsupilime had to figure out that the child needed a liquid for food.
She had seen how and what humans fed their little ones and she knew then she needed to find milk. And not coconut milk. Looking around, she remembered there were some animals in the villages that were kept for things like milk. Clutching the infant, she made her way out of the nest and headed out of the grotto.
It took little time to reach the human village by tree, but it took a little longer due to the fact she was carrying a child. She had to alternate between her paws and her tail to make it to the sleeping village. Looking around, she saw a pen with odd creatures she never encountered in the jungle. They were four-legged with large ears, some standing straight up, others droopy and floppy. She had heard the villagers call them "goats."
Mustering up some courage, she look among the goats until she found one that was feeding its little one and, in her tongue, asked the goat to feed that odd child. The goat did not seem to mind and thus allowed her to feed the little one with milk. She then proceeded to help the child with her tail as she waited. She was, however, unknowingly watched from some of the huts, all curious as to what she was doing.
They all noticed the little one's tail and thought it strange. But not a bad strange. The villagers respected the Marsupilami as great spirits and protectors of the jungle. So seeing a human child born with a Marsupilami tail gave them a similar thought.
The child was blessed.
Once the child was finished with the milk, the Marsupilime returned to the jungle as several of the villagers followed, curious as to what would happen next. They waited in the brush once the Marsupilime returned to the nest with the little one. Upon holding the child, she noticed her getting sleepy and nuzzled into her chest. This melted her heart as she smiled. Carefully, she set the child onto the downy nest and covered her up, a loving smile never leaving her face.
She then proceeded to wait until her mate retuned with news. The villagers wouldn't find out until later that a strange building was the source of fire and from the look of it, some sort of accident happened. The albino saw the site with red-hot metal and not a living soul in sight. The humans he did see were nothing but charred remains. Chances were the child's birth parents were among the casualties.
He then proceeded to gaze upon the sleeping orphan while his mate relayed what happened while he was gone. Upon admitting the child had cast a spell upon her as well, the Marsupilami couple agreed upon the same thing.
They would adopt the child as their own.
Neither of them were certain if the villagers would take her, but it was clear that the two weren't willing to give her up. An outcast himself, the albino did not mind the child's odd appearance. In fact, he was perfectly fine with it. And his mate's maternal instincts were strong on this decision. Thus, the two agreed that the child would become their daughter.
The villagers returned to the tribe and recounted their discovery. The tribe found the concept of two Marsupilami adopting a human child, despite the odd tail, fascinating and even more of a blessing than they thought. But they also knew it would be tough for the pair to raise a youngling who was not of their race.
Only with the permission of the shaman that they could offer subtle help. Among these duties was the provision of goat's milk in an urn, only to return to check on said milk and replace the spoiled. The Marsupilami's were uncertain of this unusual behavior of the villagers at first, but soon grew to appreciate both the aid and the secrecy.
As the girl grew, she knew she was different. The animals, like with their father, would make fun of her until she started crying or lose her temper and being throwing fruit. She did notice the similarities between her and the villagers whenever her parents took her to see the village, but she truly believe she was a Marsupilami. A tall, bald Marsupilami, but a Marsupilami none the less.
Once she was old enough to stand properly and walk, about three, her father began to teach her how to defend herself against predators. Her human arms were short at that time, but her tail proved to be as efficient as a normal Marsupilami. As she trained, she grew stronger than any normal child at the time. When she was five, she punched her first jaguar in the air with some effort on her part.
When she turned seven, however, it was clear the nest was becoming too small for a family of three. Normally, a Marsupilami would have been grown by then and off on their own. But with their observations, the three learned that the child was still too young to do so. So they did the next best thing: they made her a nest of her own. It was five times the size of a normal nest and it took a lot of feathers to have the same comfort. But at least it was in the same grotto as theirs.
After the construction of the nest, the child chose a name for herself. After overhearing some humans at various times, she soon found one that she liked.
From then on, she called herself "Kiki."
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