The Jungle Boy

Chapter 2

Saving Grace

How long had it been? Helga had pretty much no concept of time by now. She'd been wandering in the jungle for what seemed like hours. Nothing was familiar to her; she neither heard nor saw any sign of her parents or her sister. In fact, she was pretty sure she had wandered even further away from them.

Although it was her plan in the first place, she was now beginning to think maybe it wasn't the best idea. She had to find them, and get out of here. But how? Where were they? Moreover, where was she?

Helga exhaled, trying to keep calm. Being in the middle of the jungle, lost and alone, was definitely scarier than she'd thought. Getting lost in Hillwood was a different story. Sure, it was scary and disorienting, but at least there were resources that could help her to get home. But here, in the wild, she would be lucky if she could find even a cave for shelter.

"Mom! Mom! Miriam! Bob! Olga! Hello?" Helga called into the jungle.

No reply. Just the sound of the birds and other various animals; kneeling on the ground, the blonde girl felt tears well up in her eyes.

Helga blinked when she feels something on her shoulder, something very soft. Lifting her head up, she saw a beautiful yellow and red flower with black spots by her face. She to see the jungle boy looking at her with a sad expression. The boy say Indian style next to her still holding the flower to her face. She stared at him in surprise, and felt her heart skip at his sweet gesture.

"Um...thank you." She took the flower from him, giving it a sniff. It smelled very watery, but sweet. Helga looked at him for a moment, a soft blush coming to her cheeks. I have to admit, that was really sweet of him. ...He's cute, and he's...kind of sweet. It was all she could think before reality set down upon her yet again and she began to cry.

The boy sat there not knowing what to do, looking around the jungle and even staring at the sky, drawing patterns in the dirt with his finger, waiting for the girl next to him to stop crying. Helga sniffled, wiping the last of her tears as she finally stopped sobbing. It wasn't often she cried in front of someone, but he didn't seem to care, he just let her cry, as if it were perfectly natural. He wasn't laughing nor making fun of her.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. "...Sorry. I didn't mean to bawl like that."

The boy didn't understand the words but still offered a smile. Helga felt her cheeks get hot, again, and looked away a bit. What was with this boy, making her blush so much? Did his sweet kindness really get to her THAT much? It had to, because no one she knew, not even her family, was this nice to her. Sure, he was scared of her at times, but it was probably because he wasn't used to her, nor sure what to do with an outsider.

"Still, thank you... I uh...I appreciate it." Getting up and walking back to where she came from "maybe I just need to calm down and back track...that's it." Turning around to thank the boy she noticed...

He wasn't there.

"...Hey? Boy? ...Jungle boy? Football Head?" Helga looked around for him. "Hello? ...Where'd he go?"

Worry and dread stabbed at her gut again, now he was gone, her only source of help and company in the entire jungle. And she didn't even know his name.

XXXX

Two days in the jungle and she still couldn't find her family, feeling hungry, tired and dirty she knew she was officially lost. Instead of searching for her family her focus was on food. She hadn't eaten very much, and her stomach was growling like mad, she needed food RIGHT NOW.

Looking up above her, she saw a tree that housed a certain kind of fruit she didn't recognize. Was it ripe? Edible? She didn't even know. Helga gingerly climbed the tree, too desperate to care. She just wanted some food! Managing to climb onto a branch, she could see that the fruit there was rotted, definitely not good to eat. But again, she didn't care. She was way too hungry. She had to eat something.

About to take a bite but she found herself biting into the most juiciest tasting...apple?

Opening her eyes to see that the orange fruit had been replaced by a green apple. Turning around, she came to see the jungle boy sitting by her on the tree branch, looking at the rotten fruit and making a face before tossing it behind him.

"You again?" Helga exclaimed in surprise, and took another hungry bite out of the apple she now saw that he had given her. How does he keep finding me? And for that matter, why is he following me? "...But um, thank you... I kinda needed this."

Munching on the apple happily and resting her sore feet, she opened her eyes to see he was gone yet again.

"Whoa...this kid should be a ninja."

XXXX

After having eaten the apple, and resting her sore feet, Helga now wandered around in search of water. She had tried to save the water she had in her canteen, but had sadly finished it that morning. And she was very thirsty, she hoped to find a river or a watering hole or something!

All the while, she even wondered about that jungle boy. Who appeared and disappeared, before her, even helping her out. He was strange, mysterious, curious, and...cute. Even the strange shape of his head only added to his unique charm. Even now, she still couldn't stop thinking about the moment he had caught her when she slipped, and they looked into each other's eyes, his arms around her...

Helga blushed and shook her head to shake off the thoughts. Why can't I stop thinking about him? I know he's been my only source of help and company in this forsaken jungle...but still! Why? He's just a boy! ...I'm such a basket case.

Loud, thudding footsteps were heard behind her, making her freeze in her tracks. It wasn't until she heard harsh breathing, and a low growl, that fear ate at her heart. She turned around, almost against her will, coming to see a bear in her path. It wasn't a huge bear, but definitely big.

Come to think of it, since when were there bears in Central America?

Frankly, Helga didn't want to stick around to find out.

She backed away a few steps, scared out of her wits, trembling harshly.

The bear attacked jumping to pounce on the young girl but instead it was blocked by something else, rolling with the creature that attacked it. The bear growled and threw the small boy off him. It hit her then that the jungle boy had jumped in to try to attack the bear and save her!

"FOOTBALL HEAD!" Helga screams seeing the boy on the ground, he shakes his head getting up and narrows his eyes.

The bear attacked at the boy again, bringing him on the ground. Helga screamed and saw the bear still moving on top of the boy, but then was motionless. The whole jungle was silent for a moment. Helga wanted to run away but also wanted to make sure the poor boy was safe.

The bear moved again but only rolled over, blood everywhere, the boy sat up, his dagger still inside of the heart of the bear. Helga's eyes widened and she brought her hands to her mouth, shocked. He had just killed a bear in cold blood, defending her in the process, and nearly getting killed.

"...Boy!" She cried, rushing to his side.

Despite having cuts on his head, he was smiling softly at the girl before him, and then looked at her in confusion when she pulled him up to look at his cuts. Sniffing the air and smelling something sweet, he realized it was coming from her.

Helga hurriedly took out her First Aid kit, looking for bandages, something to clean off his wounds for the time being. But unfortunately, found none.

"Shoot..." She muttered, and thought of an alternative.

Taking off her bow from her head, she carefully tied it onto the cut on his forehead, a soft blush tinting her cheeks from their close proximity. He smelled like the jungle, with a tint of sweet fruit. As well as dirt, blood, and bear.

"Do you have any water?" she makes a gesture of drinking from a cup but he still didn't understand her. Helga then gestures to taking a shower but with his blank stare she just sighed and tried once more, this time cupping her hands and acting as if she was drinking.

The boy's eyes light up and he stood up and pointed, then picking up the bear as if it weighed nothing and grabbing her hand. He led her to the waterfall, Helga wiped fore head feeling hot and sweaty, and they walked until finally he stopped at a river, putting the bear on the ground and stepping into the cold refreshing water, diving in only to emerge out a few moments later.

"Yes! Water!" Helga uttered in relief, sinking to her knees next to the shore, cupping some water into her hands and drinking it, the cool river water sliding down her throat. "Ahh...refreshing." She splashed some of the water into her face to cool off, before taking her canteen and filling it with water.

She felt someone close to her, seeing the boy through the reflection of the water smiling. He grabbed her arm and pulled her face first into the water.

"AH!" Squealed Helga as she landed in the water, and surfaced, despite that it was only about waist deep. She sat up, spiting water out of her mouth much like a fountain. "Thanks a lot, jungle boy." She said, and splashed him.

Laughing, he splashed her back, they both grinned and were soon starting a water fight. Both were laughing and trying to win a fight not worth winning since both were equally wet. She dunked his head down under the water laughing as she felt him between her legs, and then she screamed in surprise as he lifted her up on his shoulders.

"WHOA!" Helga cried in surprise, grabbing onto his head to steady herself. "H-Hey...what are you doing?" He then dove backwards taking the young girl with him.

After more playfully games he finally got out of the water and came back in...with the dead bear.

"Eh? What are you doing?" Helga cried, backing away further in the water. "Don't bring that thing in here! It'll mess up the water!"

She watched him stare at her then put the bear back, grabbing his dagger he begin to cut open the bear, making sure not to damage it's fur. Placing the fur on a stone nearby and cutting up some of its meat. Grabbing the first aid kit which was empty and deciding to use it to store the meat although he did have some trouble closing it back up. He dragged the rest of the bear a bit away from the area they were in for the other animals to feast on it. Coming back into the water and washing off the blood on his body.

"I...w-what's the meat for? You're not going to...eat it are you?" Helga questioned, looking alarmed.

The boy of course didn't answer her.

"...Um, okay, I guess I'll just take your silence as a big maybe." Helga got out of the water, wringing out her shirt, shorts, and then her hair. "So hey...jungle boy, I'm just gonna go...no need to let me keep you any longer."

She started to walk away, picking up her bag but he grabbed it from her.

"HEY, Just a min-" She stopped as she looked at his sad expression. "...What? What's wrong?"

The boy just looked at her with sad doe eyes, before letting go of her bag and holding his hand out for her to take. Helga looked at him with perplexity, and then down at his hand, then back at him. She didn't know what he was thinking, or what he even wanted, but it was becoming obvious to her that he didn't want her to go. Maybe that was why he was always popping up? He wanted to keep her in sight?

Gingerly, she reached out and took his hand, and the breeze flew around them for a moment, making the damp strands of their hair flow almost gracefully. The leaves in the trees above whispered along, dancing in the light but strong force of the wind. Helga looked into his eyes, as the boy looked back into hers, a smile slowly coming to his face. She could swear she felt sparks, a warm gushing feeling flowing to her heart.

He looked at her as if to say "Do you trust me?", with hopeful eyes. Helga blinked, but gave a small nod, a little smile on her face.

XXX

They were both sitting Indian style by the fire that the Football headed boy had built for them, as the day began to fade into twilight.

Hmm I really should find some kind of name for him...that is if he doesn't already have a name...but how do you give a name to yourself if you don't talk?

He was roasting the meat he had taken from the bear, which answered Helga's question from earlier, whether or not he was going to eat it. And he was. He had the meat on sticks, kind of like skewers, roasting them over the fire, while Helga watched. He wasn't seriously going to make her eat it, was he? Of course, she was starving, and it did seem to smell pretty good... But she wasn't sure. Was what he thought to be good food, turn out to be repulsive to her?

The boy then handed her one of the sticks, smiling. Helga tentatively took it, deciding to humour him and try it. She was hungry, and pretty much ready to chow down on anything edible.

Taking a bite of it, she chewed thoughtfully a few times, and swallowed. "Mmm... not bad...it's edible."

At least it tastes like pork or maybe chicken...but not all that gross as I thought.

The boy blew on his stick picking some of the meat out to eat it. They both ate some nuts with the food, the river was still nearby if they needed any water.

Helga notice the boy staring at her knee which her left pants leg had been tugged to her knee after she went in the water, looking down to see a big cut that looked a bit puffy and swollen.

I Guess I didn't even notice it.

The boy stood up walking away into the jungle, Helga felt a bit unsafe once he left, wondering what he was up to. The boy came back a few minutes later carrying some type of plant that looked more like a cactus. He took a hold of her leg, the girl jumped blushing at his touch but he didn't notice as he pulled her closer to him and began to use the leaf's juices of the aloe plant onto her knee. Going to the bear pelt, he was then cutting some fur with his knife. The fur had been cleaned before they started to cook so he didn't need to re-clean it, and sitting on the ground Indian style next to her, he began wrapping her knee with the bear skin.

Helga watched him, silently, her cheeks growing hotter by the second. She'd never had someone tend to her like this aside from doctors. Anytime she'd cut herself accidentally back at home, she would have to take care of it herself since neither of her parents or even her sister would bother with her. As if they didn't care.

This boy...he doesn't even know me, or understand me...and yet he shows me kindness like no one ever has...even more than my own family.

After wrapping her knee up he looked at her, tilting his head and pulling down her pants leg, giving her a tender smile before picking up his stick and eating the meat that had gotten a bit cold but he didn't seem to mind. After they ate it looked like the sun was finally setting. The boy sighed and picks up the bear fur laying it down on the ground.

Laying on it then, he was looking at her, patting on the fur.

Helga blushed hard upon realizing just how close they would be in sleeping, but it sure did look warm and comfy... And she was pretty tired after such long two days of trekking in the jungle like this, anyway.

She crawled over, and lay down beside him on the fur. The boy then scooted closer to her, bringing his arm around her middle to keep her warm. The blonde girl blushed heavily, but welcomed it. It felt...pretty nice. Her eyes drifted to a close, and she soon fell asleep.

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Questions

Q: Wow why would Helga call Arnold a Football head if this is an A/U?

A: Um...because he DOES have a football shaped head? And I can see Helga using it as a playful nickname. Face it; she has a teasing streak in her. (Ignoring the bully side of her for a minute), she's bound to call the people she cares about by playful nicknames.

Q: Is there a grand Plot to this story?

A: Indeed but you might find a lot of fluff in the story before the major plot unfolds but yes (^_~)