Hey everyone! Wow... It has been a long time since I uploaded. I can explain why It's taken so long. When The Pandemic hit School got harder and I had to focus more on work and studying. And honestly, I just had major writer's block. Even when I attempted to write It just felt like a chore. But that didn't stop me from writing at all. I had some help from my friend Gotham317 with parts I was struggling with and how the story would flow. And again, sorry for being away for so long, but I'm back now and I hope you like my latest chapter! Been working on it for a long time.

Enjoy!

Ch.8: A Day in the Jungle!

It had been a full month now. Elsa was still adjusting to the jungle life and controlling her powers, but it's been a little easier since she made friends with Terk. Elsa was finally happy to have made a friend since living out here, but whenever they hung out the other young gorillas weren't very keen on playing with Elsa either being too scared of her powers or not trusting her. But Terk helped to stand up and look out for her. And they made sure to stay clear of Kerchak whenever Elsa came to the gorilla's territory since he still disapproved of the Man-cub living in the jungle. Elsa was starting to feel happy again, but she still felt like she didn't belong.

It was a bright and early morning in the jungle. Bagheera had woken up once the sunlight reached his face. After he did a typical cat stretch, he climbed down his tree and went to check on Elsa. But when he went into the cave to greet Baloo and the Man-cub, they were both GONE!

"Elsa! Baloo?" He looked around the small cave and it was true! It was empty!

"Oh no!" Bagheera panicked, "Hopefully they haven't gotten into any trouble!" Just as he was about to go and search for them. Elsa and Baloo Appeared from the thickness of the jungle, carrying 3 baskets of fruit.

"Thank the stars you both are alright," Bagheera said, relieved. "Where did you two go off to?" He demanded as he approached them.

"Relax, Bagheera." Baloo began to explain, "The kid wanted to go do her gathering early. So, she woke me to accompany her and help carry the fruit back."

"Sorry if we worried you Bagheera" Elsa sheepishly said to her caretaker.

Bagheera just sighed and rested his right paw on her shoulder, "I'm just glad you are safe young man-cub". He smiled at her and she gave him a small smile in return, but one thing pondered him. "Why were you up so early?"

Elsa twiddled her fingers nervously and said, "W-Well I thought if I got my chores done early, you would let me go and see Terk for the rest of the day?" she hopefully smiled.

"Really, all your chores?"

"Yep!" Elsa confirmed.

"You cleaned your nest, washed your hair, and gathered clean water?"

"All done!" Elsa stated as she presented her now tidy grass bed in the cave, her clean hair, and gourds filled with lots of fresh water.

Bagheera could see that she was done and is eager to see her friend, but was she stable enough to go see her on her own?

"Come on Baggie, let the kid have some fun!" Baloo encouraged.

After some hard thinking, Bagheera came to a decision. "Alright, you can go!"

Elsa smiled and hugged her caretakers. Then she ran off to go see Terk at the gorilla's territory.

"Stay safe! And remember to be back before sundown!" Bagheera called out and reminded her.

"Relax Bagheera, Elsa will be fine!" Baloo reassured his friend as they went off to do their daily tasks in the jungle.

Elsa was rushing through the jungle, eager to see Terk and spend time with her. Soon she made it to the gorilla troops' territory. She was passing by some of the gorillas and could see Terk anywhere. But Elsa didn't see where she was going and accidentally bumped into someone. And unfortunately, that someone Was Kerchak.

Elsa quickly picked herself up and quickly apologized to the Gorilla leader, "Oops, um… s-sorry Kerchak." She nervously smiled.

But Kerchak just stared at her sternly, with a disapproving gaze.

The tension was put to a halt when suddenly Terk came out of nowhere and tackled Elsa, nearly pushing her over.

"Elsa, thank goodness you're all right! I have been so worried." Terk cried while hugging her friend very tightly, "Thank you, thank you for finding her, Kerchak, you are such a wise and caring leader." Then she whispered into Elsa's ear, "Run!" And she quickly dashed off.

"Um…" Elsa stumbled for a minute but immediately followed Terk in tow.

As they were running, Terk quickly hid behind a tree and grabbed Elsa once she came by, and slammed her against the trunk. "Hello! Are you thick in the head?" Terk shouted while shaking her shoulders.

"What?" Elsa asked, wondering what she did wrong.

"How many times do I have to tell ya? If you want Kerchak to like you, stay away from him." She told Elsa as she pushed her finger against the girl's forehead.

Just then, two young gorilla boys came running who happen to be Terk's close friends, Mungo and Flint, who were calling her to come and hang out.

Flint: "Come on, Terk! Step on it!"

Mungo: "Last one there's a dung beetle!"

"Yeah, the first one's gotta eat it." Terk laughed.

"Terk, can I come?" Elsa asked.

"Well, you could if you could keep up, but, you know, you can't really keep up." Terk excusably explained why Elsa couldn't come. "Wait up, guys! Wait up! Right behind you!" Terk left to catch up with her friends.

Elsa always hated when Terk left to hang with her friends and never let her join. Elsa never understood why she couldn't come along? But with a look of determination, she didn't want to be left behind again this time!

The falls in the jungle were the most beautiful, lushes place! The water was the freshest to drink and the coolest to swim. It was the biggest hot spot for all the animals to hang out in the jungle, especially the elephants! Upon a high ledge overlooking the falls. Mungo and Flint were hanging out messing around with each other

"Ah, yeah, take that." Mungo bonked flint in the head.

Flint countered by grabbing Mungo's arm, using it to whack himself, "Stop hitting yourself! Flint repeatedly mocked.

Mungo: "Ow!"

"Stop hitting yourself!"

"Ow!"

"Stop hitting yourself!"

Mungo finally having enough gets his arm out of Flint's grip and pulls Flint in and gives him a noogie.

"The fun has arrived. Thank you very much." Terk sang, making a grand entrance.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Flint asked, frowning.

"I had a little pest control problem, but it's all taken care of." No sooner had Terk spoken those words a flash of white barreled out of the jungle flora, knocking the young gorilla right into her pals.

Elsa's white hair was a mess, with twigs and leaves stuck in her white tangled locks. "Hi guys," she greeted.

None of them greeted her back, glaring at Terk in disgust for bringing the Man-cub along.

"Terk, what is this?" Flint demanded. "Some kind of a joke?"

"Tell me I'm not looking at the ice queen!" Mungo growled.

Wiping the leaves and twigs off her hair, Elsa looked hurt by their comments. "Well..." she confessed, "Terk said I can come along if I can keep up."

Immediately, Flint and Mungo started protesting angrily when they realized Terk made her come. "No, no. Terk, come on!"

The female gorilla quickly assured them, "I'll handle this, guys. Okay?" Approaching the man-cub, she put her arm around her and walked toward the ledge of the cliff. "Listen, buddy. Come here. We got a tiny, little, itsy-bitsy problem here, okay. Now personally, you know I'd love to hang out with you, I really would, but the guys...they need a little convincing, you know?"

Elsa was a bit naïve at this, so she assumed she needed to prove herself to win over the other gorilla kids. "Okay, what do I need to do?"

"Do? What do you gotta do?" Terk laughed, scratching the fur under her arms. "Oh, it's so stupid!"

"What?"

"Well, you... you gotta..." Waving her finger in her hair, Terk noticed she pulled out a small piece. She decided to send the girl out on a foolish dare, "you gotta go get a hair."

"A hair?"

"Yeah, yeah. A hair." Terk's eyes enlarged when she heard an elephant trumpeted down below. Her smirk widened, giving her an idea. "An elephant hair."

Looking down at the falls, Elsa's face paled as she watched the two giant beasts fighting for dominance with brute strength. Nobody could ever go up against an elephant, much less more. They are the biggest and strongest animals in the jungle, especially when provoked.

"An elephant hair?" Elsa gaped.

Terk, on the other hand, had a big smirk on her face. She sensed Elsa turning chicken and refusing to back out. "Yeah, I know. Like I said, it's really stupid. So, listen to me, go home. Who really needs all this aggravation anyway? You know, I'm probably going to leave soon anyway. Why don't you go, and I'll catch up all right?" With that, she sent Elsa on her way.

On her way, Elsa paused hesitantly. She wondered why Terk refused to vouch for her in front of those two. She always defended Elsa when it came to the other kids, but when it came to Flint and Mungo, Terk would suddenly become hesitant. At times like this, Elsa wished Talia, Nala, or even Simba were here with her, vouching for her and telling off Terk for her behavior. And this only made Elsa determined to prove to Flint and Mungo how wrong they are.

"You see. Leave it to me. I got it..." Terk's words trailed off when Elsa ran past her and the boys, charging back towards the cliff and jumping off the ledge. "Elsa, no! Not that… way!" Terk cried out, as she and the smiling gorillas rushed to the ledge to see what happens next.

With her eyes closed and with the grace of an Olympic swimmer, Elsa spread her arms out and gradually shifted to a diving position. Her body collided with the water's surface, leaving a huge splash as she dove deep below the surface.

High above, the gorillas winced at the smack of a human body hitting the water, although they had never seen someone dive like that before in their lives.

"That one hurt her," Mungo smiled.

"Show off," grunted Flint.

As Elsa dived into the water, she nearly made it to the bottom. When she opened her eyes, she came face-to-face with a hippo who was grazing on some water plants. The hippo was startled by the Man-cub at first, as was Elsa. She quickly swam away from it, hoping it wouldn't hurt her. But the hippo didn't seem to mind her and swam off. Once Elsa recollected herself, she quickly swam back up to the surface.

The young gorillas were searching down in the water to see if Elsa survived. Then Terk spotted Elsa resurfacing. "Oh, oh look there she is! She's alive!"

"Hey, guys!" Elsa shouted out and waved to them.

"Hi" The young gorillas waved back, although Terk was waving sheepishly.

Elsa then dove down into the water and began to swim off toward the elephants to get the hair and prove herself.

"Oh, no. No, no. Come back! Come back." Terk cried out but to no avail.

But Flint and Mungo found this amusing.

"This girl's great!" Flint laughed, "Hey if she lives you should bring her around more often."

"Come on, come on. Let's go get a better seat." Mungo said as pushed his friend along to go get a better view of Elsa's task.

Terk just sighed, wishing Elsa should've listened to her, and gone home. Feeling something bad was going to happen.

Soon Elsa was near the elephants and made sure to swim quietly so she wouldn't be noticed.

All the elephants were standing around in the water, engaging in conversation. Except for one young little elephant that seemed hesitant to go in the water.

"Mom, are you sure this water's sanitary?" Tantor asked before sticking his foot in the water briefly. "It looks questionable to me."

"It's fine, honey!" His mother called back.

Tantor stepped into the water, finding it gross and still hesitant. "Yuck! But what about bacteria?"

"Tantor, can't you see Mommy's talking?" The mother elephant scolded him because she was busily engaged in polite talk with the other adults.

Glaring, Tantor would've turned for home had he not spotted Elsa swimming underwater directly toward the adult elephants. He gasped, assuming she was one of those dangerous predators in the water. "Watch out! There's something swimming! It's coming right at you!" Tantor ran to his mother, tugging at her trunk to get her attention.

"Honey, Mommy's losing her patience." His mother was starting to get agitated.

Behind one of the male elephants, Elsa's head emerged to the water's surface beneath his tail.

"Piranha! It's a piranha!" Tantor yelled.

Now his mother was growing tired of this. "Honey, there are no piranhas in Africa."

"Shh! Don't tell the kid!" one male elephant told her off. "Of course, there are piranhas in Africa."

"No, she's right," another male disagreed. "They're native to South America."

Unknown to them, Elsa continuously leaps out of the water in a pathetic attempt to grab the elephant's tail and snatch a piece of hair. So far, nothing worked. Then she remembered that she had powers. Lifting her hands, she created a miniature block of ice, just stable and high enough to climb on and reach for her target.

"Aagh! It's right behind you!" Tantor cried. "Run!" He trumpeted.

"For the last time, Honey," his mother turned firm and decided to talk some sense into him, "there are no piranhas in,"

"MY BUTT!"

Elsa had gotten hold of his tail, struggling to yank a single hair piece from the tail. The elephants panicked and ran around in circles, sensing the trouble in the water. One of them stepped on the ice block, making their panicked state much worse. At last, Elsa let go of the tail and was sent flying into the air, screaming.

"What is it?" one of the elephants asked.

"It's a piranha!" Tantor pointed at Elsa upward.

"Huh?" The elephants huddled their bottoms in a circle, hearing the water splash behind them. When they turned to look, Elsa resurfaced with a loud gasp to inhale air. "PIRANHA!" the elephants screamed.

All at once, the elephants began stampeding in a panicked state, too afraid to think straight. Tantor's mother tried to find him, only to get shoved aside. Poor Tantor got caught up in the frenzy, getting separated from the herd.

Elsa tried her hardest to escape, but the heavy weight of being sucked underwater and kicked to and fro by the massive feet made her lose hold of her breath. Thinking fast, she used her powers to push herself out of the fray and to the surface, creating an ice raft for herself to rest on, where she collapsed.

On the shore, Terk and the other gorillas watched in terror at what recently happened, assuming the worst.

"She's dead," Mungo whispered.

To make things worse, the elephants' stampede brought them out of the water and onto dry land, heading right for them.

"WE'RE dead!" the gorillas screamed.

As her friends ran off, Terk tried swinging on a vine to escape, which she did, but she swung into a thick branch. Holding on until the stampede passed.

Meanwhile at the termite mounds...

Not far from the falls were the termite mounds, where the gorilla troop was feeding. Two young gorillas were playing at the end of the mounds near some thick fauna. But in the midst of their playing, they noticed 2 white figures hiding behind the fauna. They stopped to see what it was, then out through the thicket of the leaves a white lioness's head popped out, it was none other than Kya who had also brought Talia along with her to see Elsa. But before she got a chance to say anything, the 2 young gorillas thought she was going to hunt them and began to run away in a panic. This drew the attention of the other gorillas in the troop, and they were about to panic as well, thinking they were being attacked. Luckily Kala rushed forward and settled things.

"Calm down, everyone! I know this lioness," assured Kala, who rushed forward and gave Kya a warm and affectionate hug. "It's good to see you again, Kya."

"Same to you, Kala." Kya returned the embrace by nuzzling her head against her shoulders, purring softly. "How have you been?"

"Things are going well. And you?"

Kya's smile faded. "Not so well...Scar is making everyone miserable. He let the hyenas take over the Pride Lands, they're forcing us to hunt for their prey and-" Her voice trailed off when she noticed Kerchak approaching her, that never-ending distrustful frown still imprinted on his face.

"Kya..." The great Gorilla leader greeted her name with a cold demeanor. He has met her before a few times, but apparently, he never got along with the good-natured lioness.

"Kerchak..." Kya's voice retorted just as icy as his own.

"Why are you here?"

"I came here with my daughter to visit Elsa, and to make sure if everything is okay."

Talia had not stopped jumping up and down with such enthusiasm. "I can't wait to see Elsa again! Where is she? I want to see her!"

"She's not here, I'm afraid," Kala explained. "From what I heard, she's been playing with Terk and her friends. But I haven't seen her all day."

This made Kya a little anxious and worried. If Kala had not seen her all day, even though she mentioned Elsa had been with her friend named Terk, in the back of her mind she felt something was wrong. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Flint and Mungo came bursting out of the shrubbery, screaming in a panic.

"We didn't do it! They're the ones!" one of them shouted.

The other gorillas stared at them, alarmed that something bad must've happened. Just then, a huge herd of elephants came storming through! Not paying attention to anything in their path.

The elephants decimated all the termite mounds in their way. As Kya, Talia, Kala, Kerchak, and all the other gorillas ran away to safety. Kerchak saw that a baby gorilla was trapped in the path of the stampeding elephants, trying to avoid being stomped on. With quick action, Kerchak swooped through the path of the stampede and grabbed the baby gorilla.

Soon the stampede passed through, leavening a trail of destruction behind them. Once the danger reseeded the gorillas recollected themselves and Kerchak handed the baby back to its mother.

"Oh, thank you, Kerchak" the mother gorilla thanked the gorilla leader as she embraced her child.

"Elsa!" Kya sensed something amiss and, believing Elsa is hurt or possibly worse, goes racing ahead with Talia in tow.

Kerchak also sensed something was up that caused this and he had an idea who it was.

Back at the falls…

Terk dragged Elsa's body out of the water, pleading and hoping she was alright, "Elsa, buddy! Buddy, come on! Elsa, don't die on me! Don't die on me! You weren't supposed to do it!"

As Terk was checking Elsa's body to see if she was still breathing, she was quickly pulled away from Elsa by the fearful young elephant from before. Still thinking Elsa was a piranha and was still dangerous.

"Get away from there." Tantor warned, "Don't you know a piranha can strip your flesh in seconds!?" He informed the danger to the young gorilla.

Terk was confused by this young elephant and thought he was ridiculous. "What?" She broke away from Tantor's grasp, "She's not a piranha! She's…"

Then they heard Elsa coughing and gasping for air.

"She's alive!" Terk rejoiced, embracing Elsa and happy to see that her friend didn't drown. "She's alive! She's alive!"

Tantor: "She's alive!"

"She's…" Terk then remembered the events that played. She then dropped Elsa and began to scold her. "You idiot! You nearly gave me a heart attack! You happy?"

"Uh-huh," Elsa replied as she presented her friend with the elephant hair she managed to collect.

"You… I don't believe it. You got the hair!?" She was amazed that after all that chaos Elsa was able to get a hair. Even though she didn't want her to do it in the first place.

"Is that what this is all about? I got a whole tail of them." Tantor said, as he turned around and waved his tail around. Making them all laugh.

"Elsa?"

"Terkina?"

Both girls heard their names being called and knew immediately who was calling them. They both turned and saw Kya appear over the hillock with Talia. Followed by the rest of the gorillas.

"Oh, no." Both girls said at once.

"Who's that?" Tantor asked, leaning toward Elsa. Wondering who the lionesses were.

"My mother and sister" Elsa answered.

Both lionesses rushed in to embrace the Man-Cub, relieved and worried. Elsa was so glad to see her adopted mother and sister again, refusing to let go of them, but the anxiety in Kya's eyes told her that she may or may not be in for a lecture.

"Hi mama" Elsa nervously greeted her adopted mom.

"Elsa, are you hurt? What happened?" Kya demanded.

"Did an Elephant stomp on you?" Talia worryingly asked her sister.

"Um... well" Elsa tried to explain what happened to her mother, but she kept stammering her words.

Before anyone else could answer her question, Kerchak's harsh intimidating voice cut them off, "WHAT happened?"

Everyone fell silent when the great gorilla advanced toward them.

"Kerchak, it was my fault," Elsa confessed sadly.

"Elsa" Kya subtlety gasped.

"I'm sorry, we were playing and-"

"You almost killed someone!" snarled Kerchak, forcing the child to withdraw. "You're a danger to everyone! And you can't control the ice and snow! It's unstable, and it will attract more enemies!"

Angered, Kya stepped forward to shield her adopted daughter. "How dare you speak to her that way! Elsa is still learning to control her powers, but you'll only make things worse if you keep-"

"Why are you defending her?" Kerchak shut her down, very coldly as he shook his head like this lioness was talking delusional nonsense. "Kya, she's NOT your cub!"

Hearing Kerchak making that statement, started to push Kya off the edge. "I'd be careful with what you say, Kerchak!"

"Ever since she arrived, she has caused nothing but destruction." Kerchak continued. "Humans aren't meant to be here!"

"Kerchak, stop please!" Kala pleaded to her mate, but he didn't listen.

"How would your mate feel about this, huh? How would Leon react, seeing that you're raising the very species that killed him!"

That was the breaking point for Kya. Her body posture stiffened. Her eyes widened, then gradually changed to fury. With a roar, her claws extended as she smacked Kerchak's face as quickly as a viper. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!" She snarled, "Yes, Elsa may be a human but that doesn't matter. Elsa is mine! Mine to me! You may be the alpha of this troop Kerchak, but you have no control over the jungle, and you especially have no right to judge or lecture me on my past or choices I have made." She didn't bother to wait for Kerchak to fight, spitefully throwing the most hurtful retort she ever conjured, "Or should I remind everyone including you that Elsa isn't the only one who has suffered a loss from Sabor."

That was the last provocation Kerchak refused to tolerate. He snarled at her and stood up to beat his chest. Kya snarled and bared her fangs. They looked like they were ready to brawl, but luckily Kala stepped in between them to stop this.

"STOP THIS! BOTH OF YOU!" Kala shouted as she stepped in between them. "You are scaring everyone!" She directed them to the crowd of scared gorillas and the young children, including Elsa.

They both saw what they were causing and began to settle down, but it did not stop their quarrel.

Kerchak: "Look Kya, Elsa may be a child, but that is no excuse for her actions."

"She will! Elsa will learn how to control her powers and she will learn how to live here!" Kya deafeningly stated as she held Elsa close to her.

"She won't learn! You can't learn to belong here!"

"Probably because you won't give her a chance!" Kya pointed out.

"Give her a chance? Kya, look at her. She will never belong here!"

Elsa couldn't take it anymore. After hearing that from Kerchak, Elsa broke away from her adoptive mother and ran off into the jungle, wanting to be alone.

"Elsa!" Kya called out to her daughter, but she didn't come back.

Later...

Soon it was nighttime and Elsa was sitting alone in a secluded place near the falls. Just sitting alone by the water. She just kept reflecting on what Kerchak said. That she didn't belong here! A part of her was angry at him for saying that, and another part of her felt that he might be true. Ever since she was sent to live here for her protection it hadn't felt like home.

Elsa looked down at the water, staring at her reflection. Just wishing that things could be different. Wishing things could feel normal again. That she could feel normal again.

Elsa slapped her reflection in the water in anger, causing mud to splatter and hit her in the face.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" That soothing voice came from Kala, whom Elsa found standing calmly behind her.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with those other judgmental gorillas?" The tone in Elsa's voice was just as cold as her magic.

"Your mother asked me to find and check up on you."

"Why do you care?" She stubbornly asked

"Hey! You may not be part of our tribe, but I do care about you just as much as the other gorillas." She told her as she began to clean Elsa from the mud.

Elsa sighed, as Kala helped wipe the mud off her face. Feeling Kala's gentle touches clean her face of mud made her feel at ease and warm inside a little. She regretted speaking icily to her, recalling how different Kala stands amongst her tribe. She's a good gorilla, a loving mate, and a protective friend. Once Kala was done, Elsa saw how clean she was in her reflection in the water and felt grateful for her help.

"Thank you," she told the sweet gorilla and Kala slightly nodded her head and Elsa recognize that it was her saying 'you're welcome".

However, something her mother said to Kerchak earlier made her want to ask someone who knew that stupid Gorilla leader better than her. "Hey, Kala"

"Yes?" The gorilla responded

"What did my mother mean earlier when she said to Kerchak that I wasn't the only one who personally suffered a loss from Sabor?"

Kala paused for a moment then sighed, she then explained the reason for her mate's bitterness. "Well… Elsa. I know Kerchak would never say this to you, but you at least deserve to know." She began to tell her tale, "A long time ago, Kerchak and I had a baby. We were very happy, especially Kerchak. Playing with our son always brought a big smile on his face."

"Kerchak smiled?" Elsa gasped, slightly laughing at the idea and having a little disbelief that the cold, stern, silverback was capable of smiling.

"Yes", she chuckled a little. "I know it's hard to believe Elsa, but Kerchak is very sweet when he can be."

Hearing these brought a new light to Elsa's perspective on the gorilla alpha. It was interesting, plus surprising to hear there was a nice side to Kerchak! But… what happened to him? Then that pegged the one question that Elsa probably already knew the answer to but wanted to know anyway.

"Umm… Kala. W-What happened to your baby?" She hesitantly asked the female gorilla.

Kala took a deeper breath and told her. "One night, whilst we slept, our son wandered off to chase a frog or… something and ran straight into Sabor. His cries and her roar woke us. We tried to rescue him, but by the time we caught up to them, we were too late. Sabor snatched him up in his jaws and dragged him away to… to be." Kala couldn't finish her story, it looked too painful to tell the last part.

Elsa's ivory face turned a shade of white, horrified by the details of Sabor's cruelty and the loss of Kala's baby. Looking back up at Kala, she noticed a little tear glistening in her eye. Obviously thinking about her dead child. Elsa could see how upset Kala was feeling, she wanted to console Kala, but she didn't know how? The girl laid her head on the female gorilla's arm, gently patting it.

It wasn't much but it helped Kala to know there is someone who understands her pain and appreciated the girl's tenderness in her attempt to cheer her up. It's funny though, Kala had been looking for her to cheer up, but instead, the man-cub is the one cheering her up.

"There you two are!" Kya comes round the corner, relieved to have found them. Although she paused when she felt embarrassed to have intruded on them like this, she couldn't help smiling at such a heartwarming moment.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Talia asked, entering the scene a few minutes after.

"No, not at all," Kala assured them. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Saying goodbye to Elsa, the female gorilla then took her leave.

"You gonna be okay, dear?" Kya asked her adopted daughter, aware she was still traumatized by the stampede and what happened after.

"Yeah..." Elsa nodded. Doubt lingered in her voice.

"Come, let me and Talia take you back to Bagheera and Baloo." The trio strolled back to the home tree to drop Elsa off all while walking in silence.

That didn't last long though, "Ugh! The silence is bugging me!" Talia stomped a paw in the dirt, tired and fed up with Elsa's silent refusal to speak of what happened. "Look, Elsa, I know you never meant to cause that stamped on purpose, right? It was an accident! Don't let that moron Kerchak get to you!"

Elsa said nothing.

"Talia!" Kya scolded her, despite being fully aware the cub is only trying to help, then turned her attention softly to Elsa. "But she's right. It was an accident. And I don't want you getting into more trouble while you're in the jungle. I understand it's hard to be apart from the ones you love, but I need you to be strong for me. Do you understand?"

Without a word, Elsa nodded acceptingly.

Talia felt bad for lashing out, calming herself down to console her human sister. "Don't worry. We'll try to visit you more often when an opportunity occurs."

"Thank you." Elsa smiled gingerly. Upon reaching the home tree, the girl hesitated for a second. "Could you... could you stay with me... a little longer, please? Just until I fall asleep?" she pleaded desperately.

"Of course." Kya accepted her request. Helping her daughters climb up the tree she made sure they both got to the nest safely up top. Also making sure they were both comfortable enough before closing their eyes, and curled beside them for warmth, falling fast asleep with them. As Elsa drifted off to sleep, she hoped that her new life in the jungle will get easier.

Hope you guys enjoyed this long-awaited update. Don't forget to leave a comment.

And be on the lookout for more stories I plan to release later this month. There are going to be quite a few!