Chapter 3: Trashin' the Camp
No sooner had Darkwing been returned to the ground than Tarzan was urging them to move on.
"Bad men. Danger," he said, pointing in the direction of the hunters' camp.
Tarzan led them through the jungle, swinging through the lower branches as agilely as any monkey. Mickey and the others followed as best they could on foot. It was difficult going, for there were no obvious trails here and they were often waist deep in thick undergrowth. Occasionally Tarzan would get ahead of them and several fearful moments would pass as they waited in the darkness for him to return. Each time this happened he would grunt something in admonishment and urge them to go faster.
The trees ended very suddenly at the foot of a high cliff. Tarzan guided the group through a narrow defile and into a rocky hollow. At the far end was a cliff of even greater height, which they were told to climb. Kim, a fully-trained rock climber, reached the top with ease but both Mickey and Darkwing found the ascent much more difficult.
"This is why… I carry a… gas-gun," Darkwing wheezed as he finally hauled himself onto the sward of grass at the top.
Beyond there lay a wide, round lagoon, silver in the moonlight. Away to the group's left a waterfall fell down from the hills to disturb its smooth surface. As soon as everyone had made the climb, Tarzan was urging them towards the waterfall.
Pressing himself up against the cliff face, the ape-man moved sideways along the water's edge until he had passed under the waterfall and out of sight. One by one, the group followed him.
Behind the waterfall, completely hidden from the outside, was a cave entrance leading deep into the hills. The sloping tunnel was perfectly dark but, several hundred metres in, Kim was surprised to see faint orange light up ahead. As they pressed deeper and deeper in, she saw that simple torches had been mounted at intervals in brackets along the walls.
The tunnel opened up into a huge cavern, as grand and majestic as any church. Kim could see more tunnel mouths in the far walls, doubtless leading to similar caves. The whole room was filled with gorillas. The adults lay on piles of dead grass and leaves, or squatted on the bare stone, their faces sullen. Here and there groups of their young played half-heartedly. The whole cave seemed thick with a sense of gloom.
A few young males near the tunnel mouth stirred at their approach. There were inquisitive grunts, followed by snarls. The females drew their young close to them as they edged away from the newcomers. Suddenly, a woman's voice cried out:
"Tarzan! Who are they?"
A young woman dressed in a ragged skirt and shirt approached them, winding her way between the gorillas.
Tarzan began speaking very rapidly to the young woman. It was like no language that Kim had ever heard before. If she could not see the young man's handsome face, she would have thought she was listening to an excited ape. The young woman seemed equally fluent in this strange grunting and growling, occasionally glancing from Tarzan to the group and back again. Kim suddenly became aware that the gorillas were also listening very intently to the conversation, as if they understood every word that was said.
"Can gorillas talk?" she whispered to Mickey, feeling very foolish even asking the question.
"Of course gorillas can talk; all animals talk!" said the young woman who had been speaking with Tarzan.
"They talk a darn sight better than most humans," she continued, a mischievous smile flashing across her face.
"Tarzan has told me everything that's happened, although I'm afraid we don't know your names. Mine's Jane Porter: how do you do?" she said.
When all the introductions had been made, the group settled down in a corner of the cave to take some refreshment.
"They're not… dangerous, are they?" Kim asked Jane, one eye on the gorillas.
"Oh no," said Jane breezily, "Tarzan has explained to Kerchak that you are Sora's friends and he's agreed to let you stay the night. Kerchak is head of this troop, you see."
For a while there was silence as the group helped themselves to the succulent jungle fruits Jane had brought them and quenched their thirst with water, fresh from the lagoon. Tarzan sat a little apart, eyeing the newcomers suspiciously.
"I didn't think gorillas lived in caves," Kim said to Jane.
"They don't normally," she replied, "We brought them here to hide from those wicked men. That was two weeks ago. We bring them food and fresh bedding when we can but we can't go out too often: their trackers are very good. At first, we went to the old tree house but we weren't careful enough."
"We saw," said Hercules.
"That's not the worst of it. We've had hunters in the jungle before but never this many, or so well equipped. They're more like an army than a hunting party. No; they're worse than an army. They kill indiscriminately. Their leaders are only after the biggest and the best trophies: anything they don't want is either shipped back to the circus or killed and left behind. It's barbaric."
"You mentioned their equipment," said Kim, "We saw three of them carrying a kind of ray-gun. Are they common on your world?"
"Ray… guns? I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about, my dear," replied Jane.
"Someone's been meddlin' here," said Mickey darkly, "Those ray-guns must have come from off-world."
"We heard them discussing the 'White Ape'," Basil told Jane, "Am I right to assume that it was Tarzan they were referring to?"
"Yes, they think he is the greatest 'prize' in the jungle," said Jane bitterly, "That devil Clayton at least has revenge as a motive: we have crossed paths before now. But the others, they just want to boast that they have killed the most dangerous creature in the jungle."
"Jane, I need to talk with Tarzan," said Mickey, "Can you translate for me?"
"Of course," said Jane. She called Tarzan over to her side and translated as Mickey explained to him why they had come to visit. It was very similar to what he had told Kim, although he placed great emphasis on Sora and the potential danger he was in.
When he had finished, Tarzan looked greatly troubled. Kim could read conflicting emotions flashing across his strong, grey eyes. When he spoke, it was slowly and very deliberately.
"Tarzan says he is very sorry to hear that Sora is missing," Jane translated, "and that he wishes you every success in your search but he cannot come with you. He must defend the troop."
"Please tell him that I understand," said Mickey, "but what is happening here, to this troop, is happening on all the worlds. If he wants to defend his people, and all other peoples out there, against men like those hunters, he must come with us."
"I think he understands," said Jane, "but he cannot leave. He is the only defender this troop has. Those men have guns; guns frighten the gorillas. If Tarzan leaves, it will only be a matter of time before they are all captured or worse."
"One man with a spear against a hundred with guns?" said Kim sceptically.
"Better one man than none," Jane replied, "He has been harrying them for days now. I think he hopes to lead them as far away from this place as he can."
"We'll help him," said Hercules, his face fairly glowing with noble sentiment.
"The five of us, unarmed against that band of cutthroats? Talk sense man!" cried Basil.
"Jane," said Mickey, his brow creased in thought, "ask Tarzan, if we help him get rid of the hunters, will he come with us?"
Tarzan nodded.
"But how will you do it?" Jane asked.
"Well, we've got some real smart people here in this cave. I'm sure if we all put our heads together we'll come up with a plan," said Mickey confidently.
So the group fell to discussing. Everyone had their say, with Mickey acting as de facto chair and Jane translating everything that was said for Tarzan. Outside the cave the sun rose, traversed its arch across the sky and descended back beneath the horizon before they could all agree on a workable plan.
That night Tarzan, Jane and Mickey's group left the cave and, dividing into three parties, descended into the jungle to make the necessary preparations. When these were completed, they returned to hidden cave to wait until sundown the next day, when they would execute their plan.
Earlier in the evening Basil had crept to the very edge of the hunters' camp, to make sure that they had not moved during the day and also to spy on their guard. Meanwhile, Tarzan, Jane and Kim were taking up their positions in the trees to the east of the camp. Kim had exchanged her usual suit of formfitting dark clothes for a loose skirt and shirt borrowed from Jane. The lighter clothes felt much more comfortable in the humid jungle but this was not why she had changed: they left her white legs and arms bare. Tying her long red hair up with a strand of jungle creeper, Kim selected a bough particularly thick with leaves and settled down to wait.
She was entirely alone. Jane was waiting half a mile further east, while Tarzan was poised within a stone's throw of the camp. The rest of the group, led by Mickey, were travelling to the western side of the camp, giving it the widest berth possible. The whole plan rested on their being in position in time.
It was another cloudless night. The rays of the tropical moon fell through the jungle roof, sprinkling the ground with yellow light. The air around Kim hummed with the sound of living things. It was oddly soothing.
A sudden scream tore through the night. Kim leapt to her feet, poised for action. Tarzan had made his move. She could hear men's voices shouting, faint in the distance, then a rifle shot. The voices drew closer, accompanied by more sporadic shooting. For a second the jungle scene was lit by a brilliant white laser beam. The group was drawing closer. She could hear the rumble of many feet, the swish and crash of machetes hacking through undergrowth and angry voices, roaring and bellowing orders.
Tarzan was past her in an instant, swinging on the jungle creepers as fast as an acrobat. Kim dived from her perch on the bough and followed him through the upper branches of the trees. There were cries of consternation from the pursuing hunters:
"Where'd that one come from?"
"There's two of 'em!"
"The ape's on the right."
"Nah, he's the one on the left."
"Just shoot 'em!"
Kim could hear the bullets whistling as they flew past her but she had been under fire enough times not to panic. A laser beam severed the bough she had swung from only a second before, narrowly missing her retreating back.
"Go!" Tarzan called over his shoulder, plunging on through the jungle.
Shifting her weight as best she could, Kim used the creeper she was swinging from to wheel right, away from Tarzan. The pursuing hunters cried out in confusion. The drumbeat of their feet slowed.
"Come on, come on," Kim murmured through gritted teeth, not daring to slow or glance back.
A moment later, to her relief, she heard running footsteps behind her.
"Hold your fire. This one is mine!" she heard Gaston cry. A moment later a laser beam flashed past her head. Whatever else he was, Gaston was no mean shot.
Kim silently cursed the darkness. Everything looked so different at night. She had no time to stop and check she was on the correct path. She was moving on pure instinct now, hands grasping at the nearest available branch or vine, her only thought for finding a safe handhold. She was not as fast as Tarzan and the hunters were gaining ground. If they drew too close they might discover the deception and double back.
It was only Gaston's wail of surprise that told Kim that she had reached her destination. Twisting in midair, she swung herself up into the leafy cover of the treetops. Peering down at the trail below, she saw that Gaston's minions had turned and fled back along the trail, leaving their chief stranded in the concealed pit he had stumbled into.
When she was sure that his men would not be returning, Kim dropped down onto the trail. She recovered the net of grass ropes that Tarzan had woven, from beneath a covering of ferns and casually dropped in on top of Gaston. His roars of defiance still ringing in her ears, Kim returned to the trees and retracted her path to the hunters' camp. She hoped that Mickey and the others had managed to fulfil their part of the plan.
The terrified screams that assailed her ears as she approached the camp soon allayed any fears she might have had. From the upper branches of a particularly tall tree she looked down on the camp and watched the chaos unfurl. The men, their chiefs off pursuing Tarzan and the imposters, were in complete disarray. Using his Keyblade, Mickey had managed to unlock many of the cages and loosed the beasts on their erstwhile captors. A few animals had been shot, their bodies lying amidst the wreckage of the tents, but most of the men seemed to have simply thrown down their weapons in terror and fled into the jungle. It was a whirlwind of teeth and fur and claws. The great leopard was bounding around the camp perimeter, swatting down those who passed with his claws. Wherever one poor unfortunate stumbled, a moment later the leopard was there, fastening its mighty jaws on his throat.
Over in the corner of the camp, Mickey was still busy freeing the last of the animals. Kim saw his Keyblade touch the manacles binding the red elephant. Free at last, the elephant gave a cry so loud that Kim could feel the earth trembling even where she sat. Wielding the manacles in its trunk the elephant ploughed into the fray, laying about the hunters with the chain like a flail.
Some of the hunters had managed to band together a little apart from the main fight and were levelling their rifles at the elephant. Before even one of them could pull the trigger Hercules, spotting their intent, had hurled one of the empty cages towards them. It scattered the hunters like a bowling ball through pins, crushing several. Kim was amazed; it was clear that Ron's talk of godlike strength had not been far wrong.
The fighting was over in an instant. Some of the animals vanished into the jungle, while others just stood and stared around in dumb confusion. None of them tried to attack Mickey or his friends, although whether this was because they recognised them as their rescuers or they were just tired Kim could not tell.
She was just about to go down to them when a white figure appeared on the edge of the camp. As he approached the great fire that still burned in the centre, Kim recognised the face of Tarzan. Clayton, bound hand and foot, was slung over his shoulder as if he weighed no more than a child. Dropping his burden before the fire, Tarzan placed his foot on Clayton's chest, threw back his head and roared.