Grown up Aliya, and the arrival of the English.

Thanks to all who have reviewed! I love you guys! *blows kisses*

The deadly leopard circled Aliya, its teeth bared in a snarl.

It would love to kill me, she thought to herself. And any other gorrilla it comes across. I'll die before I let it get to the little ones.

Kerchak had been wrestling with it when she'd come upon the scene, and the moment Kerchak faltered Aliya had gripped her spear and taken her chance. Above them, her family was making a clamour of supportive noises, which while inspiring, did little for her nerves.

I have to outsmart it. Aliya's hand reached into the tight strip of cloth that covered her chest and withdrew her emergency hand axe. She brought it behind her back and hoped that keeping it out of sight would put it out of Sabor's mind. This was the creature who had murdered Kerchak's and Kala's first child, so she had every intention of avenging her would-have-been sibling.

The animal lunged and she managed to hold it off with her spear while her other hand gripped the hand axe in preparation. With a final thrust of the spear to keep Sabor occupied, she brought the pointed rock down and slashed it across the leopard's throat. Blood sprayed across her face and she shoved the spotted body away from her and waited for it to bleed out.

The chorus of gorillas were howling with victory and pride swelled in her chest. Life with them was the only life she had ever known, but she knew that she had always been an outsider to them because of the fact that she was different. But hear them cheer her on...it made her feel like she really was just one of them.

There was one more thing to do. She knelt and heaved Sabor's body into her arms and walked until she could lay it at Kerchak's feet. She got onto her knees in front of the leader of the gorillas and bowed her head respectfully. For a moment or two she remained there before getting to her feet and walking away. One sneaky glance at Kerchak told her that he was certainly not rushing to accept her in a sudden change of heart, so there was no reason for her to linger.

She'd given up hope long ago of him wanting her for a daughter, but somehow it never failed to sting even with her being fully grown.

After aimlessly wandering for a while, she ended up heading back to the nest. Kala was happy to see her.

"That was quite something today," her mother said. "But reckless."

"I got very lucky," Aliya admitted. "But I had to try." She sat down in front of her and took a banana to start eating. "It was about time we were rid of Sabor."

"And now we are, thanks to you. I'm very proud." Kala reached out a large hand to ruffle Aliya's short but very fluffy hair. Aliya ducked her head and grinned.

She was about to say something when a booming noise like lightning crackled through the air. Both of them jumped in surprise, and turned to see a strange light fading from just above the end of the treeline, where the ocean was.

"What was that?" Aliya asked, jumping to her feet. "I've never heard anything like it."

"I don't know," Kala said uneasily.

"I want to get a closer look." Without another word, Aliya grabbed the nearest vine and swung her way through the jungle to see just what had made that terrible sound. A pattering of voices could be heard, and when she peered down through the tree layer, she was alarmed to see a whole group of creatures moving into the clearing below. Some carried large square objects under their arms, some carried small complex things, but all were enigmatic in the fact that they looked just like her.

Could it even be possible? She'd always thought she was some strange disfigured gorilla, a one in a million oddity. But perhaps not. What were these things, that resembled her in their pale baldness but walked on only their feet?

Two of the creatures seemed to be talking, but she couldn't understand their form of speech. What she did understand was the physicality of their interactions and how the one female of the group was touching the cheek of one of the youngest male ones. That was a mother and a child, she'd know it anywhere.

But just who were these strangers like her? She had to know.

It's REALLY weird writing Aliya as any kind of competent warrior. But, for the sake of the plot and under the gorilla and jungle raising circumstances, it makes sense for her to be at the very least not bad and kind of lucky.

Next chapter will finally see some John/Aliya interaction! Woo!

Reviews and feedback are appreciated!

-MayFairy

Anonymous Review Replies:

RandomW - I try to avoid Mary Sues at all cost. I constantly run Aliya and a few of my other OCs through litmus tests and stuff to make sure they aren't Sueish. The main thing is to just make characters REAL. I've found that tends to remove Sueishness. But I know what you mean, there are some cringe-worthy Sues around, especially in the Doctor Who fandom. I do hope you like Aliya, it's great that you don't mind her so far. Thanks for the review and I am excited to keep hearing your thoughts on this! :)