A/N: Hello everyone, I would like to say that I'm INCREDIBLY sorry for the excruciatingly long wait for another chapter. A lot of stuff has happened in my life as of recently. Some good perhaps, but a lot of stressful situations have been put on me outside of Fanfiction. I've also been dedicating most of my time to my original works outside of Fanfiction as I plan on releasing my first book next year at some point.
I hope this chapter satisfies, and consider it an apology for taking an absence without really letting any of you know that I would be gone. For those wondering, this story will be concluded and I plan on making a sequel to this story here and The Jungle Book: The Story Re-Told as well. Please stay tuned for chapter 6, as it will CERTAINLY not take as long to put out as this one did.
(Chapter 5: Keep friends close)
"I've never seen so many of them in one spot like this before, almost all of them are males." Professor Porter spoke with wonder as he looked at a few male gorillas following each other in a line through a patch of jungle, Jane was with him at the time and found the sight to be quite strange.
"Shouldn't they have some females with them, or even some young perhaps?" She asked with a raised brow, turning towards her father.
"Yes, but this is sometimes seen with lions. Sometimes male lions will form small prides that only include males, a brotherly bond if you will." Professor Porter replied with a proud smile, such was a thing Jane hadn't heard of, even if her father was an acclaimed name at Harvard.
"Gorillas can do the same thing?"
"I would imagine s—" Suddenly, the sound of limbs snapping and cracking were heard as a gorilla came charging in behind the two, beating its chest with a cruel roar! It swung its mighty arms up, ready to send some killing blows down towards the father and daughter, but Tarzan would make the save, swinging in from a vine above them and nailing his feet right into the ape's face, knocking it away.
"Follow me!" Tarzan exclaimed as he rushed through the jungle, Jane and her father gave chase as fast as they could, jumping over fallen shrubbery and pushing dense patches of leaves out of their way as they met the ape-man at a ravine, Tarzan leapt into the air and grabbed hold of a vine, Jane leaping onto his back and locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his body, holding on with a deathgrip.
Tarzan swung from one side of the ravine to the other and everything seemed to go in slow motion for the young woman as they soared over the deep ravine, forcing Jane to let out a scream as they landed on the other side of the crevice. When they landed, Jane still had her arm around Tarzan's waist and she turned to look at him deep in his eyes.
Jane, being unable to hold it back anymore, grabbed the sides of Tarzan's head and forced him into lip lock. Tarzan's eyes lit up with surprise but he embraced his lover and began to kiss her in response, giving her body a gentle, affectionate squeeze with his muscular arms. Tarzan looked across the gorge to see that some gorillas were closing in on Porter and this caused the ape-man to release Jane.
"Jump! Jump for the vine!" Tarzan called out, Porter was hesitant at first but at the last second as a gorilla was within an arm's length away, he jumped and grabbed hold of the vine, wrapping his legs around it as he swung towards the other side.
"Jump!" Tarzan called out to the professor, who let go and went falling towards the edge of the cliff. Tarzan reached out his arms and snagged the smaller man from the air, tugging him into him and away from danger.
"Tublat said to stay out of our affairs, Tarzan!" One of the gorillas called out from the other side of the ravine, Tarzan growled back in response, baring his teeth before pounding his chest with one arm. The gorillas pounded their chests and roared before a few rivals clobbered them from behind, every one of them falling into the ravine, still beating on each other as they fell to their death.
"What is going on?" Professor Porter asked, his heart pounding inside of his chest as he tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths, his breathing shaky and nigh uncontrollable.
"The jungle is at war, old Tublat is causing problems and Kerchak is trying to put an end to them." Tarzan explained.
"Who's Tublat, the one that tried to kill us at our camp?" Jane asked, jumping to the conclusion, Tarzan sighed and shook his head.
"No, that was Kerchak. Him and Tublat have one thing in common, a hatred for humanity…well, for Kerchak is more of a hatred spawned by mistrust." Tarzan answered, Professor Porter's eyes lit up as he looked towards Jane.
"That's it! That's the reason there are so many male gorillas in this area sticking close to each other."
"You're right, and that means this place is dangerous for the both of you. I'll bring you back to your camp, stay there, and don't follow me. If anything happens, Clayton…will…protect…you…" Tarzan said, slowing down as he thought of Clayton, despite him being the protector of his lover and his lover's father, the ape-man still felt that something was off about the Englishman but he couldn't point out what it was.
It could be his arrogant attitude and the egotistical way he carried himself about, or how he aimed that hunting rifle at almost everything that moved, but Tarzan could see that Clayton was without a doubt skilled and he knew that he certainly had bragging rights. However, he felt that there was still something else about Clayton that seemed rather sinister, Tarzan knew that Clayton was undoubtedly a hunter, but the ape-man wondered just how often he hunted animals.
"What's wrong Tarzan?" Jane asked as she and her father followed beside him.
"That Clayton…when you get to your camp, keep him in check, if you don't mind."
"We will!" Jane replied.
"We'll try our best." Professor Porter chimed in.
After around an hour of taking a detour through the jungle, the three arrived at the small camp where Clayton was walking around with his rifle in his arms, upon seeing the three, he rushed upon them with a look of relief.
"Where in the blazes have all of you been!?" The hunter asked.
"Sightseeing." Jane replied, trying to keep it vague.
"It takes you two hours to go sightseeing? What else besides a bunch of trees and bushes can you see? All the animals like to stay hidden from the humans and I'm sure it gets boring after a while."
"While it takes a while sometimes, finding the animal is always worth it." Professor Porter chimed in.
"I can agree with that." Clayton said with a smirk.
"You two stay here, Clayton will protect you." Tarzan instructed Jane and Professor Porter, as he began to bound away, Clayton was quick to stop him.
"Where are you going?" The hunter asked.
"I'm going to protect my family." Tarzan explained before leaping and bounding away into the jungle, his muscular fair skinned body vanishing without a trace.
At the den, Kerchak had arrived and for once, he appeared to be optimistic. The alpha male had a newfound prep in his step and a look of relief mixed with pride was seen on his face.
"Watcha look so happy for, big K?" Terk asked, an excited smile spreading on her face.
"We've claimed victory against Tublat's forces, and we've pushed them back. We've regained some old territory that had been taken from us by his forces back when the war began, I knew that switching up our strategies would do us a favor." Kerchak revealed.
"Well done! I'm happy to hear that." Terk chirped, suddenly, Tarzan broke through the canopy of the den and landed at Kerchak's front.
"Tarzan, I thought I told you to leave and stay away…" Kerchak growled, his brow furrowing, and a grunt was heard from the ape.
"You did, I haven't forgot our conversation. However, I need to be given a chance. I'm willing to do what's right this time, I'm willing to kill Tublat myself."
The den gasped, and a few murmurs were heard amongst the apes. Even Kerchak looked a bit surprised as he backed away, his eyes lighting up upon hearing Tarzan's words.
"If such is what you desire, then follow me. We've pushed them back and have them all cornered against the edge of a cliff. I believe it won't be too long before they surrender, our troops are moving into formation as we speak." Kerchak said, Tarzan let out his signature yell before bounding after his father figure as they darted into the jungle.
"That's what I'm talkin' about! Go get 'em T!" Terk cheered as she watched Kerchak and Tarzan vanish beyond the tree line of the den.
Elsewhere in the jungle, was Percy Isaacs. The Englishman was surrounded by a small bunch of Belgian troops, having disagreed with Jacob's cruel and inhumane strategy of burning down the jungle just to draw out their enemy.
Being older and far more experienced than the younger Jacob, Percy liked to use superior strategy to outwit his enemies and demoralize them when stronger foes were outdone by the intelligent mind. Percy viewed Jacob as chaotic and evil in his strategies, having never met a more ungrateful and just flat out disrespectful man than him. Jacob had promised Percy that the fires his men lit would be "controlled burns" but the Englishman doubted his younger ally.
"We must be careful, we're entering the territory of—" A Belgian troop went to speak until a spear planted itself at Percy's feet, a mere few inches away from killing him. The troops were swift to surround their temporary leader, aiming their rifles at all directions into the jungle that surrounded them.
Seconds later, several African tribal warriors emerged from the brush, wielding spears and flimsy wicker shields, having war paint slathered on their faces and chests. As they advanced towards the white men, a few of the tribal people looked surprised, weren't these once their ally in a war that had just ended not too long ago?
"We come in peace, but we will not hesitate to attack if a single one of our men falls to your spears!" Percy announced as loud as he could to get the message across to the tribal warriors.
"Speak your terms!" One of the warriors demanded, being the most prized combatant of the chief. This warrior had a terrifying tribal mask covering his face as a show of status.
"I desire to speak to your chief, and if I am allowed, then I will assure each one of you that weapons shall be given as a reward, from rifles to sabers. This deal shall benefit both your people and mine."
The warriors backed off, but they didn't take their eyes off the troops.
"Come with me." The leader of this group instructed, Percy nodded his head and marched towards the village with the tribal warriors and the Belgian troops.
Upon entering the village, the troops would see little children playing around on the dusty grounds of the village, some of them chasing each other and others wrestling and tumbling around. The adults were doing daily tasks such as fetching water, and some were coming back with hunted gazelle.
The houses of these villagers were built from tightly packed mud and other sediment that formed into bricks, the roofs were made of thatch, the structures varied in sizes but kept the same round shape with a conical roof with a single open door.
As Percy and the Belgian soldiers that followed him entered the village, all eyes were soon on them, some of the villagers smiled at the sight of them for they had just helped them out not too long ago.
"Mambu, ba bengi yo! Tozali na bapaya oyo bazali na mposa ya kosala mbongo." The warrior's leader called out; Percy looked amongst the Belgian troops with confusion before turning his head to face one of the largest huts in the village.
A rather tall, bulky man emerged. Percy had to take a step back at the sight of the chief as he stood a few yards away from him.
Mambu stood 6'4 and had to weight somewhere around 275. On his head was a beautiful feathered tribal headdress that mostly consisted of reds and oranges but occasional whites and dark browns were in the mixture of feathers as well that surrounded the center of the piece. The shield that he carried was almost the same height as him and nearly just as wide, being a light brown coloring with some tribal designs on the front of it.
"I take it that you're their chief?" Percy asked, Mambu would nod his head and point his spear towards him, the Belgian troops stood alert.
"Speak your terms." Mambu commanded, and Percy was happy to oblige.
"Your former allies are facing a tremendous threat. Several other tribes have been using guerilla strategies to attack our camp, while we've been able to resist them, there is one man that has been humiliating us and lowering our morale at a rather consistent rate…the man's name is Tarzan."
The entire village fell silent after a couple of gasps were heard amongst the tribe, Mambu appeared bewildered as he shook his head while staring towards the ground. His mind couldn't process how Tarzan was an enemy as he had regularly visited them with offerings of slain game as well as various fruits and vegetables.
"No…Tarzan is an ally; he is not our enemy!" Mambu replied bluntly.
"I can see where your concern lies, and where you're coming from. However, consider how the Belgian troops helped you out during your previous quarrels with the Arabs. Everyone and everything seem to want us gone, perhaps they want us dead too. Was it not the involvement of Jacob Dupont and his troops that helped you during your war?" Percy asked, keeping cool and collected. Mambu's brows furrowed as he tried to come up with some other solution, but in the back of his mind, he knew that he couldn't. The chief let out a sigh as Percy continued speaking.
"Think, Mambu. If we are to leave you alone to your own devices, or if we are to be destroyed. Any other conflict that comes your way will leave your tribe against most impossible odds…however, if we are allowed to stay and fight with you and against any other tribe that turns our back against us, consider yourselves protected for a lifetime. Believe me when I say this: There are people in this world right now that wishes to enslave and torment your people, but if you keep your allegiance with us, we will strike down all opposition that comes your way."
All eyes were on the chief now as he paced around for a moment, and a grin began to spread upon Percy's lips as he heard another sigh pass through Mambu's lips before he stopped.
"If we agree to your terms…what is your offer?" The chief asked, his voice burning with regret.
"Our plan is to either kill or take Tarzan as prisoner, if you choose to help us, we will supply your tribe with advanced weaponry, and we will forever support you in any further conflicts that fall upon you. If you refuse, we will pack our gear and leave the Congo, but the consequences of our departure will come, so choose wisely."
Mambu had heard stories of other tribesmen and women being taken away from their native land to a distant location over the seas that he hadn't heard of in something that was known as the "Triangle Trade" he heard that other tribes sold their prisoners of war for guns and other goods from the English, but those that were sent away were never heard from or seen again. He then looked at the rifles that the Belgian troops that surrounded Percy were carrying, he remembered their cannonballs and weaponry that he couldn't even fathom during the proxy war, and how thankful he was that these people with superior power were on their side. Wanting to live his life on his feet than on his knees, the chief decided to do what he considered unthinkable.
"We agree to your terms." The chief sighed, and Percy's cruel smirk only grew wider.
"Excellent choice, Mambu." Percy spoke slyly. "Men, lay down your arms."
"We don't take orders from you." One of the Belgian troops spoke as soft as he could allow his voice to go.
"Until we head back to camp, you'll do as instructed or else face severe punishment. Lay down your bloody rifle and fall to command." Percy growled, and the rebellious troop did as was told.
Mambu was then seen emerging from behind his hut with an animal companion by his side. It was a female leopard that had a collar and chain around her neck, the spotted beast glared towards the white men with bloodthirsty eyes as she padded towards them, Mambu gently tugged the chain and the domesticated feline approached her handler.
"Sabor shall hunt Tarzan before any of us do, if that is acceptable for you." The chief announced.
"The more the merrier." Percy said as he and the Belgian troops started to move back from their rifles, Percy was the only one who had a weapon still and that was his golden saber.
The tribal warriors that ambushed the troops earlier rushed upon the weapons and quickly snatched them up before moving back, glaring towards their allies, some were tempted to attack with their new weapon, but Mambu's piercing gaze towards them forced them into submission.
"When Tarzan is either killed or captured, we will reward you handsomely with better weaponry than just those rifles. Until we meet again, we thank you for your compliance."
Meanwhile, Tarzan and Kerchak was following their troops from the treetops. Noticing Tublat and a few of his gorilla warriors staring upon them from the top of a ridge in the distance.
"They can't afford to get pushed back any further, if they do they will be going off of a cliff. Tublat's forces will be split in two as they head to the East and to the West. However, if you can take him down now, this war will end."
When Kerchak turned to face his son, he noticed that Tarzan's face had shriveled up as if he was smelling something foul.
"Is something wrong?" The ape asked.
"Yes, it smells like something is burning. Can you smell it too?"
Kerchak to a whiff of the air and a deep rumbling came from his throat as his eyes narrowed.
"Something isn't right. There must be a blaze nearby." The ape growled.
"I'll take Tublat down first, and then I'll investigate." Tarzan announced.
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Tarzan…"
"We'll handle it, but we must end this war now."
Tarzan took off, swinging down from the thick tree limb that held him and Kerchak. Once he reached the ground, the ape-man made sure to keep himself hidden in the brush as he rushed towards the ridge in a semi-circular pattern.
"Tarzan!" A few of the enemy apes called, Tublat looked around with worry in his eyes before pounding his chest with a deafening roar. He noticed a streak of brown zip through the tree line and sure enough, it was the ape-man.
"Bastard Tublat!" Tarzan cried out as he advanced towards the enemy ape at an alarming speed, baring his teeth with rage in his eyes. Some of the apes that surrounded Tublat rushed upon the human, but their leader would stop them.
"Sire, he's come to kill you!" Protested one of the apes, but Tublat grinned and waved him down.
"He isn't going to."
Once Tarzan was within a kick's length, he would leap into the air and look to tackle the ape, just to get backhanded and launched against a tree. Tarzan let out a groan and collapsed to all fours, coughing like mad, spittle flew from his mouth and coated the grass at his feet.
"You have no business getting involved in our war, Tarzan." Tublat spoke as he approached him, a few of his best gorilla troops flanking his left and right.
"You killed my mother…you monster…" Tarzan growled as he pounded the ground with his fist before staring back up at his enemy, baring his teeth, his brows furrowing.
"Kala was never your mother." Tublat snarled, causing Tarzan to let out a cry of rage before charging forward. Tublat went for a punch but Tarzan ducked under it and leapt onto the ape's back, looking to fasten his arms around the beefy throat of his foe, but Tublat would reach up with one of his arms and launch Tarzan off and at his front.
"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Tarzan screamed as Tublat grabbed his foot and launched him into another tree, the entire tree shook, the leaves rustling as some of the bark was chipped off upon impact. Tarzan clutched his back and writhed in agony, suffering a coughing fit.
"The image your so called 'mother' shown you wasn't enough to prove you wrong!?"
"I bet you killed the woman in the image too…"
Then there was a pause and Tublat sighed as Tarzan peeled himself off of the ground. Huffing and puffing to regain air into his body after having it knocked out of him twice.
"Come with me, Tarzan." Tublat said sternly after a minute of silence and the two staring each other down, the ape-man was hesitant but once he saw that the other apes that had surrounded him weren't becoming hostile, he decided to trust his enemy for now.
"Humans are a sickness to the jungle, Tarzan. It's why I tried to kill you when you were young, it's why I killed that man and woman in the picture. You're only here because Kerchak spared you." Tublat spoke softly as he brushed his large arms against the tropical ferns and shrubbery in the jungle as they made their way towards a cliff.
"So, you did kill the lady in the image!" Tarzan barked, his heart rate began to climb and his hands curled into fists. His teeth were clenched as he stared Tublat down intensely.
"If you would shut your mouth and let me talk, I will explain why I did those things, and you will see why I did those things." Tublat growled, Tarzan took a rugged breath before pacing around the gorilla in an effort to calm his angered heart down.
"Go ahead, and pray to the creator that I find your words of worth." He warned.
"We kill because we have to, the predators kill because they must—" Tublat began before taking his pointer finger and ramming it into Tarzan's sternum with brute force four times over. "YOUR kind kills because they desire to kill, they kill for royalties and riches. They will kill a lion to make a rug from their hide, they will kill the mighty elephants for their tusks, and the rhinos for their horns. I seen this happen from when I was young, the jungle went into a mass hysteria over it. Since I wasn't a leader of any kind, I watched as YOUR people needlessly slaughtered many of our friends, I watched as they disrupted the natural order and couldn't do a thing about it…"
Tarzan's mouth hung open and his lips quivered with a gasp escaping his lips, he shook his head with his eyes open wide before a whimper of outright confusion was heard.
"Tublat…I…"
"That's why I want you dead, Tarzan. Our tribe is divided because of you. They should have let me end your life when you was just a crawling infant, but no…the tribe had to kiss your ass and now look what's happening. Not just with the war going on between my troops and Kerchaks—" Tublat began before brushing away a large cluster of brambles and shrubbery to reveal something that would shake Tarzan to his very core.
The ape-man could feel tears welling in his eyes, his heart sank but then began to beat a little faster than before, faster and faster did his heart pound in his chest. His eyes felt warm as a few tears rolled down his cheeks, but he couldn't tell if that was from his emotions or from what was in the distance.
He tried to gulp, but found that there was a knot in his throat and it forced him to take a labored breath as he shook his head, more tears fell from his eyes as he wept silently without any noise coming from him. His face a perpetual expression of shock and terror, and perhaps there was some rage in his brown eyes.
Around two-hundred meters in the distance, all Tarzan could see was fire. He watched hopelessly as smoldering trees collapsed, and a few animals fled from the flames with burning embers attached to their hides. The exotic birds in the trees had to constantly switch to avoid being burnt alive.
"But with the war going on outside of the jungle as well…" Tublat finished, staring into Tarzan's eyes with pure hatred.
"Your people will be the death of us all and the ruin of our home. The war between Kerchak and father will be coming to an end soon, but it won't be on our terms." Terkoz, Tublat's son, growled towards Tarzan.
Tarzan thought of Terk, Tantor, and all of the animal friends he grew up with in the jungle. He wondered if some of them had been torched and turned into a charred carcass by now, the fire was just too large. At the very foot of this mountain was a massive lake that could potentially stall the spread of the flame's influence, but it would only last for so long.
The ape-man also thought of his human mother and father, the names of which he'll likely never know, he thought of Clayton, Mr. Porter, and Jane…wait a minute…Jane…
"Jane, JANE! I have to save Jane!" Tarzan screamed as he hurried away from the battlefield between Kerchak and Tublat's forces