Chapter 2: Jungle Hijinx

"He's the first member of the DK Crew!"

A full five minutes of running got Marie... seemingly nowhere.

Though she ran far, it was impossible to tell where she was exactly. To make matters worse, the dirt path she was retracing back to Inkopolis eventually disappeared.

Marie stopped running, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. As she panted heavily, she noticed the forest environment was somehow different.

There was considerably more shade than before, thanks to the thicker and sudden abundance of vegetation. The trees themselves were much bigger than before, with long vines dangling from their branches.

Marie gulped before standing up straight and separating herself from the tree. "This isn't a forest..." she commented to herself, recognizing the environment as a jungle. How could that be? She and Callie passed through here no less than ten minutes ago! The land can't just change like that.

But... it did.

The ambient noises of rustling leaves and a vibrant ecosystem echoed all around her. Some noises she had never even heard before. This went beyond what Marie ever thought was possible. What in the Kraken is going on here?

A loud rustle coming from Marie's side snapped her into focus. She jumped back upon seeing something emerge—it was large and covered in blue feathers, reminding her of a bird. Actually, maybe that's exactly what it was since it walked on giant talons and had a huge beak.

Just like how its appearance unnerved Marie, it would seem her presence angered the overgrown bird, as it began squawking at her. Marie stepped back, prompting the large blue bird to charge. With a yelp, she turned on her heels and bolted through the jungle.

Her frantic attempt to escape caused her to hit a few branches. She even tripped a few times, ruining her green jacket and black pants. But her adrenaline gave her a burst of speed each time she fell or slowed down. She did not want that bird thing to catch her.

Marie ran a little too fast for her own good, as she ended up running right off a cliff—one she was certain had never been there before. She yelled on her way down, smashing into the trees below. Grunts and yelps escaped her with each branch she hit until her back finally impacted the jungle floor.

Good news was the branches slowed her lethal fall. The bad news was her landing was anything but soft. "Ow..." she murmured lazily, lying sprawled out while staring at the blue sky.

Marie was tuckered out from all the running, so much so, she felt like she could fall asleep right there. All she'd need to do was imagine herself lying on a soft mattress wrapped in warm blankets. The thought alone made her sleepy. Despite her wishes, she forced herself to get up.

She brushed all the loose sticks and leaves off her, feeling a minimal but burdening pain course throughout her backside, which caused her to move with a limp.

She headed in the direction of Inkopolis. At least, she assumed Inkopolis was in that direction. To be honest, she didn't know where she was headed. Man, at this point, she didn't even know where she was on the map! But anything that got her away from that blue bird would be enough.

Marie didn't get far before her stomach announced it was hungry. "I told Callie we should've brought snacks." She moaned in distress, only for something small to drop on her head. She winced before rubbing her head.

Marie looked down to see a banana. "What the?" she voiced her confusion, looking up to see an airship overhead. It carried a net chock-full of bananas, occasionally dropping a few as it flew off. Marie was too exhausted to question why an airship was carrying a net full of bananas or how it was even here. Instead, she kneeled to pick up the banana.

When her focus shifted back to her surroundings, she found herself enclosed in a small circle by a group of tikis. She jolted at the realization.

The tikis looked like drums wearing skirts with red feathers on the sides of their heads. But even with such a harmless appearance, their glowing whitish-yellow eyes gave them a menacing aura, frightening Marie further.

These tikis didn't look like they were out to hypnotize her. Was this it? The end of a famous idol? She felt like it was. She closed her eyes, resigning to her fate as the tikis came closer. "I'm sorry, Callie..." she whispered, hugging the banana tightly.

A loud crash suddenly emitted, startling her eyes open. One of the tikis was smashed to splinters by an enormous behemoth covered in brown fur. It looked even scarier than the bird that chased her minutes ago.

The creature banged on its chest, letting out a loud war cry. It looked like it was egging the tikis on for a fight, and it worked. The whole group practically ignored Marie, focusing on the large creature.

It grabbed the closest tiki, hurling it into another and destroying them both upon collision. Then, the creature jumped onto another tiki, crushing it with its feet while also bouncing off it into the trees, grabbing hold of some branches before dropping back down with a small thud.

The tikis quickly surrounded the behemoth when it landed. Before they could attack, it raised its bulky arms and repeatedly slapped the ground. The force from its slaps caused a mini earthquake, and Marie lost her balance.

Like her, the tikis were stunned by this maneuver. During their vulnerability, the large behemoth made quick work of the tikis, reducing them all to smashed wooden chunks.

After disposing of the tikis, the creature cheered loudly before pounding its chest again. All Marie could do was stare in bewilderment. What was she looking at right now?

Amidst her trying to process that question, the creature stopped cheering and looked at her. Marie felt her entire body tense up in overwhelming fear as it approached her. While her eyes were filled with fear, the creature's eyes had a glare of curiosity in them. It seemed confused, almost like it had never seen something like her.

Its non-hostile approach eased Marie a bit, but could she really trust this thing? It came out of nowhere and clobbered those tikis effortlessly, though she doubted it was to save her. What was it anyway? She's never seen anything like it.

The creature's brown fur reminded her of the Judds, but there was no way this thing was a cat—it looked nothing like one. Wait... the fur... could... could it be a mammal? No, that's absurd. But if not a mammal, what could it be?

Marie's thoughts took her away from the situation at hand. She only snapped back to reality when the brown creature drew a bit too close. Marie scooted back to keep a firm distance between them, quickly noticing its eyes were tracking the banana in her hand.

After a moment of hesitance, Marie handed the banana to the creature, to which its lips curled up into a smile. It took the banana from her and squeezed the fruit out of the peel into its large mouth, eating it whole.

Marie frowned. She wanted to eat that banana. But perhaps it was better than that thing trying to eat her.

The brown creature tossed the empty peel away, relishing the aftertaste of the delicious yellow fruit.

As Marie stared, she noticed it had something around its neck; it was a red tie with bold yellow initials on it. Her eyes widened, shocked that the letters were in English.

Her gramps had some interest in humans. Some of that passion spilled over into her, and she learned a few human words from the English lexicon.

"D...K?" Marie read, earning the attention of the large creature. That must've been its name. Was this thing a human? No, most definitely not. It didn't quite match the shape of one. But it was intelligent enough to wear clothing, even if that clothing was just a tie.

Finally, Marie stood up on her two legs, realizing the furry creature stood on four and still towered over her. She gulped before taking a few cautious steps towards DK. "H-hey. The name's Marie..." she said hesitantly, unsure of what to make of DK. "I-if you don't mind me asking. What are you? Why did you save me?" She questioned, staring up at DK, being slightly less afraid than she was a few seconds ago.

DK looked confused, scratching the top of his head to convey as much. He responded to her in low grunts consisting of 'ooo' and 'eee.' Then it hit her. There was a language barrier between the two. "Great..." she mumbled, now unsure of how to speak to DK.

Evidently, he knew how to survive in this jungle much better than she did. He was also stronger than the tikis. Gaining his trust could allow her to rescue Callie! But how would she gain DK's trust if he couldn't even understand her?

She rubbed the bottom of her chin; then, an idea struck her.

She hurriedly grabbed a wooden chunk from one of the destroyed tikis and began drawing in the dirt. If one thing was universal among languages, it was images.

First, Marie drew a picture of the kalimba tiki that possessed her cousin. This evoked a reaction from DK—he gritted his teeth angrily. Apparently, he had some history with these wooden monsters. That would explain why he went bananas on them.

After drawing the kalimba tiki to the best of her abilities, Marie tried drawing Callie and herself. Afterward, she drew lines connecting the kalimba tiki to her cousin, hoping this would tell DK what she had gone through. At the end, Marie wrote 'help' in the dirt in English. It was one of the few words she knew, and it fit the situation perfectly.

DK scratched his forehead again, eyeing the drawing and then the thrown-away banana peel. After some silence, he turned, presenting his back before pointing to it.

Marie tilted her head, unsure what he was asking of her. After a few moments of staring, she figured he wanted her to climb onto his back. Marie gazed at DK with uncertainty, but he gave her a thumbs up as assurance. It probably wasn't safe, but this had to mean he'd help, so she went along with it anyway.

After climbing on his back, DK leaped from the ground to the nearest tree, swinging from branch to branch, occasionally using the vines to swing as well. The crazy speeds he moved at made Marie cling to him for dear life.

She wasn't sure what she just got herself into. All she could hope for was that they'd be able to save Callie together.